Hermie did the same. ‘I FEEL SCARED. Come on now, Eve, let it out. All those feelings you’ve been holding inside at all those spook nights, all those times you couldn’t sleep and felt you couldn’t tell anyone. Let it all out.’
I took a deep breath. It was true. I’d been holding it all in for months, for years, pushing what I really felt back inside. I threw my head back as Selene had done and yelled to the sky. ‘I FEEL SCARED. IIIIIIIII FEE-EE-EEE-EEL SCARED.’ And then I yelled it a few more times for good luck and it felt strangely liberating.
‘Great,’ said Selene. ‘Now let’s have a scream.’ And to my astonishment she opened her mouth and screamed and screamed and screamed. I had to put my fingers in my ears.
Hermie grinned at me. ‘It only works if you really connect with whatever’s been bugging you.’
‘Wow. What’s been bugging her?’ I asked.
Hermie laughed. ‘Oh, loads of stuff. She can get really emotional sometimes, but, come on now, your go. Really go for it.’
I closed my eyes and dug deep into all the times I’d felt I had to shut up, button it, hold it all in, deep into all the tension that coiled within my fear of the dark, my jealousy of being second at everything. And then I let rip. ‘A … A … Aaaa … AARRGH. AAAAARRRRGH. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH’
I don’t know how long I went on for, but all of a sudden there was no scream left. All the bad feelings had gone and the whole situation seemed really, really silly. Here I was on top of a hill with two very unusual people who were named after planets yelling my head off. I felt like laughing, so I did, so much in fact that it set Hermie and Selene off and soon we were all laughing like we’d heard the funniest thing ever. Tears were even flowing down Selene’s cheeks she was laughing so hard.
When we all calmed down a bit, one of us would chuckle and set the others off again and then we’d be quiet for a bit, then another little chuckle and then it was all done. All done. And I felt tired enough to sleep for a week.
Chapter Twelve
Secrets Out
‘I need to have a family conference,’ I said later that day when everyone was home, the builders had gone and we were sitting around the dining table after supper.
‘But there’s something I want to watch on telly,’ said Adam.
‘Five minutes,’ I said. ‘It’s important.’
‘Ooer, get her,’ said Adam, but he stayed where he was.
Mum and Dad looked worried.
‘You’re not on drugs, are you, angel? Oh god … ’ said Mum.
‘No, Mum! I am not on drugs. I am only twelve years old!’
‘Kids start young these days,’ said Adam.
‘Oh, shut up,’ I said. ‘And I’m not a kid.’
‘You’ve failed your exams?’ said Dad.
‘Let Evepud speak,’ said Lilith, who also looked worried. ‘She’s got something serious to say and for your information, we haven’t had our exams yet, Dad.’
It was time for my second secret to come out to my family. I took a deep breath and made myself remember all that Selene and Hermie had said. ‘OK. I … I had my session with Miss Luna today and … I … oh … ’ There was only one way to do it. ‘A … A … AAAAARRGH. I AM AFRAID OF THE DARK!’
Mum looked alarmed by my outburst. ‘No need to shout, love,’ she said.
‘I AM AFRAID OF THE DARK!’ I repeated.
‘Oh god, she is on drugs,’ said Adam. ‘Classic symptom: can’t gauge the volume of her own voice.’
‘No, Adam, I am not on drugs. I am scared of the dark.’
‘Since when? You’re always up for spook nights … ’ he said.
‘And scary movies … ’ said Lilith.
‘I hate them. I’ve always hated them. They frighten me and give me nightmares.’
‘Spook nights? Scary movies?’ Dad repeated. ‘Wha—’
‘Since when, love?’ Mum interrupted.
‘Since I was about six,’ I replied.
Adam looked shocked. ‘Seriously?’ he asked.
‘Seriously.’
‘No, I meant since when have you had these spook nights?’ Mum asked.
‘Oh … ’ I started. Lilith was looking at me intently and Adam looked worried. ‘I … it’s a secret … ’
Mum sighed and shook her head. ‘You girls and your secrets. I don’t know … ’
‘Why did you never say that you were scared of the dark?’ asked Dad.
I glanced at Lilith. ‘I didn’t want to be left out.’
Mum got up, came over and put her arms around me. ‘My poor baby. You could have told us.’
‘I thought you’d all think I was sissy or stupid.’
‘Well, you are,’ said Adam.
Lilith kicked his calf. ‘That’s not very helpful.’
Adam shrugged. ‘It is sissy, but it doesn’t mean I don’t care. You don’t have to come any more if you don’t want to.’
‘But that’s what I was worried about,’ I blurted. ‘That I’ll be left out of the spook nights.’
‘What exactly are these spook nights you keep referring to?’ asked Dad. Adam and Lilith immediately folded their arms as if by doing so they could keep our secret outings to themselves.
‘Oh, just nights we tell ghost stories and stuff,’ said Lilith. ‘Nothing major.’ She got up to go.
‘Sit back down right now, young lady,’ said Dad.
‘But, Dad … ’
‘No one’s leaving this table until we get to the bottom of this,’ he said. ‘Now, then, is anyone going to tell me what’s been going on?’ He gave Adam a stern look.
Adam shrugged his shoulders. ‘Like Lilith said, Dad, no big deal, just some nights we used to sit about and tell ghost stories. Don’t all kids do that?’
‘Not in the cemetery they don’t,’ I heard myself say.
‘What! Which cemetery?’ asked Mum.
‘Er … the one next door to where we used to live,’ I said, and then cursed myself. I didn’t mean to blurt it all out so quickly, but somehow I couldn’t stop myself. It was as if my counselling session earlier had freed my tongue and words were rushing out like water through a broken dam. Hermie and Selene had said to give my family a chance to understand, but it didn’t seem to be going as well as they had suggested.
Dad turned his gaze to Lilith. ‘Well?’ he said. ‘And haven’t you anything to add to this conversation?’
Lilith looked down at the table. ‘Yeah, maybe a couple of times we went out, but … ’
‘At night?’ asked Mum.
Lilith nodded and Mum gasped. ‘And where were your dad and I?’
‘In bed,’ muttered Lilith.
‘Oh my god,’ said Mum, and looked in horror at Dad who shook his head. ‘Anything could have happened to you. You don’t know who’s going to be out and about late at night. I … I … ’
‘Now then, Marissa, keep calm,’ said Dad, although he looked far from calm himself. ‘All are present and correct. But I can tell you one thing for sure, from now on we’re going to be keeping a closer eye on what goes on in this house. And out. These spook nights are banned. And so are scary movies. And I would have credited all of you with more brains than to sit around telling ghost stories and scaring the life out of each other.’
‘It was fun,’ muttered Adam in hardly a whisper.
‘What’s that you said?’ Dad demanded.
‘Nothing.’
‘And Eve and Lilith, you can sleep in our room tonight because PJ wants to get started on your rooms first thing. So, Eve, you needn’t worry about the dark tonight. We’ll be there and after that, well, we’ll work on it together. And, Adam, I trust that you’re old enough not to do anything this stupid ever again.’
Adam and Lilith both glared at me. I glared back.
Later that night, we had a family TV night. We all watched the history channel. A documentary about some ancient king. It was so boring. I tried to catch Adam and Lilith’s eye a couple of times so that I could make a funny f
ace or something, but they wouldn’t look at me. They sat stiffly with tight lips. I offered to make hot chocolates but only Mum and Dad wanted one. Later, Mum and Dad locked up and we trudged up to bed in silence.
This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen, I thought as I went to brush my teeth. Two secrets out and I’ve managed to upset everyone and now Adam and Lilith hate me. Heaven knows what they’ll make of my last secret.
Chapter Thirteen
Second Zodiac Week
‘So when do you move back into your own room again?’ asked Mary as we made our way out into the playground on our school lunchbreak the following Friday.
‘Next week,’ I said, ‘PJ said that my and Lilith’s rooms are almost finished and I’m dreading it. Just thinking about it makes me feel tense.’
‘OK,’ said Mary. ‘Maybe it’s time to ask the zodiac people for help again. So, PJ is also known as Pluto, and you reckon your counsellor’s name is something to do with the moon?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah. Luna means moon and Hermie is for Hermes, which is another word for Mercury. I looked it all up in a book about ancient gods in Dad’s library.’
‘Blimey,’ said Mary as we sat on a bench over the bike sheds. ‘Let’s see your phone again.’
I sat next to her and passed her the phone. She glanced down at the list. ‘There are ten on here. You’ve met four, Nessa … ’
‘Venus. PJ – Pluto, Selene the moon and Hermie – Mercury, yeah.’
‘OK, Eve, I think the explanation is simply that they all have nicknames. Have you called any of the other numbers on here?’
‘Yeah. Dr Cronus. He’s a headmaster apparently. Sounds very strict.’
‘So why did you phone him?’
‘I … er … I couldn’t sleep when I got to the new house.’
‘Oh, yeah, that,’ said Mary matter-of-factly. ‘Lilith told me.’ She laughed. ‘She’s mad with you, isn’t she?’
I nodded. ‘It’s weird. She’s never been this cross with me before and I don’t know if it’s because I’m not going along with all her plans or because I’m a Zodiac Girl or because I told Mum and Dad about the spook nights.’
I missed our twin closeness and the way we could almost read each other’s minds. And there had only been a few times since I became Zodiac Girl when we echoed what the other was saying – normally that happened every day.
‘Probably all three. She’ll get over it. Why don’t you call one of the other names on here? See what happens.’
‘I guess I could. Which one?’
Mary looked down at the list again. ‘Neptune. Captain John Dory. Neptune rules the realms of dreams according to my astrology book. I remember because there was a picture of him in there dressed up as a king. King of the Sea.’
‘Maybe he could help with my nightmares,’ I said.
Mary handed me the phone. ‘Yeah. What have we got to lose?’
I pressed the button opposite his name and Mary put her head next to mine so that she could listen too. Moments later, a man with a gruff voice answered. ‘Hello?’
‘Yeah. Hi. It’s Eve Palumbo. PJ gave me a phone with your number on it.’
‘Excellent. So you must be our Zodiac Girl.’
‘I am and I wondered … ’
‘Do you like fish and chips?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Live near Osbury, don’t you?’
‘Yeah.’
‘So come on in.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Poseidon. Look for a fish and chip shop called Poseidon. That’s me.’ And he clicked off.
‘Yum,’ said Mary. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Yeah. Let’s go,’ I said. ‘I wanted to go by the village anyway to get a present for Lilith to try to make up for me letting on about the spook nights.’
‘Good idea,’ said Mary. ‘You could get her something lovely like a skull or a Halloween mask.’
We caught the bus that would have taken us home, but got off a couple of stops early in the village of Osbury and soon found the chip shop in the main parade of shops. The door opened with a ching sound and the smell of frying and vinegar hit our noses, making my mouth water. On the wall opposite the door was a mosaic in green, grey and blue. It depicted the King of the Sea with white hair and a big white beard sitting with a trident on a huge seashell. Around his feet were different species of fish in the waves. Behind the counter was a middle-aged man who looked exactly like the king in the mosaic – like he’d stepped out of the mosaic and come to life. He looked up at us and beamed. ‘Cod and chips twice and two Cokes?’ he asked.
We nodded. Bizarre, I thought.
He served us up two portions and indicated that we should sit at one of the tables opposite the counter. ‘Eat now, talk later.’
We did as we were told and after we’d eaten and the Captain had served a few customers he came over to join us.
‘So? How’s your zodiac time going, young lady?’ he asked.
‘Strange,’ I said.
‘How far in are you?’ he asked. ‘End of your second week, by my reckoning.’
‘I think so. PJ said it was for a month.’
‘Can you help her?’ asked Mary. ‘She has nightmares.’
Captain John looked at me with blue eyes that twinkled like the sun on the sea. ‘Do you now?’
I nodded. ‘I’m scared of the dark too, but I expect you know that already.’
‘I had heard,’ he chuckled. ‘I can tell you some secrets about dreams, though, and nightmares. You can train yourself to control them.’
‘No way,’ chorused Mary and I.
‘Yes way,’ said Captain John. ‘Do you both have a television at home?’
‘Yes,’ we chorused again.
‘Use a remote?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what do you do when there’s a programme on that you don’t like?’
Sit through it, I thought, as usually Adam or Lilith have the remote.
‘Change channels,’ Mary replied.
‘Exactly,’ said the Captain. ‘It’s the same sort of thing with your dreams. If you’re having one you don’t like, you mentally change channels. Go to something you’d rather see.’
‘No way. I could really do that?’ I asked.
‘Absolutely. Takes some practice, but, yes, you could. Give it a try anyhow. Other thing you can do is think about nice things before you go to sleep because quite often what you’ve been thinking about comes up in your dreams, doesn’t it? Fears, worries, anxieties – you have to replace them with happier thoughts.’
‘That’s what Nessa said.’
‘She’s right. Before you go to sleep, say to yourself: have good dreams, have good dreams. It programmes your mind,’ said Captain John.
‘No bad dreams, no bad dreams,’ I said.
The Captain shook his head. ‘No, don’t say it like that. Don’t emphasize the negative to the unconscious mind, only the positive. The unconscious doesn’t hear the word no. So if you say, “No bad dreams, no bad dreams,” it hears only “bad dreams”. Put it in a positive way – “Have good dreams, have good dreams.” You see the difference?’
‘I think so,’ I said.
‘So give it a go,’ said the Captain, as another customer came in. ‘Good luck.’
He got up to serve and we got our purses out to pay for the fish and chips. ‘On the house,’ he said.
‘Sounds a bit too easy,’ I said when we got outside. ‘Thinking happy thoughts and telling yourself to have good dreams when you’ve got the heebie-jeebies is easier said than done.’
‘Worth a go, though,’ said Mary as we crossed the green and made our way over to the bus stop. ‘And … well, I just wanted to say something else too. Next time you’re feeling scared of the dark and can’t sleep, you can always call me, you know, maybe not on the zodiac phone but on your normal mobile. That’s what mates are for.’
Later that night, I tucked up on the camper bed in Mum’s room and thought about what Capta
in John had said about my nightmares. It would be amazing to be able to control them, especially as they were such a big part of my life, like a bad habit I couldn’t kick. I got comfortable and, as Nessa and Captain John had told me, tried to think about nice things. I imagined Captain John as the King of the Sea and Nessa as a goddess dressed in white dancing up in the clouds.
I drifted off to sleep without any problems. It was lovely: the King of the Sea with fishes dancing around his feet, Nessa as a goddess by his side in the seashell. And then the seashell changed into a sledge and the sea changed to snow. They were flying through fields of white towards a wood. It got dark as they approached the wood. Trees cast deep shadows. I couldn’t see the sky any more and the trees grew menacing, like skeletons with pointed bony hands.
The King of the Sea and Nessa seemed to be changing, their cloaks of white and blue were turning black. They weren’t flying any more. The ground was hard going and it was difficult to see.
And suddenly I was in the cemetery. Nessa and Neptune had gone and in their places were figures in hooded cloaks. When I looked closer, they had no faces.
Change the channel, change the channel, I told myself. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. The figures were coming towards me. A feeling of dread was welling up in my stomach. Change the channel, change the channel, happy thoughts, HAPPY thoughts. But it wasn’t working. It was like pressing a remote that had a flat battery and the hooded figures were getting closer.
I was so freaked that I woke with a start to find that my heart was beating fast and I was hot. Across the room, I could make out the sleeping form of Lilith turned away from me towards the wall and, up on the bed, I could hear Dad’s gentle snoring. You’re OK, Eve, I told myself. You’re safe. I threw off my duvet for a second and cooled down, and a few moments later my heart began to slow. I snuggled back down. I can do this, I thought as I felt myself grow drowsy again. I can do this, have good dreams, have good dreams.
A short time later I was back in the woods, skeletons of trees beckoning me forward. Oh no, I don’t like this, I thought. It’s getting spooky. And then there they were, the hooded figures coming closer. No, no. Go away. I want to watch another channel. I can do it too. Light and sunshine. Nice things. Think nice things, Eve.
Double Trouble (Zodiac Girls) Page 9
