by Natasha West
‘Just naturally graceful,’ Sophie said, binning the last pieces. ‘Right, taxi’s due. Shall we grab the case and blow this popcorn stand?’
April felt herself calm. ‘Yeah. Let’s go.’
Twenty-Seven
Sophie put the keys under the plant pot for Becky to find, sending her a silent thank you for all her help. She hoped Becky knew how grateful she was for this sanctuary.
She stood from the plant pot, took one last look at the ratty old door, and turned, walking down the garden path to where April waited with the case. Headlights illuminated the darkness, and they turned to see the cab drive up. He pulled up at the kerb. ‘Taxi for Kate?’
‘That’s me.’ Sophie said. She was trying to get used to her new name as much as possible. No point trying to hang onto the old one, she couldn’t use it now. She was Kate Green; her girlfriend was Beth Reed. They were travellers, starting a journey that would take them who knew where. So much was unknown, but it felt like the start of an adventure.
‘Kate’ and ‘Beth’ got in the back of the cab, and Kate told the driver, ‘To the airport, please.’
‘Okey dokey,’ the man said and pulled away from the house. Kate let herself be Sophie again for a second as they drove away, down the dark streets of her home-town, long enough to say goodbye. She hadn’t gotten a chance the first time. She felt sadness, but it was tempered by hope.
‘You OK?’ asked April (Beth, Beth, Beth, Sophie chanted in her head).
‘I’m great,’ she replied honestly.
That’s when a lorry smashed into them.
***
Sophie woke to the smell of antiseptic and freshly laundered sheets. It was daytime. It took her some minutes to crack her eyes open and then a few more minutes to drag herself to a point where she could put together what had happened.
The taxi had been t-boned by that damn lorry, rammed right off the road into a ditch on the side of the motorway, rolled twice and landed upside down. Something had happened to her arm in the roll, she’d been pushed against the side of the cab, and there’d been a cracking noise that made Sophie shudder to remember. And then she was dangling upside down, held by the seatbelt that hadn’t saved her arm, looking at April, whose eyes were closed. Sophie had started screaming, just noise at first, and then it had transformed into the word ‘help’. The driver was suddenly yanking the door open, apparently unhurt, saying, ‘Jesus fucking wept! Are you alright?’
‘No, get her out!’ Sophie had said, and the man had set to work, getting April out as gently as possible. Before he even got to Sophie, she was begging him to tell her that April was breathing, and he promised she was, that she didn’t look as hurt as Sophie’s arm. He then proceeded to unclip her belt, and she fell with a shriek, her bad arm catching the ceiling of the car. And then she was out, lying on damp grass, her arm on fire. The lorry driver came running toward them, telling them the ambulance was coming, chanting an apology, blaming a dodgy brake line. The ambulance arrived not long after and off they were taken. It was all a bit blurry after that.
But now Sophie was in the hospital, on a big ward, and April wasn’t in any of the rows of beds Sophie could see, all filled with strangers. Sophie tried to get out of bed and found that her arm was in a cast, elbow to wrist. And it was hurting. ‘Ow, fuck!’ she yelled. A nurse was on her instantly, ‘What are you doing, get back in bed,’ he said firmly, pushing her back under the covers.
‘Oh, thank god,’ Sophie said to the nurse. ‘I need to know where my girlfriend is!’
The nurse nodded his curly head. ‘The woman you came in with. April, right?’
Sophie paused. ‘April?’
‘Is that not her name? That’s what the ambulance guys told us you were calling her.’
Sophie could have kicked herself. In the midst of the chaos, the fake name had gone out of the window. That wasn’t good. That wasn’t good at all. But it was too late now. ‘Yeah, her name’s April. Can you just tell me if she’s alright?’
‘I’ll need to check.’
‘I’m coming with you, then,’ Sophie said, trying to get out of bed. The man tutted and pushed her back in. ‘Stop it. I’ll only be a minute.’
Sophie huffed. ‘I just want to know she’s… Is she…’
‘She was fine when I last saw her,’ the man said. ‘She came around pretty quickly in A+E. Minor concussion, scans came back clean. You were in worse shape than she was. Pretty nasty break in your ulna. They had to knock you out; you wouldn’t keep still, they thought you’d make it worse.’
‘Oh, thank fuck,’ Sophie whispered to herself, not listening about her arm. ‘She’s not that hurt?’
‘That’s what I’m going to check if you’ll just sit back. Your arm’s plastered, but it was broken clean through. You need to rest it.’
Sophie sat back, reluctantly. ‘Alright.’
The man gave her one last look to be sure she wasn’t going to bolt again and trundled off.
Sophie laid back with relief. April was OK. They’d missed their flight, but that was a problem for later. For now, all that mattered was that they’d both gotten out of that car wreck intact. Almost. Sophie looked at the cast on her arm, only really taking any notice of it now. She’d never broken a bone before. It wasn’t a great time to bust that particular cherry. Then again, there was probably no great time to break your... What was it? Sophie wanted to say vulva, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t right.
At last, the nurse came back. Sophie was pleased to see that he was smiling. Smiling meant everything was fine. And then he said. ‘April’s doing great, clean bill of health. They’ve already released her as a matter of fact.’
Sophie sat up. ‘What, when?’
‘About two hours ago.’
‘So where is she?’ Sophie asked. ‘Why didn’t she come and find me?’
The man waved off her concerns. ‘Her mother said they’d come back later to check on you. She just wanted to get her daughter home to rest.’
Sophie blinked. ‘Her what?’
‘Her mum came and picked her up.’
Sophie felt like the car accident was happening all over again. She was running smack into a horrifying fact instead of a lorry, but it was spinning her just the same. April’s mother. April’s mother! ‘What, what, what…’ she began to stutter at the unwitting bearer of the terrible news. Then an old man with no teeth shouted, ‘Nurse!’ and the nurse gave Sophie an apologetic look and went to attend his gummy patient.
Sophie was left in the bed, trying to comprehend what she’d just learned. But she couldn’t wrap her mind around it. The very worst thing that could have happened, the dreaded thing, the nightmare thing, had happened.
April was with her family.
Twenty-Eight
What happened after the car accident was a fractured mess, made up of nightmares and reality; a jumble April couldn’t begin to untangle. The back of an ambulance was in amongst the confusion, her lying next to Sophie, who was begging the paramedic to tell her April was alright. April wanted to answer that herself but couldn’t seem to speak or get her eyes open. Even if she could have answered, she couldn’t say for sure she was alright. Things felt strange and far away.
But then she heard Sophie being told that April had banged her head but that her vitals were OK and that they’d know more at the hospital after some tests. April remembered thinking, ‘I’m not dead. Cool.’ And then?
Black.
***
There was a light, right in April’s eyes. And then a voice said, ‘April?’ She thought she knew it. It was… Who was it? Oh yes, she knew who it was. It was Uncle Johnny. It sounded exactly like him. Only… There was something not quite right about that. She couldn’t think what it could be, but she had this feeling that there was a good reason Uncle Johnny couldn’t be saying her name.
But he said it again, and she became surer that it was him and she answered him as brightly as she could, ‘Hello, I’m here.’ He seemed happy, and April w
as sure now it was Uncle Johnny. He started asking her questions. She didn’t know the answer to some of them. But she knew others. She knew her mum’s name. And her number. She told them to Uncle Johnny. Although she did start to wonder why he wouldn’t know those things. He was her brother-in-law. But he said it was important and April knew her mum would be worried that she hadn’t come home from school on time, she was very strict about that. Her brothers would be out looking. But then Uncle Johnny said he would give her a call, and April felt better for a moment. And then not so good. There was something else to worry about.
But what was it?
***
When April came around at five the next morning in a private room, a doctor with a huge bushy beard was at her bedside. The world that had seemed so far away rushed back and she remembered the car crash, asking immediately, ‘Is Sophie OK?’
‘Oh, yes, she’s down the hall sleeping, you can see her later.’
April was swimming in relief. But she didn’t have a chance to ask anything else because Doctor Bushy Beard began a round of questions. He asked the date, a few general questions about current affairs. April answered him without much trouble. She was happy to be told she’d gotten the answers right. The doctor then asked her what she remembered about the previous few hours.
April searched herself. There was only a hole where that time should have been. Then something was at the edge of her mind, something she could almost touch, something… troubling. But it slipped away. ‘No, sorry, all a bit of a blank.’
‘Well, that can happen. The important thing is that all your tests came back normal, and you know what you’re about now.’
April smiled. ‘Great. Does that mean I can go? Because I really want to go and check on Sophie.’
The doctor laughed. ‘Hold your horses. I want you to stay a bit longer, at least until I can sign you over to your next of kin.’
April shook her head. ‘Sophie is my next of kin.’
‘No, don’t worry, you gave me your family’s contact details, they’re on their way,’ the doctor said, looking down at the chart in his hand.
April sat bolt upright. ‘My…’
And then she heard it, a voice, familiar, though not heard in years. ‘April.’
April turned slowly to its source, and there she stood. Her little mother stood at the doorway, flanked by Steve and Ryan, all smiling at her. April looked at them all, and shock gripped her by the throat. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. It was like the back of the ambulance all over again. She was frozen, far away from the world, trapped in a nightmare.
Her mother sped over, and she felt arms wrap around her, and Marla said, ‘Oh, love. What scrapes have you been getting yourself into, eh?’ April’s body remained locked as the arms held on tight. And then her mother whispered into April’s ear, ‘We’ve got someone down the hall, with your little friend. You say nothing.’
So April didn’t. Her mother released her and turned to the doctor, asking him questions about the accident, about her scans, about what danger signs to look out for as she recovered from her head wound. ‘I want to be sure she’s alright,’ her mother said with such utter warmth, anyone would have bought it. ‘She’s my only daughter. My precious girl, my good girl.’
April’s shock began to melt, and though she was still scattered, she said to the doctor, ‘Are you sure I should be released? No more tests to do?’
‘Do you feel unwell?’ the doctor asked.
April wasn’t sure how to answer safely. But then Marla jumped in, ‘Do you, love?’ she asked. ‘Because you know I’ll take good care of you at home, make sure you’re alright. And then I’ll be back for your friend with the broken arm.’
Her younger brother, Ryan, smiled at her and nodded. ‘We definitely will,’ he added. ‘Just the minute we can.’ April glanced at Steve. He gave her a wink.
April heard the threat distinctly. You’re coming home with us, or we’ll kill her.
So she went quietly, like a good girl. Just like her mother said.
Twenty-Nine
‘His first name’s Barry. Hill? No, that’s not him, I don’t think. Well, I can’t remember it, can I? He’s from...’ Sophie dropped her voice, ‘…Witness Protection. He was in the hospital a few weeks ago, but he’d probably be back now if that helps. No, I don’t know his rank. Or his number. No, I don’t know where he’s stationed. No, I… I never read the packet, I just asked my fellow… protectee? That’s why I’m… No, I suppose it wasn’t a very good idea to be lazy about it, but there was a lot going on and… Oh, for fuck sake, is this really the time to be busting my arse? This is an emergency! Yes, I’ll hold.’ Sophie listened to a tinkly muzak version of Rock Lobster while the seconds drained away, every one of them crucial. She had to get to Barry. He was the only person who’d know what to do. She was just lucky the nurses’ station had let her borrow the phone. One nurse was eyeing her suspiciously, but Sophie didn’t give a shit. All bets were officially off.
‘Hello? Sophie?’ Barry’s gruff voice said at last.
‘Oh, fuck, Barry! They’ve got her!’
Barry knew what she meant in a split second. ‘The Gardeners?’
‘Yes, yes. We were in an accident, I guess April was concussed, and she gave the hospital her mother’s contact details. They picked her up about forty minutes ago!’
Barry groaned. ‘Where are you?’
‘Hangton.’
‘You’re back in your hometown? Right. They’ll take her home to Jackson Road in Carstairs, and that’s a few hours from Hangton. I’ll send people over to Jackson Road now; I’ll be right behind them. Hang on a sec.’ The line went quiet for a minute, and then Barry came on, ‘You’re at the hospital, right? I’ve sent a squad car to pick you up. Be in reception.’
‘To take me where?’
‘To a safe place.’
‘No,’ Sophie told him. ‘I’m going to Carstairs, to that street, Jackson Road. I want to be there.’
‘No,’ Barry said firmly.
‘If you don’t promise to get me there, I won’t be at this hospital when your car gets here.’
‘Don’t play chicken with me, Sophie. I’m not in the mood.’
‘I need to go there, Barry. I need to be there for whatever happens next,’ Sophie said, almost in tears.
Barry paused. ‘What makes you think I care about what you want?’
‘Because she does. And I know you care about her,’ Sophie said, hoping it was true. Barry was like a grumpy dad. But he was April’s grumpy dad or the closest she’d known.
Barry groaned, ‘You’re the biggest pain in my arse, you know that? But fine. I’ll see you at Jackson Street. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ He hung up.
Sophie put the receiver down and went to wait for her ride, holding her casted arm. She didn’t know what was going to happen at Jackson Street. But the police would be there; Barry at the helm. Sophie just hoped it wasn’t too late. She wanted to lay down and cry. But she knew April would never do that. She’d fight to the end. So Sophie would fight too.
Thirty
April watched the door swing open to her old home, held open by her brother Steve. ‘In you get, then,’ he said disdainfully. April didn’t look at him, hadn’t looked at anyone for the two-hour drive in the SUV with the smoked windows. No one had said anything to her. They’d spoken to each other occasionally, functional stuff like, ‘It’s this turnoff,’ and ‘Pass me a mint.’ But April was in Siberia. She was happy to be there; it was probably better than whatever came next.
And then she was in her mother’s living room, a place where she’d once coloured on the floor, done homework in front of the telly, had her first kiss with Gina Jones, watched her mum knit, and listened to her brothers moan about ‘The business.’ She’d had her whole childhood here. And now it was the enemy camp, and she was a prisoner.
April perched on the edge of a chair, warily regarding her two brothers, sat together on the sofa, not looking at her. Th
e room was silent until her mother came in with a tea tray. Everyone was handed a mug, including April. She took it and put it straight on the coffee table.
‘It’s not poisoned,’ her mother said. Then she chuckled. ‘Though I heard you’ve been dabbling in that these days.’ Her brothers laughed horribly.
‘I didn’t really do it,’ April said, her first words to her mother. She wasn’t sure why she cared if they thought she’d dosed Kenny with rat poison. She supposed she simply couldn’t tolerate the thought that they might think she was anything like them.
