by Deb McEwan
*****
‘Oh sweet Jesus,’ Claire said out loud. She’d seen and heard enough and wanted to get back to safety to process the niggling thoughts in the back of her mind about this latest child abuser. The spirits that hadn’t appeared to notice her presence before turned away from their human and looked directly at her. Claire knew she was in trouble and hoped she’d be able to return to Cherussola before they caught up with her.
*****
Marion had been crying again but gave herself a good talking to about pulling herself together. Val was dying to know what had happened while she’d been out in the bush but remained calm and quiet until Marion was ready to explain. Seeing how upset she was, Val knew it must have been something awful and let Marion talk at her own pace, without interruption.
‘A lion attacked and killed Mary and they think that’s what happened to the other girls,’ her hand covered her mouth as she thought of the awfulness of the situation. ‘But how could? When...’
‘When you were out sightseeing with your...’ Marion looked down, refusing to make eye contact with Val, but the disgust showed on her face now that she’d regained her composure.
Val had had enough. ‘I’ll have you know that the Land Rover broke down,’ she stood up and banged her fists on the chair arms, both women chose to ignore the clouds of dust that jumped from the chair and slowly floated back down. ‘We would have been back much earlier and trust me, it wasn’t fun out in the bush, wondering if we were going to survive until the morning.’ That wasn’t strictly true but Val wanted to make her point. She leaned toward her friend, her face inches away from Marion’s. ‘If you weren’t so bloody jealous, maybe you’d have noticed that before this awful news, I was the happiest I’d been in ages.’
‘Jealous! Jealous! Me?’ For God’s sake, Val, you can’t seriously think...’
‘This conversation is over, Marion. My focus now is to look after the children and ensure their safety. I thought we were meant to be friends but obviously...’
‘Is now a bad time?’ neither of them noticed that Gary had entered the room.
‘No,’ said Marion and Val shook her head. ‘We need to build a barbed wire fence. Not sure how quickly we can get the wire but the sooner the better.’
‘I’m already on it,’ said Gary and Marion ignored the smug look from Val. ‘Daniel’s arranged for an armed guard for a few nights but the fence will be up by tomorrow night. My men will see to that.’
Val thanked him but Marion didn’t acknowledge his comments, wondering why she was being made out to be the baddie of the piece.
‘We need to get the children together and try to talk to them without terrifying them, though I’m not sure how we’re going to do that.’
‘Maybe I should come along and tell them about the guards and the guns?’
‘That won’t be necessary, Gary,’ said Marion through gritted teeth. ‘But thank you for arranging for the fence to be erected. You may want to get on with that now,’ she dismissed him as if she were the head talking to a naughty pupil and he turned away to look out of the window for a moment, pretending to assess the area but calming himself until his eye stopped twitching. Perhaps Marion should have an encounter with a lion, he thought fleetingly before turning to Val. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
She leant over and kissed his cheek. ‘Thanks, Gary.’
And Marion wanted to vomit.
‘Marion,’ he said nodding and she nodded back in acknowledgement of his departure without saying a word.
*****
The angels and two spirits were discussing how best to warn Val about her evil suitor.
‘I think Claire may want to tell her brothers then perhaps Tony can explain to Libby and she can speak to her mother on her return home?’ said Gabriella. She could see that Raphael didn’t know what she was talking about, so explained the siblings’ ability to communicate with each other.
‘She is special isn’t she?’ Gabriella noticed his tone of voice and was surprised. It had been a while since her twin had shown that sort of interest in anyone. Knowing that Claire had her faults but was intrinsically good and totally different to the last one, she was happy for him.
‘Yeah, yeah, we all know how special she is.’ Ron sounded petty even to himself, so tried to justify his words. ‘What I meant to say is that can we stick to the point and try to find a way to warn Val off. I don’t think they’re due back for a while, Gabriella so we need something more urgent that your plan. Do you have any ideas, Raphael?... Raphael?’
‘Claire!’
‘What?’ said Ron but Gabriella was sensing a problem too. Not with the same foresight as her brother but she definitely felt the disturbance.
‘Come on, before they get to her,’ he turned to Gabriella. ‘I’m not sure if Sandy’s strong enough yet.’
The disturbance was getting stronger. ‘We’re going to need all the help we can get. Come on, I’ll explain on the way.’
She was moving upwards as fast as she could but they were gaining on her. She’d looked back once and had been alarmed to see that the few evils had multiplied and the teenager who they’d encountered in the past had joined them. Had Claire had time to have a proper look she would have seen that he was stronger and now appeared to be in charge. She was terrified and images of the terrors that both Sandy and Ken had told her about passed before her eyes. Claire shook them away trying to concentrate all her efforts on moving upwards as fast as she could. She felt a gush of wind, caused by a hand swiping and missing her leg. She panted with the effort, knowing that this was a race she was unlikely to win and she felt the first hand make contact with her ankle. Trying to keep moving upwards with every fibre of her soul, her warped mind still had time to tell her that the calloused hand was covered in warts, and the second one had a finger missing. By the time the prodding hands were in double figures, she had stopped analysing their individual deformities. Only one set of hands had a body and face and when the teenager shoved his face directly into Claire’s she screamed, wondering why on previous occasions, she hadn’t noticed his likeness to Big Ed.
*****
Relations between Marion and Val were polite but frosty during the following days. They were both grieving over the loss of the girls and were able to use the grief to disguise what appeared to be the demise of their friendship. Val had been told about the early return to the UK and instead of the news of the new assignment bringing them closer, it had widened the gap. When Val had told Gary he had been distraught and the news of her departure had given their relationship a sense of urgency, which in turn made Marion even more distant. The fence was erected and despite Val’s protests to the contrary, Marion was grateful for his help. She was annoyed that Val appeared to turn into an incapable useless female in Gary’s presence, and wondered when she would swoon so her hero could pick her up and walk off with her into the sunset.
On the third day after Mary’s disappearance before night turned to dawn, shots awoke the occupants of the orphanage. The children were told to remain in their accommodation and Val, Marion and Daniel almost collided at the bottom of the stairs. They heard another shot from the direction of the back of the building and walked cautiously toward the back door. Gary appeared with his uncocked shotgun over an arm and smiled reassuringly at the worried audience.
‘One of the guards thought he saw something earlier tonight and the boss called me in,’ he rubbed some sweat off his forehead. ‘A large female’s prowling the area. They say once they get a taste for human blood, they always come back for more.’
Val shivered and the others stared at him in horror.
‘The only way to stop this is to kill her. I’m taking a party of men with me and we’re going to hunt her down.’
Good grief! Marion thought as Val flung herself into Gary’s arms telling him to be careful and to stay safe. She felt the need to do the right thing so wished him good luck and shook his hand. The feel of his flesh on hers gave her the creeps an
d it was a major effort to keep her expression impassive. The moment passed and she stepped back when Daniel stepped forward to shake his hand. Marion’s bullshit-ometer almost went off the scale when she noticed the sly look that passed between the men. Something was afoot and she would do her utmost to find out what was really going on.
The hunting party were away the whole of that day and night and Val was almost beside herself with worry and retired to her room after dinner, saying that she wanted to be alone. Not that long ago she would have confided her fears in me, thought Marion sadly. Daniel had gone out for the night and Marion wondered if he were secretly meeting up somewhere with Gary. She took the time and opportunity to have a good look around the office, to see if she could find a reason for her suspicions and distrust of her co-worker. She flicked through the personal files of the children in the filing cabinet. At first she thought that all was in order but Mary’s was missing, along with those of the other missing girls. She didn’t know whether this was significant but planned to ask the police if they’d taken the files.
The desk drawer was easy to open with a bit of fiddling with a hairgrip. Marion had always thought it clichéd when she watched old-fashioned detective shows and they were able to pick locks with hair accessories, but it had actually worked! The papers weren’t very well organised which told Marion that Enala, the very efficient and jolly administrator come part-time cleaner, did not have access to this drawer.
‘Well, well,’ she muttered to herself as she looked at two UK bank statements she’d found amongst the scribbled notes and other rubbish that was in the drawer. Why would Gary Jamieson pay Daniel Mulenga money into a UK bank account? As much as she pondered, Marion couldn’t think of one legitimate reason. She also knew she’d have to figure this one out without the help of Val – when it came to Gary Jamieson, her friend’s judgement could not be trusted.
*****
Mary didn’t notice the fine quality of the transparent white negligee she wore as Tamara led her to the room where she was to be taught her trade. She was shaking nervously and wondered if she would be allowed to leave when they discovered she wasn’t a virgin. She doubted it very much. It occurred to her that if she was no good, or if they discovered she wasn’t pure, they would get rid of her rather than returning her to the orphanage. Mary wanted to survive to inflict as much damage as possible so put her fears to the back of her mind and hurriedly thought of the first part of her survival plan.
*****
Claire tried her utmost not to panic as she fought with all her might. She knew it was a battle she couldn’t win but was determined not to go down without a fight. She’d dispensed with some of them but that gave her scant satisfaction as for every hand that she was able to get rid of, at least another two had appeared in its place. The teenager seemed to be directing proceedings but didn’t appear to be actively involved. Perhaps if she tried to get to him she’d scare off the weaker ones and have a better chance. He was very near to her face and smiling a triumphant smile. Claire thought for a moment that it was unlady-like but had been very effective when she’d seen it on a dramatisation once about one of the rougher places in England. She stopped struggling with the hands and returned his smile. He was confused for a second and she thrusted her head forward violently. The butt took him completely by surprise and he yelled and disappeared into the ether. Christ that hurt, thought Claire with satisfaction. She was still amazed that she could feel such horrendous physical pain even though she was dead. A few of the hands drifted away and she managed to gain some height. Her satisfaction soon disappeared when the teenager reappeared and ordered his minions to double their efforts. The hands multiplied and she was jolted as the direction changed and the journey downwards speeded up.
The teenager knew exactly who she was and recalled the occasion when he’d encountered her before and because of her strong guardians, had run away with his tail between his legs. He’d also heard the rumours about her talents and knew that the rewards for presenting his catch to his masters would be innumerable. But before that he wanted to get his own back and Claire had to suffer the indignity of the teenager’s hands exploring regions that had not been explored since her final night with her fiancé, Jay. Her struggles were useless but she couldn’t let him humiliate her without making an effort to stop him.
Gabriella took in the scene and wondered if they were too late, the evils were travelling quickly and the gates of Hell were in sight. The nearer they got the harder the task and the more likelihood of failure. She shook off the thoughts and concentrated on the job in hand. An idea was formulating and she turned to Raphael to give him instructions. He was way ahead and had separated from the rest, despite the risk to his own safety. Like a bolt of lighting he crashed through the atmosphere, determined to cause as much chaos as possible and to save the damsel in distress.
The shock of the violence had initially forestalled her aggressors but had eventually strengthened them. Claire remembered the love circle she had shared with Raphael and Ron and despite the pain and discomfort, squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on only good memories of love and happiness. She felt a whoosh and a lessening of hands and tried to push down the smugness brought on by a faint hope that her plan was actually starting to work. Claire had a sensation of hovering between two worlds and realised that this must have been what both Sandy and Ken before her felt when rescued by Gabriella. The penny still hadn’t dropped and she decided to risk a peep, opening one eye slowly and scanning the area. The white clothed black angel whooshed past her, lighting up the dark atmosphere as he did so. Claire’s mouth hung open as Raphael’s head made contact with the teenager she now thought of as Big Ed’s son. Both angel and demon disappeared into the atmosphere and knowing for definite that there was hope, Claire doubled her efforts, thinking only pleasant, loving thoughts. Gentle hands groped and found hers and she was now part of a circle of goodness with Gabriella, Ron and Sandy. Sandy had been terrified of returning towards hell but had fought the demons in her memory and had bravely accepted the challenge.
They made slow and steady progress and all except Gabriella started to relax. They realised their mistake when a roar of biblical proportions shook their circle and the air around them. Looking down they saw a regiment of demons and their animal slaves heading purposefully and determinedly upwards towards them.
‘Concentrate!’ screamed Gabriella as she led the circle upwards towards safety as fast as she could. She tried to hide her fear but Claire sensed it straight away and it wasn’t long before Ron and Sandy picked up on their emotions.
‘Oh, no,’ Sandy wailed and was inconsolable.
Gabriella would meet the worst fate – it had been centuries since the evils had captured their last high-level angel Zach, and he was kept down there, not giving them the opportunity to rescue him. As far as Gabriella knew he might be tortured on a daily basis or even be a slave of the evils. What she did know for definite was that he hadn’t turned to the evil side.
She shuddered as she saw the enemy gaining on them.
Salvation arrived in a timely fashion. As the evils neared, the whoosh of light returned and like a rocket, Raphael hit them from below and propelled the circle upwards. They gained strength as the distance between them and their evil enemy grew and they were able to slow down and watch the demons fall back to hell as if being pushed off invisible ladders. They were too shaken to appreciate the punishment that the demons would receive having been so near to, but now lost their great prize.
Claire was shaking as she threw herself into Raphael’s body. The impact winded him but he recovered enough to hold her, his soothing words caressing like hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night.
‘I thought they had me,’ she gulped. ‘I thought that was it... for eternity,’ she broke away, embarrassed at the lack of control over her emotions. ‘Thank you, Raphael, I will never forget this as long as... well, for all eternity.’ She was almost back to her old self and turned when she heard Ron cou
gh.
‘Thank you too, Ron, Gabriella and Sandy. It was so brave of you all, especially you, Sandy... I...’ she’d lost control again and Raphael pulled her into a hug. Facing the others with Claire’s head hidden in his shoulder he loosened one arm from around her back and shooed them away with his hand.
Back in Cherussola, Gabriella settled Ron and Sandy on the settee and told them to expect a debriefing when Raphael and Claire returned. She left them there to comfort each other and disappeared. The episode had shaken Gabriella more than she cared to admit and she wanted to talk to her brother and Claire before going off to lick her wounds in private. She found them shortly after, arms around each other. Before it became too embarrassing to watch, Gabriella gave a gentle cough to make them aware of her presence.
Totally absorbed with each other, they jumped when they heard the noise.
‘Sorry to disturb you but we need to talk...’
‘I was just comforting Claire. You can see how upset she is.’
So that’s what they called it. ‘I can see that. But before you get too err... comfortable, we need to explain some things to Claire if she’s going to have a bigger role in our fight against evil.’
That was news to Claire and there was no way she wanted to encounter the evil spirits any time soon. Their sheer number had surprised her, and she had convinced herself that they would prevail and eventually their evil would overcome any good that Gabriella, Raphael and the other good spirits could muster.
Gabriella explained that her fear was a normal and expected reaction after what she’d just experienced.
