by KT King
Chapter 24
~ * ~
Such a welcome awaited the friends back at the Café! All the searchers had assembled to eat bacon butties and to dry off. There was relief and exaltation that Alice had been found safe and sound, but there was also a tinge of sadness. Some people thought that no matter how evil Marcus had been, the loss of a human life was a terrible and regrettable thing. Some people thought that the world was a safer place without Marcus Finch in it, and some people didn’t really think about it at all.
Tambo wouldn’t let go of Alice’s hand, and she even had to drink her hot chocolate with one hand on her mug and the other hand in his! She needed a hot bath and Tambo stood outside the bathroom door, like a sentry guarding his queen. He insisted that Alice sleep over.
Alice didn’t want to talk about what had happened just yet. She was too tired and she was starting to feel sore from her fall. She was glad to take arnica and Rescue Remedy® and she willingly let Sophie mend her aura with some Rainbow Rescuer. She also asked Sophie to do the Bubble Meditation with her before bed.
“You can always talk to me or Lucy about anything that you are frightened or worried about,” Sophie told her, as she tucked her in. “You know that, don’t you? You can tell us or ask us anything, anything at all!”
Alice nodded, as she snuggled down into her deliciously soft feather pillow. “Lilly showed me the way out behind the statues.”
“Did she?” Sophie smiled. “Then she really is your guardian angel.”
“So are you,” Alice said, “You were there too!”
“I was,” Sophie nodded. “You are never alone Alice, even when you feel or think you are. There are always angels and fairies with you, and they are just a thought away.”
Sophie closed the bedroom door behind her and then lent back against it. That was a close shave, she thought to herself. For some reason, Alice escaped and was saved today. She thought about what Dr G had said about Alice being a portal guardian and felt a shiver of fear go through her body. Are all the portal guardians in danger of being attacked, possibly killed? This is getting serious! Too close for comfort. It’s one thing when you are fighting the darkness in the astral realms, but another when it starts being three dimensional. What if Robert doesn’t regain consciousness? What if the angels are not able to save him? Little Eden will be sold, and the portal left unguarded and there will be nothing anyone can do about it.
~ * ~
On Russell Street, a rain storm was raging outside the windows of the warm and brightly lit hospital room, in which Robert was lying. Calming music was playing in the background, as smartly dressed nurses padded silently, in soft soled shoes, up and down the corridors, carrying clip boards and whispering to each other in hushed tones. Only the sudden crash of rain against windows gave any indication of the wildness going on beyond its smooth pastel walls and highly polished floors.
In a private room, filled with shiny new machines of the most up to date technology, Robert lay unconscious on billowing pillows and immaculately crisp white sheets. He looked pale yet serene.
A policeman, dressed in a jet black uniform, stood guard on the door. Until Marcus’ death was declared an accident, the Inspector of New Scotland Yard wanted Robert under surveillance, just in case he woke up and made a run for it!
Jennifer sat on a plastic chair by his bed, moaning at the cheapness of the decor and asking anyone who would listen, if the price of the treatment was covered by their insurance. She was continually asking an unconscious Robert why it was taking so long for Collins to arrive!
Eventually, Varsity came into the room and Jennifer’s face lit up, but her expression immediately soured when she realised that Varsity wasn’t with Collins, but that she had Shilty Cunningham in tow instead.
“Where is Collins?” Jennifer demanded. “I’ve been here half an hour already! Robert could be dead and his brother is not here to see him! Where is he? Did you see that policeman on the door? Treating Robert as if he were a common criminal! It’s too much! What if anyone should find out?”
Varsity tried to calm Jennifer down with various platitudes, telling her that Collins was talking with one of the doctors at reception.
Shilty went over to Robert’s bedside. She tried her hardest to cry, but in reality found that she felt very little emotion.
Jennifer retold the story of what had happened at the lake to Varsity and Shilty. The story was already second hand, as Jennifer had had it from the policeman, so by the time it reached Shilty’s ears it was a far more romantic version of events than had actually happened.
Shilty smiled to herself. Robert being a knight in shining armour sent him up in her estimation. A hero! She thought to herself. Now, I do like that! It’ll be in the papers. When he wakes up we could do an exclusive for one of the magazines. She squeezed Robert’s hand in approval, and was, for a few moments at least, genuinely sad to see him injured and unconscious, but within a few minutes she was getting rather bored.
Twenty minutes later, Collins came nonchalantly through the door.
“Where have you been?” Jennifer exclaimed. “It’s hopeless! The nurses don’t care and I haven’t even been offered a cup of coffee!”
Collins told them that the Registrar did not hold out much hope for Robert, and looking at his brother, lying deathly pale in the bed, he wondered if he would ever wake up. “You know Robert,” Collins said. “He might rally round yet, Mother.” Although, he was thinking that was what he was supposed to say, rather than actually believing it.
Jennifer screeched, “Don’t be ridiculous! He’s dying! Look at him! The doctor thinks he is dead already! Oh, my poor boy! No mother should have to watch their child die! And it is very inconvenient. I had a lunch date, which I shall have to cancel now!”
“Go and get Mother a coffee will you?” Collins told Varsity. “In fact, why don’t you both go to the coffee machine? I saw one in reception.” He gave Varsity some change from his trouser pocket. “That’s it, off you both go!”
Varsity didn’t want to go, but she didn’t like to upset Jennifer anymore than she was already. She carefully led Jennifer out of the room by the elbow, as if she were aged one hundred and three, and on the point of dying herself.
Collins looked at his brother for a few moments and wondered how much the funeral would cost, and how long it would be until he could take full control of the Trust. Then he smiled at Shilty. “Come here, gorgeous!” he said, pulling her playfully off her chair towards him.
“Not here!” Shilty giggled.
“Why not?” Collins grinned.
Shilty motioned her head towards Robert.
“Oh, he can’t hear a thing!” Collins said, kissing her. “The doctor said it could be days, weeks even, before he wakes up, if at all!” Collins kissed her neck and slipped his hand down into her ample cleavage beneath her white t-shirt.
Shilty pretended to try and push him away, but she didn’t try all that hard. “We mustn’t!” she repeated. “Not here!”
Collins carried on groping her and started to undo his zipper.
“Stop it!” Shilty giggled.
Collins was not going to listen to her feeble protestations, but he suddenly found he had to stop his fumbling anyway as the door opened and Varsity returned, with Jennifer, from reception.
“The machine’s not working,” Varsity told them. Luckily for everyone (or perhaps unluckily, who knows) Varsity’s attention was on Jennifer, and she was unaware that Shilty was unceremoniously stuffing her boobs back into her bra, or that Collins was discreetly zipping himself back up.
“This always happens to me!” Jennifer wailed, sitting back down in her uncomfortable chair. “My son is a murderer and now he’s dead, and the coffee machine isn’t working, and I was supposed to be having lunch with the Moppets.”
“There’s nothing more we can do here!” Collins said, a little
exasperated because he was still feeling horny. “Let’s take Mother home. Shilty, why don’t you come too?”
“We can’t leave Robert all on his own!” Varsity protested. “What if he wakes up and there is no one here?”
Collins shrugged. “I’m sure he can cope. Besides, he isn’t going anywhere. Except, maybe, to prison or to Heaven.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Shilty offered, a little reluctantly. But, before anyone could leave, Stella Dew rushed into the room, threw her handbag onto one of the chairs, narrowly missing Jennifer, and went straight over to a sleeping Robert.
“Oh! My darling boy!” Stella whispered over and over to him, as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You are safe, you are in hospital and we are all here. You are safe. You are safe.” She looked up at the others, who all looked rather embarrassed by her display of real emotion, but she was not ashamed, not in the least. “How is he? What did the doctor say?” Stella’s face was pale with anxiety and fear at the possibility of hearing bad news.
“All we can do is wait and see if he wakes up or not. If he does wake up, we won’t know whether he can walk, talk or shit by himself,” Collins said grumpily, rather annoyed at Stella’s over dramatic show of affection towards his brother. “Personally, if it was me lying there, I wouldn’t want to wake up if that’s the case, and I’d rather have the plug pulled on me right now!”
Stella ignored Collins and reached over and squeezed Jennifer’s hand. “You must be so relieved Robert survived. I am sure he will pull through,” she said, sympathetically.
Jennifer shrugged and stood up to leave. “I am! I am Stella dear, I am! But I am so tired with it all! It’s all so upsetting! Now you are here, Stella dear, we can go. You will stay with my boy, won’t you? I can’t bear to see him like this! It’s too upsetting!”
“Of course! I will stay till he wakes up. I will stay with him as long as it takes!” Stella replied, and started to rearrange his pillows. She tucked in the already tucked-in bed sheets, smoothing them down the best she could. “You will wake up very soon, won’t you, my darling boy? Very soon.”
For the next few days, Stella made the hospital her home. Stella was sure in her heart that she must stay by Robert’s side, and must not, under any circumstances, leave the hospital. She had a sense of needing to protect him from something, but she wasn’t sure what that something was. She also had a morbid fear of Robert dying alone and she dreaded his death with no less fear and pain than a true mother would.
~ * ~
Back in Little Eden, gossip about Robert’s critical condition had broken out. Fortunately, no one had gotten wind of the plan to sell Little Eden, but it didn’t take long for the conspiracy theories to circulate - thanks to Derren Cox - the local troll from the Tom Thumb Alley tobacconist shop. He claimed that Robert was already dead and that Lancelot was pretending he was alive in order to save Little Eden from falling under the control of his brother Collins. Another theory was the exact opposite: Robert was alive but going to be charged with the murder of Marcus Finch, so Lancelot was going to pretend that Robert had died. That way, he could flee the country to somewhere without an extradition treaty. The man in the hospital bed was a look-alike decoy of course!
After a few more days, the gossip grew old, and instead of the sound of chatter on every street corner, an eerie hush and a slightly creepy silence fell over the small town. The place became almost deserted. The shops and the lanes seemed abandoned. Residents spoke only in whispers. Fear had set in.
One evening, up at the Café apartment, the girls were interrupted by a knock on the conservatory door. Standing outside in the cold were Peony and Vincent.
Peony had been too scared to face Linnet for the last few days, and certainly not on her own, so she had persuaded Vincent to accompany her, just in case things got nasty. Unwelcome as Peony was, English politeness prevailed and Lucy graciously offered them both a cup of tea.
Peony did her best to apologise, but Linnet was so angry with her that she stormed out of the room before Peony could finish her speech. Lucy was just glad that Linnet had not thrown her bottle of red wine across the room - she looked as if she might have done at one point. The cream carpet and sofa would have been a bugger to clean afterwards!
Peony and Vincent sat gloomily huddled together, tucking into a batch of freshly baked and very colourful macaroons, which Lucy had placed on the coffee table for them. Peony, in between nibbling on her macaroons, continued to apologise, “I am so sorry I didn’t listen to you!” Peony told them. “You warned me about Marcus and I wouldn’t listen! I don’t know what came over me. I don’t usually do things like that. I’m so, so, sorry.”
“I think it may be a long time before Linnet can forgive you,” Sophie told Peony.
“But, I need her to forgive me!” Peony moaned, helping herself to more macaroons.
“People don’t forgive on cue!” Sophie replied. “You’ll have to wait until she is ready.”
“But I feel so awful!” Peony lamented. “I mean, how was I to know that he would do such a terrible thing?”
“Perhaps the fact that he tried to murder Linnet seven years ago, and that he had just come out of prison, and that we told you he was dangerous? I think those things might have been the tip off?” Minnie replied, unable to control her anger. Lucy suggested she went to check on Linnet and ushered Minnie out of the room
Peony looked upset again. “But I thought he was reformed!”
“Because he’d found God?” Sophie laughed sarcastically.
“I’m usually such a good judge of character!” Peony said, sadly shaking her head. “You said that, didn’t you Vincent, when you first met me, you said, ‘You are a good judge of character!’”
Vincent nodded in agreement and sipped his tea.
“Really?” Sophie said in disbelief. “Vincent said that to you did he?”
Vincent glared at Sophie and motioned with his hand across his throat several times, trying to let her know not to say anymore.
“For f*cks sake!” Sophie exclaimed, exasperated. “If you are such a good judge of character Peony, here’s something else you should know. Vincent here isn’t gay! He’s married with two kids and a Doberman pincher.”
“Anymore to drink, anyone? Another macaroon? There’s plenty!” Lucy interjected, trying to break the tension by offering the plate around.
Peony looked at Vincent in amazement. “You’re not gay?” she exclaimed. “But, you are so…”
Vincent looked sheepish and annoyed at the same time. “You bitch!” he said to Sophie, with an extravagant flourish.
Peony was aghast. “Why would you tell me you were gay, if you’re not?”
Vincent shrugged and looked daggers at Sophie. “I never said I was gay,” Vincent replied. “It’s just, I found out years ago that I got hairdressing jobs more easily if I put on the ‘act’ and it kind of went from there.”
“But, why did you lie to me?” Peony asked, still flabbergasted.
“I didn’t exactly lie, you just assumed!” Vincent said, in his defence.
Sophie smiled. “Your Law of Attraction is not looking quite so attractive now, is it, Peony? Better be careful what you wish for, in the future!”
Peony burst into tears and Vincent hugged her. “We’d better go,” he said, feeling slightly embarrassed and harassed. “Come on, Boo,” he said to Peony. “We know where we are not wanted!”
Lucy politely showed them both to the door, but when she came back to the kitchen area and started to clear away the cups, she said to her sister, “You were really cruel to Peony. Vincent is right. You can be a bitch sometimes.”
Sophie looked hurt. “Well, she annoys me so much with her ‘I bring my own luck!’ and her ‘I made so and so happen because I wished for it bullshit! Oh, look! I just manifested a new dishwasher! I manifested my own business because I put it on a vision board.
’ Well! She manifested a right old mess this time!”
“It’s a mess alright!” Lucy sighed. “I wonder if Peony will ever be able to trust a man ever again, and I don’t think Linnet will ever get over this, or poor Alice!”
“Alice will be okay,” Sophie reassured Lucy. “Once the Star Child Academy opens she will start to put this all behind her. She has an ability to forgive that I have never seen so strongly embedded in anyone else. She is a star child, remember.”
“Maybe you could take a leaf out of Alice’s book and forgive Peony?” Lucy suggested. “Besides, you would normally say that Peony had no choice in what she did in regards to Marcus. Isn’t it bad love-karma that makes us do stupid things in relationships?”
Sophie looked at Lucy who was checking her phone to see if Jimmy had txted her, “Ain’t that the truth!” Sophie said and sighed.
~ * ~
A while later, Lancelot arrived, along with India and Miss Huggins, but with no good news about Robert and even worse news about the sale of Little Eden.
“Shaft, Pencill and Push have started court proceedings already!” India said indignantly, helping herself to a glass of Linnet’s wine.
“But how can they, with Robert in a coma?” Lucy asked.
“That is exactly why they have pounced!” India replied. She put down the wine. She had an awful feeling that if she didn’t watch it, she might end up like Linnet, in a constant state of drunkenness, in order to avoid the stress.
“Robin Shaft persuaded Jennifer and Collins that they could capitalise on Robert’s condition, and if he is not compos mentis within sixty days, they can take control of the Trust.”
“No way!” Lucy exclaimed.
“Yes, way!” India responded. “The greedy bastards are going to take Little Eden whilst Robert lies there dying.”
“He isn’t dying,” Lucy said, hoping if she believed it, it would be true. “He will wake up, just you wait and see.”
