Jenny leaned back in her chair, and rubbed her bump.
“Nonsense, Tilly. Look at you, you have been through hell and come through it. Okay so you have problems, hell, who hasn’t. I mean I’m not exactly the greatest catch am I, Christ I didn’t even pass my exams at school.”
“Really, you were always the smartest out of the four of us,” Matilda remarked. Jenny laughed.
“Yeah well unfortunately I discovered boys and you weren’t there to make me see sense, and well that, as they say was that. I went to college, and re-sat them and thankfully passed. That’s where I met Jase, we had a whirlwind romance, went to Vegas, and got married, and well the rest is history.” She patted her bump.
“Do you know what it is?” Matilda asked.
“No, we want it to be a surprise. I think it’s a boy, as it’s always kicking the hell out of me!” Matilda laughed.
“Do you want some cake, I have chocolate?” she asked, standing up.
“Ooh yes please, and another cuppa if there’s one going?”
“Of course, there is,” Matilda replied, picking up both their mugs.
They spent the next couple of hours catching up on their lives and re-living the memories of their childhood up until Matilda had left. They spoke no more of demons, and Matilda kept the recent attack by the demon and her ghost to herself. She didn’t want to frighten Jenny nor come across as a raving lunatic!
“Ouch!” Jenny moaned, and she grabbed her bump.
“What’s wrong are you okay?” Matilda asked in concern.
“It felt like something prodded me,” she complained. “Oh great, now the baby’s kicking the life out of me!”
Matilda glanced around the kitchen, she felt uneasy.
“Does it hurt?” Matilda asked.
“A little, don’t worry I’m used to it. Let’s just say I’ll be glad to get this little devil out of me.” She looked at Matilda when she realised what she had said. “Sorry no pun intended,” she added.
“It’s okay,” Matilda replied with a laugh and a slight shake of her head. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I think I’ll be making a move if that’s okay. I suddenly feel really drained, and I think I need a nap.” Matilda stood as she did.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Matilda asked again with concern.
“Don’t worry, believe me this is quite normal,” she said rubbing her bump and then holding the base of her spine with her hand. “Part and parcel of being pregnant I’m afraid.” They exchanged phone numbers and Jenny picked up her handbag and took out her car keys. She gave an involuntary shudder as she walked across the hallway.
“God, did you feel that, it went suddenly cold. Matilda no offence but your house is mega creepy.”
“I know, you don’t have to tell me that, Jen,” she said to her friend as her eyes scanned the staircase. “Hopefully the renovation will sort that out.”
She had felt the chill as well and she was anxious for her friend to leave. They hugged each other goodbye, and Matilda stood on the doorstep waving her off.
Jenny opened the car window, stuck out her hand and waved as she drove off.
Matilda waved back, watching as she manoeuvred her blue Cleo down the long drive. All of a sudden, the car swerved off the drive, it sped forward and smashed into a tree.
“Jenny!” Matilda screamed. A cold sweat of fear swept through her body and she shot down the stairs. As she ran, she diverted to Mike’s cabin. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
“Mike, help me, Jenny’s crashed her car!” she screamed. She didn’t wait for him to reply but shot back out and ran down the drive.
Mike was on the phone ordering some supplies when the door to his porta-cabin flew open and Matilda screamed at him. Parker began barking.
“Parker shut up,” he yelled. “Matilda, what, what’s happened?” he asked, but she was gone.
“Stay Parker,” he ordered his dog, and he ran out after her.
“Holy shit!” he yelled, when he saw the car smashed into a tree.
“Carlos, Steve!” he yelled when he saw them. “Call an ambulance.” He pointed down the drive, and at once, the two men dashed after him. Steve was already on his mobile.
“Jenny, Jenny, oh my God, Jen,” Matilda gasped breathlessly as she reached the car. She tugged at the handle of the door. Inside Jenny was still, and even though the airbag had deployed, blood ran down her forehead.
Matilda pulled and tugged at the handle trying to open the door but it wouldn’t budge.
“Mike, I can’t get it open, quickly, she’s pregnant, oh my God, Jen!” she wept, tears coursing down her cheeks.
“Move,” Mike ordered, pushing her out of the way. Mike pulled at the handle.
“Come on!” he screamed at it, yanking it hard. The door flew open. Matilda pushed him out of the way.
“Jenny, honey, are you okay? Oh God, Mike she’s - she’s not dead is she?” Matilda cried, when her friend’s eyes remained closed.
“Let me see,” Mike said. He lifted his hand to her neck.
“No, there’s still a pulse, she’s unconscious.”
“Mike, what’s that?” Matilda cried, pointing.
Mile lifted his hand and touched Jenny’s skirt.
“I think her waters have broken.”
“Oh God – no, Mike the baby!” Matilda sobbed. “We have to get her out.” Matilda went to remove her seatbelt.
“No, leave her, the car’s not burning, we shouldn’t move her in case she’s injured.”
“What about the baby!”
“What can we do, Matilda?” he asked, giving her an understanding look.
“I don’t know!” She pursed her lips as she tried to hold onto her tears.
“Is she okay?” Steve asked as he, Carlos and a few other men from the crew arrived.
“No, she’s unconscious,” Matilda, replied.
“No, she’s unconscious,” Steve, repeated down his mobile.
“She’s pregnant and we think her waters have broken,” Mike said, when he realised Mike was speaking to the emergency services. Steve repeated what Mike had said.
“How many months is she?” Steve asked.
Mike looked at Matilda.
“Erm, eight,” she said, and she pursed her lips together.
“Eight,” Steve repeated. “Yes, okay, yes there is okay, thank you,” Steve, said while still staying on the line, he turned to Matilda and Mike.
“They’re sending the helicopter, we need to clear the front lawn. They’re about five minutes away.”
“Oh, thank, God,” Matilda said, and she perched on the edge of the car seal and took hold of Jenny’s hand.
“Come on, honey, stay with us okay,” she said, gently rubbing her friend’s hand.
Matilda couldn’t believe this was happening nor could she understand for the life of her why Jenny had swerved off the drive like that.
“I hear the helicopter,” Mike said, and all eyes looked skywards.
Within minutes, the paramedics were at the scene.
“What’s her name?” One asked.
“Jenny,” Matilda replied, as Mike pulled her reluctantly out of the way.
“She’ll be okay,” Mike tried to assure as Matilda wept in his arms.
“Jenny, can you hear me, my name’s Tom?” the paramedic asked as he reached into the car.
As the paramedics examined her, Jenny came around.
Matilda jumped and lurched forward at her friend’s sudden cry, but Mike held her back.
“Mike,” she protested.
“Let them see to her,” he said, lifting a hand to her face and sweeping back her long dark hair from her sodden eyes.
“It’s okay Jenny, your baby still has a heartbeat.” She heard a paramedic say. “Can you tell us what happened?” the paramedic asked, in an attempt to calm her.
“There were six women in white standing in the drive,” Jenny sobbed. “I don’t know, I can’t remember… M
y baby, please don’t let him die.”
“Mike, did you hear her?” Matilda asked, her eyes shooting to his.
“I did, but I think she’s disorientated, Matilda,” he said. Matilda shook her head. No, no, she wasn’t’ this was her fault. The woman she had seen last night said there were seven of them. She should never have let Jenny come to the Hall.
“It’s my fault,” she muttered, her body trembling against his.
“It’s not your fault, Matilda, she had an accident. How is that your fault?”
“It just is, I shouldn’t have let her come here,” she sobbed.
“Can you get rid of the crowd?” the paramedic said looking at Mike and Matilda.
“Yes, why what’s happening is she alright, is the baby alright?” Matilda asked.
“Yes, at the moment, but we need to deliver it, now,” he said, his voice urgent.
“Oh shit, Mike,” Matilda said.
“Okay lads, we need to give them room. Go back to the Hall,” Mike ordered waving his hands at them. “You too Steve, they’re delivering the baby.”
“Oh hell,” he muttered. “Come on you heard him, get moving!” Steve yelled, ushering his workforce away from the scene.
An ambulance with all bells blazing came up the drive, and parked next to them. Mike grabbed Matilda’s hand and pulled her out of the way as they stretchered Jenny into the ambulance.
“Are you okay?” Mike asked, taking her once again into his arms. Matilda shook her head.
“Mike, what if the baby dies,” she said with a sob.
“It won’t, they got here in time you’ll see they’ll both be fine.”
Thirty minutes later she heard Jenny scream. Matilda buried her face into Mike’s chest, the sound torturous to her ears. When they heard the encouraging words of the paramedic telling her to push, they both took an anticipated step towards the ambulance.
“Oh thank God,” Matilda wept as the sound of a baby crying came from within the ambulance. Oh please, please let Jenny be okay, she begged to herself. Another twenty minutes later, the back door opened and a paramedic came out. He chatted to the helicopter crew who nodded and then departed.
Matilda pulled herself from Mike’s arms.
“Please, what’s happening is my friend okay, is the baby okay?” she begged.
“They’re both okay, but we need to get them to the hospital.”
“Can I see her?” she asked her face fraught.
“Two minutes,” he replied.
Matilda climbed into the back of the ambulance, and Jenny lay with a bundle in her arms.
“Jenny,” she said. Jenny glanced at her. She gave her a smile.
“It’s a boy, Tilly,” she said. Matilda smiled and wiped her eyes.
“Are you okay,” she asked, as her friend looked pale and weak. Jenny nodded and turned the baby slightly so she could see. Matilda brought her hands to her heart, tears welling in her eyes as she saw a tiny glimpse of his face.
“We have to go,” the paramedic told her as he drew alongside her. Matilda nodded.
“I’ll see you in the hospital,” Jenny said stepping outside.
“St Ryales,” the paramedic added as he closed the door.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Matilda groaned, as they watched the ambulance head slowly down the overgrown drive.
“Come on I’ll make you a cup of tea,” Mike offered. She nodded, and walked with him back to the Hall.
She sat down at the kitchen table.
Mike glanced at her. She looked wrecked.
“They’ll both be okay,” he reassured as he filled the kettle.
“I just can’t believe it happened or how it happened. What she said, about those women.”
“Maybe she fainted, that can happen with pregnant women,” he said, and he walked to the fridge and took out the milk. Matilda thought for a moment.
“She did say she didn’t feel very well,” Matilda said, glancing to him.
“There see, I’m sure that’s what happened,” he replied, pouring the water into the mugs.
“Yes, you’re probably right. Poor Jenny, and poor Jase, he wasn’t there to see his son born.”
“I’m sure he will just be relieved that they are both alive, Matilda.” He chucked the t-bags into the sink.
“I just feel bad that it happened here. I should have gone to her house. What was I thinking making her drive all the way out here in her condition?”
“Matilda, stop it,” Mike said, putting the mugs on the table and sitting down.
“Stop what?” she asked.
“Blaming yourself, it’s not your fault. If she didn’t want to drive over she would have asked you to go to hers first.”
“I suppose so,” she said. She lifted the mug to her lips and sipped it. “This is good, thank you,” she said.
He watched her, and his heart felt for her. He wanted nothing more than to give her a hug, a kiss – to reassure her that everything would be okay.
“Give them an hour or so and I’ll take you up the hospital if you want,” he offered.
“Really?” she said, her eyes lifting to his.
“Of course,” Mike replied, and as his eyes settled on hers, his heart did a little skip. He knew he would do anything for her if it made her happy.
“Thank you, Mike,” she said, her eyes still held by his. For a moment, they gazed at each other.
A knock at the door interrupted their gaze and they both looked away embarrassed.
Matilda got up and walked to the door.
“Hi, Steve,” she said.
“Me, and lads were just wondering if she was okay.”
“Steve, I’m so sorry we should have said. Yes, as far as we know she is fine, and she had a little boy.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Erm, me and the lads had a little whip around, and well we thought you could buy her some flowers or something,” he said, and he held out a bundle of notes. “It’s not much, thirty quid, but most of us don’t carry cash.”
“Steve, that’s so sweet of you all. Thank you – wow, thank you.” Matilda took the money and Steve gave her a nod of his head.
“Well, best get back to work,” he said, and he turned about and hurried down the steps. She looked on after him and smiled. What a lovely bunch of guys; she thought and she closed the door.
“You’ll never guess what,” she said as she walked back to the kitchen. Mike looked up at her.
“What?” he asked.
“Your guys had a whip round for Jenny and they gave me thirty pounds to buy her some flowers.”
“That’s great,” he said with a grin.
“Mike, do you think we could leave now and stop off at Mothercare in town? I want to get something for the baby.”
“Sure we can,” he said, and he stood.
“Can you just give me five minutes to tidy myself up?” she asked.
“Okay, I’ll meet you by the van.” She nodded and walked with him across the foyer. He went out the front door and she hurried upstairs to the bathroom.
Matilda stared at her reflection in the mirror and she looked terrible. Her eyes were bloodshot and she felt exhausted. She filled the sink with cold water and splashed her face. Dabbing it with a towel, she quickly applied some light foundation and mascara, finishing off with a pink lip-gloss.
She ran a brush through her hair, and squirted herself with some perfume. Taking a deep breath Matilda stared at herself. Please, please let the baby and Jenny be okay, she begged. She flicked the light switch off and headed downstairs. She grabbed her coat from the hook in the hallway, and just as she was putting it on, she noticed the door to the playroom was open.
Matilda walked to it and peered inside; her eyes scanning the room, they stopped on the easel. She flicked the light on. Her eyes glanced around once more before she walked towards it.
Lifting a hand, she touched the paper that was pinned to the easel. Yesterday there was nothing on it and today something had drawn a child-lik
e painting of a car smashing into a tree and in the distance were six stick figures and scrawled across the front were the words…. Rockabye baby.
Matilda glanced around the room again, and anger rose through her body. She snatched the painting off the easel and screwed it up. Throwing it angrily to the floor, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
She said nothing to Mike about the painting while they shopped in Mothercare. Instead, she let the scenario run through her mind over and over again. Until she found the underlying cause of all of this, she was not going to invite anyone back to the Hall.
She brought five of the smallest baby grows she could find, three little hats, a blue blanket, and a teddy bear. They stopped off at the florist, and Mike chipped in another twenty pounds and they brought a huge bouquet of flowers from him and the lads.
Matilda was anxious as they entered the maternity wing of the hospital, worried in case something terrible had happened in the ambulance. She gripped the carrier bag with the baby clothes inside tightly in her hands as they approached the front desk.
“Hello, I’m looking for my friend, Jenny Cravell. She came in a couple of hours ago by ambulance. We were hoping we could just pop in and see her and – and the baby?” she asked apprehensively.
The nurse looked down her list and nodded.
“She is in A ward. Down the corridor and to the right, you have half an hour left of visiting time,” she informed them.
“Thank you,” Matilda said.
As they entered the A wing, Matilda saw Jenny in the far corner. There was a man sat next to her holding her hand but she couldn’t see the baby.
“Mike, where’s the baby?” Matilda whispered anxiously.
“I don’t know, Matilda,” he replied.
“What, what if he died,” she mumbled. “What do I say, what do I do?” she asked, her hand grabbing hold of his arm.
“Matilda, there’s only one way to find out,” he said gently giving her lower back a quick rub.
“I know,” she replied, and she took a deep breath and made her way towards them.
Jenny looked up and saw them approaching. She smiled.
“Hi honey, how are you?” Matilda asked as they approached the bed.
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