Everything (ARC)

by Catherine Miller

  ‘There isn’t planning permission as yet. The previous owner didn’t get round to getting any plans submitted. He did, however, get a change-of-use put in place. There is permission for this to become a residential property. I’ve spoken to the local planning department and they’ve said that as long as the plans are more or less within the footprint of this current building and you don’t come up against too many objections, then permission will be granted. It’s obviously a risk with buying the property, but I’m confident it would go through. This is a golden opportunity, but I know there is absolutely nothing here that’s on your list of required needs, so it was a hunch. Was my hunch right?’

  Tabitha grinned and then spun around with her phone light dazzling each corner as she went. This was a wayward dream… An impossibility. But as she spun and spun she already knew what she wanted to create here.

  ‘This. Is. My. Home.’

  ‘Ha ha! I knew it!’ David looped her arm and the pair of them skipped in circles with their lights dancing off every part of the damp space. And they carried on skipping until they were both dizzy and coughing and breathless with the exertion.

  When they stopped, Tabitha doubled over, placing her hands on her knees, taking a moment to catch her breath again. She was filled with so many emotions at once she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  She’d forgotten what euphoria felt like. Ever since Andy had gone she’d been existing in a cloud of numbness. She’d not wanted life to move on, she realised, even though it had to.

  And she’d not truly known what she had wanted. In every house or flat she’d visited, there had been something missing. And how did you ever find that thing when it was an impossible ask? When the thing that was missing was the person who was gone?

  Here she was in something that had never been a home and was nowhere close to being one. And yet this was the place.

  It was where she would revive.

  There was one life she would never get back, however much she wished the path of time was changeable. Andy was gone. But here… Here was a building she would be able to bring back to life. And she needed to manage to do that at least once in her lifetime.

  Thirty-Eight

  Now

  Luna’s eyes were still a beautiful dusty grey, as if they hadn’t quite decided what colour they were going to become yet. In the past few days she’d started to become more aware, beginning to take in the world.

  Tabitha was putting her down for some tummy time occasionally and it was lovely to observe. The health visitor had advised short supervised periods on her stomach to help improve Luna’s motor skills. She kept her hand nearby as Luna’s head bobbed up and down; her muscles not entirely certain of their role yet. It was amazing how even at this age Luna was so frenetic… Always on the move even though she was going nowhere. Every movement was like she was testing parts of herself out. Even though she was barely able to keep her head up, it didn’t stop her from attempting mini push-ups.

  Tabitha wondered how long it would be before she was on the move. From the textbooks she knew that crawling usually occurred from about six months onwards. When would Luna’s milestones be met? It already looked like she was keen on reaching them as soon as possible.

  Another head bob, this time nearly bopping the play mat, but Tabitha was there to make sure Luna was fine. The abrupt movement started up the familiar squawking.

  ‘Enough tummy time for today, hey? That was a good work out.’ For both of them it would seem, as Tabitha struggled to get up. She really did need to try and make more time for her yoga if that was the case.

  Once Luna was fed and settled, Tabitha decided to venture outside and do some work out in the front garden as the weather was so nice. The last few weeks had been a series of bright sunny days, followed by dramatic thunderstorms breaking the heat. The combination of sun and rain had fuelled the garden into abundance, but it always seemed to be the weeds that flourished the most.

  There had been light rainfall the previous night and Tabitha had hoped it would make the earth easier to tackle, but the dandelions were still being stubborn, refusing to come up as well as she’d like.

  It was nice to be occupying herself, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the non-discussions she’d had with the girls at Dreamland. She’d tried to find out what she could, but they were all keeping things from each other. She just wasn’t sure whether there was any harm in things remaining that way.

  She was part way through pulling up a dandelion when she first heard a strange humming sound.

  Its unfamiliarity left Tabitha on high alert. She abandoned the task in hand and returned inside, concerned something untoward was happening despite the noise not coming from the baby monitor.

  Tabitha checked on Luna first, who was sleeping peacefully. Then she moved onto the items that she’d expect to emit a low humming sound: the fridge, the fire alarm, the microwave. They were all fine as she listened hard to see where the noise was coming from.

  Tabitha followed it back out to the front garden and listened more intently. The buzzing reminded her of the hum of bees, only it was more electronic, but she searched the sky for a swarm of them moving themselves elsewhere. There was nothing to spot other than pale clouds patchworking across the blue sky.

  If it wasn’t that, perhaps the noise was more mechanical. Tabitha often heard the odd noise from Lewis’s garage. Maybe he had a new gadget and the sound was travelling. But it didn’t seem to be coming from that direction. Nor was it Sylvie wielding a new tool in her front garden.

  Tabitha sighed. ‘What the hell is making that racket?’

  There was no one about to answer the question, but the buzzing was getting so loud she felt like there must be someone around for her to ask.

  Again it seemed to become more intense and Tabitha started turning in circles, feeling like she was going insane. It sounded far too much like a huge wasp for her not to be fearful.

  On the second twirl and swatting at nothing, the source of the noise came into view from over her roof.

  It was a drone, hovering just a few metres above her head. There were four propellers causing the awful monotonous buzzing sound and the square-shaped vessel was getting closer.

  Close enough that she was able to recognise a camera-type device at the bottom. The sight of it brought about a fury she didn’t know she had within her. No doubt this was the device that had discovered the girls’ message in the field and then, presumably, sold the image to the press.

  And now here it was invading the privacy of her home. A horrible sense of invasion came over Tabitha, as if the drone was an army arriving uninvited to her property. Although in some ways, an army officer arriving at her door would be easier… At least then she’d be able to ask questions. Instead she was faced with something that she assumed had some anonymous person in control and that fact fired up emotions in her that she’d never had before.

  Tabitha grabbed her trough and waved it at the machine. ‘Go away. Bloody things!’

  The drone moved slightly left, then to the right, then lowered itself closer to her. Did the video carry sound? Would the person in control of the drone be able to hear her? She knew nowhere near enough about the technology to know the answers.

  If they were able to hear her they clearly weren’t paying any attention to what was being said. To prove that fact, the drone once again buzzed its way closer to her.

  Right, that was it. Tabitha had had enough. Never mess with a tired woman. She threw the trough, flinging it hard in the direction of the hovering intruder. This was her home and woe betide anyone who was going to threaten that.

  But it missed the drone and clattered to the ground.

  Picking the trough up again, along with the hand rake she had abandoned by the weeds, Tabitha straightened up, looking directly into the camera.

  ‘You can’t come here. I won’t stand for it!’

  With all her might, Tabitha launched her garden tools once more at the drone.

/>   The rake and trough flew in different directions. There was no exit route for the drone. It moved straight into the trough’s path and came clattering to the ground with the sound of a bee dying.

  Thirty-Nine

  Now

  It had never been more pleasing to have a mechanic within a stone’s throw of the Bunk-a-low. It was also an enormous relief to be able to speed dial Lewis to come and help when she didn’t have a clue what to do.

  ‘Impressive aim,’ Lewis said as he inspected the wreckage on her lawn. ‘They’ll be offering you a job at Gatwick or Newark to protect the runways if this gets out.’

  Tabitha would have laughed if she was able to see the funny side of it, but right now she was too concerned. ‘Can it hear us? It’s got a camera attached to it.’

  ‘Not as far as I’m aware. They operate more like CCTV. There wouldn’t be much point of adding microphones at the height they operate and, anyway, the sound of the propellers is all it would pick up.’ Lewis took a closer look.

  ‘I put the glove there so they wouldn’t be able to see what’s going on. I might have duffed up one of the propellers, but the green light tells me that thing is still operating.’

  ‘Sensible idea. I wonder who this belongs to?’

  ‘Some nosey busybody. Am I going to be in trouble for breaking it?’

  ‘I can’t imagine you ever would be. Drones are subject to aviation laws and they shouldn’t be this close to property. Certainly not near enough for you to be able to whack it out of the sky. Even that shows they were in the wrong. I think it’s worth reporting to the police, even if there’s not much they can do about it.’

  ‘Will they be able to work out who it belongs to?’

  ‘Probably some moron without anything better to do. They might be able to speak to the press and see who submitted that photo, I’m guessing the two are connected. Seeing that message in the field was probably their find of the decade. They were probably back to see if they’d strike lucky and find anything else.’

  The baby monitor that was propped on the doorstep sprang into life with the sound of Luna crying, reverberating enough to knock it over. The monitor wasn’t really needed with the volume the baby was able to create.

  ‘Can you take the drone to your garage? Maybe work out how to stop it filming?’

  ‘Gladly. Are you going to be okay?’

  ‘It’s shaken me up a bit. I just hope it’s something innocent.’

  ‘Is there any chance it wouldn’t be?’

  Tabitha paused as she thought about it. She might have a past that she’d run away from, but not one that would catch up with her like this. ‘Not that I’m aware of. My worry would be if it was anything connected to any of the children. What if someone had found out this is where they are living?’

  ‘I’m sure it won’t be anything to do with that. We might have a celebrity staying nearby and someone was trying to get a sneaky shot.’

  ‘Maybe. It’s just hard not to worry.’

  ‘Come here,’ Lewis folded her into his chest. ‘You look like a woman in need of rest. Let me come and give you some help with Luna.’

  For a moment, Tabitha melted into his hold. She realised it was an offer she was too tired to refuse and after Lewis had managed to lock up the drone at the garage, he returned to feed Luna so that Tabitha was able to freshen up in the shower and lie down before the girls returned hungry and wanting dinner.

  Tabitha felt like a new woman when she got up from her snooze and she hoped she looked like one too. She didn’t want to feel like she was letting herself go. Especially with a handsome man holding a baby in the house.

  ‘Do you feel a bit better?’ Lewis asked.

  ‘Much.’ Tabitha lowered herself onto the sofa next to him landing much closer than intended thanks to Lofty being sprawled out. ‘Has she been okay?’

  Luna was sleeping contently, nestled in his arms.

  ‘She’s fine. I’m a bit numb, though. I’ve been scared to move.’

  ‘Oh no. She’s pretty good at being put down although I think she’s slept more than she would normally for her afternoon nap. She’s obviously comfortable.’

  ‘At least one of us is.’

  ‘Here, let me take her.’

  ‘No, you do what you need to. You can take her when she wakes.’

  ‘Are you enjoying baby snuggles?’ The thought made Tabitha smile broadly.

  Lewis grinned as well. ‘It makes a change from being under the bonnet of a car. Just don’t tell my mother.’

  ‘My lips are sealed. I’ll make dinner for everyone.’

  A peal of laughter came from Max’s room. Tabitha hadn’t heard the twins come in so she must have been sleeping deeply. The giggles continued and there were chants of ‘again’ amongst the raucous noise.

  Before Tabitha had managed to add the spaghetti to the boiling water in the pan, it had got so loud she had to go and see what was going on.

  When she knocked on the door, the girls were too busy to respond.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked, entering the room and finding them gathered round a phone screen.

  ‘You’re awesome,’ Syd said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. ‘Have you seen it?’

  ‘Seen what?’ Tabitha asked.

  ‘It’s had thousands of views already. We can’t stop watching it,’ Max said.

  ‘Show us then,’ Tabitha said.

  The video played, taking up the full screen of the phone. It started with a title page that Tabitha was too slow to read. There was Rocky-style music dubbed over the top and ‘Round One’ popped up on the screen. It was followed by the fuzzy image of Tabitha losing her temper at the floating drone. Anyone able to lip read would have analysed the expletives flying from her lips.

  The unsuccessful throw of her trough was met with more music build-up and subtitles introducing ‘Round Two’. When she threw the rake and the trough together the video played in slow motion, and even she was impressed with the athletic prowess she’d not realised she possessed.

  At the end of the video some championship music played. It was ridiculous and if it wasn’t for the fact she was featured in the video, she would also be laughing. ‘How many people have seen this?’

  ‘Thousands,’ Syd said, more composed than earlier. ‘They’ve dubbed you the “Drone Defeater”.’

  ‘Do you know who posted it?’ Even if it was the best title she’d ever been in possession of, she was still more worried about the implications it might have on keeping their foster home safe.

  ‘Yeah, it’s this guy called DroneDude. He’s been going round the south of the country exploring abandoned sights and places of interest. He came across the field when he was trying to explore Dent-de-Lion castle. He was back on the same mission when you took him out.’

  ‘The castle’s way down the other end of the lane. He’s got no business bothering private properties,’ Tabitha said.

  Lewis had braved standing and joined them with a snoozing Luna in his arms. ‘At least we know why he was here and it wasn’t to spy. I’ll report it and ask for it to be taken down for infringing privacy.’

  ‘I doubt he’ll want to take it down. It’s gone viral. He’s had more hits with this than he has anything previously,’ Max said.

  ‘He’ll be earning money from it if he’s clever,’ Syd added.

  However funny the video was, Tabitha didn’t want it to be online. ‘I hope it does get taken down. I don’t want to have to involve the police.’ It was bad enough that she was going to have to tell Julie. At least it was only her in the video and none of the children.

  ‘Play it again, would you? I know I shouldn’t laugh, but that’s girl power at its finest. I think the council would benefit from you leading some self-defence classes,’ Lewis added.

  ‘I was only trying to scare him off.’ Tabitha managed to laugh despite herself as they all watched it again, even if the views were getting close to a million.

  Forty

 
Then

  It had taken some time for the planning permission to be put through. Because of the desired extension to create more living space, there had been some alterations requested by the planners and Tabitha’s architect had made some clever tweaks to make sure the new plans met their requirements.

  Once the plans had been passed, it was all stations go. Every week saw another layer added to what her vision had been when she’d first been shown round the ruined barn. Today was a big part of the process. The window panels were being fitted. They’d been a big expense and Tabitha was surprised to find herself giddy with a mixture of excitement and nerves.

  The builders were lifting the glass into place now and she was barely able to watch. Her father was busy coordinating it and all she was able to do was peek. It was nice to have a buzz of excitement in her belly once more. There had been a time when she’d thought that would never be possible again. That it would be a void forever more. But as this building site was becoming more of a home, it would seem there was the potential for life to be full again.

  ‘It’s shaping up nicely, isn’t it?’ Mrs Patterson, her neighbour, joined her, offering a mug of tea as she did.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ Tabitha said, in awe. ‘I think it should be habitable by the end of this month. You’ll be glad to have all this building work over and done with.’

  ‘Nonsense. I’ve enjoyed this hive of activity immensely. I’ll miss it once it’s done, but at least I get you as an official neighbour from now on.’

  There was a basic caravan on site, but over the winter months it had been too cold so Tabitha had been staying with her father again. But she wouldn’t have to ride it out for much longer now they were getting to the final stages. She was tempted to sleep at the bungalow as soon as it stopped looking like a building site.

  Even Mrs Patterson’s son, Lewis, came over from his garage to watch the momentous occasion when the new section of the building became complete. When the glass panels were secured into place, everyone gave a cheer.