Nanowrimo update

Today is the halfway point of the Nanowrimo challenge. I am currently at about 16,500 words, so about 8,500 words behind schedule. The first week was very difficult. Partly through lack of time, partly through lack of planning. I spent more time doing research, than writing, which led to general browsing the internet followed by procrastination. During the second week I wrote the final chapter of the novel and now finally have a clear idea where my characters are going and what each character's motivation is. At one point my antagonist refused its role and I had to dig deep to turn it round. I decided to change grandmother Rose into grandfather George, which brought along a lot of editing. Not easy when your day to day life throws up all sorts of obstacles too. The last few days I seem to have hit my stride, with updates of around 2000 words and writing seems to become easier. I have participated in a few sprints, churning out 600 words in 20 minutes. Some of it verbal diarrhea, some of it good and useful. I'm not sure what the second half of the month will bring, but at least I have learnt for next year to plan ahead better. So I can actually start writing on the 1st of November instead of faffing about. I still hope to reach 50,000 in two weeks time. I can still make it, my daily target will just be a little higher than it was at the start. I've managed to achieve a little green bar on my dashboard word count graph these past three days, so why not. Despite being behind and despite knowing the story needs a lot of editing and rewriting I'm super proud of my achievements so far. Let's bring on the next 15 days!

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Thursday evening

“Hi Rainie. Could you be so kind and help me with something for a minute?” Mrs. Tamaro’s head had popped up from behind her hedge when Rainie and George had arrived back. She had rang her bell to alert her grandfather of her imminent arrival, out of habit, drawing the neighbour’s attention.

“Sure” Rainie said, looking at her grandad, who nodded. “Not too long though”.

“That’s ok George, I won’t keep her long”. Rainie parked her bike against the fence and followed behind Mrs. Tamaro into her house.  

“I want to hang this picture I had framed today” Mrs. Tamaro showed her a stunning photograph of a misty sunrise over Coldrum Longbarrow. Rainie felt the goosebumps rise on her arms.

“The standing stones at Coldrum” Rainie whispered.

“I’m surprised you recognise it” Mrs. Tamaro said whilst handing it over to Rainie.

“Funny thing” Rainie said “I’m doing a project for school and needed a childhood picture. So yesterday I dug out one of me and Toby at the Stones, flying kites”. She explained.

“What a coincidence” Mrs. Tamaro climbed onto a metal step ladder and nailed a picture hook into the wall.

“Can you hand it to me now?” Rainie did as asked and Mrs. Tamaro hung the wire at the back of the frame carefully on the hook.

“Now if you take a few steps back for me, dear and tell me if it’s straight” Rainie walked back until she bumped against the sofa and looked at the frame.

“A little left” she instructed Mrs.. Tamaro “Yeah that’s it. Perfect”.

Mrs. Tamaro climbed down and folded the step ladder up, then went over to Rainie and stood next to her.  “Didn’t you get lost or something when you went there? I seem to remember there was a bit of a do da.”

Rainie looked at Mrs. Tamaro in surprise. Had she been talking to George?

“I can‘t remember what happened” Rainie said honestly. Mrs. Tamaro gave her a piercing look. Just like earlier in the week, in the woods, Rainie felt as if all her secrets were uncovered.

“Take a good look at that picture Eliza and you’ll remember.”

It was hard to pull her eyes away from Mrs. Tamaro, but when she managed she did look at the photograph more closely. There was indeed something. Close to the edge of her memory, trying to push through. It wasn’t George’s version of events, nor her parents. Something had happened, she just couldn’t quite grab it.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t remember. I have been told I got lost and…” Rainie stopped talking. Not sure if she should carry on. Something was niggling her. Suddenly it hit Rainie.

“Did you call me Eliza just now?” Mrs. Tamaro nodded sagely.

“Find me when you remember, dear. It’s important.” Mrs. Tamaro looked at the stricken girl and tried to reassure her. She could only guess the fear she must be feeling.  

“I’m sorry” she apologized, placing a hand on Rainie’s arm “I cannot help you any further. I wasn’t there ten years ago.” Rainie looked at the older woman. She felt a connection she hadn’t felt before and knew the woman was telling the truth.

“Okay, I will.” Rainie trusted her and knew deep deep down that things were going to be all right.

Mrs. Tamaro nodded approvingly. “You better go. George is waiting for you and she’s scared. Be kind to her Eliza. She means well.”

Rainie left the house, giving the photograph a final glance.

When she stepped into Sunnyside George and Toby were watching TV.

“You two made up?” she greeted them, leaning in to give George a kiss on the cheek.

“Did you find her?” George asked when Toby had finally gone to bed. She looked nervous. Rainie decided to play innocent.

“Who do you mean? Mrs. Tamaro? I helped her hang a painting before I came home or do you mean Hannah? She did come round here to tell you I was over at hers right?”

George folded her arms and studied her granddaughter carefully. “Hannah did indeed come round and I’m glad Debs caught you.” Two can play this game she thought. She may not be able to get answers from Rainie now. But she was going to get them plus she had another card up her sleeve.

Rainie felt guilty about her stand off and apologised. She wasn’t going to get any closer to the truth by rubbing her Grandfather up the wrong end.

“I went to the library this morning to do some research” Rainie saw George relax, she didn’t look surprised.  “I guess you didn’t find anything that corroborated by story” George said.

“Indeed. So I went shopping with Hannah for a bit and then we went over to hers”

Up in her bedroom, Rainie studied the photograph taken ten years ago at Coldrum and tried to separate truth from fabrication. In her notebook she drew a table with three columns and headed them: George’s version; Facts; Things I remember

Under facts she wrote:

·         Went to Coldrum Long Barrow ten years ago with mum, dad, Toby and Grandpa George.

·         I wanted to see Standing Stones.

·         We flew kites.

·         Something happened.

·         People use Pagan rites to stop environmental disasters.

·         Dheera is real. 

Under George’s version she wrote:

·         I brought a rucksack with an egg and a spade. It disappeared.

·         I disappeared, probably inside the burial chamber.

·         Stones toppled over. Site evacuated.

·         I was found unharmed waiting in the carpark.

Then she went to the column headed ‘Things I remember’ and thought. She had felt something stir when looking at the picture at Mrs. Tamaro. Something did happen and she knew without a doubt is had something to do with Dheera. Suddenly an image of a yellow backpack with a print of a panda on it hit her. It was hers and she had lost the bag and had been distraught. She could feel the panic almost reliving the moment.

“Eliza…” Mum crouched down.

“Rainie. My name is Rainie.” She said crying. Her mum pulling her close to give her a hug.

“I am going to call the train people. Maybe someone has found it and handed it in” mum kissed her head.

“But it’s Dheera’s. Someone will steal it”

“I’m going to call them now”

Rainie exhaled. Dheera had given her a yellow bag. She had told Rainie to use it on their trip. Rainie dug deep again. Was there anything else? She opened the wardrobe and picked up an old canvas bag. She smelled it. Sometimes people would remember things by their smell. Nothing.

She took out her phone and googled images of the burial chamber at Coldrum. Stones had indeed tumbled down it seemed. But it looked like that had happened centuries ago, not ten years. There also didn’t seem to be an entrance to a burial chamber, unless it was accessed through the stone circle at the top of the mound Rainie thought. It didn’t look like there was a tunnel or anything else going into the hillside. However, George must have clearly seen a cave of some sort. Rainie checked the letter. A chamber, George mentioned someone had seen her disappear inside a chamber. Scanning the pictures she couldn’t see any. Just grass and vegetation surrounding the stones. They must have had a picnic under the tree. Rainie tried to picture herself sitting in its shadow, eating squashed sandwiches. Nothing tangible surfaced. There was only one thing for it. Tomorrow she would have to find Dheera. The girl was real and had known her before she changed her name. That much she knew for certain. She needed answers and despite George’s warnings she thought Dheera would be the only one to give her any, if she was willing to talk. Whatever happen or didn’t happen ten years ago she would have to piece together.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Thursday morning

Rainie hadn’t slept much. She had been far too upset after her confrontation with George. On top of that Toby had come home late and George had been very upset with him. Maybe a little too upset. Rainie understood his tempers had been frayed but Toby didn’t know that. There had been a row. Rainie was well aware that the harsh words were meant for her, not her brother and she had felt sorry for him. George was probably the only person he had never had a row with before. Now she had woken up far too early and as angry as she was when she’d gone to sleep. She didn’t really know who she was angry with. Herself for being utterly gullible, or appearing to be in the eyes of her Grandfather. Angry with George for keeping all this from her.  Angry with Dheera for being manipulative. Angry with her brother for… just for…. being a useless brother who never stood up for her when Josie put her down. Rainie threw the duvet off and left it fall in a heap on the floor, nearly getting her foot tangled in it and tripping. She felt tears well up but fought against them. This wasn’t going to get her down. It wouldn’t get the better of her. She sat down on the floor. “Pull yourself together, Rainie” she encouraged herself. Let’s play favourite things. She could hear her mother’s voice say. She missed her mother terribly. Reciting all the good things about life in general and hers in specific she grabbed her jeans and t-shirt from the floor, where she’d thrown them yesterday. She hadn’t cared and she still didn’t. Rainie stamped down the stairs making as much noise as possible. She didn’t have a clue what time it was, but she hoped it was early and she hoped everyone would wake up and feel just as angry as she was. She waited at the bottom of the stairs for the sound of a door opening, for an admonishing reaction. She wanted to yell at someone badly. When none came she left the house, slamming the door for good measure. Just like the day before, she pushed her pedals hard, as if it could get rid of the angry energy taking control of her body. Rainie knew that the sensible thing was to let go. She just didn’t want to. Anger got things done. Made people sit up and listen. Stop treating her as a little girl to be handled with care or manipulated at will. Going to the woods to find her calm was out of the question now. She didn’t want to run into Dheera.

The half an hour ride into town had calmed her down considerably. While Rainie was cycling away from Sunnyside she hadn’t thought of a destination. She just knew she had to get away from George. It had surprised her. Running off steam really seemed to work. She waited patiently outside the library for it to open and saw the line of visitors slowly grow. Who would’ve thought the library such a popular place on a Thursday morning. She slipped in first, past the lady who had used three different keys to unlock the doors from the inside. When she had calmed down she decided to give George the benefit of the doubt, no matter how far-fetched her story had sounded, and do some research. Rainie politely asked the middle aged man at the counter for advise on locating old newspaper articles. He took his time to get out of his seat and walk slowly round to the front where Rainie was standing, before asking her to show him her library card and then taking a rectangular plastic orange card from the desk and ordering her to follow him. Rainie had to bite her tongue not to start yelling at him to hurry up. Just her luck that she had found the slowest moving man on earth to show her where to find what she needed to see most. The idea had come to her when she neared town. She needed an objective view. There were bound the be newspaper articles about the events that had taken place at the Longbarrow, after all Stones that keel over after five thousand years attract some attention. Probably more so in the local papers, than the national ones. She was bound to find them. “What year do you want to read?” even his speech was slow Rainie now noticed. The man showed her the filing system, the number codes surprisingly similar to the one her mum used and how to locate the microfilms. He showed her how to operate the machine and then finally left her to it. Rainie felt herself tense up and realised she was a little afraid to find out George’s story was true. Rainie went to the card box to locate the microfilm she really needed, feeling only slightly bad about having lied. Took the film from the drawer and placed it in the machine. She switched the light on and the screen in front of her lit up. Sliding the handle left and right, up and down Rainie could scan all the headlines with ease and quickly flick through to the month of August. Nothing. No even the tiniest, smallest article. Did she have the month wrong? Rainie wondered. Unlikely, she decided and stood up to find the film of a different local paper. She did this three times, even checking the months June, July and September until conceding she wasn’t going to find anything in the old papers. Rainie felt a little frustrated. How was she going to check the facts, if there didn’t seem to be any? She suppressed a yawn and looked at her watch. To her surprise she saw that it had gone one. She stretched her arms and switched the machine off. She took the orange plastic card out of its slot and returned it to the front desk. She left her bike where it was and headed straight for the café diagonally across, where she ordered a hot chocolate and blueberry muffin before taking place in a comfy chair. She had chosen her spot carefully. The wall directly behind her and as far away from a window as possible.  She took her phone out of her pocket. Switched it on and called her mum.

“Hi sweetheart” The moment she heard her mum’s voice, tears welled up. She blinked them away quickly. She swallowed and replied “Hi mum. I miss you.” She really wanted to ask about the missing letters but didn’t want to sound …. “I miss you too. Did you find the photos for school?”

“Yes, yes I did.” Rainie was drawing flowers on the table with her finger.  As nonchalantly as possible she said “I found a picture of me and Toby near some standing stones. Do you remember where it was it taken?” Rainie’s heart beat fast. Silence on the other end of the line, then her mum asked: “Was that the year George died?”

Rainie nodded her head and said “yes, I belief so”.

“Then it must have been nearby. We didn’t leave the county that summer. Let me think…..” Rainie waited “I remember. You had seen something on TV about standing stones and were adamant we should visit all the stones. In the end we only went to the one. Once you had seen them you thought they were quite boring. But I think the burial chamber freaked you out. You kept asking if grandad would go to a place like that once he’d died. You were quite upset about it, so we told you he would be cremated and that calmed you down.”

“I can’t remember anything about that.” Rainie said.

“Well you were only four. It’s to be expected.” Mum said reassuringly. “Anything else you need to know about the picture?”

“The location of the stones, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Let me ask your dad, he’s got a better memory.” Rainie heard her parents converse in the background. Mum had a habit of putting her hand over her phone, so she couldn’t hear what was being said.

“He can’t remember either, but we’ll have a think and I’ll text you as soon as I know. I have to go now, sweetheart. Love you.”

“Love you too mum. Bye.”

It seemed even more unlikely now that anything major had happened at the stones. Her parents couldn’t even recall the name of the Stones they’d been to. Unless of course George was correct about the brain wipe. Maybe an internet search would bring up something. She rummaged in her bag, looking for spare change, but was disappointed not to find any. The library was out of the question then. Her only other option was to cycle back home and use the internet there. As long as she remembered to use the incognito search, her parents would be none the wiser. Her phoned beeped. Rainie looked at the message from Hannah: Knocked for you. Where are you? She quickly texted back: Outside Nero’s. You comin? Hannah replied in a string of emoticons. She smiled. It would be good to spend some time with her. She didn't have to wait long. After ten minutes a car stopped just in front of where she was sitting on a bench. She could see Hannah on the back seat, her mother smiling and waving to Rainie. Hannah got out saying goodbye to her mum and walked over to Rainie. "What are you up to and please don't tell me any nonsense, you owe me."

"I owe you what?" asked Rainie surprised.

"I just bailed you out big time with your Grandfather" Rainie raised her eyebrows, clearly puzzled.

Hannah explained "I went over to Sunnyside earlier to see if you wanted to come round and go shopping this afternoon.  Lucky for you Toby opened the door and whispered you needed an excuse, just in time before George came to the door. So I quickly told him that mum had send me over to tell him that you were at ours and you were having your hair cut, so he was not to worry. I also asked if you could stay for tea and he said it was fine." Rainie looked at her friend, mouth open, processing the rapidly spoken words.

"Did you have a fight with George?" Hannah asked, having barely paused. Rainie was grateful for the alibi Hannah handed her, but couldn't possibly tell her friend the truth. So she stuck with a non-committal "sort of". Hannah looked at her expectantly, but Rainie wasn't going to give in, instead she asked "Did grandad say anything else?"

"Not much, he’s picking you up at seven and then he just went back inside the house, Toby said you left the house slamming doors clearly upset about something." Hannah replied. Clearly still prodding for information.

"It's nothing. Thanks for bailing me out though." Rainie looked at her friend and could tell that she wasn't going to leave it like that. She had never lied to her best friend, hoping she would get away with a half-truth she said: "I came across a photo of me and Toby when we were little. I was four, so Toby must have been five or just turned six. It was taken near some standing stones and I wanted to know more about it. I asked George and he said he had fought hard for the stones to be obliterated because they were trouble." Hannah looked at her with raised eyebrows, her forehead slightly creased. "I know, weird right?" said Rainie, carefully picking her way across the truth. “I guess I was just really cross about his attitude. You know with him being all for the plan to build those bungalows too?” Hannah nodded and said “Old people can be so black and white”.

“I left early to do some research. I spoke to mum and found out the stones are here in Kent. She couldn’t remember what they were called. I went to the library and think they must be Coldrum Longbarrow. They look very similar to the stones in the photo.”

“Cool” Hannah interrupted. Rainie nodded and continued “I looked through some old newspapers to see if some sort of incident had taken place there, but couldn’t find anything.”

“Well, newspapers are biased, maybe they chose not to publish something that happened. Did you check the internet?” then chanted “No secret is safe from the internet.” Rainie laughed.

“I was about to, but I’ve not enough money left to log onto a computer in the library and then you messaged me, so…”

“So”, Hannah finished Rainie’s sentence, “here’s what we’re going to do. First shopping for an hour, then back to mine. While mum gives you a haircut I can browse the internet looking for stories about your stones.”

Two hours later Rainie and Hannah were reading all about how a group called Pagan Link had performed rituals at Coldrum to prevent the build of the Channel Tunnel and about another group, the Warrior’s Call who had carried out a Pagan rite twelve years ago at the site to invoke the Spirits of Albion to help prevent fracking. However, they found nothing more recent and definitely nothing involving a four-year-old. Hannah suggested “Perhaps George was involved with those groups and got arrested” Rainie dismissed it. “George is all about progress, she would have been the first one to start digging once they announced the Tunnel plans and I have never heard her talk about fracking being a problem”. Rainie stood up, feeling strangely relieved. They weren’t going to find anything and George’s recount of the events with Dheera ten years ago were probably exaggerated. Rainie thanked her friend for her help and Hannah’s mother for the haircut. She couldn’t postpone returning to Sunnyside and face the music.

Hiding outside, up in an old hazelnut tree Dheera felt relief wash over her. At least she had been successful in erasing all traces of their adventure ten years ago. Knowing that would make it easier for Eliza to do the right thing. She hoped it wouldn’t take her too long to come to the right decision. She did, after all, not have all the time in the world.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Wednesday evening

Dear Eliza Rainie,

This letter should have made its way to you after my death. I hope it arrived sealed. I have sent you this because something happened when you were four. You may have forgotten about it. In any case we never spoke about it after it happened. I feel you need to know what happened, even if it was a long time ago. I have kept this secret to protect you from them. Now that I’m gone revealing the truth is all the protection I can give you in case you ever were to meet one of them again. If this letter should reach you before I’m dead, then something has gone seriously wrong and I can only apologise. I have let you down. I wasn’t vigilant enough. In that case you better hide baby girl.

When you were four you met a mysterious girl in the woods near your home. Dheera was her name and she was probably a little older than you are. Age is different where she is from, so it was hard to tell. In any case she was still young. She befriended you, however it wasn’t a real friendship as she needed something from you. At first she managed to get you into lots of mischief, mostly involving midnight ‘adventures’ (your words). You would often climb out of your bedroom window to take night time strolls in the wood and meet up with Dheera. Your parents caught you a few times before going into the woods or upon your return, you could never remember a thing about it and so your parents blamed the nighttime escapes on sleepwalking. I suspected differently.  They moved your bedroom to the attic. As you couldn’t reach the Velux windows, you stayed safely indoors. Well that’s what your parents thought. One night, after your grandmother Rose had taken a turn for the worse I spent a few nights at your parents’ house. The hospital had to be able to reach me and you know my aversion to telephones and mod cons. I watched you, as much as I could and found you often wandering outside. I have no idea how you escaped your bedroom, but it was definitely not by walking through your bedroom door and down the stairs. I followed you and that’s when I met your imaginary friend Dheera. She wasn’t imaginary at all. I could see her clearly, everything except for her feet. I thought she had spotted me, but she never acknowledged my presence that night. She was quite bossy with you and she gave you various dares. Innocent ones at first. Almost as if she was testing you. You seemed to trust her utterly and completely and didn’t have a clue that the things she made you do were increasingly dangerous.

After that night I moved into the spare room permanently so to keep a better eye on you and Dheera. I didn’t trust the girl, she reminded me of someone I used to know. It wasn’t long after that when you started talking about seeing some Standing stones. I suspected Dheera had put you up to it and tried to convince your parents not to take you. Your parents relented, because they already had to cancel their holiday plans because of Rose’s illness and took you and Toby to Coldrum Longbarrow. You had packed a little rucksack. I sneaked a peak and saw it contained an exquisitely decorated blue egg and your plastic spade. The moment we arrived at the carpark nearest to the stones and you were helped out of your car seat you ran off. Your father ran after you, but you were too quick. It was unreal how quickly you got away and I have never seen you run so fast since.  When we arrived at the stones, you were sitting quietly on the mound near a tree and said you had saved us a good spot for the picnic. There was no sign of your rucksack and when I asked you about it, you said so convincingly that you had not taken the bag with you, that I believed you left it in the car, too keen to see the stones. After lunch you and Toby explored the area and then your parents got the kites and you all went flying. I don’t know how it happened, but I dozed off. When I woke up your parents were frantic. You had disappeared. Another visitor thought he had seen you had gone inside the stone circle, but when your father looked there was no trace of you or anyone else for that matter. Police were called and the fire brigade. They arrived the moment the stones, which had been standing upright for five thousand years, toppled over. Just like that. It wasn’t even windy. Everyone was evacuated from the site. Your mother refused to go, she wasn’t going to leave you behind. She fought tooth and nail to stay on site. The police had to escort her back to the car. We followed and when we arrived you were already there.  You couldn’t explain how you got there or how long you’d already been there. Your parents were so relieved to have you back safe and sound they didn’t question you much.

The next morning you announced you no longer wanted to be called Eliza. Instead we were to use your middle name, Rainie.  Your parents were indulgent enough to accept it and go through with it. But that was not the strangest thing. When I wondered out loud during breakfast what had toppled the stones over I just got blank stares from everyone. When I reminded them it had happened while you were lost they asked me if I was alright. Honestly! I am still cross about it after all this time. It was as if their memories were wiped, even Toby’s, but not yours. I could tell you remembered everything and were hiding your secret well. I questioned you privately, but never got to the bottom of it. After a few months you seemed to have forgotten all about it too.

Beware of mysterious people in the woods Eliza. Do not trust them. Do not engage with them. Stay clear and run home as fast as you can. 

Your loving Grandfather, George.

Rainie was feeling lots of emotions at the same time. Stunned and in disbelief. Surely this never happened. Her parents would never have forgotten such an important event. It was just ridiculous. The emotions of losing a child would be stronger than any memory manipulation. Right? If not, Dheera had some answers to give. On the other hand, George had been full of anger, almost venomous towards Dheera. She also felt a deep sadness for the loss George was still feeling, although surprised he would blame an imaginary, or not so imaginary friend. She decided to go down and talk to George.

George had been tidying up and cleaning frantically while Rainie had been up in her room, he always did when he was angry or nervous. He had never spoken to anyone but Rose about his brother Harry and wasn’t sure if he could talk about it now with Rainie. Or even wanted too. My little brother disappeared at Stonehenge many years ago. He too wanted to see the stones and he too had an imaginary friend. The three of us used to played together for a while, but I didn’t like her very much. Dheera reminded me of her. I’m certain she caused the trouble at the Stones. His parents had never believed it had been Harry’s friend behind it all. Would Rainie react differently, or were his parents right. Was he just delusional, an old fool. He hadn’t heard Rainie come down, or enter the kitchen and her sudden appearance had given him a fright. She wasn’t very happy though, George could tell.

“What do you want me to do with this?” Rainie waved the letter above her head, her voice raised.

“This cannot have happened, we would all have remembered and mum would never have let me out of her sight again!”

George paced the room, holding his hands to stop them from shaking. “You have to believe me. Please Rainie.” He begged. “Promise me not to seek out Dheera. Promise me you will not talk to her.” Rainie couldn’t believe what she heard. “Grandpa what is really going on here?” Rainie said in despair.

“She is dangerous. She will kill you” George replied with passion. Had George lost her mind completely? Without saying a word, Rainie turned around and went back to her room.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Wednesday morning

Despite George’s warnings, Rainie was disappointed not to have met Dheera while making her way through the woods. Now that she was home she picked up the phone and dialed her dad’s mobile number. He would be more likely to answer than her mother who hated the phone interrupting her conversations and writing. Her dad was pleased to hear from her and enquired about George and Toby, when he was satisfied there were no problems, Rainie told him about her homework task that asked her to find a picture of a childhood holiday and so she needed to know where the DVDs with family photos were kept. Her father explained in which cabinet in her mum’s office she’s have to delve and how the filing system worked. Rainie quickly filled her father in on George’s refiling of mum’s notebooks and drafts by novel. Her father grunted and proposed to keep this secret between them until her mother had finished her latest novel and her agent had sold the publishing rights internationally. Meanwhile they’d have to pray her mother wouldn’t want to go up to the attic to look for some inspiration. Rainie said goodbye and put the phone down. She felt bad about lying, but knew her parents would panic and call the emergency doctor if they were to find out she’s seen her ‘imaginary’ friend again.

She went to her mother’s office, switched on the computer and quickly found the cabinet. Now fully understanding her mother’s logic relating to filing things it was easy to locate the DVD of the summer holiday ten years ago. She put the CD in the drive and listened to it whizz. Clicking through the icons the pictures loaded on displayed as small thumbnails on the screen. Rainie enlarged it. She would have to find some landmarks that could help her locate where they had been and therefore where she might have met or been with Dheera before. There were views far and wide across hills and meadows, with Toby and her were flying kites in a few of them. There were pictures of her in familiar places and towns in the county and Rainie wondered if perhaps that year they hadn’t gone on a proper holiday. Grandpa had been ill after all and it would make sense if they’d stayed near and had opted for days out instead. It was a bit frustrating as she had nothing concrete to go on. Then suddenly she came across a picture of some standing stones. It immediately got her attention. Standing stones are mysterious, just like the girl. Could there be a connection?

Rainie turned on the wifi and googled standing stones in Kent. Five different sites came up on the screen. Coldrum Long Barrow, White horse stone, The devil’s stone (Rainie didn’t like the sound of that), Kit’s Coty and the Countless stones. Rainie clicked on the first to look at images. She felt a tingle go down her spine.  Coldrum Long Barrow definitely resembled the stones in the photographs.

A small group of standing stones stood on the edge of a hill or an earthen mound. They were upright and very close together. The view in the background didn’t give much away as it was just endless hills, and fields separated by hedgerows without a house or building to be seen in the distance. The stones seemed to be encircled by smaller stones.  

Rainie clicked on the link to the National Trust website and read:

Coldrum Longbarrow is the least-damaged megalithic longbarrow in Kent and takes its name from the now demolished Coldrum Lodge Farm.

It's possible the name 'Coldrum' derived from the old Cornish word 'Galdrum' which means 'place of enchantments'. Owned in perpetuity by us since 1926 in memorial of Benjamin Harrison, an Ightham historian, this 3,000 year-old burial chamber is the only one of those originally present in the Medway Valley to remain virtually intact.

A burial site. Of all the things Rainie had imagined a burial site wasn’t one of them. Place of enchantment yes, that seemed to make sense in connection with Dheera. But how was a girl that had stepped out of an egg connected to a burial site? This seemed to bring up more questions than answers and she wasn’t even sure this was where she’d been with Dheera at all. This was just all so confusing. Rainie turned the computer off in frustration. She pushed the seat back and stared out of the window. Where to now? George had more answers than he was willing to give, but how to pry them out? If only she’d never gone into the woods to do stupid cartwheels she was way too old for anyway. She would never have seen the egg, never have met Dheera, never have ended up feeling trapped. Rainie walked out of the office and slammed the door for good measure. Steering clear of the woods, she took the long way back to George’s house. In anger she pushed the pedals hard and found herself back at Sunnyside much sooner than she wanted. Nowhere else to go she put her bike in the shed.

“Rainie?” George asked when she walked in.

“The one and only” she replied.

“Where have you been?” George asked, a worried tone to his voice.

Wondering what she’d done wrong she said “I’ve been home looking for photos of the holiday you said I spent with …” Rainie looked around the see of Toby was within earshot and whispered “Dheera”.

“Dheera? I told you to leave it alone. Last time she caused nothing but trouble. Honestly Rainie.” Rainie saw the anger flare in her grandfather’s eyes. She was surprised by the outburst. Yesterday afternoon George had taken down all those boxes to help her and now this.

“But Grandad you took all mum’s boxes down from the loft yesterday to help me find answers”. George looked surprised. “I never”.

“You did” Rainie said, stunned. She wasn’t going mad was she? “You even reorganised the boxes by novel.” George looked at her as if indeed she’d gone mad. Then walked briskly up the stairs. Opened the hatch and slid the stairs out. “Turn the light on for me, will you?” he ordered and Rainie obliged.

To his consternation George saw indeed that the boxes had been recently moved and renamed in his own handwriting, with the names of the novels on them. He couldn’t believe his eyes. 

When had he done this? He had no recollection of it happening. George climbed down the rungs carefully taking his time, more to reflect upon what he just had seen and upon what Rainie had claimed than anything else. Rainie was concerned. George had been so certain he hadn’t done anything with the boxes and yet he had. Was Grandad becoming forgetful? But you wouldn’t forget an entire afternoon would you? Raine made a mental note to look up early signs of Alzheimer. She looked concerned at George.

“Well, you better tell me exactly what happened yesterday, what I did and what I said.” George was looking stricken.

“Are you alright grandad?” Rainie asked.

“What do you think?” George looked annoyed at his granddaughter.

Well, Rainie thought, should have kept your mouth. You’ve just been told him he lost at least half a day of his memory. She placed her hand on his arm, steadying him as he descended the last rung.

“And before you say anything there is nothing wrong with my memory”. George said. He shook Rainie’s hand off his arm, not wanting to be patronised. Rainie followed him to the living room and sat down next to him on the sofa.

“I can only tell you what happened from the moment I arrived home from school yesterday”

George nodded “What time?”

“It must have been about half past three” Rainie continued “you were on the floor putting notebooks and printed drafts of mum’s books back in their boxes. You said you’d taken them down from the loft and because you couldn’t make head nor tail of the filing system decided to re order them by novel, instead of number and colour.” George listened attentively. “When I came home you said I should go to the kitchen because Debs had dropped by and brought cake. I asked if you had agreed to disagree and you said sort of. Then I went into the kitchen, made myself a cup of tea, since you already had one I didn’t make you any and then it dawned on me you might have taken the boxes down to look for the notebook containing the notes of mum’s interview with me about my imaginary friend. I was pleased you had a chance of heart on that one too. I asked you and you waved it about.” Rainie looked to check George hadn’t suddenly remembered anything of this, but he still looked puzzled. “You asked me to help you take all the boxes back to the loft, Toby came home and helped and then we sat down to look at the notes.” Rainie finished.

“Where is your mum’s notebook now?” George asked.

Rainie retrieved it from her rucksack and gave it to George. “How odd, annoyingly odd, that it just doesn’t ring a bell” George said stroking the cover “How could I forget doing such a big job? Or even wanting to search for the notebook in the first place?” George sounded a little scared thought Rainie.

Which is exactly what he was. He didn’t want to show Rainie his anxiety, although he was sure she had picked up on it. Forgetting hours of his day could only mean one thing. The girl had already started to put things into action and was attempting to take him, her only obstacle, out of the equation. George wasn’t going to let it happen. He had to make it very clear to Rainie what she had done before, what she probably wanted to do again. How could he make it clear to his beloved, curious granddaughter?  

“Do you think Dheera is causing the memory loss?” George’s train of thought was interrupted.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I lost some time too. Remember Toby thought I had a blackout when he found me at home?” Rainie said.

“Yes…” George said, waiting for an explanation.

“Sorry I overheard you two talking” Rainie explained, “I had just met Dheera and it was as if a fog blocked my brain or something. I am not explaining this very well am I?” Rainie said.

“No, no, you are explaining it well. I have a similar feeling, when I think back about yesterday afternoon, I can only remember Debs’ visit, leaving cake for us and apologizing for her behaviour lately, then nothing until cooking dinner. Anything in between I just can’t seem to get to, like you said as if there is a misty barrier to thick to look into, blocking view.”

“Is this the trouble you were talking about when you referred to Dheera?” Rainie asked.

“No, I wasn’t. Although this is part of it, the least harmful part.” George made a decision. He was taking a big risk and hoped he wasn’t going to regret it. “I’m going to tell you everything that happened, things that I saw ten years ago and things you told me. We have to put an end to this, to her.”

Rainie was surprised by her Grandfather’s determination. She had heard George’s fighting talk before, but it had always been about politics. Not actually threatening people. If you could call Dheera a person. Rainie wasn’t sure.

   

George went to the kitchen and Rainie followed him. From behind her grandmother’s cookbooks, George retrieved an envelope. It looked old and there were stains on it, no doubt from the various little jars and boxes of food that had been stored in front of it. He handed it to Rainie. “Here’s everything I know” George said. “Take it with you to your room and read it. Once you’ve read it we’ll talk about it okay?” Rainie nodded and watched her Grandfather walk out of the back door to his beloved garden where he sat down on the bench. Rainie looked further into the garden and thought she caught a glimpse of Mrs. Tamaro. Was she somehow involved in this too? The thought crossed her mind but she quickly dismissed it. No need to become suspect of the whole world now, was there.

Sitting at her desk Rainie placed the three note books and the envelope next to one another. Her own, brand new one with her sketches and notes and old one from when she was four. Mum’s containing the transcript of the interview and George’s letter containing her memories of the events that took place ten years ago and first brought Dheera into their lives. Rainie felt reluctant to open it. She had wanted answers and here they were in front of her, but now she was afraid to discover what it might reveal. Postponing the inevitable Rainie opened her own notebook first. She glanced over her notes about the standing stones and looked at the list of questions. Then she carefully opened George’s envelope and slipped out the letter.

Dheera contemplated the scene she had just witnessed. Would George’s account be honest? Would it be the whole truth, she wondered. 

“I can take you to the stones” Keira suggested. “I helped your mother, remember?”

“It has to be Eliza” she answered. “She’s getting close to the truth now and then we can put the plan into action.”

Keira felt worried “Just make sure she or anyone else in that family doesn’t get hurt this time around.” Probably a futile request Keira thought. Dheera made no comment.

The grey squirrel had slipped out of the house without either Dheera or Keira noticing. It had not liked what he had overheard and realised it was in way too deep. Should just have stayed up in the tree when the egg had first appeared in the woods, he thought. It wanted to go back home, but when it reached the property boundary his brain had become all foggy and he’d forgotten what he had wanted to do.