Chapter
3 - Tuesday morning
Surprisingly
Rainie had been able to fall asleep quickly. She couldn’t recall her dreams
which she took as a good sign. At least manga girl had not made a sudden
appearance. It was early and the house was still quiet. Rainie got up, grabbed
a towel and went to the bathroom. She felt pleased having beaten her brother to
it. When she came out fifteen minutes later she found George fuming, pacing the
landing. “That miserable old sod next door complained about your bicycles”.
Rainie put her arms around her grandfather and gave him a big hug. She and Toby
had known ‘The Miserable Old Sod Next Door’ their entire life. They called her Mrs.
Tamaro and she’d looked after them at the nursery school they’d attended and
when George moved into her house she became ‘My Good Friend Debs’ up until George
and Mrs. Tamaro had had a fall out over a planning application for three small
bungalows on the open green space opposite their houses. George had supported
the small housing development, as they were intended for seniors with a disability,
Mrs. Tamaro had objected as she wanted to protect all the green spaces in the
village. Ever since their fall out Mrs. Tamaro, according to Grandpa, had
complained about every little piece of rubbish or abandoned item in the shared
garden. Although Rainie felt sorry for George, she could understand Mrs.
Tamaro’s point of view. She and Toby used to play football with the other kids
on the Green, despite it being bumpy and on a sloping patch of land. They’d
organised pick nicks and get togethers. George was more pragmatic about it. He
could see housing was needed for the disabled elderly people who had lived
their whole lives in the village and wanted to stay. Having always lived in
towns George was quite used to houses and build up area’s all around him.
Rainie knew that although George loved living nearby, he missed the hustle and
bustle of urban life.
“Grandpa,
you and Mrs. Tamaro need to put this behind you. Agree to disagree, remember?”
It was an infamous phrase George used to stop any bickering going on between
Toby and Rainie. George just humphed grumpily, took a moment and then sighed “I
do miss her cakes”. Rainie felt pleased
and bold enough to ask: “Grandad, is there anything else you can tell me about
the girl, you know, from before?”
“I
think I am entitled to some answers. You know.” Rainie knew she’s overstepped
the mark and feared what George would do.
“You’ll
get them when you stop acting like a rude teenager. You are not a character
from one of those American shows you watch. TV has been banned.” With that George
turned away from Rainie and walked down stairs. He knew he had overreacted, but
couldn’t turn back now. Toby’s bedroom door opened. “Coast clear?” he
whispered. Rainie nodded. “You better apologise to him you know”.
“Urgh”,
she looked disdainfully at her brother “said the expert”.
Rainie
apologised to George as soon as she entered the kitchen to have breakfast. George
gave her the silent treatment. Not a good sign. Good days seemed to have a
tendency to quickly turn sour these days. When Toby and Rainie stepped outside
to get their bikes and leave to go to the not
school up with friends, they spotted Mrs. Tamaro just inside
the porch of her house. She seemed to be nursing a cat. Curious Rainie told
Toby to go ahead and walked with her bike in hand towards her.
“Good
morning Mrs. Tamaro. Sorry about the bikes last night. Hope no one tripped over
them?”
“Hi
Rainie. That’s okay dear.”
Rainie
looked at the animal and realised it wasn’t a cat, but a grey squirrel.
“Wow,
that squirrel must either have been hurt badly or be very tame to let you
handle him”. Rainie remarked.
“Well
I wouldn’t say it’s tame, but it certainly was hurt badly recently. I found him
over near the fence. I cleaned him up and bandaged his tail, which took some
effort I may say, but I think he’s good to go.” To illustrate his wildness, the
grey squirrel jumped out of Mrs. Tamaro’s arms and ran off. Rainie and Mrs.
Tamaro laughed. “See, there you go. All mended” Mrs. Tamaro said satisfied.
Rainie got on her bike and waved goodbye. She blew a kiss towards George’s
bedroom window, Grandad was undoubtedly watching. She felt bad about her
outburst this morning and now talking to the enemy. Then again Rainie wouldn’t
be surprised if George was going travelling again as soon as her parents
returned home. He was clearly not himself. George could act just as miserable
as Mrs. Tamaro if he stayed home for too long.
It was a beautiful morning. Riding through the
woods she could smell the earth warming up. Spring was her favourite time of
year, the buds on the trees, the forest abuzz with activity. You could hear
animals scurrying, flying and singing everywhere it seemed. Spring also meant
more space to get away from Josie and her gang and their preoccupation with criticising
Rainie’s every move or action. Their interests would turn towards the sports
field, oohing and aahing over the boys. Yes, spring was great.
Josie
was nowhere to be seen when Rainie arrived at school. She parked her bike and
walked quickly inside, head down. In English Josie took a seat behind Rainie,
but didn’t say a word. Rainie could feel her staring at her, shooting daggers,
although that might as well have been imagined. Although Rainie could answer
all the questions the teacher fired at the class, she didn’t raise her hand
once. After the lesson Rainie gathered her things quickly and was one of the
first to leave. She wouldn’t have to be in the same class with Josie again
today. were good. Rainie slid onto her
chair, next to her friend Hannah and smiled. “Ah, you survived another day and
the sun is out.” Hannah poked her friend with her elbow. Rainie laughed and
felt herself relax. Rewrite this.
Her
brakes screeching, Rainie jumped off her bike.
The stag had suddenly appeared on the near side of the road. She been
able to stop just in time before watching him run across the road. In awe
Rainie watched it move through the trees on the other side. She reminded
herself to breathe. The animal had had a majestic, almost arrogant aura, but at
the same time elegance and strength. She wished she had some of that too. It
would certainly get Josie off her back, and not just for the summer. The stag
had disappeared rapidly and Rainie looked left to see if any does were
following. She spotted the bluebell blue hair first. For a moment Rainie
hesitated, but gathering all her courage and against George’s advice, she
decided to park her bike against a tree. Curiosity got the better of her. She
walked over to the girl, who was gazing at her unblinkingly. When Rainie was
close enough she greeted her boldly: “Hello Dheera. We meet again”. The girl
didn’t seem surprised at all that Rainie had called her by her name.
“Hello
Eliza” she said, nodding her head slowly, approvingly and looking towards a
tree stump. Rainie took the hint walked towards it but didn’t sit down.
Questions raced through Rainie’s mind. She got the impression she wasn’t
allowed to ask Dheera too many questions.
“Did
you send the stag?” Dheera shrugged her shoulders.
“It
got your attention.” Rainie waited for the girl to say more, but she didn’t
volunteer anything. She just observed Rainie, though it didn’t unnerve her.
“What
do you want from me?” Sometimes, thought Rainie, the best way around it was
just a straightforward sprint to the finish.
“I
hoped you’d remembered”. Silence again. Rainie was mulling it over and as long
as Dheera didn’t make an attempt to come nearer, Rainie felt quite safe. So far
she hadn’t remembered a single thing about the girl, except for part of a
conversation she had had with her mother and it was only thanks to George
keeping her notebook she knew Dheera’s name. Recollecting the drawings and
marks, Rainie suddenly had a feeling of foreboding. She turned round and walked
back to her bike. She got on and rode back to George as quickly as she could.
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