Epiworld (9 page)

‘Who’s that?’ I call out, putting my hands up against the torch shining in my face. The torch lowers slowly, and a face with a body comes into view.

‘Travis?’

‘Demi!’

‘You’re back,’ she states, before flicking away her cigarette stub. So she smokes now.

It’s only been a few weeks, but there’s something different about her. Her hair isn’t flowing over her shoulders, it’s much shorter. There’s something different about her voice, too, it’s less girlish, more womanly.

‘Switch that thing off, will yer!’ I snap. ‘It’s giving me a headache.’

‘Soz.’ We stare at one another through the shadows. ‘It may not be that dark, but you still need a torch.’

‘What time is it?’ I’ve left the watch given to me by the home back in my room there.

‘Nearly two in the morning.’

I blink. I’ve been asleep all that time!

‘What are you doing out here on the beach at this hour? It’s dangerous. The tide...’

‘Travis, I’ve lived here long enough to know the tides by now,’ Demi interrupts. ‘I’m here for a very good reason.’

My eyes widen in surprise as she comes closer. She’s all grown up, and lovely, just like her mum. Her body has filled out in all the right places.

‘Demi!’ I stammer. ‘You – you’ve changed...’

‘You haven’t!’ She smiles. ‘Not a bit. I see you kept your figure, and your boyish good looks.’ She kisses my cheek. ‘It’s good to see you after all this time, Travis. How are the seizures? Any better?’

I’m rooted to the spot.

‘What are you talking about, Demi?’ I whisper.

‘Did you plan to go over to the farm in the morning? You’re in for a shock if you do!’

‘All this
time
! How – how long...?’

‘Wheesht! Travis, you’re a terrible wind-up merchant! It’s been nearly four years. It’s two thousand and fourteen.’

I sink onto my knees. ‘
Four years
? Demi – I – no, it’s not possible!’

‘I never forgot you, Travis,’ she goes on. ‘I cried for ages when they sent you away, but I got over you in time. Things happened which helped to take my mind off you pretty quickly.’

I’m so confused I can barely find my voice. ‘What things?’

She stands up, shuffles her feet in the sand, and lowers her head. A tear drops from her cheek. ‘Mum, for a start. Six months after you went she died of cancer.’

It’s like I’ve been shot in the chest. Mrs Fraser dead! That gorgeous woman taken away by an illness made extinct in my time! I want to yell at the top of my voice that it’s not fair. I stand up, put my arm around Demi – to comfort myself as much as her – and bite back the tears.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mutter. ‘What about your dad?’

‘Took it badly,’ replies Demi, wiping her face with her hand. ‘He’s turned to the drink, Travis, and the farm’s gone to pot. All the animals have gone; so has Angus. He closed down the campsite, too. All he does is get bladdered! Dr Mac says he won’t live another year if he carries on.’

She’s crying properly now. I hold her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

‘I’ve got no life left here, Travis!’ she cries. ‘I can’t do anything for him, because he doesn’t want me to. He’s driven away all our friends. Only Dr Mac comes to see us now. Cameron hasn’t been back since the funeral. Dad got smashed, and they had a blazing row. We don’t know where he is now.’

‘Oh, Dem!’

‘So that’s it, I’ve had enough!’ She sits up, wiping her face with her sleeve, and points to the large black bag lying just by the entrance to the cave. ‘There’s my stuff. I’m off. Dad’s sleeping off his bender, so he won’t know I’ve gone. I’m meeting my boyfriend. We’re catching the early ferry to Oban. We were going to sit in your cave for a couple of hours before going to the harbour.’

A boyfriend. I’m surprised when my heart sinks. I’ve never thought of Demi in that way! ‘Why the cave? Funny place to meet him.’

‘Old time’s sake. I hope you don’t mind, seeing as though you thought the cave was yours, but I came here a lot after you left. It became my place, too. It’s where we’ve been hanging out. We’ve had many a party in this cave!’

‘No, I don’t mind.’ I do, though. I don’t like the idea of Demi bringing a stranger to my cave! ‘What time are you expecting him?’

‘Soon.’ Demi looks at her watch. ‘He should be here any minute.’

Shivering, she folds her arms tightly around her chest.

‘Come on,’ I say, jumping up, ‘it’ll be warmer in the cave.’

‘Just like old times,’ she remarks as we cross the stones. ‘I’ll leave my stuff on the beach, so he knows I’m not far.’

‘I’m happy you’ve found someone.’ No, I’m not! ‘Where did you meet?’

‘He was on holiday in Crianvarich. He’s from Manchester, and a student like you. So when you meet him you’ll have a lot to talk about.’

I don’t tell her I’m not really from Manchester.

Demi talks happily about her boyfriend, describing every little detail, from the colour of his hair to the type of books he reads. His name is Chas, a medical student about to take his final exams. I should be glad she’s found someone to love at last; I’m just sorry it’s not me! Her dad can’t stop her now, but by the sounds of it he isn’t in any fit state to stand up to her, anyway.

‘I need to get right away from here,’ says Demi. Her tears well up again. ‘If I don’t, I’ll be stuck here with Dad forever, fetching and carrying, getting bawled at. What sort of life will I have then?’

‘He’ll have no one to look after him.’

‘He’ll have Dr Mac! If it bothers you that much why don’t you look after him?’

I’ve never heard her sound so hard before.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says quickly, ‘I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s just – oh, Travis, I need to make a life for myself now, before it’s too late!’

‘All right!’ I say soothingly. I put my arm around her again. ‘I understand.’

I’m lying. Her dad’s falling apart, and clearly needs her.

‘Remember the day we found the cave, and we sat together like this with your arm around me?’ asks Demi, snuggling up to me. ‘I had the maddest crush on you back then, Travis.’

‘How could I forget?’ I murmur softly.

It’s only when I hear her name being called through the darkness that I realise I don’t want to let her go.

She runs onto the beach, crying, ‘Chas! Chas, I’m here!’

I watch her dive with a whoop of joy into outstretched arms. I don’t particularly want to meet this Chas, so I stay behind, but I’m curious to see what he looks like. I can see him perfectly well from where I’m standing. He’s tall and thin, with untidy, mousy-coloured hair, and eyes hidden behind a pair of thick glasses; not exactly love’s young dream. He doesn’t strike me as Demi’s type at all!

‘There you are!’ he says, laughing. ‘I wondered where you’d got to!’

It goes quiet while they kiss. Furiously I kick a pebble.

‘What was that?’ he says.

‘What was what?’

‘That noise. I’m sure I heard something in the cave.’

‘I didn’t hear anything,’ says Demi. ‘Och, hold on.’ She laughs. ‘It must be Travis!’

‘Travis?’

‘Aye, I told you about Travis. He’s back.’

‘Is he? Well, what’s he doing in our cave?’

‘It was his cave first.’

Demi breaks free of him. ‘Travis! Travis! I can’t see you. Where are you hiding? Come on out, Chas wants to meet you.’ When I don’t show she calls again. ‘I’ll come in and drag you out!’

I take a deep breath as I move slowly to the edge of the cavern. Chas comes further into the cave, peering up at me curiously through his glasses.

‘Is that him?’

I don’t like the way he’s staring, like I’m some sort of freak.

‘Have a good look at the caveman!’ I snap. ‘Not quite what you expected, eh?’

‘Don’t be daft, Travis,’ says Demi as I climb down. ‘He knows all about you, I told him everything.’

Chas holds out his hand. ‘I’m pleased to meet you at last, Travis. Demi missed you when you left.’

He pulls Demi towards him, like he’s letting me know she’s with him now. Demi wraps her arms around his body.

‘So where’ve you been, anyway, Travis?’ he asks. ‘Back home?’

When I don’t answer Demi says, ‘Don’t feel threatened by him, Travis! He’s always poking his nose in where it’s not wanted. He wants to be a neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist, too. He analyses everyone, even me! It’s not personal.’

A neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist like Chase. Even their names are similar, so it’s no wonder I’m uneasy.

C
has certainly likes the sound of his own voice. ‘I take my final exams in the summer,’ he boasts.

‘Oh, yeah?’ I sneer. ‘And what will Demi do with herself? Cook your meals? Do your washing? She should be with her dad when he’s so ill.’

Demi tuts. ‘I told you, Travis, I can’t stay with Dad any more. He’s driven me away.’

I take her hand. ‘You can’t leave your dad, Dem! You don’t know what he might do when he realises you’ve gone!’

Chas slaps my hand. ‘In a few hours we’ll be on the ferry to Oban, and there’s nothing you, her dad, or anyone else can do about it! I mean,’ he adds, laughing, ‘it’s a bit late to play the jilted boyfriend now, isn’t it?’

That deserves a smack in the mouth, so he gets one.

‘For God’s sake, Travis,’ cries Demi, running over to him as he lies back on the stones, groaning, ‘what’s got into you?’

‘In the first place, this isn’t about me and Demi,’ I say angrily, ‘and in the second, I happen to like her dad. He was good to me. In the third...’

I don’t tell him what the third is. The cave, the sea, and the sky have all turned upside down. A few minutes later I’m staring up at him and Demi. As usual my mind is foggy and confused, but now that Chas’s face is close up it seems familiar. It’s like I know him from somewhere. There’s something about his eyes that bother me, too.

‘Are you OK now?’ he asks. ‘Can you stand up?’

I taste blood in my mouth. My tongue feels sore.

‘Let’s see,’ orders Demi. I stick my tongue out. ‘Ooh, you’ve bitten it. Come on, sit down here.’

I collapse on a thick, flat rock, and bury my head in my hands. There are other voices apart from theirs; faraway voices, echoing in the cave. I wish they’d stop tormenting me!

‘Here.’ Chas throws his red woolly jumper at me. ‘You must be freezing.’

‘Thanks,’ I lisp. Demi helps me to put it on.

‘We should take him to the farm,’ says Chas. ‘Let him rest properly. He should be in bed.’ He taps me on the shoulder. ‘Have you taken your medication today?’

‘No.’ He’s already beginning to sound like a doctor.

‘I’m not going back to the farm, Chas,’ says Demi firmly. ‘If Dad sees us...’

‘Chase,’ I mutter.

‘What?’ asks Demi. ‘What did you say, Travis?’

I raise my head, squinting at him. ‘Chas isn’t really your name, is it?’

He glares. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I knew someone called Chase once.’ I close my eyes, shake my head gently from side to side, and try to stretch the heaviness out of my limbs. ‘Only for a short time, though. He was a neurosurgeon, and also practised psychiatry. Professor Chase; obnoxious git, he was, too.’

For one long moment I can only hear the sea pounding against the rocks and onto the shore, and the wind whistling in the air, until Demi laughs nervously, and says, ‘That’s so totally weird!’

I’m slow to make the connection. ‘Why?’

‘Because Chas is his nickname; his full name is Michael Charles Chase!’

A chill goes through my body. Suddenly Chas’s face transforms from its young self to its older self. The same cold grey eyes! 

‘It
is
you!’

He doesn’t answer. I’m too dazed to ask how he’s managed to look younger, and right now I don’t care. I only want to run. I stumble blindly onto the beach, the sound of the sea thundering in my ears. I keep running along the sand, ignoring Demi’s cries for me to come back. The waves wash over my feet, my ankles, my knees, and my waist; very soon I’m under the water, tasting salt as the sea rushes into my mouth. I can’t breathe.

Someone is pulling me out of the water, dragging me onto the beach. Demi helps to get me onto my stomach. I cough and splutter; water trickles out of my mouth. Then they roll me onto my back. Chase is sitting on me, and I’m swinging wild punches at him.

‘You freak!’ I scream hysterically. ‘How did you get here, and why do you look different?’

‘What’s he talking about!’ Demi cries. ‘Oh, Chas, be careful! You’re hurting him!’

I find the strength from somewhere to wrench a wrist free, and land a punch on his jaw. Deaf to Demi’s wails I sit on him, raining punches on him, one after the other. Blood starts to drip from his nose. 

‘I won’t let you operate on me! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!’

Then suddenly I’m sinking into darkness, and there’s nothing.

––––––––

A
sharp light pierces my eye. It hurts. I sit up, and push it away.

‘All right, laddie.’ Dr Mac hasn’t changed much, except he’s older and greyer. ‘Calm down, you’re safe.’

I take in my surroundings. The room has a low ceiling with wooden beams, and the walls are painted white.

‘Where am I?’

‘In a spare room in my cottage,’ replies the doctor. ‘I got some of the local men to bring you here. You’ve been out for quite a while, nearly five hours.’

‘What happened?’

‘Demi said you had a seizure and collapsed, so she came to get me. I don’t appreciate being dragged out of my bed at three in the morning to rescue stupid young people messing about on the beach! What on earth were you two up to?’

‘Chase!’ I gasp.

‘What?’

I lie back down, bewildered. I have this spooky vision of Professor Chase as a young man on the beach. We’re fighting, I’ve blackened his eye, I’ve fallen into the sea, he’s pulling me out...no, it’s just my mind playing tricks. I ask where Demi is.

‘In Oban,’ replies Dr Mac, ‘at the hospital with her dad.’

‘Her dad? Why, is he ill?’

Dr Mac sighs. ‘Two of the men I called out to help bring you back here found him collapsed in the lane outside the farm, with an empty whisky bottle in his hand, almost ran over him, they said. So they carried him to their Land Rover, and drove him here. One of them came to the beach to tell us. We brought you here, and then I called the air ambulance out. Jack was in a really bad way, poor man. I don’t think he has much longer to go now.’ He shakes his head. ‘Drinking himself to death, and leaving that poor child to fend for herself! It’s not right. She’s out of her mind with worry.’