First and Only (31 page)

‘
The boy’s a natural
,’
thought Steve with a smile.

Psimon waited until everything
was ready and everyone was settled. He smiled slightly at the wall of rapt
faces. Then he glanced at the circle of steel.

The room erupted in a collective
gasp of astonishment.

The Sky News man had flinched and
almost dropped it when the metal began to change its shape. Now his hand shook
as he tried to hold it steady for the cameras to get a good clear look.

What had been a perfect circle
was now a perfect square.

‘
Smart arse!
’ thought
Steve at Psimon’s use of the ancient metaphor for the impossible.

‘Mr Brennus.’

Steve turned at the sudden voice
beside him. One of the production staff was leaning down over the back of his
chair.

‘Your wife and daughter are
outside,’ the young woman said over the hubbub of excited voices in the room.
‘Would you like me to show them in or would you rather speak to them outside.’

‘My wife and daughter?’ said
Steve as if he did not understand what the woman had just said.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘They’re waiting
outside. Would you like me to show them in?’

Steve had never felt so
flustered, confused and nervous in his entire life.

‘I… err… yes… show them in
please.’

He rose from his seat and Chatham
gave him a reassuring smile as he moved to the side of the room, away from the
lights and the intense interest that was now focussed on the stage. He waited
near the door while the studio assistant popped outside. His heart was
hammering in his chest as he tried to think of what he was going to say but
then the door opened and Christine and Sally were there.

Steve glanced down at his little
girl; her eyes were still ringed with yellow bruising. He put a hand to his
mouth as the tears sprang to his eyes. But then his wife came to him and
wrapped her arms around him and nothing else mattered. Not the money, not the
business, not the pain in his broken ribs. All that mattered was his wife and
his little girl.

Steve crouched down and looked at
Sally. He held out his hand to her but still she hesitated. Christine reached
back and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder and finally Sally moved. She
threw herself at her daddy and melted against his chest. Steve held her,
enfolded her in his great strong arms. He buried his face against the soft skin
of her neck and breathed in the smell of her hair. He did not speak… he could
not speak.

Finally Sally pushed away from
him.

‘Did someone hurt you, daddy?’
she asked reaching out a slender little finger to trace the cuts and bruises on
his face.

‘Yes they did,’ managed Steve
through the tightness in his throat.

‘Was that because you were
naughty?’

Steve looked puzzled. He glanced
up at Christine.

‘She thinks you hit her because
she was naughty,’ said Christine, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

‘Oh God,’ said Steve with a
shuddering gulp.

‘You shouldn’t sneak about and
listen to other people’s conversations,’ said Sally looking down at her shoes.

Steve was lost for words but not
for tears. He clasped his daughter to his chest and when he could he whispered
to her… ‘You were not naughty darling,’ he said. ‘You did nothing wrong. Daddy
was naughty for losing his temper and hitting the door.’ He held Sally gently
away from him and looked into her big green eyes. ‘And I am sorry,’ he said.
‘I’m very, very sorry.’

Sally looked at him for a moment.
‘That’s okay, daddy,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t hurt anymore.’

Steve reached out to hold her
some more then he stood to kiss his wife. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry for
everything.’

‘It’s okay,’ said Christine
putting her palm against his bruised face.

‘No it’s not,’ said Steve. ‘I
left you with everything, with barely a word.’

Christine seemed puzzled.

‘Steve, it’s okay,’ she said.

‘No,’ he insisted. ‘You had Sally
to deal with… and Paul… and the bank… the solicitors…’

Christine looked as if Steve had
lost his senses.

‘Have they been giving you a hard
time?’ Steve asked her.

‘Ha… no,’ laughed Christine as if
nothing could be further from the truth.

Now it was Steve’s turn to look
puzzled.

‘The bank phoned me last week to
see if we still wanted the loan after making such a large deposit.’

Steve frowned.

‘Large deposit?’ he said.
Thinking that fifteen thousand pounds did not seem that large.

‘Yes,’ said Christine. ‘From
America... some educational foundation or something.’

Steve just looked at her as the
penny dropped.

‘A million dollars,’ said
Christine excitedly. ‘Steve, that’s over half a million pounds.’

Steve’s voice seemed to have
deserted him once more.

‘However did you wangle that
one?’ asked Christine. ‘What’s the interest like? When do we need to pay it back?’

Steve did not answer at first. He
just turned to look across the studio to the young man fielding the barrage of
questions from overexcited journalists. And as he did so Psimon glanced up.
Just for a second he looked at Steve with his stone grey eyes then he nodded
and smiled as if to say ‘you’re welcome’.

‘I don’t think we need to pay it
back,’ said Steve turning back to his wife.

‘What?’ said Christine ‘I don’t
understand.’

‘It’s a long story,’ said Steve.
‘I should have called to tell you what was going on… I shouldn’t have just
walked out like that.’

‘But you didn’t,’ said Christine.
‘There were the flowers…’

‘Flowers?’

‘Yes,’ said Christine, fishing
inside her pocket for the note that she had kept. ‘And the Nemo toy for Sally.’

Steve took the note and read it…

Hi darling.

So very sorry for what
happened. Please tell Sally that it wasn’t her fault and that daddy was very
naughty for losing his temper. Just had a call from someone who could get us
out of the mess we’re in but I need to go away for a few days. Don’t try me on
the mobile, the network doesn’t cover this region. Will be in touch when I can.

See you a week on Tuesday.

Love Steve

PS Give Nemo a kiss for me

Even his signature was exactly
right.

‘I was desperate to speak to
you,’ Christine went on. ‘But there were your texts and your colleague called
us to let us know you were okay.’

‘My colleague?’ said Steve.

‘Psimon,’ said Christine. ‘He
called us several times.’

Steve put a hand to his forehead.

‘He sounds like such a nice young
man.’

Steve turned once again to look
at Psimon on the stage. The press conference was being brought to a close.
Psimon was being ushered from the stage; Chatham stood beside him. Then the
chairman addressed the room.

‘Thank you… thank you…’ he said
as he struggled to quieten the excitement in the room. ‘That’s all we have time
for just now.’

There was a collective groan of
disappointment from the world’s press.

‘You will have the chance for
more questions in just over a week’s time.’

The journalists simmered down a
little at this.

‘From here Psimon will be going
to the research facility at Portland Down, where an international symposium has
been convened to begin the study of his remarkable abilities…’

Steve felt a sudden wrench as he
realised that Psimon was moving out of his life.

‘Who is that?’ asked Christine as
she stood with her arm around her husband.

Steve lifted Sally so that she
could also see.

‘That…’ he said, ‘is Psimon.’

‘Your colleague?’ said Christine
in surprise. ‘The guy that’s been calling us?’

‘That’s right,’ said Steve. ‘He’s
the one who arranged the money.’

‘But where are they taking him?’
asked Christine as Psimon was bustled from the room.’

‘He’s off to meet some of the top
minds in the world,’ said Steve. ‘But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get a chance
to thank him.’

‘Well I can thank him a week on
Friday,’ said Christine.

‘What?’ said Steve.

‘I invited him to dinner,’ said
Christine. ‘I was going to do lamb.’

Steve just stared after Psimon as
he disappeared through the door at the far side of the studio.

‘Who is he?’ asked Christine, for
it was clear that Psimon was more than just a colleague of Steve’s.

‘He’s a psychic,’ said Steve.

‘What?’ said Christine. ‘A real
psychic?’

‘Yep,’ said Steve. ‘The first and
only.’

Epilogue

Friday March 18th

‘Stop fretting,’ said Steve as he stood with Sally and
Christine at the foot of their drive.

‘But I’m nervous,’ said
Christine. ‘He can read people’s minds… what if I fancy him?’

Steve just laughed as the car
pulled up beside them.

‘How’s it going freak?’ he said
as Psimon emerged from the back seat of the car. He crossed the pavement to
greet his friend. ‘The men in white coats figured out what’s wrong with you
yet?’

Psimon smiled as he took Steve’s
hand.

‘Terminal case, I’m afraid,’ he
said.

Steve laughed and after a brief
appraising look the two men embraced and held each other tight.

‘It’s good to see you looking
well,’ said Steve as two young boys ran up to them.

‘Are you the psychic man?’ one of
them asked.

Psimon and Steve exchanged a look
of amusement.

‘Yes I am,’ said Psimon.

‘Told you,’ said one of the boys.

‘Can we have your autograph?’
said the other.

Psimon looked embarrassed but
Steve just laughed.

‘You’ve only yourself to blame,’
he said.

Psimon looked round for something
to write with then turned to the car as the driver’s window car slid down.

‘Thanks Ben,’ said Psimon as the
driver held out a pen and a piece of paper.

Psimon leaned on the car to sign
the piece of paper.

‘And yours too,’ said one of the
boys, looking up at Steve. ‘You’re the one who caught that killer, the SAS
man.’

Steve blushed and Christine’s
eyes shone as she smiled at her husband’s discomfiture.

Steve took the paper from Psimon
and was about to sign it when he stopped and paused, looking at Psimon’s name
as he had written it on the page.

To Max and Stuart

From Simon, the world’s
first psychic

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Psimon
as Steve continued to stare at the paper.

‘Nothing,’ said Steve. He added
his name to the paper and handed it back to the excited boys. ‘It’s just that
I…’

‘What?’ said Psimon as they
turned towards the house. ‘Not imagining things that aren’t there, are we?’

Christine linked her arm into
Psimon’s and Sally held his hand.

But Psimon glanced back at Steve.

‘Maybe there’s something of the
psychic in all of…’

‘Don’t give me that bollocks,’
said Steve cuffing Psimon smartly round the back of the head. ‘You’re the only
psychic in the world, thank God.’

Psimon laughed as he was escorted
up the drive. Steve followed close behind, and as they stepped through the door
he heard Sally’s voice.

‘How did you hurt your face?’ she
asked.

‘Your daddy cut me with a knife.’

‘Did he really?’ asked Sally as
if Psimon were teasing her.

‘Yes he did, the nasty brute,’
said Psimon with a smile. ‘He really did.’

Dear reader

Thank you for buying First
and Only. If you enjoyed it I would be immensely grateful if you could mention
it to your family and friends. I look forward to meeting you again someday
(when I finally get round to finishing another book!).

Sincerely yours

Peter

~*~

Peter Flannery lives in the Scottish Borders with his wife
and two young boys. Born in 1964, he studied art and design before leaving
college to work in forestry. However, an accident at work left him with a
broken neck and after a month on traction and a year’s convalescence he moved
into the somewhat less hazardous world of horticulture. He enjoyed the company
of plants for a number of years before switching again to set himself up as a
sculptor working for the toy industry.

A design studio in Edinburgh
provided the opportunity to move from sculpting to writing and he became the
lead writer for Target Games UK Ltd. He is now an independent writer working on
a range of titles for both adults and children. First and Only is his first
published novel.