Jelly Cooper: Alien (14 page)

She shrugs.

“Whatever.  I don’t imagine for one second that the get-along-gang keep
s secrets from each other, so go ahead, knock yourself out.”

She
sits up and gets to her feet.

“I’m going for a walk.”

With three pairs of eyes trained on her back, she strides out of the clearing.

I whistle a low whistle.

“What was up with
that
?”

“Who knows what goes on in a cheerleader’s head?” says Agatha. 
“Not me, for sure.  So,” she says, flopping onto her back, "tell us, Humph.”

Humphrey picks a blade of grass and sticks it between his teeth.

“She said lots of things that I ignored, like how ‘pathetic’ I was being and how I was such a big ‘
loser’
.  Humphrey makes an ‘L’ shape on his forehead with his thumb and forefinger and I burst out laughing.  Sounds like Rhiannon.

“She was getting me really mad
,” Humphrey says, rolling the grass over his teeth.  “Then she said that I was the worst excuse for a best friend that she’d ever seen and it’s no wonder there are only three of us”.

My laughter dies.  Humphrey’s eyes swivel in my direction.

“It stings when she’s right, doesn’t it?” he says.

“Like no pain I’ve known
,” I reply.

Twigs snap underfoot as Rhiannon
returns.  Faced with three pairs of inquiring eyes, her face turns pink.

“Just thought you’d
want to know that we’ve missed the tide.”

Shit.

We tear through the shrubbery towards the runway, arriving on the beach amidst collective groans of dismay.  While we’ve been chatting, the sea has stealthily crept back to claim the land. 

“How do we get out of this, oh magic one?”

“That’s really funny Rhiannon, not to mention helpful.  Thanks.”

Agatha, who can manage two strokes and a bubble before sinking, is very pale.  I squeeze her hand.

“It’s OK, Ag.”

“How can it be OK?  We’re going to starve to death if we stay here and we’re going to drown if we go out there
,” she gestures at the sea.

“No,” Humphrey shakes his head.  “We’ll die of thirst before we starve.”

Agatha moans.

“Wrong!”
I say with a big grin.  Surveying the length of the water, I scan the far away beach, screwing up my eyes against the sun.  Satisfied that the cove at the end of the beach is unpopulated, I turn back to the others.

“Keep calm and if you feel sick, close your eyes
.”

“Oh dear
,” mumbles Humphrey.

“Here we go
,” I breathe.  Closing my eyes, I imagine myself stood beside my friends.  Seeing Rhiannon stood a little way off, I reach out to her and feel the familiar thudding in my head.  Mercury threads slither their way towards the cheerleader and wrap themselves around her body like a shawl, lifting and carrying her towards the rest of us, her feet bobbing inches above the ground.  I entwine us all in the same silvery thread and we rise, as one, to hover alongside Rhiannon.

I imagine us all speeding our way across the water and feel a tugging in the pit of my stomach.  Wind rushes
at my face and my hair streams out behind me as I fly through the air.  Hearing the others gasp and squeal, I open my eyes and take a peek at their grinning faces.  I laugh out loud as we zip along.

We reach the beach in seconds and, reluctantly, I slow our flight and drop us onto the warm sand.  Humphrey rushes forward and
gives me a massive hug.

“That was amazing;
just like flying,” he spins me round, “oh wow, that was so cool.”

“Put me down, stupid
,” I giggle, secretly pleased. Things are falling into place, I can feel it.  Getting back my breath and my balance after all that dizzying spinning, I scan the cliff tops just to make sure that no one saw us.

Someone did.

A figure stands silhouetted on the cliff top.  He watches us and, despite the heat of the day, goosebumps race across my skin. 

Oh-oh.
 

The others haven’t seen him and I want to keep it that way. 
I squint against the sunlight, looking for a clue to the identity of the watcher.  The light is so bright behind him that I can’t make out his face.  I take a step closer to the cliffs and the figure retreats backwards until he’s out of sight.

I shiver, my earlier joy replaced by a dark, unnamed fear. 
Someone saw our flight across the water.

Again with the ‘oh-oh’.

“What now?”

“Hmm?
  Sorry, what?”

Rhiannon repeats her question, mouthing the words with exaggerated care.  Despite sinking spirits, I smile.  Some things never change.

“Well, we can’t go back to school and it’s too early to go home.  Anyone got any suggestions?”

“We can’t go to my house, my mother’s home
,” Agatha says, sounding apologetic.

Humphrey shakes his head. 
“My dad’s home.  He’ll be in all day.  Sorry.”

I shrug.  “I’m in the same boat.  Mum only works mornings,
then she picks Molly up from school.  She’ll be home by now.”

I turn to Rhiannon.

“What about your place?”

“
erm….”

She blushes as we stare at her.

“I…um…I suppose that…erm, we could go back to mine.  Go back to my house, I mean.”

Agatha is about to ruin it by speaking, so I give her the ‘we’ll talk later’ look and turn to Rhiannon.  “If you’re sure that is.  What about Ricky?”

Rhiannon scuffs the ground with the toe of her shoe.  “He’s staying with friends after school. He won’t be back tonight.”

Still not quite believing what I’m about to do, I nod, flash
her a smile, and say,

“OK
then, we’re good to go.  Lead the way.”

Rhiannon turns and
, after a moment’s hesitation, heads off down the beach.

“You can explain what’
s going on with you and her later,” Agatha whispers from somewhere behind my left shoulder.

I grin.

“Oh come on Agatha, don’t you want to see the inside of the Miles mansion?”

Agatha
pretty much runs after Rhiannon.

Humphrey flashes me a smile and, tucking my hand
in his, pulls me along the sandy beach toward another round of surprises.

Chapter
Eleven

Rhiannon’s house is huge.  Like, really huge.  It stands proud at the end of a tree-lined avenue, towering over the other rooftops and dominating the skyline. We see its white walls as soon as we turn into the road; like great sails catching the wind.

Mummy
and daddy Miles must be very good at their jobs, even if they suck as parents.  Rhiannon shrinks as we approached the house and hovers at the bottom of the drive. 

I nudge her.  “Shall we go in?” 

“What?  Oh, sure.” 

The first thing I notice is
how glamorous it is.  Polished marble gleams, chandeliers sway, and the mosaic floor squeaks beneath our feet.  We follow Rhiannon to the end of the hallway in silence.

Hey,
it’s hard to talk with your mouth hanging open.  Try it some time and you’ll see that I’m right. 

The
size of the kitchen takes my breath away. 

“This is bigger than my house.”

The words pop out of my mouth and I groan on the inside.

“Sorry.”

Rhiannon doesn’t pay any attention. 

Humphrey whistles.  “Wow.  This is some kitchen.
”  State of the art appliances sit on every surface and it all shines as new.  “I doubt that any of the hotels on the front has a kitchen like this.”

Rhiannon shrugs. 
“Mother had a complete re-fit when we moved in.”  She grunts.  “She’s never lifted a finger in a kitchen in her life.  It’s just for show, like everything else around here.”

Oh-
kay…

“Anybody hungry?”

“I am,” Humphrey answers. 

“No surprises there
,” Agatha jokes, poking his tummy. 

Acting like a normal human being for once, Rhiannon grabs
loads of food from the refrigerator.  “Let’s go to my room, it’s a bit more relaxed up there.  You can tell me all about this Hunter thingy and whether or not you’ve put me in mortal danger and then I can ring your neck at getting me involved in something so crazy.”

So much for acting like a normal human being.

The doorbell rings, slicing through the air.

White faced, I stand frozen. What does that little girl in Poltergeist say?

He’s he-ere.

I turn to Rhiannon.

“Are you expecting company?”

“No.”

“Could it be Trish, or Melissa?”

“Jay…”

“Sshhh Humphrey.  Rhiannon?”

“No.  They have a field trip this afternoon to
Fairwater.  Melissa spent two hours last night picking out what to wear.  Even if they are wondering where I am, it won’t stop them going.”

“Damn.”

The doorbell rings again, longer this time, more insistent.

“It might be nothing
,” I mumble under my breath.  Agatha and Humphrey swap worried looks.

“OK,
” I say, striving for calm.  “No one would associate us with Rhiannon, so it’s not going to be someone looking for us.  Unless it’s the Hunter.” 

Damn,
did I say that last part out loud?

I hold back from telling them about the figure on the beach.  It’s too late now anyway.

“Why am I doing this?” Rhiannon sighs.  “Get upstairs, quick. My room is third on the right, shut the door after you and keep quiet.  I’ll get rid of whoever it is.”  She drops the food on the kitchen table, ushers us into the hallway and pushes us up the regal staircase.  We reach the landing and I tell Agatha and Humphrey to hide in Rhiannon’s bedroom.  They make a fuss, so I push them in and shut the door.  Alone, I sit by the top step and peek through a gap in the banister.

“Maybe it’s just the
Avon lady,” Rhiannon murmurs.  Taking a deep breath, she opens the front door.  Mr. Fletcher leans against the frame, his finger on the doorbell.  He smiles at Rhiannon.

“Well, well, Miss Miles.  Aren’t you full of surprises?”  Pushing past her, he
steps into the hallway.  His eyes flit from doorway to doorway, searching.

“I must admit, I hadn’t expected this.  Not in a million years
.”  He glances back and gives her a wink, then moves down the hallway towards the kitchen. 

I shake off the possibility.  I’m being paranoid.  Besides, Crin said that the
bashrak’s
signal didn’t make things squirm in your belly and my belly sure is squirming. 

Mr. Fletcher runs his hand ov
er the wall; I can hear his fingernails scratching against the paper.  Humming under his breath, he heads for the kitchen.

“You have played out of character on this one, Miss Miles.  Offering to
shelter people you hate.  People who, just yesterday, you were eager to crush under your shiny boot.”  His voice holds a degree of wonder.  “Truly unexpected.  Quite brilliant on her part, but then she is special, so veeeeeery special.”

I creep down the stairs
and very, very, carefully, peer around the bottom of the banister.

Rhiannon tries to
act innocent, but looks like she’s about to faint.  On any other day of the year, acting the innocent would
not
be a problem for Rhiannon Miles.  But not today.  Today, the words won’t come. 

“I…ah…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Fletcher.”

He smiles and continues his investigation of the kitchen.  I retreat behind the safety of the banister.

As
the word reverberates in my ears, I realise the extent of the danger I’ve put my friends in.  I take another peek towards the kitchen.  How can I get them out?

Rhiannon
stands in front of the pile of food strewn across the table. 

Damn – I’d forgotten about that.
 

She tries to distract the amused Mr. Fletcher.

“I…um, I’m sorry that I wasn’t at school today.  I had to go to the doctor this morning.  I was feeling quite sick last night and I had this rash.  Mum panicked; you know how mums are, right?  She thought it might be Meningitis or something and insisted that I go to the doctor this morning straight away.  I should have phoned the school, I know, but…Mr. Fletcher?”