Sand Glass (19 page)

‘Come on
Jared.’ Janey tried to coax him back to us, hunched as he was by
then on one of the other low beds in the room.

‘Marcia is
here?’ he said as if completely freaked by the notion of it.

‘Jared. You
like her. She likes you. She remembers everything about you that
she’s already discovered.. poor girl.’ Janey glanced at me, ‘Look
at me. Jared, I’ve really got a problem. I’m going to have to meet
myself. If that isn’t a bit, well weird… then I don’t know what is.
Surely you can manage to face just one of her. She is very fond of
you, you know.’

‘Yeah… I know.’
Jared turned round, ‘that’s just it. She’s “fond” of me.’

‘Oh!’ said
Janey, ‘well that makes sense. Perhaps I may venture a thought dear
brother mine; that you and her might perhaps have been at cross
purposes.’

‘That sounds
terribly Shakespearian.’ I said.

‘Yes, well.’
Janey continued, ‘I think that for once you really should listen to
me.’

Jared looked at
me, ‘I hope we know what we’re doing.’ Then to Janey: ‘What did she
say about me?’

‘She said that
she was rather upset that you always seem to have to be zooming off
on another of your little expeditions.’

‘Expeditions?’
I repeated.

‘Davey….’ Janey
came over to me, ‘What shall we do with you?’

She shook her
head slightly, and then sighed.

She sat back.
The lamp light gleamed in her eyes. It was different now. There was
a reason to go back. I found them both together, in this quiet
state of mind quite overwhelming. Jared closed his eyes and rested
a little more.

I found the
cave equivalent of the washroom, and tried to give myself a proper
freshen up, then on tiptoeing back past Jared; I paused, and looked
down at him. There was something not quite right about the way he
breathed. It was rough. A little as if he was parched and needed a
drink. I sat down on the floor near to the bunk wondering what I
ought to do. A few feet away Janey was quiet and relaxed in
sleep.

I didn’t want
to wake him. But I was worried. I touched his shoulder very
lightly.

‘Davey…’ his
eyes opened, and he focused on me.

‘I’m sorry… you
seemed to be breathing kind of funny… not quite right. It was
stupid of me, really.’

‘No… no, it
alright.’ He blinked and rubbed his eyes, ‘pass me the water flask
will you.’

‘How long do
you think it will take to finish all this?’ I whispered as I handed
him the flask.

He raised
himself on one elbow, and took a long drink before replying; ‘I
think it will take no more than ten days,’ he said keeping his
voice low, ‘But we need to find out how long we have been out here
relative to the time at home. It’s important to find out…..’ he
coughed and wheezed.

‘What is
wrong?’ I took the flask from his hand.

‘I think that I
must wake up soon…. I was dreaming, just before you touched me. I
felt as if I was lying in another place. It had an odd smell.
Something was in my mouth. I wanted to take it out…. it felt
uncomfortable. Then I thought I saw someone. As if my eyes were
just opening. Someone I thought I knew….’

‘Who?’ I asked
fascinated and horrified by turns.

‘I….. Help me
Davey. I may be stronger in this place…. But I am weaker in the
real place.’ He put his hand on my shoulder, ‘Help me Davey….
Please… I have to last long enough to finish this.’

‘Tell me what
you mean?’ I was seriously alarmed now, but kept my voice low, so
as not to wake Janey.

‘We have to
find the body…. I mean the one from before…. It would be like
wearing a heavier coat. It would slow things down…. And I think it
might be the only way that Marcia can see me.’

‘But doesn’t
what happened change everything?’

‘Davey…. I
think I must be realistic. I’m hanging on by a thread as it is.
Only You and Janey have kept me here. You are both a reason to go
back.’

‘You were
walking down the beach. Where had you come from?’

‘Please don’t
ask me to tell!’ then he looked away, and spoke in a whisper, ‘I
saw something; that if I think about it now would set me running
back there without stopping. I must look to you all. I know that
Janey won’t admit it. But back there I might not recover. I would
take a miracle.…’

‘But Jared,’ I
tried to sound reassuring, ‘Look what you did for me. You brought
me back.’

‘Oh Davey! How
little you know. That wasn’t me. I am just a whisper of that other
voice. I am weak and sick, and a dying man. I cannot deny that as a
possibility. You need to know that I am in pain. I want to wake up.
But the pain is too much. Even that other body that was left in
these caves somewhere will only bring some shadow of relief. It was
no coincidence that a head injury took that covering from me.’

‘Jared. That is
all beyond me. But I will do whatever you want. Just promise me one
thing.’

‘The deal Davey
is?’ he lay down shivering, ‘It’s worse at night.’ He added.

‘That when you
wake up; and when you are well enough you will tell Janey
everything….’

‘I will.’

‘I hadn’t
finished. You will tell Marcia everything…’ I paused but he looked
at me with a pained frown.

‘….and you will
tell your parents everything too.’

He was silent
for a very long time, his expression lost in shadow.

‘You ask a lot
of me Davey. It would be hardest on Mother. She is…. An unusual
Lady, and has wanted to keep as normal a life as possible for Janey
and Myself. But I suppose she would understand all this.’

‘What about
your Father?’

‘What about
him?’

‘What will he
say?’

‘My Mother sent
him away….. She was angry at him.’ Then in answer to the
embarrassed look I gave him, ‘No… no, it’s not like that. Not like
that at all. It has to do with my sister.’

‘What?’

‘Sorry. It’s
very confusing even when you do know all the facts. But something
like this was bound to happen. My Father and mother are well; what
you might say, passionate about their children. But they both want
to express it in very different ways. Our birthday was the first
time we’d all been together without fighting. My parents haven’t
split up if that’s what you’re thinking. It isn’t about that. He
goes to visit my other sister.’

‘You have
another sister?’ I didn’t quite see where this was going but I
thought I better persevere.

‘She appears to
be just like us. You would think if you met her, she was just a
little older than me and Janey. But she isn’t. She a lot older. In
fact she as old as her own mother.’

‘What?’

‘All this… all
this maze of reality that is bending time and consequence; has
absolutely nothing on the people I come from. There is a paradox in
the fabric of our lives that has been there for years. And that is
why they didn’t want me involved. Janey was already part of the
science team. But someone found out something about our family, and
knew that we would control… or they thought we could control the
power that they so desperately want to keep for themselves.’

‘And can you?
Can you control it?’

‘I have no
idea.’ Jared sighed, ‘even if I found I could. The question is
would I want to?’

‘But Jared!
This is great… you can…’

‘No!’ he said
sharply.

‘Sorry..’

‘No. I’m sorry.
But please…. don’t…. tempt me. I have to stay on the right side.
Between us we have power. And everything I have must be used to
help my friends…. Not to defeat my enemies. Because after all they
are victims of this scary maze too. They have to be given a
chance…. Everyone must have a chance.’

‘But what
happens if it doesn’t go according to plan?’

‘Then the
bastards win. And you and all the others will find yourselves back
at wherever you are supposed to be on a Monday morning; but
suffering a really bad hangover. With the disquieting feeling that
something happened the night before that you would probably wish
hadn’t happened if you could remember it. But since you don’t want
to… then it’s best to let it fade away. It’s easy to forget when
you don’t want to dig up an unpleasant truth. Isn’t it true of all
of us?’

‘Yes. I guess
it is.’ I felt deflated by this last statement, so I offered the
water bottle back to Jared.

‘Please don’t
tell Janey for now. And in return I’ll do as you ask. I promise
that.’ Jared turned away from me and pulled the blanket around his
shoulders.

I went and lay
down on the bunk I had chosen. Through the distant arches of this
mountain retreat, the first faint splash of dawn light traced the
dimensionless night away. I stared at it for a while, and then
finding no calmness or peace of mind; I got up and went to find the
lab. I hoped it have a portable clamp that we could acquire, so we
had the means to switch the tags to the on, off, or short range
position with ease. When that was done I intended to return to the
stone chapel. I needed a time to work it all out. I was afraid and
confused. And I wanted a simple straightforward fight with clearly
defined enemies and friends.

I put the clamp
down at the step. The chapel was there as it had been before. I
went forward and took a taper from the sand tray on the right and
lit it. I found the candles to the right and then the left. There
were flowers on the altar table as if freshly gathered just before
dawn. I turned around.

‘Hello?’ my
voice sounded oddly small in the silence. Not a whisper or a foot
fall of any other person could be heard. I was waiting. But for
what I didn’t know. Then suddenly there was a movement behind me. I
quickly turned.

Jared stood
there with Janey. ‘there is something that needs to be done here.’
She said, bringing him forward. He came with her but seemed
reluctant, as if something was pulling the other way.

‘Jared,’ Janey
said urgently, ‘There is no time. We must fit you back in that body
now. Before the sunrise reaches us. Don’t you know that if we wait
it might not work.’

‘But why?’
Jared said to her, and stumbled.

‘Help me
Davey!’ she looked towards me. I unfroze and took Jared’s right
hand.

‘Tell me what
to do?’ I said.

‘Help him onto
the dais.’

‘You mean that
altar thing?’

‘Yes. If course
I mean that!’

‘I don’t see
why we can’t wait?’ said Jared.

‘You said there
wasn’t much time.’ I said to Jared.

‘Yes. But I’m
tired. Let me rest for a while.’

‘No!’ Janey
again, ‘Get up there. We detected a static time field here. It will
make the transition possible.’

I really didn’t
need the exertion right now. So I did what I had tried with my
sister when she was being a real pain and twisted a Chinese burn on
Jared’s wrist.

He yelped at
once and then looked at me wide eyed. ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘I’ll do
what you want. I get it. I’m going.’

We both let go
of him. He went forward and rested his hand lightly on the altar
table. Janey went round and lifted the bunches of herbs out of the
way.

‘I know this
place.’ said Jared; ‘It is a place to rest. It’s happy, not sad.
Freedom from pain.’ He reached for my hand. ‘Help me on the
surface.’

‘You are
burning up.’ I said as my grip tightened. I lifted and took some of
the weight, until he sat on the surface.

‘Please Davey.
His boots.’ said Janey.

I knelt down to
unlace them. That done, I helped swing his feet up onto the stone
bed.

‘Are you okay
there?’ I said.

Jared looked up
at me, his brows drawing together, and he shivered. ‘It’s dark in
here,’ he said, and then in a whisper, ‘I’m scared….’ and gripped
my hand. He lay down. Janey laid the herbs about his head and his
feet. She touched his forehead. She frowned in a concentrated way
from the other side of the dais, then Janey moved round to me.

‘Don’t leave.’
Jared said in a slight whisper.

‘We just need
to step back a little.’ said Janey, ‘I promise we’ll be here.’

Jared was
trembling; ‘I’m cold.’

‘Step back now
Davey.’ Janey pulled on my arm.

I almost
resisted. I could feel a pull the opposite way.

‘Step back
David.’ Jared said, shivering visibly, ‘I think you need to now.’
And he let go of my hand.

I moved down
the two steps with Janey. We stood very still. I felt it then; a
curling inside me, like a cool fire. We were near enough. Part of
me wanted to take a step backwards, and part of me wanted to stay
where I was. Such seeming magical things were both fearful and
fascinating to me. But this was perhaps a mystery of a different
kind. Jared groaned once. Janey bit her lip, and stood like a
statue. She kept her hand on my arm. I was transfixed and could not
move. And then from nowhere it seemed, I saw a glowing light
hovering over Jared. He was turning his head towards us so he could
see we were still there. He began to tremble as one in a great
fever would. Then suddenly he was gagging and choking. I felt
myself about to move forward instinctively. Janey stopped me; her
grip so firm, so unyielding. I just had to watch. He coughed then
and rolled onto his side. A spurt of fluid came from his lips. His
eyes rolled and closed.

‘Janey! For
God’s sake…’

‘Just
wait…..’

The dawn light
shot through the opening above our heads and in front of us, spears
of light that pieced the gloom and struck the wall behind us. Jared
all at once rolled onto his back and was quite still. The light
around him grew. It spread in streamers and filaments of light;
glowing and spreading; every colour I could think of; and then
bright gold, and a greeny-gold almost too bright to look at, hardly
like an earthly colour. Rather they were made of light. The stone I
had held had shown me an impression from deep in my own mind some
expression of this light on a smaller scale; but this was issuing
forth from the real man. It spilled over the edges of the table and
flowed towards us. It flooded around us. It grew like flowers that
have drunk in the sun’s fire. Like light and morning, and like
something I could never have imagined. Did every soul have such a
spectrum? Jared’s was a rainbow of lights. Maybe it was all the
people he loved, or all the things he stood for. Every choice,
everything he chose that was good. If science could read it, would
it tell what manner of man he was. I no longer doubted. Because
then he breathed in, and all that colour intensified around his
body as if it really was reforming. I felt Janey release me. We
both stepped forward and grasped his hands. We helped him up. The
light appeared to soak into his skin. But by now there was normal
early morning light in the chapel, and we could see each other
clearly.