The Citadel and the Wolves (5 page)

It was Wednesday.

It was early morning. I waited by the window peering through the drawn curtains. I was amusing myself before school. I’d some time on my hands. I was waiting for ‘Super cool’ as Wendy had nicknamed our paperboy. I wasn’t particularly interested in him as Wendy was. I liked watching him. It was something to do before school. After a few minutes or so of waiting patiently, our paperboy (Super cool!) arrived with our papers riding on his electric scooter. I really must have one for my 14
^th
birthday. It’s a must. It’s a want. It’s a desire. It’s a wish. I’ve been dropping subtle hints all over the place. I left one of my sticky notes on daddy’s computer. I also stuck one on the fridge in the kitchen. If that isn’t being subtle, I don’t know what is. Yeah, I admit it, I like watching the paperboy riding his electric scooter. I think it’s an Electro Scoot MK2. They’re the latest model. They’re so cool! They have a top speed of 15 kph. The MK3 is something else. It has a top speed of 25 kph, but you can’t ride it on the pavement. It’s a road vehicle; therefore, you do need a licence to own one, and the minimum age is 16! But I’m a little puzzled. Where did our paperboy get the money to buy one? They retail for about 2000 euros. Perhaps he saved up his paper round money or maybe it was a birthday present from his folks. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I simply want one myself. Super cool was walking up our drive with our folded paper in his hand. When he reached our front door, he smiled suddenly behind his designer shades, puzzling me.

As I leaned over the banisters at the top of the stairs in my rock print top and blue stripe shorts that I sometimes wear to bed, their voices drifted up. What were they saying? They were secret whispers, confusing me. What did it all mean? Who were they? I didn’t know them, did I? I tried to understand this alien language but couldn’t make sense of it. Then I heard Wendy giggling. I suddenly understood. I smiled wickedly.

I wore an amused look on my face as I sat on the stairs watching Wendy snogging our paperboy in her little pink nightie. She was wearing bed socks too. I remained puzzled. How long had this doorstep romance been going on? I didn’t know anything about it. It was news to me. Although I knew she fancied the paperboy, I was surprised that it had reached this stage. This was more than just fancying. She had kept this little secret from me, and I was suddenly a little annoyed with her for keeping it from me because we normally shared everything including secrets. We weren’t just good friends; we were sisters too. The doorstep snog lasted awhile before they both came up for air.

Wendy was closing the front door. She was startled when she turned around because I was standing right behind her with a knowing smirk on my face. I’d caught her snogging the paperboy in her nightie on our doorstep. I winced when she grabbed my arm and yanked me into the kitchen.

I sat in a chair in the kitchen rubbing my bruised arm. Wendy stood over me darkly with her arms folded. Although I was in trouble, I wasn’t bothered. I had a hold over my big sister. I knew her sordid secret. I considered briefly blackmailing her into buying me the Electro Scoot MK2 for my birthday till I remembered that she had only 350 euros in savings. On the other hand, it was enough for the deposit. Yes, I thought brightly, she’d be my slave. She’d have no choice in the matter because I knew her dirty, little secret. HAHA!

She was suddenly worried. “You won’t tell mum, will you, Jade?”

“I’m not a grass, Wendy.” I felt a little hurt by her suggestion. “How long have you and…Super cool been an item?” I tried not to giggle, though I wanted to.

“We’re not.”

I was confused. “You’re not?”

She fidgeted nervously. “It’s-It’s a doorstep sort of thing, Jade.”

“You haven’t dated?”

“No.”

I rose from the chair and put my arm around Wendy reassuringly. I sensed that she needed it. Doorstep sort of thing? Oh, dear…

“Wendy,” I began earnestly, squeezing her shoulder, “your little secret is safe with me.”

“What secret would that be?” asked mum as she entered the kitchen at that moment.

“Wendy’s marrying our paperboy, Mum,” I announced cheerfully.

Mum shook her head amused as she looked in the fridge. Then I felt Wendy’s elbow in my ribs.

It was before class. Wendy had gone upstairs, taking history, and I was alone reading the school notice board in the lobby, looking for something interesting to do after class. I needed something more than class to stimulate my mind sometimes. The usual stuff was there: School trips, nature rambles, music classes, yoga, volunteers wanted etc. etc. Then I found it hidden in the corner by a notice for railway modellers. The notice had been written on a computer.

I read it curiously:

Group Discussion

Parallel Universes

Fact or Science Fiction?

See Mr Whitehouse, Room 100B, for more details

I smiled.

I smelled him behind me. It was a horrid mixture of stale tobacco and sweat that mingled with cheap scent filling my delicate nostrils.

“Hi, Jade,” said Kevin Willis.

“Kev,” I sighed, trying not to vomit.

I started to walk away, hoping he’d vanish into a parallel universe too. He followed me unfortunately with his stale tobacco and cheap scent.

“I haven’t seen you around in awhile, Jade,” said Kevin Willis in a rather pitiful voice.

Once again, I found myself having to explain to Kevin Willis that I’d been extremely busy after class, what with the course work, extra maths and science, and homework too, which was extremely exhausting, and I really did not have time for any kind of social life. Excuse
Number 3
was catching up on my private violin lessons in the evenings.

Sending Kevin Willis into outer space without a spacesuit slipped briefly into the dark of my mind.

“Jade, I was wondering if-”

Then the school bell rang in the corridor calling us to class. Saved by the bell, I thought.

I sat around the table with my classmates in the school library later. As I talked about the ‘Coming of the Comet,’ the others listened to me intently, hanging on to my every word.

Wendy and I left the candy store near our school at lunchtime. We pressed strips of chewing gum into our dry mouths. We screwed up the wrappers, dropping them carelessly onto the pavement.

“Do not drop litter on the pavement, morons!”

The robotic voice behind Wendy and I startled us. We glared down at the pavement robo-sweeper. It reminded me of a giant, alien beetle. On its smooth, shiny, black body were two bug eyes that were in fact camera lenses. The pavement robo-sweeper sucked up our sweet wrappers on the pavement. Then it stopped momentarily, puzzling us. It seemed to be observing us (the two humans) through its bug eyes, the camera lenses.

Wendy frowned. “Jade, is that thing looking up our skirts?”

“Yeah.”

We removed the moist chewing gum from our mouths and stuck it onto the ‘eyes’ of the pavement robo-sweeper. It suddenly lost all sense of direction. It spun around wildly till it collided with a fixed street litter bin and fell over on its side. The suction pads on the underside were still whirring. It looked like a giant creepy-crawly insect lying helpless on its back. If it had been much smaller I’d have stamped on it.

“Help! I need assistance…Help! I need assistance,” it said repeatedly in the same robotic voice.

Wendy and I looked at each other a little worried. Then we fled, laughing loudly. We were young.

We were returning to class a little later. Wendy was discussing fashion and make-up, but I had my mind on higher things, the coming of the comet and the fate of mankind. I winced when she gripped my hand excitedly. Then I saw him too. The alien life form was walking towards us in the school corridor with a slight arrogant swagger. He was out of uniform, so I presumed that he must be a 6
^th
former or something like that. He had black, penetrating eyes, a mocking smile and slick back jet black hair. The stretched
rock print
T-shirt that he wore enhanced his slim, muscular frame. I rolled my eyes, for I knew what my sister was about to do next. She let her schoolbooks slide carelessly out of her hand. He graciously helped her pick them up. When he spoke to Wendy, her cheeks filled with blood. His name was Nick O’Donnell, and he was indeed a 6
^th
former. However, this brief, romantic encounter in the school corridor had a rather sad ending for my sister. You see, it turned out that Nick O’Donnell preferred other guys. He was gay.

I stood outside Room 100B after class. I read the sign on the door:

Group Discussion

Parallel Universes

Fact or Science Fiction?

I smiled.

I had tried to persuade Wendy to come along too because I needed her to keep me company, but she wasn’t interested. She said that it was all rather silly, and she went home alone. She has no sense of adventure. I do.

The door was open. I put my head around it curiously. Room 100B was empty, puzzling me. I was early. I looked at my watch. No, I was a little late. Were the others running late too? Perhaps I’d got my dates mixed up, but Mr Whitehouse had said Thursday afternoon after class when I spoke to him the other day. This was Thursday afternoon after class. Maybe the discussion group had been cancelled and no one had told me about it. I glanced at the chairs that were arranged in a semi circle in the middle of the floor. Another chair stood in front of the semi circle. No, it hadn’t been cancelled. Someone had gone to some trouble, Mr Whitehouse. I hesitated before I entered Room 100B. I sat in one of the chairs in the semi circle, slipping off my schoolbag. I felt alone. I was alone.

I read the title of the group discussion on the whiteboard in front of me as I waited for the others to arrive:

Parallel Universes

Fact or Science Fiction?

I glanced at the door anxiously. I sighed to release some of the tension. I began wishing Wendy was here too. Then Mr Whitehouse strode into the room with coffee in two plastic cups. He smiled broadly when he saw me. I was early.

“Jade, I hope you like sugar in your coffee?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He gave me a coffee. I thanked him with a nervous smile. I sipped a little. It was sweet and warm.

This began to feel like a very informal affair. It wasn’t like class. I suddenly felt relaxed. The others would be here soon.

“Do you believe?” asked Mr Whitehouse seriously.

“Parallel universes?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure.”

“Intrigued?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled.

I was relieved when the others began to arrive in ones and twos. I was no longer alone. I recognised one or two in the group including Rod Stiles who was in year 11. He was a keen science fiction buff. He read all the latest stuff. He wrote a short science fiction story that was published in the school magazine. Jane Cahill, year 10, who sat next to me, once claimed that her uncle had been abducted by aliens. They found him three days later in the woods. He’d been on a bender. I was in good company then. We exchanged friendly smiles. We were the believers. One chair remained empty in the semi circle.

Mr Whitehouse sipped his coffee sitting in the chair in front of the group. He put the coffee down on the floor.

He spoke, “So, who wants to kick off?”

We hesitated, waiting for someone else to raise his hand. I was confused briefly. I had a question of my own. What am I doing here? Do I really believe in parallel universes? What are parallel universes? I considered myself to be a sensible kind of person. Then another thought crept into my mind. Many sensible people still believe in God. Did I believe in God too? I was getting confused again. How could a 13-year-old girl cope with all of this? I didn’t want to start a debate with myself. Daddy is a scientist. I don’t think he believes in God. He believes in what is real, and our universe is real, isn’t it? Parallel universes? Black holes? I rather like the idea of a very mysterious universe of which I’m a part. There were many unanswered questions out there in the darkness of the infinite. It was scary too. That has to be the reason why I’m here. Then Rod Stiles raised his hand.

“Rod?”

“Do you believe in parallel universes, Sir?”

The question amused Sir. “Do I believe in parallel universes? Some of us do. Others think they are merely the creations and imagination of the modern fantasy and science fiction writer, like the FTL spaceship, faster than light to the uninitiated. But Albert Einstein told us that we couldn’t travel faster than light. Was he right? Why shouldn’t we be able to travel FTL in the far future?”

It began to warm up. Jane raised her hand next.

“Jane?”

“What would we find in a parallel universe, Sir?”

“Earth,” answered Mr Whitehouse almost immediately, “though it would be a very different earth from the one we know.”

“How different?” I asked without raising my hand.

“A comet wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.”

I thought briefly of ‘Robinson’s Comet.’

Mr Whitehouse continued, “In our parallel universe, dinosaurs will still rule the world. Time has stood still here. You see, that comet never struck our earth 65 million years ago in a parallel universe, so the giant reptiles still hold sway here. Mankind has yet to put in an appearance. Perhaps he never will on our earth in the parallel universe.”

“No McDonald’s then,” remarked someone else in the group light-heartedly.

We laughed.

Mr Whitehouse added, “We might even find a Roman Empire that hadn’t fallen and discovered the Americas before Christopher Columbus. Anything is possible in our parallel universe.”

I imagined what my own earth would be like in this strange, parallel universe, rolling grasslands, wild flowers, beautiful butterflies, steep gorges and sparkling, crystal rivers winding through them, and no people to mess things up. Yes, it would be a paradise, my earth in the parallel universe. As God and creator of this parallel universe, I’d sometimes visit in my spaceship. I’d lie in the long grass of a faraway meadow, watching the butterflies dancing on the warm, summer’s breeze and drinking the golden nectar from the wildflowers whose seeds I’d planted long ago. Yes, it would be a warm, balmy midsummer’s day every day on my earth. I’d be a child forever. Time would stand still for me. I frowned. Then mother would call from the spaceship, spoiling everything. She was a grown-up.