The Key (7 page)

Of course she would be worried. ‘Sorry, Mum. I didn't mean to upset you. I'd forgotten about … getting lost that time. We didn't go far. I promise.'

Jimmy's in the kitchen; I can hear him singing from here. He's a member of the Guard too, also one of the Named. And he's Mum's boyfriend. I often wonder whether his feelings for Mum are true, or if he's only here in our house pretending to care for her so that he can be in a position to watch over Isabel and me. It's an uncomfortable thought, and not totally without reason. After all, Rochelle pretended to love me as part of her job.

Jimmy comes out wearing an apron around his waist, wiping his hands on it. ‘Told you darl they were all right.' He looks at Isabel and me and smiles. ‘You two got time for showers if you want. But don't be long, dinner's on soon.'

‘I don't want any –'

I don't get to finish my sentence before Isabel kicks me in the shin. ‘Thanks, Jimmy. I'm starving. And Matt was just saying how that hike today has given him a huge appetite.'

She gives Mum a reassuring hug and runs upstairs. I get her message. Ethan was clear on this point. I've got to act normally so Mum doesn't worry that I might be sick or coming down with something and want to come and check on me through the night. While my body will be sleeping in my bed, if she tries to wake me, I will look as if I'm in a coma and scare the life out of her. And apparently it's worse for the person who's travelling through time. They get sick and can even die.

I shower and go down for dinner. It's chicken, crumbed and baked with potato wedges and sour cream. One of my favourite meals. But tonight it tastes like cardboard. I force down every bite with a smile to assure Mum I'm fine. Jimmy appears amused, but he's the type of person who can laugh at someone else's discomfort. Isabel would totally disagree with me over that, but then Isabel disagrees with me over everything.

As if his intention is to torture me, after dinner Jimmy suggests that he and I do the washing-up together. ‘We'll give the girls a night off, eh?'

His humour is irritating me more than usual. But there's no point in arguing. I don't want to prolong the evening when all I want to do is go to bed, go to sleep, and go on my mission.

In the kitchen Jimmy hands me a tea towel. ‘I'll wash,' he says. And when Mum disappears with Isabel, he takes the towel from my hand. ‘I just wanted a chance to say good luck tonight without your mother overhearing us.'

The joking manner is gone. Even his eyes seem, I don't know, more serious.

‘OK.'

‘I also wanted to say, be careful. Everything we do now has a rushed feel. And this forces us into making decisions sometimes on the spur of the moment, or with our backs up against a wall.' He's obviously talking from experience. And while he usually annoys me so much I purposefully try
not
listening to a word he says, this time he has my full attention. ‘It's hard to judge in a split second what's the best choice.'

I nod, understanding. ‘Now I know you haven't got your powers yet, but you're well trained. Ethan's made a good job of that. And, well, the best advice I can give you is to trust your instincts. If a situation doesn't feel right, look into it. If your gut says get the hell out of there, then run, as fast as you can. OK?'

‘OK.'

‘Now you better get to bed.' He glances at the sink full of dishes and winces. ‘I'll look after these. It's generally hard to get to sleep the first time.'

Upstairs in my room I drop on my bed and take a deep breath. Everyone's warnings are running around in my head. I try to block them out, but they're jumping around in there, vying for attention. I start to wonder what the time-shift is going to feel like. Will there be a sign? Or a sensation that will let me know it's about to happen? What if I wake during the transportation process?

In the end I force my eyes shut. When the adventure begins, I'm sure I'll know it.

After leaving Arkarian's chambers I head back to school. I have to find Mr Carter to pass on Arkarian's message about the meeting tomorow morning. He's probably still in hospital, but I should check at the school first. It could save me a trip into town. I should have asked Arkarian before I left, but, well, I didn't think of it at the time.

The school is still a mess, and because of the damage to D Block, temporary classrooms are being set up on the sporting ovals. Apparently these rooms will be used until D Block is rebuilt. I overhear this last bit of information as one of the office staff, Mrs Walters, tells someone on the other end of her phone.

It turns out the office is the only place in the school that isn't cordoned off. ‘They're everywhere,' Mrs Walters waffles on. ‘Government scientists have been flying in to our little town all day! And the press –'

I tap my fingers on the bench top to get her attention. She flicks me a slightly annoyed look, then covers the mouthpiece of her phone. ‘School's out for the rest of the week. It's going to take that long to assure the safety of the buildings.'

‘But I don't –'

‘An announcement will be made on the local news, dear.' She waves me away and goes back to her phone conversation.

I call out in a loud voice, ‘I just want to know if Mr Carter's been released from the hospital yet?'

At last she realises I'm not here to find out when classes are returning. As if I would be that keen!

‘Oh,' she mutters. ‘Well, why didn't you say? I believe they're keeping him in the hospital for observation.'

Just great. ‘How long?'

‘I'm sorry, dear? Did you say something?' She looks around as if seeing me for the first time, then stares at the phone in her hand with a frown. Suddenly she hangs up, without even saying goodbye. ‘They wanted us to leave the office, you know. The engineers. But students needed to call their parents. The phones haven't stopped ringing. Reporters are pouring in from all over the country. They're calling it a remarkable phenomenon.'

I speak slowly, enunciating each word separately, so the woman can focus on my question. ‘How long is Mr Carter going to be in hospital?'

‘Oh dear. A couple of days, I think. They want to run tests. He insists there's nothing wrong with him, but you know what they're like.'

My head shakes. ‘Who?'

‘Doctors. Nurses. Scientists. They're saying it's a miracle he's alive. He doesn't even have a scratch on him. The gods were shining on that man.'

Hmm. Well, not quite. And lucky for him Isabel and Ethan were nearby. A news reporter comes in with his microphone pointing at me. I duck out of his way and make a quick exit. But the media is everywhere and it proves a battle just getting to the front gate.

I catch a bus to the hospital just as it starts getting dark. I still have to tell Shaun and Jimmy about the meeting. The way this is going, it's going to take all night.

About twenty minutes later I get off the bus in the centre of town and take the short walk to the hospital. At reception I quickly find out that Mr Carter is being kept on the third floor, and when I get there, he's telling a doctor off for keeping him in so long.

I knock, halting their conversation.

The doctor sees me and attempts to smile, but doesn't quite make it. Mr Carter is being difficult, testing the doctor's patience. But his survival is a miracle and certainly worth investigating.

The doctor waves me inside. ‘I'll be back to continue this conversation when your visitor leaves.' He passes me on his way out, mumbling, ‘Good luck.'

When he's gone, Mr Carter motions for me to close the door. Suddenly we're alone and I don't know where to look. We're not exactly the best of friends. In fact we're not friends at all.

I move in closer and see all the wires and tubes attached to him. ‘What have they done to you?' A heart machine is beating steadily in the background, while other machines have little wavy or zigzag lines running across a green screen. I point to the equipment. ‘Is this necessary?'

‘Of course not! But try telling them that.' His head shakes, and after peering at the closed door, he starts pulling stickers and tubes from his head, chest, arms and legs.

‘What are you doing?'

‘Getting out of here.'

‘But Mr Carter, don't you think they'll notice? I mean, we're always being told not to draw attention to ourselves.'

‘I'm drawing attention to myself just by being here. They're asking questions already about my miraculous recovery. If I'm not here, they can't run any more tests. Actually, your timing is perfect, Rochelle. I need a lift.'

‘I came by bus.'

He pauses for a second, then yanks off the last tube with one swift tug. ‘Aren't you old enough to drive?'

I smirk at him. ‘In case you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly been around lately, and who has time for driving lessons anyway? You wouldn't believe where I've been today.'

He raises an eyebrow but I don't elaborate. Getting the hint, he starts pulling clothes out of a draw beside him and motions for me to turn around. I do so gladly. When Mr Carter finishes dressing he taps me on the shoulder. ‘Let's get out of here.'

‘How are you going to escape? The nursing staff is bound to notice those machines aren't bleating any second now.'

It turns out one of Mr Carter's powers is extrasensory hearing. Well, that figures! All those times in the classroom when he knew exactly what people were whispering right down to the back corner. No wonder Ethan had such a hard time in his class.

‘There's a stairwell two doors to the right. I've been hearing footsteps going up and down all day – forty-seven down to the ground floor.'

Peering into the hallway to make sure no one is looking directly this way, we walk out and turn right. But the nurses' station is almost directly opposite the stairwell
and there's an alarm going off. Probably Mr Carter's inactive machinery. Nurses look panicked.

One spots us and recognises Mr Carter. ‘Hey! Where do you think you're going? Come back here!'

We walk faster, diving into the stairwell.

‘Quick!'

Following Mr Carter's lead I run down the three flights of winding stairs, then another set into the basement car park. ‘There'll be security waiting at the front doors,' he says by way of explanation.

Minutes later we're in the open air, but we don't stop running until we've cleared a whole block.

Finally we stop. I put my hands on my waist. ‘Well, thanks for the exercise, but I only wanted to tell you there's a meeting scheduled in Arkarian's chambers tomorrow morning. Be there.'

I look around for the nearest bus stop, turning my back on him. He comes up beside me. ‘What's happened?'

Still looking for a bus, I give a light shrug. ‘I'm sure you'll be fully briefed tomorrow.'

A bus approaches, and I put my hand up, but I'm not standing at a bus stop and it sails on by. ‘Shoot.'

Mr Carter puts his hand up, and a yellow cab going in the opposite direction swings around, almost causing a traffic accident. He opens the back-seat door and motions me in. ‘The next bus won't be for half an hour,' he says.

I get in the cab and explain, ‘I have to tell Shaun and Jimmy.'

‘I'm going to see Jimmy tonight,' Mr Carter says. ‘We have a mission together. I'll tell him then.'

Mr Carter gives the directions to Ethan's house, but
asks the driver to swing by Angel Falls High School first. When we arrive there, Mr Carter gets out. ‘This is where I left my car.' He turns to me and says, ‘Here.' He holds out his hand, and when I pull mine out of my pocket, he shoves a few notes in my fist. His fingers touch mine, and I get a strange sense of something familiar. I don't get a chance to think about it though, because Mr Carter's reaction is so dramatic. He jumps back with a squeal. My hands have hurt him, given him a sting or a burn. That's when he notices the little currents flashing. Quickly I put my hand back in my pocket, where it's been for most of the afternoon. He doesn't say anything, but his eyes study me in a curious way for a long moment. Finally he looks at the driver. ‘Take her anywhere she wants to go.'

We drive off towards the national park and the driver waits while I run in and tell Shaun about the meeting. Thankfully he's home. I say a quick hello to Mrs Roberts, who's looking better these days than ever before.

I get back in the cab and give the driver the directions to my home. Part way there I ask him to turn around and head back towards the national park. ‘There's an old gravel road that used to be a fire trail,' I tell him.

He peers at me through his rear vision mirror. ‘You want to go there!'

‘Yes,' I mumble, wondering what the hell I'm doing. Arkarian didn't tell me to go and see Neriah, but something inside is telling me to do just that. While she's one of the Named, the last to be identified, she doesn't know it yet. As her Trainer, it will be Ethan's job to tell her all about it. About us. So I'm not quite sure why I'm doing this. I just feel it's right.

It's completely dark now, and when the cab turns up
the narrow gravel path, a shiver passes through me. Occasionally the driver looks back at me. He's wondering when I'm going to tell him to stop.

‘Keep going.'

At last we get to the end and he pulls up in front of a set of high iron gates.

‘Wait for me, I'll only be a minute.'

‘Fix me up first,' he insists.

He's going to bolt. It's in his thoughts. I try to convince him that I won't be long.

‘You pay me first, then I'll wait.' He's lying, but I don't have much choice.

I pay him and plead with him to wait.

I get out of the cab and the second the door closes the cab takes off, spinning gravel and dust in my face. Great. How am I going to get home now? I watch as his tail lights disappear into the darkness beyond. I hang on to the look of those lights for a few more seconds; the dark is not my favourite time of day.