Questions - A Gaby Fanfic

Part 20

“M-M-Maddy?” I asked, as my notes scattered across the desk.

“Whoa, it's all right, she's not hurt, just shaken up a little, there's nothing to worry about, she'll be fine.”

“What happened?” A cold feeling was settling in my stomach, my voice sounded as though it belonged to someone else.

“That's what we're trying to find out Drew. Mr Woods will tell you more.” We made our way to the admin section after Paul volunteered to collect my notes, for the life of me, I can't remember the walk.

“Where's Maddy?” I asked, as I was ushered in to see Timber. Mr Woods raised a hand.

“Slow down, Drew, Maddy is fine; she's in the first aid room with Ms Harding.”

“First aid? But….”

“You can see for yourself in a moment; I want to ask some questions first. Tell me, what happened when you arrived this morning?” I didn't understand what he was asking at first and it must have shown, as Timber prompted me. “Let's start with who was with you and take it from there.”

It took me a few moments to get started but I eventually filled him in.

“So, Jones didn't take part in the roughhouse?” Roughhouse? How did we get on to that? I hadn't got that far. “The first-years told me about it, they, or rather Jason and Steven, saw what happened to Maddy.” That started me worrying again, Timber must have realised he wasn't going to be getting much more and ushered me in to see her. I was surprised to see, Bernie there, as well.

... “I don't know, Drew, I just felt this shove and I went flying, or I would have if Bernie hadn't been right in front of me. As it was, we both ended up on the floor. By the time we got up, whoever pushed me was gone.”

“Jason didn't recognise him either,” Added Bernie. “he was too far away and didn't see his face,”

“Until we can find out who it was …. Well my advice is stick together until we do,” Timber told us. “Don't go anywhere alone. In the mean time, I'll advise the rest of the staff to keep their ears and eyes open. You were wearing this, Maddy?” Timber held up Maddy's back-pack, her new one, the one with the single shoulder strap.

“Hey that's it!” Bernie exclaimed, “You could check for DNA!”

“I don't think we need the services of CSI,” Timber chuckled, as he examined the backpack. “This could be easier than I thought. In the meantime, I think I've got everything I need. Since nobody here needs medical attention, you should get back to your classes and leave the rest to me … off you go; I'll hang on to this for a while Maddy.” He held the bag up.

As we walked back to classes I asked “But why pick on you, Maddy?”

“Well Duh? Isn't it obvious?” Bernie asked, stopping dead in front of me.

I was about to answer no, but Maddy gave me the bad news first. “We think, whoever it was, was after you Drew.”

“Oh shit! I'm sorry Maddy.”

Bernie was looking back and forth between us. “Only you could apologise for something they had nothing to do with, Drew.”

“Come on Bern, you know what I meant. I'm sorry that Mad got hurt, when it should have been me.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not sure it makes anymore sense that way ‘round either,” Bernie chuckled, while Mad gave me a hug.

“Well at least we can discount Plonker for this one” Bernie said.

“Oh? why?” Mad asked.

“Because, he saw you both, lunchtime, I think he would've noticed the differences between you, then.”

“Maybe,” I replied, sceptically. “But I get the impression that he makes the bullets for others to fire.”

“Hmmm, I think that a little flower had a hand in this,” in a voice that spelt trouble for someone. “And if she did, I'm going to make sure she's deadheaded.” Maddy replied.

“Maddy?”

“Don't worry, I won't leave DNA, but Daffy will know it was me, she just won't be able to prove it.”

“Be careful,” Bernie said firmly. “Both of you. I think you'd be far better off leaving it to Timber.”

“Timber can do all the work,” Maddy answered coldly, her mind already made up. “We'll just be sweeping the mess.” Mad had her serious face on as they walked to class leaving me at the door of the IT Lab.

I had missed a lot of the session, but managed to get the gist of it with Paul's help. I asked him, quietly, “How come you know so much about this?”

“I've got this prog at home, it's quite easy, really.” I blinked a bit as he dragged a video clip into the slide we were looking at, hit the space bar and it played. “See? Easy.”

“But, what if you only want a bit of the video?” I asked.

“Ah, for that you need a video editor program.” He answered, as he thought the problem through. Then, went into action, “Watch this.” Paul closed the box we were looking at and started clicking on things so quickly I couldn't keep up, “See? Using this prog, I can set the start and end points of the clip.”

“Err, yeah. Clear as mud, but how do you get the video in, in the first place?”

“Oh, yeah. I see what you mean. I usually get Dad to do it; that's his job. He's a VT Editor at a small production company in Sheffield. I could ask him if you want. I mean, as long as it's not too much.”

“Cool. Err; it wouldn't damage the tape would it? It's the only copy I've got.”

“No. he just plays it into his machine and does the editing on that. Nothing happens on the tape at all. I'll ask him tonight, I'll give you a bell if it's a go. What time?”

“'Bout seven. No better make it half seven, Mum said she'd ring around seven.”

Paul gave me the quiet sign as the door opened and Timber walked in to see Techy. “Drew Bond.” Techy called.

Shit! What now? I thought, as I made my way to the front desk. It wasn't the front, really; it was off to one side so that he could see down the rows. The desk had two of the biggest monitors I'd ever seen, one was showing thumbnails of each of the students monitors, the other, I noticed, had a copy of Paul's screen on it.

“Drew, I wanted to talk about Friday earlier, but we got somewhat sidetracked.” Timber started.

“You mean the talk to the first years? Is there a problem?” I asked, half hoping there was.

“Well, yes … and no. some of the classes have fundraisers planned, but a lot don't, and there's no common theme as yet.” That uneasy feeling was back. I should have known, or at least realised. The reason the talk had been proposed for Friday, was the upheaval caused by ‘Children in Need', a sort of telethon that ended Friday. The daily time table was well and truly screwed, as the classes did their thing, sponsoring this that and the other. “I was thinking, maybe those undecided could get behind a sponsored ride.” And there it was; I could feel the axe starting to fall while I was tied to the table. “How often do you train Drew?”

“Err; I try to get a couple of hours in, most evenings,”

“Hours! Really? I wasn't expecting that, I thought you would be winding down as the season is over.”

“Well, technically it is, but I usually have a few rides over the Christmas break,” I answered. “Fun rides and hill climbs, that sort of thing, and I like to maintain my fitness level, rather than stop altogether. So I just cut back a little.”

“A couple of hours every night is cutting back, is it?” I shrugged. I didn't see anything unusual in it. He went on, “Just how far would you get in say, an hour?” the cogs were turning, you could almost see them “You don't ride at night do you?” he added with a worried look on his face.

“Not on the roads, no, I use Rollers. Depending on how I set the turbo, anything between twenty to thirty miles, I suppose.” Timber seemed to like that answer and he jumped in again.

“So a marathon distance is feasible in an hour?” I started to feel uneasy again; if Timber had a plan I wish he'd just share it. “Drew, would you donate an hour to the ‘National Telethon'?”

So, that was his plan. At least it was some thing I could handle. “Yes, alright, I'll need a hand with the rollers though, I can't lift them, let alone get them here; and I'll have to confirm it with Dad, but he should be okay with it.”

Thank you, Drew, I knew you wouldn't let me down,” Timber looked relieved. “At last, something's going right today.” He paused for a moment before turning, “Mr Fray, can you knock up a poster and sponsor form? I'll be back in ten minutes; I'm trying to juggle three things at once, at the moment.” He added as he headed through the door.

I'll give him his due, Mr Fray was already working on the poster as I headed back to my desk.

“What was all that about?” Paul asked, as I sat down.

“Timber wants me to ride a marathon for the National Telethon , on Friday.”

“Cool!” Pual looked up, at that, “What, around the playground?”

“I don't know, I think he wants me to use the rollers, otherwise, I'll never get twenty-six miles in, in an hour.”

Timber came back after fifteen minutes; he came straight to me this time. “This turbo, is it calibrated? I mean, could two be set up the same, so you could ride against someone else?”

“Someone else? Who? There's only Maddy … and I don't think she'd volunteer for the rollers.”

“But can it be done?” Pressed Timber.,

“Not the one I use, it's a bit too old for that, but the new ones can. If you mean as a roller race sir, not many people could do it, it takes a lot of practice, it's not something that any rider can just get on and do. And it could be dangerous. If you want something that anyone could use, it would have to be a turbo attachment. That, can be fitted to any bike and there's no risk of falling off.”

Timbers smile had started to slip but it returned at full force on that news. Mr Fray handed Timber his poster. “Excellent work, Mr Fray, but I might ask you to you to alter it later.”

Sponsor form, all proceeds to the National Telethon

‘ 1 Hour Marathon'

Can Drew Bond ride a Marathon in 1 hour?

Timber seemed to be considering something and didn't speak for a while, and then pointed to the workshop. We couldn't go in, the place was full of boxes, some already open; the new kit I assumed, but we were far enough away from the class that we wouldn't be heard; especially with the bustle of the classes changing round.

“What I'm about to tell you doesn't go outside this room, Drew. I'll announce it during Mondays Assembly, but in the meantime you know nothing, understood?”

“Yes sir”

“As you were involved in the incident this morning that led to the assault on Miss Peters, and because I need your help to sort it out, then it's only fair that you should know what's going on.” He paused again to let that sink in, but he really hadn't told me anything yet. “So far this afternoon, I have excluded three pupils of this school; one of them a prefect.”

“Excluded? Um, isn't that … ?”

Extreme? No, Drew, it isn't. An attack on another pupil is very serious and I will not tolerate bullies in this school. With your help I can reinforce that message.

“But it was only a shove; I mean, that happens all the time.”

“It was a lot more than a shove, Drew. I have a witness that mentioned he was surprised that Maddy was able to get up so quickly after the blow. That, added to the premeditated harassment of the first years you saw this morning, means we have a group in this school that think they can flout the rules.”

“Oh,” I replied quietly, as it finally sank in. “Maddy said she thought it was meant for me.”

“I'm afraid she's right, Drew. I didn't think so at first, but when the poppy incident was reported, it all fell into place.” I nodded, It did make sense when Timber explained it. “But what has that got to do with Friday?” I asked.

“Finding out who the culprits were, well, that was the easy part, unfortunately, I have no evidence that anyone else was involved, but from past experience, there was definitely one, possibly two, others that stirred them into action.”

We were interrupted By Techy calling for order. ““All right, people, save your work and log off… leave the machines running; we still have tests to run.” He called to the class.

“It's my turn to do some stirring…. Remember, Drew, not a word.” Timber warned as he left.

Paul had waited for me and handed me my book bag as we hurried to catch the rest of the class, I could see he was dyeing to know what my little chat with Timber was all about. Damn! I hated secrets. On top of that, I was feeling angrier by the minute. Thankfully, He didn't ask, and we made our way through the crowded corridor to our last class.

I must have been lost in my thoughts. Timbers words going ‘round and ‘round, as I walked head down, alongside Paul. I came to an abrupt halt as Dee blocked my path. Dee didn't do or say anything, she just stared at me with that smirk on her face; expecting me to move out of her way, no doubt. I knew she wouldn't try anything with so many people around and Jules was no more than a metre away, so I just gave her a big smile and stood there as she tried to stare me out.

My grin didn't slip. Soon she shifted her eyes, then moved aside to let me pass.

“Bloody Hell Drew!”

“What?” I asked as we reached the classroom.

“I thought you were trying to fry her.”

“It was only a smile.”

“Your mouth was smiling; your eyes said something else Drew.”

Geography was interrupted by Timber, who handed out wads of sponsor forms before disappearing with a smile on his face.

I didn't take much notice, I knew what it was about, but Mad was trying to attract my attention as Paul added to the buzz.

“I thought it was only you doing the ride?” he whispered.

I looked at the form again.

‘ 1 Hour Marathon Challenge'

Can Drew Bond and Gareth Jones ride a Marathon in 1 hour?

“You know he'll try to turn it into a race don't you.” Paul added. I let out a sigh and nodded as he continued worriedly, “He's pretty fit! He was full of it after doing the Great North Run, a couple of months back. And he won the area Cross country last month.”

“Yeah, but can he ride a bike?” I chuckled, before the teacher called for order.

And that was it, end of a perfect day, not! It should have been; there was more to come when we met Jules and Gareth on the bus.

“Timber was acting strangely this afternoon; he came in and told all the boys to put their hands on their desks,” Jules told us.

“He did the same with us,” Gareth added “Then came back five minutes later and hauled Ashford and Phillips and Plonker out. Plonker came back smirking. But I haven't seen the others since … and they normally catch this bus,” he said, while looking around trying to spot them. I glanced at Maddy, who caught the look and gave a tight lipped nod in return.

I was just thinking that Gareth didn't normally ride this bus, when Jules interrupted my thoughts. “All right you two, what happened?” Mad took a sudden interest in something outside; a neat trick if you think about it. When it's dark the windows were like mirrors. “Not here,” I hissed. “Wait till we get off, Jules.” She wouldn't have to wait long, as ours was the next stop.

“In that case, would you care to explain this?” Jules asked, waiving a sponsor form under my nose.

“Timber wanted something for the Telethon, and I sort of got volunteered. It was only supposed to be me, I don't know how Plonker got involved.”

“I do,” Gareth said with a grin. “Plonker mouthed off that anyone could do a marathon on a bike, Timber took that as volunteering and added his name to the sheets. It was poetry to watch, Timber suckered him right into it.” He laughed. “We've been taking the piss all afternoon.”

“Why?”

“Because Plonker can't win.”

“Mustn't win, you mean.” Maddy said firmly.

“No, don't you see? If he wins, people will say, ‘So he should, he's two years older and twice the size.' If he loses, he loses twice.”

“Won't that just piss him off?”

“Yup! And all he can do is grin and bear it.” He started laughing and few others who had been ear-wigging joined in. I had a feeling that Plonker's dilemma would be all around the school come Monday.

“All right you two, what happened?” Jules demanded, as soon as we stepped from the bus

“Er, someone tried to have a go at Drew this afternoon.” Mad got in quickly.

“ DREW?”

“I'm okay, its Maddy that got hurt.” I could hear Jules breathe in ready for another try, “Somebody shoved Maddy and we all ended up in Timber's office. Tell them Maddy.”

“ MADDY?”

“ Well, it was only a shove, I wasn't hurt.”

“Maddy, will you listen to yourself? If Drew had said that, what would your reaction be?” Jules almost yelled at her.

“Oh, I …” Mad trailed off.

“So, all the time we were watching Drew's back and Maddy is the one to get hit?” Gareth moaned.

“Grrrr, you weren't supposed to mention that.” said Jules, her voice still raised.

“Juliet, what is all this fuss about?” Carol called sternly. Okay we were a bit loud, I just hadn't realised we were that close to Maddy's place. “I've just been speaking to Mr Woods; I think we need to talk Madeline.”

“Oh Shit.” Maddy breathed.

“Sorry Mrs Peters, er, we were just going,” Jules said with a bright smile which probably didn't fool Mrs P for a moment. I was holding my breath, half expecting to be called back to take part in the inquest, But we got away with a promise to call later.

“So, bumping into you in the corridor wasn't accidental?” I asked Gareth as we got back to the house.

“Err, no we thought, that is Jules and Maddy thought, err …”

“Okay, I think I've got the picture.” I answered, suddenly realising that he had followed us in. I raised an eyebrow at Jules.

“Gareth is running with me so you can have a night off, Drew,” Jules informed me “You can change in there, Gareth.” She pointed to the down stairs loo before disappearing to get changed herself. I headed to the phone to make my duty call to Gran.

“So, who were you calling, Drew?” Jules Asked, as we passed on the stairs.

“Gran, she said she might visit Sunday.”

“Cool, see you in an hour Drew.” and the door slammed behind them.

Five minutes later I was changed and setting up the rollers, I was in need of the exercise fix; not because I needed to train, I just wanted to escape the day's problems, even for an hour.

I was soon going through the warm up routine; it had changed a little over the summer, I'd added more arm stretches and swings to help open my lungs` but it was still the same ‘katta' as Mad called it, that Mum did. The pumping beat coming from the CD player was soon setting the tempo. With the tyres singing on the rollers, I was soon where I wanted to be.

The CD finished and Jules wasn't back, so I hit play again, and started to go through some of the exercises that Mum had given me last night. Training, I never found boring, I was always happiest on the bike, a kind of escape I suppose.

I was just finishing my sprint as a finale when, “ DREW … DREW!”

“Bloody Hell! Is he always like this?” Gareth asked, as he steadied the bike for me to dismount.

Alright I was breathing like a race horse and my attempt at a cool dismount ended in disaster as my rubber legs refused to take my weight; but did he really have to carry me into the living room?

Jules came good, though and started the leg rub, but not for long, as the phone started to ring.

…. “Fat chance Mum, we just had to drag him off it.” … “I'll see if he's capable of walking yet.”... Luv you, Mum,” Jules was saying as she beckoned me to the phone. I hobbled to the phone and sagged into the hardback chair next to it.

“Hi Mum, how's life in the smoke?”

“Busy, but it's not so smoky these days. Listen, Drew, my phones been ringing all day, I've had Mum, Carol, Mr Woods twice and UMIST bending my ear about you, just what have you been up to?

“Just the usual, Mum.” Mum gave a snort at that, so I gave her a quick rundown of the day's happenings.

Not quick enough though, as she cut me short after telling her of Mad's little tumble. “Well I'm glad she's alright. Listen, Drew, I've spoken to Sammo, he's looked at the tests we did last night, he seems to think you may be overtraining, so I want you to ease up. In fact he said it would be best if you stopped for a week or more.”

“But Muuuuuum!”

“Yes, I know, it gets to be a habit doesn't it? But from what Jules has just said, I tend to agree, so I want you to stay off the rollers for a while, right, Drew?”

“There's just one problem, Mum, I sort of volunteered to do a sponsored ride for Timber on Friday.”

“For who?

“Err, Mr Woods, it's a sort of nickname.”

“Right, and I bet you don't use it in front of him. Tell me about it then?”

“It's for the telethon, Mum, a marathon in an hour.”

“That's pushing it Drew, your best time for twenty-five is what 58?”

“57, but it's on the rollers, so I reckon it's doable.”

“Mmmm, alright, I'll speak to Mr Woods again and let you know, but in the mean time, stay off the bike, I mean it Drew, this is important understand?”

“Yes Mum.”

I'd no sooner put the phone down than it rang again. It was Paul this time, asking about the tape.

“Hi Drew, That tape … I've asked Dad, he's okay with it as long as it's not too much. If you've got it handy, I can pop over now and we could go through it to mark the bits you want.”

“Great!” Oh, shit, I'd forgotten something dear to my heart. “Give me half an hour, we haven't eaten yet. `Kay? Later.”

The wizard of the microwave, Juliet, pulled out all the stops and got the bolognaise out of the freezer, while I made the pasta, which disappeared faster than it took to get ready. Gareth seemed to enjoy it anyway.

As it took Jules almost an hour to say good night to Gareth, Paul and I were almost half way through the tape when she came back to the living room, a soppy look on her face.

“I take it that was the right Gareth then?” whispered Paul, as a slightly flushed Jules sagged out on the sofa.

“Seems that way,” I replied, as he furiously tried to note the numbers on the VCR, while working the fast forward and rewind buttons,

“Drew, I think you'll only need three or four minutes of this as an intro, then a few bits and pieces. Why don't we leave this to my Dad? He's really is good at this stuff, and the bits I've marked will give him an idea of what we want.”

“We?” I asked.

“Er, well, I thought I'd volunteer to be your PA, that way I can avoid the chaos on Friday.”

I struggled for a moment trying to decode PA, then grinned as an image of Nikki rushing around at the Cardiff meeting crossed my mind. The grin must have faded when I remembered that I'd never really been to Cardiff.

“Drew? It's okay, if you want to do it on your own,” he seemed to stumble over the words. “I just thought …”

“No, I mean yes.” I floundered while trying to figure why I should have thought of that after all this time. “Yes, I suppose your right; I still haven't worked out the sequence for the talk, so maybe it would be better if I sorted it after the clips are ready, then work around that.”

“But the PA thing … Is it Okay?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, that makes sense; I'll ask Maddy too, she'll kill me if I leave her out of this.”

“Yup, I think she just might.” Paul cackled, putting his hand to his neck.

“Sore throat?” I asked.

“Er, yes, something like that.”

“Well, keep it to yourself then; I've only just got rid of a chest infection,” I warned him.

“Well, I don't plan on getting as close as you and Maddy do,” he chuckled, as he gathered up the tape and his notes. “I'll give these to Dad then. Oh, any plans this weekend if I need to ask about these?”

“Shopping, I think. I need new jeans and school trousers. At least in the morning, nothing planned for the afternoon and Sunday morning's the parade.

“Well, if I don't see you before, I'll see you Sunday then, cheers, Drew.”

“Did I hear the S word?” Jules asked, as I loaded the dishwasher; proving that some magic words do exist.

“I need some trousers that fit, these are getting tight. A few things …”

Mad rang before I could elaborate. … “Mums Okay, she just wanted to hear it from me, that's all. She got most of it from Timber…”

“So, what time are you going shopping?” Jules asked, as she paused on the stairs.

“SHOPPING! What time?” Demanded Maddy.

“I was thinking early.…”

“Muuuum? ….” Maddy started pleading and the phone went quiet for a minute. From the mumbles I heard, Mad was trying to cadge a lift. “How half nine sound, Drew? Mum says she'll take us in.”

“Willingly?” I asked,

“Of course. Actually, Drew, I think she wants to talk, she keeps asking about you.”

Shades of another shopping trip crossed my mind, but I knew I'd have to talk to Carol sooner or later, so I agreed. I couldn't very well refuse, could I?

“Count me in!” Called Jules, who was earwigging.

After swapping a few hints on the homework, we said our goodbyes. A few pointed hints from Jules later and I was heading for the shower.

I don't know whether it's a psychological thing, but my arm, which hadn't bothered me all day, chose that moment to start stinging. So, I put some more cream on it before getting into my jim jams. I pulled my dressing gown on and went back down to make a start on the homework.

Jules had reverted to ‘Dreamy look No. 1' as she sprawled on the sofa in front of the telly. It was on, but she could't have been watching the dross that was showing, so I told her to shove up and make some room as I grabbed the remote.

“Hey! I was watching that,” Jules whinged as I changed the channel.

“What, fifty best TV Adds? I don't think so.” I chuckled as I tried the sport channels. I just caught the highlights of a triathlon on Eurosport, but the rest was wall to wall football, so I settled on MTV, which Jules didn't object to as I got stuck in to the home work.

“That's a nine Drew.” Jules was looking over my shoulder.

“Where?”

“Question six, the square of three is nine, you've put six.”

“Doh! Any more?” I asked. She scooted closer for a better look, putting her arm round me as she looked over my shoulder.

“Nope, that's pretty good; you might want to consider actually putting your name on it though.” Jules laughed giving me a squeeze. I jerked as she caught the sore spot on my arm and she quickly let go. “Alright Drew, let's see it.”

What?

“Drew, is this from last night? … Or did something else happen today that I don't know about?” I'd never seen her look so worried.

“N No, It's just where the bow caught me yesterday.” I protested quickly, trying to calm her down. Jules was not calming though. If anything, she seemed more worried than ever as she pulled the robe off my shoulders; taking a few buttons off my pyjamas in the process. “Slow down Jules! Nothing else happened! All right, all right, I'll take it off! Just calm down will you?”

Jules let go and sat back, waiting as I peeled them off. It didn't stop her grabbing my wrist as soon as I had though.

There were angry looking scratches on the inside of both my arms, just at the bony point of my elbow. Jules winced a she saw them. “Oh, I'm sorry, Drew, that must hurt” Jules said as she peered at the scratches. “They don't seem to have closed at all, was there anything on the string?”

“It seemed sort of sticky, but not. If you see what I mean.” I shrugged.

“Not really, but if it was sticky, it might have picked up some grit or something; what's Freddie's number?” She asked already moving to the phone.

“It's on the pad there; but she may not be in, and it's getting late.” Jules was already dialling, so my protests fell on deaf ears.

… “Thank you, Mr Turner, I'll try that.” … “Goodnight.”

“I said it was late; already in bed huh?” but Jules disappeared into the kitchen and returned with the first aid box. “What did he say Jules?”

“It's some sort of synthetic wax, probably silicon. He said it's difficult to wash off, but to keep trying. This may sting a little….”

I had visions of a cartoon cat hanging from the ceiling by its claws; it wasn't quite that bad, but very close. Juliet seemed to take far too long over swabbing the scratches. “Is that it?” I gasped to Juliet's retreating back as she headed for the kitchen again. I know I sounded a bit wimpy and my eyes were stinging.

“Not quite,” Jules replied, another swab in her hand. I instinctively flinched as she reached for my arm. “Mr Turner said this would help.” She gave both my arms a wipe with the swab before applying some of the antiseptic cream from the first aid box, then cut two pieces of gauze and taped them in place. “There, that should do it. He said to let it breathe.”

“What was that?” I asked sniffing the swab.

“Honey. Mr T said it was good on cuts and grazes.”

“You're kidding.” I knew she wasn't, I could smell it now. “I'll be all sticky.”

“It was only a wipe, not a spoonful; the cream should stop the stickiness. Does it feel better?”

“Yes, at least the stinging has gone.” I looked hard at her for a moment, then asked, “ Er, why the panic Jules?”

She stopped dashing around, and sat beside me. “I did, didn't I.” She giggled and hugged me again, a little higher this time, I noticed. “Sorry, I was scared.”

“Scared, why? I told you what it was.”

“Because … because, both Mum and Dad asked me to look out for you, I thought I'd let them down.” She sighed.

“But you didn't…haven't, I mean.”

“Drew, it wouldn't be the first time you've tried to keep quiet about something, would it? I was afraid you were hurt. It would have been my fault and just how long do you think Dad would stay in London if he thought you were hurt?”

“Oh.”

“Yes, Oh.” Jules released me after another squeeze, rummaged through a pile of ironing and handed me a nightie, “Here, put this on, it's got short sleeves.”

“Jooools!”

“Come on, Drew, it's not like you haven't worn one before is it? Besides,” she giggled “It'll make a change to cuddle my little sister instead of little brother.”

“ WHAT?”

“Well, I mean, you've been using Snuggles and you didn't object the last two nights.”

“What?” I asked again; only a little quieter this time.

“You didn't know?” she asked, a puzzled look appeared. “I'm sorry, Drew, I thought …” Her face fell, she was screwing her eyes tight. “Drew, if I hadn't … well, I was afraid you wouldn't get any sleep and I didn't want you to disturb Mum and Dad last night.” Tears were slowly running down her cheeks. It was my turn to hug Jules.

“Is this something to do with this morning?” I asked quietly. Jules nodded as she hugged me back.

“I just miss her so much, Drew, and now Dads gone as well.”

“Tell me about it.” Realising that sounded flippant I quickly added “Upstairs though, okay?”

I had just pulled the nightie over my head and was looking in the mirror; okay it had short sleeves but all those frills, sheesh – when Jules asked from the doorway, “Are you really okay with this?” as she struggled with a scrunchie in her freshly brushed hair.

“You'll only sneak in after I'm asleep if I say no,” I chuckled as I lifted the covers.

“Don't you brush your hair before bed?”

“What for?”

“To get the tangles out, of course! It makes it easier in the morning. Sit there, I'll do it.” Jules knelt on the bed as I sat on the edge and she proceeded to attack my head. I thought Jules was pulling it out by the roots, but after a few minutes I started to feel good about it … very good about it. If I'd been a cat, I would have been purring. Jules was doing something with a scrunchie on the top of my head when my brain restarted.

“Jules, is that really necessary?” I asked while trying to feel what she had done to me. I seemed to have a ball on my head.

“Oh stop fussing, Gaby! It will stay nice for the morning now.” Jules said brightly, as she pulled me backwards into a hug.

I pulled the covers back. “Come on then, before I change my mind,” I grumbled as I climbed into bed.

Jules followed and scooted up to cooch behind me. “Wait you forgot something.” Jules handed me ‘Snuggles' and I ended up sandwiched. “Comfy now?”

“Mmmmm … yeah.” I mumbled. Well I was. Here, safe in my own home, snug in my own bed, being held by someone I cared about and cared about me; With a whole weekend in front of us and no stressful commitments to worry about, the tension that had been building all week just fell away. Juliet must have felt the same, as I both felt and heard her breathing slow as she drifted off to sleep.

I did wake some time in the night, Jules must have moved or something. I just lay there thinking that Jules couldn't touch much more of me if she tried. I was lying on my side with my legs drawn up and I could feel her legs behind mine yet her chin was nestled on my shoulder; it was as though I was sitting on her lap. I tried to ease forward a little, but even asleep Jules must have sensed it, as she pulled me back into the hug, quite firmly. I didn't mind at all and blissfully, I drifted off again.

Angela Peters 16.01.05 © 2005

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