Ordinary People

Emily phoned Will at work; they would talk about everything later. He was glad she was OK. So was that it? All the time and effort, not to say expense of their trip; all the deciphering and discovery, and well, adventure. And then there was the anticipation of seeing the enigmatic Rebecca once more, the seemingly ordinary girl with the extraordinary eyes who was mixed up in who knew what. And now she would never see her again, her fate was in the hands of well, who knew that either? And now Victoria would never meet her beloved; not in this world anyway. She would take the letter to the Manor House in the morning. But how would she explain it? ‘Oh look I just happened to find this letter under a stone that I was passing at the time.’ Yeah, right, but she couldn’t tell her could she? How could she say that she and Will had met her lover in the mountains and that Rebecca had tried so hard to see her, and had seen her once when Victoria had been unconscious and since then had been living in the back of a Land Rover in the freezing cold, waiting for whatever it was she was waiting for, but then, just as Victoria made it out into the free air Rebecca had been abducted by person or persons unknown so it had all be a waste of everybody’s time anyway. Rebecca may just as well have stayed in the mountains, and she and Will may just as well have stayed home for all the good it had done anybody. So, you know, sorry, it was close and all that but here is a letter she wrote to you anyway. Christ it would be enough to make her try to top herself again; it would be enough to make anybody top themselves. It would hardly be an aid to her psychological and mental recovery. No; she couldn’t do it, not yet, she would wait a bit, put the letter away somewhere safe and think about what to do; what to tell her, when she was stronger. Will came from work; Emily had cooked baked potatoes because she couldn’t think of anything else to cook. They opened a tin of baked beans and ate them with butter and cheese; ultimate comfort food. After they had been over the day’s events about six times and concluded that indeed Percival had been right, there was really nothing more they could do without perhaps putting themselves in mortal danger, they spent the evening watching the television and went to bed early. As Emily was falling asleep she told herself not to be so silly; she had Will, and a lovely home and a wonderful life ahead. She would get a job in the spring; there were always more jobs in the spring, she would see her friends, they would start entertaining at home; invite some people ‘round. She would try to see more of Dawn, she really was a great friend and she needed Emily now. Will had JJ and JJ had Ali the stick, who wasn’t quite so much of a stick anymore although she was still really thin, lucky cow. She might even start to see the bitch queen from number 5. They had been friends once; really good friends; and she would let her off being that good looking if she would just lighten up a bit and stop strutting around Will with her legs all over the place. Yes, she had everything she wanted; other people’s problems were really none of her concern; everybody made their own lives. With these thoughts in her mind she drifted off to sleep. Will was already snoring. ------------------------------------------- Percival had also slept early that night. He had told Sally all about the day, and they too went over the whole saga again from start to finish whilst they were eating supper at the cottage. Sally went home that night; she had taken on direction of ‘Abigail’s Party’ for her amateur dramatics society and was in the early stages of casting and preparation and wanted some quiet time at home. Percival also had to settle the matter once and for all in his own mind. He hadn’t asked for any of this, if Victoria had chosen somewhere else to kill herself then none of this would have happened and nobody would have been any the wiser. In any case to try to rescue the situation, or rather the person now would be madness, as he had told Emily. It just wasn’t worth the risk, she was just one of the unlucky ones, plenty of people survived Catholic school and went on lead happy and fulfilled lives without having to resort to devil – worship or whatever the hell it was to redress the balance. As far as Percival was concerned it was just an excuse for sex orgies and slaughtering animals; they were welcome to her and visa – versa. Go to sleep Percival; enough soul – searching, forget it. It was 4 in the morning when his phone rang. He was awake anyway and stumbled into his dressing – gown and downstairs to the lounge. He had steadfastly resisted having and extension installed upstairs; he had had enough of phones during his years in the city. Lady was asleep in front of the fire; she didn’t lift her head when Percival came down, but the eyes were working. ‘What?’ he said as he picked up the receiver. He was not in the best of spirits, but somewhere deep he knew who was calling. ‘I can’t do it.’ ‘What can’t you do?’ ‘I can’t just leave her there.’ ‘I know, come see me tomorrow morning, we’ll make some plans.’ ‘Are you…I mean; do you really…’ ‘Yes, now go back to sleep, we don’t have much time and I need to think.’ ‘I will always love you for this.’ ‘Whatever; now leave me in peace.’ Percival put down the phone and sat at the dining table in the half – light from the stairway. There was some coffee left in a cup from the evening before; he took a mouthful and lit a cigarette. ‘God damn it.’ he said to the darkness. ‘Why the hell does it always have to be me?’