The blonde
stopped in her tracks, throwing her head back in my direction with
a roll of her eyes. “What now?” she demanded.
“
If you had a secret,” I began in a low, careful tone, “And
someone else found out about it, would you want them to tell you
that they knew?”
Blod’s face
didn’t change at all. If I hadn’t already known that she did have a
secret, her perfect features would have given nothing away. She was
much better at playing it cool than Bickerstaff. She looked
thoughtfully at the wooden lintel of the door, running her fingers
down the doorframe.
“
Hmm,” she mused, “I suppose if it was something shameful, I’d
rather they didn’t tell me they knew. It’s easier to pretend then,
isn’t it?”
Blod’s bright
blue eyes became terribly pensive, focusing hard on the wood and
wallpaper near her. I was dangerously close to feeling sorry for
her, but I put that down to this being the first real conversation
we had ever had.
“
What if it wasn’t shameful,” I offered, “just sort of…
unfortunate?”
Her rosy lip
stiffened.
“
I wouldn’t want people feeling sorry for me,” she bit the
ends off her words as she spoke.
Before I
could say anything else she swept her perfect frame from view and I
heard her heels totter off down the stony hallway. She had left my
door open and a little spring breeze filtered in, cooling my soup.
As I ate I began to think that Blod and I weren’t all that
different sometimes. I knew exactly how awful it was to have people
giving you their sympathy all the time, like it was going to be
some comfort to me that these healthy, able-bodied people had taken
time out of their active lives to take pity on poor sick Kit in her
chair. It would be worse for her if people knew about Ness. Poor
husbandless Blod and her child.
A shaky,
bitter guilt hit my throat as I tried to eat. Perhaps I had made a
mistake in threatening Doctor Bickerstaff, but there wasn’t much I
could do now to put it right except to keep my big mouth shut.
***
A whole day
sat in bed was excruciatingly boring, save for the portion where
Leighton came home from school and sat talking to me before dinner.
Mam let him stay with me for the meal but I became more and more
anxious as I wolfed down an overload of veggies and not much meat.
Idrys had not yet returned. I had about five hours before Henri was
due to make his escape from Oslo and no advice as yet from the only
other person who knew of my gift. Leighton made a crumbly mess all
over my covers with bread and I tried my best not to bark at him
with my growing irritation.
“
You’re going potty in here alone, aren’t you?” he observed
brightly.
“
It was bad enough when I was stuck in the chair,” I moaned,
tapping my knee rapidly, “but this is just awful.”
“
Mam says you’re not allowed out of bed until two o’clock
tomorrow exactly,” Leighton said, shaking his little head with a
smile, “And Doctor B said we shouldn’t even talk to you very much
until you were better, but Mam said that was going a bit
far.”
“
Humph,” was all I replied to that. I knew exactly why
Bickerstaff didn’t want me conversing with anyone, especially not
until my bad temper had abated as much as my fever had. I wouldn’t
land him in any hot water now of course, for Blod’s sake, but there
was no reason that
he
had to know that just yet.
Leigh was
telling me about his horrid teacher at school when Idrys finally
poked his bearded head around the door. He picked my brother up off
the bed in his massive arms and deposited him in the doorway with a
pat on the head.
“
Off you go bach, it’s my turn now,” he said. Leighton looked
at me, shrugged, and went on his way. Idrys closed the door gently.
“He’s a bit easily led, your brother,” he observed, “We’ll have to
work on that sometime.”
The old
Welshman settled himself in the chair beside my bed and I shuffled
nearer to him, my eyes wide and waiting. Idrys steepled his old
hands and leant on them thoughtfully.
“
I been thinking Kit,” he said slowly, “It’s not doing all
this psychic stuff that’s making you so poorly, is it?”
My eager
heart deflated. Wasn’t he going to help me?
“
No!” I insisted immediately, “No it’s that awful Doctor
Bickerstaff. He tried to make me walk for ages and it was so
difficult.”
Well, most of
that was true, apart from my overwhelming, seething anger and the
fact that we’d been arguing. Idrys considered that for a moment
then released his hands with a flick. He broke into a little
sigh.
“
All right then,” he said. Relief swept across my face. “I
expect if this boy of yours is trying to get out of the city, he’ll
have to get past patrols and guards and things. It strikes me the
most useful thing you could do is get into the heads of these
guards and distract them long enough for him to get
past.”
I nodded, but
with a frown. “That’s easier said than done,” I admitted, “I’m not
exactly known for accuracy of getting into the right head at the
right time.” I didn’t feel quite so confident any more. “But I have
been getting better at it,” I added quickly.
“
Hmm,” Idrys mumbled, rubbing his beard, “Maybe you need a
little target practice. Why don’t you try me?”
“
What, right now?” I was a little startled.
The old man
smiled. “Unless you’ve tried me before, of course?”
I laughed.
“No, no I haven’t. It’s just strange for someone to ask me to… jump
into their head.”
“
Well it won’t be a new experience for me,” Idrys replied,
“That fella I knew in the war passed me a few mind messages back in
the day. I remember how it works.”
It was a
strange and awkward experience, but Idrys had that comforting charm
that only granddads have, which made it a little easier for me to
relax and gather my thoughts. I felt self-conscious as I raised my
hands up to cover my face but I tried to push embarrassment aside.
I closed my eyes, taking my two deep breaths, and suddenly I was
totally disturbed by the sight of myself sitting in my bed. I was
right; I looked very peculiar with my hands up like that, but I
could see how Leighton would have mistaken me for having a headache
if he’d ever caught me that way.
This is so strange,
I
thought.
Idrys
laughed. He felt warm, but a little tense. “Would you prefer it if
I looked somewhere else?”
Yes please,
I replied.
Idrys flicked
his eyes over to the fireplace and I went with him. He folded his
hands over his belly.
“
Well, you did that well enough,” he remarked, “So yur’s the
thing: can you now go from my head to someone else’s? See if you
can get to Ness without going back to your own head
first.”
I’d never
thought of doing that before, but it didn’t seem too difficult.
Except that I couldn’t close my eyes again, or raise my hands like
I normally would. I was going to have to just concentrate and see
if I could get there without any physical moves. I pushed myself
away from Idrys and his warm heart, thinking instead of Ness’s huge
blue eyes, her joyous giggle and her precious Dolly. And I was in
the kitchen. I could feel Dolly’s hand in Ness’s mouth. She looked
up just in time to see Blod snatch the rag doll out of her grip.
Ness dropped her mouth open in protest.
“
Ych a fi!” Blod said, shaking her head. “This thing’s dirty
bach, you’ve got to let me wash her now.”
I felt Ness’s
bottom lip quiver. Her little heart was turning hot and her brows
were coming down hard into the tantrum of all tantrums, something I
did not want to be sitting in her mind to witness. But instead of
sinking back into the blackness that would pull me to my own head,
I thought with all my strength of Idrys again. He was standing by
the fire now, warming his coarse farmer’s hands.
I did it!
I exclaimed, making him
prick up his ears. He looked around and I saw myself on the bed,
still entranced.
I went to Ness’s head and
I came back to yours, without stopping off at my head at
all!
“
Smashing,” Idrys said, “Then you’ve got what you need. Now go
back to normal so you can save your strength for later.”
He was right
of course, and when I got back into my own mind I could feel the
toll the new type of journey had taken on my already weak frame.
Now I really wished I had been able to sleep better in the daytime.
I cradled my tired head and wiped my eyes as Idrys came back to sit
beside me.
“
I don’t know if I can do this,” I said quietly, “It might be
a lot harder in the dark when the minds belong to strangers. And in
Norway too, it’s a bit different to two rooms away, isn’t
it?”
Idrys reached
out and patted my shoulder with a smile.
“
I don’t know a lot about this psychic lark,” he said gently,
“but I do know a thing or two about life. And life is about belief.
If you’ve got belief in yourself, you’ve got a chance of doing
great things.”
I nodded, wanting desperately to believe him. But if life had
taught
me
anything so far it was that my body had a habit of ruining
all my chances at doing things, great or not. What was there to
suggest that it wouldn’t let me down now too, when I needed it
most? Idrys didn’t need psychic powers to sense my hesitance. He
gave my shoulder another squeeze.
“
This boy Henri, you care about him, don’t you?”
“
Of course,” I said, a tiny smile creeping into my lips,
“We’re friends. He said he really needs a friend.”
“
Then you’ll do your best for him, won’t you?” Idrys pressed.
I nodded fiercely. “Then I think you’ll do fine. Now sit back and
relax and I’ll give you the rest of my advice.” He let go of my
shoulder but I felt all the heavier, laden with the new
responsibilities of my gift.
***
The clock on
my bedside table was lit by moonlight as the rest of Ty Gwyn slept.
When it was nearing the time that Henri had set, I got to work
unstrapping myself from the night splints that Mam had returned to
me earlier that night. Nothing would get in the way of this
mission; no torturous device from some evil doctor’s mind would
weaken me when I took my mind to Norway tonight. By the time I’d
gotten the wicked things off I was ready to lie back and
concentrate hard on finding Henri. I did my best to relax and be
comfortable, freeing my body and mind from every distraction.
In moments I
could see a damp grassy space in front of me in the dark. The wind
howled as Henri shivered and there were many whispered voices
around him talking in Norwegian. He was rubbing his hands together
and taking furtive glances around at the murmuring group. They were
all young men like him; some looked even younger than me, their
faces contorted with worry in the dark.
Henri, it’s
me.
I knew by the
jolt of surprise in his heart that he had heard me, but otherwise
he didn’t so much as flinch. I realised then that he wouldn’t be
able to just talk to me in English with a dozen other boys around
him.
Listen, I
have some advice from an old solider. Can you hear me ok?
He nodded
very slowly, so slowly that the other boys would probably have
thought he was stretching his neck.
Right
, I began, trying to remember
exactly what Idrys had said,
you should
put your socks on outside your shoes so that you make less noise
when you’re running.
I felt Henri
break into a smile. He whispered in his own language to the other
lads as he began to unlace his shoes. Everyone else quickly
followed suit.
And rip anything off your clothes that’s dangling or loose so
it doesn’t get caught on fences or wires,
I continued.
Henri spoke
again to his cohorts as they were taking their socks off. One of
them gave him a huge smile and patted Henri on the shoulder. I felt
that familiar swell of pride in Henri’s chest as he checked his
clothes for loose bits.
And this was the most important one,
I said,
No lights, not even a
cigarette, not even if you think there’s no Germans around. There
could be sentries anywhere with guns, if they see a light where it
ought not to be, they might just shoot for it.
Idrys had
been very specific about that one; he had lost friends in the first
war in that way. Henri gulped hard and did his slow nod again
before addressing the boys one last time. When they had finished
fumbling with their clothes, one of the elder boys took Henri off
to the side, crouching with him in the wet grass. The older fellow
spoke to him quickly and sharply, pointing with a flat hand off
into the darkness. Then he gave him a hard clap on the shoulder and
returned to the group, leaving Henri stooped alone in the black
night.
What was that about?
I
pressed.
Henri gulped
again. “They said I’m good with ideas, so they want me to distract
the guards whilst they start the run.”
That didn’t
sound good. My expert advice from Idrys had made Henri the least
likely to get away safely now, but I wasn’t prepared to accept
that.
You take me to the guards and I’ll do the rest,
I promised.
There were
four large German soldiers standing sentry at the border point the
boys had chosen. Painted signs in both German and Norwegian glowed
occasionally in the reflection of the soldiers’ flashlights as they
ambled back and forth aimlessly. They were young men, not much
older than the boys trying to escape the city, and they were
clearly bored beyond belief of being on guard duty. Henri was laid
flat on the wet grass about ten feet from the nearest soldier where
the wire fence ended to leave a space for cars to pass through. The
most thickset of the four guards was training his flashlight on
that gap, staring intently into nothingness whilst the other three
smoked and talked.