Winging It (10 page)

He had bleached blond hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. I remember thinking how out of place he looked in that 1940s kitchen, in his black T-shirt and jeans, the image of this boy I’d secretly fancied at my school. Right down to those beautiful dangerous eyes.

This is so unfair
, I thought dreamily.
They never told me the Opposition could be beautiful
.

“We can take any form we like,” said the boy softly.

He snapped his fingers like a magician. Suddenly, shadowy little creatures were swarming everywhere, blindly bumping into each other, falling into the sink. The sound they made was out of my worst nightmares - a skittery insect sound which got right inside my head.

“I’m scared, Mum,” Molly moaned.

Her voice shook me out of my panic.
Call yourself an angel, Melanie Beeby?
I scolded myself.
This is your basic Good-versus-Evil type situation. So pull yourself together!

I deliberately stepped in front of the boy, holding out my divine insignia. I was shaking all over but I couldn’t worry about that. “Maybe I don’t look much like an angel,” I quavered, “but I’m here on official Agency business and Molly’s under angelic protection. So don’t even
try
to touch her, OK?”

The boy laughed. “Oh, but I haven’t come for Molly, darling! I’ve come for you!”

I froze. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid.

I’d made it so easy for them; leaving my mates in the lurch, deluding myself I was on some major cosmic mission.

I had this wonderful new life
, I thought.
And I threw it away - for nothing
.

“That’s right,” said the boy, amused. “And by the time we’ve finished with you,
nothing’s
exactly what you’ll be.” He looked straight at me, and his beautiful eyes were totally empty. “NOTHING,” he repeated.

Now I’m a girl who, if someone says I look pale, faints right on cue.

And I’m not proud of this, OK, but I immediately felt myself dissolving like a sugar cube.

It’s happening
, I thought despairingly.
I’m not a person. I’m not an angel. I’m no-one, I’m nothing. Soon I’ll just be an empty space. It’s all over
…

Except, it wasn’t.

“Hang about!” I demanded. “What am I meant to be scared of exactly? I’ve already lost everything and everyone I care about. I’ve got nothing left TO lose. Apart from wowing me with your naff special FX, there’s not a thing you can do.” I drew myself up to my full height. “So stop wasting my time, moron!”

He blew me a scornful kiss. “Diddums. Like I actually care.”

But the Opposition’s gruesome FX were already fading like a bad dream.

“There’s the door,” I said in my snottiest voice. “Mind it doesn’t hit you in the backside on the way out.”

I turned my back as if he’d ceased to exist. And suddenly I could breathe again. He’d gone.

Given my record, I probably wasn’t the best angel to save Molly, but I was the only angel available. So I touched my angel tags, and with a WHOOSH of cosmic energy, I willed myself to become visible.

There was a gasp from under the table.

I couldn’t believe I’d done it! I’d actually materialised! I was so delighted with myself that my mind went a total blank.

What do I say to her?
I panicked. Then, to my relief, vaguely familiar words floated into my head. I was only six when I played the angel in our school nativity, but it came back like yesterday. Well, kind of.

“Um - fear not!” I said huskily. “For lo! I am the angel Melanie and I have come to let you know you are not alone.”

Molly crawled out from under the table, her eyes filled with awe. Then I caught sight of my reflection in the hall and my eyes filled with awe too!

The mirror glowed with a rosy light. Inside the rosy halo was a wonderful being with wings, the kind a small terrified child would instantly recognise as an angel.

My moment of weird glory lasted all of five seconds.

Molly’s mum rushed in, her face absolutely white. “Thank Heaven!” she sobbed. She scooped Molly up in her arms and hurried out of the door.

“It’s all right, Mum,” I heard Molly gabble. “I saw a beautiful angel and she said don’t be frightened, so I wasn’t.”

My knees went to jelly with pure relief. I closed my eyes and a silly smile spread slowly over my face. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as happy as I did in that moment.
I saved Molly
, I thought.
I really did it
.

An unearthly light burst upon my closed eyelids. When I opened them, Michael was standing there. He held out his hand for my angel tags.

“I’ll have those, thanks,” he said sternly.

Chapter Ten

I
‘d tried every trick I knew to get myself to sleep. I’d had a long bath by candlelight. I’d helped myself to Lola’s stash of twenty-second-century drinking chocolate. I’d listened to my favourite late-night music turned way down low. I’d tried everything and I was still as jumpy as a Mexican bean.

In normal circumstances I’d have died of fright. But angels can’t die. Not even angel failures like me.

Typically I never had got around to reading that Handbook, so I had no idea what we did instead. I just hoped it wasn’t like that depressing fairy-tale, where the little mermaid turns into sea foam.

I switched off the light and got into bed. The dark didn’t make me sleepy, though, just horribly lonely.

I padded over to the window and gazed out over the beautiful, beautiful city. Its lights sparkled like millions of fallen stars.

My eyes prickled and blurred.
Don’t think, Melanie. Don’t think about that wraparound sky so blue that you can’t tell where it leaves off and the sea begins. Don’t think about Lola and Reuben, or that sweet-faced boy, Orlando. You had a once-in-eternity opportunity and you blew it
.

When I first got here, I used to imagine how gobsmacked Miss Rowntree would be if she ever learned that her most troublesome pupil had been picked for angel school. I was constantly dreaming up dramatic situations where I zoomed back to Earth and wowed my old teacher with my amazing skills. “Melanie,” she’d gasp. “I’m truly sorry I misunderstood you. You had hidden depths, which I completely failed to see.” Sadly, it seemed I hadn’t changed after all -just gone round in one big dreary circle.

After I was brought back in disgrace, Michael quietly listed every one of my misdemeanours. Abandoning the other members of my team, thus putting them at risk; materialising to a human child without permission; claiming to be on Agency business when actually it was all my own stupid idea…

I’d broken so many celestial rules, it was probably some kind of record. I couldn’t blame the Academy for wanting to throw me out.

“It’s out of my hands,” Michael had said quietly. “The Academy Council will deal with you in due course. Until then you will not be permitted to leave the school grounds.”

He’d looked so disappointed, I couldn’t bear it. At that moment, I’d have given anything to be human again because then I could just crawl off and die.

The weird part is, I didn’t regret what I’d done. Once I had that moment of clarity in the tube station, I had to do what I believed was right; even though it later turned out to be totally,
totally
wrong.

It’s like, up until that moment I’d just been playing a beautiful magical game, called Angel. But the instant I walked away, that was when it became the real thing.

I hadn’t seen any of my mates since I got back. Our entire class had gone off on an end-of-term jaunt to some exotic wildlife park. The dorm was totally dead, and I preferred it that way. I totally couldn’t face them after what had happened. By the time they came back, it would all be over. I’d be sea foam, or whatever.

I caught sight of my stricken face in the mirror.

“We were meant to be the three cosmic musketeers,” I whispered.

Now I’d never go time-travelling with my friends, or learn to send dreams to suffering humans like Orlando.

“Stop torturing yourself, Mel,” I said aloud. “Try to get through the night with a bit of dignity, OK?”

I’d been summoned to appear before the Council early next morning. But I was so nervous that I got there way ahead of time.

“I don’t think they’re quite ready for you, Melanie,” said the school secretary, avoiding my eyes. “Perhaps you’d care to take a seat.”

She probably despised me, but I was simply too numb to care.

Get used to it, Mel
, I thought drearily.
In ten minutes you’ll be a fallen angel, the lowest of the low
.

The chamber door had gorgeous stained-glass panels. I sat staring at it for so long that I could have literally drawn it from memory. From time to time I heard raised voices. There was a major debate going on inside. I caught glimpses of swirling robes as various archangels swept past.

I’d never met any archangels, apart from Michael. But Lola once told me they made space aliens seem almost cuddly.

Desperate for comfort, I reached for my angel insignia to reassure myself, but my hand closed around air.

Suddenly I seemed to hear Lola’s voice. “What are you doing, angel girl, sitting there like a total turkey? DO something, girl!”

“Yeah, Mel,” Reuben teased. “Put your Houdini powers into reverse and stay put for a change!”

It was like my best friends were actually with me in the waiting room!

“OK,” I whispered. “I will.”

And I stood up, tugged down my skirt and knocked on the door.

There was no answer, so I took a deep breath and went in.

With so many archangels in one room, the light levels were truly awesome. Michael was there, to my relief. And from what I remembered of our angelic history lessons, I guessed I was also looking at Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Jophiel and Chamuel. Just don’t ask me which terrifying face belonged to which archangel.

The archangels stared back, appalled.

I willed my jelly knees to hold me up.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful,” I croaked. “But you’ve got to let me stay. You’ve just got to.”

The secretary rushed in. “I am so sorry,” she panted. “I
distinctly
told Miss Beeby to wait outside.”

“That’s quite all right,” said a remote voice. “We’re most interested to hear what she has to say for herself.”

I closed my eyes and tried hard not to think of sea foam. “Um,” I said. “First, I want to let you know, that I do realise I really messed up badly.”

“Hardly a controversial insight,” said an identically distant voice.

“I do know that,” I said humbly. “But you truly can’t imagine how sorry I am. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here.”

One of the archangels gave a weary sigh.

“I’m not spinning you a line. It’s the absolute truth,” I said quickly. “Mr Allbright is a great teacher and my friends helped heaps, and I think that one day I could shape up to be a really wicked trouble-shooter. Brilliant trouble-shooter, I mean,” I corrected hastily.

“Melanie,” Michael began. “I don’t think this is—”

I rushed on desperately. “I let my team mates down and that was wrong. But that doesn’t mean you guys were wrong when you picked me to be an angel.” My voice cracked with misery. “If you’ll just give me a second chance, I’ll never let you down again. I’ll work night and day. I’ll even read my—”

“Enough!” said one of the archangels, making me jump with fright. “This is extremely touching, my dear, but I’m afraid you left it too late. We came to our verdict a few minutes before you burst in. And as you know, the Council’s decision is final.”

I felt like a total fool. “Oh,” I said. “I’m - I didn’t…”

I was suddenly blinded with tears. I was done for. My angelic career had finally crashed and burned. I blundered towards the door.

“Melanie?” said Michael softly. “Don’t you want to know what that verdict was?”

I turned in despair. “I suppose, that sinister sea foam thing,” I whispered.

“Sea foam?” said Uriel, or possibly Jophiel, looking utterly baffled.

Michael swiftly took control of the situation. “Melanie, the Council unanimously agreed that you may stay,” he said.

I could feel a leftover tear tracking slowly down my chin.

“
Stay
?” I echoed blankly

It’s a dream
, I thought.
I’ll wake up in a minute and I’ll have to go to the real Academy Council
.

“You actually did remarkably well in your exams, Melanie,” said Michael. “In fact you got a distinction.”

I think it was Michael’s smile that made me know I wasn’t dreaming. I felt it right inside my heart. Suddenly I heard what he’d said.

“A
distinction
!” I shrieked. “Woo-hoo! That is
totally
luminous!”

“You also lost your team a much-deserved HALO award,” Gabriel or Chamuel pointed out unsmilingly.

“Oh,” I said, ashamed. “I didn’t know.”

“And your angelic presentation skills still need a little work,” he added sternly “I quote: ‘For lo! I am the angel Melanie’, etcetera etcetera.”