When
Sarah was young she asked many questions; most were answered, except
for those that her mum deemed too old for her to understand and then
she would say “Another day, Smidge, another day.”
Years
later, nothing had changed much. Sarah was still called Smidge and
her mum still refused to talk about certain subjects. The most recent
example of which was the magic door handle that Smidge had found,
which opened door ways to anywhere she had a mind to go (and had been
keeping a secret from her mum).
Except
her mum already knew about the handle, and the parent-teacher evening
that had been arranged by her mentor Mrs Norn hadn't been for her
mum's benefit at all… However, since the evening had been
interrupted by four people waving baseball bats, demanding that
Smidge use the handle to break into the local bank, nothing else had
been accomplished (except for Smidge transporting them to the local
police station instead of the bank).
It
was then that Smidge realised that her mum knew about the handle and
what it could do, but for days afterwards she didn't want to talk
about it, no matter how much Smidge pestered her.
Her
mum was extremely reticent, almost embarrassed to talk about the
situation and even Mrs Norn was reluctant to carry on the teachings.
“Until your mum agrees, I'm afraid that I can't teach you any more
about how the handle works. I'm sorry.”
“What
about those four guys with baseball bats then?”
“All
the more reason to stop the lessons… The more you're told, the
deeper involved you become and the less chance you'll get to back
out.”
“What…
like mum did?” Smidge asked. “Is that what mum did?”
“No
more, Smidge… I'm sorry.”
And
that's how things were left for a while. A few weeks passed and
Smidge lost interest in the door handle but always kept it with her,
as if it was still her responsibility.
Things
got back to normal, her mum went back to leading the local girl
guides and Smidge did her best to be a model student again, even
though she felt empty inside.
Somebody
else had been biding their time, intrigued how things were turning
out. This Smidge wasn't the all conquering hero she had initially
seemed to be; she was very hampered by the failures of her mother…
How much of a nudge would it take for her
to walk away? Now was the time to send in the blunt instrument to
cause more misgivings.
Smidge
wasn't great at making friends, she felt a bit of an outsider; only
at the guides because of her mum. She kept to the back to stop people
from accusing her of being the teachers pet.
There
were a couple of other girls who were also outsiders too though.
Anesh's love of Gerry Anderson science fiction put her at odds with
the whole “New [Dr]
Who” craze who couldn't understand how she could love the wobbly
puppets on Thunderbirds and the wobbly acting on Space 1999. Ferrise
loved archaeology, was fascinated
in the past which endeared her to Smidge's mum but not to her fellow
guides.
Smidge,
on the other hand, found them easy to get on with and they often
helped in packing things up at the end of the evening, ensuring that
the hall was left exactly the way it was found.
They
didn't smell the fire outside
until Gert burst through the doors of the hut, creating a vacuum
which sucked the heat and smoke in with her. Neither the girls or
Smidges mum had time to react, it all happened so fast. Gert went
straight for Mrs Midgen who tried to defend herself, but all it took
was one push from
Gert to send her flying. She fell hard with a thud.
“MUM!”
Smidge cried out, making a
dash to her mum but Gert
was there first. Like a coiled spring
she struck, twisting Smidge's arm around her back until she screamed.
“You
know what I want -the handle! Give it to me or else.”
Smidge had no choice, the other two girls were cowering in terror and
she couldn't tell how her mum was, she wasn't moving. She gave Gert
the handle.
“That
won't do you any good.” She spat at Gert.
“And
it'll do you even less!” She looked to the two girls. “Now -tie
up Smudge and then I'll tie you both. Hurry up, you don't have much
time!”
Within
minutes they were all bound.
“You've
made my life a misery and now even my family wants nothing to do with
me!” Gert snapped, incensed; there was no telling what she was
capable of now. “This is the end for you now; not even you can
escape this time.”
Gert
ran for the doorway, slamming it shut and locking it. Smidge then
herd splashing sounds, petrol from the smell of it… they didn't
have long.
She
looked round, her mum was barely conscious and Anesh and Ferrise were
both scared out of their wits. They had to get out, but that meant
cutting their ropes somehow.
“Anesh…
Are you any good with knots?” Anesh was too scared but
Smidge had no time for niceties. “OY! Anesh! Are you any good with
knots?!”
“Yes,
but it's too late!” Anesh cried back.
“It's
never too late to try.” Through the smoke and through the tears
Anesh undid the knots, surprised at just how easy they were to
untangle. Within minutes they were all free.
The
heat was unbearable, smoke pouring from everywhere – they wouldn't
have much longer before the building collapsed completely. No one
knew where they were and they could only just hear the fire engines
desperate wailings; they would never get there in time.
“Stay
low, kids.” Smidge's mum groaned.
“MUM!
You're still with us!” Smidge was relieved, even amongst the
inferno.
“You..
have...to get us… out of here...” Her mum gasped.
“But
she took the handle.”
“You
don't need…. the handle… it only focuses…. the intent… You
have the power, Smidge, my darling… You always did… just as I
had...”
Without
a second to spare Smidge found a table in amongst the smoke and got
the two girls to help her overturn it so there was a flat surface she
could use. Using all her intent she focused, picturing the door in
front of her.
The
front of the building collapsed just as the door finally opened. The
girls screamed but Smidge grabbed her mums arm and together they all
dragged her through the door, just as the rest of the building
collapsed.
Miraculously
the door somehow opened on the side of one of the parked fire engines
and they managed to climb through without being seen until they
needed help. Soon Smidge's mum and the girls were being looked
after for smoke inhalation
and a possible concussion.
But
Smidge wasn't with them.
This was going to end. She hadn't started things with Gert but she
was going to finish them. Her way.
No comments:
Post a Comment