Epiworld (5 page)

She clasps my hand, and helps me to my feet. My limbs are stiff, and I’m exhausted and confused. I’m in the new world, my dream world, but this time it seems very, very real. The girl is real. My clothes are soaked by the sea. The air cools my skin, the breeze blows through my hair. My feet sink into the yellow, gritty stuff beneath my toes: sand. I dig my toes in further, relishing its softness. I realise for the first time that I don’t have any shoes on.

Who wouldn’t prefer this new, beautiful world to my old one? I only know a police state with grey, colourless buildings, unhappy people, dampness, mud, destruction, poverty, starvation, fear, suppression, fighting – and death. I’ve never seen a land like this before with people who smile.

‘It’s really happened, hasn’t it?’ I murmur. ‘I’ve really escaped the institution!’

The girl is about fifteen and pretty. I don’t recognise her accent, although she’s speaking my language. Her hair is fair, tied back from her face, and she has pale skin and pink cheeks. Her brown eyes twinkle at me. She reminds me of someone, but I can’t think who. My eyes lock with hers for a moment, and she blushes.

‘Hudson!’ I think again.

Still no reply. Of course, Hudson can’t hear me, because this isn’t his world, only mine!

If the pod doesn’t work it must mean the probe doesn’t, either. I can’t test that theory out here, not yet; I have no reason to get violent.

I gaze out at the waves, wondering what makes them roll backwards and forwards like that. The sand seems to stretch for miles. Tufts of green grass sway above the sandy mound behind us. I find out later that it’s called a ‘dune’. There are other people dotted along the beach, adults and children, running around or lazing about, half-naked like the girl. Some are in the sea. They aren’t droids. Droids don’t know how to enjoy themselves, and never dare to go near water, anyway. They must be richers. There’s laughter, happy laughter.

A white bird flies down, settling on a pole sticking out of the sand. The girl puts her sandals in the bag.

‘This is good weather for Barrasay,’ she says, ‘not usually this warm, but I bet it’ll be hotter in Tenerife.’ She wraps the robe firmly around her chest.

‘Barrasay? Tenerife? What are they?’

Laughing, she grabs my hand again. ‘Oh, Travis! You’re funny!’

‘You know my name!’

‘You told me yesterday. It’s like the band called “Travis”, that’s why I like it. I looked it up on the internet; it’s French, and it means “toll collector” at a bridge, or “to cross over”. My name means “Earth mother”. I like looking up people’s names, to see if they match their personalities.’

I haven’t a clue what she’s talking about, but that’s a good meaning for my name. I
have
crossed over – from another time.

‘Come on,’ she says, ‘race you to that rock!’

I’m still a bit dazed and woozy, so I follow her through the water at a slower pace, before eventually picking up speed. I reach the rock first. We lean against it, laughing as the waves wash over us. I look up at the cliff, and spot a massive hole dug deep into the side of the rock, like an entrance without a door.

‘Look at that!’

‘It’s only an old cave. We have loads of them on the island. I haven’t seen that one before, though.’

We run over to investigate. Her voice echoes eerily.  ‘Spooky, isn’t it?’

‘It’s massive.’ I’m spellbound. ‘Look up. You can’t see to the top!’

‘Come on, Travis,’ she says nervously. ‘It’s cold in here. I want to go back to the farm. I need a shower, and get this suntan off. Would you like to come? We can go for a walk when I’ve changed.’

I shake my head. I don’t want to leave the cave now I’ve found it.

‘Oh.’ She’s disappointed. ‘Well, can I see you again?’

I shrug. I don’t even know her name.

‘Tonight?’ she says. ‘We can go for a walk along the prom.’

I smile. She’s keen. Normally I would be chuffed to have a pretty girl taking an interest in me, but things aren’t exactly normal right now. I close my eyes, seeing Jenna. I wish I could speak to her, tell her how much I love and miss her.

‘I – don’t know where I’ll be tonight,’ I stammer.

Her face drops. She puts her sandals on quickly.

‘All right.’ I can’t turn down a pretty face. ‘I’ll meet you on the beach, where we were just now.’

She smiles. ‘Great. What time?’

‘I don’t know.’ I don’t have a watch or a clock. ‘I’ll meet you here, by the cave.’

‘OK. I’ll be here at six.’

A beeping noise comes from her bag. She tuts, takes out a small, black object, presses a button, and speaks into it. I hear a voice saying, ‘Demi?’

‘Yes, Mum,’ she says flatly.

I hear more words, but can’t make out what they are.

‘Yeah, all right,’ snaps the girl. ‘I’m on my way back now.’

She flings the object back in her bag.

‘Mum wants me to go to the market for her.’ She giggles. ‘Here, I’ll give you my mobile number in case you get lost tonight.’

She takes out a pen and piece of paper from her bag, and writes down a word and some numbers. She hands me the slip of paper, steps forward, and kisses me quickly on the mouth, making my spine tingle.

‘See you later,’ she says shyly, and runs off down the beach.

I glance at the paper. ‘D-e-m-i’: her name. The numbers mean nothing, and I sure as hell don’t know what a mobile is.

I
wander back to the cave. I like the dark, the shadows, and the solitude. I feel safe in here. It’s strange that Demi knows who I am, because I don’t know her.

Bits of memory from my old life flash in my head, and I relive the moment I’m flying through time and space. If this is the year two thousand and nine I’ve travelled back ninety years!

Out at sea, something bobs on the horizon. A boat; I know about boats. I’ve seen them in the picture books, too, but not the big silver metal birds with wings, the ‘planes’. I’ve never seen one of those before now.

‘Wow! He’s done it! He’s actually set me free!’

No guards, no droids: Alexander’s right. This place, Barrasay Demi calls it: the open air, the sea, the people, the laughter, is heaven compared to the institution. I’m a fish out of water here, though. My gang will never find me, and I’ve left Hudson to rot in that dump!

I’ve also left my body behind in twenty ninety-nine! I’m worried what they might do to it if I fail to wake up. Will they think I’m dead, and bury me with all the others who have never left the institution alive? I shudder, unable to make sense of the situation I suddenly find myself in. This is weird; so totally weird!

‘It wasn’t much of a life in the institution,’ I tell myself. ‘I’m probably better off dead, anyway.’

I take off my damp clothes, and drape them across a stone. I sit, naked, for a long time, thinking about things. I’m not cold, and my strength is slowly returning. I have to work out what I’m going to do about shelter and food. I have no money. Demi might help me. She likes me. There’s also the cave; it’s a good shelter.

I watch as the tide comes closer. I could learn to fish, maybe, and if the water doesn’t flood the cave completely, I might be able to make it a home.

I’m not sure if the lower part of the cave is completely safe from flooding when the tide comes in. I look behind me; there are jagged steps going higher and deeper into the darkness. It should be drier up there. Clutching my clothes I climb up some rough rock until I come to a large, roomy cavern, with a high roof, and what looks like ledges carved out of the sides, deep enough to put stuff on, if I ever collect any stuff. There are more slabs, wide enough to be beds. I lie on one to test it out. It’s the right length and size for a makeshift bed, but all I need now is something to cushion myself against the hard surface.

I’ll need light when it gets dark. A fire will help, and that will also dry my clothes. I’m used to living by firelight. There’s a space to light a good fire, and enough room in the cavern for ventilation. There are also plenty of small rocks to make a circle for a fire, but I need stuff to burn, and something to light it with. I’ll have to find bedding, too.

I reach for my shorts. The people on the beach aren’t wearing much, but they’re decently dressed. Their clothes are wet because they’ve been in the water. I don’t want to draw attention to myself by going out there stark bollock naked!

The cavern is high enough not to be affected by the tide, but when I clamber back down to the mouth of the cave the sea is rushing in, and my exit is cut off. I’m debating how I’ll get out, when I see some rough, level stones on the right side of the cave wall. Carefully I step from one stone to the other, one foot at a time in case I slip, but I manage to get myself out, then it’s an easy climb around the exposed rocks, and out onto the beach, which is beginning to look empty now that most of the people have gone.

A man, a woman, and two children pack away their belongings, and walk away from the four white plastic beds with the long blue cushions they’ve been lying on. I see a couple of men further down the beach collecting them, folding them up, and carrying them to an awning.

I check to see if anyone’s watching, and run over to the beds, grabbing a cushion – no, two cushions, even better! They’ll make perfect mattresses, but they’re awkward to carry. I can’t run with them, so I drag them, quickly, back to the cave.

I haul them up to the cavern, place them on my slab bed, one on top of the other, and try them out. Better than the bed at the institution! No bedclothes, though: it’ll be cold at night without covers! I’ll have to rely on a fire tonight, if I ever get one started.

I go back out to the beach to find stuff to burn: bits of wood, cardboard, other rubbish. The bins are full of burnable crap, and there are plenty of empty plastic bags lying around to carry it in; except I’ve got nothing to light a fire with.

‘What yer doin’, Travis?’

Demi grins at my legs and chest. She’s fully clothed. I glance at the lowering sun. It must be around six already. The beach is almost empty now.

‘You weren’t where we said we’d meet,’ she says accusingly. ‘I thought you weren’t going to turn up, until I saw you mucking around in the bins. What are you up to?’

‘I’m going to light a fire,’ I tell her, ‘in the cave.’

‘In the cave? Won’t the tide be in?’

‘I’ve found a cavern, higher up.’ I clutch my two bags of rubbish. ‘It’s not too bad. It’s easy to get in and out. It’s big inside, and the fire will give us light; but...’

‘What?’

‘I’ve got nothing to light it with.’

‘Dad’s got a lighter,’ says Demi quickly. She giggles. ‘He’s supposed to have given up smoking, but I know he has the odd fag now and then. You wait for me by the cave. I won’t be long.’

––––––––

I
put the rubbish and the bits of wood in the cavern before going out to meet Demi. At last she returns, carrying a plastic bag of her own. I perk up as the aroma hits me.

Food!

‘Did you get the lighter thing?’ I ask.

‘Yeah – and...’ she holds up the bag, ‘the chippy van’s in. I got us fish and chips, crisps, and a big bottle of Cola. Let’s have a party by your camp fire!’

She soon changes her mind when she sees the sea swirling in the cave. 

‘It’s impossible, Travis!’ she gasps.

‘No, it isn’t. Come on, follow me.’

I take her hand, and we step carefully on the stones running alongside the cave wall. Demi yelps as she slides against me, grabbing my arm.

‘I can’t do it! I’ll fall!’

‘You’d get a better grip in your bare feet. Take your shoes off. Here, give me that bag first. Don’t drop it!’

She passes the bag of food to me, leans against the wall, and slips off her shoes. Slowly and gingerly we move from stone to stone until we reach the jagged steps.

‘Don’t let me fall, Travis!’

‘I won’t.’

Her eyes widen when she sees the cavern, the slabs, the ledges, and my new bed.

‘Wow, it’s big in here, isn’t it?’

‘Like a house. There’s enough space here to burn the rubbish.’ I put the food down on a slab, and pick up my trousers and shirt. ‘Still damp; a fire will get them dry in no time.’

‘Won’t it be really smoky with a fire in here, though?’

‘Not if I make a small one, enough for light, and a bit of warmth.’

I put some small stones in a circle, and fill it with bits of waste paper and wood. Then after a bit of practice I spark Demi’s lighter thing, and catch the rubbish with the flame. Soon a fire is burning. The smoke spirals upwards, disappearing when it hits the cavern ceiling.

‘There’s a hole up there somewhere,’ I point upwards, ‘acting like a chimney, but I can’t see any light. It must be really high up.’

I lay my shirt and trousers in front of the fire, and we huddle around it. The cavern lights up, and shadows dance along the walls.

‘It’s wicked in here,’ remarks Demi, in a voice which actually says, ‘It’s creepy in here!’

‘Let’s eat,’ I say hungrily. ‘I’m starving!’

We don’t have fish and chips in my world. They taste delicious. I finish my share well before Demi, who eats hers slowly. I see her watching me as I finish the last of my fish.

‘I like your tattoo,’ she says. ‘“R”. What does it mean?’

I think fast. She may not understand about the Rockets.

‘It’s not an “R”; it’s a “T” for Travis. It just looks like an “R”.’

She frowns. ‘Where’ve you come from, Travis? Are you running away? When I first saw you yesterday you seemed a bit – well, lost.’

I throw the chip paper on the fire. ‘I’m visiting.’

‘So where are you staying, at the hotel? I haven’t seen you at the campsite. Where are your parents?’

‘I’m bumming around, staying here and there, and yeah, I’m in the, er, hotel. I came without my parents.’

‘Are you a student? Taking a year out or something, and travelling around?’

I humour her. ‘Yeah; somethin’ like that.’

‘How come you’ve ended up here? Backpackers don’t often come to Barrasay. They go to more exotic places, like Australia, or Thailand, or Africa.’

‘You ask a lot of bloody questions,’ I snap, poking the fire aggressively with a stick. The probe hasn’t reacted, even though I’m pretty worked up. I hate questions. I always feel like I’m being interrogated. Where I come from questions are usually followed by some sort of punishment. ‘I’m just visiting for a few weeks, that’s all.’