Going for Gold (3 page)

But in my state of extreme cosmic loopiness, I heard something like: The Agency would have to be clinically INSANE to send you on another mission. Letting your best FRIEND go over to the DARK Powers - they’ll probably never trust you AGAIN!

I went up the wall\

“You’re the one who’s always telling me to follow my dreams!” I blazed. “But obviously you didn’t really mean it. OK, then, I’ll go by MYSELF!”

I stormed off towards the secretary’s office.

Lola came chasing after me. “I can see I made you mad,” she said breathlessly. “But I don’t completely understand what just happened.”

I was feverishly scanning the school notice board, hunting for a list of this term’s field trips. They were all fully subscribed, except for one tres obscure-sounding course: SPEND FIVE DAYS STUDYING TIME-STREAMS IN UPPER EGYPT.

I had no clue what ‘time-streams’ were, I just saw an opportunity to escape to Earth and share my fabulous cosmic energy with my fave planet. There were two places left. I scrabbled in my bag for a pen and signed my name bumpily at the bottom of the list.

Lola hastily read the flier over my shoulder. “Are you nutsl We HATED ancient Egypt.”

“This course isn’t in ancient Egypt,” I told her loftily. “It’s in my century.”

I read aloud from the blurb. ‘“You will be based in a locally run hostel with air-con and angelic internet facilities. Your studies will only occupy a few hours a day, leaving ample free time to visit local antiquities.’ I think it sounds cool!” I added defiantly.

“Boo, you do realise they’re leaving at dawn tomorrow! That’s practically tonight"

“I know,” I said happily. “Can’t wait!”

That evening my soulmate cautiously popped her head round my door. “Hi!”

I looked up briefly from packing my bag. “Do you think they’ll have conditioner? Maybe I should take mine in case?”

Lola took a breath. “You know you wanted me to come on your Earth mission with you? How would you feel if we both did this time-stream course?”

“Are you kidding? I’d LOVE it!” I gave a gasp of disappointment. “But it’s too late. The office will be closed!”

Lola laughed. “Aha, but I knew that, so I just ran down to the library and used my internet skills to bag the last slot.”

We jumped up and down screaming with excitement.

“But what about the concert?” I remembered. “You had that solo and everything.”

“Pooh to that!” she giggled. “I’m not letting you have all those gorgeous foreign angel boys to yourself!”

Lola’s pants were so on fire it’s a wonder the heavenly fire brigade didn’t come bursting in to hose her down there and then. Realising I was determined to leave Heaven, my unbelievably lovely and loyal friend had rushed to our teacher, who put in a high priority call to Michael. He said since they couldn’t stop me going to Egypt (see previous comments on Free Will), Lola had to go with me and monitor my every move. Ignorant of this behind the scenes activity, I rushed off to help Lola pack.

“You know what?” I said emerging from her closet with an armful of cotton dresses. “I think something amazing is going to happen to me in Egypt. I got tingles in my belly button the minute I saw the word ‘Egypt’ on the flier.”

“Yeah?” Lola was stuffing random items in her backpack.

“Totally! This is like my hot date with destiny!” She straightened up.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but that hot date feeling isn’t always what you—”

“Tell you what,” I interrupted. “I’m going to run and fetch you that cute wrap dress. Blue’s more your colour anyway.” I flew off like an angel girl who’s glugged way too much diet cola.

Here’s what Lola would have said, if I could have come down off my whizzy pink cloud long enough to stick around and listen.

Your aura is all lit up like a Christmas tree, my loopy friend. The PODS could probably spot you from Mars. Please be VERY careful.

Here’s what my inner angel would have said, if she was still open for business.

The Test is coming. Stay home.

Chapter Four

T
he dawn time flight was packed with archaeology types in unattractive long shorts and floppy hats.

“And you’ve got your phone,” Lola said for the zillionth time.

“Yes, Lola, I’ve got my phone,” I sighed.

“And if you go anywhere without me, you absolutely promise to keep it switched on?”

“OK, OK, I promise!” I puffed out my cheeks.

Since I didn’t know a) that I was flying without radar or b) about the Test, I couldn’t imagine why Lola was being so twitchy. It’s usually me who gets nervous before cosmic adventures.

We arrived in the simmering heat of late afternoon. Outside the time portal the noise levels practically knocked me off my feet. Bus and car horns blaring. Egyptian pop music pumping from doorways.

Technically this was the twenty-first century, but it actually felt like all the different Egyptian centuries were rubbing along merrily side by side. You could see minarets soaring like fairy tale towers above shiny hotels and modern banks. Just visible through the crumbly ruins of an old temple, was the familiar egg-yolk yellow logo of a McDonald’s!

Shimmering like an angelic oasis between a noisy tourist bazaar and a small hotel was our hostel -invisible to humans, and so full of beautiful celestial vibes, no Dark agent could ever get inside.

We escaped gratefully into the air-conditioned foyer. The raucous street sounds cut out as if someone had flipped a switch.

After meeting our tutors and the other angel kids on the course, we were allocated a room on the third floor. To our relief it looked out over the tropical gardens at the back, not the dusty frantic street. French doors opened on to a small private balcony.

My friend wandered out to admire the view. “Boo, you can see the Nile from here! It looks just the same as in ancient times! Even those little boats, the feluccas, are the same.”

We unpacked then just flopped on our beds. A slightly-too-hot breeze wafted river smells in through the open window.

I was so happy I felt like I was literally floating. I’d dreamed of going on a mission and now, quite soon, it was going to happen - I just knew it.

I beamed across at Lola. “Glad you came?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

“I love being an angel, don’t you?” I babbled. “I keep thinking it can’t get any better, but it always always does!”

Lola nodded agreement but I saw a flicker of worry cross her face.

The sun was starting to set. One by one the amplified voices of the muezzins cried out from nearby minarets, calling faithful Muslims to prayer. We drifted out on to our balcony to listen.

The sun sank out of sight, leaving streaks like rosy chalk marks in the sky. I noticed a faint shimmer down by the river. Some local earth angels were sending vibes.

“We should join in,” I said impulsively.

“Mel, I don’t think that’s such a—”

“That’s why I came, Lollie,” I insisted. “To make Earth a better place!”

Making Earth a better place, also lighting up the night with my sparkly new aura. Equivalent to hanging out a flashing sign saying: FORCES OF EVIL HELP YOURSELF!

Lola opened her mouth, then shut it immediately. An angel girl without her divine radar isn’t exactly going to listen to your advice.

We sent vibes until the stars came out. Then we went in to get changed for the party.

There’s something I want to tell you. OK, I don’t exactly WANT to tell you, but there’s no point telling this story unless I tell the whole truth, not just the pretty sparkly bits.

Remember that speck of darkness? Remember I said I didn’t know it was there? I knew, OK?

I’d just put so much time and energy into hiding it, I’d very nearly fooled myself. But if you’d taken an x-ray of my soul when I arrived at the Angel Academy that’s what you’d have seen, pulsing like a teeny ugly little heart, among all that swirly rainbow-coloured soul light - a living sleeping seed of pure Dark energy, waiting for the exact right moment to wake up and do maximum damage.

I’d just been sending vibes in the open air, recklessly exposing my gorgeous but highly vulnerable new energy field to Earth’s deeply PODS-contaminated atmosphere. Near-perfect cosmic conditions for hatching out your own Dark angel.

No, I mean that literally. That’s the Test.

It’s a hot date - with your Dark side.

With absolutely no clue what was in store for me, I went on merrily trying to decide between my beaded gypsy skirt or my apple green miniskirt with appliqued daisies. Lola was in the bathroom putting on her face.

“I’m such a fluff-brain,” I called. “I’d totally forgotten Egypt is a Muslim country now! They had all those really random gods before.”

This was my friend’s cue to say, “Babe, you are not a fluff-brain. When are you going to start believing in yourself?”

What she actually said is. “Melanie! You can’t go dissing people’s GODS"

For some reason Lola’s reaction really upset me. I felt like she was saying I was stupid and insensitive to people’s cultures.

I returned my gypsy skirt to the wardrobe with an angry jangle of coat hangers. “I wasn’t dissing anybody,” I flashed back. “I was just saying I never really got a handle on them.”

My problem with the old Egyptian gods was they almost never came with their original heads, they were all like, half-cow, half-dog, half-mongoose or whatever.

Before I could explain, Lola sang out, “There weren’t so many,” and she started spouting ancient Egyptian names! “There was Bastet, the cat goddess, Hathor and Osiris, oh and Hapy the river god—”

“I get it,” I growled, stepping into my miniskirt. “They had a LOT of gods!”

“Isis is my fave!” Lola went on, refusing to take the hint. “She was the protector of girls and women. She could be a bit violent, mind you! You wouldn’t want to make her mad.”

I’d come across Isis before in ancient Rome and been blown away by her genuinely sweet vibes, but I felt like if I said this now, I’d have let Lola get one up on me.

When that tiny seed of darkness wakes up, it doesn’t feel tiny. It feels like a huge unfriendly force trying to fight its way out of your chest.

“If you ask me, all the Egyptian gods were equally random and equally violent!” I snarled, then

I heard the spite in my voice and stopped in bewilderment.

Lola shot out of the bathroom. “Did I say something wrong? You sounded really mad.”

I had no idea what had just happened. I tweaked unhappily at my top. “I’m not mad. Have you finished in there? Because we’re going to be late for the party.”

Half an hour later, Lola and I were up in the hostel’s roof garden, piling our plates with delicious nibbles. I was wishing I’d brought my shrug. I’d forgotten how cold nights get in the desert.

Some earth-angel musicians had arrived. One did a quick mike check in Arabic. Someone played a couple of rippling chords, then the night filled with vibey local sounds.

Over our heads, stars glittered in the African darkness like huge silver mirror balls. I caught a sweet whiff of scented jasmine and my wildly unstable system swung into Joy Mode.

“This is so cool,” I gushed happily. “I’m loving Egypt this time.”

“Me too! This food is lush!” said Lola helping herself to more dip. “And they seem sweet,” she added, meaning our tutors.

“Yeah, Maryam’s got a wicked sense of humour.”

“She needs it with Khaled!” Lola giggled. “He’s kind of dynamic, wouldn’t you say?”

I waggled my eyebrows. “Kind of good looking, I’d say!”

Handsome Khaled was currently charming the socks off a group of trainees. Every few minutes his hip pocket produced an urgent blast of Egyptian pop music to let everyone know he had an incoming call. Khaled seemed to get a LOT of calls!

After we’d refilled our plates a few times, Lola said we’d better mingle.

“Do we have to?” I said nervously.

Lola reminded me that a stranger was only a friend I hadn’t met yet.

“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed.

I wandered around, clutching a glass of sparkling pomegranate juice. This course was a bigger deal than I’d realised. Trainees had come from all-different Heavenly schools.

I kept saying “Hi” hopefully to other trainees, but you know how it is, when you’re not good in groups, you blurt it out just as they turn to greet an old friend, or else they don’t hear you over the music. After what seemed like a tres long half hour, Lola came to find me, looking flushed and happy. “Isn’t this great?”

“Fantastic,” I fibbed enthusiastically.

“I’ve been talking to one of the musicians. He says we lucked out getting on to this course. Khaled and Maryam are the time-stream teachers apparently.”

“Wow,” I said.

“There’s still some kids to come from the celestial college. They had a portal malfunction but they should be here by tomorrow.” Lola gave me a nudge. “Celestial college? Indigo’s school?”

I pulled a face. “I doubt he’ll show. The heat would muss up his hair!”

Lola giggled. “That’s so mean!”

Indigo was a v. posey boy Reuben and I met on our soul retrieval course. Reubs was convinced he fancied me.

My friend couldn’t stop herself bopping to the beat. “Don’t you LOVE this band? If Reubs was here, he’d be up there jamming. Wouldn’t mind jamming with them myself…”