Tagan's Child (6 page)

“Sophie!”
Bennie said, making no attempt to hide her disapproval.

“Where’s the
phone?” she asked

“In the
kitchen.”

“Well, let’s
ring it.”

“Are you sure
that’s a good idea?” Suddenly, I felt like the world’s biggest
coward.

Bennie cocked
her head and shot me a, ‘you-are-kidding?’ look.

“Okaay, I’ll
get it,” I said, giving in.

I retrieved the
phone and handed it to her.

“You should
make the call,” Bennie suggested handing it back to me.

I stared at her
as panic began to set in.

“Okay, I’ll do
it,” she said with exaggerated patience.

“And that is
why you are my friend,” I said, handing Bennie the phone and
feeling relieved I wouldn’t have to make the call after all.

Bennie touched
the screen and dialled the first of the two numbers saved on the
phone.

Ahran picked up
after the third ring. Bennie put him on loud speaker.

“Sophie? Is
everything alright?” His deep voice filled the room.

Bennie raised
an eyebrow and gave a half smile of appreciation. I frowned at her.
I wasn’t prepared for how the sound of his voice was making me
feel. I was cross with myself, because in spite of the seriousness
of the situation I had reacted like that.

I looked at
Bennie and nodded, encouraging her to answer. “Oh hello, it’s not
Sophie. My name is Cordelia Blythe-Smith. Could I ask to whom I am
speaking?” she asked in her best telephone voice. I stifled a
snigger. She never usually spoke like that.

“Ahran Elessar.
Are Sophie and the boy okay?” His voice gave me goose bumps. At
least it was Ahran. To my dismay it all seemed to be stacking
up.

“She’s right
here you can ask her yourself.”

I shook my head
violently and looked at her in horror.

“Sophie?” she
prompted. I could have quite cheerfully strangled her.

I cleared my
throat. “Oh hello Ahran, it’s Sophie.” I glared at Bennie.

“Is everything
alright?” he asked.

“Yes everything
is fine.” I hesitated as I wracked my brain as to what to say next.
“I was just wondering ...er...whether you had got some evidence for
me yet, you know...proof about our,..er, predicament.” I said
falteringly and rolled my eyes, it was such a lame reason to phone
him.

Bennie was
trying to whisper something to me but I couldn’t make out what she
was saying and listen to Ahran at the same time.

“I will be with
you tomorrow evening as promised and I shall bring something with
me then. Have you thought any more about my proposition?”

The thought of
him being here again was oddly comforting.

“We can talk
about that when you get here,” I said, playing for more time.
Bennie was still flapping at my elbow.

“Okay, I’ll see
you then.” And before I could say goodbye he hung up.

“Ah!” Bennie
said in frustration. “You donut! You didn’t ask where he and his
family were from. That’s what I was trying to tell you! God Sophe,
you’d never make a spy.”

“I didn’t know
what you were saying, you were making me feel flustered.” I was
annoyed with myself for being such an idiot and not asking.

“Oh well, he’s
coming tomorrow I can ask him then, anyway the phone checks out,” I
said triumphantly.

“If he is as
sexy as his voice, I’m happy to take Toby and go and stay with him
myself,” Bennie offered.

I scowled at
her. “This is no joking matter. Toby’s life is potentially in
danger.”

“I know, I was
only kidding,” Bennie said, raising her hands in defence.

I was hit by a
sudden wave of hopelessness and dropped my face into my hands.
“What am I going to do Ben?” I’d only just felt like I was getting
my life back on track and now this.

“If this mad
woman is for real then the important thing is to keep you and Toby
safe. If Ahran and his family are offering you protection than
maybe you should consider it, or you could just go to the
police.”

I thought about
this for a moment. “If I went to the police what would I tell them?
I’ve got nothing to prove that what Ahran has told me is true,
they’d just laugh in my face.”

“Admittedly,
they probably wouldn’t do anything until something had actually
happened,” Bennie agreed. “You could hire a bodyguard?”

“Like I’m made
of money,” I said sarcastically.

“Then your only
option is to go and stay with his family.”

“And we’re back
to where we started.” I threw myself back onto the cushions of the
sofa in despair.

“What about
Toby’s school, his friends, my business?” I said despairingly.

“Well, the
first thing you need to do is find out where Ahran lives, it might
not be that far away,” she said with a degree of optimism.

“How many other
royal families do you know other than the Windsors in this country?
It’s got to be somewhere abroad.”

“Well, think of
it this way, it might be somewhere hot with a beach where you can
work on your tan.”

I had to admit
somewhere warm did have an appeal. It had to be somewhere hot
judging by Ahran’s golden skin.

“I suppose we
could go for a little while and hope that the threat of Bazeera
passes quickly. We could do with a holiday.”

“Atta a girl!”
Bennie said encouragingly. “You never know you might have a good
time.”

“Maybe Audrey
wouldn’t mind running the shop for a while,” I said distractedly as
I thought through the practicalities before stopping myself. “I
can’t believe I’m even contemplating this.”

“Can you afford
not to?”

“I don’t want
to put Toby at risk when I have the option of protecting him.”

“Well, there’s
your answer.”

“I need proof.
I’m not going to just run off with some stranger without being sure
that what he says is the truth. He might be some serial killer and
the next time you see us is when our bodies are being unearthed
from some remote wood on the BBC news.”

Bennie
grimaced.

“It happens,
Ben.”

“So what proof
do you think he’ll come up with?” she asked.

“I have no
idea,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

After a
virtually sleepless night, I woke to the unforgiving bleep of my
alarm clock and in my attempts to silence it swatted it clean off
the bedside table. Yesterday morning I had felt like I was hung
over, this morning I was hung over. What was I thinking, drinking
on a school night? I pulled the duvet over my head and groaned.
There was a gentle knock on the door. I ignored it.

“Sophe, it’s
me, can I come in?” Bennie said quietly through the door.

“Only if you’ve
got a cup of tea in your hand,” I muttered.

“Check,” she
said, entering the room.

“How come
you’re up and about so bright and early?” I said as I hauled myself
up and plumped a pillow behind me, wincing at the pain in my
head.

Bennie slid in
under the duvet and sat next to me. “I promised my mother I would
go Christmas shopping with her today.”

“That will be
nice,” I said supportively.

“Have you met
my mother?” She cocked an eyebrow at me.

“She means
well, Ben.”

I leant forward
to take a sip of my tea. “Ah! My head! Why did you make me drink so
much last night?” I complained. One glass of wine was my limit or
maybe two at a push, but if my memory served me correctly, we
polished off nearly two bottles. “I don’t have the stamina I used
to have.”

“Let’s face it
Sophe, you’ve never had the stamina,” she laughed. “How do you feel
about everything this morning?”

“About the
same. At least I’ll be seeing Ahran tonight which should shed more
light on things.”

“You will keep
me posted, won’t you?”

“Of course I
will.”

“Well lovey, I
better get going otherwise my mother will not be amused,” she said
in her poshest voice.

“Thanks for
last night, it felt good to talk.”

“Anytime. I’m
always here for you.” She gave me a quick, minimal Bennie hug. “And
don’t forget to call me as soon as you’ve seen Ahran.”

“I won’t.
Promise.”

She got out of
the bed and headed towards the door.

“Have fun,” I
called after her.

“I doubt it,”
she said with a cross-eyed grimace.

I laughed and
automatically clutched my forehead at the pain. “Ow!”

After I had
taken a couple of paracetamol and my headache had eased, I
showered, had a second cup of tea and began to feel like I could
function for the day. I hoped my head would be clear by the time I
had my meeting with the bank manager this afternoon. I wanted a
loan to revamp the kitchen at the coffee shop, the cooker was on
the blink and during the health inspector’s last visit, he had
recommended I replace the tiling behind the counters with stainless
steel splash backs, because they weren’t strictly in keeping with
EU health and hygiene regulations, apparently. Toby went at his
usual snail’s pace and after much chivvying along we got to the
school gate a shade after the bell. I kissed him goodbye and headed
to the shop.

The day brought
a steady stream of custom and before I knew it, it was three
thirty. After Audrey had reassured me she would be okay on her own,
I made my way to the bank. I didn’t like my bank manager, he made
my skin crawl and spent most of the time looking at my chest, but
after he had given me the Spanish Inquisition, which I suspected
was a tactic to make me feel small and insignificant and eternally
grateful when he did finally agree to the loan. I shook his hand
and thanked him sweetly. After all I had got what I came for. It
was a quarter to five by the time I picked Toby up from
after-school club and it was cold and dark. I decided to go to the
shop and help Audrey close up so she could get home a bit earlier.
I parked at the front. The street was quiet and the ‘Open’ sign had
been turned to ‘Closed’, all the lights were off and the shop door
was ajar. My blood ran cold.

“Stay here
Toby, I won’t be a minute.” I grabbed the heavy Maglite torch I
kept in the glove box; it could double up as a weapon if needs be.
I locked the car door. I toyed with the idea of ringing Ahran and
reached into my pocket for the phone he had given me. It wasn’t
there and I cursed myself for leaving it sitting on the arm of the
sofa in the lounge. Dammit! I walked towards the shop and gingerly
pushed the door open.

“Audrey?” I
called as I hovered in the doorway, straining my eyes in the
dark.

No answer. My
heartbeat quickened. I flicked the lights on to find the place
empty. Strange, very strange. Why had the front door been left
open? My eyes scanned the coffee shop. Nothing seemed out of
place.

I went out the
back to check the back door had been bolted and almost fell over a
heap on the floor in the darkened kitchen. To my absolute horror it
was Audrey, she was lying on her back with her head at an awkward
angle against the wall. Her face was covered in blood.

“Oh my God,” I
whispered, sinking to my knees next to her. A strangled cry came
from somewhere deep in my throat. My first thought was that she was
dead. The way she was lying looked so unnatural as if her neck was
broken, but I could just about make out the almost imperceptible
yet reassuring rise and fall of her chest. A debilitating wave of
nausea washed over me and for a few moments, paralysed by shock, I
stared at my dear friend.

I fumbled for
the phone in my pocket. “I need an ambulance now,” I cried as soon
as the line clicked for the emergency services. A calm and business
like voice answered and started asking me questions, most of which
I barely heard. “Just get an ambulance here please.” The
unflappable voice on the other end of the line asked me for the
address and once I had given it she reassured me that an ambulance
was on its way. I breathed a sigh of relief and hung up.

“Audrey, can
you hear me?” I picked up her limp hand feeling the need to cradle
her head in my lap to make her more comfortable, but I vaguely
remember something about not moving her in case her neck was
injured. I sat staring at her lifeless body, tears streaming down
my face and feeling utterly helpless.

Oh God, Toby!
He was still in the car. I took my coat off and gently laid it over
Audrey’s still form. I hesitated before dashing back through the
shop thinking through my options. I would ask Sandie to collect
him, I didn’t want him coming to the hospital with me.

I breathed a
sigh of relief when I got to the door of the shop, he was still
sitting in the car, his head bent over the glow of his iPad. I
stood at the door and kept my eye on my nephew as I called Sandie.
She was more than happy to come and get him. I simply told her that
Audrey had been taken ill and that an ambulance was on its way.

I was just
about to put the phone down. “Oh and Sandie, is Dan with you?” This
recent turn of events had made me feel jittery and I didn’t think
it was a bad idea if Dan, her rugby playing boyfriend, came with
her.

“Yeah,
Why?”

“Oh it’s just
um, that er, Toby wanted to talk to him about who was playing for
England in the Six Nations this year. Could he come with you so
Toby could have a chat with him?” That sounded as good a reason as
any. I was reluctant to tell her that I would feel much happier if
she had some muscle with her just in case.

“Yeah, no
worries,” she replied.

“Great, thanks
very much.”

Toby looked up
as I opened the door of the Land Rover. “What’s the matter?” he
asked.

“Audrey isn’t
very well and I need you to go with Sandie, she’s coming to get you
and will take you home. I’m going to the hospital in the
ambulance.”