Stargirl of the Edge

Ch 27 - First Revelation

A level student Olivia returns home on the train with her mother after finding an ancient Chinese book in the magnificent library in the city (inspired by  Manchester's John Rylands). She wasn't allowed to borrow it but with the permission of the Chief Librarian, she made a copy on her iPhone. That evening while her parents are out, she intends go to onto Alderley Edge and for another encounter with her mentor Esther, the Chinese princess, who requested it. She will show her a printed copy. Unfortunately something shocking and unexpected happens.

On the train back to Alderley Edge, Olivia checked the photos of the book on her iPhone. One or two were very slightly blurred but most were clear.
The golf club ‘do’ started at eight, so Liz and Dennis would leave the house around ten past seven in the Jaguar. Once they had gone, Olivia would climb into the jeep with Jessie, drive up to the Edge for the encounter at around 8 o’clock and be back home again by 8.45 at the latest. She would have fulfilled her task and hopefully made Esther happy.
She would need to print the pages to give to Esther, so she downloaded the images onto her computer and printed them out. She had a good quality colour printer that she used for her artwork, and the pages from the book looked quite acceptable. She stapled them together, put them into a large envelope and placed it in her bag.
Olivia sat in her room, surfing the internet when she heard her mum calling from below.
“Livvy, I’m just popping out to pick up my dark green trousers from the dry cleaners in the village. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
‘Agh!’ thought Olivia, gritting her teeth, why was her mum so forgetful? Why couldn’t she have got them earlier when they were on their way home. Whenever she said she was ‘popping out’ it meant she would be gone for ages.
Olivia watched from the bedroom window as the jeep disappeared down the drive. She checked the time on her iPhone. It was seven minutes past six. Olivia opened the stopwatch app on her phone and kept it beside her at her desk as she continued surfing the internet.
One hour, four minutes and 32 seconds later Liz returned. Now she had to get ready.
“My goodness look at the time, I wish I hadn’t bumped into Audrey in the car park.”
Dennis was ready and waiting downstairs in the lounge.
Liz bounded up the staircase, rushed into the bedroom and started to unwrap the trousers and look for matching clothes. A few minutes later she came into Olivia’s bedroom.
“Livvy, do you have that green pendant, you know the one I lent you before? I think it would go rather nicely with this green waistcoat, don't you think?”
Livvy was stunned. Where was it? Oh yes, of course, in her bag.
“Okay Mum, you carry on, I’ll just get it.”
Liz went back into the bedroom and continued to get ready. Olivia reached into the pocket of her bag and felt the box, which contained the pendant. ‘Phew’ she said to herself and sighed. She needed to cut through the material with a pair of scissors, luckily there was one in the drawer of her desk. She cut through the pocket, took out the pendant, walked back into the other bedroom, gave it to Liz, relieved.
Liz studied it and looked at Olivia with a probing glare. She checked the pendant again, turning it over and then the front again, and weighing it in her palm.
“Olivia! Where did you get this?”
Olivia felt sick.
“You gave it to me,” she replied hesitantly.
“No I didn't! I didn’t give you this! This is a fake! This is a copy!”
Olivia felt the room starting to spin.
“Olivia, what happened to the pendant? What did you do with it?”
Olivia became confused. Her heart beat quickly, her eyes darted around the room. It wasn’t long before Liz put two and two together.
“Olivia! You didn’t take it into school did you?”
“I’m sorry Mum, I just... wanted to keep it with me all the time. I thought it would help me.”
“Oh, Olivia, that pendant belonged to your great aunt Tamara. It’s a family heirloom, and it’s quite valuable too. She’d be horrified. Oh goodness me! What happened?”
“I left it in the Science lab... I thought someone had taken it... then I went back and found it again...” 
“But this isn’t the original. It’s a copy. Someone swapped it. One of those jewellery thieves. The same thing happened to Beryl. And you didn’t even know it had been stolen. My goodness. Olivia! How could you be so careless? Why didn’t you tell me? Now what are we going to do? And what am I going to wear? Oh, I’ll find something else.”
She gave the fake pendant back to Olivia, turned and walked out of the room.
Olivia looked at it and threw it into the corner of the room. She slammed the door shut and lay on the bed with her head in her hands. Some minutes later, Liz knocked on the door.
“We’re going now. We’ll be back later, not sure what time”
“Okay,” said Olivia timidly.
A couple of minutes later, Olivia heard the Jaguar crunching across the gravel and down the drive.
Her mind was in a whirl. Her heart was racing. And then she noticed the time on her iPhone. It was nearly ten past eight and the light was fading.
‘Oh, no!’ she thought, grabbing her coat and bag. She ran down the spiral staircase. Jessie jumped up from her basket, followed her to the jeep and they both jumped in. About fifteen minutes later they were at the fallen tree trunk.
“Esther! Esther! I’m here. I’ve got the book! Esther!”
There was silence. Jessie sat quietly. Olivia looked around. She tried to look down then slowly up. There was still no sign of Esther. It was already after dusk.
“Please, please appear, Esther!”
Jessie remained quiet but alert, looking around to check that there was nobody approaching.
Now it was becoming a little scary as the daylight had nearly gone. Through the trees she could see the orange and white lights of the city in the distance. She thought she could see tiny bats flying around.
She just needed to talk to Esther but she knew she had left it too late. It was after sunset.
And then something in her head snapped, she began to shake, she closed her eyes and opened them again. Now she knew what to do, and where to go.
“Come on Jessie,” she said, standing up. The dog got up and followed her.
Olivia made her way back to Castle Rock and stepped carefully across its uneven surface. There was no one around, apart from a couple of people walking back to the lay-by.
To the north, the lights of the city glowed, reflecting off the clouds, and on the hills, the bright red lights of the tall transmitter mast shone vividly. Over to the right, wind turbines spun rapidly. They seemed to be going round and round very fast. Her mind felt electrified, as if she was being guided by something outside of her.
She and Jessie walked the right hand side of Castle Rock onto the footpath, down the hill, and turned back until they were standing directly underneath the overhanging stone ledge.
This was the place where Esther had first spoken to her in Chinese. This was the place where there were curiously formed rock formations, with dark shadowy gaps between the rocks and carvings including the spooky skull.
Tiny bats circled around above her head. The daylight had almost faded, there was only the faintest birdsong.
She turned and walked to the side of the rock formation, under the ledge. Her whole body seemed to be filled with an electrical charge that controlled her.  She leaned down and stroked Jessie on her neck.
“I have to go inside. You stay here and guard the entrance. I won’t be long.”
Jessie was used to waiting outside shops and supermarkets while Liz or Olivia went inside and so she knew what to do. She sat obediently, looking up at Olivia with loving eyes.
And then, just as in the legend of the Wizard, Olivia saw an entrance opening up in the rock. Lowering her head, she walked inside, leaving Jessie behind.  The dog barked a couple of times and looked into the tunnel as Olivia disappeared into it.

Stargirl of the Edge is an educational story. It aims to encourage readers to think about science and art and the nature of learning, how we understand and retain facts and ideas. The target audience is Young Adult learners, mainly female, worldwide. In time I hope the story will find its audience either through a conventional publisher or self-publishing.  Please read, vote and comment, and if you want to contact just go to www.aidan.co.uk and get in touch.