Firstborn

Chapter 4 - Looking for Dad

Chapter 4

"Wake Up Granddad! Where is Dad? Granddad did you hear me, Dad is not back, Do you know where he is? Granddad please! WAKE UP!! ". Not even a grunt. Repeating the questions close up had no impact either. She nudged him hard, "Wake up, how you can possibly sleep through the screams, howls outside and the racket I'm making?" Quite simply, it seemed when she found the answer to her question staring in her eyes when she leant close to shout in his right earlobe. Big white fluffy clouds of cotton were poking out of his ear lobe and tickled her nose as she leant into him. Not only that... the stench of strongly fermented sugar wreaked her senses. Ugh! He must have consumed a lot of his famous army supplied rum before going to bed. Una held her breathe and covered her mouth with her night pyjamas sleeve. Defeated, she apprehensively glanced away from her grandfather lying flat on his bed, towards the interlocking door leading to her Grandmother's room. Would she help or even care if her son was not at home? Una thought for a moment or two, shrugged her shoulders and let out a sigh and despondently, retreated into her own room.

Sitting on her bed, Una thought about the ridiculous situation she was in. Truth be known she was a little scared of Grandma. The dragon was probably sleeping with one eye open in her den... room. Una scolded herself she couldn't be so prejudiced towards her darling Grandma already but no amount of positive thinking would shake Una's instincts based on the two days she was in the Valley that her Dragon grandma would most certainly hinder her efforts of looking for her missing Dad rather than proving helpful. Yesterday morning, instead of an expected boisterous warm first welcome from her grandmother who she had been lead to believe back in Manchester, was desperate to meet and bond with her one and only granddaughter- grandchild, she was treated to strong hostile vibes. So much for customary frothy unconditional love! Although staggered that her grandmother in an instant took an unexplainable dislike to her it was a greater shock and far worse to witness her supposedly doting grandmother to bristle every time her first born Una's Dad spoke or came in his mother's view. Granted not all grandmothers and mothers were maternal however hers had exhibited the expected coldness of an alien from out of space ready to annihilate earthlings. In just two days Una had imagined men in white coats opening her precious Grandma in a lab only to be spurted by green ooze instead of blood. "Jesus Una!" Una chastised herself. Her own thoughts were freaking her out! Grandma just didn't warm to anyone and looked at everyone with suspicion and expectation that they might cheat her of something. Animosity aside she would be of no use as Una didn't speak Hindi yet. Her decision was made - she would have to find or possibly rescue her own dad herself...

Una's ears pricked; what was that? In between the animalistic nightly sounds she could distinguish a faint rattling which seem to be coming from... Una spun her head towards the North windows in her room where the curtains were partly drawn.

She scrambled to the windows low ledge at floor height and stood upright on it. She could just about distinguish the sound of an engine of a motor progressively becoming louder as if it was coming towards them. Could it be Dad in the hired car driving home from one of his old college friend's house? Una hastily parted the curtains all the way back and squinted to where the rumblings were coming from. Two pinheads of light were moving in the distance over the cliff onto the narrow road with a drop on either side and then disappointedly drove right past the dirt track they had come down into the valley to Major's and her grandfather's house and finally rattled over the iron cattle grid style bridge loudly, before disappearing out of sight. Upset Una stepped off the ledge - it hadn't even been a car. A heavy army truck had come across instead. Una sat back on her bed and listened out for anything else. A chill grew deep within her. When and why had the eerily howling stopped? Unease grew in her. Her overactive, horror movie, obsessed mind compelled her to believe that 'things' usually went quiet when a kill was made successfully. Desperately wanting to crawl under her bedcovers she knew deep down that like all the horror movie heroines she definitely had to go and look for her Dad know that she had filled her head with 'killing' images. Resolute, she put on her dressing gown and tightly pulled her dressing gown ends together trying to induce further courage. Achoo! Who had made that sound? It came from Granddad's room. Did that mean he was awake? Una padded towards the gallery passage to investigate; in the hazy light thrown by the night light she could see Granddad's outline on his bed and Grandma's door was still closed. Then she saw the coat stand with its elongated shadow caused by the coats waver in the far right corner Something was moving in-between the hems of the coats in her Grandfather's room and it wasn't him! Holding her breathe Una concentrated hard on the spot and bravely spoke, "I see you! Come out! Cornered it halted in the shadows and then... a whine! "Tommy?" Una whispered. Slowly Tommy emerged visibly shivering. For the first time Una realised it was cold - no actually it was freezing indoors. Brrr! Kneeling down she rubbed him hard but didn't seem to be able to warm him and reduce his trembling; patting the dog she stood to retrieve her coat and something for Tommy. Her grandfather's new tartan scarf that Dad had brought for him would do the trick for Tommy and she wrapped it around his belly to keep him warm and thought about muzzling his snout too to keep him from sneezing but then thought against it. Next she slipped on her not so tasteful florescent pink Michelin tyre styled long jacket which was bought by Mum who wanted her daughters to always be 'with it' when it came to the latest fashion and walked back into her room to zipping it up. Tommy followed her in but while she knelt to put on her outdoor shoes he began to noisily scrape the door that led onto the front of the veranda. She hadn't thought of taking Tommy with her but all things considered, he would be a welcome companion and might even protect her or dissuade any unwelcome animals or other creatures from joining her as long as he didn't give her away now. "Ssh," Una gave him a warning stare which made him first whimper then take a gulp of air when he detected her furrowed forehead and her right forefinger clamped to her lips as she cautiously opened the wooden door. By the time the bolt fell her courage had drained away to her toes. Holding on to an image of her father in her head, taking a deep breathe to steady the rapid palpitations of heart, she unbolted the mesh outer door too. Beckoning Tommy to go past her, she then retrieved the kerosene lamp her grandfather had left on her bedside table to unable her to see her way to the toilet if there was a power cut. Earlier, Tommy might have been desperate to go out a few minutes ago but now he seemed glued to the top step of the veranda on which she joined him. Darkness engulfed them with penetrating cold whilst they stood at the precipice of a wilderness rumoured to have bears, jackals and leopards not forgetting the lone wolf.