Firstborn

Chapter 22 - Turned Backs

Six months later

Sitting behind Dev on his moped, clutching a small attaché suitcase, Una returned from her boarding school to Khamosh Valley in under ten minutes? A short journey perhaps, by all standards yet she had only made it once before in the last six months! The visit was a complete disaster. Both guardian and charge jointly agreed that it was unnecessary for Una to take up the twice a month opportunity to come 'home' for weekends during term time. Una was over the moon when she found out that there were three terms, each four months long, in a single school year.

Since she had left her grandfather's property, winter had given way to spring and spring in turn to summer. The valley was lush and beautiful and the barren garden where once the tribe men and soldiers stood was welcoming and breath-taking. Perhaps she had her grandparents wrong – truly indifferent people could not have planned such a thing of beauty. Bright marigolds, geraniums, roses and hibiscus bushes planted at ground level were offset by hanging baskets of rainforest plants, suspended high from the roof.

Una's gaze travelled admiringly between the baskets of ferns and other succulent combinations until she saw something move between them. Her smile diminished. Shading her eyes from the sun, Una again scrutinised the spaces between the green foliage. She was right. Something white was definitely moving between the baskets.

Could it be a ghost?

Una's logical mind believed not. It had to be Tommy.

"Tommy, is that you hiding up on the roof, you silly mutt?" she shouted.

No answering bark followed, which was unusual.

Una dumped her suitcase on the gravel and ran through the house, leaving her grandfather behind to deal with her suitcase and his moped. Slapping her sandals on the steps, she charged up the stairs and pushed hard against the roof's door. Instead of opening, a large object pressed rigid against her belly button.

Confused, she gazed downwards and saw the largest shiny cylindrical lock she had ever seen, hanging on a new sideways latch on the door.

More bolts and locks but still no key.

Besides the key something else was amiss - the usually polished teak door was dull, dusty and untouched.

"If the door is locked then Tommy is..."

She was going to say - not here but Dev from behind her finished the sentence. "Dead."

She swivelled around and faced his familiar exasperated expression.

"Dead? Of course he is. Tommy is dead." Una sat down on the top step of the stairs, head in hands. Dev left.

She'd forgotten again. Perhaps, if she'd seen Tommy's body and buried him, she would not need reminding. By the time she found out about Tommy's strange death he had already been "dealt with". Those were the words her grandfather had used. Dev had been shocked by her tears and many questions which he evaded. He thought her silly and indulgent and had no time for her emotional outburst over a mere animal. He compared Tommy to a useful object like her hair brush, rather than her constant and friendly companion. Her only companion other than...Avi.

Avi...she had blocked him out of her thoughts for other reasons. Doctor Verma had seen to that. For a whole week after Tommy died, he injected her arm daily after asking her the same question.

"What do you remember of the evening before you fell asleep on the roof?"

A week on, she finally learnt to answer the question correctly with "I don't remember."

Her answer had rung true until two months previously. During a gym lesson she had had an accident and broken her arm in two places as a result of her foot slipping off the climbing apparatus. She was operated on straight away. Under anaesthetic, the cloak over her memory was removed and images of Avi's and her shared kiss came flooding through, shocking her all over again. Her mind also remembered the trauma she experienced when they parted. The images were clear but she could only recall snippets of Avi's conversation. He told her he was changing to a Blessed which was confusing because he looked as he always did to her. Although Una believed her memories to be true, they were too weird to share with anyone.