Chapter Twelve
The phone rang as Johnny stepped out of the shower. He dried himself with a blue fluffy towel and then pulled on a pair of kaki combats.
“Yeah, hullo.” he said into the receiver–his wet hair pointing in all directions.
“John, it's Sue here, I need someone to look after Caitlin today. I didn’t want to bother you with what’s happened and all. But the thing is Ollie and I have to travel to Edinburgh for a dinner tonight, and I was wondering… Oh, would you do me the favour? Brad’s staying with a friend.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks. We’ll drop her off at four.”
Caitlin dressed in a pink T-shirt and dark blue track suit bottoms walked into the living room from the kitchen. “Dad,” she said in a sighing voice. “You’ve no Coke, and I want a pizza.”
Johnny put down the lid of his laptop. “Okay, let’s go to Morrisons and get some stuff.”
“I want to watch TV.”
“But I’m not supposed to leave you alone.”
“Dad, I’m eight, and I’m not coming,” she said.
“Well, okay,” he said putting on a jacket. “But don’t open the door to anyone or answer the phone until I get back.”
Caitlin listened to the click of the latch as her father left the house and then she walked over to the coffee table, picked up the remote control and switched on the television. She strolled into the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed an ice lolly, then she headed back into the living room where she suddenly stopped–she had forgotten to tell her dad to get crisps. Shrugging her shoulders she went to sit on the settee where a girl in a cream, old-fashioned party dress sat.
Caitlin raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Hello!”
The girl smiled and said: “Hello.”
“What’s your name?”
“Lilim.”
“My names Caitlin. Are you a relative of Veronica’s?”
“Yes,” she lied.
“Would you like an ice lolly?”
“Okay.”
Caitlin went back into the kitchen and fetched another lolly from the fridge. “There you are,” she said handing Lilim the lolly. Then the two girls settled down and watched a cartoon.
“Where do you stay Lilim?” Caitlin asked.
“I stay in a place with a beautiful garden, which has a swing and other things with which to play.”
“It sounds nice.”
“Would you like to come and see it?”
“Yes, I’ll ask my dad when he gets back.”
Lilim gazed into Caitlin’s eyes and a great tiredness descended over the eight-year-old. She yawned and lay back into the settee and fell into a deep sleep. She dreamed of flying up through puffy white clouds.
Lilim flew up from behind her and took her hand.” Let’s go see my garden.”
Up they flew, higher and higher until Lilim tugged Caitlin side ways where they saw a vast glittering city with a multitude of spires, some of which pierced the clouds. They flew over the city before descending into a green rectangle. Caitlin closed her eyes at the approaching ground.
“It’s okay Caitlin you can open your eyes now,” said Lilim, walking over to her swing. “Would you like to try my swing?”
Caitlin stood where she was and looked up at the violet sky; she knew better than to think she was still dreaming. This girl had taken her away to some mysterious world!
“Please sit on my swing–now!” Lilim shouted.
“Oh, very well!” Caitlin shouted back.
She sat on the swing and Lilim pushed her back and forth. After a while Lilim stopped pushing and walked across the lawn and picked up a racket and a ball. “Come Caitlin I want to play tennis now.”
“I want to go back to my dad’s.”
“Not now–let’s play tennis.”
“I don’t want to play tennis.”
Lilim stomped her feet. “I want you to play tennis with me–now!”
Caitlin grabbed the other racket and swung at the ball Lilim served to her. She connected well, and the ball flew at a blistering pace hitting Lilim in the stomach.
She doubled over and made a growling sound. Caitlin ran up to see if she was all right, but stepped back in horror as Lilim raised her head. A face with total black eyes and a large mouth filled with pointed teeth stared at her. But in a flash it was gone and Lilim’s angelic features returned. Caitlin ran away over the lawn. She had no idea where she was going, but anywhere was better than being with that… thing!
She ran around the tree where the swing swung back and forth in the breeze and bumped into a man in a white robe.
“Caitlin!” Johnny shouted, closing the front door.
As there was no reply he walked through to the front room and saw the glow from the television in front of the settee. He smiled when he saw Caitlin asleep and then made his way through to the kitchen where he took a pepperoni pizza out of a cardboard box. He switched on the oven and shoved the pizza in on tin foil Then he poured Coke into a glass and took it through to the living room.
“Caitlin,” he whispered, “I have a glass of Coke for you.”
She must have been up late the previous night, he thought as she slept on. He gently lifted her up and took her into the bedroom where he laid her on the bed and covered her up with a blanket.
An hour later, with the aroma of pizza wafting through the flat, Johnny opened the bedroom door and walked up to the bed. “Caitlin!” he said. “The pizza’s ready; it's time for tea.”
There was no response; so he tapped her on the shoulder. “Come on baby, time to get up.” With still no response he took a firm hold of her shoulders and gave her a shake. “Caitlin–wake up!” Still, she slept on; so he went into the kitchen and fetched a glass of water, which he sprinkled on her face. She sighed, but went on sleeping.
“Oh my god what’s wrong with her,” he said in a pleading voice. “Caitlin–wake up!” He shouted at the top of his voice. But, there was, again, no response; so he ran into the living room and grabbed the house phone and dialled 999.
“Hello. Which service–ambulance, fire or police?” asked a robotic voice.
“Ambulance.”
“Name and address please?”
“John Duncan 10b Guthrie Port Arbroath. It’s my daughter–I can’t wake her up.”
“Is she still breathing, sir?”
“Yes...it’s just - I can’t wake her up!”
“Okay sir, there’ll be a crew with you shortly.”
He replaced the receiver and ran back into the bedroom. There was no change, she slept on. After what seemed like an eternity Johnny heard the distant scream of a siren. He stared at his daughter’s peaceful face. “Why don’t you wake up baby?”
The siren grew louder and louder until it stopped outside the building.
Johnny ran and opened the front door then descended a few steps to meet the crew: a ginger-haired well-made man and a tall, brown-haired woman both in green work suits.
“Mr Duncan?” asked the man.
“Yes, it’s my daughter Caitlin–I can’t awaken her. She’s in the bedroom on the left.” Johnny said, pointing to the open door.
They rushed past him into the flat and through to the bedroom. The male paramedic placed his kit bag on the floor at the side of the bed and felt the side of Caitlin’s neck for a pulse.
“Has she taken any medication?” he asked.
“No.”
“How long has she been sleeping?”
“Around two hours.”
“Could she have taken pills from where you keep them when you were in another room?” the woman asked.
“Ehm…! I don’t think so. I’ll go have a look.”
Johnny opened the kitchen door to plumes of black smoke, which were issuing through the vents on the sides of the oven. The smoke alarm in the hallway erupted into life as Johnny opened the oven door with protective gloves on. He grabbed the smoking black disk and put it in the sink. He then ran into the hallway and fanned the alarm with a tea towel. Back in the kitchen, Johnny closed the door behind him, opened the window then checked his medicine shelf.
“Sorry about that I had a pizza in the oven. There’s no medicine missing,” he said when he returned to the bedroom.
The female paramedic raised one of Caitlin’s eyelids and then snapped a small plastic tube. There was a sharp odour of ammonia in the room as she held the broken tube under the girl’s nose. Caitlin kept on sleeping.
“Mr Duncan, we must take Caitlin up to Ninewells Hospital.”