Breakfast was a feast. The smell of Earl Grey, rashers of bacon, muffins, coffee and cinnamon woke me. I rolled over in a strange bed and groaned. I was stiff, smelled myself, and threw the covers off to go in search of the restroom.
It had a walk in shower in one corner with glass doors. I couldn’t find any knobs to turn on the water and the holes in the wall and ceiling puzzled me.
Cammy knocked and came in. I was still in my clothes, in the act of peeing in the toilet. I tucked myself back in self-consciously.
“How’d you turn the blasted water on?” I asked and the water shot out, hitting the sides of the glass in pulsating jets splashing through the open door.
“Water off!” I shouted and it stopped. I grinned. This was way cool. “Water on!” I played with it for minutes. “What else can it do?”
“Music on. Sirius Classical,” she enunciated and the strains of Mozart filled the area. I thought I was in a Symphony Hall.
“Massage, shower, pulsating, heavy,” she ticked off her fingers. “Hot, warm, cold. Lights, dim.”
“Everything but bubbles,” I said happily.
“Big enough for two,” she grinned back. I pushed her gently out the door and closed it. Stripped and took a long soak to the strains of Pavane for a Dead Princess and bagpipes. So, I’m a closet Scotophil.
I found a stack of clothes on the sink counter. Fresh slacks in khaki, long sleeved dress shirt, a thin leather belt, briefs still in the cellophane from Masons, socks and lace up shoes. A watch and a smart phone, an iPhone. How she had managed to do all that in the space of time she had amazed me.
I came out of the bath feeling like a kid playing dress up yet I felt good, smelled good, and looked at least my age.
I followed the smells to the kitchen and sat down to an English breakfast. In my opinion, the best meal of the day. Ate my way through it with single-minded determination and no conversation on my part. She let me eat without badgering me.
“Finished? Good. Now tell me all. Where are you living and how?”
“Somerset. Exclusive Boys Prep school. Seems I used Tom’s money to set up a trust that funds my stay there.”
“But not for meals and clothes.”
“Guess not.”
“How much is left?”
“Three hundred sixty Euros.”
“After you…died, the account was left untouched. Tom watched it until he was killed. It just kept growing. Until the crash. Three quarters of it was wiped out. I would have replaced it but my own income took a hit, too. It’s just now recovering. This place was paid for and I don’t pay for anything but power and food. I sold all the jeweler and Tom’s flat. It just covered my expenses the last ten years.”
“Cammy, do you need money?”
“No, Aidan. I’m not rich but I get by. I write short stories for travel agencies and magazines. Make a decent dole that way. Pays for the butter.”
I looked at my new clothes. “Don’t worry. I’m a bargain shopper. I spent what I could afford. What are your term fees?”
“3000(.”
“Hmmn. Due in January, I assume,” she mused. “Will you be there that long?”
“I don’t know. I never know. I didn’t even know when I woke this time. I was there before I knew I was there. Some of the boys told me I’d been there for months before I remembered anything. I just woke up in bed.”
“That’s new, different. You know, I researched you on the internet. There are millions of kids lost, missing, but none in the circumstances you’ve lived through. You have made it to the web. Someone took an interest in old murder cases and somehow connected the Moor Murder victim to the bombing victim. Because of your beautiful amethyst eyes. Interviewed that DI, Van Gilder. He still remembers you. He’s retired. I see him sometimes.”
“See him how?”
“Dates.”
“Cammy! He’s a copper!”
“We call them fuzz, pigs or cops, now, Aidan. Bobbies, sometimes. He retired as a Supervisor. Worked at New Scotland Yard. They have something called the Cold Case Squad. He headed it.”
“It should have ended when I died.”
“Peter is tenacious. He wants to meet you.”
“You told him about me?” I was aghast.
“I told him I was thinking about you one day and he asked me what I knew about you. You had died, Aidan, been dead for five years. I didn’t think it could hurt anything. It got him curious. He mentioned you only a few weeks ago. When you showed up, I called him. I was so excited, I’m sorry.”
“No one knows about me, Cammy. What do you think they would do to me if they did?”
“I don’t know but I trust him.”
“When’s he coming?” I was resigned.
“This afternoon. I’d like to take you to town, pick up a few things for you.”
“I’m fine, Cammy. I have what I need. I’d better get back to school.”
“You’re on Holiday. Break’s a week long, isn’t it?”
“Classes start next Monday. I need to do a few things before then.”
“What?”
I looked away, didn’t want to tell her I was planning a robbery to replenish my coffers and fund my term fees before they were due. I needed to be gone before the Inspector turned up.
Cammy was disappointed but let me go. Gave me a kiss and made me promise to keep in touch. I wouldn’t tell her the name of the school but she knew the area and wouldn’t find it too hard to look it up.
I left around mid afternoon, right before tea.