There are girls with red flowers in their hair visiting my mum. I
can see them but my dad cannot. She lies in her bed smiling at them all
stood around her. I stand in the doorway with my blanket tucked under
my arm.
At first I thought they were going to harm her. They seem to speak to
her but I cannot hear the words. Maybe I am too young to understand
why. They have visited her everyday for a week now. They have never
paid any attention to my Dad or me.
At school, the other children painted the night sky after we went to
visit the telescope in the park. I drew the girls stood around my Mum
and the teacher took my picture away after I finished it. She asked me
why I hadn't drawn stars like the other children. I told her they
didn't seem all that important to me.
My dad collected me after school and looked at me. I knew what he was
thinking. He was thinking he had to tell me about my Mum, that she
wasn't going to be here for much longer.
"It's alright daddy, " I sang to him. He didn't seem to take any
notice.
The girls have stopped visiting my mum. Everyone looks at me like I am
the one that has left our home. I am going to my Grandma's house by the
sea for a while. I cannot sleep and trail around the house looking for
the girls with the red flowers. My dad lies on his bed staring into
space. It's thundering outside but I'm not scared. I go away tomorrow.
I don't think my dad is coming with me.
The sea smells funny to me. It goes back and forth over the rocks. I
asked Grandma if my mum knows where I am, just in case she wants to
visit me like the girls did to her. She looks at me and asks me about
the girls, what they look like, if they spoke, what they were wearing.
I drew a picture for her with my crayons. She nodded when she saw it. I
think she has seen them too.
At night I hear my Grandma talking to her friends. They are old and
look at me with kindness. They sit round a table and mutter into their
teacups about strange things I don't understand. I'm supposed to sit on
the floor and play with my dolls, but I listen and try to learn from
them.
There is liquid in bottles in my Grandma's cupboard that she gives to
people when they call round. She said she would take me out and show me
all the flowers growing on the cliffs she uses for the liquid. I want
to be able to help her but I am too young. I miss my Dad.
I am allowed to play outside in the garden with the girl next door but
she bites. I come back covered in red marks on my arms. My Grandmother
says that she won't bite me anymore but I'm still afraid to go out.
It's raining anyway. The wind batters against the windows. I worry
about the sea washing the house away. The girl next door has called my
Grandmother an 'old witch'. I ask her what a witch is and she laughs at
me. I am too young to be asking questions like that. The girl says I
will end up like her but I don't mind. I like my Grandmother. She isn't
afraid like my Dad.
My Dad has come to visit and he takes me to my Mum's grave. 'Beloved
Molly' it says on the stone, the same name as mine. She isn't here
though. I think the girls with the flowers in their hair took her away
forever. I never want to see them again. My Dad warns my Grandmother
not to put funny ideas into my head, and then he goes away again. I am
old enough to know how much he hurts.
I walked along the cliffs with my Grandmother collecting flowers and
saw the red ones the girls were wearing. I didn't want to touch them
and ran away crying. There are lots of shops along the seafront and we
go into one with no sign outside. My Grandma shows me Poppy, the dog
and George, who he belongs to. George is a fisherman and smokes a pipe.
He tells me sea stories while my Grandma makes the tea. Poppy the dog
lies in my lap and breathes against my stomach while the sea gets rough
outside. There is a storm coming. I learn how to make a spell to
protect all out at sea and us on the walk home. George says you never
know who is out there, watching.
Last week I started to put all my flowers in a book. Weeks have gone
by. My Dad still has not come for me. I think it is turning into half a
year at least. It's my birthday soon so I'm going to have a party with
Grandma and George and Poppy. My Grandma said I look like my mum. She
reminded me of the last time I saw her and of course, her visitors.
Poppy looked up at me and whimpered. She was ready for her walk so I
offered to take her out.
I took Poppy where I really shouldn't have taken her. The cliffs were
dangerous and the wind almost knocked me sideways as we ran towards the
water. George said he would tell me the story of how he met his wife up
here one day and then I shall know how important this place is. I am
starting to believe my Dad will never come and get me. Maybe he's
forgotten that his daughter is still here by the sea. Poppy barked so
loudly while I was thinking about him that I wondered what she'd
found.
The ship I saw was a small fishing boat pulling out of the harbour.
That was what Poppy must have been barking at. It left behind it, a
trail of white, sea spray. I shouted to Poppy not to go near the edge
of the cliffs and was going to go home to Grandma when I saw on the
deck of the ship, the figures of four girls. Their hair was being blown
around their shoulders and they stood holding bundles of flowers at
their waists. I knew that they had come to take someone away. I could
not see the red flowers in their hair, or the smiles on their faces.
The sea salt got into my eyes and it was then that I missed my
Mum.
I had to tell Grandma.
My heels clicked against my anklebones as I ran home, Poppy chasing
after me. I could see that the little fishing boat was being pulled
further and further out into the waves, almost as if the girls were
helping its journey along. I felt a sinking feeling in my belly. I knew
that whoever was on that little fishing boat would not return, and
whoever had given me this was crueller than anyone I could imagine.
My Grandma was sitting by the kitchen table, peeling potatoes when I
ran to her, gasping for my own breath back. She put her peeler
down,
'What is it Molly? You look worn out! I'll make you some juice. Sit."
She ordered, like it was Poppy she was talking to.
" There was a boat going out to sea when I took Poppy out."
"That's right, love. They've gone to get the daily catch in."
" I saw them on it, Grandma. The girls with the red flowers in their
hair. They've come for someone, haven't they?"
My Grandma stopped making my juice at the sink. I could see her
shoulders shake. The glass slipped out of her hands and onto the shiny
metal plughole. Poppy was sniffing at her feet and I looked
around,
"Where's George?"
* * * * *
Grandma and I are sat at the table in silence. This is the way she has
been sitting for the last few minutes. She is old and much wiser than
my Dad, but she looks like a child now. Afraid. I put my small fingers
on her arm.
"Molly, your Dad doesn't believe in things he can't see. You know that,
don't you?"
I nod. I don't know what she's going to say next.
" He thinks that the girls you saw with the red flowers aren't real.
That you're upset about your Mum."
" Have you seen them?" I ask.
She glances narrowly at me. Not a cruel look but a scared one. I
understand that death confuses some people.
"I can't see them anymore but I could. When I was a girl like you." She
sips from her tea and I from my juice.
"George is on that boat, Molly." My Grandma came out with at last, "You
know what that means?"
I nod slightly.
" I don't know for sure." She admits.
Poppy sniffs around the door, waiting for her master to return.
"It's a bad omen if ever I saw one," My Grandma sighs heavily.
I learnt quickly when I first came here, that whatever happens
naturally, you don't mess with it. There is nothing we can do about
George but wait for his return. I am sure I can hear my Grandma on the
phone. She is sending out a call for her friends in town. Maybe if I
had known about the first bad omen, none of this would have ever taken
place.
The boat has still not returned. I want to go out and watch from the
cliffs. Grandma is busy at the kitchen table, lighting candles and
making tea. I slip out of the door while the deep red lights flicker
from the windows of the house. I wonder if they can be seen from the
waves.
They say that pirates hid treasure in the caves below the cliffs. I run
along them trying to see out to sea but its hopeless. The storm is too
great and the little boat is too small. I imagine the pirates finding
George and keeping him safe.
