Prophesy: The Immortal Witch (5)

Part 4 at: https://www.abctales.com/story/marandina/prophesy-immortal-witch-4

 

Billy pondered the day ahead. He knew a trip would come down to one of two locations. Weston-super-Mare - always so full of life with the crowds that thronged there or the alternative – Brean Sands. He had written an account of the latter (his annual summer residence) for school:

Brean is a quiet place near Weston-super-Mare. It has sand but no shops or rides. When it’s hot there are flies.  Lots of people park cars on the beach. Kids play with footballs and plastic cricket bats. Dogs go in the sea. I like going there to stay with my gran.

Mrs Hall, his teacher, had given him high marks in primary for that: 9 out of 10. He had wondered at the time what would have resulted in top marks. His mum had sagely advised him to take the win rather than fret over something frivolous. There were bigger fish to fry she had declared.

It made him think of school with affection. However, Mrs Hall hadn’t always been an ally. He remembered mum castigating him following a phone call. There had been a few incidents over the years but this was probably the most serious.

Memories drifted inside his head like storm clouds:

An argument in the playground. A disagreement over a football. Billy being pushed to the ground. A teacher approaching to break things up. Holding out an arm to repel an on rusher. A man flying back through the air. The man cracking his head on concrete. The feeling of possessing a super power.

Billy realised he was daydreaming as he strolled alongside his mum. Dark sunglasses and tan-coloured knee-length shorts made him feel cool.  A glaring sun beat down, arcing higher towards midday. Brean beach was busy, the tide out but on its way back in.

He considered himself above the infantile children who would no doubt be out in abundance on a day like this. Scanning ahead expecting to be proved right, he found himself observing people: coloured wind-breaks harboured hidden families, beach towels occupied by pallid bodies. Ruts in the sand were evidence of beach bikes and cars. The screeching sound of circling seagulls overhead formed a subliminal clarion call to protect exposed ice creams and trays of greasy chips.

“I’m just going to fetch a coffee, Billy. Fancy something from the shop?” Marie asked.

The young boy fancied being on his own for a while.

“No you’re alright mum.”

“Well OK, I won’t be long.”

She patted him on the head like he was a well-behaved puppy. Marie headed off in the direction of the café as Billy sighed quietly in relief; an ambiguous smile suggesting reluctant obedience.

To the right were clusters of rocks that swept around the headland of Brean Down. At high tide, water would engulf the coastline but that was a few hours away yet. The area was busy with parents and children investigating caves and peering into rock pools, poking into salt water with nets on the end of bamboo rods. Billy glided onwards, drawn by untold possibilities. A tall thin man wearing a bucket hat was poking about with a play fishing rod, boy and girl toddlers entranced by the watery contents hidden between seaweed and slime. A few yards away, three teenage boys sat on smooth boulders inside a cavern drinking cans of Carling, conversation animated yet conspiratorial behind cupped hands.

****

Beyond the tall thin man and toddlers, a little further out, a girl with red beads tied in her hair and a pink tee shirt was mooching with a red plastic bucket and spade. It was Danielle, crouched on a bulging rock, strands of hair blowing in the breeze flopping over her face when the wind dropped. She had left her mum behind as Tanya had preferred to stop off at the café close by.

A few yards away, two boys sidled towards the unsuspecting Danielle, grins on faces. Both were diminutive in stature, looked like human stick insects and were aged seven or eight years old. One was taller than the other, sporting a crew cut and wearing a black tee shirt with a skull and crossbones image on it. He was holding a stone taken from the shore whilst the other a wooden pole with its net. 

Danielle sensed them at the last second just before the taller boy could push her into a pool of water. It was an unwelcome surprise being confronted by two urchins like this out of the blue. The interlopers looked at each other again now hesitant after the initial prank had been foiled.

“Whoa….hold your horses!”

Danielle composed herself despite being annoyed.

“Whatcha looking for?”

Suppressing a giggle, the question was posed by the shorter of the two. He had a round piggy face that appeared kinder than his counterpart’s.

“Just stuff. Shouldn’t you be with grown-ups? It can get a bit hairy around here when the tide comes in.” Hope harboured that the disclosure would result in them clearing off somewhere else.

The taller boy smiled, raising his arm. For a second there was genuine threat, a large pebble in his hand. Before anything else could be said, the projectile was hurled into the small pool sending water splashing into the air. The perpetrators high-fived each other albeit all three of them had been showered with water.

Glancing at each other again, the boys were unnerved as their victim appeared unmoved.

“Very mature. And for your next trick David Blane.”

Danielle added: “I know who you are. I know your names.”

The tone was authoritative, her expression one of growing intolerance.

“I have something I can show you, little girl.”

Sunlight glinted on exposed metal, something secreted in the tall boy’s sock worn inside open toe sandals. 

The atmosphere had changed. Danielle’s fight or flight was kicking in. She felt the need to run but fought against it. These were just young boys having a lark. Surely.

In the blink of an eye, a gangling arm reached down to retrieve a hidden kitchen knife with serrated-edged.

“I don’t think so.”

The gangling arm froze, hand hovering, touching the blade.

A shadow fell across the scene; a figure in sunglasses standing with legs planted and arms folded.

The boys looked at each, their sureness suddenly evaporating. They noted that the gate-crasher in long-shorts was much older and had an air of cockiness about him. Moreover, behind him, approaching rapidly, were two women dressed in white, seemingly floating over the sand like Victorian ghosts.

Neither of the boys liked the look of this; when adults got involved there was usually a consequence. This whole scenario was getting out of hand. They spun around to the opposite direction and legged it, leaping across shingle and seaweed saturated in brine.

Danielle watched them and thought of recalcitrant crabs scuttling away, pincers clicking in the air. Feeling relieved, she turned to see who the knight in shining armour was. Not that she really needed saving but the interjection spared her from a tedious exchange with the boys who would have wanted to get a rise from her anyway they could. At least, that’s what she told herself.

“It was just the Mills brothers. They would have gone away eventually.” Danielle declared nonchalantly.

“But one of them was reaching for a knife.”

“Yes, I saw that. To be fair, that is new.”

Danielle wanted to sound grateful but she was caught in an awkward moment of shyness.

“What’s been going on here? I leave you for five minutes….” By now, Marie had marched across sand and was standing a few feet away with hands on hips. Seconds later, Tanya arrived.

“It’s OK mum. Everything’s sorted.” Danielle assured.

They all watched on as the miscreants scurried away further into the distance.

“Perhaps you would like to join us for a while. You would be very welcome. Unless your parents are close by, of course.”

Marie felt strange as soon as she had made the offer. Getting involved with other people’s kids, especially ones that weren’t familiar could easily be misconstrued. The last thing she wanted was for someone to accuse of her something inappropriate.

“Um….she’s right there.”

Everyone turned to stare at Tanya.

Danielle added: “But thank you for your trouble. Both of you.”

Tanya strode across to her daughter and, tenderly holding Danielle's face in both hands, she stared up into her eyes.

“Are you OK baby?”

Danielle felt embarrassed.

Billy’s face barely hid his disappointment. He had little experience of girls and thought that this one would be good to know. He was convinced he had seen her before during previous holidays and wondered where she lived. He had wanted to talk to her but was always too reticent.

“If you are sure. We live not far away.” Billy’s statement came with a hesitant smile. He took one last look at the girl from the beach and started walking back towards drier land.

Marie felt relieved yet exasperated. She dutifully trailed after her son and imagined herding cats.

 

Image free to use via WikiCommons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_northern_end_of_Brean_Sands_...