Ellen Blake Destined To Return

55 - A sound of thunder

'Billy! Billy!'

The remaining quartet spent almost ten minutes searching amongst the shrubs in all corners of the garden and the dead end road circling its iron-fenced perimeter.

'There he is,' called Aaron, pointing in the direction of Norwich House and the door they previously escaped through. 'Guys, there he is by the door.'

They stopped searching and followed Marianne who was already out of the gate and running towards Billy. Brook followed and after a very quick assessment, that Billy was not injured or covered in blood, ran on to Pall Mall. She cautiously looked in either direction for signs of Victor. When she was certain the coast appeared clear she re-joined the others and suggested they should move back to the garden, just to be on the safe side, whilst the others interrogated Billy about his odd behaviour.

'Billy ... you're wet,' stated Marianne. 'Where did you go ... and how come you're so wet.'

It was true. He was not exactly soaked to the skin, but he was rather damp and his hair was plastered to his head.

'It was raining,' he said, looking totally shell shocked.

'What are you on about?' asked his sister, confused and concerned.

'Where were you, Billy?' asked Aaron. 'We've been looking all over for you. Didn't you see or hear us?'

They reached the garden and went inside to use the bushes as a cover from the main road. Billy sat on the grass to try and steady himself. Brook's mac was wrapped around his shoulders in an attempt to warm him.

Just as confused as the others, Billy tried to make sense of his last ten minutes before explaining what happened.

'I don't understand,' he said. 'I've been here all the time. You all disappeared. I couldn't find you and then everything became strange. Really strange.'

'What are you on about?' asked Marianne, looking up at the others for their opinion. 'He's delirious. He doesn't know what he's saying. What does he mean he was here?'

'I was here!' he pleaded.

'Okay ... Billy, take it easy,' said Brook, calmly. 'Take a couple of deep breaths and tell us what happened. Go through everything you remember from the moment you left the building and ran out into the court yard.'

Billy did as suggested, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He then looked at the faces of four people eager for an answer to this mystery.

'We saw Victor and ran for the door at the end of the corridor. I came out first followed by Ellen and we ran out into the courtyard. I was so scared I wanted to get to the road and leg it, but I was conscious that Marianne was still lagging behind coming out of the door. Like I say I was really very scared. I wanted to get as far away as possible. Didn't you see what they did to that policeman?'

The others nodded encouraging Billy to carry on with his recollection. Billy looked at Brook.

'I couldn't believe you said we should go in the other direction. There was a sign back there saying it was a no through road, but we didn't have time to argue. I put my trust in you and pelted for the gate and hid in a far corner of the garden. I was behind a rather big bush.'

'I knew we must have all been hiding and trying to keep quiet but it was far too quiet. There was no rustling of leaves, from you guys hiding just like I was, or hushed voices or anything. I just heard silence. I waited for a couple of minutes and then came out from behind the bush. I checked whether I could see the Enforcers, up by the building, and couldn't see them. I quietly went around the other shrubs and bushes looking for you all, but couldn't find any of you. As I said it was like you had all disappeared. It felt like I was all alone in here.'