BAILE (Where We Come Home)

Chapter 13 Lucid Dreaming Pt II

"That was a lovely tea." My father had returned home five minutes before tea, my mother a couple of hours.

"Perfection." I gave her a hug.

"Thank you sweetie." She hugged me back.

I headed upstairs, taking a nice hot shower before pulling on an oversized sweater and pajama pants. I put on my slippers, spotting Sir Walter rushing out of my room.

"Where are you going?" I followed him as he ran down the steps onto the second floor. "Walter." He slipped into a spare bedroom. As soon as I entered the room I felt a cold rush of air hit my face. I looked down to see I was standing on the roof of my house. What the hell? My heart raced in my chest as my mind struggled to comprehend how exactly I had gotten here.

I had a sudden urge to look up. What I saw took my breath away. I was used to seeing the stunning clarity of stars in the open countryside, but this was on another level all together. Green, purple and blue dots twinkled in varying sizes across the sky where I had never seen them before. It was like witnessing the night sky for the first time. It was beyond beautiful. The longer I stared the more I began to think the stars were moving around me, swimming in a sea of darkness.

I stepped forward, falling two feet onto the floor of my bedroom. I sat up, my mind spinning with dizziness. I felt so drained and disorientated. I crawled into bed, falling asleep instantly.

A kiss woke me. "Bowie!" I pushed his snout away from me. "How did I get here?" I had somehow sleepwalked into the paddock at the back of our house. I stood up, wiping down my clothes while Bowie gave me a curious look. I gave him a quick pat before heading back inside the house. No one was up yet so I headed up to my room. I recorded the stars I had gazed at last night and my waking up in a field.

I checked my emails to see Anna had replied. I had sent her an email about letting her talk to Eliza as well as me. In the email she said she'd love to see us individually at lunchtime on Monday. I sent her a quick email saying that sounded great, adding a quick note about how I had written quite a bit in my journal since her gifting it to me.

My phone buzzed beside me and I picked it up to see I had received an invitation to April's sixteenth on Wednesday night. Only April would have her party on a school night.

I contemplated on whether I should go. She probably didn't expect me to go, it was more of a statement than a want of me being there. But Callum would definitely be there, and I needed to talk to him about Alick. I would go. But what would I wear? I strode over to my wardrobe, almost expecting moths to fly out as I opened it. I sorted through my clothes, pulling out a sheer black top that sparkled under the light filtering through my window. I packed the top into my suitcase, along with a pair of black heels. I had plenty of jeans in my dorm I could wear with the top and heels.

I ate breakfast downstairs before being drawn to Eliza's room.

"I did some research last night." She opened her laptop. "I present to you, Callum Joseph Moore." She turned around her laptop so I could see the photo of him on the screen. I peered at the screen. "Thanks to Google, I know that he was a champion at Gymnastics back in Kentucky."

"I would not have picked him for that." I sat down on the end of her bed.

"Neither. But get this, he had a search warrant out for him when he was ten years old." She brought up a huge police statement. "His parents reported him missing a day after his tenth birthday."

I stood up, looking over her shoulder. "...An angel child." I read snippets. "He had a short fuse and destructive tendencies. Destructive?" I repeated.

"That's not even the best part." She clicked on another tab. "They searched for three years, the only evidence they found was his sweater. Guess where they found it. Dartmoor, in Wistman's Wood."

"That doesn't make any sense, how does a ten year old go from Kentucky to England?" I questioned.

Eliza shrugged. "A plane."

"No shit." I replied.

"At the beginning the Moore family were very desperate to find him, Callum was there only son. But a couple months after they found the jacket they called it all off, refusing to answer questions by the media and withdrawing the warrant."

"Why would they do that?"

"Well, it sounds to me like they found him, but they didn't want anyone to know where or why."

"Hold on." I left to get my journal, returning to write down the major events and dates about Callum.

"If Callum's on exchange, the school would have to know who he is right?"

I nodded.

"They would never let him leave the country. So, he must have already been here in the UK and he's lying to you."

"What could he have possibly been doing here for the past eight years?"

"I don't know, but it must have been bad if his family didn't want anyone else knowing about it."

"I'll talk to him on Wednesday, April's having her party at her place."

"I know."

"You got invited?"

Eliza nodded. "I don't know whether I'll go though, being on a school night and all."

I nodded in understanding. I glanced at the clock on my phone. "We better start getting ready to leave." We had to leave at lunchtime to make it back at school by early tomorrow morning.

"I'll meet you downstairs." She closed her laptop before I exited the room.

I changed into black leggings paired with a brown skirt with gold buttons splitting it down the middle and a white turtleneck top. I slipped my tiny feet into a pair of knee high boots before packing the rest of my clothes.

"You can't come with me Walter." I removed him from my suitcase, zipping it up before he could jump back in. He meowed angrily at me. "You love me." I ruffled his fur as I shoved my phone in the pocket of my skirt. I gathered my bags and made my way downstairs. Where was my father when I needed him? I just made it down without killing myself.

I thanked Eliza for holding the door open for me so I could move my bags outside.

"Oh my darlings." Our mother arrived before the taxi, giving us both crushing hugs. "I hope you feel better at school." She held my face in her hands.

"I hope so too."

"Hold the taxi." My father came up from behind me, squeezing me to his chest. While my mother bid Eliza goodbye my father took the chance to whisper, "I'm sorry about the pool incident. The water is good, I promise. The water is good."

"The taxi's waiting." My mother cut in.

I walked around to sit in the back with Eliza, catching my father's eye through the window. He gave me a curt nod and I nodded in return. Not quite sure what I was agreeing to.

We waved goodbye as the taxi turned around and followed the winding road through the Isle of Skye. I jotted down my father's words into my journal: The water is good, I promise. The water is good. I tucked my journal away, resting my head on Eliza's shoulder. The trip always felt so long travelling through the day.

All it took was a blink and it was night, the taxi tilted as it ascended the hill. I waited until I could see the school before waking Eliza. She shuffled in her seat, yawning loudly.

"You are worse than Walter." I joked.

She simply smiled too tired to say anything in return. I helped get her bags out of the boot. We somehow found our way along with our bags up the stairs in our sleep deprive state. I clambered into my room, falling over my suitcase in the doorway.

"Hey April, I think Isla's back." Charlotte grumbled from under the covers.

"I'm buzzin' with excitement." April replied.

I crashed onto my bed face first, drifting easily into sleep.