Winter Went | #2 Winter Series

Chapter 15

|| Amelia ||

The pavement slabs are cracked. Childishly, I begin to hop between the lines, feet pattering on the concrete. Just doing something so silly and small only makes the ache in my chest worsen. The urge I have for simplicity in my life is so huge that I think it might swallow me whole.

The pavement slabs are cracked. So is my heart, my life; everything stripped itself apart these few weeks, and the only thing left behind is this dull ache.

Maisie lingers behind. I usher her along like a mother duck, and all at once I'm filled with a sense of envy. Her brain is wired in such a way that things don't matter. She can stare at things all day long, mumble her nursery rhymes, and nothing will change that.

I pull her along, and she begins to giggle. That makes the jealousy go, and instead, it's replaced with a warm feeling. Something that spreads from the centre of my chest outwards.

"I love you, you know," I tell her. She only gawks at me with those huge, brown eyes and blinks.

"Bus or Power Travel?" someone says from the front. I look up to where Josh is standing. He's stopped on the cracked pavement, feet on a snaky line, with Angie by his side. His eyes run over Maisie and me, and I swear I see something in his gaze soften. "Which one?"

"Whichever's quicker," replies Angie, and I nod.

"Travel, then."

It's exhilarating, the feeling of your feet being swept up from the floor. There's a rushing in my ears and I watch as the landscape runs down below as though trying to catch us up. A mighty chill hits the air, and I shiver, feeling myself being immersed in the cloud.

We are all grouped together, huddled like a herd of sheep, keeping Maisie in the middle. Josh's shoulders brush mine, and I feel myself tensing.

"It'll be three hours travelling," he says. "So you'd better put on warm clothes."

"You could have told us that back down on earth!" I reply, feeling the anger rush out, and it's a good sensation.

"Put it on now then," he replies, voice scathing. "You can move as long as you don't leave the circle."

I glance around. We are surrounded by fluffy white things. "I don't see it."

"When we're out of the clouds, you'll see."

Just then, we burst from the cover of the clouds and into bright sunlight. Flinching, I admire the blueness around us, the warmth slapping my cheek. But that's not all. Surrounding our little grouping is a floating, thin, white line that goes all the way round, encircling everyone.

"Don't pass that line," says Josh, "and you're safe."

Anxiously, I take off my rucksack. It's bulky and does no good at poking everyone else in the face. I undo the clip and rummage around, bringing out a bundle of fleeces. I pass one to Angie, the smaller one to my sister, and keep the third for myself.

"Don't have one for me?" Josh asks.

"No," I say, but that sounds a bit mean so I add, "I thought you had your own."

"I do, but I'm the one driving at the moment."

I realise he's right. His arms are slightly outstretched, and they move every time we swerve a little in one direction.

"Where exactly are we going?" Angie asks as I reach into the bag on his back for a jumper.

I can't see his face from here but I know he's uncomfortable—I can see it in the way his shoulders tense.