Flower Girls

Chapter 3 - The Pool

I almost skipped to the library in the morning. Although I hadn't forgotten the attack, with Mum's help I had convinced myself that the village was a generally safe place to be, and I was excited about seeing Lily again. And the weather was beautiful, so it looked like going swimming would be fun.

We hugged when we saw each other in the library, and after studying together we had lunch in the local café as planned. Lily had a jacket potato and I had a panini. We sat outside under an umbrella while we ate, to shade us from the summer sun.

Neither of us had a car yet, so once we left the café, we walked the short distance to the bus stop that would take us to the pool.

Since Lily hadn't been there before, I told her that the pool was essentially part of a larger park. It was maintained by the local council but wasn't supervised. It was just an open pool of water for people to have fun in when the weather allowed.

Not surprisingly, given the glorious sunshine, when we arrived it was very busy, mostly students on their summer break. Some people were in the pool while others were round the edge eating sandwiches. Screeches of delight filled the air as some people had brought water pistols and were shooting each other with the water from the pool.

We got changed in the crude wooden huts that were off to one side of the pool, and dipped our toes in. The pool wasn't heated, so it was pretty cold, but we soon got used to the temperature. Soon we were splashing each other and having fun.

After a short time, Lily asked me to point her in the direction of the nearest toilet, and I described where to go.

"Be right back!" she called as she jogged towards it, waving back to me with her blonde hair swinging behind her.

I was having so much fun with her, I didn't want the day to end.

While I waited for her to come back, I decided to see how long I could hold my breath under water. Maybe, when Lily came back, we could see who could stay under the longest.

I took a breath, ducked under, and started to count in my head. "One ... two ... three ... four ..."

As I got to number five, I felt a large hand on each of my shoulders, pushing me down. I tried to get back to the surface and get my breath back, but the hands held me under. I started struggling and thrashing as my air was running out. I tried to move the hands away, but they were too strong. I tried to move myself away but whoever had me, held me in place. I was running out of options and I started panicking. How was I going to get air? I needed to breathe ...

I pushed up and suddenly the hands were no longer there. I took a large gulp of air as I heard a man's voice yelling in pain. The voice came from behind me, and as I turned to look, I saw the man starting to run away from me, limping slightly. He had dark hair ... the same colour as the man that had attacked me the week before. Lily had taken his place behind me.

"Are you OK?" she asked. "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"Just getting my breath back," I panted, confused. "Was ... was that the same man from the other night?"

"I think it might have been," she replied.

"What on earth?!" I was still trying to breathe properly and could feel myself shaking.

I couldn't make sense of this. Once may have been a random attack, but twice in the same week? What did this man want with me? I was just a normal girl trying to have fun with my friend, and it seemed like he wanted to hurt me ... or worse. But why? I didn't even know him.

"We should probably go," said Lily, as she wrapped a towel round me and helped me to stand. I nodded, as she made sure I got to the changing rooms safely. I got changed and we walked back to the bus stop. Lily hugged me while we waited for the bus, and I was grateful as I needed her support.

"Why did he run away? Did you see why he stopped?" I asked her, now that my brain was starting to function again.

"I saw what he was doing on my way back from the toilet. I found a sharp piece of flint and stabbed it into his leg," said Lily. "I was hoping to hurt him enough to make him stop. I knew he was too big for me to pull him back – I wouldn't have been strong enough."

She held me close to her on the bus on the way home. My dark wet hair was a mess across her shoulder. That was twice she had rescued me, and I felt safe around her.

Once in the safety of my home, my parents rang the Police again. They put out an immediate search for the man matching the description I gave them. Hopefully this time he would be caught, as I was getting more and more worried about going out in the village I thought was safe.

I said goodbye to Lily and wrapped myself in my dressing gown to drink the hot cocoa Mum had made for me.

I curled up in bed and I went over the day I'd just had in my head. Questions descended on me again. Questions about what this man wanted with me, of course.

But also, why had Lily said she shouldn't have left me alone in the pool? I've come to this pool many times with friends, and we've all managed to leave each other for long enough to go to the toilet without any dramatic incidents. Maybe she was just talking with hindsight, but still, something didn't add up about all of this. I just couldn't put my finger on what.