Flower Girls

Chapter 5 - The Farm

Something crashed into me. I was flung backwards, and my head hit the floor with a thud. I heard the screeching of car tyres on tarmac and the smell of rubber wafted through the air.

"Caroline?" Lily's voice came from above me.

The impact of a car crashing into me at that speed should have at least broken some of my bones, and possibly killed me. But I felt OK apart from my head. Why did I feel OK? Surely, I should be in lots of pain?

I opened my eyes, to find Lily's eyes looking worriedly into mine. "Lily? What happened?"

"I pushed you out of the way of a white car that was speeding at you," she replied. "Is your head OK?"

"The car didn't hit me?" I asked, confused. I shook my head and looked at my friend. "But you were over there." I pointed to the spot where I had last seen Lily, waving at me once she'd found her purse. Too far away for her to have reached me. "You couldn't possibly have got to me as quickly as you did. What do you mean you pushed me out of the way?"

"Apparently I was closer than you thought," replied Lily.

"But the car was going so fast," I sat up, rubbing my head. "Even if you were closer, you couldn't have pushed me out of the way in time."

Lily sighed, pondering what I'd said.

"Maybe adrenaline kicked in," she said. "Apparently, people can do unusual things under the influence of adrenaline. The most important thing is that you're safe."

"Did you get a look at the driver?" I asked, warily. I had a horrible feeling I knew who it was already.

"I did," said Lily, sadly. "It was him."

A lump started to form in my throat, and I felt the tears coming. There was nothing I could do to stop them rolling down my cheeks.

"Why?" I asked, to nobody in particular. "Why is he doing this to me? What have I ever done to him? I'm just a teenager who likes going to the library. There's no reason for him to want to try to kill me."

Lily wrapped her arms round me in a loving hug. "I know it doesn't seem to make sense," she said. "Look, the place I'm staying at is much closer than yours – why don't we go there instead of walking all the way back to your house? Are you able to stand?"

I hadn't been to Lily's house before. I nodded and she helped me up. We walked along the road to the right, aiming for Whitstock Farm.

I was surprised when she started guiding me up the road towards the farm itself.

"You live at the farm?" I asked.

"Um ... kind of," she answered cryptically.

We turned off the farm track towards the barn. When we got to the barn, she stepped inside. We sat down together on some hay before I looked around.

Clothes were stacked in a neat pile. A blanket lay in a corner. There was some food in another corner. I noticed the food was comprised of things that didn't need to be cooked. Bread to make sandwiches, fruit, ham and other cold meats. She pulled out a first-aid kit.

"This is where you're living?" I asked, surprised.

Lily looked embarrassed, but nodded slowly, looking up at me through her eyelashes, wiping the blood from my head where it had hit the floor with some antiseptic.

"Why didn't you tell me? You shouldn't be living in a barn," I said softly.

"There was no reason you needed to know," replied Lily. "And besides, I have everything I need. The hay is soft to sleep on, I have food and clothes. I'm not planning to stay here forever."

She opened the first aid kit and started to get a plaster out.

"Why are you here?" I asked.  "What about your parents?" 

"My family were in danger," she said. "I had to leave quickly. I couldn't take much with me. The only thing I brought was this necklace." She stretched out the necklace from her neck that I'd seen her touch a number of times before. "My mother gave it to me, just as I was leaving. She said it was for luck."

I looked at the necklace properly for the first time. A silver chain held a beautiful pendant with a picture of a white calla lily in the centre.

"It's so pretty," I said. "You must miss her."

Lily chuckled softly to herself, as if I had made some joke, but she stayed quiet. That wasn't the response I was expecting, and I wondered whether my comment about her missing her mother was what had made her laugh gently, or whether it was something else.

She pressed the plaster to my head and changed the subject. "All cleaned up," she said. "Do you feel like going home now?"

I didn't want to leave Lily living in this barn. "Do you want to come with me?" I asked. How could I leave her to live here when I knew we had a spare bedroom she could be using, and she could get cooked meals every day instead of living on cold meat and bread. "Mum won't mind if you stay with us."

Lily smiled slowly. "That's really very kind of you Caroline. Are you sure I wouldn't be in the way?"

I put my hand over her hand. "I'd like you to come with me. I can't stand the idea of you living in a barn when I know I can offer you something better until you get on your feet. I can't imagine what kind of emergency drove you away from your parents without taking anything with you, but it must have been pretty bad. Please, come and stay with us."

Lily nodded. We gathered her things and started the walk towards my house. I knew she wasn't telling me everything about herself, but I also knew she cared about me, and I knew that anything she was hiding was likely to be for a good reason. When we got home, I explained everything to Mum. Of course she agreed that Lily should stay with us, and we prepared the spare bedroom for Lily to stay in until she was ready move on.

When I went to bed that night, questions circled my head again. I was absolutely convinced that Lily had been too far away to push me out of the way of the white car. She knew I didn't like cola without me telling her. And why had she been living in a barn, after leaving her parents in such a hurry? Didn't she have any other relatives to go to?

So many questions, and still no answers.