The Chrysalid Conspiracy (56 page)

“Then why did you leave?” asked Lucy.

“Mum and dad practically kicked me out. Told me I couldn’t spend the rest of my life hiding from the world. They were right, but I didn’t expect to spend most of my time running from it. Thank goodness that’s all over. My life has a purpose now, and I’m not running from this one.” She hiccupped, went to the fridge and helped herself to another beer.

When Amelia awoke, the morning was beginning to weave its eternal magic. There was a clear sky without a breath of wind. She slipped out of bed and fumbled for her old tracksuit, which she just managed to squeeze into, and sneaked out, not wanting to disturb Bridie or Rayn.

By the time she’d warmed up, the sun was showing itself on the rooftops. Amelia’s body was urging her to fly but, remembering Sheila’s warning about taking things easy, she decided to do as she had been told and gently jogged down to the water meadows.

Sitting by the river in her favourite place she took in the all-embracing panorama, and felt the sheer joy of being alive and being part of it. It gurgled its pleasure at being in her company, and even the trees seemed to be beckoning her towards some inner destiny. The birdsong and insects created a symphony far more delicate and greater than those of man, and the long grass was rolling in the light breeze, inviting her to dive in and sail across it like a magical, fairy-tale sea. She felt as though she wanted to live forever to guard and protect this miracle of nature’s achievements.

Hoping to get some breakfast in Joe’s burger bar, she was disappointed to find it closed. No lights on or any staff, not even a sign on the door.
How peculiar, s
he thought.

When she got back from her run she found Joe with his children Jim and Jem in Lucy’s living room drinking tea. Lucy made the introductions. Jim was as tall as his father with the big arms and shoulders. Amelia guessed his upper body strength must be tremendous, but his handshake was firm and gentle. Jemima was tall and attractive. Though not exactly pretty, she had a devastating smile, and intelligent eyes that held your attention.

Jem’s eyebrows went up as she walked in and Lucy laughed in anticipation of her next question.

“No, you’re not that lucky, Jem,” she said. “She’s only fifteen.”

“And a half,” came Rayn’s voice from the passage.

Jem was stunned and she didn’t know what to say. “Lucy, Amelia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I had no idea. They both look so… so…” her voice tailed off and she blushed. Lucy told her not to worry, and to forget about it, but Joe was in fits of laughter.

He had kept breaking into a smile all morning. The memory of Lorraine choking on her drink at dinner and now knowing the reason had caught his sense of humour and it stayed with him. He had accepted his daughter’s orientation without hesitation and had apologised for not being the sort of parent she could tell.

It had transpired that he’d taken the advice he had been given, closed early the previous night and sat down with his kids and a bottle of wine. There had been much laughter and many tears, with each of them blaming themselves for not having the courage to speak out earlier. They had told each other some home truths, cleared the air, and Joe, for one, looked ten years younger. “So I got up early, sneaked in the kid’s bedrooms and turned their alarms off, then went up to see Gary at the Bakery. He’s looking for a new property and he jumped at it.”

“It was a hell of a shock, waking up two hours late,” said Jim, laughing. “We came crashing downstairs to find dad in the kitchen cooking our breakfast. There was a note on the table saying, ‘No burger bar today, tomorrow, or ever again. Welcome home. But what really worries me, Lucy,” he continued, in a more serious mood, “is how dad’s going to get on. I mean, Jem and I are okay, we’re a lot younger, but dad’s getting on a bit and it’s…”

He was drowned out by a roar from his father, who promptly grounded him for the next forty years.

Lucy picked up the pieces. “Your father has joined our organisation. So don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

“We understand that,” said Jem. “But what’s he doing? What’s his job?” Amelia walked in at that moment, freshly showered and dressed.

“How about Chief Advisor to the Lucy Lacey Foundation?” she announced from the top of her head.

“What’s the Lucy Lacey Foundation? What does it do?” asked Jim.

“Oh, the usual,” chimed in Rayn. “You know, mass extinction, world domination, that sort of thing. Nothing life-threatening, if we’re lucky.” She smiled at the effect she had on Joe’s children. Lucy lowered her head and gently banged it against the table several times.

“So, what about you two then? What are you going to do?” Lucy said, in a desperate bid to salvage the conversation.

“Oh, I’ll be all right,” said Jim, bemused at Rayn’s attempt at humour. “Just got to find myself a job that pays enough to keep up the flying. That’s my real interest.”

Jem told them she had lost her place in the all-girls crew of the world championship yacht-racing tournament. “The captain got herself a new girlfriend. So I’m out. I don’t know what I’ll do at the moment,” she said. “I’d like to do something with the environment, but all I can do is run a burger bar.”

“Don’t you believe it,” said Joe adamantly. “You’ve been my right hand man for years, if you’ll pardon the expression,” he added as an afterthought. “You’ve got us through more tough times than I can remember. Don’t underestimate yourself.” He was almost angry with her.

“Okay then, listen up,” Amelia quoted, straight from Nigel’s vocabulary. “Jim, you can’t work while you’re training for the top place in your sport. What you need is a sponsor. I’m sure the Lucy Lacey Foundation can provide that. Jem, your dad is going to need an assistant, someone he can trust. And someone to keep an eye on him,” she laughed. “Think about it and let Mum know your decisions. She’ll fix things up.”

“Amelia,” Lucy said defiantly. “What makes you think…”

Amelia spoke over her, forcing her to retreat.

“Just tell Maddy that I said so. Tell her I said that when someone joins us, we embrace the whole family. She’ll understand.”

Lucy sat back and gave that open-palmed shrug. Jem and Jim were looking backwards and forwards at Amelia and Lucy as if they were watching a tennis match. Joe was chuckling through his unlit pipe. This was the scene that greeted Molly and Bridie as they arrived with their shopping.

“Hello? What did we miss?” asked Bridie.

“Oh, nothing unusual. I’m just doing my Captain Bligh impersonation again,” Lucy replied with a rueful grin. Joe laughed out loud at her reference to mutinous behaviour overthrowing the captain.

“Isn’t it amazing how quickly the children become the parents?” He added.

Amelia and Rayn went into the kitchen to make some toast. “What are you up to, Amelia?” asked Rayn. “Wasn’t that a bit over the top? After all, she is your mother, and Maddy is supposed to be in charge.”

“I know, Rayn,” replied Amelia. “But it just felt right at the time.”

“Were you just testing out your authority, or what?” asked Rayn.

She had full confidence in her friend’s actions, but a big question mark was hanging over this one.

“I don’t know,” said Amelia. “I seem to be drawn to certain people. It’s as if I’m collecting a particular group. I don’t know how or why. It’s just that… well, you know the feeling.”

“What sort of people?” said Rayn. “Do they have anything in common? Something we can analyse and make sense of?”

“Just take a look at those Sunday barbecues,” Amelia said. “They’re all there. Most of them crept up on me before I knew what was happening. Even Caz and Claire. But with Joe, Sheila, and Jim and Jem, it was instant. You were the first one, but that was like having a bulldozer drive through my life. I knew nothing would ever be the same again. The scary bit is that George, bless him, was never in it yet he was the central character. What do you make of that?”

“Well, apart from being glad to be part of the ‘in’ crowd, I’d say let it roll and see where it ends up. That seems to be what we do, mostly. Which reminds me, any word from Caz and Claire yet?”

“No,” said Amelia. “I’m beginning to get really worried.”

“I thought one of us should hang around by their school bus stop today. See if we can get to them. What do you think?” Rayn suggested.

“Good idea,” agreed Amelia. “Just to see them there would be a relief, and not up a mountain in…where was it you said?”

“Patagonia.”

“Where’s that?” asked Amelia.

“Southern tip of South America. It was the first name I thought of at the time, so I looked it up in case you asked,” Rayn laughed.

After a lunch of ham salad rolls Rayn offered to clear up as Molly had to leave. She had four boys to cook for after school and she wouldn’t trust Nigel. Jim, Jem and their father went back to the burger bar to sort out their accounts.

“The taxman wants his share,” Joe explained. “That’s a huge organisation – ruthlessly efficient, and mercilessly backed up by the courts. It’s one outfit you don’t want to mess with.”

After they’d left, Bridie, Lucy and Amelia sat in the living room. “This came this morning,” said Lucy to her daughter, and handed her a letter.

Amelia read it and at first gasped, then issued an indignant expletive, which shocked her mother, and then laughed. The letter informed her that the property was required for further rural development, in the interests of the local economy, and a figure of compensation was offered.

“Mum, these people are crazy. This amount is three time what this place is worth.” Amelia was incredulous.

“I know,” replied Lucy. “It looks like they’re not doing their homework, which means that the acquisition of the property is paramount, and money is no object. I wonder why?” Bridie nodded in agreement.

“We’ve got somebody working on that,” said Amelia. “Should have some results soon. Can we fight it?”

“Yes,” said Bridie. “But it will only put off the inevitable for a few months, and be very costly. I’ve been evicted many times. It’s always the same story. Try and fight back and you just get run over.”

“But what’s going to happen? Where will we live? What about you, Bridie, and Rayn? And Molly? What will we do for money?” Amelia was on the verge of panic.

“Woah,” said her mother. “We’re going to be okay. We’ll sort things out, don’t you worry.”

Looking directly at Amelia, Bridie spoke up, slowly and deliberately. “Amelia, you know what’s coming. We just don’t think you’ve grasped the enormity of it yet. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been instructed to remain so vague, and keep you in the background. You’re not ready yet.” She looked at Lucy, who gave a nod.

Bridie stared directly into Amelia’s eyes to hold her attention. “Amelia, seven billion people are going to die. All those glamorous celebrities, talented artists and musicians, right down to those starving wretches we see on the news. It won’t be easy or pleasant, but it will happen. All we can do is concentrate on our little group and the possible outcomes. Does that put it in some sort of perspective?”

Amelia was stunned. Of course she had flirted with these ideas, but now the reality of it was crashing around her mind like a ricocheting canon ball, affecting every thought, every emotion. She heard Bridie’s voice and hung on to it to save herself from sinking into the despair that waited on the edges of her consciousness.

“You have to understand, Amelia,” continued Bridie. “You, Lucy and to a lesser degree, me, Rayn and Sheila, are essential to the success of the project. But without you and your mother, there is nothing we can do. We need you to carry on as you are going until Maddy thinks you are ready. She’s been working on this for…well, let’s say a long time, and it’s her decision.”

“But why me?” Amelia cried out. “Why us? Is this the result of your genetic experiments? How many failures did you have before you got me?” She leapt to her feet. “Look at me,” she demanded. “What did you do to me to achieve this? I’m only fifteen, for God’s sake.” She stood with her arms spread, making them take in her tall, athletic perfection.

“Now just you hold on a moment, young lady,” said Lucy. “Nothing has been done to you to change you in any way. We’ve just kept a close watch on your development. You are what you are because of who you are, not because of me or anyone.” Lucy was furious, shouting, with tears rolling down a face that was contorted with inner pain. “I’ve already told you, the Genetic engineering was done on me and me only. And given a choice I’d do it again”

“Then tell me. Who am I?” ranted Amelia. She was so near the edge she hadn’t the slightest hint of compassion for her mother’s distress. Her mother was sobbing too much to answer. Her whole body shook as she tried to stem the tears. She faced Amelia to get her full attention.

“Your father was a Sanddancer,” said her mother, gently

***

Bridie stood and watched Amelia and her mother sobbing in each other’s arms, both trying to apologise at the same time but unable to form intelligible words. There were tears in her own eyes, and her stomach turned as she realised what she had to do next.

She found Rayn in the kitchen, sitting at the table holding a cup of coffee. Her face was white and her hands shook. “Kettle’s just boiled if you want a cup,” she mumbled to her mother.

“Thanks, I need one. I’ll just make a drink for those two,” said Bridie. There was a pause, and she continued. “I take it you heard all that?”

“I think the whole village heard,” Rayn answered her.

“I’m sorry, my love. I really am.”

“I know, Mum,” said Rayn. “I know. But you’ve no reason to be.”

When Bridie got back from the living room, she sat down opposite her daughter and sipped her coffee.

“It seems events have overtaken us. So much for plans and schedules. It’s just as Old George, or Stephen as he was when I knew him, used to say. “Betwixt the idea and the application, there lurks the human being. Do you think it’s time we had that talk?”

“Yes Mum, I’d like that. But not here, it doesn’t feel right,” she said. “I need somewhere less familiar.”