The Shiver Stone (4 page)

I told her where we were.

‘Okay, tell me exactly what's happened.'

‘This woman, a bee sting, it's … it's…'

‘Anaphylactic shock,' Jago shouted at me. He shook his mother's shoulder. ‘Mum, Mum, I've got the EpiPen. What do I do?'

I repeated what he told me to the emergency operator without taking my eyes off Polly. She was turning blue and her face and neck were swelling fast.

‘The ambulance is on its way,' the calm voice said.

‘Tell them she's unconscious,' Jago wept.

I was shaking so hard it was difficult to hold onto my phone. Again I repeated what he said.

‘Do you know how to place someone in a recovery position?' the operator asked.

‘Recovery position?' I shouted at Jago.

He shook his head, looking devastated. He was still fumbling with the pen thing, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

‘Do you have an EpiPen?' the voice said.

‘Yes, her son's here, he's got the pen,' I blurted.

‘Tell him to…'

‘I can't do it. I can't do it,' Jago sobbed.

Without thinking I shoved my phone at him and grabbed the pen. I wrestled it free from the tube. It was like a syringe. My stomach churned.

As the emergency operator gave instructions to Jago he repeated them to me. ‘There is a black tip on the small end of the EpiPen. DON'T put your fingers on this, it's where the needle comes out.'

I nodded.

I followed the directions from Jago. His voice grew stronger and his hands stopped shaking. The world seemed to fade away as we concentrated on every single word the operator said.

‘…and gently but FIRMLY jab the black tip into her outer thigh.'

I did something I never expected to do in the whole of my life. I brought my fist down with a thump and forced a needle into someone's leg. Polly didn't even flinch.

Together we counted off the ten seconds that we were told to keep the needle in.

When we reached seven we heard the Whaaa Whaaa Whaaa of the ambulance siren. It pulled up outside with a screech of brakes and within seconds paramedics took over. Polly was placed on a stretcher and bundled into the ambulance where they gave her oxygen. I was thrilled to hear her groan.

One of the paramedics told us what a brilliant job we'd done. How we'd probably saved her life. It didn't really sink in. I was just so relieved that they were there to take over. Jago was bustled in beside his mother and just had time to give me a weak wave before the ambulance, siren still screaming, made its bumpy way back along the lane.

And I was alone again. The silence heavy around me. Only then did I fully realise what might have happened. That Jago's mother might have died there on the floor of Tristan's shed. My whole body shook.

A frantic yapping brought me to my senses and I freed Tia from the workroom. I felt so weak I knew I couldn't walk home. With trembling hands I called my dad's mobile, went outside and flopped down on the grass to wait.

A bee landed on a nearby foxglove. I watched it crawl inside the purple cup and disappear. It was hard to believe that something so tiny could cause so much drama.

Dad was there in minutes to pick up Tia and me.

Linette was delighted with my story. She loves her soap operas and this was more real life drama than she could wish for.

‘A runaway sculptor, a mysterious wife and son, and a life-threatening situation – all in one day.' She counted them off on her fingers.

‘Don't forget the guy with the skinny beard,' I added.

‘Hmm, mysterious stranger too. Yummy stuff.'

Dad laughed, then looked serious. ‘You were amazing, Carys.'

‘Jago was too,' I said.

‘Yeah, but you stuck the needle in.'

I didn't want to think about that bit. It made my stomach turn over.

We were outside on the balcony. Up on the cliff the Shiver Stone darkened against the sky as the sunny afternoon turned to evening. It was getting cooler by the minute, but there were still people on the beach. Kids and adults shouted and played on the sand and splashed in the sea. Two seagulls perched on next-door's railings and eyed our lasagne. Tia, after a bellyful of minced beef and grated cheese, slept, curled up on my lap.

‘What about the boy?' Dad said.

‘What about him?'

‘Where will he go if his mother has to stay in hospital?'

I hadn't thought about that. ‘He told the ambulance crew they were booked into the caravan site.'

‘He can't sleep in a caravan on his own.'

Linette came back out with a bowl of fresh strawberries and some cream. She heard what Dad said. ‘He could stay here, if it's okay with you, Dai?'

‘I'm off fishing. It would be up to you to keep an eye on him,' Dad said.

‘S'okay.'

‘You haven't asked whether I mind him being here,' I huffed.

‘Well?' Dad said.

I hesitated. I have to admit the whole thing was pretty exciting. With my best friend Becca off staying with her dad in Swansea, things had been boring lately.

‘I don't care,' I said.

‘Right. Let's finish up here and get to the hospital and see what's what.' Dad shoved a huge strawberry in his mouth, stalk and all.

Someone had washed off Polly's eyebrows so her face looked bald. There was a cut with stitches over one eye where she'd hit the coffee table when she fell. Jago sat huddled up in a chair by her bed.

‘She'll need to stay in another day or two at least. There's a possibility of concussion from that head wound too,' Dr Dylan told Dad and Linette.

Polly grabbed my hand with both of hers and wouldn't let go. ‘Jago told me what you did. You saved my life. How can I ever thank you?'

It was really embarrassing. I tried to tug my hand away without hurting her feelings. ‘S'all right.'

Dad asked her if she'd like Jago to come home with us until she got out of hospital.

She looked a little uncertain. ‘Thank you. I don't know what to say.'

Dr Dylan stepped forward. ‘You can say yes, Ms Pepper. Dai Thomas has been my friend since nursery school and Linette is my niece. Carys there has called me Dr Dylan from the minute she could speak, haven't you, menace?'

I grinned.

‘We dump our six-year-old twins on them sometimes. They'll look after your boy until you're okay to go home,' he said.

‘My dad, has he turned up yet?' Jago looked more miserable than ever.

Linette put an arm around his shoulder. ‘I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he hears what's happened. But until then you can stay with us. Okay?'

He looked at his mother and she nodded. ‘I'll be fine in a day or two. No point this spoiling your holiday, Jago.'

‘Bit late for that,' he mumbled.

Because of the view from the balcony, most people go, ‘Oh wow!' when they come into our flat. Jago didn't say, ‘Oh wow.' He didn't say anything.

Dad had to leave, to catch the tide, but Linette tried cheering him up. She can talk for Wales. But even she gave up after an hour of nothing but grunts.

He did smile once when Tia licked his nose.

I Googled ‘
Coblynau
' on my laptop and read: ‘
Coblynau
are half a yard long and hideously ugly. They wear miners' clothes and carry work tools and lamps. If one is angry it can cause rock slides.' Then I Googled ‘fossil pick' and found out it was a pointed-tip rock hammer used by geologists.

‘Emailing your friends?' Linette asked. She was making up the sofa bed in the lounge for Jago.

‘Yeah.' I slammed the laptop closed. Now I'm being a geek checking out this stuff, I thought.

I texted my friend Becca to tell her what had happened with Polly and Jago and Tristan. She texted back saying ‘cool' and then gave me a list of all the amazing stuff she was doing with her dad.

By ten o'clock I was tired. I tucked Tia under my arm and sneaked her into my room before Linette had a chance to moan about it.

I struggled awake from a nightmare of a giant bee trying to eat my face to find Tia scrabbling at my head to go out.

I opened my door and, still half asleep, trundled after her into the lounge to let her onto the balcony.

Someone was leaning over the railings. It startled me and I shrieked.

Jago turned sharply. ‘Sorry! Couldn't sleep.'

‘Forgot you were here,' I said, rubbing my eyes.

I joined him outside. My gaze automatically went up to the dark shadow of the Shiver Stone. In the bright silver moonlight it looked its dramatic best. A black giant of a stone keeping watch over our little village – keeping guard.

‘It's getting cold,' he said.

Tia peed on the balcony and I promised myself I'd clean it up before Dad or Linette noticed.

Jago and I wandered back inside. He sat on the edge of the sofa bed. I got an apple from the fruit bowl and offered him one. He took it.

‘Does that hurt?' he said.

‘What?'

‘The brace on your teeth.'

‘No.'

We sat without speaking for a while and then he said, ‘She's nice.'

‘Who?'

‘Your mum.'

‘She's not my mum, just my dad's girlfriend, and she's not nice.'

‘Oh.'

Silence again.

‘So where's your mum then?'

I took another bite of my apple, chewed and swallowed hard. ‘Malawi,' I said.

We hadn't put the light on but the moon was so bright it lit the room.

‘It's in…'

‘…Africa,' he said. ‘I know where Malawi is. What's she doing there?'

‘You ask a lot of questions.'

‘Fine, don't tell me then. I don't care.'

I hesitated. ‘She's a nurse. She looks after sick kids with AIDs. Four years ago she dumped us to go out and look after them full time. I was eight.'

He stared at me but didn't speak.

‘She sends me birthday and Christmas cards … sometimes.' I felt tears rise in my eyes and angrily brushed them away. ‘She'll come back. I know she will. And she'll marry Dad again and…'

‘Yeah, course she will. Your mum and my dad? A couple of prize-winning parents. Not!'

I threw my half-eaten apple at him as hard as I could.

He ducked.

It missed, bounced off the sofa and landed on Tia. In a panic she leapt onto Jago's lap. He cuddled her close.

‘Sorry! Sorry!'

‘S'okay.'

‘Not you. I'm saying sorry to Tia.'

Carrying the little dog, he strode out through the French doors onto the balcony. After a minute I followed him. It was still warm. Bright stars filled the sky and the moon made a silver path across the sea.

Then he said it. ‘Oh wow!' He was gazing up at the cliff top. ‘That's the Shiver Stone, isn't it? I read up on it when I knew we were coming here. I can't wait to see it up close. Geology is my thing.'

‘We could go tomorrow.'

He nodded. ‘Yeah.'

We talked, staring out at the water, listening to the gentle washing sound of the waves.

‘I'd like a dog. We've got five cats. They're okay but…'

‘Yeah, cats are okay but not as good as a dog. So what's the story with your dad?'

He took a big breath in and blew it out again. ‘Mum told you about him leaving. She tells everyone that. I wish she wouldn't. Anyway, Mum said he came home one night ten years ago, in a right panic and covered in blood. He packed a bag, kissed us goodbye and said he would get in touch when he could.'

‘Covered in blood? Was he hurt?'

‘Mum said it wasn't his blood.'

‘Someone else's blood?'

‘Someone else's blood,' Jago said.

We were silent while we thought about what that might mean. I shivered.

Tia struggled to get to me and Jago handed her over. She smelt sweet and warm. I stroked her tiny head.

‘That was the last we saw of him. Until he was on the telly after he did that statue thing on the beach. Mum nearly passed out when she saw him.'

‘I took that video.'

‘Yeah, you said.'

‘I sneaked out at night and videoed him on my iPhone. Could have got myself grounded forever, but it was worth it.'

‘Really?'

‘Did you see me being interviewed about it on telly? I was on
Good Morning Wales
?'