The Thirteenth (12 page)

Then, between two waves, about ten feet in front of her, she spotted the lifeguard’s float, doing exactly what it was suppose to do -
floating
. He must be close. Val knew that time was of the essence and it was running out. She paddled over to the float and grabbed it, taking a few seconds to catch her breath. “Where are you?” Val put her face in the water. Opening her eyes and blinking away the salty sting, she spotted him. He was resting on the bottom, his blond hair swaying softly in the current, about fifteen feet below her. He looked lifeless and Val knew she had to act fast. Taking a large breath, she released the float and let her body relax. With a little help from her very heavy jeans, she began her descent, like a deep-sea diver. Lower and lower she went and within a few moments she was standing on the bottom next to the body of the lifeguard.

Val knew she was rapidly losing her air supply and panic was setting in. She reached down to grab his arm, but he was far too heavy to lift that way. As she let out her last stream of air, her lungs began to burn intensely and Val knew that this attempt would have to be it or she was going to lose him for good. Her brain now in a spin with the lack of oxygen she pushed her hands under his arms and gave it every last bit of strength she had in her body. Nothing happened, the lifeguard barely stirred. Val kept trying, knowing that if she didn’t rise soon there would be two dead bodies to collect.

Her lungs were bursting; her head was going to explode and still the lifeguard wasn’t moving. She knew she couldn’t last more than another second or two down here.

Then, just as she let go of him, preparing to fight her way to the surface, something happened. A tingling feeling prickled in her hands and tiny bubbles rose in a stream from her fingertips. Her lungs no longer hurt; her head cleared. With renewed strength, she took hold of the lifeguard and he immediately began to rise. Her hands seemed to be transporting him on a bed of bubbles. The more effort she made, the larger and more aggressive the bubbles became. As they rose together to the surface, Val felt a force pushing them upwards. They seemed to explode onto the surface on a fountain of water. Finally, after what had felt like a lifetime, Val took a deep breath. Never has H
²
O been so sweet, she thought, trying to pull the hair out of her eyes. “
Note to self: next time put your hair up
.”

The lifeguard’s body was now moving on what looked like an air driven conveyor belt with Val pushing him along. It didn’t take long for people on the beach to notice them. When the water was only waist deep, the power of the bubbles diminished and Val was left with a very heavy lifeguard on her hands. People on the beach were watching in amazement and, to her horror, there now seemed to be an abundance of on-lookers moving in their direction. There were also five lifeguards running at speed towards her. ‘Where were you twenty minutes ago?’ Val thought. Within seconds, the heavy body was being pulled from her and a lifeguard was helping her to the stability of the solid sand.

Delta walked anxiously around the gallery, her best friend was once again missing in action and no one on this planet knew where she was, when she would return or even if she would return. She had received several agitated texts from Val’s mother and knew that Val was going to get a good telling off from her mum.

“Shane, how long has it been now?” Shane, who hadn’t moved from the spot he had prepared to catch Val on, looked up at the clock.

“Six fifteen. So about half an hour. I’m sure she will be back soon,” he said, hoping he was right.

Jason hadn’t spoken since Val had gone. He was sitting in silence, staring at the spot in front of him, awed by what he had witnessed. He didn’t know Val and didn’t understand what was happening to her. Nonetheless, he wanted her back safely, and preferably now.

A young muscular lifeguard pulled a blanket around Val’s shoulders. “Are you OK?” Val recognised the accent instantly. She must be on a beach somewhere in America. The irony was that Val hated flying. After seven years of invites, Delta’s parents had given up asking, and here she was on a beach in the sunny United States.

“I’m fine. Can I see the man please?” Val pushed the lifeguard off. She needed to get home and from her recent experiences she knew she had to touch the lifeguard.

“In a minute. First I need to know how you did that.” The lifeguard blocked Val’s path.

“What?” said Val aggressively. She was now getting agitated and scared; she wanted to go home.

The lifeguard grabbed her arm. “He’s going to be fine. Don’t walk away from me. I still have some questions.” He sounded like a police officer and his hostile suspicious tone scared her even more.

Val was panicking and she could feel herself losing control. This man was stopping her and she didn’t know what to do. “Get off me,” she said frantically. As she turned to push him off her arm, there was an explosion of air and sand. The lifeguard was thrown several feet through the air, landing with a thud at the feet of a small child holding an ice cream. Val was filled with horror. What had she done? She was shaking, but knew there was a man she needed to touch. So, staying on track, she grabbed her shoes from the sand and ran towards the rescued lifeguard who was still on the ground. As she moved in closer, the man who was administering mouth to mouth pulled back. The lifeguard jerked and coughed out a mass of dirty water. He was taking the first breath of a new life and Val knew this was going to be her only chance. A mob was starting to form behind her, led by a very agitated and sandy lifeguard. Val leapt forward, reaching out to grab his hand. To her delight, the blue spark passed between them and she was gone.

Jason and Shane were still sitting in the same spot when they heard a distant crackling. It was as if they could hear the electricity running through the cables surrounding them. They exchanged looks, each knowing what this meant, and tensed. A second later, a neon spark of light filled the area above their heads. As they looked at it in wonder, the light spread until it was almost three feet wide and suddenly, Val fell out of the gap, her shoes in tow.

Val opened her eyes and once more she found herself in Jason’s arms staring into his green eyes.

“We seem to be making a habit of this,” said Jason softly. The tender moment was destroyed by Delta who, screaming loudly, piled on top of them, hugging and touching Val. Val, in danger of suffocation for the second time in fifteen minutes gathered her strength. Then, like a rugby player break from a scrum with the ball, she burst from the middle.

“Stand back,” she shouted at them, wobbling backwards. Jason, completely dumbfounded by this weird but wonderful creature, obediently stepped back, leaving Delta hanging on Val’s leg.

“Well, don’t I look silly,” said Delta standing up and brushing herself down. “Yuck! You’re wet. And covered in sand,” she said accusingly. “Look at what you’ve done to my clothes.”

“Oh please…” said Val dropping to the floor again.

Shane, who had been observing in silence, asked, “Are you hurt?”

Val looked up, tears in her eye. “No, not in the way you think.” She started to sob.

“Val, I’m going to get you a coffee, don’t move,” Shane said. “Jason, get her a blanket.”

Jason didn’t move.

“NOW!” Shane shouted at him and he snapped out of the strange world he was in and ran over to the gym to fetch a blanket.

Delta gently stroked Val’s wet hair. “We need to get you home. Your mum is worried.”

Val looked up with panic in her eyes. “How does my mum know? Who told her?”

Delta pulled out Val’s mobile. “It’s OK. I have been texting her all night pretending I was you, but I won’t promise you aren’t in the doghouse. You’ll have some explaining to do when you get in.” Delta flashed Val a loving smile and for the first time Val smiled back.

Within seconds there was a blanket around her shoulders and Shane had given her a very hot, very sugary cup of black coffee.

“I’m OK. It’s just the shock of teleporting. Don’t worry, I will be fine. Anyway, what choice do I have?” Val shrugged her shoulders.

“Where were you?” Jason sat down on the floor next to Val. Val was still embarrassed by Jason’s presence and found herself looking at the ground as she told her tale.

“America! Amazing!” Shane sat down next to Jason and they looked like two extremely large reception kids at story time.

“You went to America without me! I just get zapped down the road to a car crash and you get to swim in sunny California.” Delta was walking around waving her arms, complaining.

“I scared myself. This guy tried to restrain me and I threw him miles away without even touching him.” Val looked almost ashamed of herself.

Shane perked up. “Are you kidding? This is great. Maybe you can protect yourself with your powers. This is good news.”

“What powers do you have, Val?” Jason had risen onto his knees eager to hear what Val could do.

“She can’t fly,” Delta laughed.

“Thank you.” Val pulled a face at Delta. “I think that I sort of have the power to control stuff like air, water and fire. I wasn’t burnt by the car and I didn’t drown today, and that old lady and the lifeguard certainly learnt how to fly. I guess that’s about it for now.”

“Cool,” said Jason nodding at Val.

“Today was the first time I have used them on someone innocent though. It scared me. I need to learn to control myself more.” Val was looking at the floor again like a naughty child.

“No, the lifeguard was OK, Val, don’t feel guilty. He was trying to make you do something that wouldn’t have been safe for you. You did the right thing. You must protect yourself with everything you have,
always
. You are the one with the disadvantage here. Until we can work out how to help you, you need as much power as you can get.” Shane lifted Val to her feet. “If you don’t get home your mother will do more damage than any of us can repair.” He smiled and Val hugged him.

“You are truly special Shane Walker. Come on, Delta,” Val pushed her shoes on, “get that mini revved up. We have to get me home before I turn into a pumpkin.” She grabbed Delta’s hand and they headed out, waving goodbye to the two men who were now officially their partners in crime.

The red mini screeched to a halt outside Val’s house, arriving in record time. As Val pulled her fingers out of the handrail and got out of the car, she considered her stomach was more messed up now than when she shifted uncontrollably through time.

“Thanks for texting my mum, Delta. Once again you have come through for me.” Val leant into the car and went to hug Delta.

“There is far too much of this going on at the moment, so let’s just call it a day for the full contact sports. I will call you in the morning.” Delta waved at Val who jumped back just in time to escape being maimed by the mini’s door as it slammed shut.

Val looked at her front door. “Well, as Elvis said, ‘it’s now or never’.”

As Val passed the threshold she heard her mother calling her from the lounge.

“Val, quick! Come here. You have to see this.” This wasn’t quite what she had been expecting, although anything below a scream was good. She entered the lounge nervously. The TV was on and, instead of demanding to know where she’d been, her mother signalled her to watch.

The red flag on the screen said
Breaking News.
A slim, redheaded female was talking. “This afternoon, on a Californian beach, tourists were witness to a miracle.” Val watched in awe as she appeared on screen. Although blurry, Val knew it was her, walking on water.

“I have seen this twice now, Val and if I hadn’t known you were working till late for that slave driver, Gallymore, I would have sworn that was you,” said Susan.

Val let out a thin laugh. Her parents both looked at her.

“You look a mess!” Susan exclaimed.

Val smiled pulling her hair behind her ear realising she was still slightly wet.

“You OK, Val?” asked Mike looking concerned.

“I’m fine, just tired. Is there any food?” Stupid question really. Tescos called them if they had a shortage.

“There is a plated dinner in the microwave, honey.” Susan smiled at Val. “Three minutes should be enough. Go and eat. You do look tired. And have a bath, your hair looks a mess.” Susan turned back to the TV. “See if you can find it on another channel, Mike. I want to watch her again.”

Mike started to flick and Val took the opportunity to leave them to it.

Making her way into the kitchen, Val moved to the microwave and turned the knob to nuke her dinner. Once it was done she sat down at the table to eat, but it was hard work. She was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open while she chewed each mouthful. However, Val knew that if Jason was going to train her in the arts of boxing and fencing, she was going to need every bit of energy she could muster.

After a few minutes, she left her empty plate in the sink and headed up to the bathroom. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she grimaced. “Wow, that’s grim.” She took off one her shoes and a thin stream of golden sand started to fall to the floor. “Fantastic!” Val shrugged. The other shoe was full of sand too; she tipped the rest down the toilet. Throwing her washing in the basket, she checked that her mum and dad weren’t about, then sneaked back to her room with a towel around her.

Walking in, she let out a grunt of annoyance. Her mum had obviously not been in to her room and so she still had no bedding after stripping her bed that morning. She slipped into her pyjamas and, for about ten seconds, contemplated going out to the airing cupboard for some clean sheets before falling onto the bed and into a deep and restless sleep.

Val opened her eyes to the darkest ebony night she had ever seen. Raising her head to the sky, she could see a million shiny stars. Looking down she realised she was in her adorable black dress and cloak. The material they were made of felt like the bags her mum bought bulk potatoes in. “Quality,” she mumbled to herself.

In the distance, someone was calling her name. They weren’t calling ‘Val’, but something else. Nonetheless, it felt right. They called again and, as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she noticed a group of people, all dressed in cloaks like her, standing around a fire, in the middle of some trees.