Thin Air (43 page)

Dex signed up with a new company
and began to work again. His music had matured, moved on. He would
appeal to an older audience now, which was only right because he
too was older. The music papers made a meal of his return though
and the fan letters came rolling in. Jay thought Dex would be snide
about them, but she could tell that he was secretly touched by his
old fans’ loyalty. He played a private, acoustic gig for the fan
club in London and for the last time sang the songs from the
unrecorded album. The audience neither bayed nor howled, but
listened silently as if they too were aware there was more to the
music than it appeared. At the end of the gig, there was a moment’s
almost rapt hesitation, before the entire club exploded into
applause, whistles and catcalls. This response moved Jay to
tears.

Jay thought she might write a
book at some point, but for the time being was content to renovate
her new home, experimenting with the crafts she’d begun to learn in
Lestholme. Jem re-established contact with her aunt, but lived with
Jay and Dex. She had decided to go to college next year, but until
then would help Jay with the house.

Jay sometimes thought to
herself, as she sat in the evenings before the old range in the
kitchen, ‘this is the life we always should have had.’ She’d never
experienced real contentment before, but even so, was not afraid of
losing it. She felt she’d earned what she’d got. In the beginning,
she’d considered contacting Gina, just to see whether she could
glean the truth from her, but ultimately decided she didn’t want to
know. That was all behind her now. Gina’s book came out and was
very successful, not really to Jay’s surprise. But the woman who
appeared in the Sunday supplement articles to accompany the book’s
release was not the one Jay had known. She looked so much older,
and a certain fire had gone from her eyes. Jay did not want to feel
smug about that, but still couldn’t dispel a slight sense of
satisfaction.

Julie, Kylie and Melanie were
now regular presences in Dex’s and Jays’s lives. Dex had offered to
buy his sister somewhere else to live, but for some reason, Julie
didn’t want to move out of her home. Jay insisted that she at least
accept some financial help though and advised Dex on setting up a
trust for the children.

‘There’s not going to be a
winter,’ Jay said once, as Julie was trying to protest about the
arrangements. ‘This isn’t crumbs for the bird-table, Julie, but
consistent support from family.’

‘You can be a right bossy cow,
do you know that?’ Julie said, but she was laughing.

One Sunday afternoon, as Jay,
Dex and Jem sat watching an old movie on the TV, the telephone
rang. Jay and Dex exchanged a glance. They both confessed
afterwards they’d experienced a sense of premonition.

Jay got up to answer the phone.
A voice said, ‘Jay, it’s Lacey Lorrance.’

Jay had believed Lacey was no
longer a part of this world, and to hear her voice was chilling.
‘What do you want?’ Jay asked, unable to keep a slight frostiness
from her voice.

‘Who is it?’ Dex asked.

Jay raised a hand to silence
him.

‘I’m living at Emmertame,’ Lacey
said. ‘I’d like to see you.’

‘What for?’ Jay demanded.

‘To talk.’

Jay paused. ‘No,’ she said.
‘We’ve let go of the past. Please respect that.’

Lacey’s voice was urgent,
pleading. ‘His own people killed him, Jay. It wasn’t us. Don’t
think that. We must talk. You’re important Jay - you, Dex and Jem.
What you lived through has made you different, and that difference
gives you responsibilities…’

‘Lacey, please!’ Jay
interrupted. At the mention of that name, she sensed both Dex’s and
Jem’s bodies stiffen behind her. ‘You live your life the way you
see fit, we’ll live ours. That’s it.’

Jay was prepared to argue more,
but found she was listening to a dead line, just silence. Slowly,
she replaced the hand-set of the phone.

‘They want us,’ Dex said.

‘They can’t have us,’ said
Jay.

‘This might just be the
beginning.’ Dex raked his hands through his hair. ‘We know too
much. They’re hungry for recruits, Jay.’

‘Hush,’ Jay said.

Jem was curled up like a scared
cat in her chair, her eyes wide. ‘Are we safe?’ she murmured.

‘Yes,’ Jay said in a low, cold
voice. ‘We’re safe. I won’t let anything get to us, not after all
we’ve been through. I promise you.’

Jem smiled uncertainly and Jay
reached out to stroke her hair.

Dex shook his head. ‘I can’t
believe that Lorrance girl’s nerve,’ he said.

‘She’s obsessed,’ Jay said. ‘We
have to deal with obsessive people all the time, Dex. Lacey’s no
different. We mustn’t lose sight of that.’

She walked to the window and
looked out at the orchard. Bright yellow leaves skittered among the
fallen apples. The sky was dark. ‘Play your games,’ she murmured.
‘Don’t think you can involve us. We’re finished with it.’

‘Is there someone out there?’
Jem said, her voice high.

‘No.’ Jay closed the curtains
over the greying afternoon.