Chapitre 7: Mummy
Freaking out more than just a little, I closed my eyes and got as comfortable as I could whilst so bundled up, and with the stupid hat on my head, because if I did not stop thinking about it all, I was sure that my head was going to explode. I felt so helpless, and so pathetic, and I guess I just zonked out, exhausted by the stress and trauma of the last hour or so. I could hear all the other girls on the coach talking behind me, and the teachers at first, all sitting down the front of the coach, around where Mrs Blackstone had put me, but then it just faded away as I drifted off to sleep. And the next thing I knew, the door was swooshing open and people were standing up and walking past me. But I did not open my eyes. I just sat there, hoping against hope that Gemma was about to nudge me, and tell me to wake up, because we were back at Redstone. It was so easy to believe that it was all just a bad dream, a stupid nightmare, because in my aching head, I was Kelly. But as all the commotion going on dragged me back to the surface, towards raw consciousness, I began to feel hot again, and the chinstrap of my hat was cutting into my neck, as I shifted in my seat and felt something disgusting oozing between my legs.
“Sheila…is she okay?” Someone said, but I kept my eyes tight shut, not wanting to wake up to my new and rather revolting reality.
“She was fast asleep, Caroline…she just dropped off almost as soon as we left the museum and she was completely zonked out…but…oh…I think she might just have…” Mrs Blackstone replied, her voice all too familiar to me. “Only just…she was fine…”
“Yes…the aroma really is rather pungent…the poor little thing…let me see if I can pick her up without waking her?” Caroline, Olivia’s stepmother I assumed, sighed, and I felt her get her hands under my arms. And for some reason, presumably still overwhelmed by my inexplicable plight, at that particular moment, my emotions just gave way. I put my arms around her as she lifted me off the seat and started to howl, not just cry. I clung onto the woman who thought that I was her stepdaughter, someone I had obviously never met, or seen, before, wrapping my legs around her body and holding on so tight, as I fell apart, painful sobs wracking my little frame and rivers exploding from my eyes.
“Olivia…sweetheart…it’s okay now…I’ve got you…come on, let’s get you sorted out, shall we?”
“Let’s take her to my office, Caroline.” I heard Mrs Blackstone say, from somewhere. But I still had my eyes closed, and I was making quite a lot of noise. It was not that easy to hear what anyone else was saying around me. “She really is distraught…I was really quite sharp with her earlier…I am afraid? I didn’t mean…”
“Olivia…I am not angry with you…you aren’t in trouble…I promise?” Caroline murmured into my ear, her breath hot on my face, as she carried me, moving fast. I nuzzled into her neck and wailed some more. “Sheila…have you got that changing bag?”
“Yes…right here…she wasn’t like this before, Caroline…she cried a bit when I changed her pull-up, but other than that, she was just…really quiet…and pale?”
“It isn’t your fault, Sheila…I can understand the situation…but can I have a bit of privacy to calm her down? And could you grab the twins for me?”
“Of course…we’ll wait by the office…they can start their homework…” I dimly heard Mrs Blackstone say, before a door closed, and Caroline slowed down, and then I finally felt her sit down, her arms still clasped around me.
“Shush now, pickle…it’s just us…I am so glad you aren’t hurt…so very glad?” She said, her own voice breaking just a little. She smelled nice, unlike me. Not lavender, like Mrs Blackstone wore, but something more subtle, like spring flowers. She had maneuvered me around so that I was suddenly sitting on her lap, being cuddled and shushed. “Your Daddy is on his way…he was in Birmingham today remember, but as soon as I told him, he left…he won’t be long…I promise?”
“Sorry, Mummy.” I murmured, still trying to bury my face in the nape of her neck. I am not really sure why I called her mummy. I called my mum, mum, and the shadows in the back of my addled mind pointed out that Caroline Montague was not even Olivia’s mum, but I was lost and scared, and alone, and she was holding me. It just felt right. I really needed a cuddle. Pitiful wimp, the shadows, as I was starting to think of them, suggested, and I could not disagree with Olivia’s thoughts, because I felt so lost, so pathetic, and so scared.
“Say that again, pickle? I am not sure that I heard you right?” She asked, and I realised that she was crying too.
“Sorry, Mummy…I don’t know what is happening to me?” I gasped, mid-sob, and she kissed the top of my head, hugging me tighter.
“Nothing I can’t fix…and we are going to start by changing that smelly pull-up, okay?”
“Yes, Mummy.” I said, and she kissed me again, before untangling me. She started to unzip my coat, and I had already lost the hat somehow, I noticed, as I finally dared to open my eyes a little. We were in another office, but a smarter one than the large room at the museum, with a big oak desk to our left, sitting on a big sofa, the sort of room where a teacher might have a meeting with parents at a posh private school, I suppose.
“Don’t worry about messing yourself, pickle…you’ve had quite a day by the sound of it, and I am sure it is just the shock, okay?” Caroline said quietly, trying to reassure me.
“I wet myself, too.” I murmured, as she stood me up in front of her, so that she could get my coat and blazer off.
“Well, yes…that is why we are wearing pull-ups, remember? I know you don’t like it…but you have a tiny bladder, and you can’t hold your urine in…sometimes…your muscles aren’t developed enough yet…but this is a one-off, I am sure…just an accident, okay? No need to get upset about it…accidents do happen?” She continued, smiling at me. “You’ve had a terrible scare…it’s understandable?”
“Yes, Mummy.” I said, and she smiled a bit more, wiping away a tear as she unfastened my skirt and let it fall to the floor. She then gave me another hug before gently helping me lie down on the carpet.
“You’ve had a fright…that’s all…but they say you are unhurt, and that is the important thing for me…I don’t care about anything else?” She said, as she put a towel under me, and removed the disgusting mess. I let out a whimper, and she tickled my tummy to distract me, whilst using her other hand to grab a wet-wipe. “Come on…be brave…the twins will be worried, and Auntie Sheila will be making them do their homework…we need to rescue them!”
“She is really mean…she smacked me…and told me off.” I moaned, the words escaping from me, as if they were from someone else, once again, the dark shadows swirling around inside of me like demons. “I hate her…”
“She told me…you were kicking and struggling whilst she tried to change you…and you had got separated from your group…teachers don’t like losing their pupils…you know?” Caroline grinned, and I looked away, trying to stop any more thoughts from the back of my mind getting out. Dark shadows filled my head, telling me that I did not like Sheila Blackstone, or Caroline Montague. Remnants of the real Olivia Montague, obviously. It was like I had been squeezed into her brain, pushing her down, out of the way, or as if when her brain leapt into Kelly, she left bits of it behind. I was not sure which, but it was annoying me. I was having enough trouble dealing with my own emotions, without feeling hers as well. “She was probably a little cross and worried, all at the same time…and you can squirm, which makes changing you very hard sometimes?”
“Sorry, Mummy.” I said again, ignoring the bad thoughts, making up my own mind, because I was not very pleased with Olivia. Either by design, or bad luck, she had stolen my life, and if I was stuck with hers, I was going to make up my own mind about things, not just listen to her moaning about her life. And Caroline was being nice to me, so I was going to be nice to her, I decided, as she started on another wipe, to get me clean, her touch smooth and tender. She was quite young and really pretty. Younger than my mum, I thought. Blond hair, shoulder length or thereabout, tied back in a ponytail, with a dainty nose and big eyes. She was wearing a purple coat, and I could see a beige sweater beneath it, and a silver necklace, a cross.
“I know you are…but what is done is done…and I mean it, you are not in trouble…I think nearly getting trampled to death is punishment enough, don’t you?” She chuckled, tickling me again, trying to make me feel better.
“Yes, Mummy.”
She smiled again, and then finished changing me, until I was back on my feet and she was getting me back into my uniform, skirt, blazer, coat and hat, ready to leave. I felt shy and rather nervous, but she smiled a lot, and was very gentle. It was so strange. I was being treated like a little girl, by a stranger, but Caroline did not think she was a stranger, of course. She was clearly treating me like a daughter, and whatever the shadows inside my head thought, she was really not acting like any sort of wicked stepmother. She seemed to be fond of me. She said my Daddy would be desperate to see me, and my sisters, which the shadows corrected to stepsisters, and she said that she just wanted to get us all home. “There…my smart little pickle?”
“Thank you, Mummy…” I said, as she pulled the chinstrap down again, doing the thing with my ears, and then tweaked my nose. I managed a grin as she patted my hot cheeks.
“Feeling better?”
“A bit better, Mummy?”
“Everyone else will have gone home by now, so you won’t have to face anyone.” She smiled and held out her hand to me. I took it, and she gave my hand a squeeze. “Other than Grace and Chloe…and they are going to want a hug…are you up to that, pickle?”
“Yes, Mummy.” I lied, because I felt overwhelmed, and terrified, but there was no point in saying that, because I could hardly tell her why. I could not even begin to see how I could tell anyone the truth, because it was obviously mad, and no one would believe me. I mean, it had all happened to me, and I did not believe it, so why should anyone else. I just had to keep quiet and pretend to be Olivia, until I could work out what to do. And I could never do that whilst I was panicking about everything that was happening to me. I let Caroline lead me out of the office, holding her hand and chewing on my bottom lip, feeling lost and alone, trying to ignore the shadows, which kept on talking to me, but even more importantly, trying not to consider the possibility that I had lost my old life forever. Because if I started to think about that, I was sure that I would go insane.
Cadeaux
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reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
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