The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1395 by Angharad Copyright © 2011 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

It was by pure chance that I had to go to the Mammal Society’s office in Southampton the following Tuesday for a meeting about the survey, I’d also bought them some Longworth traps, which they loan out to people doing survey work, and for which they were very grateful. The meeting went very well and was over in an hour, so I was left with time on my hands and no great incentive to go shopping by myself.

I did go for lunch and while I was eating wondered how Graham Dennis was progressing. Had the blue light done enough with the aid of the paramedics to keep him alive. I suddenly had the urge to go and see him and I mean urge, although compulsion might be a better word. It isn’t often I get these urges, so I thought I’d better check it out.

I found my way to the hospital–seems half my life is spent in hospitals–maybe I should have done medicine–nah, I love dormice more than people, far more rewarding to work with.

To my great delight, I managed to find a parking space and then even more amazingly, when I asked in reception, they knew which ward he was on. I went up to see if I could visit him.

The sister on his ward, had been to see the play that Saturday and spent several minutes telling me how wonderful Iain McPherson had been. “So which part did you play?” she asked putting me in my place.

“Did you notice a red headed woman on the stage at all?”

“Yes, Lady Macbeth, but she was much older than you.” Oh joy.

“Um–no–that was me.” She looked at me as if I were lying to her; so I gave her a quick recital in my Highland accent of some lines from the play.

“Good gracious, it was you.”

“Um–yes–it was, I knew I’d never fool you.” Where do they get these people?

“It’s funny, because you look like some woman who did a programme on dormice a while ago, but I’m sure her hair was a different colour.”

Doh. “Yes, that was me in my more usual job, mammal ecologist at Portsmouth University.”

“Oh, well dear, don’t give up the day job, will you.”

“Might I see Mr Dennis?”

She looked at the clock, “It’s not officially visiting time yet.”

“Yes, but I have to get back for a meeting, the school is trying to get Iain back to do another play.”

“He was in Portsmouth?”

“Yes, we did the play all week a couple of weeks ago.”

“I wish I’d known–I think he’s lovely.”

“He’s a really nice chap when you get to know him better.”

“Huh, I suppose that means you slept with him?”

I nearly fell over. “Why would I want to sleep with him, he’s very nice but so is Cliff Richard and I wouldn’t want to sleep with him either.”

“But you might be trying to get him to come to Portsmouth again?” She was obviously a real fan–no wonder he drives a car with dark windows–she’d be stalking him.

“Yes, he said he’d work with me again,” I lied, never intending to do anything on the stage ever again.

“Hurry up then, Mr Dennis is the last bed on the left.”

I thanked her, blushed because I was lying my head off, and walked briskly into the ward. Graham Dennis was reading the Daily Mail–how surprising–not; so he didn’t see me approach.

“Hello, Graham,” I said walking up to his bed.

He looked up and for a moment had no idea who I was–well he had had quite a shock when he fell. “Um–I know you don’t I?”

“Yes, I was in the Scottish play on Saturday when you had your accident.”

“Oh yes, you played Lady Macbeth, and had a pretty daughter.”

“That’s me, I helped administer first aid until the paramedics could get there.”

“Oh, thank you for that, I don’t remember much about it.”

“That’s hardly surprising is it–you had an electric shock and then an awful fall–it’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

“Yeah, it is–all I remember about it is I saw this blue flash and everything went black, then I heard a voice calling me–but the funny thing was it was a boy from school, a right woofter he was.”

“Who was that?”

“They used to call him Charlotte, like I said, a real fairy cake.”

“So why would he be calling you?”

“I dunno–but it felt like I was slipping away and he was trying to keep me here–dunno why he would, I hated his guts an’ he knew it.”

“You were slipping away and he was trying to keep you here?”

“Yeah. Like I was dyin’ or somethin’ and he stopped me.”

“That doesn’t sound like an act of hatred to me, it sound more like one of charity.”

“Yeah, an’ why would he help me?”

“Because you bullied him, you mean?”

“Yeah–no, I didn’t do anythin’ like that.”

“Yes you did, Graham, and you know it.”

“How would you know?”

“He was my brother.”

“Oh–I didn’t think ’e ’ad a sister, ’specially one as pretty as you.”

“Sounds like you didn’t know him very much at all, does it?”

“I know he was a right girly-boy.”

“Because he seemed feminine to you, that’s grounds for bullying him?”

“Yeah, I mean I didn’t want him near me–makes me feel ill.”

“But he tried to avoid you, it was you who sought him, to tease and bully.”

“No I didn’t–you’re lying–you weren’t even there.”

“Oh yes I was, Graham, I was there every time you tried to hurt him. I was there when you tried to head butt him and he ducked and you butted the wall.”

He looked at me, “But you can’t have been–that was just ’im an’ me.”

“Was it? I was there.”

“What?” He stared at me trying to understand what I was saying. “But that means you...?”

“That’s right, Graham, it was me you bullied and it was I who saved your miserable life.”

“But–but–you’re a woman?” he looked totally bewildered.

“I was when you last bullied me–same role, too–Lady Macbeth–remember, you tried to hit me when I was walking to school and that woman stopped you, thinking you were about to hit a girl.”

“Bloody ’ell.”

“You would have hit a girl, I was a girl, I am a woman–and I still found time to save your miserable life–though why, defeats me. I’m going now, you’ll make a full recovery, I ensured that when you fell.”

“How could you do that?”

“The blue flash, want to see another one?” I snapped my fingers and there was a bright blue flash in front of him.

“Jesus–how did you do that?”

“Easy–another one?” I snapped my fingers.

“You knocked me off that gantry?”

“No, that was the light acting independently, but I stopped it killing you.”

“What d’you mean, you stopped it killing me?”

“The blue light works through me, but I don’t always control it, it sometimes does its own thing. Blasting you off that lighting gantry was nothing to do with me, it decided it had a score to settle.”

“What are you, some sort of witch?”

“No–just a woman, we all have special powers which men rarely see or understand, mine is healing.”

“Yeah, if you’re so clever heal my damaged back.”

“Okay.” I nodded at him and he gave this sudden jolt.

“My back–it’s on fire.” He lay back on the bed gasping for breath.

“Has it stopped–the burning?”

“Yeah.”

“Get up and walk.”

“I can’t can I?”

“Get up and walk.” I instructed him.

Reluctantly he did. “Jesus, I can walk,” he said loudly. Mind you, so could the other patients in that end of the ward. I slipped away in the chaos that followed.

That night on the television, the local news carried a story of a group of quite sick patients who mysteriously recovered after a visit by a woman that no one could remember seeing.

Julie and Trish watched it with me. “How did you manage that?” they asked me.

“I knew the light had acted judgementally and I had to put things right, so I did. I simply asked the light to obscure my identity and help me leave without any questions. It got the whole ward walking about and somehow induced amnesia in the staff.”

“You told me the light couldn’t do that–punish people,” accused Julie.

“I was wrong, it was wrong–so I made it right again. It won’t do so again.”

“How d’you know, Mummy?”

“Let’s just say I know.”

“Does that mean we won’t be able to use it to get revenge?” asked Julie looking rather disappointed.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Oh bugger–that would ha’ been like, wicked.”