The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2120 by Angharad Copyright © 2013 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

“Stephanie, this is Alice MacDuff; Alice, this Dr Stephanie Cauldwell.” They shook hands and I took Steph’s bag and dumped in the boot of the car. We stopped for lunch at a pub that Sandy had recommended and we had a very good lunch.

I explained my plan that I’d take them to Stanebury and take Trish with me to see Paul’s mum who wasn’t very well. Stephanie smiled at this knowing why I was taking the human computer with me, a two pronged blue light attack on her illness. She okayed it and I drove them to the castle. As we crossed the moat Stephanie let out a sigh, “Jesus H Christ, and this your holiday home?”

“Yeah, I suppose it is,” I said smirking.

“I knew Simon was well off but this is something else.”

“Gets a bit draughty in the cold weather.”

“I’ll bet.” Her eyes nearly came out on stalks when Mr Dunstan took her bag and led her into the castle. “Is this for real?” she whispered to me, “Your very own Jeeves.”

I asked Dunstan to organise a room where Stephanie could work and I asked her to see Alice and Danni, then Cindy and Pia. In her room I spoke about my confusion regarding Danni, who didn’t seem to know what she wanted.

“She’s not just trying to please you is she?”

“If that was the case she’d never have stopped being a boy, I don’t want any more girls, I’ve got as many as I can cope with now.”

“What about this latest recruit, Alice, is it?”

“She’s going to be staying here with Mrs Cuddy and Dunstan and assuming you’re in agreement, I’ll try and get her into the girl’s school in Perth.”

“That’s a pretty big step for someone with so little experience of girlhood, they’re going to spot her a mile off.”

“What am I supposed to do? Send her to her usual school where they’ll all have heard of what happened last night.”

“Okay, I can see that would be a problem.”

“So it’s either home schooling or the girl’s school, she’s due to start her higher this year, so it’s pretty important.”

“When do they go back in Portsmouth?”

“Trish and the others go back about the second week in September–oh no, I couldn’t cope with any others–especially if Danni’s still running round in skirts. Remember I’ve got Neal’s baby as well to cope with.”

“Yeah. But you’ve got some help with, Jacquie, isn’t it?”

“And David.”

“You didn’t bring him up to roast an ox or two, I don’t suppose.”

“After the lunch you ate, girl, I’m surprised you can even think of food.”

“Look, I was up early, had to take the little one to my mother and besides whenever I think of you, I tend to think food–conditioning I suppose.”

“Yeah, but my name isn’t Pavlov.”

“Bow wow.” She said and we both fell about laughing.

“I must go and see this sick lady.”

“Still raising the dead, then?”

“Dunno, haven’t tried it for ages but I feel drawn to this one, so I think I’m meant to try.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t kn–oh, she’s got CHD with CKD.”

“Really.”

“What’s that?” I asked having seen the letters in my mind.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Congestive heart disease and chronic kidney disease. Often go together, usually with hypertension and sometimes as an adjunct to diabetes.”

“Just something easy to start with then?”

“Yeah, basically–quite how you’ll manage it without them asking awkward questions will be interesting.”

“Thanks.” I hoped I wasn’t there just to help ease her passing, that always upsets me.

I collected Trish and we drove back to Perth and thence to the hospital. We parked on street in a space that was just vacated as we arrived, so time wouldn’t be a constant niggle about being booked for parking beyond the ticket time.

We found reception quite easily and then the coronary care ward. I spoke to the ward sister who wasn’t pleased that we were early for visiting, by about three hours.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Wha ‘re ye anyway?”

“I’m her son’s employer’s wife.”

She went through each of the words in my statement and didn’t come up with much. “I thocht he worked up yon Stanebury estate?”

“He does, he’s the estate manager.”

“And yer husband employs him?”

“Yes.”

“Oh for goodness sake, Mummy, stop playing games. She’s Lady Catherine Cameron.”

“Och, why didnae ye say in the first place?”

I thought I had–shows how much I know–and this woman runs a cardiac ward? Instead of saying anything I simply smiled at her. “First door on the richt, take as long as ye like. The estate pays for oor nurses Chrismas party.”

See, bribery and corruption work everytime?

When we entered the room it felt as if the poor woman was nearly dead. The monitors were clicking away to themselves but her life force was only hanging on by a thread. Trish picked up on it as well.

“Let’s give it a try, eh?” I suggested and she shrugged.

I lowered the bed and sat beside it on a chair taking the rather chilled hand of the seriously ill woman. She opened her eyes smiled at me then closed them again and I half expected to hear the alarms go off but they didn’t.

“Sit beside me,” I instructed Trish. “Your job is to pull me back if I start to go with her, got that?”

“How will I know?”

“You’ll know.”

“What do I do?”

“You’ll know that too.” I hoped she did because I had no idea what I was on about, but something told me to say it to her.

“Do I hold your hand?”

“Not for the moment, you need to hold your energy in reserve in case we need a quick boost.”

“Okay,” she said sounding not a bit convinced.

I took, Mary’s hand and felt my energy flowing into her at quite a rate, I didn’t have time to even think about what I was doing, i seemed to be sucked down into her world. She was floating away from her body attached by just a very fine golden thread. I sent out a loop of blue energy and tried to pull her back to her body but it appeared that something else was pulling against me. When I tried to see what it was it appeared to be an amorphous dark blob but it was very strong.

I tried to loop myself to the earth to stop me being pulled along with Mary, should the blob start to win, which looked very likely the way things were going. I tried flooding her body with light and for a moment she seemed to be moving back towards me.

I called her and told her to follow the blue light. I surrounded her in light and she seemed to be moving towards me more quickly. I began to think I was going to win, when the blob threw some darkness over her and it sucked up my energy like negative blotting paper.

I tried throwing light at it but it just absorbed the energy. I felt myself being pulled towards the darkness, Mary having slipped out of sight. My own strength seemed to be ebbing and my chest felt tight–I was going to die and Trish was oblivious of it.

I tried to call to her but I felt so weak. All the people depending on me, and I was going to let them down. Then I felt as if I was no longer alone, I opened my eyes and beside me stood the ghost of Stanebury. “Are ye goin’ tae let them tak’ ye wi’oot a fecht? I’m disappointed wi’ ye, Catherine Cameron.”

“Ask my daughter to help me, please–I beseech you.” I started to slip into unconsciousness when suddenly Trish was pulling me back.

“Mummy, I love you, don’t go,” she called to me and I got this huge burst of energy from somewhere, it was bright pink and it reinvigorated me. It also made me think.

I started sending love towards whatever it was that was taking Mary from me. I felt the pull starting to weaken, and I sent more and more love. In a huge flash of pink and gold it suddenly relinquished its hold and I began to feel Mary being returned to us.

By the time she’d drifted back into her body, I’d sorted the clot that was blocking her coronary arteries and lowered her blood pressure enough to rest her kidneys. She was going to make it–all thanks to Trish and a ghost.