CHAPTER NINE

Nannie's Ghost

-----------------------Chapter Nine------------------------------

“Who do you want to know about exactly?”

“Scarlet Marianne……born 1975 and her son Steve Mascot born 1992,” said Robert and the woman started typing away at her computer,

“Scarlet Marianne, here you go and Steve……Mascot’s, here you are, that will be eighteen pounds please,” she said printing out the two documents,

“Wait…there’s more……please can you look up for Dan Reynolds and Claire Dunstan,”

“Alright, give me a minute,”

“Dan Reynolds…….sorry no such person as that…..and no Claire Dunstan either, anything else,

“Yes, can you try Bryan Peters or Bryan Reynolds…….”
“A yes for Bryan Peters but there are so many, can you specify a year of birth?”

Emma and Robert looked at each others faces in dismay,

“We can’t remember actually,”

“Then I am afraid I can’t help you any further,”

Robert pulled out his wallet and picked out his last twenty and got the two certificates and went out with his head down.

Emma looked at her wristwatch and read the time three pm, “I’m starving, shall we get something to eat?’

“Alright as long as you are paying,” Robert smirked and the two headed for the nearest café they could find.

“Why do you think David is Scarlet’s son?”

“Just look at the facts…….Scarlet died in a fire…..maybe she died saving her son…..besides David has burnt marks on his skin,”

“But Eric had only mentioned about a boy who had accidentally got into the fire…..”

“What do you think David’s doing right now?”

Robert shrugged and asked her to give him a call to see if he has found Rachel but he didn’t pick up his phone.

They began to ponder and chat away while munching on a bun when a boy suddenly crashed onto Robert spilling a cup of steaming hot coffee right onto his bandaged hand.

“Careful!” he said to the boy who looked at him from under and he went away without apologizing.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” said Robert and got up to leave for the wash room. He untied the bandage from his hand and was about wash his wound when that same boy reappeared.

“Are you following me?” he asked, but the boy didn’t answer,

“What’s the matter……has the cat got your tongue?” he continued to ask him as he washed his hand and the boy walked up to him and tugged on his pants like he was trying to say something and then walked up to the door and suddenly disappeared.

Robert was amused at first and then went up to the door to see if the boy was still there but as he wasn’t he headed back to where Emma was, waiting and watching her time as always.

“What took you so long?” she asked him the minute the he sat down but he just nodded and showed his hand to her.

“Ouch! That looks swollen…….what did you tell your mother?’

“She didn’t see it; I plastered it myself and put on a sweater,”

Emma smirked and poured down the last few drops of coke down her throat and wiped her mouth with a tissue as Robert looked out of the big glass window meandering about in his mind when suddenly something caught his eye.

“Rachel!” he exclaimed and got up, staggering Emma,

“What are you saying?”

“Over there……I saw Rachel walking past that lamp post, I swear,” he blurted pointing out through the window but there was no one around to see when Emma too looked.

“It’s been a tiring day; we should go home now….” Emma said trying to calm Robert but he didn’t wait to listen to her, instead he was heading out of the shop. Emma called out to him but he didn’t stop so she ran after him.

“What has gotten into you?”

“I saw Rachel again……..she turned around that corner…….come on we have to get hold of her now,” Robert told Emma in one breathe.

“What! What are you saying?”

“Just come on!” he said and pulled her along with him and went after the figure he saw as Rachel.

They followed all the way up to the hospital.

“This is not a playground!” yelled out a security guard as he came out his hut. It was the same guard they had previously met one night and he recognized their faces immediately.

“Not you kids again…..now what is it?”

 “It’s an emergency, please……you have to let us in,” Emma started to cry but in a second or two Robert started rolling about on the ground yelping pain.

There was blood coming trickling down his hand and the place where he lay was already wet and he had gone unconscious.

“Robert!” Emma cried as she hurdled over to him quickly and the guard was astonished at first and gasped as he hurriedly ran back into the hut and phoned inside for immediate help.

Two attendants came outside carrying a stretcher and took him away and Emma followed after him.

“He’ll be alright,” said the doctor who checked Robert and asked Emma to sit awhile and took Robert away but she didn’t. She waited patiently until they wheeled Robert away in to a room and then started to skim through the hospital hoping to find Rachel. Four and a half hours past yet she couldn’t find any trace of Rachel so she went back to where Robert was.

Robert’s hand was all stitched and bandaged and he had been given a bottle of saline when Emma entered into the room and he was wide awake now.

“How are you feeling?”

“A little better I guess…….but did you find her?”

“No, and I don’t think she ever did come here………you’ve probably seen someone else, and you just ripped your hand for no sake.”

Robert paused as Emma looked down at his hand and then suddenly his eyes grew wide and he fretted.

“What’s the matter?”

“Don’t scream but take a look to your right,”

As looked she got stunned to see Rachel standing in front of them with a knife, her appearance had changed, hidden wounds were suddenly very visible and part of her hand and neck looked burned and scaly.

Emma and Robert stood gazing at her as thought what would be their next move if she attacked them.

Rachel grasped at her knife as she tightened her fist, turning red, she spoke,

“Stay away from me and stop looking for Scarlet!” she warned them,

“Who’s going to stop us?” asked Robert making Rachel a little more annoyed and she started coming towards them.

“Are you out of mind…….she is trying to kill us,”

“Get my clothes and start moving to the side,” he advised her as he started to take off the needles stuck onto his wrist, but just then someone caught hold of Rachel from behind and she shrieked.

David held Rachel tight as he yelled to his friends to get out of the room immediately and pushed her hard to aside. Robert managed to get out of the bed but accidentally hit the emergency button which startled Rachel causing her to run out madly.

As the coast was clear in the halls no one noticed her leave and the three friends were astounded about what had just happened.

“Was that Rachel or someone pretending to be Rachel?” asked Robert the second he calmed himself down and climbed back into bed.

“What ever it is we have to be careful before she attacks again,” said David,

“Yes, but how did you know we were here?” asked Emma giving him the eye and David told them that after they had left he went back into feed Frasier but the cat suddenly disappeared after eating. He said that he saw Frasier running away and had went after him but lost track, therefore he had then gone to meet Eric but had learned that Emma never came there so he had come all the way looking for them when he spotted the duo running like crazy he followed them right up here.

“Well I’m glad you came in the last minute or else we would have been dead meat,” Robert sighed, “but you two better hide now we’re going to have company……”

David saw what Robert meant through the small glass on the door and with Emma hid behind the curtains as a two doctors and a nurse rushed into the room.

Robert pretended to be asleep in an awkward position as the nurse straightened him up and injected the needles back in and the doctors checked him up before leaving but didn’t forget to notice the mess in the room and called for a cleaner to come over and tidy the room at once.

“Phew…..that was close,” said David wiping his forehead,

“But we better get out of here soon,” said Emma handing Robert his clothes as she helped him take off the needles and quickly reached for some left over plasters in a drawer to cover his damaged skin from bleeding.

Robert got dressed but with a little difficulty as he couldn’t move his hand about and David and Emma had to help him out.

“Where to now?” asked Emma

“Any place inside the building where they won’t find us,” mused Robert, “or else once they find us gone they’ll definitely inform the police and then it will go to our parents as we already are missing from home,”

“Why don’t we just go home now?”

“Because I reckon Rachel to be still in here,”

“But for what?’

“For Mr. Dan Reynolds,” snapped David picking up the two documents that fell out off Robert’s jacket.

“We should hide somewhere first and I know just the place,” said David and the three of them led into a small storeroom.

David went through the two documents several times using a small flashlight that he always carried around in his pocket, afraid to switch on the lights.

“So Scarlet and her son, both were born in White Chapel……….which means that is her home town.

“And that’s where we should go in order to find out the truth….” Said Emma but her words were cut short to the sound of an alarm bell wailing inside the hospital.

“Something’s wrong!” said Robert peeking through the key hole and then slightly opened the door and saw a crash cart being pushed along with a few others running behind and the two or three security guards were on the loose as well.

“Something is seriously wrong and I think they have already noticed that we are gone…..” said Robert and just then someone whimpered in the corner……

 

 

 

Author's Note

Thanks to all those who read and review:)

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. Some history of family is coming alive in this chapter. I like the conversation and the ending to the chapter. A excellent chapter.
Coyote