[Wordsmiff]

CHAPTER TEN

The game went on for some time with the girls giving each other increasingly adventurous dares and overcoming their inhibitions with each other. Amy was the most reluctant to join in but, after a bit of persuasion, even she finally relented and took an active part in the game.

When they eventually decided to call it a night, it was well after midnight and most of the candles had virtually burnt out. All four girls, despite their activities or maybe even because of them, were getting tired.

Amy went to her bag and took out a bottle of water. She opened it and took a swig. “What are we going to do for breakfast tomorrow?”

“I’ve got some money,” Becky said, through a yawn, “We could...”

“Oh,” Melanie interrupted, “That reminds me.”

“Huh?” Amy took another swig of her water. She offered the bottle to Kirsty. “Pass it round.”

“You know when I went for my shi... poo?” The other girls didn’t seem to be paying much attention, so Melanie went on.“There’s a shed in the garden.”

Amy raised her eyebrows at Melanie. “No, Mel. Please tell me you didn’t do it in the shed.”

“No, behind a tree,” Melanie explained. “But I did have a quick look in the shed. It’s full of stuff.”

“Much like any other shed then,” Becky said, taking the bottle of water from Kirsty and taking a swig.

“I mean, useful stuff,” Melanie went on, “Camping stove, cooking utensils, bottled water... and enough tinned food to keep an army regiment going for a month.”

Melanie had finally garnered the attention of the other girls.

“You’re joking,” Amy said.

“No, go and have a look,” Melanie said. She took the bottle from Becky and took a swig of the water.

“Why didn’t you think to say this earlier?” Kirsty growled.

“I forgot,” Melanie said. “I got distracted by the newspaper article. And then...” She handed the bottle back to Amy, “...things just escalated.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take a look in the morning.” Amy took another swig from the bottle before re-capping it., “It’s too late now.”

“If you’re having us on though,” Kirsty said, “You’ll be sorry.”

The girls decided to get some sleep. It was already late and, if Melanie was right, they wanted to be up early.

Melanie and Kirsty had brought their own sleeping bags. Becky didn’t own one so she decided, without much argument, to sleep in the bed with Amy.

Amy had moved some of the dolls from the bed and both girls snuggled under the duvet. Melanie and Kirsty had placed their sleeping bags side-by-side on the floor near the end of the bed.

“You want to snuggle up close?” Becky asked.

Amy felt a bit embarrassed by the question despite having been close to all three of her friends during the evening. It would be nice to snuggle close to Becky but... “No,” she lied, “I’m alright thanks.”

“Okay,” Becky sounded disappointed. “But if you change your mind...” She turned onto her side and closed her eyes.

Amy wondered about how she would obtain more footage of Kirsty and recalled their last game where they had all become involved in a range of different situations which left little to the imagination. She reached across to Becky, who was already asleep. “Beck?” she whispered, “You asleep?” The lack of an answer was an answer in itself.

Amy wanted to touch her friend but she didn’t dare to. She resisted the temptation. This wasn’t why they were here. She tried to get to sleep herself but couldn’t, she kept thinking about Edward. Who was he? What was that newspaper article about? It was difficult to read it on the faded paper in the semi-darkness. Maybe tomorrow, in the morning light, she would be able to read more. She just lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, which was just barely visible in the light of a dying candle.

“Amy?” A croaky voice. “Amy?” It sounded like... no, it couldn’t be. It sounded like Edward.

Amy tried to look round but couldn’t see anything or anyone. She threw her side of the duvet back and swung her legs round. She sat on the side of the bed for a moment, listening.

“Amy?” There it was again. It was Edward. “Amy? I need your help again.”

Amy stood up in the darkness. The only light now was from a distant streetlamp. She tried to adjust her sight to the darkness. She made a step forward. “Edward?” she said, quietly so as not to wake the others. “Is that you, Edward?”

There was silence.

Amy gingerly took another step.

“Amy?” It seemed to be coming from the direction of the wardrobe. She walked steadily towards it. The wardrobe door was open a crack. She reached up to open it wider. As she did so, she felt something brush past her foot. She shuddered and let go of the wardrobe door. Then, something caught her foot and she felt teeth biting into her. She screamed. She fainted.

“Amy?” It was Becky. “What’s wrong?”

“Ames?” It was Melanie, from her sleeping bag, sounding half-asleep. “Was that you, Ames?”

Amy opened her eyes and saw the outline of Becky’s face, in the bed next to her.

“Amy?” Becky said, “You been dreaming?”

Amy wasn’t sure. She didn’t think she’d been dreaming. She didn’t think she’d been asleep. “Something... something bit me.” As soon as she said it, Amy realised how silly it sounded.

“What?” Becky said, “A fly or something?”

“I... I don’t know. I heard...” she decided not to say anything.

“You heard what?”

“Nothing,” Amy said. “I heard nothing. Go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” Becky turned onto her side and settled down again.

Amy lay on her back. She wiggled her foot. It didn’t seem damaged. Maybe she had been dreaming after all. It was Edward she heard and Edward wasn’t here, was he? After a short while, she drifted off to sleep and dreamt of good things.


To be continued...