HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CHOCOLATE-THIEF, HAPPY BIRTHAY TO MEEE! I'm now officially 16, which means I can drive! Finally! Anyway... here's another chapter!
'Henry, it's me. Jo.' Her voice stunned Henry, leaving him breathless as well as voiceless. 'Henry?' He heard her speak as if she was in the distance, her voice tinny and distorted. 'Henry are you there?'
The phone fell from his grasp and landed with a thump on the desk.
'Henry who was it?' Abe asked, walking into the room. He noticed the phone on the desk and reached out towards it, meaning to put in back on the cradle.
'It's Jo.' Henry whispered, stopping Abe with just words.
'Well what did she say?'
Henry shook his head, his mind in turmoil. 'I don't- I don't know.' In the silence that followed Abe could hear the faint sound of Jo, still on the phone.
'Henry? Hello?' She was calling, 'Are you there?' Abe picked the phone up from where it had fallen onto the table.
'Jo?' He asked hesitantly, as if he didn't really believe it was her. Henry stood still, watching Abe.
'Uh huh.' Abe nodded. 'Oh, ok…. Yeah we'll be there soonish….. Ok, bye Jo.' As soon as he was off the phone Henry pounced.
'What did she say? Where is she?' He asked frantically.
'She's in the middle of nowhere,' Abe replied, 'but she says there is a gas station maybe a half an hour walk from where she is. By the time we get there she should be waiting.'
'Why is she there?' Henry asked, confused. 'Why would she run from the river to a field in the middle of nowhere and then call us?'
'I dunno.' Abe shrugged, snatching up his keys. 'All I know is that is where she is now and that she wants us to go get her. Maybe she just wanted to get away from the city where she might get recognised.'
'She came back into the city earlier though.' Henry pointed out, almost to himself. 'There is something odd here.'
'Well can you stop trying to work it out now and hurry up and grab your coat?' Abe was growing impatient. 'You can ask her when we get there.' Henry snapped back into reality and realised Abe, who already had his coat, was waiting for him.
'Sorry.' He muttered sheepishly, gathering up his coat and scarf and heading out the door, Abe following close behind.
Seconds later they were in the car and Abe was pulling out onto the road, which was deserted at this time in the morning. They drove in silence with the only sound the driving rain, the map book open on Henry's lap. Abe seemed to know that Henry didn't want to talk, and he left his father alone with his thoughts.
Why did I never realise Jo was immortal? He asked himself. Just because I never saw her die before now doesn't mean she hasn't since we met? She didn't work out I was immortal, though. And why is she in the middle of nowhere? How did she get there? These questions spiralled around in his head before they were drowned out by bigger, and in Henry's opinion more important, questions and thoughts.
She's immortal. She's never going to leave. Maybe we can be something now? These thoughts followed Henry all the way to the turn off.
'It's this road Abraham.' Henry said, squinting at the map he held. The car turned slightly and began bumping down a narrow, dark country road. In the distance they saw light.
'That must be the gas station.' Abe said.
'Mmm.' Henry agreed absent-mindedly. Now that they were approaching Jo he was nervous, almost apprehensive. What would she say? What would he say?
What will it be like to look her in the eye again, to hear her voice? He wondered. Everything has changed. Before I backed off because I didn't want to get too close to her, only to have her leave me or me leave her.
They drove into the gas station parking lot, and Henry's heart stopped. Sitting on a seat outside under cover, under a security light, was a small, shadowy figure hunched up as if they were cold.
What will it feel like when she looks at me? His thoughts were running away from him. What will it be like to be in her presence again? It's been so long since we were together. Too long.
As they drove closer the figure lifted their head, and Henry saw dark curls blowing in the strong wind. His heart began pounding again, stronger than before. Abe pulled to a stop and Henry jumped out of the car, racing through the rain to reach Jo and shelter.
'Jo!' He called, his words disappearing into the growing storm.
'Henry!' She called back, rising to her feet. Henry reached Jo and she flung herself into his arms, holding on for dear life.
'Henry, I'm so sorry.' She cried, tears dripping down her face. 'I should have… I wanted to…' She trailed off.
'Come. Let's get you into the car and then you can tell me your story.' Henry took off his coat and draped it over Jo's shivering shoulders. 'You look like you're about to die of cold.'
'Thanks.' She smiled drily through her tears. 'But it wouldn't really matter.' Henry chuckled at that.
'Come on.' Together the rushed back towards the car and the waiting Abe, both climbing into the back seat. Abe switched the heating on and Jo sighed in comfort, looking down at her thin, soaking clothes under Henry's coat.
'I'm sorry if I get your car wet.' She pulled a face. 'I'm soaking.'
'Well that's what happens if you walk in the rain from a filed in the middle of nowhere.' Henry chuckled. 'What were you doing out there anyway?' He asked, his voice growing serious.
'Well if you had actually turned up like you said you were I wouldn't be so wet would I?' She snapped back. Henry frowned.
'I waited for you but you didn't show up so we left. Then you called saying could we come and get you.'
'I didn't see you. Did you even come or are you just saying that?' Jo accused him. Henry looked taken aback. Why did she doubt him? It was her who left, who didn't wait for him.
'Well maybe you would have seen me if you had waited a little longer before you left!' He exclaimed. Abe looked in the rear-view mirror and caught Jo's eye.
'He did wait for you Jo. He waited for about 30 minutes.'
'But I didn't move!' She protested. 'Well, maybe a little, but no more than maybe 50 feet.'
'Well how did you get to be out here then?' Henry asked. 'It's a lot more than 50 feet from the river.'
'The river?' Jo questioned, her forehead wrinkling as she frowned. 'I was never at the river.' Now it was Henry's forehead that wrinkled.
'But that's where you come back, isn't it?' He asked. Jo shook her head, her damp curls dripping water onto her shoulders.
'I come back in that field. Why would I come back in the river?' She asked, confusion in her voice. Abe now met Henry's eyes in the mirror. Henry gulped slightly before turning to Jo.
'It's a story for another time, I was mistaken. Now, tell me your story.' His words hung in the air. Jo opened and shut her mouth a few times before she could find the right words.
'It's a long story.'
SOOOO because of exams teachers keep asking if we have time for homework so we all just say no because we have to study, so very few teachers are giving homework out which means after studying I have lots of timeeeeee! It's marvellous! Sorry if I seem hyper by the way I've eaten a lot of chocolate cake because, come on, I'm the chocolate thief, I have to have chocolate cake on my birthday :)
Anywayyyyy i hope you liked this chapter and don't forget to review!
