Well, here is the next bit of the story that you all have been anxiously anticipating!!! (Sarcasm).
If you haven't read chapter 1, I suggest you do - it's short, but clears up a few things.
Sorry for the long time it has taken me to write this, but I have had a project on the work of Albert Einstein (quantum physics, what fun!) a report and seminar on Biological Control (just give them all condoms I say) and a totally pointless English thing, that are all due very soon.
NOTE - Please ignore all grammar and punctuation errors, and all gaping plot holes. Read and review please!
The girl was now walking as if in a dream. If you could ache in dreams.
She had been walking now for 7 hours - but it seemed like years ago that she climbed off the bus and set off down this little road. Only 7 hours, and she felt like she had walked to hell and had yet to come back.
She lifted her sweat-soaked head and looked at the horizon. The sun was setting very fast, and soon it would be twilight. The humid, stillness of the day was being replaced with a clod breeze, that at first was a blessing, but was now more of a curse as it chilled the sweat on her body.
The dog trotting in front of her seemed to be related to the Energizer Bunny by the was he was going. He was moving as fast as ever, tail wagging furiously as he ran energetically along the loose metal. He was her tour guide, in a warped sort of way, she thought. And she was following obediently, as all tourists do. Wonder if he'll point out the landmarks and sights, too. She hoped like hell that this tour guide knew where he was going. That one in LA was an idiot...
Caught up in her memories, she stumbled, tripped and fell hard on the road, and hit the gravel still moving, and skidded roughly along the metal surface, shaving layers of skin and tissue off her knees and palms.
Breathing hard, and shaking uncontrollably all over, she knelt on her bloody knees and tried to see straight. The dog, she saw, was walking back to her. Suddenly ashamed, the girl tried to jump to her feet, but exhaustion didn't allow for that. So instead she got up drunkenly and brushed the dust off her clothes with her bleeding palms. She was, for some reason, embarrassed, as the dog came closer. It seemed concerned.
That is, she reminded herself tiredly, if dogs can be concerned.
"I'm fine," she said to the dog as it sniffed her knees.
"No really, I am, I've had heaps of grazes before, this is nothing, I'm OK..."
Actually, blood was running down from her knees and dribbling into her socks, and her palms were burning white-hot. It didn't hurt now, but she knew it would later.
The dog looked up and gave a small whine.
The girl suddenly felt grateful, and decided to give in to the uncontrolled urge to talk to this dog like it was a person. After 7 hours without anyone to talk to, it felt good. Even if it was a one-sided conversation.
"C'mon, let's keep going."
It was only a few hills later that the buzz in the girl's head started to get excited. So far, it had been only pushy and belligerent, but now it was delighted.
The girl looked around, trying to see what had made the buzz so happy.
Nothing she could see was different from what she saw 2 hours ago. Just the usual English Rural ingredients - hills, grass, hedges and sheep. Nothing to get excited about, she thought. Put them all onto a blender and you'd get a sorta greeney-greyey-bluey mess.
That was, until she got to the top of the next hill and saw what lay ahead.
Nothing was different, but something was different. If that made any sense. What was not different was that the countryside ahead looked the same as the countryside behind, but what was different was that the girl instantly recognized the place.
That baffled and elated her at the same time. The buzz was a triumphant roar now, and was starting to give her a headache.
How could I recognize this place, she thought? I live thousands of kilometers from here, on the other side of the world for God's sakes! And there is nothing here to recognize... just pasture. But the girl had a feeling rushing through her, the one that you get when you have been away from home for too long, and finally arrive back...
She couldn't understand it at all. But more important things were going on, she was lost, and the dog was increasing its distance ahead of her. She power walked to keep up, head turning to and fro to try and see what she might have recognized here, and saw nothing.
Then something unexpected happened. The dog turned off the road and went to walk down into the ditch. But instead of walking down into the ditch, he walked straight along - into the air.
The girl gawped.
The dog kept trotting in mid air over the ditch, and then straight through the hedge, and disappeared.
Picking her jaw up off the ground, the girl hurriedly collected her thoughts.
Whatever happened, she needed to follow the dog. And if the dog could walk through air and through semi-solid hedges, damm right, she was going to follow.
She walked hesitantly over to the spot where the dog had walked over the ditch, long grass scratching her legs. She stared at the spot for a few seconds. It didn't seem special. That was, before the dog suddenly stuck his head back through the fence and barked.
The girl jumped at the sound and the strange sight of a dog's head in the middle of the hedge. The head then disappeared and that cemented the girl's mind. She would go through as well. That annoying damm buzz in her head was going off like a siren. Well, that must mean that she was getting close to whatever the buzz wanted her to do or go to.
She tentatively lifted up a leg and extended it over the ditch. Ever so slowly, she lowered it, toes pointing downwards, trying to find exactly what the dog had stood on, for it must have stood on something, really, it couldn't have walked through the air.
Then a drop of crimson blood snaked its way down her leg, and rolled off the end of her boot, and fell...
fell...
and landed kersplat on something in mid air.
The girl peered at it, and lowered her foot down to the point in space where there the drop of blood splattered on something. Her foot touched something solid, and she slowly eased weight onto it.
If she closed her eyes, she could swear that she was standing on wooden boards. But her eyes were open, and there was nothing visible there. She transferred all of her weight onto the one foot, and slowly lifted the other one off the nice, visible road. And then placed her foot carefully a pace further than the other one in mid air. Breathing slowly and deeply, arms outstretched for balance, she paused.
I'm standing in mid air, she thought hysterically. Where is a camera when you need one?
Right. Now just jump to the other side of the ditch. Oh boy is this freaky.
She crouched, and tensed her muscles, and leapt clear to the other side of the ditch. She hit the ground with both feet, but she forgot to compensate for her heavy pack. It's momentum carried her forwards and she tumbled into the hedge....and straight through it, flattening the poor, unsuspecting dog sitting behind it with a yelp.
She picked herself up gingerly off the ground.
"Aw God I'm sorry..." she said to a highly offended and winded dog.
She looked at her legs and arms. They were now covered with blood, dirt, sweat and tears. Hey, she thought, that's a song isn't it? Her grazes were roaring with fire now, and all that dirt and dog hair was going to cause infection soon...
She looked up, expecting to see something, just anything special, but... only saw a paddock, like the millions she had passed in the last 7 hours. This one didn't even have any sheep.
Misery swamped her. She wanted to cry, but she was too tired for that, and she was all out of tears. Dusk was well setting in, and she was totally lost in the endless English Countryside. It was hopeless, she thought. I am going to die here and no one will ever miss me. I want to go home - or anywhere, just away from here...
She turned on her heel to go, but that stupid, infuriating, bossy, oh-so righteous fucking buzz in her head wouldn't let her. Point-bland refused to let her go back. She stood there, shaking with fury, having a silent bitch-screaming match with the buzz, telling it to get out of her mind and let her do what she wanted, who in return was telling her that she was here, this was her goal ...
But she was interrupted by a polite 'ahem' behind her.
**********************************
The girl nearly jumped out of her skin, but again the pack on her back reduced the jump to just a slight spasm. She whirled around, to find man standing behind, with the alarmed look on his face matching hers.
She stared at him, lost for words. He was about 30-something, with brown hair with a few gray streaks in it - maybe he was older then. His quizzical deep brown eyes met her startled blue ones, and the girl suddenly likened them to the eyes of her puppy, Commando. Deep and fathomless, they were shields to his mind, cautious and defensive. Some people could tell you a lot by just their eyes, the girl was an expert in this - this man could only tell the girl that he had seen great suffering, or had suffered, and was harboring a great secret. His mind and thoughts were unreachable.
Suddenly finding her voice, the girl managed to say, in a very strangled voice
"Wh...ere the hell did you come from?"
The man lifted his eyebrows.
"I think the question is more, where did YOU come from?" in a soft English accent.
But the girl was not listening. Because from behind the man, in the middle of the paddock, a mist seemed to be swirling.... and there was something solid in the mist.... that was vaguely resembling.... a house? Corners and windows came into focus and the mist swept away, revealing a small rust-red cottage with green window frames and crisp white curtains in the windows.
The girl was lost for words again, and gawped at the house, now with a newly appearing orchard and garden path that was running up to her feet like red carpet being rolled out.
She jumped back as it approached her and stared as it progressed back to the hedge, which suddenly had a gaping hole in it, and across wooden boards that appeared across the ditch. The world had gone quiet. There was no sound. The girl was transfixed by the sudden appearance of a house and garden in the middle of an empty field. She just stared at it, not aware that her mouth was hanging open, and that the man was frantically trying to get her attention. Finally when he waved a hand in front of her face she snapped out of it.
"Huh?" she said stupidly.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, in an off-hand voice that did not quite manage hide the anxiety under it, glancing to where her eyes were leading.
She gestured wildly towards the house.
"The..the...house there!" she said in a daze.
His reactions were mixed. He at first looked shocked, then fearful, then amazed, then thoughtful, and then pleased, but still puzzled and cautious. All in the space of a few seconds. The girl could see the cogs in his brain going onto overtime. She was suddenly aware that the dog was sitting at his feet, and she felt tired.
"Hmmmm." said the man eventually, after a lengthy pause.
"You'd better come in then."
and ushered her up the path to the front door.
As the girl took each step, there was a battle going on in her brain. One half seemed to be screaming to her 'Run, run! Get out of here and go far away! Now!' and the other half, the buzz, was urging her to 'Hurry up and get inside girl. I have just about exhausted all my patience with you.' All this yelling and pushing was giving her a serious migraine-sized headache.
Just before they reached the front door she stumbled on the first step and the man grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. She turned to say thank you, but he was looking at her with a strange look on his face.
"What? How could.... but.... no...." he muttered, looking hard into her eyes, which she was struggling to keep open.
He took a step back and pulled something out of his pocket, and to the girls alarm, produced a stick of wood which he pointed at her head and muttered "Fine Incantum"
She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, the voice in her head that was screaming for her to run away had gone. Just like turning a television off, there was content silence in her mind. The buzz was still there though, and urged her to walk through the door. So with three more jerky steps, she did. She walked through the open door and stood on the wooden floor. The buzz said in a very patronizing tone, 'thought you would never get here.' And disappeared as well.
The man was looking at her strangely.
And then she collapsed on the floor.
When she woke up, she thought she was at home snuggled up in her bed. Just another five minutes, she thought sleepily. Just 'nother......
She jumped like she had been given an electric shock. She wasn't at home. She was...actually, she didn't know where she was. That was even worse.
She tried to roll over, but her muscles felt like shards of glass had been mixed in with them overnight. Ignoring this as best as she could, she thrashed her way out of the bedclothes and threw herself out of the bed.
She was in a cheerful, square room, which was painted yellow and blue, with stars all over. It contained a single bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a brightly patterned, but sun-bleached rag rug on the wooden floor. This was obviously a boys room, she thought. A girl wouldn't have dinosaurs posters on her wall. Actually, the room looked quite bare for some strange reason. There were marks on the wall where posters should be, and a gap where a bookshelf went - she could see that the paint was not faded in parts. On the ground beside the rumpled bed was her pack and her boots - now spotlessly clean.
She heaved herself up onto protesting legs and took unsteady steps towards the door.
Please let it be unlocked, she thought with a sinking stomach. How could I have been so stupid? Just strolling onto this house like that, I didn't even ask the guy's name! Did he sandbag me? Or...
She put a hand on the door, and tried the handle.
The door swung open.
She gave a huge sigh of relief, and stepped hesitantly out into the passage.
"Hello? Cooeeee...is there anyone here? Hello?"
She heard signs of movement in one of the rooms and opened the door and peered around the corner.
She found herself looking into a sunny, airy kitchen with windows wide open and a cool refreshing breeze playing throught the room. By the brightness of the sunlight, it must have been about 11 AM. A round dining table in the middle of the room, flanked by five chairs. On one of those chairs sat the dog that she had followed here. It saw her, grabbed something off the table in its mouth, jumped down from its chair, and trotted up to the girl importantly. She crouched down and took the piece of paper in one hand, and patted the dog with the other absently.
*Hello there whoever you are,
I hope that you are feeling better, you collapsed soon after getting here.
I am sorry that I am not here, there has been an emergency at work and I have had to leave urgently - I do not expect to get back before 5 PM. Please stay until I return though - there are many things I wish to ask you.
Help yourself to anything in the pantry, and any medicines you might need are on the top shelf. Your grazes look nasty, better clean them soon before they get infected.
The shower and bath are both broken, but if you want to wash, down the road is a swimming hole - my dog will lead you there if you wish.
Please do not go into the room at the end of the hallway, but otherwise make yourself at home. *
It was unsigned.
The girl didn't know whether to feel pleased or alarmed at this strange note. It was written like she was the guy's daughter that had slept in on a Saturday morning. Make yourself at home? And stay till he got back? Don't go into the room at the end of the passage? That was like that folk tale about Blackbeard or summthin. Creepy.
But she knew she could not walk out of here - she didn't have the strength. Instead, she could have the run of the house for a whole day, rest and recuperate. And get a feed too, she thought, her stomach grumbling. Besides, the guy seemed nice - and it was only polite to wait until he got home before clearing off. Besides, out here in the middle of nowhere, he probably didn't get many foreign backpackers. Still, that note was weird... who would leave a perfect stranger in their house...?
She would stay. Getting up stiffly, she gave the dog a last pat and went to find the fridge.
Walking down the dusty road later on, she thought reflectively about her actions. Staying for the day had been a great decision on her behalf. After rummaging through the kitchen, she had discovered muslei, fruit and milk, and wolfed it all down. She then had explored the house, which was defiantly odd.
It was a cute little house, with three bedrooms, a bathroom, toilet, kitchen/dining room, and a laundry. The room at the end of the hall, she supposed, was the lounge. Or sitting room or drawing room or whatever they call them over here. The door to the bathroom was locked, which was suspicious. She hadn't tried the door at the end of the hallway out of respect for the guy who lived there. He asked her not to, so she didn't. But her fingers itched to try. There seemed to be a lot of things missing - like paintings, furniture, chest-of drawers, or any electrical appliances (apart from a very strange fridge).
Of the two bedrooms, hers was obviously a kid's room, and the one across the hall was furnished with a double bed and bold colour schemes. It too, seemed empty. The master bedroom was just as weird. It had a 4-poster bed, but apart from that, was empty. Not even a wardrobe. She was relieved to find that the toilet was normal.
She had gone to make her bed after her late breakfast, and to her annoyance found that her knees, elbows and palms had bled overnight, and with her sweat, had dirtied the sheets considerably. Stripping the bed, she dumped the sheets into the ancient wringer washing machine and went hunting for a linen cupboard. As there was only one cupboard in the hallway, she tried that one. It was bare and dusty. Annoyed, she searched the rest of the house, but found nothing. She returned to the sunny kitchen, where the dog was asleep, basking in the sun in a window seat. She rubbed his ears as he dozily woke up, and he gave a little whine and a yawn.
"Good morning sunshine" she said. "I don't suppose you know where any linen is around this whacked house?"
To her suprise, he stood up, stretched, and jumped down and walked into the hallway. Mystified, she followed him. The dog walked up to the cupboard that she had already opened, and scratched at the door.
"Oh puppy, I've already tried that one, there's nothing in th....."
Her words died as she opened the door. Inside was a pair of sheets and a pillowcase sitting on the middle shelf. She looked suspiciously at the dog.
"I'm sure that there was nothing... oh well, musn't a looked hard enough."
By now, she was sure that if she thought the house was a little strange, the dog was distinctly weird. It understood what she said. Her own dog, Commando, was smart - working dogs had to be - but she could swear that this one could read the newspaper. Well, anyway, that was what it looked like when she walked into the kitchen that first time, like it was reading the newspaper on the dining table. But the funnier thing was that when she went to read the paper herself, she couldn't find it.
After making her bed, she quickly inspected her pack - it was untouched. 'He' hadn't searched it. Hmm.
She thought it would be polite to do the dishes, which were stacked up in the sink and all over the benches. Filling up the sink with hot soapy water, she came to the conclusion that this was a bachelor pad. There was a minimal amount of cutlery, plates and cooking utensils. There were no pots, but there was a blackened frying pan.
Whoever lived here, she thought, had visitors recently. There were extra empty cups with tea leaves around the bottom, and coffee stains in some too. Ho hum.
With the soapy dishes draining on the bench, she had grabbed her togs, towel and first aid kit and went hunting for the dog. She found him on the back lawn, pouncing puppy-like on the butterflies that were fluttering around the daisies growing amok in the long, uncut grass. She stood on the back step and watched him for a few moments, suddenly feeling pensive. The dog had suddenly noticed her standing there, and gallumphed up to her.
"Well boy, d'ya want to show me where this swimming hole is? Huh? Huh? Wanna go for a walk? Huh?"
The dog had bounded around her with slobbery enthusiasm, and then set off around the side of the house. She followed him, feeling that a machete knife would be a good accessory in this knee-high grass. The dog then ran out onto the road, and trotted along it further in the direction that the girl had been walking the previous day. Ducking under a gnarled, leafy tree near the road, she paused to pluck a fat peach from the over-laden tree.
The girl smiled as she remembered her surprise when she bit into the peach. Sweet and juicy, it was the best one she had ever tasted, and devoured the whole thing as she walked, sticky nectar running down her hands and arms. She almost didn't notice when the dog had turned off the road and onto a field, only when it barked did she realise they were there. The swimming hole.
It was quite a lovley setting, she thought. A creek, a drooping willow with a rough wooden swing tied off one limb, and birds and crickets noisy in the hot atmosphere.
The swimming hole was not much of a hole, she had thought at first, just an area in the creek where it became a little wider, and a little deeper. That was before she waded in. It was very deep, she discovered, with a shock. So deep that with the first step she was totally over her head. It was a swimming pit - diving, she could see no bottom, even though the water was clear and crisp. Doing breast-stroke from one side of the swimming hole to the other (which was only about 10 metres) she could feel the dried sweat wash off her body and bathe her grazes. She flipped onto her back and kicked her legs lazily, mulling over the strange events of the day before and the weird going-ons today. The tranquility of the moment was shattered by the dog bombing her. She resurfaced, spluttering and laughing as the dog swam around her in circles, panting and grinning wickedly.
"Grrrr.... I'll get you for that" she declared with a mouth full of water.
And responded by dunking him, which led to very wet chaos.
Yes, it had been a good idea to stay, she thought, walking back to the house, her singlet over her wet togs and very wet towel draped over her shoulders. That dog was as much fun as Commando - she hadn't played rough-and-tumble since she left home, and that was nearly 2, no 3 months ago. Her grazes were free of infection thanks to her first aid kit, and she felt suprisingly happy for someone that yesterday felt so depressed and hopeless. Her muscles were limbering up with each step and her heart soared to the sky. She hummed under her breath as she followed the sodden dog back along the road. Then started singing very softly. The dog turned and looked at her like she had just grown an extra head.
"Oi, It's not that bad!" she said indignantly.
And just to prove it, started singing out loud.
"Sunshiiiiiiiine.....on my windowwwws,
Makes me happyyyyyy....like I should beeee..."
And then she lifted her head to the heavens and belted out the rest of the lyrics
"Out siiiiide....all around meeeee.........."
The dog sighed at this extravagant behaviour, and rolled his eyes when she started dancing. But a few songs later, she noticed that the dog was dancing along with her, and grinned slyly.
It was in the chorus of 99 Red Balloons that the dog started growling. The girl looked up, song dying in her throat, to see five figures walking towards her down the road. She could not quite make out features at that distance, but the dog's growling turned into snarling quickly, and tried to make its hair stand on end, but as it was long and completely wet, it didn't do a very good job. The girls hair, however was standing on end as the strangers approached. She put a restraining hand on the dogs wet back.
The people walking towards her were quite....butch? Solidly-built, that's the expression. Dressed in dark robes, she thought for a few seconds that they were cultists. Her apprehension grew.
As they came closer, she noticed that they did not look like friendly people - the leader had sliky-blonde hair and a twisted smile on his face. His companions were big, ugly and stupid-looking. The dog tensed all his muscles, and prepared to attack, but the girl wound her fingers into his shaggy coat and held it taught.
The blonde man hailed her with an upraised hand.
"Hello my dear! Are you from the village?" he said in an overly-friendly voice that did not match his eyes.
Lie, her mind said. Lie and be damm good about it too.
"Yip. Just taking my dog for a walk. What are you doing all the way out here?" she said, imitating her last bus driver's accent, and hauling back on the dog's coat. She was aware out of the corner of her eye that the other men were slowly spreading out and circling her, flexing their muscles. She also suddenly realised that her blue bikini was highly visible under her wet singlet. Cold shivers ran up her arms.
"Aaah... we are searching for a friend's house. It's a russet-red colour, have you seen it?"
Friend my ass, she thought. The dog was still snarling, and she was lifting its front paws off the ground in an effort to keep it from attacking.
"No, can't say I have. You sure you got the right road? I'd say to try further into the village."
The blonde man glanced at his brawny companions and nodded.
Much to the girls relief, they started to move out, but one stayed behind, staring at the growling and snarling dog.
"Whatzup with your dog?" he said thickly.
"It doesn't like men for some reason" she said smoothly. "I'd suggest you get moving, I'm loosing my grip on his fur."
Allarmed, the group of men hurried off, glancing over their shoulders.
The girl and dog turned and watched them.
"Good luck finding your friend's house!" she hollered after them, with a look of absolute sincerity on her face.
Keep cool, she thought.
She turned around, and, dragging the dog with her, started walking along the road again.
Make it look good, she mind said. So she started singing again, this time the Beatles's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - all good Brits should know that one, she thought.
And was careful not to look back over her shoulder until she was sure they were gone around the next bend in the road.
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, she let the now subdued dog go. Stupid, she thought. Stupid. Going out without any form of protection. Just because you are in the countryside doesn't mean you are safe! Mentally scolding herself, she didn't notice the owl swooping overhead.
Around the next bend in the road was the house - how could have those men missed it? It was incredibly obvious, a red house in the middle of millions of fields. She walked up the path, lined with fruit trees and shrubs, and to the front door. She kicked off her boots and went inside. She had a lot to think about.
She was in the middle of making dinner when the owner of the house turned up. Stirring the contents of the frying pan, she didn't even notice he had arrived until she heard the dog barking with excitement. She walked out the door, spatula in hand, to see the man crouching on the steps, ruffling up the dogs hair.
"Hello" she said awkwardly.
He looked up at her and grinned.
"Ah, you're still here! Feeling better?"
"Uhhhh, yeah thanks."
"Look, I'm sorry about all this..."
'What's to be sorry for?" she said with a bit of a laugh. "I am a total stranger, I turn up out of the blue in the middle of nowhere, and you take care of me when I black out after saying about five words, give me a bed for the night, and free roam of your house for the whole day. Sorry? What on earth for?"
He smiled embarasedly and shrugged his shoulders.
"What else would I have done?"
"Tossed me out back onto the road? Poured a bucket of cold water over my head and send me on my way? Called the Police? Rob me? Wake me up before you left and told me to get moving? Sell me to slave traders in the Middle East? I dunno." She said melodramatically.
He looked a little shocked.
"I wouldn't have done that!"
She laughed.
"I know that. But I just wanted to thank you for let......"
"Aaah, it was my pleasure." He said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I have never had a backpacker from Australia out here, in fact, it's a bit lonley, with just me and my dog."
Australia, eh? Well, if that's what he thinks, so be it...
"You can tell? How?" she asked in mock amazement
He laughed heartily, and threw his head back. He really was quite good looking, she thought. Pity he's not 20 years younger.
"Yeew kann teyll? Heeow?" he said, over-mimicking her voice, before dropping back to a soft English accent.
"It's quite obvious, but don't worry, I won't hold that against you."
"Oh."
There was an uncomfortable lull in conversation.
"I didn't catch your name last night" the man said eventually.
"I didn't catch yours either" she said quickly. "I'm Calypso."
Now here was another strange thing. People usually laughed, sniggered, looked puzzled, did a double take and asked her to repeat herself, or inquired into whether her parents were hippies when she introduced herself. This guy didn't even flinch. His answer explained why.
"I'm Remus"
She raised her eyebrows.
"Interesting name. Do you happen to have a brother named Romulus?" she said tartly
He blinked, and then the dog started sneezing.
"I think your dog is attempting to laugh" she said
"Do I smell something?" the man asked, ignoring the dog and walking up the stairs, careful to tread lightly on the dogs tail. The dog yelped and stopped sniggering.
"Ummm yeah, I made Chili Con Carne, I hope you don't mind, you didn't state any time you were getting back and I was...." She said hurridly as Remus walked throught the front door.
"That's great actually - I'm not much of a cook, and bacon and eggs gets boring after a while."
She smiled, relieved.
Over dinner, Calypso had a good look at her host, who had insisted on her staying for dinner. He was about 35, slim and tanned, with a mop of brown hair, streaked prematurely with gray. But that was not what fascinated Calypso, it was his eyes.
Light brown, they were pained and sorrow-filled, but intelligent and soft. Eyes were windows to the soul.
He, she noticed, was also having a good look at her.
Well, let the fun and games begin, she thought.
Swallowing her Chili Con Carne, she asked Remus,
"So, what do you do for a living?"
He looked startled, but only for a few seconds.
"I'm a professor at the local University" he said, taking another fork full of Chili Con Carne.
"Really? What do you teach?" She asked with enthusiasm
"Erm... Mathematics"
"Hey wow, that's what I'm doing at Uni now! What classes do you teach?"
He looked distinctly blank.
"Ummmm....all of them?" he said helplessly
Calypso struggled not to laugh or smile.
This man is the worst on-the-spot liar I have ever met, she thought.
"Oh wow, you must be really smart then. Can you possibly help me with some problems I am having trouble with? I can't seem to apply the Binomial Theorem to application questions that involve differentiation or integration and have values that...."
"Maybe later" he said quickly. "Right now I have some questions to ask you"
Calypso leant back on her chair. This was going to prove interesting, she thought.
The dog looked up from his plate of Chili Con Carne at the table.
"Why on earth are you here?"
"I got lost."
He raised his eyebrows.
She elaborated.
"I'm backpacking all around Europe, and I think I turned the map upside down or something. I dunno, I was supposed to end up in a small town that has a backpackers hostel."
The dog snorted into his plate, and blew chunks of meat all over the table. Remus gave him a withering stare. Calypso thought this was probably why normal people didn't have their dogs eat at the table with them.
"Sooooo.... What do you do back in Australia?" he said carefully
"I'm a student at Melbourne University, I'm doing a course in Applied Biology. Oh yeah, and I work at a supermarket during term, and on a sheep station during the holidays."
Remus looked disappointed, but was careful to hide it.
"Fascinating. So what's your last name?" he asked
"Grey" she said "And yours?"
"Lupin"
Calypso snorted.
"No, your real name please. I'm not stupid. And that is a real bad pun by the way. Remus Lupin my ass."
He looked very insulted.
"That is my real name." He said lightly.
"Oh" Calypso said, embarrassed, and flushing red.
"It's just that..."
"Enough about me, I thought we were talking about you. Are you named after Calypso, the nymph in Homer's Odyssey?" he said, saving the situation.
"No, actually after Callippus, a Greek Astronomer who died around the year 300 BC, and after the style of music" she corrected him gratefully.
He looked interested - apparently, even though he obviously did not teach Mathematics, he was an expert on Greek Astronomy. Conversation flowed after that, and dinner finished very quickly.
Things became interesting when she asked him what the name of the village was.
"Peachgrove Village" he said carefully but looking at her in a new light "How did you know that there was a village at the end of the road?"
So she told him what she had done that day, omitting a few minor details. But when she got to the men she met on the road, he jumped like had been given an electric shock.
"What!!" His jaw dropped.
Recovering slightly, he said politely,
"Do go on...."
When she had finished, he was looking at her with a strange look in his eye.
"Would you mind describing them please?"
So she did, the blond, commanding one, the ape-like one with long arms, the short one with a monobrow, and the one with cauliflower ears and an undercut, the slothful one with a crewcut, the one with black hair and over-developed arm muscles......Remus stopped her in mid sentence.
"That's enough, I know who they are now."
He looked thoughtful, and worried.
"Why did you lie, and not tell them where the house was?" he asked
"They said that they were your friends. Friends my ass. Your dog would have ripped their throats out if I didn't have a good hold on his fur." She said passionately.
"He should have." Remus in a voice suddenly seething with rage.
It was quiet for a few moments.
"You know when you arrived here," he said suddenly, voice normal again.
"Yeah..."
"I think you were suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. You were acting all weird, like you couldn't see the house...but then you could...." He tailed off.
"Yeah" she said. "That must have been it"
"Were you taking drugs then?" he asked suddenly, looking straight at her.
"Whaaaa!!!" she exclaimed, standing up violently, knocking the chair over with a resounding crash.
"Your eyes were all....weird....and I thought......that...." he suddenly looked ashamed.
She stared at him for a few seconds, and he looked hopelessly around.
"But you see, there is no other answer...."
Then Calypso did a strange thing. She tilted her head back and laughed.
She grabbed her chair from the ground, and sat back on it.
"OK, enough of this. I know that you aren't telling me the truth, and you know that I'm not telling you the truth, so let's get this over and one with," a broad grin on her face.
Remus gave her a cautious, quizzical look.
"I don't quite know what you mean..." he said unconvincingly, but then stopped.
Calypso had gestured with an outstretched hand to the empty plates in front of them. She twisted her wrist sharply, and the plates slowly rose up off the table to hang in mid-air. She stretched out her arm and batted the air, and.....the plates sailed the length of the kitchen to the sink, and with another twist of her wrist, dropped into the soapy water with a thud.
Calypso looked back to Remus, who was staring blankly at the sink. To her amusement, so was the dog.
"You thought I was a muggle, or a squib didn't you? Ha. You're a Mathematics teacher? Yeah, right, and I'm Mickey Mouse. It's totally obvious that you are a wizard. You should get yourself a better story. That one had so many holes, it was like a rabbit warren."
Yeah, well, I know this rambles - and wow is this one long! Whoops. I kinda got carried away!! OK, so it's totally obvious that the guy was Lupin. Duh. And there are no prizes for guessing who the dog is. Sorry, that was all SOO obvious. But if I feel inspired to write some more, there will be a lot more twists.
Oh, do I really have to do a disclaimer? Oh fine then.
Remus and all JK Rowling's stuff belongs to JK Rowling.
The lyrics from the song 'Calypso' belong to Spiderbait. (Hehehe did anyone spot that?) Review pleeease!! And I like flames, so feel free to incinerate me.
If you haven't read chapter 1, I suggest you do - it's short, but clears up a few things.
Sorry for the long time it has taken me to write this, but I have had a project on the work of Albert Einstein (quantum physics, what fun!) a report and seminar on Biological Control (just give them all condoms I say) and a totally pointless English thing, that are all due very soon.
NOTE - Please ignore all grammar and punctuation errors, and all gaping plot holes. Read and review please!
The girl was now walking as if in a dream. If you could ache in dreams.
She had been walking now for 7 hours - but it seemed like years ago that she climbed off the bus and set off down this little road. Only 7 hours, and she felt like she had walked to hell and had yet to come back.
She lifted her sweat-soaked head and looked at the horizon. The sun was setting very fast, and soon it would be twilight. The humid, stillness of the day was being replaced with a clod breeze, that at first was a blessing, but was now more of a curse as it chilled the sweat on her body.
The dog trotting in front of her seemed to be related to the Energizer Bunny by the was he was going. He was moving as fast as ever, tail wagging furiously as he ran energetically along the loose metal. He was her tour guide, in a warped sort of way, she thought. And she was following obediently, as all tourists do. Wonder if he'll point out the landmarks and sights, too. She hoped like hell that this tour guide knew where he was going. That one in LA was an idiot...
Caught up in her memories, she stumbled, tripped and fell hard on the road, and hit the gravel still moving, and skidded roughly along the metal surface, shaving layers of skin and tissue off her knees and palms.
Breathing hard, and shaking uncontrollably all over, she knelt on her bloody knees and tried to see straight. The dog, she saw, was walking back to her. Suddenly ashamed, the girl tried to jump to her feet, but exhaustion didn't allow for that. So instead she got up drunkenly and brushed the dust off her clothes with her bleeding palms. She was, for some reason, embarrassed, as the dog came closer. It seemed concerned.
That is, she reminded herself tiredly, if dogs can be concerned.
"I'm fine," she said to the dog as it sniffed her knees.
"No really, I am, I've had heaps of grazes before, this is nothing, I'm OK..."
Actually, blood was running down from her knees and dribbling into her socks, and her palms were burning white-hot. It didn't hurt now, but she knew it would later.
The dog looked up and gave a small whine.
The girl suddenly felt grateful, and decided to give in to the uncontrolled urge to talk to this dog like it was a person. After 7 hours without anyone to talk to, it felt good. Even if it was a one-sided conversation.
"C'mon, let's keep going."
It was only a few hills later that the buzz in the girl's head started to get excited. So far, it had been only pushy and belligerent, but now it was delighted.
The girl looked around, trying to see what had made the buzz so happy.
Nothing she could see was different from what she saw 2 hours ago. Just the usual English Rural ingredients - hills, grass, hedges and sheep. Nothing to get excited about, she thought. Put them all onto a blender and you'd get a sorta greeney-greyey-bluey mess.
That was, until she got to the top of the next hill and saw what lay ahead.
Nothing was different, but something was different. If that made any sense. What was not different was that the countryside ahead looked the same as the countryside behind, but what was different was that the girl instantly recognized the place.
That baffled and elated her at the same time. The buzz was a triumphant roar now, and was starting to give her a headache.
How could I recognize this place, she thought? I live thousands of kilometers from here, on the other side of the world for God's sakes! And there is nothing here to recognize... just pasture. But the girl had a feeling rushing through her, the one that you get when you have been away from home for too long, and finally arrive back...
She couldn't understand it at all. But more important things were going on, she was lost, and the dog was increasing its distance ahead of her. She power walked to keep up, head turning to and fro to try and see what she might have recognized here, and saw nothing.
Then something unexpected happened. The dog turned off the road and went to walk down into the ditch. But instead of walking down into the ditch, he walked straight along - into the air.
The girl gawped.
The dog kept trotting in mid air over the ditch, and then straight through the hedge, and disappeared.
Picking her jaw up off the ground, the girl hurriedly collected her thoughts.
Whatever happened, she needed to follow the dog. And if the dog could walk through air and through semi-solid hedges, damm right, she was going to follow.
She walked hesitantly over to the spot where the dog had walked over the ditch, long grass scratching her legs. She stared at the spot for a few seconds. It didn't seem special. That was, before the dog suddenly stuck his head back through the fence and barked.
The girl jumped at the sound and the strange sight of a dog's head in the middle of the hedge. The head then disappeared and that cemented the girl's mind. She would go through as well. That annoying damm buzz in her head was going off like a siren. Well, that must mean that she was getting close to whatever the buzz wanted her to do or go to.
She tentatively lifted up a leg and extended it over the ditch. Ever so slowly, she lowered it, toes pointing downwards, trying to find exactly what the dog had stood on, for it must have stood on something, really, it couldn't have walked through the air.
Then a drop of crimson blood snaked its way down her leg, and rolled off the end of her boot, and fell...
fell...
and landed kersplat on something in mid air.
The girl peered at it, and lowered her foot down to the point in space where there the drop of blood splattered on something. Her foot touched something solid, and she slowly eased weight onto it.
If she closed her eyes, she could swear that she was standing on wooden boards. But her eyes were open, and there was nothing visible there. She transferred all of her weight onto the one foot, and slowly lifted the other one off the nice, visible road. And then placed her foot carefully a pace further than the other one in mid air. Breathing slowly and deeply, arms outstretched for balance, she paused.
I'm standing in mid air, she thought hysterically. Where is a camera when you need one?
Right. Now just jump to the other side of the ditch. Oh boy is this freaky.
She crouched, and tensed her muscles, and leapt clear to the other side of the ditch. She hit the ground with both feet, but she forgot to compensate for her heavy pack. It's momentum carried her forwards and she tumbled into the hedge....and straight through it, flattening the poor, unsuspecting dog sitting behind it with a yelp.
She picked herself up gingerly off the ground.
"Aw God I'm sorry..." she said to a highly offended and winded dog.
She looked at her legs and arms. They were now covered with blood, dirt, sweat and tears. Hey, she thought, that's a song isn't it? Her grazes were roaring with fire now, and all that dirt and dog hair was going to cause infection soon...
She looked up, expecting to see something, just anything special, but... only saw a paddock, like the millions she had passed in the last 7 hours. This one didn't even have any sheep.
Misery swamped her. She wanted to cry, but she was too tired for that, and she was all out of tears. Dusk was well setting in, and she was totally lost in the endless English Countryside. It was hopeless, she thought. I am going to die here and no one will ever miss me. I want to go home - or anywhere, just away from here...
She turned on her heel to go, but that stupid, infuriating, bossy, oh-so righteous fucking buzz in her head wouldn't let her. Point-bland refused to let her go back. She stood there, shaking with fury, having a silent bitch-screaming match with the buzz, telling it to get out of her mind and let her do what she wanted, who in return was telling her that she was here, this was her goal ...
But she was interrupted by a polite 'ahem' behind her.
**********************************
The girl nearly jumped out of her skin, but again the pack on her back reduced the jump to just a slight spasm. She whirled around, to find man standing behind, with the alarmed look on his face matching hers.
She stared at him, lost for words. He was about 30-something, with brown hair with a few gray streaks in it - maybe he was older then. His quizzical deep brown eyes met her startled blue ones, and the girl suddenly likened them to the eyes of her puppy, Commando. Deep and fathomless, they were shields to his mind, cautious and defensive. Some people could tell you a lot by just their eyes, the girl was an expert in this - this man could only tell the girl that he had seen great suffering, or had suffered, and was harboring a great secret. His mind and thoughts were unreachable.
Suddenly finding her voice, the girl managed to say, in a very strangled voice
"Wh...ere the hell did you come from?"
The man lifted his eyebrows.
"I think the question is more, where did YOU come from?" in a soft English accent.
But the girl was not listening. Because from behind the man, in the middle of the paddock, a mist seemed to be swirling.... and there was something solid in the mist.... that was vaguely resembling.... a house? Corners and windows came into focus and the mist swept away, revealing a small rust-red cottage with green window frames and crisp white curtains in the windows.
The girl was lost for words again, and gawped at the house, now with a newly appearing orchard and garden path that was running up to her feet like red carpet being rolled out.
She jumped back as it approached her and stared as it progressed back to the hedge, which suddenly had a gaping hole in it, and across wooden boards that appeared across the ditch. The world had gone quiet. There was no sound. The girl was transfixed by the sudden appearance of a house and garden in the middle of an empty field. She just stared at it, not aware that her mouth was hanging open, and that the man was frantically trying to get her attention. Finally when he waved a hand in front of her face she snapped out of it.
"Huh?" she said stupidly.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, in an off-hand voice that did not quite manage hide the anxiety under it, glancing to where her eyes were leading.
She gestured wildly towards the house.
"The..the...house there!" she said in a daze.
His reactions were mixed. He at first looked shocked, then fearful, then amazed, then thoughtful, and then pleased, but still puzzled and cautious. All in the space of a few seconds. The girl could see the cogs in his brain going onto overtime. She was suddenly aware that the dog was sitting at his feet, and she felt tired.
"Hmmmm." said the man eventually, after a lengthy pause.
"You'd better come in then."
and ushered her up the path to the front door.
As the girl took each step, there was a battle going on in her brain. One half seemed to be screaming to her 'Run, run! Get out of here and go far away! Now!' and the other half, the buzz, was urging her to 'Hurry up and get inside girl. I have just about exhausted all my patience with you.' All this yelling and pushing was giving her a serious migraine-sized headache.
Just before they reached the front door she stumbled on the first step and the man grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. She turned to say thank you, but he was looking at her with a strange look on his face.
"What? How could.... but.... no...." he muttered, looking hard into her eyes, which she was struggling to keep open.
He took a step back and pulled something out of his pocket, and to the girls alarm, produced a stick of wood which he pointed at her head and muttered "Fine Incantum"
She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, the voice in her head that was screaming for her to run away had gone. Just like turning a television off, there was content silence in her mind. The buzz was still there though, and urged her to walk through the door. So with three more jerky steps, she did. She walked through the open door and stood on the wooden floor. The buzz said in a very patronizing tone, 'thought you would never get here.' And disappeared as well.
The man was looking at her strangely.
And then she collapsed on the floor.
When she woke up, she thought she was at home snuggled up in her bed. Just another five minutes, she thought sleepily. Just 'nother......
She jumped like she had been given an electric shock. She wasn't at home. She was...actually, she didn't know where she was. That was even worse.
She tried to roll over, but her muscles felt like shards of glass had been mixed in with them overnight. Ignoring this as best as she could, she thrashed her way out of the bedclothes and threw herself out of the bed.
She was in a cheerful, square room, which was painted yellow and blue, with stars all over. It contained a single bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a brightly patterned, but sun-bleached rag rug on the wooden floor. This was obviously a boys room, she thought. A girl wouldn't have dinosaurs posters on her wall. Actually, the room looked quite bare for some strange reason. There were marks on the wall where posters should be, and a gap where a bookshelf went - she could see that the paint was not faded in parts. On the ground beside the rumpled bed was her pack and her boots - now spotlessly clean.
She heaved herself up onto protesting legs and took unsteady steps towards the door.
Please let it be unlocked, she thought with a sinking stomach. How could I have been so stupid? Just strolling onto this house like that, I didn't even ask the guy's name! Did he sandbag me? Or...
She put a hand on the door, and tried the handle.
The door swung open.
She gave a huge sigh of relief, and stepped hesitantly out into the passage.
"Hello? Cooeeee...is there anyone here? Hello?"
She heard signs of movement in one of the rooms and opened the door and peered around the corner.
She found herself looking into a sunny, airy kitchen with windows wide open and a cool refreshing breeze playing throught the room. By the brightness of the sunlight, it must have been about 11 AM. A round dining table in the middle of the room, flanked by five chairs. On one of those chairs sat the dog that she had followed here. It saw her, grabbed something off the table in its mouth, jumped down from its chair, and trotted up to the girl importantly. She crouched down and took the piece of paper in one hand, and patted the dog with the other absently.
*Hello there whoever you are,
I hope that you are feeling better, you collapsed soon after getting here.
I am sorry that I am not here, there has been an emergency at work and I have had to leave urgently - I do not expect to get back before 5 PM. Please stay until I return though - there are many things I wish to ask you.
Help yourself to anything in the pantry, and any medicines you might need are on the top shelf. Your grazes look nasty, better clean them soon before they get infected.
The shower and bath are both broken, but if you want to wash, down the road is a swimming hole - my dog will lead you there if you wish.
Please do not go into the room at the end of the hallway, but otherwise make yourself at home. *
It was unsigned.
The girl didn't know whether to feel pleased or alarmed at this strange note. It was written like she was the guy's daughter that had slept in on a Saturday morning. Make yourself at home? And stay till he got back? Don't go into the room at the end of the passage? That was like that folk tale about Blackbeard or summthin. Creepy.
But she knew she could not walk out of here - she didn't have the strength. Instead, she could have the run of the house for a whole day, rest and recuperate. And get a feed too, she thought, her stomach grumbling. Besides, the guy seemed nice - and it was only polite to wait until he got home before clearing off. Besides, out here in the middle of nowhere, he probably didn't get many foreign backpackers. Still, that note was weird... who would leave a perfect stranger in their house...?
She would stay. Getting up stiffly, she gave the dog a last pat and went to find the fridge.
Walking down the dusty road later on, she thought reflectively about her actions. Staying for the day had been a great decision on her behalf. After rummaging through the kitchen, she had discovered muslei, fruit and milk, and wolfed it all down. She then had explored the house, which was defiantly odd.
It was a cute little house, with three bedrooms, a bathroom, toilet, kitchen/dining room, and a laundry. The room at the end of the hall, she supposed, was the lounge. Or sitting room or drawing room or whatever they call them over here. The door to the bathroom was locked, which was suspicious. She hadn't tried the door at the end of the hallway out of respect for the guy who lived there. He asked her not to, so she didn't. But her fingers itched to try. There seemed to be a lot of things missing - like paintings, furniture, chest-of drawers, or any electrical appliances (apart from a very strange fridge).
Of the two bedrooms, hers was obviously a kid's room, and the one across the hall was furnished with a double bed and bold colour schemes. It too, seemed empty. The master bedroom was just as weird. It had a 4-poster bed, but apart from that, was empty. Not even a wardrobe. She was relieved to find that the toilet was normal.
She had gone to make her bed after her late breakfast, and to her annoyance found that her knees, elbows and palms had bled overnight, and with her sweat, had dirtied the sheets considerably. Stripping the bed, she dumped the sheets into the ancient wringer washing machine and went hunting for a linen cupboard. As there was only one cupboard in the hallway, she tried that one. It was bare and dusty. Annoyed, she searched the rest of the house, but found nothing. She returned to the sunny kitchen, where the dog was asleep, basking in the sun in a window seat. She rubbed his ears as he dozily woke up, and he gave a little whine and a yawn.
"Good morning sunshine" she said. "I don't suppose you know where any linen is around this whacked house?"
To her suprise, he stood up, stretched, and jumped down and walked into the hallway. Mystified, she followed him. The dog walked up to the cupboard that she had already opened, and scratched at the door.
"Oh puppy, I've already tried that one, there's nothing in th....."
Her words died as she opened the door. Inside was a pair of sheets and a pillowcase sitting on the middle shelf. She looked suspiciously at the dog.
"I'm sure that there was nothing... oh well, musn't a looked hard enough."
By now, she was sure that if she thought the house was a little strange, the dog was distinctly weird. It understood what she said. Her own dog, Commando, was smart - working dogs had to be - but she could swear that this one could read the newspaper. Well, anyway, that was what it looked like when she walked into the kitchen that first time, like it was reading the newspaper on the dining table. But the funnier thing was that when she went to read the paper herself, she couldn't find it.
After making her bed, she quickly inspected her pack - it was untouched. 'He' hadn't searched it. Hmm.
She thought it would be polite to do the dishes, which were stacked up in the sink and all over the benches. Filling up the sink with hot soapy water, she came to the conclusion that this was a bachelor pad. There was a minimal amount of cutlery, plates and cooking utensils. There were no pots, but there was a blackened frying pan.
Whoever lived here, she thought, had visitors recently. There were extra empty cups with tea leaves around the bottom, and coffee stains in some too. Ho hum.
With the soapy dishes draining on the bench, she had grabbed her togs, towel and first aid kit and went hunting for the dog. She found him on the back lawn, pouncing puppy-like on the butterflies that were fluttering around the daisies growing amok in the long, uncut grass. She stood on the back step and watched him for a few moments, suddenly feeling pensive. The dog had suddenly noticed her standing there, and gallumphed up to her.
"Well boy, d'ya want to show me where this swimming hole is? Huh? Huh? Wanna go for a walk? Huh?"
The dog had bounded around her with slobbery enthusiasm, and then set off around the side of the house. She followed him, feeling that a machete knife would be a good accessory in this knee-high grass. The dog then ran out onto the road, and trotted along it further in the direction that the girl had been walking the previous day. Ducking under a gnarled, leafy tree near the road, she paused to pluck a fat peach from the over-laden tree.
The girl smiled as she remembered her surprise when she bit into the peach. Sweet and juicy, it was the best one she had ever tasted, and devoured the whole thing as she walked, sticky nectar running down her hands and arms. She almost didn't notice when the dog had turned off the road and onto a field, only when it barked did she realise they were there. The swimming hole.
It was quite a lovley setting, she thought. A creek, a drooping willow with a rough wooden swing tied off one limb, and birds and crickets noisy in the hot atmosphere.
The swimming hole was not much of a hole, she had thought at first, just an area in the creek where it became a little wider, and a little deeper. That was before she waded in. It was very deep, she discovered, with a shock. So deep that with the first step she was totally over her head. It was a swimming pit - diving, she could see no bottom, even though the water was clear and crisp. Doing breast-stroke from one side of the swimming hole to the other (which was only about 10 metres) she could feel the dried sweat wash off her body and bathe her grazes. She flipped onto her back and kicked her legs lazily, mulling over the strange events of the day before and the weird going-ons today. The tranquility of the moment was shattered by the dog bombing her. She resurfaced, spluttering and laughing as the dog swam around her in circles, panting and grinning wickedly.
"Grrrr.... I'll get you for that" she declared with a mouth full of water.
And responded by dunking him, which led to very wet chaos.
Yes, it had been a good idea to stay, she thought, walking back to the house, her singlet over her wet togs and very wet towel draped over her shoulders. That dog was as much fun as Commando - she hadn't played rough-and-tumble since she left home, and that was nearly 2, no 3 months ago. Her grazes were free of infection thanks to her first aid kit, and she felt suprisingly happy for someone that yesterday felt so depressed and hopeless. Her muscles were limbering up with each step and her heart soared to the sky. She hummed under her breath as she followed the sodden dog back along the road. Then started singing very softly. The dog turned and looked at her like she had just grown an extra head.
"Oi, It's not that bad!" she said indignantly.
And just to prove it, started singing out loud.
"Sunshiiiiiiiine.....on my windowwwws,
Makes me happyyyyyy....like I should beeee..."
And then she lifted her head to the heavens and belted out the rest of the lyrics
"Out siiiiide....all around meeeee.........."
The dog sighed at this extravagant behaviour, and rolled his eyes when she started dancing. But a few songs later, she noticed that the dog was dancing along with her, and grinned slyly.
It was in the chorus of 99 Red Balloons that the dog started growling. The girl looked up, song dying in her throat, to see five figures walking towards her down the road. She could not quite make out features at that distance, but the dog's growling turned into snarling quickly, and tried to make its hair stand on end, but as it was long and completely wet, it didn't do a very good job. The girls hair, however was standing on end as the strangers approached. She put a restraining hand on the dogs wet back.
The people walking towards her were quite....butch? Solidly-built, that's the expression. Dressed in dark robes, she thought for a few seconds that they were cultists. Her apprehension grew.
As they came closer, she noticed that they did not look like friendly people - the leader had sliky-blonde hair and a twisted smile on his face. His companions were big, ugly and stupid-looking. The dog tensed all his muscles, and prepared to attack, but the girl wound her fingers into his shaggy coat and held it taught.
The blonde man hailed her with an upraised hand.
"Hello my dear! Are you from the village?" he said in an overly-friendly voice that did not match his eyes.
Lie, her mind said. Lie and be damm good about it too.
"Yip. Just taking my dog for a walk. What are you doing all the way out here?" she said, imitating her last bus driver's accent, and hauling back on the dog's coat. She was aware out of the corner of her eye that the other men were slowly spreading out and circling her, flexing their muscles. She also suddenly realised that her blue bikini was highly visible under her wet singlet. Cold shivers ran up her arms.
"Aaah... we are searching for a friend's house. It's a russet-red colour, have you seen it?"
Friend my ass, she thought. The dog was still snarling, and she was lifting its front paws off the ground in an effort to keep it from attacking.
"No, can't say I have. You sure you got the right road? I'd say to try further into the village."
The blonde man glanced at his brawny companions and nodded.
Much to the girls relief, they started to move out, but one stayed behind, staring at the growling and snarling dog.
"Whatzup with your dog?" he said thickly.
"It doesn't like men for some reason" she said smoothly. "I'd suggest you get moving, I'm loosing my grip on his fur."
Allarmed, the group of men hurried off, glancing over their shoulders.
The girl and dog turned and watched them.
"Good luck finding your friend's house!" she hollered after them, with a look of absolute sincerity on her face.
Keep cool, she thought.
She turned around, and, dragging the dog with her, started walking along the road again.
Make it look good, she mind said. So she started singing again, this time the Beatles's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - all good Brits should know that one, she thought.
And was careful not to look back over her shoulder until she was sure they were gone around the next bend in the road.
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, she let the now subdued dog go. Stupid, she thought. Stupid. Going out without any form of protection. Just because you are in the countryside doesn't mean you are safe! Mentally scolding herself, she didn't notice the owl swooping overhead.
Around the next bend in the road was the house - how could have those men missed it? It was incredibly obvious, a red house in the middle of millions of fields. She walked up the path, lined with fruit trees and shrubs, and to the front door. She kicked off her boots and went inside. She had a lot to think about.
She was in the middle of making dinner when the owner of the house turned up. Stirring the contents of the frying pan, she didn't even notice he had arrived until she heard the dog barking with excitement. She walked out the door, spatula in hand, to see the man crouching on the steps, ruffling up the dogs hair.
"Hello" she said awkwardly.
He looked up at her and grinned.
"Ah, you're still here! Feeling better?"
"Uhhhh, yeah thanks."
"Look, I'm sorry about all this..."
'What's to be sorry for?" she said with a bit of a laugh. "I am a total stranger, I turn up out of the blue in the middle of nowhere, and you take care of me when I black out after saying about five words, give me a bed for the night, and free roam of your house for the whole day. Sorry? What on earth for?"
He smiled embarasedly and shrugged his shoulders.
"What else would I have done?"
"Tossed me out back onto the road? Poured a bucket of cold water over my head and send me on my way? Called the Police? Rob me? Wake me up before you left and told me to get moving? Sell me to slave traders in the Middle East? I dunno." She said melodramatically.
He looked a little shocked.
"I wouldn't have done that!"
She laughed.
"I know that. But I just wanted to thank you for let......"
"Aaah, it was my pleasure." He said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I have never had a backpacker from Australia out here, in fact, it's a bit lonley, with just me and my dog."
Australia, eh? Well, if that's what he thinks, so be it...
"You can tell? How?" she asked in mock amazement
He laughed heartily, and threw his head back. He really was quite good looking, she thought. Pity he's not 20 years younger.
"Yeew kann teyll? Heeow?" he said, over-mimicking her voice, before dropping back to a soft English accent.
"It's quite obvious, but don't worry, I won't hold that against you."
"Oh."
There was an uncomfortable lull in conversation.
"I didn't catch your name last night" the man said eventually.
"I didn't catch yours either" she said quickly. "I'm Calypso."
Now here was another strange thing. People usually laughed, sniggered, looked puzzled, did a double take and asked her to repeat herself, or inquired into whether her parents were hippies when she introduced herself. This guy didn't even flinch. His answer explained why.
"I'm Remus"
She raised her eyebrows.
"Interesting name. Do you happen to have a brother named Romulus?" she said tartly
He blinked, and then the dog started sneezing.
"I think your dog is attempting to laugh" she said
"Do I smell something?" the man asked, ignoring the dog and walking up the stairs, careful to tread lightly on the dogs tail. The dog yelped and stopped sniggering.
"Ummm yeah, I made Chili Con Carne, I hope you don't mind, you didn't state any time you were getting back and I was...." She said hurridly as Remus walked throught the front door.
"That's great actually - I'm not much of a cook, and bacon and eggs gets boring after a while."
She smiled, relieved.
Over dinner, Calypso had a good look at her host, who had insisted on her staying for dinner. He was about 35, slim and tanned, with a mop of brown hair, streaked prematurely with gray. But that was not what fascinated Calypso, it was his eyes.
Light brown, they were pained and sorrow-filled, but intelligent and soft. Eyes were windows to the soul.
He, she noticed, was also having a good look at her.
Well, let the fun and games begin, she thought.
Swallowing her Chili Con Carne, she asked Remus,
"So, what do you do for a living?"
He looked startled, but only for a few seconds.
"I'm a professor at the local University" he said, taking another fork full of Chili Con Carne.
"Really? What do you teach?" She asked with enthusiasm
"Erm... Mathematics"
"Hey wow, that's what I'm doing at Uni now! What classes do you teach?"
He looked distinctly blank.
"Ummmm....all of them?" he said helplessly
Calypso struggled not to laugh or smile.
This man is the worst on-the-spot liar I have ever met, she thought.
"Oh wow, you must be really smart then. Can you possibly help me with some problems I am having trouble with? I can't seem to apply the Binomial Theorem to application questions that involve differentiation or integration and have values that...."
"Maybe later" he said quickly. "Right now I have some questions to ask you"
Calypso leant back on her chair. This was going to prove interesting, she thought.
The dog looked up from his plate of Chili Con Carne at the table.
"Why on earth are you here?"
"I got lost."
He raised his eyebrows.
She elaborated.
"I'm backpacking all around Europe, and I think I turned the map upside down or something. I dunno, I was supposed to end up in a small town that has a backpackers hostel."
The dog snorted into his plate, and blew chunks of meat all over the table. Remus gave him a withering stare. Calypso thought this was probably why normal people didn't have their dogs eat at the table with them.
"Sooooo.... What do you do back in Australia?" he said carefully
"I'm a student at Melbourne University, I'm doing a course in Applied Biology. Oh yeah, and I work at a supermarket during term, and on a sheep station during the holidays."
Remus looked disappointed, but was careful to hide it.
"Fascinating. So what's your last name?" he asked
"Grey" she said "And yours?"
"Lupin"
Calypso snorted.
"No, your real name please. I'm not stupid. And that is a real bad pun by the way. Remus Lupin my ass."
He looked very insulted.
"That is my real name." He said lightly.
"Oh" Calypso said, embarrassed, and flushing red.
"It's just that..."
"Enough about me, I thought we were talking about you. Are you named after Calypso, the nymph in Homer's Odyssey?" he said, saving the situation.
"No, actually after Callippus, a Greek Astronomer who died around the year 300 BC, and after the style of music" she corrected him gratefully.
He looked interested - apparently, even though he obviously did not teach Mathematics, he was an expert on Greek Astronomy. Conversation flowed after that, and dinner finished very quickly.
Things became interesting when she asked him what the name of the village was.
"Peachgrove Village" he said carefully but looking at her in a new light "How did you know that there was a village at the end of the road?"
So she told him what she had done that day, omitting a few minor details. But when she got to the men she met on the road, he jumped like had been given an electric shock.
"What!!" His jaw dropped.
Recovering slightly, he said politely,
"Do go on...."
When she had finished, he was looking at her with a strange look in his eye.
"Would you mind describing them please?"
So she did, the blond, commanding one, the ape-like one with long arms, the short one with a monobrow, and the one with cauliflower ears and an undercut, the slothful one with a crewcut, the one with black hair and over-developed arm muscles......Remus stopped her in mid sentence.
"That's enough, I know who they are now."
He looked thoughtful, and worried.
"Why did you lie, and not tell them where the house was?" he asked
"They said that they were your friends. Friends my ass. Your dog would have ripped their throats out if I didn't have a good hold on his fur." She said passionately.
"He should have." Remus in a voice suddenly seething with rage.
It was quiet for a few moments.
"You know when you arrived here," he said suddenly, voice normal again.
"Yeah..."
"I think you were suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. You were acting all weird, like you couldn't see the house...but then you could...." He tailed off.
"Yeah" she said. "That must have been it"
"Were you taking drugs then?" he asked suddenly, looking straight at her.
"Whaaaa!!!" she exclaimed, standing up violently, knocking the chair over with a resounding crash.
"Your eyes were all....weird....and I thought......that...." he suddenly looked ashamed.
She stared at him for a few seconds, and he looked hopelessly around.
"But you see, there is no other answer...."
Then Calypso did a strange thing. She tilted her head back and laughed.
She grabbed her chair from the ground, and sat back on it.
"OK, enough of this. I know that you aren't telling me the truth, and you know that I'm not telling you the truth, so let's get this over and one with," a broad grin on her face.
Remus gave her a cautious, quizzical look.
"I don't quite know what you mean..." he said unconvincingly, but then stopped.
Calypso had gestured with an outstretched hand to the empty plates in front of them. She twisted her wrist sharply, and the plates slowly rose up off the table to hang in mid-air. She stretched out her arm and batted the air, and.....the plates sailed the length of the kitchen to the sink, and with another twist of her wrist, dropped into the soapy water with a thud.
Calypso looked back to Remus, who was staring blankly at the sink. To her amusement, so was the dog.
"You thought I was a muggle, or a squib didn't you? Ha. You're a Mathematics teacher? Yeah, right, and I'm Mickey Mouse. It's totally obvious that you are a wizard. You should get yourself a better story. That one had so many holes, it was like a rabbit warren."
Yeah, well, I know this rambles - and wow is this one long! Whoops. I kinda got carried away!! OK, so it's totally obvious that the guy was Lupin. Duh. And there are no prizes for guessing who the dog is. Sorry, that was all SOO obvious. But if I feel inspired to write some more, there will be a lot more twists.
Oh, do I really have to do a disclaimer? Oh fine then.
Remus and all JK Rowling's stuff belongs to JK Rowling.
The lyrics from the song 'Calypso' belong to Spiderbait. (Hehehe did anyone spot that?) Review pleeease!! And I like flames, so feel free to incinerate me.