It was all too much for her. As soon as she saw the orange flames consuming the building she'd been working in for the past two years, Jackie knew she'd just hit rock bottom. For a couple of minutes, she neglected her duties, and even though she'd done it for Hannah, she still had to pay for it the hard way.
"Jackie?" It was Karen, looking even more devastated than she was. Of course, she was going to suffer as well, but this was probably her first tragedy. She was going to be able to move on sooner or later, but for Jackie, it was just another incident to add to her list. She even had the feeling that they might not be working together anymore.
"Don't, Karen! I know what you're going to say to me," she finally said.
"This wasn't anyone's fault, Jackie. They think it came from a broken wire…"
"It doesn't matter what started it! I should have gotten there right on time; I should have been there for the kids."
"Jackie, everyone made it out of the building safely. We were quite lucky, as a matter of fact."
Jackie then turned around, hoping to get at least one glance at the woman in white. But once again, she had vanished. Just when trouble was at their corner, she had to go. What a coward.
"Look, we'll settle things somehow. We'll find a place to set up as a temporary classroom, and…"
But Jackie couldn't hear her any longer. She felt as if just her presence was bringing bad luck to them. Perhaps if she left them all for good, the kids could go on with their classes without any incidents, Karen wouldn't have to deal with any more difficult aides, and Hannah would finally have some peace. Yes, that would certainly give her more ease.
So then, without thinking twice, without trying to explain her choices to Karen, she started to run. Recalling her PE courses, where the teacher was always hollering at her and threatening to fail her if she slowed down once again, and also her father, who used to chase her around their small apartment whenever he got into one of his drunken rages, sometimes holding a belt, but with his big hard hands always being his main weapon, Jackie just went on and on. As far as she could tell, no one was after her. However, the wailing of the children, particularly the sound of George crying out "Whe- where's Ms. Ty-Tyler and Ms. Lew-Lewis? Where ar-are th-they?" was something which she would continue hearing in her darkest moments many years later.
All of a sudden, she heard the sound of a honking car. Go ahead, she found herself thinking. If you run me over, at least I'll have met the same fate as Pete. Maybe we will finally be together again. She couldn't think about Rose at all at that moment. If it had all ended there, she would have not cared. Yet she still ran, though she did it without turning around even once.
And then, she hit the ground, falling flat on the sidewalk.
She heard a car door being slammed shut, and before she knew it, there was a man standing in front of her, offering her his hand. "Are you all right, ma'am?" he asked with concern. He had slightly wavy brown hair and wore a dark blue coat.
"I think so. I'm sorry about the trouble I caused you. I honestly don't know what had gotten into me."
"Don't apologize. I was the one who almost ran over you," the man responded, helping Jackie up. As she recovered her strength, she noticed he seemed to be closely inspecting her, most likely for injuries. Seeing that she was all right, he nodded and said, "You got lucky. You've got no injuries that I can spot.
"You look as if you're used to doing these sort of things," Jackie stated.
The man smiled and nodded. "You can say that again. I happen to be a doctor."
"Just my luck. Never liked that lot, to be honest, but you seem all right. What kind of doctor are you?"
"Well, I started out as a medical officer, but then went on to do bigger and better things."
Jackie laughed. "And what would that be?"
"For now, all I can say is that I got involved in research," the man responded.
It was only now that Jackie noticed two young girls coming out of the man's car. One of them looked about eight or nine years old, with curly shoulder-length dark hair and the kind of tan you see in people who are always at the beach. The other looked around Rose's age, with fair skin and long brown hair tied up into a braid. The two of them ran up to where the man and Jackie were standing with what appeared to be looks of panic.
"Doc, how is she?" the oldest girl asked. Jackie noticed that she spoke with a southern American accent.
"She seems to be adjusting quite well, Christine. No need to get too worried," the man replied, giving the girl a reassuring smile.
"But I saw her next to that burning building we passed by just a while ago. Clara noticed it too, right Clara?" and she turned to look at the younger girl.
"Yes, indeed," Clara answered.
The man now looked at Jackie with concern once again. "Is that true, ma'am? Did you come from that building?"
At that exact moment, they could all hear the sirens of the fire trucks which were starting to go by. Christine got what seemed to be a knowing expression on her face, as if she understood more than she was willing to reveal, and for a moment, she just stared at Jackie. Clara actually shivered, looking a little scared.
Upon looking at Christine, the man gently tugged her shoulder, making the girl look up with a shudder. He gave what seemed to be some kind of signal, and for a while, Christine whispered something into his ear. The man listened closely for a while, then started whispering something back to her. Christine responded by nodding and then turning to Clara, saying, "Come on, Clara. Let's get back in the car." But right before following her companion back in, Christine shook Jackie's hand with a bright smile on her face. "I hope you stay well, ma'am, and sorry about what happened at the school."
"Okay, Christine, that's enough. Get back in the car. We'll be leaving in a minute," the man said with a tone that sounded both cheerful and firm. Christine finally said, "Okay, Doc. Whatever you say," and rushed back in with Clara, who was looking around with that worried expression still on her face.
"So, who are those girls?" Jackie asked.
The man smiled "They're actually my patients. Christine is from Florida, while Clara doesn't live too far from London. Good girls, but a little too curious for their own good."
"So you work with people from the states?"
"I happen to live there nine months of the year, as a matter of fact." Then, looking at the ambulance that was still close by, he said, "Are you sure you're all right? Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"No, sir. I think I can handle it on my own."
"Okay. Would you like a ride back home?"
"No, thank you. I have my own car not far from here."
"All right." Then, looking at the girls in the car for a while, he said, "But if you ever need help with something that's… well… out of the ordinary, here's my card," and he handed her a small card which only had a number in it.
"Thank you, sir," Jackie said, feeling rather odd. "By the way, what's your…"
Before she could finish, she noticed that the man had immediately gotten back in the car, driving away a couple of seconds later.
Two hours later, Jackie found herself driving around a posh neighborhood that was about a five-minute drive from Rose's school. She could have gotten there sooner if she hadn't had to stop by at a café and have some coffee while trying to take in all that she had just witnessed.
The Rolling Meadows Nursery School was gone.
Rose's school had experienced some strange blackout around the same time that the fire occurred. She'd learned that Rose had fainted seconds before the blackout had occurred. All the students and teachers had then been escorted to the Catholic preparatory school which was right next to the school. It was here where Jackie had found a lot of parents coming in to pick up their kids.
Most of this had been explained to her by a nun named Sister Joan, who happened to be the school nurse and had been treating Rose before some friends of her schoolmate Mickey had come to pick her up. She went to say how Rose had been taken into her office by her teacher and a girl named Heather Marsh while was fully unconcious, and how she seemed to have a quick recovery afterwards.
"All I can say, Ms. Tyler, is that I've never seen something like what happened your daughter before, and you should try to get help for her as soon as possible," Sister Joan had told her. After this, she wrote down the address of a couple by the name of Tom and Violet Marsh (even adding in that they were in the music business), and then said goodbye to her, offering to pray for both her and her daughter, but also reminding her that she couldn't depend on miracles alone.
An hour later, Jackie was looking rather dizzily at this part of London which seemed so foreign to her despite having lived in the city her whole life. The coffee had settled her nerves a little, but there was little she could do to stop herself from feeling nervous. She had already noticed some of the residents frowning as they looked at her old car, and she worried about what the people whom her daughter was staying would be like.
So she was surprised when a man with unruly brown hair, an oversized Pink Floyd shirt, and ragged jeans, whom she could only assume to be Tom Marsh, answered the door. He smiled at her and said in an Irish accent, "Hi there, Mrs. Tyler. Come on in. Rose has been waiting for you."
They walked across what seemed to Jackie like a posh junkyard. She could see paper and magazines littering up a fancy velvet carpet in the living room, and the glass coffee table was covered with paperback books, cassettes, and a bag of crisps. On the walls, you could find priceless works of art, including a lot of Van Gough and Monet, along with posters of many musicians, ranging from the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and Bob Dylan, to Blondie, Depeche Mode, and Michael Jackson. Then, of course, were all the portraits of family and friends, with some looking as if they came from the nineteenth century.
"Wow. This seems a little unusual," was all Jackie could say.
Tom laughed. "Yeah. We hear that a lot when we get visitors."
"One of the nuns at your daughter's school said that you and your wife are in the music business. Isn't that something which would normally be frowned upon by at a place like that?" She then blushed, feeling as if that was something which might be seen as offensive, but Tom only laughed at this remark. "You've obviously never met a nun before. They're not all as serious and prudish as some people make them out to be."
"Well, I wasn't raised in a religious household, so all I know is what I hear."
"I understand. My wife Violet was raised Anglican, and when we were about to get married in the early seventies, I heard every possible objection you can imagine from her folks. The conflict in Northern Ireland didn't help make things any easier."
"Well, religion aside, this doesn't really seem the kind of place where people like you would want to settle down in. The neighbors looked at me as if I was an alien when I drove by"
Tom only looked through the smoggy windows and shook his head. "Sorry to say that a lot of the folks here are like that. Pretty snobbish and arrogant. But we're lucky enough to have a friend living here as well. From our university years, as a matter of fact."
"Good for you," Jackie responded. "Now, where's Rose?"
"Over here. The poor girl seems to have taken it all pretty well so far. Seeing as how it's her birthday, she's just hoping to forget all the fear from before and enjoy the rest of the day as much as possible. My kids, Heather and Eric, have been really nice to her, and Mickey is just as great as always."
And that was just what Rose was doing. She was sitting in the large dining room table eating pizza and laughing at something Mickey was saying. Red stains could be seen in her black school jumper and parts of her face and hair. Beside them sat a slightly overweight blond girl in a skintight black blouse and an older, slender boy in a grey sweatshirt, whom Jackie assumed were Tom's children. They both appeared to be trying to amuse the younger kids, and it seemed that their efforts were successful.
"Mummy! You're here," Rose called when she finally saw her mother.
Jackie gave her daughter a kiss. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart. I know it's all been tough today, but it's not over yet. We can still celebrate your birthday."
"Yes. I hope we can," was all Rose said.
"Am I still going to go over with you guys?" Mickey asked.
"Of course, dear. Everything's still going according to plan."
And it would. The events of today just couldn't change that.
Just then, Tom walked up to her, saying, "You left your bag in the hallway, Mrs. Tyler. Thought I should give it back to you."
"Of course. Thanks." But upon getting it, she ended up pulling out some items which she couldn't recall having placed in there before.
First, there was a bottle which seemed like those which held medicine. It held a green-looking liquid and came with a label which simply said ESR.
Then, there was a picture which looked as if it was done by a young child. On the left, there was a little blond girl, and on the right, there was a picture of what appeared to be a large dog. There was an arrow between the two figures, and at the bottom, this was written:
Do you know the bad wolf?
And immediately, Jackie remembered how that girl named Clara had gotten behind her as Christine had been shaking her hand, and how she had been whispering something to that man before coming up to her.
And then that card. In case anything out of the ordinary happened.
Perhaps she was going to have to use it after all.
But not now. It was still Rose's birthday, after all.
