Chapter Nine

First on the List

There were three homeless shelters across Eastbourne, each owned by a different charity. One was to the West where there were mostly residences spread out. Another was to the East, closer to the shore. The third – and the one Tanzi decided was a good first choice to search for the homeless man – stood near the railway line. She figured that if he had a shelter underneath the bridge by the tracks, then perhaps he visited this shelter for food and other such things.

The shelter was a modest affair. Nothing more than a squat grey building in a line of other such buildings, accessed by a thin road that was only big enough for one car to fit through. Over-filled wheelie bins stood outside the various buildings and cardboard boxes were piled against the stone walls. It certainly wasn't the fanciest place in Eastbourne, that much was certain.

Sending a quick text to Ruby, Tanzi looked at the door as she waited for a response. This whole thing was still very strange to her. The visions and the death she had experienced… it felt almost like she was hanging on by a thread. And without Ruby here to offer her support it was certainly tougher than she had expected. But Tanzi wasn't any stranger to tough situations – after all, that was the whole reason she had moved to Eastbourne in the first place.

Her phone buzzed as Ruby responded with a confirmation. Tanzi drew in a breath and opened the door into the shelter.

She was immediately hit with the noise of people chatting and speaking to each other throughout the surprisingly large room. It was nearly a hall, with tables spread out over the wooden panelled floor. Sitting at these tables were men and woman – and some children – eating from bowls and looking like they were having the time of their lives.

"Hi there!" An enthusiastic lady greeted her at the door. The lady looked up and down Tanzi, obviously realising that she wasn't here for a hot meal. "Can I help?"

"...Yes. I'm looking someone… uh, a family friend." Tanzi still couldn't take her eyes off the friendly scene in front of her. Somehow, she had expected a homeless shelter to be a miserable affair but that wasn't the fact at all. The server behind a window handed out bowls of presumably soup or broth to anyone that lined up. Then they sat down and joined in on various conversations. It actually seemed like they were one big family. Although there were a few people dotted here and there, sitting alone and eating slowly from their bowls.

"Oh?" The lady obviously seemed bemused at this fact.

Tanzi suddenly spied a familiar figure in the back corner of the room, his back hunched over. With the black hair and thin frame, Tanzi had no doubt that it was the homeless man she had seen in her vision. A sudden flash of the car crushing him span through her mind but she quickly shook that image away. "There he is."

The lady glanced to the man and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Daniel? He's not really a talker, that one. How did you know him again?"

"My father knew him," Tanzi quickly spun a tale off the top of her head. "He's always regretted not being able to help Daniel and recently wanted to contact him again. Only… my father is somewhat of a… awkward man in that regard. I told him to come here himself but he was too scared Daniel might judge him. So I've come to deliver the message myself," Tanzi shrugged, not feeling happy about lying but knowing that this could be important.

"I see, I see…" The lady nodded with a soft smile. "I understand. I hope Daniel will be happy to hear from his friend. Just… he sometimes gets in a bit of a crabby mood. Don't pay it any mind."

"I won't, thank you. Am I okay to…" Tanzi trailed off, motioning towards the homeless man she now knew was called Daniel.

"Of course."

"Thank you," Tanzi started towards the corner slowly, quickly pulling out her phone to text Ruby. Half of her wanted to just turn around and wait outside but it was a bit too late for that now. The lady would just think her suspicious. Besides, if she could talk to this Daniel now maybe it would help them later.

Ruby stood outside the very modern looking building that made up one of the few buildings on the Sussex Downs campus. The top was rimmed with glass windows while the bottom was made of classic red brick. She was panting slightly, having nearly jogged all the way to the college. Ruby had still not got around to getting her driving license.

She knew there was a countdown before the bus driver's time came and Ruby was determined to reach him before anything happened. She was worried about Tanzi but she was confident that nothing would happen. After all, Death was focused on the bus driver at the moment, not Tanzi or the homeless man.

Ruby stepped into the entrance of the reception building and made her way over to the desk opposite the main glass doors. She smiled at the receptionist as he looked up from the computer. "Hi there."

"Good afternoon," the receptionist named Kyle (as the nameplate said – a rather fancy one at that, Ruby thought) greeted Ruby. "How may I help?"

"I'm actually looking for somebody." Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "You see, this morning I was involved in a little bit of a car accident. Nothing serious, thankfully. Just a bump. But, well, the man who hit me is denying that he ever did which, well, really stinks. However, I saw a minibus with Sussex Downs written on the side. So I figured I'd give it a chance and ask if you knew of the bus driver? He would have seen it, I have no doubt."

Kyle the receptionist pursed his lips in thought. "A minibus did go out this morning to help out with a class visit but I am afraid I cannot give out staff information. The best I can do is set up a meeting with the head teacher and then we can see where that will lead."

"Perfect!" Ruby smiled. "Should I just wait here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry…" The receptionist smiled apologetically. "His schedule is filled up for the next two days. I can set up a meeting for Wednesday."

"That's too late!" Ruby said unintentionally loud. She coughed lightly. "I mean… this is kind of a delicate situation. If I can't prove that this man hit my car, then I'm going to have to somehow find the money to pay for the damages."

"I'm sorry. Wednesday is the soonest it could happen. Otherwise, I cannot help."

Ruby just nodded slowly. "Okay, okay… thank you. Don't worry about the meeting. I'll figure out something else. Thank you for your help."

"Have a good day," the receptionist called out as Ruby left the reception building.

On either side of the doors were a pair of benches and Ruby sat down heavily letting out a breath. How could she find the bus driver? For all she knew, they could have gone home and this was all just a goose chase.

"…I hear you are looking for a bus driver."

Ruby looked up to see a student walk up to her with long brown hair hanging freely to her waist. Her chocolate brown eyes looked to Ruby with a strange intelligence to it. "How'd you hear that?" Ruby asked. Considering this student had just walked up to the reception building, there was no way she could have overheard the conversation.

"Jeffrey Howarth. That's who you are looking for." The girl said, offering her hand. "And I'm Paige Calloway."

"…Paige?" Ruby repeated. Could it be, the girl from Tanzi's vision? The girl who had shown leadership qualities and the girl who Ruby had sacrificed her life to save.

"You sound familiar with me," Paige said, raising her eyebrow.

"It's… nothing," Ruby quickly stood up and shook Paige's hand. "I'm Ruby. This Jeffrey Howarth drove a minibus this morning?"

"He did indeed," Paige said with a knowing smile.

"…I know I'm a stranger and all but I kind of need to find Jeffrey. I don't suppose you'd know where to find him?"

"Follow me," Paige said, sticking her hands in the front pocket of her hooded sweatshirt, walking around the side of the building. Ruby quickly followed, still feeling a strange feeling about this Paige Calloway. Ruby watched her hair swish back and forth, wondering again how Paige knew she was looking for Jeffrey. At least she seemed to know where he was and wasn't beating around the bush asking questions.

Ruby's phone buzzed and she quickly looked to see a text saying Tanzi was about to head into one of the shelters. Ruby texted back a confirmation before slipping the phone back into her pocket. Paige had led them past the reception building into a smaller car park. She turned to Ruby. "This is staff parking. That car is Jeffrey's, meaning he is still here. I would heavily bet he's in the staff room. To get there quickly head through that door, up the stairs to your left and the door immediately in front of you."

"…Thank you." Ruby said. Paige was no nonsense about the information.

"Don't. You're going to have to answer my questions once you do whatever it is you're in a rush to do." Paige said.

"…Of course." Ruby started towards the door but stopped when she noticed Paige was following her. "What are you doing?"

"You're going to need a back-up plan if someone catches you." Paige smiled and snaked her arm through Ruby's own. "As far anyone is concerned, you're my older sister. Come on, let's go."

Jeffrey Howarth was the only person in the staff room, sitting on the old computer set up in the corner of the room. It was probably as old as he was. Jeffrey cracked out a joint in his arm as he waited for a response and leaned back in his chair, trying to ignore the chug chug of the old ceiling fan hovering above the staff room.

It was strange for him to try this online dating thing but his niece said that it would be the perfect thing for him. Jeffrey had his doubts. It had been twenty years since he had lost Deirdre, and online dating felt like something young people did. Breaching seventy, Jeffrey was old-fashioned and believing more in talking to people face-to-face. But he had gone with his niece's suggestion and looking into this online dating thing and was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a lot of people just like him.

Though strangely enough, it wasn't the people his age that interested him. Perhaps it was because they reminded him too much of Deirdre, or perhaps that minor taboo of seeing someone younger excited him, but Jeffrey had found a lady named Isadora who was thirty-four. At first it had started with harmless conversation. She actually seemed interested in what it was like dating at his age and Jeffrey was more than happy to talk.

The more he talked with Isadora that more he realised that she had just a complicated life as he had. She had admitted that the picture of the dating site was an old one of her and that she looked different nowadays, although she had never fully elaborated in what way. Jeffrey had found out she was in an accident of some kind and thus presumed she had some kind of injury but he wasn't going to press. He was just happy to talk and share his feelings, something he hadn't been able to do since Deirdre and something he never thought he would be able to do again considering his age.

Jeffrey glanced to his coffee cup and frowned at the lack of coffee inside. With a bing the response from Isadora came back.

Isadora33:- I can't see you yet, Jeffrey. It is not time.

Jeffrey frowned for a moment before slowly typing in a reply.

JHowarth:- I understand. I just want you to know that when you are ready, I am ready. We all have our scars – physical and mental alike. I think you are very brave and I would love to be able to speak to you face to face.

Satisfied with this answer, Jeffrey stood and moved across the room with his coffee cup in hand, heading straight under the rickety ceiling fan. He was doing this in the staff room at the school because he didn't have a computer at home. He had never got around to getting one and figured that if the school had one, why should he need one? He could also go to the library, though that was too public. At least with the staff room he knew when the staff would come and go to a certain degree.

He put his cup under the coffee machine and pulled the switch, watching the brown liquid swirl around and around. He got lost in the movement for a moment, just watching the liquid turn around itself. Could he keep doing this with Isadora? Was this nothing more than an old man looking to the past instead of the future? But what was the future? Jeffrey was astutely aware that he didn't have long left on this Earth. Was this thing with Isadora just a way to feel young again?

"Ah!" Jeffrey sucked in a breath as the hot coffee spilled over the side of the cup onto his hand. He drew back in pain, cursing himself under his breath. Can't even make a cup of coffee without burning yourself anymore… Jeffrey heard the bing of the computer and turned around.

He moved towards the computer when the chugging of the fan suddenly became a sharp crack-crack sound. Jeffrey glanced upwards the see the whole fan wobbling back and forth on its structures. His brain seemed to work very slowly. He knew he ought to move but his body didn't seem to want to respond.

"WATCH OUT!"

Something heavy collided into Jeffrey's side, sending him tumbling painfully to the ground and sending the cup smashing against the floor. At the same time there was a heavy CRASH as the fan detached itself from its joints and smashed against the floor, one of the blades sinking into the old wood, inches from his leg. Jeffrey turned to the side to see a woman with bright red hair panting, looking strangely triumphant. Jeffrey wasn't quite sure what to make of this but knew that the woman had just saved his life.

"Just in time…" She breathed out, look strangely relieved.

"Here," At the second voice Jeffrey turned to see Paige Calloway offering her hand. What she was doing here was anybodies guess.

"Thanks," Jeffrey accepted the hand and pulled himself up with a grunt. His body ached and his back felt like it might bruise. He looked to Paige and the red-haired woman, who had stood up. "Would you like to tell me just what is going on?"

The red-haired woman took a deep breath and slowly leaned against the desk. "It's… complicated. But I'll do my best to explain. Though you may want to sit down..."