ISBN 9789899734869-28
2003 Words
'What's happening?' asked Lana as she gasped at the sight of him changing.
'I'm an old man again,' he whispered. 'I've lost my youth. I can't be dying. I'm already dead,' he said mournfully as he faded from them.
'Don't go, Josiah,' Emma yelled, 'Don't leave us again,' she said, almost sobbing.
He returned momentarily to say, 'Don't worry, I want to be alone for a while, that's all. I won't leave. Whenever you want me to come back, call. I promise not to leave Praxos,' he said with the saddest smile she'd ever seen before he turned his back on them and disappeared into the air.
When he was gone, Emma's eyes filled with tears and she sobbed into Diarmuid's shoulder, 'What have we done to him? What have we done?'
CHAPTER 34
Determined more than ever to help poor old Josiah Grimshaw come to terms with what had happened to him and find his true love so he could cross over, Emma and Lana were now on a mission. Mission Josiah.
Meanwhile, the other Watchers spent time with Eleanor and their Mentors, detailing what had happened at Abney Park that night, describing the Skulls in as much detail as possible. Occasionally, Eleanor would appear and ask Lana and Emma questions, but she understood that their need to complete their own task was much more important to them at that time.
They spent hours online researching the Great Storm of 1953 and, although they had failed to discover Emelia's true identity, they were shocked to uncover that on the night of 31st January all those years earlier, all hell had broken loose around the coasts of England, Holland, Belgium and Scotland. There were nearly 2000 deaths in Holland alone, over 300 in the UK, 28 in Belgium and more than 230 people died on board sea craft in the North Sea after many fishing trawlers sank. The Princess Victoria ferry was lost in the Irish Sea with 133 fatalities. Thirty thousand people were evacuated in England and 30,000 animals drowned. It was the mother of all storms.
Emma couldn't stop herself from sobbing while they read and so Lana kept her hand across her sister's shoulders in an almost maternal fashion.
'Does it have the names of the dead anywhere?' asked Emma, in between sobs.
'Not that I've found so far. But I'll keep looking...' answered Lana sadly.
Several hours later, the girls sat disappointed and tired when Eleanor approached them quietly.
'Girls, I have some news. I've been in touch with some of our special contacts who have managed to obtain a list of the victims of the Great Flood. I'm afraid to say that, of all those who perished on Andilyse Island, nobody matched that of this Emelia character. We also checked the list of those from England, Scotland, Belgium and Holland, and there is no match for her anywhere.'
'Do you think she's still alive?' asked Lana hopefully.
Eleanor shook her head, 'I think it's unlikely, due to how she vanished. It was during the night of the storm; she was on a small island in the middle of the North Sea. There was nowhere for her to go.'
'I don't understand,' sighed Emma. 'What could have happened to her?' she asked.
'I'll leave you to ponder that question,' she said with a smile before turning and walking away.
'I need to stretch my legs,' Lana yawned. 'Shall we go for a walk?'
Emma nodded, and the two stood up, stretched and headed to the elevator.
Outside, the day was cold and blustery, the pavements a little slippery after a summer shower. Linking arms, the girls sauntered down the road, each deep in thought about the elusive Emelia.
'Maybe she faked her own death?' suggested Lana.
'Really, Sis, that's the best you can come up with? If she'd done that, she'd have made sure that her name was on the victim's list, surely? And why would she do that? You can tell by those photos that she was so happy with Joe.'
'Yeah, I guess,' mumbled Lana in response. 'Maybe she was a spy?'
Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head, her face breaking into a little smile.
'For who? The Russians? Americans? Germans? It was 1953; the war was over.'
'I suppose,' sighed Lana.
As they walked along the pavement, barely noticing where they were going, Emma finally looked up and realised they were right outside the British Museum.
'Ooh, look Lana. Shall we go in?'
'Yeah, it might do us good to take our minds off Joe and Emelia for a while,' she said as they turned to face the grand building and walked up the stairs and through the entrance.
'Wow,' uttered Emma, 'It's seriously impressive.'
'Yeah, I guess so.'
As the girls made their way through the museum, room after room, taking in the majestic architecture of the building and the historical delights on offer, Lana soon grew tired and bored, moving along quicker than Emma had the chance to read about any of the exhibits.
'Lana, let me just read this,' she said time after time as Lana stood, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.
'Can we go now?' asked Lana eventually. 'I'm bored stiff.'
Shaking her head, Emma smiled, 'God you're so predictable, Lana. What do you want to do, go shopping?' she said sarcastically.
'Now there's a thought,' Lana replied with a laugh. 'Oh come on, I was only joking. There's only so much history you can take in in one day.'
'No, actually there isn't. This place is like a treasure trove, it's amazing. I could spend days in here.'
'Not with me, you couldn't.'
Emma raised her eyebrows and laughed. 'Too right.'
Lana pouted and put her hands on her hips just as an attractive young man strolled past, cheekily smiling at her.
'Erm, actually, maybe we could stay a little longer,' she said as she watched him stop over by a North American feather bonnet, reading the facts with a smirk still on his face.
Emma just shook her head and continued to pore over the artefacts as Lana wandered over to him.
'Hi,' she said, leaning against the wall.
'Hi yourself.'
'Ooh, you're American,' she breathed.
The young man laughed.
'I expect you already know about all this stuff,' she said, pointing to the North American artefacts in front of them.
'Yeah, you could say that. But you can never tire of this kind of history and culture, can you? This is one awesome museum you guys have here. If I lived here, I'd never want to leave,' he smiled, revealing a set of bright white teeth that wouldn't go amiss on a toothpaste advert.
Instantly put off, Lana's shoulders drooped.
'Yeah, I guess,' she said, adding, 'Sorry, I really need to get back to my sister. See you around,' she said without even giving him a chance to speak.
'I don't believe you,' Emma said, so embarrassed that she dragged her away from the North American exhibition and far away from the poor guy, heading into the Asian exhibition where a massive group of tourists were circling a tour guide.
'Come on, let's get out of here. It's getting too busy, and I don't want to bump into that poor guy again. How embarrassing, Lana,' she sighed as they rounded the corner without looking where they were going, smack right into a woman who appeared to be an employee of the museum.
'Oh sorry,' said Emma. 'Are you okay?' She asked. As she moved her eyes from the women's feet up towards her face, Emma suddenly felt like she'd been slapped. Standing in front of them was the dread-locked woman from Abney Park.
'I'm fine. I'm fine. Don't worry. Sorry I'm in a hurry. Must dash,' she said in a very posh English accent as she rushed away without even glancing at them.
'Th...th... that's her from the graveyard,' whispered Lana. 'What is she doing here?'
'More importantly, do you think she recognised us?'
Lana shook her head. 'She didn't even look at us. Do you really think she works here? It's just so... weird. And did you see her eyes? They weren't all yellow and glowing this time, they were just, you know, dull.'
'Yeah, I know. Let's get out of here and tell Eleanor. She'd want to know.'
As they exited the building, thunderous clouds hovered overhead threatening to empty their load. The sisters looked up just as a great clap of thunder echoed throughout the sky before droplets of rain began to drop one by one on top of them. As they walked huddled beneath their jackets held over their heads, the rain gradually became heavier and heavier until their small steps turned into a sprint. They rounded the corner and headed down the road until they reached the external front door with the Praxos emblem on it.
The moment they arrived, it was pulled open by Wilbur who stood waiting with a couple of towels for them.
'Aww thanks, Wilbur,' said Lana as they roughly towel dried themselves and followed him through the house, taking a different route this time. Eventually, they found themselves in an old kitchen.
'Where did this room come from? We never found it the first time we were here?' asked Emma in amazement as she slowly walked around the large room, fingering the old fashioned aga covered in dust.
Wilbur smiled secretively, 'There's lots here at Praxos that you haven't seen yet, ladies. Come on, follow me,' he said as they ducked down and walked into a tiny pantry. When he closed the door behind them, the pantry transformed into an elevator, and they quickly began their descent to HQ.
'That's amazing,' sighed Emma. 'A pantry lift. That's just cool.'
After Wilbur left, taking their damp towels with him, the girls walked into the main hall and spotted Liam sitting beneath the angel statue with his computer on his lap.
'Hey you,' said Lana with a grin as she flopped down beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm lazily around her and carried on what he was doing. Lana closed her eyes.
Emma, feeling like a gooseberry, just stood for a moment and took in the beauty of the statue above her when she suddenly realised something.
Slapping her forehead with her hand, she turned to look at Lana and said, 'It's been right in front of us the whole time.'
Opening one of her eyes, Lana raised her eyebrows, 'What has?'
'Emelia. What if she's an angel?'
Slowly lifting her head from Liam's shoulder, Lana gently bit her lip and thought about it before nodding. Climbing back up, she and Emma stood side by side, looking at the statue.
'What do you reckon?' asked Emma. 'Do you think it's possible?'
'It's more than possible. It would explain a heck of a lot. We need to get our heads around this paranormal malarkey, you know. We have to stop thinking like humans,' laughed Lana. 'If you know what I mean?' she said, knitting her eyebrows together with her finger in mouth.
Emma nodded, 'Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Come on.'
Turning away, the girls excitedly ran towards Eleanor's office, knocking and waiting for a response before entering.
Eleanor stood facing the huge screen with her arms crossed, watching a crime unfolding. An armed man had punched a young woman and dragged her into his car.
Lana and Emma both stood with their mouths agape.
'Shouldn't we do something?' asked Emma.
Eleanor turned and smiled at them briefly.
'Don't worry. It's all under control,' she said, turning back to the screen just as a woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere and dragged the man out of his car window. She grabbed his g*n and punched him in the face with it. She then handcuffed his hands behind his back and turned her attention to the poor, stunned woman who sat cowering in the back seat.
After a few moments of coaxing, the woman gingerly climbed out, tears streaming down her face. Her defender hugged her, said a few more words, turned to look at the secret hidden camera and gave a thumbs-up signal before disappearing, leaving the shocked woman alone to call the police.
'Wow... was she... one of us?' asked Lana as Eleanor nodded and finally turned her attention to the girls.
- Writer
