The Morgan Sisters Complete Series Boxed Set

ISBN 9789899734869-7

'Hang on, wait up!' Yelled Scott and Lana who followed behind her. Just as they caught up, a few spots of rain began to fall, and Emma shivered as she looked up towards the sky. It was getting darker and darker, the clouds moving overhead far too fast for her liking.

As they scrambled up the pathway, Emma ran across the grass as fast as she could until she reached her bike. But the rain, which had started lightly, was threatening to unleash its force on top of them. Scott and Lana shared a familiar look.

'Let's head for the church,' Scott suggested, 'and wait out the storm'.

So for the next hour and a half, Emma sat huddled in between her best friend and her sister, inside the cold little church, listening to the rain beat down on the slate roof as the thunder clapped overhead. Attempting to take her mind off her fear, the others talked about the bizarre events that had been happening.

One of the things that Emma loved about the church was that when the sun did shine, the light that came through the stained glass windows was beautiful. She was so pleased therefore when the clouds finally moved on from overhead, heading back out to to the North Sea, and the church was suddenly lit up by all kinds of gorgeous colours and patterns.

Her face lit up along with it as she stood and stretched her legs, turning to Scott and Lana with a smile. Neither of them said a word; they just followed her to the open door and looked out at the most spectacular rainbow that stood proudly across the island.

Emma took a deep breath. Even though she was frightened of the heavy rain, she appreciated what was left behind - a scent of freshness filled the air and a slight chill carried across the ground.

'Come on, let's head home,' Lana said as she gently pushed her sister out into the fresh air.

They climbed onto their bikes, sheltered from the water in the entrance to the church and pushed themselves away, waving to Father Hawkins who had been solemnly walking around the church grounds under a large umbrella which he closed as they disappeared out of sight.

What they didn't see was Joe, standing in the distance beside his freshly laid grave, looking out across the sea sadly.

CHAPTER 12

It was time.

Emma was sweating profusely, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and nausea rolled around in her stomach, threatening to erupt at any moment. Audrey had done everything she possibly could to try and calm her stomach down, but nothing had worked, not even the ginger tea. Emma would simply have to put up with it. She would have to face her most significant fear head-on.

They sat at the port, waiting for the ferry that would take them directly into London. On it was their father's friend and former colleague, Declan Alexander. Emma and Lana would be entirely in his care for the next few weeks, and they had no idea what to expect. They knew nothing about him, other than that he and Patrick worked in the police force together a few years ago. Their parents hadn't even told them what they would be doing for work experience.

'We'll leave it up to Declan to explain when you get there,' they'd said mysteriously.

Lana glanced across at her sister as they sat with Scott sipping a hot cup of tea inside the little terminal building, while Patrick and Audrey took Lucy and Greg for ice cream.

'I still can't believe you're leaving me to go to London while I stay here and do work experience on my own,' sulked Scott.

Lana was beaming, 'I know! Isn't it awesome?' she laughed.

He raised his eyebrows.

'Well, at least you're going to be doing something fun. It's not like you're going to be working in your parents' shop.'

'Fun? I'm going to be working on the Nutters' farm. How is that fun?'

'Aww come on Scott, you love animals,' Lana said, jabbing him on his shoulder, 'Besides, Charlie and Keira are lovely. They'll go easy on you.'

Charlie and Keira Nutter ran the island's largest organic farm.

'Yeah, they might go easy on me, but I doubt Lottie will,' he said blushing slightly.

Suddenly, Emma stood up, her hands covering her mouth, and she rushed towards the toilets.

Scott raised his eyebrows again, 'That's the third time she's thrown up since we've been here.'

'I know, I'm sure she'll be all right,' said Lana a little unconvincingly, 'I'd better go and check.'

In the bathroom, Emma was heaving inside one of three little cubicles.

Lana opened the door to the one next door, stood on the toilet and peered over to look at her sister.

'Are you okay, Sis?' she whispered. Emma responded with a groan before she flushed the loo, grabbed a handful of toilet paper, wiped her mouth and put the toilet seat down so she could sit.

'No!' yelled Lana, making Emma stop abruptly, mid-crouch. 'Don't sit on it. It's a public toilet. It's disgusting.'

'I don't care,' groaned Emma as she continued to crouch before her black jeans made contact with the toilet seat cover.

Lana's face screwed up in disgust and she silently gagged. 'Come on, Sis. Come on out of here. We're not going to see Scott for a few weeks, don't you want to spend our last half-hour with him?'

'Of course I do, but I feel so sick Lana...'

'Nonsense. This is completely and utterly psychological, Em. You're making your body sick because of this irrational fear you've got going on. You need to control it, and you won't feel sick again.'

'Tell her to go out and get some fresh air,' said a familiar voice from the third cubicle.

'Yeah, I tried that earlier, but she wouldn't go out,' replied Lana.

'Huh? What are you talking about?' asked Emma.

'Oh, it's Joe. He says you should go outside and get some fresh air.'

'Joe? Is Joe in here? These are the ladies toilets. Tell him to get out.'

'He can hear you, Emma. Besides, I think he's gone,' said Lana as she hopped down from the toilet and checked that there was nothing gross on the bottom of her shoes. Content that they were as clean as they could be, she pulled open the cubicle door and looked down at her sister.

'Come on you; Joe has a point, let's go outside. It'll make you feel better. Being stuck in a public loo certainly isn't going to. In fact, it's making me feel nauseous. Come here,' she said as she pulled her to the sink, grabbed a load of paper and used it to cover the tap before she turned it on and gently dabbed Emma's forehead with some cold water.

'Ooh that's nice,' she said with her first smile that day. 'Thanks, Sis. I'm sorry for being like this. I wish I could help it, but I don't think I can. But don't worry, I'll do it. Just bear with me, okay?'

Lana was touched and smiled, 'I knew you could do it.'

The sound of an approaching ferry horn welcomed them as they stepped outside with Scott in tow. Emma breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the smells coming from the sea, focussing instead on the fresh air.

'It's here, girls,' said Patrick as the rest of the family made their way towards them. 'How are you feeling? Do you think you'll be all right, love?'

Emma nodded at her father and smiled weakly as he gently ruffled her hair like she was a child. She rolled her eyes at him, and he laughed. 'Oh look, there's Declan,' he said as he pointed towards a very handsome guy who was waving energetically at them from the approaching boat. A boat that appeared to be rather small for a ferry, thought Emma as she gulped, trying to calm her nerves.

As it docked, the family watched as just two cars drove off the ramp and onto the island. Over the tannoy came the announcement that the ferry would be leaving in precisely 30 minutes.

Declan walked confidently towards them with the biggest grin plastered across his face.

'Patrick, my man!' he said, making the kids giggle, 'Great to see you, mate. How have you been?'

'Really good, look at you, you've barely aged at all. That London air is still doing you some good,' Patrick said after they'd hugged each other.

'Wow, Audrey, you look exactly the same as last time I saw you. You look like an angel,' he said as he leaned forward and kissed her on her cheek.

'And you, Mister... you must be Greg. We've never met, but I'd have known you anywhere. You're a chip off the old block, you are,' he said as he shook Greg's hand, 'and what a mighty grip you've got there,' Greg's chest visibly rose as he enjoyed the compliment.

'And this little lady is obviously Lucy Jo. Well, Miss Lucy Jo, you look just like a little angel with them golden curls. You're going to be a real heart breaker, you are, aren't you?'

Lucy giggled and blushed, nodding. The rest of the family burst out laughing.

'Well at least she knows she is,' chuckled Audrey.

Finally, Declan turned to the two elder girls and held out his hand, shaking Lana's hand first before moving over to Emma's. 'Lana Beth and Emma Jane. It's an honour to meet you both finally. Your Dad's told me a lot about you, and I have to say, me and Saleena are certainly looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I hope you are too?'

Lana nodded with a huge grin, while a familiar nauseous feeling overcame Emma and she put her hand over her mouth.

Declan glanced across at Patrick who said, 'Emma's the one with the fear of water,' just as her face began to change colour, again.

'Oh right,' he replied and stepped towards her. Moving her hand away from her face, she looked up at him.

'Look at me, Emma. Focus on me, don't think about the nausea, just concentrate on something else, anything else. Think about a real nice memory, that's it; keep thinking until you've got that memory stuck firmly in your mind.'

Lana smirked at Scott who was trying not to laugh.

'That's it, have you got it. Are you visualising it now?'

Emma nodded as she thought about her 15th birthday when she'd been given a brand new road bike in matt black, with purple tape on the handgrips and purple tyres. She remembered the first time she'd gone out on it, on her own, cycling down to the nearest wind turbine, where she'd stopped and sat for ages, just admiring her new bike with the whooshing sounds constantly whirring behind her. She sighed happily at the thought.

'Now, pinch your thumb and your forefinger together, like this. Do this whenever you start to feel dodgy again, okay, and it will pass. Your mind will be filled with thoughts of that good memory instead. How do you feel now?'

Emma's face changed, the nausea practically gone. She broke out into a grin, 'How did you do that? That's amazing,' she said in awe as Patrick and Audrey shared a smile over her shoulder.

'It's just a simple mind trick, that's all, but it works. Keep on doing it,' he said with a grin. 'Now, have we got time for a cuppa together before we're on our way? Oh, sorry mate, nearly forgot to say hello to you,' he said as he clapped his hand on Scott's back, almost knocking him over.

'This is Scott,' said Lana, 'he's our best friend.'

'Well, good to meet you, Scott. Don't worry; I'll take good care of them while they're away.'

Scott blushed just ever so slightly as the group walked back towards the café.

Twenty minutes later, Declan was stood holding both girls hold-alls as they said goodbye.

'Oh! I almost forgot,' said Audrey as she tucked her hands into her large handbag. 'Now, I know we've always said you don't need mobile phones on the island but...'

Lana and Emma both beamed at their mother as she presented each of them with a phone.

'... in London, it's another matter altogether. If you need us, we're just a phone call away. I've already put all our numbers, including Scott's, in them for you,' she said as Lana took her phone with the bright pink cover and hugged Audrey tightly. Moving to her father, she turned and hugged him tightly too as Emma put her dark purple phone in her handbag before following suit.