W) Keeper's of the Quantum chapter one

Chapter one: Re-growth and Mal-de-Mer

"Bloody liver!" Screeched Emma, "it's back."

And then she clamped her hand to her mouth and looked towards the
bedroom door guiltily in case the adults had heard her, they weren't
too happy about some of her expressions lately.

In her haste to scramble over to the other bed and wake Kerry, she
stood heavily on Mark who woke up with a loud "Aaagghhhh gerroff." He
sat up and squinted through morning eyes that made him look both cute
and Chinese. In the early hours before daybreak when they'd snuck back
into the house, Mark and Vicki both fell asleep in their cousin's room
as they talked about everything that had happened. Kez cried herself to
sleep and the other's weren't far from tears. It had been a horrible
night.

Mark was scratching his head, still squinting. His mousy brown hair
stuck up at unscientific angles and he had the perfect impression of a
zip indented into his left cheek. He was fully clothed and had slept
with his arm under his face for support hence the zip imprint. Emma was
still trying to wake the other's and Mark was the first one to comment
on the heavy aroma of wild blossom. "Ugh what's that smell?"

"Look, Look!" said Emma as Vicki and Kerry came awake. "It's the
frame." They all looked towards the windowsill that held the lizard
frame. The night's events had caused the magic in the frame to die and
they went to bed thinking they had lost the magic forever. When the
cousin's finally fell asleep, its vines were dry and withered, all the
precious berries had dropped and the two carved sand lizard's were
lying with their heads hanging. They had lost their life to the wood
and the picture frame became just that, a frame like any other.

This morning though the lizard's redwood eyes were shiny bright, they
held their heads up and they looked as though they were smiling. The
frame was almost lost beneath a blanket of fresh blossom, Only the
lizard's faces peeked out. White, yellow and the most delicate peach
coloured flowers opened their heads to the sun, and as they sang their
silent song the melody that couldn't be heard floated around the room
on a thick, sweet, heady perfume. As they watched, the petals began to
drop to the windowsill one at a time, each one hung in the air and then
drifted lazily down to the sill.

"Nooo," said Kerry and the other's stared aghast. This is how the
berries had fallen the night before and then the frame died.

"Don't die again," pleaded Vicki.

"What do you think it is?" said Emma, "Lazarus?" But she looked just as
worried as the rest of them.

Mark ran up to the frame and tried to press the falling flowers back
into place, it was then that he noticed the fruit. In the place of each
five petals, one juicy berry hung. Soon there was a whole bunch of
them. And within seconds two bunches of bright wooden berries drooped
from the vine, one beside each of the two lizards. The frame was back
with them.

It was alive.

The cousin's whooped and danced and swung each other round. They
couldn't wait to try out the frame to see if it still worked, but it
was too risky to try it until after breakfast. All the noise had
brought Nanna storming up the stairs. "Oi you lot, what's going on? The
ceiling was nearly falling in on me down there. I'm telling you now if
you wake your granddad up there'll be trouble, you know how he likes
his lie in of a weekend and we've got the twins coming home after
lunch. Come on then, hurry up, breakfast's ready. What's that smell?
Vicki have you been spraying perfume all over the place again? It's
bloomin` horrible."

Vicki shot a guilty look towards the frame. "Yeah, Mark's feet stink so
I sprayed some perfume. Sorry Nanna."

Mark glared at her as Nanna started on him. "Have you had a wash Mark?
I bet you haven't brushed your teeth either have you?" She said not
waiting for an answer to either question. "You had those clothes on
yesterday, I'm not having you mooching round all day in mucky clothes,
go on, get into that bathroom and get yourself washed and changed. And
don't forget to put clean underclothes on. If you have to go to
hospital you'll be sorry." Mark went red and scuttled off to the
bathroom. He was at that age where he didn't like having his underwear
discussed in front of the girls. He also didn't see what clean
underwear had to do with hospitals, but then Nanna often talked in
riddles.

They always had a cooked breakfast at their grandparent's house on a
Sunday, normally it was one of the highlights of their week and they
usually stayed at the table chattering long after the food was
finished. Not this morning though. Kerry who was the worrier of the
group didn't want to eat anything, her stomach was churning but she
knew Nanna would only fuss if she didn't, so she forced down a little
scrambled egg, after pushing most of it onto Mark's plate. The rest of
them shovelled food into their mouths with little respect for their
normal good manners. They had so much to talk about and so much to do,
but they couldn't discuss any important stuff with Nanna just in the
kitchen. So the main topic of table conversation was the homecoming of
the new twins. Amy and Eve were coming out of hospital at lunchtime.
Emma and Kerry were the twins sister's and couldn't wait for them to
finally come home. They had been arguing constantly about who was going
to do what for them. It was all very exciting. Vicki felt a little bit
put out because she didn't have a baby sister coming home. Vicki was
the eldest of the four and had her own plans for her two new cousins
and God help any established cousin who got in her way. Mark said it
was all a big fuss about nuffing. Secretly he thought the babies were
brilliant, and couldn't wait to show them his Lego building skills but
he wasn't going to admit that to all the giggling girls. He said that
if he heard the phrase 'so cute' once more he was going to hurl all
over Mr. Ming, the Siamese cat. What was it with this family, he
thought, and their inability to produce boys. At least his mother had
got it half right and had a fifty percent success rate. But Auntie
Debbie was a total disaster as far as Mark was concerned. Four girls!
Four of them all nagging and teasing and crying all the time. There was
no justice in the world.

Breakfast was a brief event, they cleared the table and stacked their
dishes in record time. Nanna was suspicious about what they were up to,
and wasn't entirely convinced when they said they were just excited
because the twins were coming home, she determined to keep an eye on
them that morning.

When they were back in the privacy of Kerry and Emma's room, Kez
immediately brought out the large file she'd been keeping. It was a
purple folder with a pretty design that said 'Leaps'. It was filled
with a hundred clear pockets into which she had placed all of their
leap pictures to date. She couldn't fit the one of the mansion into it
because that was a bulky oil painting. It was only their second
adventure. They almost got killed that day by a large white stallion,
and Vicki fell in love with a boy who was over a hundred years
old.

"I think we should go somewhere we've been before, just to check the
frame out," said Kez. "Nanna's pretty suss and we don't want to be gone
long."

"I agree, and then we can still go to Whence," said Mark who wanted to
go and see Sylvia that morning as well." Sylvia was their friend and
she was very ill. "We could leap into the glade and check Lupus
out."

"We can't go to see Sylvia Mark, we haven't got time." And anyway it'd
be too dangerous to go and see her yet. Have you forgotten what we
brought back with us last night?"

"Technically," said Kerry, who was the brainy one of the four even
though she was the youngest by just one week. "That should be who we
brought back through with us, but given that Adobe's not human--and
even if he was human he's so horrible that he wouldn't be-- we can
overlook it I suppose."

Just the mere mention of adobe caused their mood to drop. Adobe is
Sylvia's brother and is a bitter little man who wants the frame for
himself. Emma favoured calling him 'the prat with a hat' but didn't
underestimate the malice that he was capable of. The night before he'd
chased them out of Whence and through Sylivia's house. He almost got
them that time and the cousin's had to run down the streets and back
alley's of Dalton in an attempt to lose him before they went
home.

"Let's go somewhere new." Said Vicki already looking through magazines
for inspiration. "It'll be okay, we'll just make sure Nanna is busy,
Granddad won't be up for ages yet. She'll never miss us for a few
minutes.

One of the special features of the frame was that it ran on it's own
clock. When they were in a leap time ran normally, but when they got
back home after their first adventure they discovered that one-hour of
leap, only took one minute of real time. So if they leapt for five
hours, they'd only be gone five minutes.

They continued to argue about which picture they should put into the
frame to try it out. Mark and Kerry wanted to go and see Lupus, the
wolf cub they had made friends with. Emma didn't care where they went
as long as they made a decision before she was too old to enjoy it, and
Vicki wanted to leap somewhere new. For all the arguments it was a
foregone conclusion that Vicki would get her own way, at fourteen she
was the eldest and usually pulled age rank to win anything she might
lose by majority.

The other three continued to discuss it while Vicki flicked absently
through the magazine making vague suggestions as she turned the pages.
"Plate with a picture of an Ascot horserace. Picture of an
old-fashioned hat shop. Somebody's kitchen. Swiss chocolate
factory."

She got no further before Mark cut in excitedly jumping up and down.
"That's it, that's the one, lets go to the swish chocolate factory. Is
that where they make swish rolls?"

"It's Swiss, Not swish. You know Swiss is the place Sweden in Austria?"
in reality Vicki wasn't much better than Mark when it came to
Geography, Kerry just shook her head in disgust. Mark couldn't care
less if it was Swiss, swish or Swahili, all he cared about was getting
inside that chocolate factory.

"We can't go there Mark, look at these people in the picture the place
is swarming with them. Don't you think it would look a bit odd four
kids suddenly appearing next to their machines?"

"Hmm look at al that chocolate though," said Kerry. "We could say we
were part of a school trip."

"I said no. I'm on a diet and I have a spot coming on my forehead. The
last place I want to be is a chocolate factory, " said Vicki. " But
look at this. I've found something much better, and yes Mark there will
be plenty of free food." Mark lived to eat, but never seemed to put an
ounce on much to the girl's disgust. Mark could eat ten meals a day and
still fit through the rungs of a ladder.

They all gathered round the magazine to look at the advertisement for
the two-week cruise round the Caribbean. The ship was enormous and
clearly showed two swimming pools and five decks. The advert said it
could accommodate over three thousand passengers.

"If we go on a two-week cruise, it will take nearly all day said mark
bringing his hands up to count off the time on his fingers and make
some attempt at the conversion, We'll miss the twins coming. And we'll
miss dinner and it's roast tonight. You can do what you like, but I'm
not missing out on that.

"God you're an idiot sometimes," cut in Emma. "You won't be going for
the full two weeks, just a few hours. You'll be there and back in five
minutes, Nanna won't even miss you." There was one dead give-away that
they hadn't even considered. They didn't know it yet, but they were
walking straight into a whole heap of trouble again.

"I'm not going, no way," said Emma adamantly. She was disgusted that
none of them had picked up on the fact that she said 'you won't be
going for two weeks' and not 'we'. There is no way on earth that you
are going to get me on that boat. You know I get travel sick."

"Oh there won't be people being sick will there?" said Kerry. "I can't
do with people being sick. I've got a phobia." She finished grandly.
"So I'm not going either, ugh vomit." Kerry's eyes were wide and she
did look genuinely terrified, but she made a big show of trembling for
the next five minutes, which everybody pointedly ignored. The last
thing they needed was Kezza going off on a paranoid-loop-do.

Vicki and Mark rolled their eyes at each other sometimes their cousin's
were no fun. Kerry was a pushover and Vicki knew she could persuade her
easily.

"Of course there won't be anyone being sick Kez, look at that water in
the picture it's as calm as Potter's pond. But if you don't want to
swim with dolphins, then that's okay Mark and I will go by
ourselves."

Kerry's head shot up so fast that she almost broke her hinge and gave
herself a permanent view of the ceiling. "Dolphins?" she asked
excitedly. "I love dolphins. Do you promise no one will be sick
though?"

"Promise." Said Vicki in a voice that sounded more confident than she
actually felt. That was one down now they only had to persuade Emma.
She wasn't going to be such an easy take, she sat on the edge of the
bed with her arms folded and her lips tightly pursed. When Emma made
her mind up about something she could be very difficult to
persuade.

"Oh come on Emmsie, you won't be sick," said Vicki in her most pleading
voice. "The water's calm. Look at the picture doesn't it look
brill?"

"Nope it looks like one big puke bucket to me. I'm not going and that's
final. And if you call me Emmsie one more time, I'll be sick before we
even get on the boat. And another thing if you go on an adventure
without me I'm going to tell all about the frame. We agreed that we'd
only go on leaps that we were all agreed on."

"Well you selfish cow," Vickie blew, she was at that age and her pretty
face contorted with rage. "Just because you don't want to come you're
quite happy to spoil it for everyone else. I bet you won't be sick
anyway it's cars you are ill in, you've never been on a boat so how
would you know?" Vickie could see that Emma was weakening so she
continued. "Just think Em, floating along ordering ice-cold pop and
ice-cream and sunning ourselves in deckchairs. Better than being stuck
here in winter isn't it?"

Emma grinned, "Okay I'm sorry. What are we waiting for then a personal
invitation by the captain himself. Let's go."

By the time Emma had made her mind up, Kerry already had the picture
in the frame. They stood in front of it and joined hands, they didn't
have to hold hands but they found it made for a tidier leap if they all
landed in the same place.

With a thrill in her voice Vicki began to chant the rhyme.

Here is an image for you to keep -
Follow where the lizards leap.
Move with caution, take a peep,
Beware! Do not get in too deep.

Repeat the words inscribed below;
Take a breath and off you go.

Sand Lizard. Sand Lizard, cautiously creep.
Shim. Sham. Shally wham. Lizards leap!

As Vicki read the last word, the room began to spin. It roated fairly
slowly at first. They grinned at each other and gripped the hands they
were holding tighter. It was time to hang on. The rotating increased in
speed, it got faster and faster until the children found themselves
inside a lightning-fast vortex. The room had become a spiralling cone,
a spinning world similar to the centre of a tornado. They spun and
spun, unable to get enough breath to scream unable to think, let alone
have the time to be scared. It didn't matter how many times they did
this the feeling that the spinning would never stop was always there.
What if they were stuck like this forever? It was terrifying and
exciting and it was like being on the biggest and best roller coaster
ever. They never got sick of the joy of leaping. Never mind the fun
they had when they landed in a new leap. As suddenly as it had begun to
revolve, the vortex world slowed and came to a stop. They were dizzy
and breathless and it was a few seconds before they could take in their
surroundings.

It was pitch black they were in some sort of box, it was wooden. "Oh
God we're in a coffin," shrieked Vicki. She panicked and tried to stand
up. Although there was something above them it wasn't a nailed down
coffin lid as she'd expected it was heavy but pliable. As they began to
panic the movement caused the box to move it was swinging from side to
side with them inside it. They could hear voices outside.

"Oh where are we," Whimpered Kerry, "I don't like it. This isn't that
big ship. What's happened?"

"Ssshhh I think I know where we are," said Mark. "Just be quiet and
help me get this thing down." He was struggling with the thick canvass
above their heads. He moved to what felt like the edge of the box still
fighting with the top, it was fastened to the outside somehow. Once he
got a proper hold of it, he could tell it was a huge tarpaulin and he
managed to pull it to the side. It let a small chink of blinding light
into their landing place. They huddled together and four pair of
blinking eyes peeped out of the small gap. The hosts of the voices they
heard were suddenly very apparent. A middle-aged couple was staring
back at them.

"See Mary, I told you it was blasted kids. Oi you lot get out of there.
You have the whole ship to play in and you have to mess with the
lifeboats. Don't you realise that they can save your lives if the ship
goes down? Come on get out before I report you to the purser."

He strode forwards and undid the clasp holding the tarpaulin firmly
over their heads. They squinted like four little moles as they
clambered down from the suspended lifeboats. "Bloomin` kids running
wild all over the ship. Do your parents know what you're up to?"

"Sorry," said Mark, we didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to know
what it would be like to be cast adrift in one of these.

"Oh leave them alone Jeff," said Mary. "There's no harm done and I bet
you did stuff like that when you were their age." She steered her
husband away and they could hear him moaning that he'd never had a
holiday when he was a kid and how kid's these days didn't know they
were born.

Without giving the grumpy man another thought they set off to explore
the ship. First of all they ran to the side and leaned on the railings
looking out at the sea. There was no land anywhere in sight. All they
could see was the deep blue water. It wasn't a dirty grey like the
beaches they had seen in England but a blue as bright as any sky in the
heat of summer. Although the sea was calm the waves were crashing up
the side of the ship as the huge vessel ploughed through the ocean.
Mark and Kerry were mesmerised. Vickie had a cursory glance at the sea,
but saw the deck opening out in front of her. Games were being played
and she instantly began to scan the players for 'talent'. Emma looked
over the side of the ship and went a little pale. The sea went on
forever and was very unnerving. She comforted herself with the thought
that she could leap home at any time.

"Come on you lot, let's see what's going on down here." Vicki was off,
the walkway they had been on opened out into a huge deck, round the
perimeter people sunned themselves in deckchairs. It was still early in
the morning in the leap and yet the sun was high and bright. They
noticed the heat that was not yet uncomfortable for the first time.
Kerry felt ridiculous in her dark blue winter fleece.

A voice came over the tannoy.

"This is your captain speaking. Would all passengers who want to go
ashore be ready to disembark at nine fifty. That's one hour's time for
St Lucia folks. Please remember to take bottled water with you for
drinking. It's going to be a hot one today so you'll need lots of
sunscreen with you and I hope you all have a pleasant day. We will
re-assemble on the pier at 18:30 sharp. Thank-you."

"Wow we get to get of the ship somewhere foreign. I wonder what it'll
be like," asked Mark. This was turning into a brilliant leap. "We've
only got an hour so let's find the restaurant and see if we can get
anything to eat. You don't have to pay for anything on these cruises,
everything's free. Vickie was loath to leave the deck she had already
smiled at a couple of young lads, and okay they hadn't exactly noticed
her yet, but it was only a matter of time she reasoned. Emma pointed
out that 'lads' were not a species confined only to deck life, there
were likely to be just as many specimens in the restaurant and bar
areas if not more.

It was strange walking on the ship, the constant rolling of the decks
made them lurch a bit, it was a strange sensation. However despite
being a bit wobbly and not having their sea legs yet, It didn't take
long to find somewhere to eat. The ship was a rabbit warren of caf?'s,
burger bars, cinemas, posh restaurants, and eateries to cater for every
taste whether you preferred Chinese, Italian, Indian, or
Kathmandu.

They decided that they got to eat at Macdonald's and Pizza Hut quite
often at home, but they'd never been in a really posh restaurant on a
ship before. They joined the queue for a breakfast buffet fit for a
king. It might have been called Breakfast, but it was serving
everything you could imagine. Kerry was still worried about paying for
their food. Did this constitute abuse of the frame? Would they lose a
berry for it? The other's assured her that Sylvia said it was perfectly
all right to enjoy everything the frame offered them, as long as they
never used it to hurt or cause harm. And just so long as they never did
anything illegal. Kerry still wasn't sure if this was classed as
stealing or not. Mark filled his plate with meats and cheeses. He had
three different dips, German sausage, bacon bits, pizza slice, hot
barbecued chicken, garlic bread and tortilla chips. On another plate he
took helpings of four different desserts, though admittedly small
helpings, he could always go back for more when he'd finished. The
melee of mixed puddings was a sight that only Mark could call
beautiful, He was in heaven. Vickie and Kerry filled their plates more
modestly, and Emma took only a slice of juicy watermelon. Her lips were
dry and she wanted a drink more than anything but couldn't fancy any of
the juices soda's or hot drinks on offer.

They sat at a table facing the sea so they could look out for dolphins.
Mark wasted no time getting stuck into his huge meal. For once he was
quiet.

Emma was also strangely quiet. It hadn't been so bad when they'd been
up on deck in the fresh air, but now that they were stuck in a stuffy
restaurant full of people and food smells her stomach had begun to
churn.
Vickie was about to ask her if she was all right because she was so
quiet, but one look at Emma's face and she didn't have to ask. She had
gone as white as the waves on the sea. Her eyes were filled with tears
and she didn't look well at all.

"Oh Em," she said in a voice full of sympathy.

Kerry began to panic. "You promised Vicki, you promised no one would be
sick," She stood up from the table throwing the piece of Edam that
she'd been eating back onto her plate. Emma was looking worse by the
second and Kerry ran out of the restaurant yelling "Oh no, she's going
to be sick, she's going to be sick." Everyone heard and the lady at the
next table eyed her vegetable soup with distaste.

Now it was Emma's turn to flee. She was out of her seat in a flash with
one hand clamped over her mouth. The toilets were at the far end of the
restaurant and she pushed through people rudely in her haste to get to
the sanctuary of a toilet bowl. From her position on the lavatory floor
she vowed in between "oh no here we go again's" that she would throw
Vicki overboard just as soon as she could stand up. Vicki felt guilty
and stood hovering in the doorway passing Emma damp paper towels in
between her bouts of illness.

Mark was still sitting at the table working his way through the plate
of four desserts. He was oblivious to Vicki's discomfort or Kerry's
distress. All that existed in his little world was toffee pavlova mixed
with sherry trifle, topped with strawberry gateaux and garnished with
rich tirimissu. When Vicki came back from the bathroom with a very weak
and embarrassed looking Emma, he eyed the buffet carousel with yearning
before following them out. It was a huge sacrifice he felt because he
was only half full.

They couldn't find Kerry anywhere and for the time being Emma's
sickness was forgotten as she looked for her missing sister. Finally at
the far corner of the deck in a place shaded by the equipment hut lay
what looked like a discarded coat. It was only the worried little voice
coming from under the blue fleece that gave Kerry away.

"She promised no one would be sick. Huh no dolphins and Emma being ill,
this is just like Emma said, one big puke bucket." Oblivious to all
around her Kerry was chuntering away to herself. "I've got a phobia I
have, nobody cares about me though do they? No. I've got a phobia and
I'm in puke bucket hell."

Now that the scare of Kerry being lost was over Emma was feeling queasy
again. Land was in sight now, and the shape of the looming trees
bobbing around in front of her eyes didn't help at all.

"I'm going home guys," she said. "I'll see you back there in a
bit."

"Aww don't go we're getting off in a minute. Let's at least have a look
round the island and then we can leap home from there. No more boat's I
promise."

Emma dropped her voice because they were near a large man asleep on a
sun lounger.

"Nah I still don't feel so good. I think I need to lie down. See you
later."

She began to chant the spell to get her home. The last thing she felt
like doing was to endure the vortex to get her home, but she really did
need to lie down quietly. The other's stepped back so that they were
out of range of the spell, and Emma vanished.

So did the large man in the stripy trunks on the sun lounger.

Emma recovered remarkably quickly from the vortex as she took in the
scene in her bedroom. The man's lounger fit neatly between the bed and
the wardrobe, his hat had fallen over his eyes in the spin. And he
moaned and brushed it back with his arm as he started to wake up.

"Oh Jesus on a jetski," exclaimed Emma, terror stricken in case he
fully woke up in her bedroom. Her first attempt at the spell came out
all garbled and wrong. She stood as close to the man as possible, took
a deep breath and began again. Just before the room started to spin she
heard their Nanna calling up the stairs for Vicki.

"Vicki, Vicki it's the tele&;#8230;"

Less than a minute after they'd vanished Emma and the man returned. He
screamed and shot up from his chair. And then seeing the curious face
of four kids's looking at him he seemed embarrassed.

"Ahem, ahh yes, um forgive me. Nightmares you know." With that he took
his hat and strode off with as much dignity as he could muster.

"He's no doubt on his way to the bar for a stiff whiskey." Said Emma;
"Phew that was a close one." She grabbed Vicki by the arm to get her
attention away from the young lad whose attention she was trying her
hardest to attract.

"By the way Vick, you'd better leap back flippin` sharpish Nanna's
calling you and if she comes up stairs we're all going to be for it."
Before Emma had even finished speaking Vicki was chanting the spell to
leap home.

She was moving before her feet fully touched the floor, not waiting for
the dizziness to leave her.

"&;#8230; phone. If you don't get down here right this minute I'll
tell Melanie that you can't be bothered to come and talk to her." Nanna
had her foot on the first step.

"Coming Nanna,"

Vicki wasn't gone long and leaped back from where she left. All this
leaping backwards and forwards wasn't good, it was a sure-fire way to
draw attention to themselves and that was the last thing they
needed.

By this time the ship had docked and was disembarking. The cousins used
a trick that had worked for them in the past. They split up in to two
groups of two and squeezed in between two couples. Each couple thought
the other couple was the parent of the two children. Using this method
they managed to get passed the cabin crew. It was only when the
passengers re-embarked that evening that they would need their boarding
cards.

They were all really excited to be in St Lucia, especially Emma who
felt instantly better once her feet were back on stable ground. They
had a fantastic time. By now the sun had risen and burned down
viciously. It seemed only mad dogs and passengers on the Free Spirit
cruise ship were crazy enough to wander round in the intense heat. The
scenery was lush and breathtaking and Mark was just a little too keen
to dawdle over the topless beach. For two hours the four walked in the
sun, exploring and talking to the traders and local people.

Storms hit fast in the Caribbean, one minute there wasn't a cloud in
the sky. The next the first rumbles of low thunder grumbled in the
skies above them. The traders moved fast, they knew the weather at this
time of year was cruel and had no respect for a poor man's livelihood.
It didn't take them long to pack up and shackle their shutter's for the
day. They hated losing good trade when there was a ship in, but they
were a laid back island and knew another boat was due in two
days.

"Maan," said one of the men to Mark. "It be a hol-ee-day from de lor`
above! I can sit in me chair now and watch de Mister and de Missus up
der throwin` dem pans aroun` in temper. She got a wil` temper dat Mam
nature."

Kerry who could be quite prim sometimes wanted to tell the man that he
would be a lot easier to understand if he would at least finish his
words off properly, but he had big eyes with lots of white round them
and he scared her. She'd never seen a live black man before. It did
occur to her that she'd never seen a dead one either, but she didn't
dwell on it. Mark insisted on roping them in to help Chicha pack away
all his things. He was an artist and was very grateful to them for
getting his canvasses off the pavement before the heavy rain came. The
sky was still bright blue and Emma thought it highly unlikely that any
rain was going to come at all but mucked in to help reluctantly.

Chicha was very grateful and insisted that they all sit under the
veranda of his stall and watch the rains come. "You will like it, you
will like. Dat rain he come fast maan and he come strong." Chicha was
going to offer them beer but figured their parents might come along at
any time and then he'd be for it so he brought cans of cola out of his
ice-box instead and handed them round to the parched youngsters. Now
this was more like it, thought Emma. Beautiful scenery, cold drinks and
the promise of a pretty little storm to watch. Half a mile out to sea
was a picturesque lighthouse that chicha had been painting when the
first signs of the storm came. The heat outside was still unbearable,
but here in the partial shade of Chicha's stall it was just
right.

Mark kept looking at Chicha's right hand. He had no thumb and Mark was
dying to ask what had happened to it.

"You be wondereen abou` me han` der man?" he held up his hand to show
them all.

" Dem fadders of de church, dey tell der is no difference `tween love
an war. I is chi-cha. Chicha mean Be-love-ed." Another of chicha's
annoying habits was breaking his words down into syllables. "Well I is
de man who lives by de name. Only ting is I beloved my brudder's wife a
ting too much, so he chop de finger off wid de big hat-chet
maan."

Kerry and Vicki sat with blank expressions and hadn't a clue what
chicha had just aid. They had trouble understanding him.

"He was diddling his brother's wife, " said Emma, "so his brother
chopped his finger off with a big axe."

"Ex-act-ly," said Chicha laughing at the girl's disgust.

During the minute they had turned away from the beach to listen to
Chicha's true horror story, the sun had been lost behind brawling black
clouds. Suddenly there was an almighty clap of thunder and the first
fat raindrops landed like bullets on the awning of the kiosk. Vicki was
a little bit scared of the monstrous claps of thunder and snake tongues
of lightening that broke the sky every few seconds, but she wasn't
going to let the other's see. She kept close to Chicha though in case
they got washed away in all the rain. Kerry was entranced and never
moved a muscle. This was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen and
she watched in awe as the sky literally cracked in several places as
more than one bolt of lightening took over the sky at any one time. It
was darker now. Almost like nighttime and yet it was only mid morning.
The heat was like a thing with substance, something that could be
reached out to and touched. And so much rain had come down in the first
five minutes that a river ran in the guttering five feet in front of
the stall.

"Will the stall blow away?" asked Mark worried.

"Aye, I tink it probably will."

"What will you do?" Mark saw this man as some sort of super-hero and
was worried for him and his living.

"I build anodda stall tomorra maan. I build new stall week,week,week."
He gestured with his hands the passing of the weeks.

"You build a new stall every week?" said Emma amazed.

"Aye when de rains come."

The next time lightening split the sky, Chicha sat forward on his seat.
He was tense, all the feeling of being laid back was gone and he rocked
slightly in impatience as he scoured the darkness to be able to
see.

The next bolt was a generous one. It brought light to the sky for three
seconds and Chicha was ready for it. What he saw was backlit and looked
like a postcard held by some great hand against a sheet of black
velvet.

A small cabin boat was being fiercely tossed around on the open sea.
Chicha ran from his seat waving his arms and screaming uselessly at the
boat over a mile out to sea.

"Ya Idiots," he yelled. "Der is da reef. Got to get to da lighthouse.
I's got to save dem."

A fierce wind was blowing now and the first of the stalls came loose
from it's mooring and tumbled like driftwood down the deserted beach.
The churning breakers roared in anger as they drove the sand up the
beach with each arrival. Bigger waves danced their tribal war dance
behind the breakers, and the boat rose and fell on the storm's
eddy.

"If we's don` get to dat lighthouse , dem people's be dead for sure."
Said Chicha. "but der be no way to row der in dis."

Kerry had a plan. "Chicha give me one of your painting's of the
lighthouse please."

"wha? Gel wha you talkin` abou` dis aint no time for de art class.
Dem's people gonna die out der an you wanna pic-cha?"

Kerry was a bit frightened of Chicha because she couldn't understand
what he was saying. It put her at a disadvantage and made her feel
stupid and she didn't like that. She didn't have time to argue with him
and ran into the kiosk and helped herself to one of the small finished
paintings of the lighthouse. Before anyone could protest she was
chanting the spell.

Chicha shook his head at Kerry. "Dat girl she cra-zy."

Mark realising what she was about to do ran into the spell zone with
Vicki and two seconds later the three kids vanished.

Emma was left alone with Chicha. Thanks guys she thought. What am I
going to say now?

"Hey maan." She said to Chicha at a loss for what else to say. She
didn't quite get the inflection right but it was her first ever time
hanging out with a St Lucien.

She needn't have worried Chicha didn't hear her. He was standing
looking into the space where ten seconds earlier three kids stood. He
looked down at his beer and shook his head. "Wow crazy magic." Suddenly
he remembered the girl that was left behind when the others vanished.
He turned round very slowly and his look of wonder was replaced by a
wide-eyed stare of sheer terror. He looked a pretty scary sight himself
with his big white eyes glowing in the lightening.

"Hey Chicha," said Emma again trying for cool hip-hop "Take it easy
man, I'm a good fairy, you know like tinker bell. Not one of those
bad-assed dudes that put spells on people and stuff."

"Hey girl, you don't pull no crazy stuff on me now. I aint got no
biznezz whit no ghost girl. You gonna hurt me girl?" Emma had her work
cut out calming Chicha down and explaining how these things
worked.

Back at home Mark changed the picture in the frame from the boat to the
lighthouse and then he and Vicki joined hands and leaped into the
lighthouse. It was decided that Kerry would stay behind and act as a
decoy, they could hear that Granddad was up now and he might come into
their room to see what they were up to if one of them didn't stay
behind to distract him. Kerry was disappointed but saw the sense in
it.

Mark and Vicki weren't lucky enough to leap into the top of the
lighthouse where the lantern and reflectors were. They landed in a heap
on the cold stone at the bottom of the building. The groundfloor of the
lighthouse was one large round room. A wide set of steps opened off in
front of them and they both struggled with each other to get through
the opening first. Vicki just managed to get purchase on the first step
and break ahead of Mark. They ran up the stairs. After the first twenty
steps they began to tire and they had hardly begun to rise. This was
when they realised that each step was narrower than the last. They
continued round and up for another eighty steps. Both of them were
counting. Neither one dared stop to look out of the windows that kept
appearing as they flew passed them. At a hundred steps they opened out
into the next room. It was the living quarters but they hardly took the
scene in. the lighthouse was obviously not inhabited very often judging
by the lack of care about the place. Still they went up. The steps were
becoming seriously narrow now. Not much wider than the width of Vicki's
foot.

Their hearts were pounding and the blood was pumping through their
narrow veins in an attempt to fuel this mad mercy dash. They had slowed
exhausted, body's heaving with the need to breathe the breath that
burst from their body's like a plume of red hot fire. The final step
before they broke onto the top level was so tiny that Vicki almost lost
her footing and fell backwards onto Mark who was right behind
her.

And then they were there. They flicked the large switch that activated
the lantern and pulled a lever that enabled it to rotate. Soon the
lantern was up to full speed and sending blinding light out to the
entire bay. The troubled boat would be able to avoid the rocks of the
reef now and aim for the lighthouse beacon.

The tired pair only wanted one thing, A nice cup of tea. They were
shattered.

Back at the kiosk Chicha and Emma high fived when the light came on.
Until that moment they didn't even know if the other's had managed to
get into the lighthouse. It was a brilliant moment.

When Vicki and Mark landed back in Kerry and Emma's bedroom, they were
just in time to hear all hell let lose from the living room
downstairs.

"Of all the stupid, ridiculous things to do. Don't you know how
dangerous those things can be?" It was Granddad's voice and he sounded
mad. Mark and Vicki looked at each other. Had they been found
out?

Vicki took her baseball cap off and threw it on the bed. Mark stared at
her in horror.

Where her cap had been there was now a big white band on her
forehead.

"Oh god Vicki you've got sunburned."

They went down stairs to face the music and Granddad was still yelling
at kerry. " Those sunbed's cause skin cancer you know. You must have
had it on the highest setting your mother's going to go mad. What were
you thinking of girl? Oh my God I don't believe it, not you two as
well?"

When she went down stairs Kerry hadn't the slightest idea what her
grandparent's were gawping at. The pale little girl of an hour earlier
was now as red as a Caribbean lobster. She had thought fast though and
shamefacedly admitted that they'd been playing on auntie Karen's
sunbed.

While the other's were getting a sound grilling, Emma was saying
goodbye to Chicha, she'd realised by this time that as they had no
picture of the kiosk they couldn't leap back and going via the ship
would be too risky. Emma promised to send his picture back but Chicha
said they could keep it as both a souvenir and a means of getting back
to see him. He assured her that on a good day it was perfectly safe to
swim in from the lighthouse.

Grandad was still at it, and now Nanna had joined in with the old I'm
very disappointed in you lot you've let me down speech.

"And where's our Emma, If she's on that damned thing &;#8230;"

"Here I am." Said Emma who had the worst sunburn of the lot of them and
was poorly with it for three days. But at that point it hadn't even
begun to burn and she had no idea what she was walking into.

"Hiya gang-gang," she said using her old familiar baby greeting for her
grandfather. She was going to pretend that she had been reading a book
about the Caribbean and a nice man called Chicha.

"You'll never guess what I've been doing."