Upstairs Rhys heard the murmur of muffled voices as the TV went on and he grinned as he pulled off his school clothes and then pulled on jeans and a t-shirt with a hooded sweatshirt over that. He left his shoes off and kept his socks on because his feet were cold. He took the stone from the shelf and held it in his hand, intending to call the Darkling to tell it about the trip on Friday but he caught himself and laid the stone gently on his pillow unused and dull. Then he ran back down the stairs to do the little bit of homework he’d had to bring home to finish off. It wasn’t regular homework just finishing off something he hadn’t done in class because he’d been talking and there wasn’t much to do. He gathered the pencils and paper that he needed and sat at the kitchen table to work.
“What do you fancy for tea?” Lou asked him as she watched him work. She liked to watch him do his homework and he liked to have her there. It made him feel like someone could help if he needed it.
“What is there?” He asked without looking up.
“We have pasta, fish fingers, some chicken nuggets, sausages, soup, or I can bake potatoes?” Lou reeled off without looking. She always knew roughly what meals she could make with whatever she had in the house and tins of soup and packets of dried pasta were always an option.
“Have we got some garlic bread? Can we have pasta?” Rhys asked, already knowing there was some in the freezer because he remembered them buying it the weekend before.
“I think so.” Lou opened the freezer and the blast of cold made Rhys shiver when it brushed round his feet and legs, seeping up into the legs of his jeans. “Yes, we have garlic bread but no parmesan.”
Rhys heard the scuffling that meant if she looked in the fridge there’d be some parmesan and she’d be confused that she didn’t remember buying any. He smiled to himself.
“Yes we do have parmesan; we found that packet reduced in the supermarket remember.” He hoped it would work and that he was right that there would be a packet in the fridge. If he was wrong there’d be an argument.
“Are you sure?” Lou wasn’t convinced and she frowned at him with one hand on the fridge door.
“I think so.” Rhys couldn’t sound very confident as he was suddenly not sure he’d heard the scuffling, after all, his mum hadn’t heard anything, or at least he didn’t think she had or she’d have reacted to the scuffling noise. “It might have been another week though.” He said to try to protect himself if there was no parmesan in the fridge.
“Well, I’ll have a look, but I think you’re remembering a different shopping trip.” Lou opened the fridge door to fetch the milk for a hot chocolate for Rhys and to look to see if Rhys was right and there was a packet of cheese somewhere in there. She rummage around and sure enough, tucked behind the carrots and half hidden was a small packet of grated parmesan cheese. “Oh, you were right, we obviously did get some. OK, so shall we have pasta, meatballs, veg and garlic bread with some parmesan to sprinkle over it all?”
“That sounds nice Mum, thanks.” Rhys finished off the last few words of his homework and slid the sheet of paper back into his book bag. “Can I help?”
“Yes, you can chop some veg and start the water heating for the pasta.” She showed him the largest pot for the pasta and cleared the cluttered chopping board for him to peel and chop some carrots while she pulled garlic bread from the freezer and a tin of meatballs in sauce from the cupboard and together they cooked their dinner. There was a lot of giggling and laughter as they cooked and stirred and breathed in fragrant steam until finally it was all ready and they sat to eat together with Rhys in a much more buoyant mood than he had been for a few days and that made Lou feel better too.
As they usually did they watched TV that evening. Through the autumn and winter when the evenings were dark and cold Rhys didn’t go out to see his friends much and he and Lou often just sat and watched TV until bed time. The summer was different with a large group of children around Rhys’ age all playing out along the street, often with a football or on their bikes. Not that Rhys had a bike now since he’d outgrown his old one and Lou didn’t think she would be able to afford a new one for him, but she’d try. She had no idea how she could make it happen but she’d try.
“Can I have a bath tonight Mum?” Rhys asked when it was fully dark outside and Lou got up to pull the curtains across the windows.
“Of course you can.” She replied, not surprised that he’d asked as Rhys enjoyed soaking in a hot bath before bed. “Bubbles or a hair wash?”
“Hair wash.” He said. “My head itches.”
“Does it?” Lou was suddenly fully attentive. “Come here and let me see.” She pinned him down on her chair and inspected his head carefully. “Hmm, just mucky. I wondered if it might be nits but you look clear. I can’t find anything crawling anyway.”
Rhys soaked in the bath, said good night to his mum and fell into bed with his head buzzing and full of thoughts of Friday and going to look round the church. He was sure he could ask about the tree and he could take the stone in his pocket in case he got a moment to try to use it. The Darkling didn’t appear that night even thought Rhys was sorely tempted to call it to him, and the stone was exactly where Rhys had left it, on his pillow.
Thursday passed slowly with high winds and driving rain and Rhys was soaked by the time he got home and as skittish and fidgety as a caged animal after two wet playtimes spent cooped up in a classroom and the same at lunchtime. Stir crazy and argumentative, he and Lou soon fell out over something that neither of them could remember and Rhys found himself banished to his bedroom in disgrace.
He threw himself onto his bed and muttered angrily to himself until he heard Lou coming up the stairs, so he climbed off his bed and was sitting on his chair with a book when she came into the room.
“I don’t know what’s got into you today Rhys.” Lou leaned on his bookshelf with her arms folded. “I don’t know what got into you the other day either and if you won’t tell me then I’ll never know and I can’t help with whatever it is. But that’s up to you.” She looked worried and angry at the same time. “Rhys, whatever it is, it has to stop and your behaviour has to improve. I hate it when we argue like this. OK?”
“Yes Mum.” Rhys mumbled.
“Is there anything you want to tell me? Anything I can help you with?” Lou unfolded her arms and stuffed her hands into her pockets.
“No.” He muttered, and then catching her look he carried on, “There’s nothing Mum, really. I’ve just been stuck indoors all day and it was wet play and I’m a bit fed up about that. It’s nothing and I’m sorry if I was horrible.”
“OK Rhys, but if things don’t improve I’ll have to check with school to see if your behaviour there is bad as well.” Lou fixed him with the sort of stare that only a mother can do and he shrank back into the back of the chair.
“Yes Mum.” He lowered his eyes.
“Go to the toilet and then into bed with you, it’s bedtime.” She sighed and shook her head. “Goodnight Rhys, sleep well and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night Mum.” Rhys mumbled, a little sullenly and he waited until she’d gone part way down the stairs before he got undressed and into his pyjamas and then into bed. He had his light on to read, propped himself up on his pillows wedged into the corner of the wall but before long his head was drooping and he was fast asleep still propped up in the corner of his bed with the book open on his knees where it fell from his hands as he drifted off to sleep.
Friday dawned in a blaze of golden sun and an emerging clear blue sky with only a scattering of high white clouds that promised a bright day ahead. Rhys leapt out of bed and pulled on his school uniform, carefully tucking the map and stone into his pocket as he heard his mum’s alarm go off and she called out to him as she hit the snooze button.
“I’m up Mum, it’s the trip today.” He called back. “Shall I make you a cup of tea while you get up? I’ll get my own cereal and juice.”
“OK Rhys, I’ll be down in a minute.” Lou turned off the alarm and turned over. She lay there staring at the ceiling for a while, listening to him downstairs, and then she hauled herself out of bed and got dressed.
He’d set out a bowl, left the cereal out for her and the milk beside it and there was a steaming mug of hot fresh tea standing there too. Lou poured out some cereal and added milk while Rhys wolfed down his own bowl full and gulped down his apple juice.
“Thanks.” She said as she sipped at her tea and stirred her cereal round the bowl. “Feeling better about things today?”
Rhys looked confused for a moment and then he nodded. “Yes, thanks Mum.” He washed his bowl, spoon and cup under the hot tap and left them on the rack to dry, glancing at the clock that hung on the wall and fidgeting because it was just too early to set off just yet. He went to watch TV for the few minutes he needed before he could go and he had his coat on ready.
“Rhys, what’s so special about a walk to the old church?” Lou was baffled. “I know it’s an afternoon out of school and it’s a novelty, but anyone would think you’re going to something really special the way you’re behaving.”
“It’s interesting Mum, a proper archaeologist is going to tell us stuff and we get to not be stuck in class all day and it’s not raining.” He was enthused and smiling, eager to go but Lou knew that if she let him go too early then he’d be stuck outside school waiting for the gates to be opened and those slack minutes were the times he was likely to get into trouble.
Eventually she let him go and watched as he ran down the road and saw Craig join him and they ran together, laughing loudly as they sped away towards the school.
Tags: 2009, darkling, Nano, NaNoWriMo, November, portal series, rhys