She looked at the skateboard; the mere prospect of getting on that thing was enough to make her feel anxious. And thanks to their location, she knew she was about to show herself up; something she thought best delayed for as long as possible. ‘After you,’ she said, easily handingitover.
Annabel watched him head up the road and, ready for action, put one foot on the board before pushing off. She couldn’t help but giggle as he slowly rolled towards her. Arms outstretched, he did nothing but wobble. Despite making it clear that he hadn’t done this in a while, Annabel had still assumed he’d be a bit more capable than this. Compared to her, he was meant to be theexpert.
‘How cool is that?’ said Dan, suddenly jumping off theboard.
The man clearly didn’t know what helookedlike.
‘Your turn,’hesaid.
Having just seen Dan’s efforts, Annabel told herself that she couldn’t be any worse and, took up her position in the road. With one foot on the skateboard she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. It reminded her of the first time she’d ridden a bike. Having never been a physical child that had filled her with fear too. Until she realised how easy it was. Using her other foot, she propelled herself forward, before instinctively placing it flat behind the other. Using her arms for balance, she seemed to get the hang of it and her face, at last, relaxed into asmile.
‘I’m doing it! I’m doing it!’ she excitedlycalledout.
While gradually making her way down the road, she dared to turn her head towards a cheering Dan as she passed him by. This had to be the most fun she’d had inyears.
Annabel felt freer than she’d felt in a long time; even more so when the board began to pick up pace thanks to a sudden incline. A rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins and Annabel wondered if this was how those adrenalinejunkiesfelt.
As she began to go even faster, Annabel thought she’d better slow down. ‘What do I do now?’ she shouted to Dan, after realising that she didn’t know how to. Her adrenaline reverted to downright nervousness, as he shouted something back. But the noise of the wheels on the road’s surface drowned him out, leaving Annabel no choice but to just keep going. The skateboard continued to gather momentum, she told herself not to panic. Advice she couldn’t help but ignore when a car suddenly turned the corner, only to head in her direction. ‘Shit!’ she screamed. ‘Dan!Dan!’
As the vehicle got nearer and nearer, everything seemed to move in slow motion and Annabel realised if she didn’t want to hit it head on she had to jump. With her heart racing and no time to think, she spotted an up and coming garden hedge. ‘That’ll do,’ she told herself. With one eye on the car and one on the greenery, she desperately held her nerve until just the right second and suddenly leapt off of the board, eyes tight shut. As she flew through the air, all she could hear was the sound of screeching brakes, then nothing as she suddenly landed face down in thefoliage.
Confused and dazed, she felt someone suddenlyuponher.
‘Annabel! Annabel! Are you alright?’ asked a frantic Dan. ‘Annabel, talktome.’
Flat out in the shrubbery, and with Dan’s help, she managed to roll onto her back. Her eyes locked onto his for a moment, as it began to dawn on her what had just happened. She began to smile. ‘That’s the most fun I’ve had in years,’shesaid.
‘Jesus,’ said Dan, slumping down beside her. ‘Thank God you’realright.’
A vehicle door opened and slammed shut. ‘Of all the stupid things,’ said the female cardriver.
Annabel listened as footsteps angrilymarchedover.
‘Do you want to get yourselfkilled?’
‘Oh, fuck,’ said Annabel. Now she was inforit.
‘Annabel?’ said Rebecca, the cardriver.
12
‘It’s only me,’Dan called out as he let himself into the house. He took off his jacket and hung it on the bannister. ‘Mum,’ he called out again. Dan couldn’t imagine where she’d got to. She hadn’t mentioned going anywhere. In fact, apart from the necessary doctor and hospital appointments, she hadn’t left the house since getting back fromAmsterdam.
He recalled the morning’s events. She had been acting pretty strange when he last saw her. Despite him paring jobs down to be around more, she’d certainly seemed keener than usual to pack him off to work, a sign that she could be up to something. Something she didn’t want him knowing about. At the time, he’d simply put it down to his mum being Mum; after all, ‘strange’ could be her middle name. But that was at around eight- thirty and it was now almost two. He furrowed his brow. If she had planned on leaving the house soon after him, surely she should have been backbeforenow.
Unless she hadn’t gone out at all, he thought to himself. It would be just like her to want to get on with yet more cleaning. ‘Shit!’ he said, as he suddenly remembered the stepladder.
Dan pictured his ailing mother, unconscious and in need of medical attention, he raced down the hall to the kitchen, only to find she wasn’t there. His panic levels rose; he re-traced his footsteps and ran upstairs to his mother’s bedroom. ‘Mum, are you in here?’ he said. When he burst through the door there was still no sign of her. Back on the landing, he hastily checked the bathroom, his heart pounding as he wondered where she could be, if she was alright, and what he’d do if she wasn’t. Dan quickly made his way down stairs again and re-entered the kitchen. There had to be a clue as to her whereaboutssomewhere?
He scanned the room once more and spotted a note by the kettle. It simply readBack Soon. This didn’t tell him when the note was actually written, he realised, and he cursed himself for not checking in with his mum at some point during the day. If he had, he’d have a better idea as to when she’d actually left the house and, therefore, whether ‘soon’ really did mean ‘soon’. He usually called, but it was just his luck that today he’d had to deal with one crisis after another and hadn’t found the time to. Not that he could excuse himself. Would it really have been so difficult to just pick up thephone?
He still felt uneasy, but insisted that if something serious had happened he’d have heard by now, somebody would have contacted him. Plus, for all he knew, the note could have been written in the last half an hour, rendering his panic completely unnecessary. ‘Yes, that’s it,’ he said, in an attempt at self-reassurance. ‘You’re worrying overnothing.’
Rather than just wait for her return, Dan decided to try and calm down by making himself useful. He considered getting on with preparing dinner, but one look inside the fridge told him there wasn’t much to choose from. A couple of eggs, some milk, and a ropey looking tomato clearly passed its best; he had to admit that he was hardly surprised. The household shopping had taken a back seat lately, neither he nor his mother having much of an appetitethesedays.
‘Maybe she had the same idea,’ said Dan. ‘And she’s nipped totheshop?’
He sighed. Who was he kidding, she could beanywhere.
