His Silence - Chapter 42

I find Callum out in the hallway when I finish breakfast; he’s putting his shoes on by the front door. He has his back to me.

‘Where are you going?’ I ask, stepping forward. Why’s he not come to find me? Whenever something bad happened at school, and I was bullied a lot, Callum was always the first person to seek me out, and he knew exactly where to find me. We’d sat many afternoons in the janitor’s closet, knees scrunched into our chests calling Lesley Watkins all the names we could think of under the sun. Callum always wanted to go and talk to her, but I forbad it, fearing it would only make the situation worse. Then we’d sit there and talk about our dreams for the future. I was going to go and work for NASA, or the European Space Agency; of course that dream fizzled away when I spotted the amount of qualifications I needed.

He turns around. ‘They want me to help out with getting some shopping in town,’ he says. That’s something I could’ve helped with, if Oliver hadn’t said to me to take it easy today. He didn’t even mention it. ‘There are a few of us going. Are you OK after what happened last night?’ He stands up.  

‘Yes, fine, perhaps it was just the dancing with Oliver that made me dizzy, as well as the two glasses of wine I had.’ There are murmurings from people getting ready upstairs. Shit they’ll be down here in a moment. I won’t have time to talk to Callum. ‘Have you got a sec?’

He looks up the stairs. I spot someone head into the bathroom, the lock clicks, it was Eve. I still haven’t been properly introduced to her. I bet she’s had a few words with Callum already.

‘Think I’ve got a few minutes,’ he says.

‘C’mon,’ I say, and open the front door.

He follows me outside, at least there’s no one here. There’s a cool breeze today. Above me a seagull squawks.

‘That guy who I spoke to last night, the one who you saw me follow, he warned me about staying here.’ I keep my voice low. I can’t shake off the feeling that where ever I go someone’s watching me. Looking up at the house, I find the room where I stayed in the first night, the room Callum’s in now. There doesn’t appear to be anyone looking out.

Callum puffs his cheeks out. ‘Well, I warned you about staying here, but you didn’t seem to want to listen to me, did you?’

God, he’s never spoken to me in that way before. Ignore it. ‘The thing is, Callum, he said they won’t allow us to leave, and by that I assume he means Jeremiah and Oliver.’

‘Well, I pretty much gathered that from the moment we came to this place,’ he says. ‘I think Oliver likes being the man in charge of everything here, and if things don’t go his way, well, I can imagine the fallout isn’t pretty.’

Why is he being like this with me? I try my best not to show my emotions in my face, but the tension in my cheeks is making them ache.

‘Look, Callum, it was like he wanted to tell me something, but he was afraid to. He told me my parents left here for a reason, and that I’d made a mistake in coming back, I need to know what he meant by that. If he’s going with you to the shops, can you see if you can speak to him?’

Callum glances towards the door. ‘Well Mary’s coming with us, so I think she’s going to be keeping her eyes on me all day, so it might be difficult, but yeah I’ll try.’

‘Thank you, Callum, I promise you I will make it up to you.’ The front door open, a few others slip out, there’s about five. Abraham, and the man I spoke to last night emerge; Abraham’s walking in front of him. God I don’t want to hang around here any longer. ‘I’m gonna head back to the annexe, I’ll see you later. Oh by the way, Oliver thought it might be a good idea if I have a new name.’

‘What?’ Callum asks, raising an eyebrow.

‘He’s actually suggesting the name my birth parents gave me, Grace. So if you hear people calling me by that name, that’s why, you’re not going mad.’

Callum opens his mouth to say something but stops himself.

‘Ah, Grace, I hope you’re feeling well this morning?’

I turn around, Mary’s striding towards us, the features on her face pinched tight. Damn, Oliver must have already spoken to her about what we’d discussed.

‘Yes, fine thanks, I see you’re all off to the shops?’ I reply. 

‘Yes indeed,’ Mary says. ‘It’s good of Callum to come and give us a hand as well. I suspect you’ll want to rest up today after yesterday, won’t you? Let’s leave Grace in peace shall we, Callum?’

Callum’s staring at me with wide, bemused eyes. ‘Enjoy your day . . . Grace,’ he says, with a hint of a smirk.

They all climb into the mini bus. There’s about six of them, surely they don’t need that many people to go to the shops. Callum’s sitting beside the bloke I spoke to last night; at least it looks like he’s trying to help. Mary’s the one who’s driving. It looks so strange seeing everyone sitting inside the bus, all of them wearing the same clothing.

I wave as they pass; Callum doesn’t wave back.