Down to Earth

‘I’ve got to try ringing Calum and my parents again.’ I struggled to my feet and stood swaying dangerously. My ears were ringing with a horrible high-pitched buzzing sound and I felt nauseous again.

The floor, which had seemed so solid only a moment before, tipped towards me and I would have gone down hard if Matt hadn’t grabbed me and helped me down gently onto the cold floor. My hand hurt where the small cut had grazed against the kitchen tiles.

Matt crouched down so his head was only inches from mine. ‘What have you done to your hand?’

‘I caught it on the door of the plane as we were climbing in before the jump,’ I told him.

He fell very still. ‘I remember you doing that,’ he murmured, so quietly that I thought he was talking to himself. ‘But it can’t be the same injury … not after all this time.’

‘What’s happened to me?’ I asked faintly as I stared down at the laces of my boots.

‘That,’ he said firmly, ‘is what I intend to find out.’

I decided not to try ringing anyone again that evening. If even half of what Matt had told me was true, then after six and a half years, one more night wasn’t going to hurt. I asked him about driving me home to Calum or even to Ingrid’s house, but he repeated that it would probably be more sensible if I were to tackle picking up the threads of my life in the morning.

‘Think of the shock you are going to give everyone when you return from the dead,’ he reminded me. ‘If you don’t want to go to the authorities or tell the world you’re back just yet then I suggest you get a good night’s sleep and we’ll go first thing tomorrow. No one is going to believe this you know, not until you’re standing right in front of them in person.’

After following Matt upstairs I stood back as he held open the door to a good-sized guest room, pleasantly decorated in navy blue and white, with a queen-sized bed in the centre. Crossing to a chest of drawers, he rummaged about and returned with a couple of neatly folded white T-shirts, one with a panda on the front, the other with the picture of a leaping dolphin.

‘Here, you can sleep in one of these if you like.’

I took the T-shirts and trailed after him to the bathroom where he produced a clean towel and a brand new toothbrush.

‘I’ll let you get sorted out then,’ he said.

When the door closed behind him, I unfolded the T-shirts and held one against me. It was just long enough to cover my bottom and I decided it would make a decent enough nightdress. Holding the fabric to my face I inhaled the scent, expecting to detect the scent of perfume or some other residual hint of the person this had belonged to, because they certainly weren’t Matt’s. As I contemplated my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I couldn’t help but wonder how many women had passed through his life since he’d invited me for a drink that morning.

It was a relief to get out of the jumpsuit however, and I looked down at the jeans and T-shirt I had on underneath, glad to see something familiar that belonged to me and which hadn’t miraculously vanished during the day. After brushing my teeth I emerged onto the landing holding the hem of the T-shirt self-consciously down round my thighs. Matt was waiting outside the bathroom door.

‘Have you got everything you need?’

I nodded but as he turned and walked away from me I felt a moment of panic.

What if I closed my eyes and disappeared again? What if I awoke to find another six years had gone by? One of the newspaper articles swam before my eyes; what if I really had been abducted by aliens and they came for me again in the night?

Matt was already halfway along the landing but I called his name and he turned to look questioningly at me. ‘Yes?’

‘I know this is going to sound pathetic, but I don’t want to be left on my own. I don’t suppose I could sleep with you in your room, could I?’ I felt myself blush as his eyes widened in surprise. ‘It’s just that I don’t want to be alone … with all that’s happened I’d feel safer sleeping with someone there. Just as a friend, you understand … no funny business.’

He hesitated as if thinking things over. ‘I’d be crazy to say no to an offer like that,’ he laughed easily and I realised how good looking he was. ‘There’s only one bed in my room, but I promise to be the perfect gentleman or I could sleep on the floor if you want.’

I recalled the undeniable attraction I’d felt towards him this morning when he’d been coaching us for the jump. I’d been surprised and flattered when he’d given me his telephone number instead of Ingrid, though the terror of the impending jump and my feelings for Calum had quelled any thoughts of a possible romance.

‘You don’t need to sleep on the floor,’ I murmured sheepishly.

He turned on the lights to his room and I took in the black sheets, black and gold-trimmed duvet and pillows piled high on his king-sized bed and almost changed my mind. Apart from various items of his previously discarded clothing lying about on the floor, the room was reasonably clean. But by the look of the place I got the feeling he was a confirmed Casanova and here I was, begging to be allowed to sleep with him.

Matt disappeared into an en suite bathroom and returned a few minutes later wearing a towelling robe. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he discarded the robe, giving me a view of broad muscular shoulders tapering to a neat waist before he slid discreetly between the covers. I had the impression he was still wearing boxer shorts and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Embarrassed by my neediness, I climbed quickly into the near-side of the bed, turning my back quickly to his. I heard the rustle of the bedding as he reached out to extinguish the light and I lay as still as I could until he asked if I was alright.

‘Yes, thank you, I’m fine,’ I answered stiffly. I had the duvet drawn up to my chin, my hands crossed protectively over my chest. He murmured ‘goodnight’ and within seconds I could hear his even breathing turn to a light snoring. I waited until I was absolutely sure he was asleep before carefully moving my foot until it was resting gently against his lower leg.

As the warmth of Matt’s flesh seeped into me I felt secure in the knowledge that I was safely anchored to the world by another living, human being and closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax at last and succumb to sleep.

Chapter Seven (#ulink_6f054c26-ebea-584d-86f2-dca25525ca3d)

I awoke to the tantalising smell of bacon and eggs and lay with my eyes closed, wondering where I was. Calum and I never ate a cooked breakfast. He was a fruit and muesli man, Abbey usually had cereal and I liked fruit, yoghurt and toast. Opening my eyes, I glanced at the empty space beside me, the pillow still slightly depressed where someone had recently slept, and I remembered with a jolt where I was.

With the realisation that I wasn’t in my bed, the rest of the previous day’s horror reared its ugly head and my heart gave an involuntary flutter of fear. Had I really been catapulted six years into the future? Yesterday the signs had certainly indicated that, but how could such a thing be possible?

In the thin light of morning the idea seemed preposterous, as I lay snug and temporarily safe under the warm covers. I found myself thinking over all the alternatives to the impossible and the unthinkable. People didn’t simply disappear for over six years in the blink of an eye and return to find that the world had moved on without them. My task, therefore, was to discover a rational explanation for the strange events of the day before. Somehow, something or someone had altered my perception of what had happened after I’d exited that aeroplane. I merely had to discover who would want to do such a thing to me and why.

Scrunching my eyes tightly closed against the light that was filtering through the gold and black curtains, I curled into a ball, trying to think of at least one credible answer to my list of questions.

My mind began to snatch desperately at various scenarios. From what I’d heard, some con artists concocted elaborate scams to extort money from unsuspecting ‘marks’. Apart from the worrying fact that it had been dark when I’d landed, someone could have superficially altered the state of the airfield, hidden my car to ensure I walked to the nearest – and only – refuge, which had been the pub, where they had plastered leaflets and posters of me as ‘missing’ and left a copy of a specially altered newspaper in a place where I couldn’t fail to spot it, with the fictitious date on it.

It wasn’t outside the realms of possibility that someone had drugged me before I’d jumped so that I was confused about the timings. Maybe after Graham, Ingrid and Kevin had exited the aircraft the pilot had flown somewhere else and returned to drop me over the airfield hours later to confuse and disorientate me. They’d certainly succeeded in doing that, I thought grimly. The question was why? I didn’t have much to offer except my overdraft and credit card bills. So why would anyone want to do such a thing?

But then again, if the pilot had been involved, surely the jumpmaster had to have been in on it too? I recalled Matt’s reasonably easy acceptance that it was me on the phone calling him from the pub. If I’d really been missing for six years wouldn’t he have been more suspicious at a voice on the end of a phone claiming to be me? And it was Matt who had made sure I had his number in my pocket; he who could have insisted on taking me home last night to Calum or my parents, but didn’t. And it was easy enough to get a haircut to give the appearance of having aged …

Giving a little groan of despair, I curled tighter into the ball, pulling the bedclothes right up over my head. I wanted to go home to Calum. I knew I would be safe there. I’d throw myself into his arms and he’d laugh and tell me not to be so silly – I was fit and well and had never really been missing at all.

Listening carefully for sounds on the stairs, I decided the safest course of action was to get up and dressed, pretending to Matt that I was still suckered in to his strange fantasy world, and make a break for it as soon as an opportunity arose. Swinging my legs out of the bed, I rested my bare feet on a luxurious wool rug before crossing the polished oak flooring to the bathroom.

Locking the door securely behind me, I spent several minutes in the shower, washing away the grime of the previous day before wrapping myself in a large black towel and padding my way back out into the bedroom.

Matt was standing in the middle of the room with a mug of tea in his hand. I gave a small squeal of fright and nearly dropped the towel. Grabbing it just in time I hung on to it tightly, staring at him with wide eyes. He grinned appreciatively when he saw me.

‘Making yourself at home, I see.’

I felt the blood drain from my face and willed myself to sound normal. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’

He crossed to the bed and placed the mug on the bedside table. ‘I’m glad you’re already up. I was going to wake you. There’s someone downstairs I think you might like to see.’

‘Really? I didn’t think anyone knew I was here?’ I sat on the edge of the bed and sipped at the hot tea. ‘Thank you for this, it’s just what I needed.’

‘I took the liberty of calling Kevin.’

‘Kevin?’ I was genuinely surprised. If Matt had gone to all this trouble to lure me here, why would he have called someone I knew? Particularly someone who had been in the plane with me before I had been drugged and possibly kidnapped? It didn’t make sense. ‘You mentioned Kevin last night, but I honestly don’t know him that well. He’s only been at the company a few weeks and he keeps pretty much to himself.’

I watched him over the rim of the mug, wondering. Matt couldn’t have concocted such an elaborate plan alone, he’d have needed help. Was it possible Kevin was involved too? Matt could have planted the boy at Wayfarer’s Insurance company where we worked, to make sure he was with me during the charity parachute jump. A memory of the spotty nineteen-year-old lad shyly handing me a cup of coffee in the mess room half an hour or so before take-off planted itself in my mind. That would have been about the right sort of timing for a drug to kick in. Looking down into the mug in my hand now, I almost choked.

‘Six years ago Kevin might have been something of a loner, but we’re good friends now,’ Matt was saying. ‘He’s got some wacky ideas, but he’s a good guy at heart – and he has an amazing way with computers and technology.’

I handed the mug back to him with the tea half drunk and offered a strained smile.

He grinned at me. ‘But I’ll let him tell you all about it. Come down when you’re dressed and join us for breakfast.’