Read Online Beyond Life by Deb McEwan - Free Book Online Page B

shook her head. ‘We need to build a barbed wire fence. Not sure how quickly we can get the wire but the sooner the better.’
    ‘I’m already on it,’ said Gary and Marion ignored the smug look from Val. ‘Daniel’s arranged for an armed guard for a few nights but the fence will be up by tomorrow night. My men will see to that.’
    Val thanked him but Marion didn’t acknowledge his comments, wondering why she was being made out to be the baddie of the piece.
    ‘We need to get the children together and try to talk to them without terrifying them, though I’m not sure how we’re going to do that.’
    ‘Maybe I should come along and tell them about the guards and the guns?’
    ‘That won’t be necessary, Gary,’ said Marion through gritted teeth. ‘But thank you for arranging for the fence to be erected. You may want to get on with that now,’ she dismissed him as if she were the head talking to a naughty pupil and he turned away to look out of the window for a moment, pretending to assess the area but calming himself until his eye stopped twitching. Perhaps Marion should have an encounter with a lion, he thought fleetingly before turning to Val. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
    She leant over and kissed his cheek. ‘Thanks, Gary.’
    And Marion wanted to vomit.
    ‘Marion,’ he said nodding and she nodded back in acknowledgement of his departure without saying a word.
    *****
    The angels and two spirits were discussing how best to warn Val about her evil suitor.
    ‘I think Claire may want to tell her brothers then perhaps Tony can explain to Libby and she can speak to her mother on her return home?’ said Gabriella. She could see that Raphael didn’t know what she was talking about, so explained the siblings’ ability to communicate with each other.
    ‘She is special isn’t she?’ Gabriella noticed his tone of voice and was surprised. It had been a while since her twin had shown that sort of interest in anyone. Knowing that Claire had her faults but was intrinsically good and totally different to the last one, she was happy for him.
    ‘Yeah, yeah, we all know how special she is.’ Ron sounded petty even to himself, so tried to justify his words. ‘What I meant to say is that can we stick to the point and try to find a way to warn Val off. I don’t think they’re due back for a while, Gabriella so we need something more urgent that your plan. Do you have any ideas, Raphael?... Raphael?’
    ‘Claire!’
    ‘What?’ said Ron but Gabriella was sensing a problem too. Not with the same foresight as her brother but she definitely felt the disturbance.
    ‘Come on, before they get to her,’ he turned to Gabriella. ‘I’m not sure if Sandy’s strong enough yet.’
    The disturbance was getting stronger. ‘We’re going to need all the help we can get. Come on, I’ll explain on the way.’
     
    She was moving upwards as fast as she could but they were gaining on her. She’d looked back once and had been alarmed to see that the few evils had multiplied and the teenager who they’d encountered in the past had joined them. Had Claire had time to have a proper look she would have seen that he was stronger and now appeared to be in charge. She was terrified and images of the terrors that both Sandy and Ken had told her about passed before her eyes. Claire shook them away trying to concentrate all her efforts on moving upwards as fast as she could. She felt a gush of wind, caused by a hand swiping and missing her leg. She panted with the effort, knowing that this was a race she was unlikely to win and she felt the first hand make contact with her ankle. Trying to keep moving upwards with every fibre of her soul, her warped mind still had time to tell her that the calloused hand was covered in warts, and the second one had a finger missing. By the time the prodding hands were in double figures, she had stopped analysing their individual deformities. Only one set of hands had a body and face and when