Page 88 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

‘Birmingham? What are you doing in Birmingham, Terry?’

There was a pause before he answered. ‘You told me you’re in Birmingham.’

‘No, I said Bermondsey.’

‘Where the hell’s that?’

‘East London.’

‘Bloody hell, Heather.’

‘I’ve already told you I’m not going back with you, Terry.’ Even as I said it, I questioned myself. Perhaps I should go back. I’d screwed up my new life here in England, and I had no idea how to undo the mess I’d gotten myself into.

‘All right, I’m exhausted after a long flight and the train to Birmingham. I’m going to stay here overnight and come back to London tomorrow morning. I’ll book flights home for tomorrow night. I’ve forgiven you for leaving me. We can go home together. Call it a new start. Your school has said they’ll take you back. We can go back to how everything was before.’

‘You think so?’

Terry might have heard my response, but he didn’t pick up on my tone. ‘I know so. I’m nothing without you, Heather. You’re the love of my life. Hold tight. I’m coming to get you and take you home.’

He rang off. Or ran out of credit.

I put my phone away in disbelief.

When I finished my tea, I lay back on the bed, thinking things through. Why shouldn’t I give up and go back to what I knew? It might be a mundane existence, but at least it was familiar.

There are worse things than that.

But Aunt Ruth? I promised to help her. She’d said she had three months to live.

I closed my eyes. The idea of her dying was too painful to contemplate right now.

Aunt Ruth said there was nothing I could do to help her. And all she seemed to want to do was to help Raven, and I was interfering with that.

I had made a connection with Raven too. Did I want to give up on that so soon?

I could work on the correspondence course in New Zealand. It’s by correspondence, after all. Email goes everywhere. And Aunt Ruth would only be a phone call away. While she is still alive, anyway. Though even then, she might hang around as a ghost.

I must have fallen asleep. When I woke, it was dark. Hunger pangs clawed at my stomach. I’d skipped dinner. Better go downstairs and find something to eat. Even two-minute noodles would do. Or toast. Can’t go wrong with toast and a white hot chocolate.

Downstairs, I made hot buttered toast and a hot drink and took them into the dining room. The light was on there, but the room was empty. Maybe Aunt Ruth or Raven had been in there recently. Aunt Ruth never turned off the lights when she went to bed. Something about avoiding lightbulb explosions, she’d said.

I ate my toast. Melted butter ran down my chin. I’d literally slathered it on. Buttered toast was a comfort food, and extra butter meant extra comfort.

‘Heather?’

I looked up as I wiped my chin with my sleeve, twinging with embarrassment at my messy eating. It was Raven. ‘You’re back.’

‘Yeah, I got back just now.’

‘What happens to your clothes when you shift into bird form?’ I blurted. I’d wanted to know that for a while.

He chuckled as he came in and sat next to me. ‘They change with me. Luckily, my ex-girlfriend allowed me that dignity.’

‘Or she didn’t think about it.’ Angry ex-partners were liable to do mean things. Myself included.

‘Maybe. I’m starved. All I’ve had to eat since last night was a few insects. I think I’ve still got some wings stuck in my teeth.’

I put my toast down. ‘Yuck.’

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