Installment 37

Gwendolyn's eyes widened.
"What is it? Mam, what's wrong?"
"You," her frail hand reached out to Janet, "You're her? The one from the stories?"
"What stories, mam?"
"It was written that the one who brought it to us would one day come to take it back, and an almighty war would break out between earth and the heavens. That's you, isn't it?"
Janet frowned in thought, then smiled cheekily, "You know? I think it just might be."
I looked at her in disbelief, "You! You let me believe you were on my side. You said you'd help me. Why did I ever trust you?"
"Woah, now," she said, taking my hands in hers, "I am on your side, my love. Always on your side; always by your side."
"Then how can you be what she said."
"Oh, love, I did bring it here, and I did come to take it back. You knew that."
"But... the rest of it?"
"They're coming for me, darling. Coming for you too."
"Elena and Daniel?"
"Daniel?"
"That man. He said he didn't have a name, but... I wanted him to."
"Ok, yeah, them. They're coming and they will do whatever they can to get the pendant back where it belongs; back in my home."
Brin interrupted, "It belongs in Ogmore."
"Oh, shush, you. What do you know?"
"I know I'm not going to stand aside and let some stupid bitch ruin my mother's life's work; my sister's life's work."
"Brin!" Gwendolyn snapped, "Calm down, boy."
He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it and sat down with his arms crossed tightly across his body.
"Right," she said, authoritatively, "We need to work out what we're going to do. You?" she turned to Janet, "You'll stand by us against them when they come?"
Janet moved her face close to Gwendolyn's in an aggressive manner, "I'll stand by Fi. If that's where you are, then I'll stand by you, but don't think for a second my loyalty lies with you."
Gwendolyn nodded slowly, "Understood."
"So, you'll stand by us then?" she turned the question back on Gwendolyn.
"We will."
Brin grunted.
Gwendolyn turned to her son. "We will!" she said insistently.
Janet forced a smile, "Right then, we should get out of here. We were headed to Ogmore."
"But that's the first place they'd think of, surely?"
Janet shook her head, "Actually, no. There's more to Ogmore than your stories and traditions, Brin."
Brin flinched when she said his name. I looked at him, confused. He shot me a stern look, and I said nothing of it.
"You have a car?" Janet asked.
"Yes, outside."
"Right, pack up and meet us in the car park in 20 minutes."
Gwendolyn looked as if she might protest, then nodded. Janet grabbed my hand and led me back to our room, although we had no packing to do.

"I don't trust them," she said.
"I'm not sure I do either, but they seem to want the same as we do."
"What?"
"They want the pendant. I want to not have the pendant. Gwendolyn can see it, so Daniel can go after her for the answers or whatever."
Janet laughed slightly and nodded, "Use them as bait."
"No, not..." I paused, thinking, "That's what it would be, isn't it? We're not going to stand by them; we're going to stand by and watch them be destroyed."
"That's the plan," Janet smiled.
"I... I'm not really comfortable with that. Shouldn't we warn them, or something?"
"And say what? Yeah, you can have the pendant, but some supernatural being might want to rip you apart?"
"Well... yeah..."
She put her arm around my shoulders, "Darling, I don't think it'd make a difference. They wouldn't understand, or wouldn't believe you. The pendant's been their life for so long. It means more to them than you can comprehend."
"Will he kill them?"
"I don't know, love... maybe."

I sat down on the bed staring at the carpet and following the swirly patterns with my eyes until it made me slightly dizzy, then I closed my eyes and just sat listening to the tiny noises of the room. The slight buzz from the fridge in the corner, the birdsong from outside, Janet's light footfalls as she paced around the room. After what seemed like a lot longer than 20 minutes, Janet put her hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and silently followed her out of the room and down to the car park.

When we reached the car, Gwendolyn, Brin and the young girl were leaning against it. They looked like a picture from the 1940s. Brin wearing a trilby and three piece suit and Gwendolyn and the girl in old-fashioned dresses. I smirked slightly, remembering a long time ago when I was about the girl's age and my family had tried to dress me up in a similar dress. I'd always been a tomboy and hated the idea of any kind of dress or skirt. Not a great deal had changed, I realised looking down at the men's jeans, men's shirt and men's jacket I was wearing.

The difference was that I no longer had to answer to anyone about what I wore. Even Kelly had eventually accepted that I was never going to be a make-up kind of girl. She hadn't been out in public without her make-up since she was 16 and left school. She agreed to go out with me one time without it on the condition she got to paint me up however she liked. We both felt really uncomfortable, and made it halfway to the pub before turning back.

Janet held out her hand to the young girl, "I'm Janet."
"Angharad... Harry," she said.
"Harry," Janet repeated, "Right, you are."
"Fi," I said, pointing to myself, "Pleased to meet you."
The girl smiled with one half of her mouth and nodded in a disinterested way, then opened the car door and climbed into the back.