Chapter 22: The Trek to Cheshire
I woke up somewhere in the woods, the bright sun beating down on me. There was a
chill in the air with scattered black clouds in the sky. I rested against a tree the
whole night, feeling my forehead.
Hot to the touch. Oh no, not again! I sat up with wooziness falling over me.
The sun was doing it's best to warm my soaked clothes. Denim DOES NOT keep you
warm no matter what. I caught
a cold out here. A real nasty one, too. My nose started to tickle as I began a
sneezing fit. One, two, three, damn, ouch! Four! I clutched my ribs
after the fourth sneeze. I wrapped the jacket
around my chest and buttoned it to the top button. My shoes squeaked while I walked
into town. Stores were opening up. If anyone had any decency, they'd help me
out here.
The feeling was mutual. Lucy blinked twice before turning over in her sleep.
She was the only one left in bed. Her head was aching, a feeling of tiredness
swam through her body, and a sneezing
fit got the attention of her roommates. Leo, at the vanity table, was refastening
his elbow and knee pads when he overheard her muffle in the covers. He stood up and
went to her side.
"Wow, bless you. You okay?"
"I feel a little weak." She turned over toward him. Leo crouched down and placed a hand on her forehead. It was freezing cold. "Did you take a shower? Your hand is cold."
"And your head is hot. I'm no doctor, but I can tell you have fever. Sit tight. I'll go down to the gift shop to see if I can get a thermometer and some medicine."
"You don't have to do all that for me." Lucy started to get up but Leo pushed her back down.
"No, I don't. But I insist. We can't be running around with you in this condition."
"Well, at least let me give you some money." Lucy reached down to the
floor, feeling her head pounding. Leo grabbed her purse, handing it to her.
"Thanks." She pulled out a few coins worth
£1 and a note worth £10 with Queen Elizabeth on the front. Leo took the strange
money and placed it in his jacket pocket. "I expect change."
"Yes, ma'am." Leo headed for the door but then turned around. "Oh, your key." Lucy pulled it out and tossed it to him. Leo caught it perfectly.
Lucy waited till he left before pulling the covers away to get up.
"Ah, ah! Leo said to sit tight!" Mike stepped over to cover her back up. Lucy could feel his body close to hers. He was cool as an air conditioner. She was like a radiator.
Raph sat down on the other side of her bed.
"Don't feel good?" She shook her head. He then looked to Mike. "Alright, what'd you do to her?"
"Hey! I didn't do anything!" Mike yelped defensively. Lucy squeezed her eyes from the shouting. "Oh, sorry. But I didn't do anything."
Don stepped away from the bathroom mirror with his hands behind his head, tying a knot into his mask. He walked around to the far side of the bed.
"This cold could be from when we got caught in the rain last night." He sat down on the bed and felt her forehead. His brow lowered in thought. "Hmm. Either I'm very cold or you're very hot."
Raph reached over to feel as well. Mike grinned.
"Right! Let's all feel her head!" Mike also felt it, pulling back with a nod. "Yeah, she's got a bit of a fever, I'd say."
"Oh, great!" Lucy groaned. "Not only am I sick but now I'm wasting precious time finding Jewel."
"Aw, don't think of it like that." Don said assuringly. "Leo's going to bring you something for the fever. The rest you'll have to battle on your own."
"Well, I can't really move around anyway. My clothes are still wet-"
"No, they're not." Mike said. "I took your stuff down to the washer room earlier. They're clean and dry now."
"Really? When did this happen?"
"While you were sleeping."
"How sweet! Thank y- wait a minute. All of my clothes?"
"Yup."
"Even-"
"Everything."
"Terrific."
"What?!"
"Women's clothing is personal."
"So what?! I don't care. Clothing is clothing to me no matter who wears it."
"Oh, okay."
"But dang, is that a misprint or is that bra size for real?" Mike got smacked with a pillow. "Ow! Guess you're not that sick! Ow, ow!"
Lucy dropped back on the pillow with a moan.
"Don't make me hurt you. Ohhhh...." She started to rub her temples next.
Minutes later, Leo returned to the room with a small sack in hand.
"Compliments of the hotel. They offered me this interesting looking muffin with a side of butter and a cup of juice."
Lucy took the Styrofoam box and set it down on the bed. She opened the lid to find the muffin looking pitted.
"It's a crumpet, Leo. English-style muffin. It looks delicious."
Leo sat down on the bed again and pulled out a thermometer.
"Wait, before you start eating, I want to check your temperature first."
Lucy took it with a roll to the eyes and placed it in her mouth. Crossing her
arms, she watched the expressions around her, glancing occasionally at the numbers
rocketing upward. I could have told
her these guys pampered sick people. If it's one thing they learned from their
sensei, it's to help others who are feeling under the weather. Even if they don't
want the help! Just to know someone
cares can lead one to a fast recovery. The thermometer beeped three times to signal
it done. Lucy pulled it out and looked to it first, not pleased with the results.
"102.4°F. Nice little number. I figured it be about that high."
Leo stood up and turned to her. "Hmm, well, let's try to get it down to average for now. We'll see how you feel when we get back on the road. We'll take buses or cabs if we have to."
"Thanks, Leo. I'm not up for doing heavy walking at the moment." She looked down to her food, then to the guys. "Uh, have you all eaten?"
Mike shook his head. "Nah, not yet. We were waiting for you to get up so we could all eat in the restaurant downstairs. But, uh, seeing is you can't, we'll just order room service instead."
"Good plan."
Don went over to the phone.
"Is that all you want, Lucy? Or do you want some eggs or something?"
Blech. Her stomach was having a hard time getting the muffin down as it is.
She needed to eat before taking any pills. Certain medicines on an empty
stomach could upset it. She felt like she was
going to throw up any minute. She tried her best to hold it in, embarrassed of doing
such a thing in front of them. Boy, the stories I could tell her!
"No, Don. This is fine for now." She sipped her juice. It was unstrained and cold. The thought that counts is what matters.
Where's my breakfast? Berries in the woods? Water from a stream?
That, would make me deathly ill. I slipped back into town where the shops were
starting to open. A general store put out it's
welcome mat and flipped the close sign to open. If I had to result to stealing, then
so be it. Of course, I could tell them the truth. I was abducted by crazy
people who want to kill me. I have no
cash but could give them an address so I could send the money for whatever it is I buy.
Yeah, right! I gave it a try anyway.
Walking in to the general store, all eyes stared at me. My clothes were dirty and
wet, my hair disheveled. I had a reddish tinge to my face from the fever. I
looked to the manager who
approached me with a worried expression.
"Miss? Are you alright? You look quite ill. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Help me." I whispered. Then collapsed to the floor.
"Good heavens!" The man exclaimed as he went to catch me. He
looked to one of the checkers whom stood watching. "You, lad! Come help
me with this woman!" The young boy rushed
over to lift me up off the ground. "Take her to my office upstairs. I'll
call an ambulance." The boy nodded and carried me away.
I woke up in a hospital bed with a cold compression to my head. The nurse looked oddly dressed. She wore all white with what looked like a wedge cap hat with a red cross on it.
"Feeling better miss?"
"Where am I? What happened?"
"You passed out about an hour ago. Don't you remember anything?"
"No, I don't. My head hurts."
"Just relax." A call came through on the loud speaker. "Excuse me, I have to take this."
"Hi. I'm here to pick up a Jewel Meddleton."
I heard a familiar voice outside at the nurse's counter.
"Uh, yes, sir. She's in there resting. Please have a seat."
The nurse smiled at me.
"You're in luck! Your husband has arrived to pick you up. We got the fever down but you'll need to take some non-prescriptive pills to keep it down."
"My.....husband?"
"Yes. Edward is it not? He's here to take you home."
Edward? Here? Impossible! If I was functioning correctly, I would
have questioned the nurse further. A tall man stepped in. My vision was hazy
and unclear. I could see he was dressed in
black with short brown hair tucked behind a baseball style cap. He smiled to me.
"Edward!"
The Turtles suited up in their heavy clothing once more. Lucy put on her clean
clothes, feeling a chill once out of bed. The fever was still with her. The
group stopped at the elevator entrance and
waited for the car to arrive. Mike stared at the sign marked "To Lifts."
"They don't call 'em elevators, huh?"
Lucy shook her head.
"We call them lifts."
"So, what are they called when going down? Drops?"
Lucy laughed out loud then stopped when her head pulsated.
"Yeah, ow, ow, drops. That's a good one."
Downstairs, the five browsed the gift shop so Lucy could find a scarf for her neck.
All she wanted to do was go back to bed. Her head was throbbing. Raph
put an arm around her for support.
Even though he'd been rude to her before, his sympathy was most sincere. She allowed
him to touch her without resistance.
"You'll be alright. It'll pass."
"Mm." She rested her head on his shoulder while they waited in line to purchase a lovely red scarf. The gentleman behind the counter smiled as she approached the front.
"Is this all miss?" She slowly nodded and pulled out her wallet. "I'll clip the tags if you'd like to wear it now."
"Yes, I need it to keep my neck warm. Have a bit of a cold this morning." She looked to Raph.
"Oh, is that right? What a pity, miss! It must be from this rotten
weather we have, yes?" She nodded again. "Well, let's see...it's £8
then!" Lucy pulled out a £10 bill and handed it to him. Raph
frowned to see the red and blue colors of the strange money. The man accepted it
without hesitation. "Very good, very good. Are you from around here
originally?"
"Um, yes. I was born in Canterbury. My parents live in Salisbury right now."
"And your husband? Is he from here?"
Raph's eyes widened.
"Who? Me? She's not my wife, mistah!" His New York accent spilled out immediately. Lucy patted him to calm his nerves.
"He's from New York. We both are. I live in a flat, uh, apartment in Manhattan."
"I see. So, you must be on vacation."
Raph went to speak but was shushed by Lucy.
"Right, and we're checking out today. Onto the next town to tour."
"Well, you have a nice time. And you take care of yourself miss."
"Thank you, sir. Cheers."
Lucy turned to flip the scarf around her neck as the five headed out the door.
The morning air blasted them once they reached the bottom steps of the hotel.
Lucy's teeth began chattering from the
cold breeze whipping through the town. Clutching herself and feeling others clutch
her for warmth, the group headed down the sidewalk toward a large circle in the road.
Mike looked at the signs ahead of them.
"We're on Armada Way according to that street sign. How'd we get here?"
Raph groaned.
"Let's see. We started down at Millbay Docks by the water. We treaded
up to that Wet Wok place and then got on a bus to that Central Library
off of Tavistock Road. From there, cuz of the
stupid rain, we ended up running like freakin' lunatics in the down pour until we hit a
hotel with a vacancy called, the what?"
Lucy raised a finger. "Copthorne Ply-"
"Right. Copthrone Hotel which I'll bet cost you your whole savings-"
"Almost my whole savings, Raph-"
"Whatever. I suggested the Moat House but no one listened to me. Probably would have been cheaper. And now, we're at this circle thing. Lucy, where the hell are we?"
"This is called the North Cross." Each looked in all directions.
"Let's take Saltash Road." Lucy started to walk down, still
clutching herself. "If memory serves me, there should be a train
station up ahead." The group followed her lead, sizing up the different shops
and stores along the way. The distance was somewhat a few blocks but for Lucy, it
seemed like several miles.
"T...th....th....the train station." Her voice trembled. The Turtles
followed her gaze.
It was Don's cue to pull out the trusty map.
"Um, according to the notes, the only town with this lab that starts with 'C' is Cheshire-"
Lucy pointed a gloved finger to the trail heading north. "Yes, that's what Jewel told me. Cheshire's their densit...desti....destination."
Don read the sign.
"Plymouth Rail Station. We can travel by train. It will keep you out of the cold air for now." Lucy quickly nodded.
The group walked toward the station, stopping to pick up a schedule.
"The shortest time with less changes in trains is to go to Stockport. Then arriving in Adlington, Cheshire. We should be there in about 2 hours."
Lucy tapped Don's arm.
"What would I do without you?"
"Ask someone else for directions."
The train station was bustling with tourist and commodores alike. A Japanese
tourist group walked by; the leader holding up a red flag while the group all wore red
hats. Several groups with large
back packs and luggage where coming and going up and down the halls. Lucy and the
Turtles suddenly felt crammed in the mass of people around the large area. They
reached a line that zig
zagged for train tickets. Signs were posted everywhere in many different languages.
"I feel like I'm at the airport." Lucy mumbled. "Let's be thankful we're not at Heathrow. That's another zoo to deal with."
"We don't do much flying on airplanes." Mike's voice was at her level. "Closest we get to flying is in the baggage compartments."
Lucy stared wide-eyed.
"Noooo! Really?" They nodded. "Well, I'm buying tickets for all of us. You'll be riding up with me."
Raph sighed. "Thank goodness! And I thought we had to ride lower class. As in under the train itself."
"You mean you guys have ridden-" Again they nodded. Lucy almost fainted. Not just from being sick, either. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. Your lives must be very adventurous."
Raph smirked and answered for all of them. "You don't know the half of it, lady."
My mind was playing tricks on me. The plan was set. I fell into the arms of
Stuart pretending to be my husband. I should have known from when he grabbed me, his
hands wore black
gloves. Before I could scream, I was pulled into the black limo awaiting for our
arrival. The chauffeur frowned to me. I caught his expression before
disappearing into the back seat.
He really had nothing to do with this.
"Naughty, naughty!" Stuart chided me like I was a child. A back
hand went across my face. The feeling of the leather stung my face like the dickens.
"You forced me to do this on your
own account." He quickly tied my hands together this time with hand cuffs!
Behind my back even! I was screwed. No escape. I felt the gag
being inserted from one of his henchmen friends.
I saw Trevor glaring at me with so much hatred. I stared at him too long. He
went for a smack to my face only he punched! I almost swallowed the gag.
"No, Trevor! Once was enough!"
Gee, thanks, Stuart. Remind me to have you killed later.
"The bitch deserves it, man!" Now, Trevor sounded like a whiny kid. A kid with a dirty mouth. His friend tapped his shoulder.
"Don't worry it about it, Trev. She'll get what she deserves later."
I knew what he meant. And that wasn't good news.