Free The Perimeter by Shalini Boland Page B

would have to do as he asked.
     

Chapter Ten
    Jamie
     
    Jamie spent the next couple of days recuperating. He took long cool showers and ate hearty home-cooked meals, but the problem was, he was still too scared to fall asleep. Despite his new safe environment, exhaustion crippled him. Shadows ringed his eyes and he had a constant hollow feeling of dread in his chest. Every small sound or movement made him jump. He was a bundle of nerves. Miriam and the other women were always busy so he didn’t get much opportunity to speak to them but, when panic threatened to overwhelm him, he remembered how she had taught him to breathe.
    It was another hot summer’s afternoon and Jamie was trying to rest in the small yard at the back of the terraced house. At least these cotton clothes were clean and cool and comfortable. Better than his old falling-apart threads. He figured if he couldn’t sleep upstairs in bed, he might have more luck outdoors. After all, he’d been sleeping outside for the best part of sixteen years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sleeping arrangements that were preventing him from falling asleep.
    The yard was a clean bare space apart from a warped plastic chair and a leafy Buddleia tree which provided some much-needed shade. Amid its dying purple blossoms, a few fat bees buzzed among the branches, extracting the last few sips of nectar. Jamie was in that suspended space between waking and sleeping where everything feels heavy and warm. It was a luxury to relax without fear of being robbed or attacked. If he could only manage a catnap, well that would be something. But even now, with his eyes closed, the girl’s dead image was trying to show itself.
    ‘Jamie.’ A man’s voice startled him and he opened his eyes, bringing his hand up to shade them.
    ‘Mr Carter.’ Jamie felt a moment of panic. So, his short stay was over. He had known he wouldn’t be able stay here forever, but the thought of going back outside terrified him. He’d always been pretty resigned to his life as a vagrant but, having tasted a few days of comfort, it would be a wrench to return to living on his wits again. Especially now, with all these unwanted images crowding his brain and the knowledge that he was losing it. Jamie reached for his crutches which were balanced against the wall and hauled himself to his feet.
    ‘Miriam fixed you up then,’ Mr Carter said. It was a statement more than a question.
    ‘Yeah. She’s been really kind.’
    ‘So are you ready to join us, Jamie?’
    ‘What? Stay here you mean?’ He felt hope quicken his pulse.
    ‘No. No one stays here. This is a transitionary place.’
    ‘Oh.’ Jamie thought as much.
    ‘Are you still looking for redemption? For peace?’
    Jamie nodded. No doubt in his mind.
    ‘Good. Then you are needed.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Salisbury.’
    His heart clutched with nerves. He’d heard all the rumours like everyone else. But surely it couldn’t be as bad as he thought – not if the people there were anything like Miriam. She’d said he would find peace in Salisbury. He should have quizzed her more about what went on there and about James Grey, but all he’d done that night was waffle on about his own life. He hadn’t thought to ask her anything important. Since then, he’d been too busy taking things easy to think about Grey. He cursed himself.
    ‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Mr Carter said.
    ‘Find out what?’
    ‘All those questions going through your head. They’ll be answered soon enough.’
    ‘Oh. Right.’
    ‘Ready then?’
    ‘What? We’re going now?’
    ‘We are.’
    ‘Okay. I’ll go and get my stuff.’
    ‘You don’t need it.’
    ‘I . . .’
    ‘You’ll be starting a new life, Jamie. A better life where your old things are no longer required.’
    ‘Right.’ Jamie didn’t suppose it was the end of the world to let go of a few mouldy old clothes, but it made him a little light-headed to leave his bundle behind. He’d had it with him for