Dreamstone

Back to the Future

"Girls...do try and calm down...we are not even in London yet, and you are going to wear yourselves out by lunchtime, at this rate," Caroline sighed, grabbing my arm and drawing me down onto her lap, before reaching out for Chloe and sitting her beside us. Charles got a hold of Grace, sitting her on his knee. "Especially you, Catherine...honestly, what has gotten into you, little one?"

"I'm fine, Mummy...I promise." I assured her as she slipped her hand up under my pale pink coat, and dress, to assess the state of my diaper. I was excited, obviously. But not for the reasons she expected, of course. And as the twins had caught on to my mood, we were all bouncing off the walls. She smiled and kissed my hair, with her arm around Chloe, giving her a cuddle.

"Getting this excited about a museum is..." Charles began, but Caroline did not let him finish his sentence.

"Sweet...I love seeing them all having fun together, but we need to keep the excitement level under control, or we will never get through the day!" She said firmly, and then laughed, because Grace was rolling her eyes at her. "Grace dear, I know you love Catherine...but copying that particular expression of hers will only get you into trouble!"

"I didn't teach her that," I protested, but we were all laughing, even Charles. Our outfits were typically Caroline, but I was past worrying about what I looked like. I was so close. We got the train into London Victoria, and then took the tube to Kensington, by which time I could hear my heart beating in my chest, like a drum, increasingly urgent. Mummy and Daddy knew that I particularly wanted to see the Dreamstone, although they did not know why, obviously, but they had agreed to go there first, for my sake. Secretly, I think they thought we would get bored in the museum if we stayed there too long, but they wanted to humour me. I am not sure what they thought that I actually wanted to wish for, but it probably sounded harmless enough, and as Caroline had said to her husband, they undoubtedly liked seeing us all so happy together as a family. Grace and Chloe both wanted to make wishes too, and expected their parents to make one as well, so it soon became like one big family game.

"I think I am going to wish for a cattle prod, to keep you lot under control," Charles said, as the twins tried to pull his arms off after we got through the main entrance.

"Oh, good idea...I could use it on you, when you are watching football!" Caroline laughed merrily, getting into the swing of things. She squeezed my hand, letting me pull her along just a little bit, and I beamed back at her. I was not being selfish. I wanted her to be happy, and that meant asking the Dreamstone to sort Catherine out, as well as giving me my old life back as Kelly. I had been awake half the night working out what I wanted to ask for, because I was very aware that our first, entirely accidental connection with the stone had gone wrong because I was not really wishing for anything when I was barged into it. I reckoned that it was the same for Kelly/Cate, as well, because she was not ready for her touch, either, and we had both only been in contact with the Dreamstone for a fraction of a second, which was surely not enough time to get things right. So, I was planning a much calmer laying on of my hands, with a proper wish, which included everyone. It was not all about me. I was just the innocent victim, caught up in Catherine's life by accident, but I was sure that the stone would be much more likely to help me if I had good intentions towards others as well as for myself. And I wanted them to be safe and happy without me. Even as I urged Caroline to hurry towards the room containing the Dreamstone, I found it hard to contemplate never seeing them again.

"So...what do we do?" Charles asked, looking amused as we all stood in front of the massive slab of granite. Unlike the previous Monday, when the Dreamstone was mobbed, because it seemed to appear on all the worksheets provided to schools, we were the only ones anywhere near it.

"You lay your hands on it, and think about your wish, Daddy." I told him, well aware that he thought it was all a joke. But the twins were with me, and even Caroline, so we approached the stone together, with me aiming for the spot where Kelly/Cate and I were pushed into it, because that seemed important to me. "Hold it for a long time and think hard...on my mark...one two three...go!"