Once

Thirty Six

The exam went fine, as far as Elle was concerned. The questions were easy enough, and David had been right. She sort of did know An Inspector Calls by heart.

They let them out of the hall in rows, alphabetically. That meant that Elle, Maggie and Sellan were among the first group let out. They went and sat on a low wall at the edge of the quad, waiting for the others.

Maggie turned to Elle and asked, "How did you do?"

"Fine, I think. How about you? Which question did you do?"

"Discuss the use of the supernatural as a symbolic element in An Inspector Calls."

"Me too," Sellan put in. "How about you, Elle?"

"The other one. Analyse the character of Sheila Birling. I've had enough of supernatural symbolism for this week. This lifetime, actually."

The other two smiled.

"You doing alright this morning, Elle?" Sellan asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I'm OK. I didn't sleep too well. And I got up insanely late this morning. Must have slept through my alarm. I just felt like I could sleep for a hundred years."

"I'm not surprised, after the few days you've had."

She looked round at them both. Maggie looked very pale - paler than usual, even. Sellan's nose was swollen and badly bruised, strapped down in place with a thin steri-strip plaster.

"Maggie, Jax told me about your dad," Elle said.

Maggie gave a distant nod.

"He just keeps saying he can't believe there was an earthquake. Just like that - 'Can you believe it, Maggie? An earthquake here in Farway.' He really doesn't remember Elle. It's like he's blocked it out completely." She chewed her lip anxiously.

"I've seen it before," Elle said. "I told you, didn't I, about Letty's mum, and the Loxleys? They're not bothered at all. With the Loxleys it was, like, disturbing. It was like they'd forgotten they ever had a daughter at all."

"So it's like, magic amnesia or something?" Sellan suggested.

"Sort of. It's like a kind of haze, like a smokescreen. Something that blocks out a certain part of your brain and stops you from seeing something that should be completely obvious. It affects us, too."

"It does?"

"Of course it does. Look at what happened yesterday. Jack - Jax. How many times did one or another of us read some version of Jack and the Beanstalk, and never once think 'Hey, that's pretty close to Jax's name'? And her mum, too."

"Her mum?"

"She's making pottery cows. Has been for weeks. You know how that story starts, right? Jack sells his mother's prize cow for a few magic beans. I mean, I can sort of forgive us for not spotting that - but we all knew about the cows and never thought of it. But the 'Jax' thing - we should have spotted that."

"You're right. We should have." Maggie gazed up at the sky. "I guess we should have a harder think about our names."

"Why?" Elle said in a sudden burst of intensity that made the others jump. "What do we have to do with it?"

"Not you, Elle. You're, like, the Chosen One, right? The one who sees it all." Sellan gave Elle a half-smile. "But me and Maggie... I mean, we could be next."

"It's not going to be you two." Elle's tone was vehement; whether she was trying to convince them or herself wasn't clear.

Maggie said: