The Mute and the Liar by Victoria Best

now she has turned around to talk to us.
    “ Nicky and I are going to get some more paint and other items so I can continue redecorating. We might also pop to Asda. Jaycie, you can show her around, and we will meet up again here at about five. Okay? ”
    I almost forget to breathe. They are going to leave us?
    Don’t leave me with Jayce! Not only is that pretty much horrible news, it also means I can’t escape if it is just the two of us. H e will notice straight away if I try to run . I was hoping I could make a run for it if he got distracted with something, but it seems it will be impossible to slip away unnoticed now.
    They quickly discuss what they’re going to do now. I am so stunned I cannot do anything to stop them. Kit hands me a black umbrella, warning me it will rain heavily very soon. Before I have a chance to even register what is happening, they have already left. Jayce gives me a weak smile, as if not so thrilled with the news either.
    “ Let’s go then. I’ll show you around. Bath is a pretty place. ”
    Jayce walks a little ahead of me singing a song I haven’t heard before under his breath and I tag along behind him. He seems a little… Distanced. Acting differently . Maybe it’s the weak smiles and the slight slouch in his shoulders, or the strange, shapeless trench coat he is wearing which is so different to his normal t-shirts and jeans, or his hair which looks much floppier and blonder today.
    We walk on for a little, when suddenly he grasps my shoulders and drags me behind a bush and forces me to kneel down.
    “ Shhh! ” he whispers, pressing a finger over his lips.
    Through the spaces in the leaves I see three policemen push their way past the crowds and then charge along the path leading out of the street.
    “ Okay. All clear. ” Jayce drags me up again and continues marching ahead of me.
    That all seemed a little extreme just to avoid some policemen. Is he really that worried about getting caught? He seemed so fearless and reckless before, emanating the aura of someone who couldn’t care less what sort of danger they got into as long as they had fun doing it. I did not expect him to worry this much.
    A few drops of rain leave inky studs on the pavement around me. I put up Kit’s umbrella, and soon enough the rain starts crashing in. Jayce puts the collar of his trench coat up, and seems a little irritated. Heh. Probably scared the rain is going to mess up his hair on the one day he combed it.
    Actually, I feel a little sorry for him. He seems so small shrouded in that coat and with the rain rushing down his cheeks and seeping into his hair, leaving it nothing more than yellow rat’s tails. And he did wash his hair this morning. What if he catches a cold? Sure, I don’t like him, but colds are nasty.
    Fine. I am going to do the right thing here.
    I catch up to him and lift the umbrella over his head, so it shields us both. He stops walking and looks at me, his expression something between surprise and curiosity. Around us people continue dashing everywhere and pushing past, and I feel as if we’re the only people standing still. We stand like that for a while, just falling into each other’s eyes with the rain falling around us.
    “ Thanks, ” he says softly.
    Huddled under the umbrella, we carry on walking and soon reach some sort of a square filled with shops and tourists. The Bath Abbey towers up ahead.
    “ So this is the Abbe y, ” Jayce introduces the beautiful cathedral we are standing in front of with the ladder of stone angels clambering up to the top on the west front and one huge arched window stretching over the front building above the arched front door. Spires and pinnacles twist up towards the sky and stained glass windows line every wall.
    I close the umbrella, we enter and Jayce pays a donation. I am astounded. There are four rows of pews all leading up to an alter and one huge long thin stained glass window on the farthest wall, which is encased between two