Tales of the First

"There's something else," Sienna said. "When I touch Ryan it blocks the telepathic noise he's been having issues with. I'm not sure what to make of that."

"And I can still hear people if I listen for them," Ryan said. "But we only hear each other if we try. It's almost like our mental abilities are mirror images." He rubbed his head. "And now she's not holding my hand the noise is back though it's not as bad here."

"More likely she's extending her own mental shield around you subconsciously," Martin said. "She must have put it up instinctively so doesn't know how to get past it. I bet you can teach each other. Shall we try?"

"First we need some ice for Sienna's shoulder," he father said. "And then I want to take a look at Ryan. At least I assume he's having neurological issues like the other targets seem to have been? I've got a couple of cases at the hospital - those people have avoided attacking there for now - and I've been looking in to how to help them."

"Have you found anything?" Martin asked.

"Well it was a fair bet that the mist was involved so I reached out to colleagues at hospitals near some of the other affected areas and found out they've had similar cases. They are nervous about talking about the poltergeist activity around said patients but they have found that adapting post-stroke rehabilitation therapy works to a degree."

"You researched this?" Martin looked alarmed. "They'll be able to track that."

Her father snorted. "I'm sure they know the men I'm treating are at the hospital and a neurologist looking for similar cases won't provoke comment."

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Wendy asked when Sienna led her father, Charlotte and Ryan into the den area.

"My shoulder is a bit sore," Sienna said as she pulled off her mask. "But we're fine." She looked over at Ryan who was still clinging to her hand. "Well maybe not exactly fine but we're alive."

"Let's have a look at your shoulder," Robert said.

Sienna gently extricated her hand from Ryan's and pulled off her top, wincing as the movement made her shoulder twinge. Her father frowned and gently probed the bruised skin making her hiss.

"Well nothing is broken," he said. "Is that where the bullet hit you?"

"Yeah," Sienna said. "It felt like being hit with a bat."

"Interesting," Robert said. "It seems that your invulnerability is about as good as a good quality bullet proof vest with rifle plates. These powers? I take it that it was the mist?"

"Yes," she said. "I appear to have developed psychokinetic and broadcasting telepathic powers." She looked over at Martin when she remembered what had happened when she had given Charlotte a boost. "Oh, the psycokinesis seems to be enhancing my strength as well."

"You can say that again," Charlotte said. "She all but threw me through the loft hatch."

"Hmm... so you can lift heavier weights when you touch them and deflect more powerful attacks closer to your skin? I wonder if it's two different but similar powers or if your psychokinesis declines with distance."

"Ah," Sienna said. "What should we do?"

"Have your dad bring you to the base for now," he said. "We'll figure out what to do from there."

"Okay," Sienna said. "Let me get my bearings." She looked out of the car window and tried to figure out where they were."

"Where are we going?" her father asked.

"It's an old abandoned factory near the railway tracks," Sienna said. "It's not too far from home."

"Hmm... There's a couple it could be. But I assume you'll know the way once we get nearby."

"Yeah," Sienna said. "I will. Can I take the mask off yet?"

"No!" Robert and Martin said simultaneously.

"Okay," Sienna said.

"Ring off now," Martin said. "We don't want to be traced. See you soon."

Sienna rang off and looked out of the car window. Someting had been bothering her since they had left James' carlot. "Dad, am I supposed to think it was a coincidence you happened to stop at a carlot where the owner is a Martial Arts trainer?"

Robert gave a chuckle. "It wasn't exactly a coincidence but it wasn't planned either. James is an aquaintance. I met him in Afganistan when I was there with Médecins Sans Frontières and he was in the Royal Marines. When your mother called me I realised I was near his place and thought he might help. I wasn't expecting him to offer to train you but it is a good idea if you're determined to do this."

"I see," Sienna said. "You're taking this well, dad."

"Somehow I have a superpowered daughter," he said clinically. "I think I'm in shock and as soon as the adrenalin wears off I'll pitch a fit."

"Hmm... MMA is a good sport but not the best for real world self-defence," James said. "Krav Maga might serve you better."

"And where would she learn those?" Robert said. "The authorities will be analysing her style and looking at places those are taught to try and find her."

"I could teach her." James gave a wry smile. "I am a licensed instructor. I'd like to help."

"We'll consider it," Robert said. "For now we need to get going. The police will still be looking for us."

James nodded and pushed a flyer into Sienna's hand. "You know where to find me. Good luck."

"Thank you," Sienna said as her father ushered her into the car. As they drove away she grabbed her phone again and called Martin.

"Martin, we're okay!" she said.

"Thank God!" he said. "We were watching. I had to stop Wendy suiting up and rushing over. It's not tested yet. How did you escape?"

"You aren't going to believe this," she said. "My dad came to get us. I have no idea how he recognised us."

"I knew you'd gone to Charlotte's," Robert said. "I was already on my way when your mother called and told me. She recognised your build and way of moving, and remembered the mask from last Halloween. I doubt anyone else would have."

"Ah!" Sienna said. "Did you hear that?"

"I did," Martin said. "I guess it was inevitable your parents would figure it out." He paused. "We're going to have to hide Ryan and Charlotte until things calm down. The police are looking for them because they think they'll know who you are."

"Don't worry," James said. "I'll never willingly tell anyone that you were here."

"But you're worried you could be forced to?" Robert asked.

"I'm tough. I have reason to know just how tough I am, but anyone can break." He shuddered suddenly. "I have reason to know that as well." He looked over at Sienna. "You stopped those men from shooting you, didn't you?" he asked.

"I did," she conceded.

"Do you think you could make me not able to talk about this?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sienna admitted. "I don't know how long an ongoing command would last and I don't like doing it anyway."

"Good!" he said. "You shouldn't like it, but it shouldn't present an ethical dillema if I volunteer should it."

He's telling the truth, Ryan said. He's afraid of being tortured into betraying you and wants you to make it impossible.

Sienna just humed non-commitedly and turned her attention to James question.

"I'm not sure it does remove the ethical dilemma completely," she said. "But right now I'm not seeing an altenative. Are you sure about this?"

"I am," he said.

"Okay." Sienna bit her lip in concentration. Don't tell anyone about us being here.

"Woah!" James rocked back on his heels and stared at her. "But it's good that you're thinking about ethics. But more importantly can you fight?"

"No," she admitted.

"So that's why you were avoiding conflict," he said. "It's a good plan but you won't always be able to."

"I know," she said. "I have a friend who does Mixed Martian Arts, He says that he'll help."

"Huh." Sienna stared at the man. She should probably thank him but words wouldn't come out and she was pretty sure that she was bright red under the mask. "I... Thank you!" she managed finally.

"You can't tell anyone about this," Robert said as he pulled out his wallet.

"No need," the man said. "We'll just check it over and if it's okay, put the plates back on and put it back on sale."

Sienna blinked at that and looked over at the white car. It was indeed lacking number plates.

"That was Mr Hanson's idea," her father said. "When I pulled in and asked if I could borrow a car to go and help incognito he said yes and took the plates off. I hadn't even thought of that."

"Call me James, please," he said. "And I just didn't want the car traced back to me if possible."

"You could have said no," Robert said.

"No," he said. "I couldn't. Not when everyone else is doing everything they can."

"Thank you..." Sienna paused as heard her phone ringing from the bag Charlotte was holding. "I'd better get that." Charlotte tossed her the phone and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Sienna!" Martin said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine but I can't talk right now. Give me five minutes and I'll call you back." She rang off and looked back at James. "Please don't tell anyone we were here." She knew that she could order him not to, but she still wasn't sure how persistant her orders were, and anyway it would be wrong.

"Please, stop!" Sienna said. "We have to stop them opening fire on the crowd!"

"That's not a good idea, sweetpea," her father said. "You being there would just make it more likely that they'll open fire."

"But..." Sienna twisted and looked out the rear window. She chewed her lip and as she strained to hear what was going on behind them. Those men had so little patience she was certain that she would hear the sound of gunfire soon. Instead she heard sirens.

"It's okay." Ryan was still clinging to her arm. "The police have arrived and those guys scarpered when faced by trained marksmen." He hesitated as Sienna sighed in relief. "But the police are after you as well." He sounded offended. "They're saying it's because you're a vigilante but you didn't do anything... and I think someone has told them too."

"Another reason not to go back," her father said. "If you're going to this you're probably going to have to persuade the government to leave you alone." He swang the car through a few more turns. "There that should throw anyone off. Thank goodness there's no cameras in the suburbs yet." He pulled into a cheap looking used car dealership. A man came out of one of the portacabins and pointed into the garage.

"I borrowed the car from here," Robert said. "We'll swap over now."

Sure enough their family car was inside the garage. As they piled out the man who had waved them in rushed over and began pumping Sienna's hand.

"I saw you!" He nodded to a TV in the corner. "You were amazing!"

"Don't take your mask off, sweetpea," Robert cautioned as they sped down the road. "Not until we're sure it's safe."

Sienna wanted to ask how he'd known it was her but decided that could wait until they were safe. Instead she twisted in her seat and looked out the car's rear window at their pursuers. They weren't far behind and the guy was still leaning right out of the passenger window and aiming at them.

"Shit!" she said.

Her father looked in the rear view mirror. "Damn, they are pesistant aren't they? Do you think you can take out their tyres?"

"I-" Sienna stared at the sedan following them. "The range and weight is a lot beyond what I've tried before but I'll try." She took a breath then concentrated on the the right front wheel, imaging tearing it away from the car. Nothing seemed to happen but then the sedan swerved a little as if the driver was having trouble steering. "I think it's doing something." She tried to focus all her fear into her psychokinesis to see if that helped. Seeing someone aiming a gun at you certainly helped with the fear thing.

The tyre didn't blow out or come off like she'd hoped but the sedan's driving became increasingly erratic and after a moment she realised that the wheel was twisted oddly. "I think I damaged the steering."

"Good enough," her father said. "They won't be able to shoot or keep up like that." He paused as half a brick struck the man aiming at them as the street's residents came out to block them just like they had at Charlotte's. Some of them were armed with cricket and baseball bats but that was no match for a gun.

"Uh..." Sienna said.

"That will help as well," her father said. "I just hope the police aren't far behind." He spun the car around another corner and sped away.

Sienna risked a glance over her shoulder as they ran just as the gunmen's car turn into the street and speed towards them. She swore to herself and started pulling the empty wheely bins from in front of the houses and blocking the road with them. Thank goodness the bin's had been emptied. Full ones might have been beyond her.

"That should at least slow them down." She looked back at the car and saw that one of the men was leaning out of the open window, holding some sort of large caliber gun. It was bigger than the other rifles she'd seen and certainly looked like it might do some damage to her. Fortunately the driver was swerving the sedan to avoid the bins so he couldn't aim properly.

"If we can get to the park we'll have a better chance," Charlotte said. "They'll have to abandon their vehicle to follow us."

"Good idea." Sienna nodded and fixed her eyes on the railings several hundred yards ahead. She sped up a little and tried to ignore the fact that she could hear their pursuers gaining on them in spite of her efforts. As soon as they got clear of the bins the guy with the gun would be able to aim.

"I don't think we'll make it," Ryan said. "Can't you think of anything else?"

Sienna opened her mouth to say no when a white hatchback car screeched into the road just ahead of them and stopped. The door flew open and her father looked out at her, Charlotte and Ryan.

"Get in!"

Sienna was glad the halloween mask stopped him seeing her mouth drop open as she bundled Charlotte and Ryan into the car before climbing in herself. As soon as she slammed the door her father span the car around and took off the way he'd come.

“I think that the killers must have some unusual resources,” Sienna said. “Whoever is behind the gas certainly does… and I don’t think they are the same people.”

“No,” Sienna’s father agreed. “I think they are working against each other, but I think both groups are bad people.”

“Can we talk about something else,” Sienna’s mother said. “We can’t do anything about this and it scares me.”

“Of course,” Sienna’s father said. “Though I think it’s natural to speculate in such a strange situation.” He turned the television off again and looked over at Lucy. “So what time is your mother coming to pick you up, Lucy?”

Lucy checked her watch. “About ten I think. I’ll call her and ask if you want.”

“Please do,” he said.

Lucy pulled out her phone and spoke with her mother briefly.

“Yes, ten o’clock,” she said.

“Ooh, we’ve got time to watch a movie after dinner then,” Sienna said. “That will take our mind off things.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sienna’s father said. “You’re all naturally tense.”

“Yes,” Sienna said and turned her attention back to her meatballs and spaghetti.




After dinner the three girls did return to Sienna’s room and put on a movie but only half watched it because Lucy immediately picked up her sketch again began refining it.

“I need to decide what fabric to use for the costume.”

“Not spandex,” Sienna said quickly. That provoked another attempt to laugh that became a coughing fit from Lucy, which made Sienna feel like jerk. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to happen.”

“Is there any more news from that town in California?” Sienna asked as they ate dinner. “Because it’s not a coincidence is it?”

“I don’t think it can be,” Sienna’s father said. “For one thing there’s video on the internet that shows the fog bubbling up from cracks in the ground and drains but there’s a pattern to it that looks artificial.”

“But how would someone know an earthquake was going to happen there or that meteorite was going explode here?”

“I don’t know,” Sienna’s father said. He curled and uncurled the spaghetti on his fork without eating it. “I wish I did.” He shook his head. “Not that it’s any of our problem. I’m sure the authorities will sort it out.”

“Excuse me, but what town are we talking about?” Lucy asked.

“Oh! You probably haven’t heard because you were in hospital until a couple of hours ago,” Sienna’s father said. “There’s another magenta fog incident. This time in America.” He twisted around in his seat to grab the remote control from the sideboard and flicked on the TV turning to the BBC news channel where news of the earthquake and fog was the top story.

Lucy frowned at the television as she watched the story unfolding. “Yes,” she said. “That’s certainly not a coincidence. Is anyone looking for similar incidents that might have flown under the radar?”

“I would imagine so,” Sienna’s father said. “But as I said, let’s leave it to the authorities. There’s not much we can do–” He paused as the news turned to the shootings in Castletham. “More? What the hell are the police doing? People shouldn’t be able to walk around in broad daylight killing people.” He shook his head angrily. “Is this incompetence what I pay for with my taxes?”

“There’s been an earthquake in California,” her father said. “Which is not unexpected given that it’s California, but… well you’ll see when you check it.”

“Yes, I do,” Sienna said. Martin had turned the laptop so she and Wendy could see the video he'd found. It was being streamed from a helicopter flying over a town which was engulfed in the same magenta fog they had seen only two days earlier. “What the hell?”

“I don’t know,” her father said. “But the fact it’s sprung up after another disaster, even if it is a different one, suggests some sort of pattern. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t either,” she said. “What is going on?”


Her father didn't answer that. “Are you coming home soon, sweetpea?”

“Not just yet,” she said. “But soon. Tell mum I’m okay.”

“I will,” he said. “But don’t be too long. We're both fretting.”

“Okay, Dad,” she said before ending the call and looking at Martin and Wendy. “What the hell is this?”

“I don’t know,” Martin said. “But two very different disasters in different parts of the world closely followed by the same mysterious phenomenon? That's not a coincidence. I already thought that this fog wasn't natural but now I'm sure. How are they predicting the disasters?” He frowned at the text on the page. “And apparently only one of the towns hit by the earthquake is effected. This journalist thinks the place is small and unimportant enough that it might have gone unnoticed except for what happened here.”

Sienna frowned at the screen as well. “Really? It seems unlikely that people could miss something like that.”

“Your mother committed suicide didn’t she?” Sienna asked.

He nodded, tears appearing in his eyes. “But it wasn’t because of her ability if that’s worrying you. It was his fault. That’s why I tried to warn Wendy’s mum away, but she just thought I was jealous.” He punched the table. “Jealous? I hate his guts if I could cut his half of my DNA out of my cells I would.” He shook his head. “But that’s why I’m taking this calmly, you’re stronger than any psychic I’ve ever heard of but I knew real psychics existed. But I think you’re something different. I have an inkling that the fog has something to do with it.”

“I do to.” Sienna checked the time and sighed. “I need to call mum and dad again. They did say every hour.” She looked at her phone and blinked in surprise. “And I have signal down here.”

“One of mine and Martin’s toys,” Wendy said. “It let’s us get signal just about anywhere.”

“Useful.” Sienna dialled her parents. She only intended to have a brief conversation to reassure them she was okay, but before she could speak her father interrupted her.

“Sweetpea, you should check the news if you can,” he said.

“What's wrong now, Dad?” Sienna's stomach twisted alarmingly at his stressed tone. She stared at Martin willing him to check the news, though she did try and make it a suggestion rather than an order. Martin gave her a curious look and grabbed his laptop.

“Are you girl’s planning to go out again today?” Sienna’s father asked the next morning after they’d had breakfast.

“We’d like to,” Sienna said. “But in the circumstances we’ll understand if you want us to stay here. It’s obviously not safe out there.”

“My gut says to no,” her mother said. “But I doubt you’d be any safer here if those monsters decide you’re a target. Not if they’re banging down doors to get to people.”

“But you should know that killing you saw yesterday wasn’t the only one,” her father said. “People are very tense. If you are going out try not to give them reason to be tenser.”

“And ring us at least once an hour so we know you’re safe,” her mother added.

“I can do that, Mum,” Sienna agreed.

***

This time they got through the streets to the ruined factory that Wendy still insisted on calling her secret base but Sienna could see what her mother meant by tense. There were people standing around in almost every street glaring balefully at any strangers who dared to pass through though thankfully none of them attacked the two girls. Sienna got the definite impression that their targets were the killers should they dare to target any houses in their streets. It seemed their warnings and attempts to terrorize people had only stirred up stubborn resistance rather than compliance.

“I don’t envy those guys if they try that again,” Wendy muttered as they climbed through a hole in the chain link fence around the factory. “Even with guns they’ll come out on the losing end of a mob.” She gave a half smile. “But boy would they deserve it.”

“I wish I knew,” Sienna’s father said. “But we aren’t going figure it out standing in the street. Let’s get home before anything else happens.”



“How did they know?” Sienna and Wendy were sitting in Sienna’s room later that evening. Wendy looked around from where she was watching music videos on Youtube as if she could use them to wash the memory of what happened out of her mind.

“I don’t want to think about it let alone talk about it,” she said. “Not yet.”

“I understand,” Sienna said softly. “I don’t either. But it’s kind of important. If they knew about him will they find out about me.”

“I–” Wendy stopped and looked at her again. “I still don’t want to talk about it but I think you’re right we have to don’t we? The trouble is I’m not sure it will help because I have no idea.” She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the laptop.

“Except we need to think about security. I don’t know how they found out but I can hazard some guesses about things we should avoid.”

“Like what?” Sienna asked.

“Well simplest of all we need to tell as few people as possible. The more people in a secret the more chance it will leak. After that I’d say no talking on the phone or internet unless it’s thoroughly encrypted. No internet searches for information unless the same caution is taken.” Wendy narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “Searching for information might be how they found them except I imagine a lot of people were simply because of what they’d witnessed so it couldn’t just be that.”

“She,” Sienna said. "They said 'she was never wrong'. Someone told them."

“Yes,” Wendy said. “But how did this person know. I feel like I’m missing something.”

Sienna got the feeling he was fishing and decided she wasn’t going to tell him about Wendy’s family problems. Instead she finished her tea and stood up. “Let’s go and wait for Wendy then.”

The police officer nodded and led them out to the front desk. “Goodbye, Miss Munroe,” he said. “Be careful out there.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’m these psycho’s type.” Sienna's mouth went dry again.

“Well you don’t seem to be,” he said. There was a subtle emphasis on the seem that made Sienna stare at him. Did he suspect she had powers? How could he?

“What?” she said but he was already gone.

A few minutes later Wendy and her cousin, a tall black man in his early twenties, joined them near the front desk. He had a rather harried expression on his face. As they walked towards the carpark he paused.

“I hate to ask this but after what happened with Keith earlier Mum and I are trying to persuade Helen not to take him back. We both think that it would be better if Wendy was out of the way. Could you…” he trailed off.

“Of course Wendy can stay with us for the night,” Sienna’s father said. “I imagine both girls would be happier with comforting company after earlier anyway.”

Wendy’s cousin nodded. “Honestly I think what Wendy described seeing earlier was worse than yesterday even if only one person was killed.”

“It was,” Wendy said. “It was awful. Those poor poor people.” She looked close to tears as she hugged herself. “Who were those men? Why did they do that?”

“Did you catch the people who did this?” Sienna asked.

He hesitated visibly, glanced at the inactive tape recorder then shook his head. “No. There was a brief road chase then their vehicle turned a corner and just disappeared into thin air. I mean literally – they were just gone.”

Sienna’s father narrowed his eyes at the man. “That sounds a bit unlikely. Are you sure they aren’t actually with the military and you’re helping cover it up.”

“No more unlikely than people throwing fireballs and that happened apparently.” The police officer shook his head. “If they are military then no one told us and we’re certainly not covering anything up.” He hesitated, “Of course I’d say that anyway, wouldn’t I?”

“Probably,” Sienna’s father said. “But I suspect you’re being truthful because I’m pretty sure you’d come up with a better story than a disappearing Range Rover if you were. Who do you think they are?”

The police officer sighed heavily and double checked the recorder was switched off. “Well whoever they are they’re well organized and seem to have been expecting this. I really shouldn’t tell you this but I think that we have some sort of messed up paramilitary group on our hands, though I don’t know how they knew this would happen.”

“I don’t either,” Sienna’s father said. “But I have a horrible feeling that this is far from over and we may yet find out. I hope I’m wrong.”

“I do as well,” the police officer said before turning back to Sienna. “Your friend has nearly finished her statement. Once you’ve finished tea you can both go.” He shook his head. “You know it was her cousin who came and sat with her not her mother?”

“I do indeed,” the man raised his gun again and shot the male captive in the head. Then when the woman wailed he turned around and cracked her with the rifle butt. She fell to the ground and he hit her again. “And you disgust me, traitor. Trying to protect him.” He turned and addressed the crowd. “If any of you are sheltering invaders you’d best destroy them before we find you or we'll kill you too.”

He pointed his rifle at the woman and Sienna was certain he would have fired but one of the others grabbed his arm and said something Sienna couldn't quite hear. A quiet but obvious argument followed until sirens in the distance made all four flee. The car sped off just as the police arrived but by then Sienna was too busy retching up her lunch on the grass to care and she wasn’t the only one. It was only when her phone rang that she realised her house would have been in earshot. She grabbed it from her bag and answered it.

“Mum, I’m okay!” She spotted a policeman heading towards her and Wendy. “But I’m likely to be late. I think the police are going to need a statement.”

Sienna’s father came to the police station to sit with her while she gave her statement. She was still shaking as they sat in the interview room after her statement. Eventually the police officer who had taken her statement came back and put a mug of sweet tea on the table in front of Sienna.

“There you go, Miss. Drink that before you go out to face the world again,” he said. “You’ve definitely had a rough couple of days.”

“Hmm… I can see that,” Wendy said. “But I think we’re okay here where nothing happened. You can but ask. You can’t practice here.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Sienna said, “Let’s go and ask.”

“That’s the spirit,” Wendy said.

“Mum, Dad do you think it’s safe for me and Wendy to go for a walk?” Sienna asked once they got downstairs. “I need to clear my head.”

Her parents didn’t answer immediately but instead looked at each other.

“Well whoever shot those poor people is still at large,” her mother said hesitantly. “Though there hasn’t been any more since the gas cleared.” She looked at Sienna’s father. “What do you think?”

“It should be okay,” he said. “There was no trouble when I went to the shop so the local major incident plan seems to have coped. The police have said it’s safe to go out as long as people avoid the town centre. Just be careful though. It is worrying that they don’t know who murdered those people yet. I don’t think you’re at risk though. From what the news said all the victims were men.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Sienna said. “We’ll be careful.”

“Take your phone in case something happens, sweetpea,” he said. “And don’t be gone too long.”

“Okay, dad,” Sienna grabbed it from where it was sitting on the sideboard and put it in her bag as she and Wendy headed out the door. When they reached the end of the path Sienna turned to Wendy. “So where’s this factory.”

“Not far,” Wendy said. “Follow me.” She set off down the road towards the edge of town.

“A bit, though the town centre is a wreck and will likely be a mess for weeks if not months.” He sat of the edge of her bed. “And they still can’t explain the gas or the shootings. I think they’d assume the gas was some sort of volatile from the meteor but all the witnesses and the mobile phone camera footage indicate it came from the ground.”

“It did.” Sienna nodded as started eating her breakfast. “And it was magenta too which is even more weird. Whoever heard of a magenta gas?”

“The colour is odd,” her father agreed. He reached over and ruffled her hair. “But I’m more worried by the fact that there is a murderer loose in the area. The police are certain it’s safe to go out but still I’d be happier if they had someone in custody.”

“Yeah,” Sienna agreed though she remained silent on the fact that she thought she might be a special target for the killer. It would just worry her parents if they believed her and more likely they wouldn’t when she explained why.

“Oh, Wendy called as well,” he said. “She’s okay as well and says that she’s coming over later.” He rose to his feet. “Anyway we need some milk so I’m going to the shop and hoping there hasn’t been a run on them.” He gave her a hug. “I’ll see you later, sweetpea.”

Wendy arrived late morning and had a slightly harried look on her face when Sienna’s mother let her in. It was a look Sienna knew all too well.