believe a word of what I told her, she did at least agree to sit with the children until I managed to get hold of someone to look after them or their parents managed to snap out of their unnatural state - whichever happened first.
In the midst of the sudden confusion and disorientation I managed to salvage and hold on tightly to a single positive thought. Now that I had seen this irrational behaviour from other people who were unconnected to me, I could safely assume (if anything could be safely assumed any more) that I was not the cause of the problem.
I ran back home to get my car.
I needed to find Siobhan next.
I needed to know that she was all right.
Chapter 24
As I drove towards Siobhan's house my nervousness and uncertainty increased. Despite all that I had seen in the last hour or so, a part of me still wondered whether I was to blame for the wall which seemed to have been built between the two of us. Had something I'd done offended her? Had I missed or forgotten something crucial? Should I have called yesterday or just swallowed my pride and gone round to see her the day before? Would she even let me in the house when I turned up today? I couldn't believe that in less than half a week all that we had managed to build together through months of intimate closeness seemed to have been destroyed. I hoped and prayed that when I knocked on the door it would be answered by my Siobhan - the girl that I loved, remembered and missed desperately. The girl who had saved my sanity. The one and only person who had always been there for me since Mum and Dad had died.
Siobhan's house wasn't far from mine and it didn't take me long to get there. The roads were quiet. I hadn't been expecting to come across much traffic, but I hardly saw any. I could only have passed another five or six cars during the entire journey.
I turned into her road and pulled up outside her house. For a couple of minutes I did nothing but just sit there and try and compose myself and get my thoughts together. All of the fear and concern I felt for the rest of the people around me paled into insignificance alongside my desperate fears and concerns for Siobhan. Whatever it was that was happening in Thatcham, I knew that I could deal with it with a thousand times more strength and determination if the woman I loved was standing by my side again.
It was no good. I didn't matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop myself trembling and shaking with nervous anticipation. I stared at Siobhan's house and anxiously watched for even the slightest sign of movement. I had hoped that she might come out to see me when she saw the car but no, there was nothing. My tension was increasing with every second. All that I wanted to do was hold her tight again, but I couldn't bring myself to take that first step forward. The fear of being rejected by her was too much to even begin to think about.
Two or three long and painfully drawn-out minutes went by before I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. I took a long, deep breath and then got out of the car and walked up the short garden path to the front door. I closed my eyes and rang the bell. I peered through the small frosted glass window, hopeful of seeing some movement inside the house and quickly moved out of the way when I saw that someone was coming.
Siobhan yanked the door open and stood and glared at me. She looked bad. Her clothes were creased and worn. She wasn't wearing any make-up and her usually perfect hair was knotted and tangled.
'Siobhan, I...' I began.
She slammed the door shut in my face.
Stunned at first, I shook my head with disbelief. Then, more out of anger than for any other reason, I began to pound my fist against the door again and again and again.
'Siobhan!' I yelled, loud enough for the entire street to hear. 'Let me in! Just open the fucking door and let me talk to you!'
I peered in through the small window again. I could see her waiting in the shadows of the hallway. That was a good sign. At least she was considering