Read Still Bleeding (A Jack Nightingale Short Story) for Free Online Page B

of the earth.’
    ‘And the two
that died?’
    ‘A teenage girl
in France. She fell asleep in the bath and drowned. And a
sixty-year-old man in Spain. Died in a car accident.’
    ‘Accident’s
happen,’ said Jenny.
    Ricky smiled
thinly. ‘He had a spotless driving record and crashed into a tree
on a perfectly clear day with zero alcohol in his blood. Like I
said, one of three things happens: the case is shown to be a fake,
the person with the stigmata vanishes, or they die. No one with
stigmata lives happily ever after, and I think it’s the Vatican
that’s behind it.’
    ‘Ricky, are you
absolutely one hundred per cent sure that Tracey isn’t faking this,
either deliberately or…’ He left the sentence unfinished.
    ‘You think Dave
and Carla might be doing it?’ Ricky shook his head. ‘Definitely
not. When a kid is shown to be faking stigmata it’s usually because
there’s religion in the family. That’s not the case here. There
isn’t a Bible in the house and Tracey has never set foot in a
church.’ He waved at the cuttings. ‘Not a single one of the fake
cases occurred in an aethiest household. Not one.’ He took them
downstairs to the kitchen. Tracey’s mother was sitting at the
kitchen table with the girl. They both looked worried as Ricky
introduced them to Nightingale and Jenny.
    ‘ Would
you like tea?’ asked Mrs Spradbery.
    ‘We’re fine,’
said Jenny.
    Ricky pulled
out chairs for Nightingale and Jenny and they sat down. Ricky stood
by the door, his arms folded.
    Nightingale
smiled at Tracey. ‘Your uncle says that you talk to the Virgin
Mary. Is that right?’
    The girl nodded
solemnly.
    ‘Who told you
she was the Virgin Mary?’
    ‘She did. At
first I thought she was an angel but she isn’t, she’s the mother of
Jesus.’
    ‘But no one
else can see her, is that right?’
    ‘She doesn’t
let everyone see her. That’s what she told me. Only special
people.’
    Nightingale
nodded. ‘Can I talk to her?’
    ‘Only if you
can see her. Can you see her?’
    ‘Is she here
now?’
    ‘Of course,’
said Tracey. ‘She came in with you. She’s over there, by the
fridge.’
    Nightingale and
Jenny looked at the fridge, then at each other. Jenny shrugged.
    ‘She’s
smiling,’ said Tracey.
    ‘I bet she is,’
said Nightingale.
    Tracey looked
at the fridge and cocked her head on one side. She seemed to be
listening intently, a worried frown on her face. Eventually she
nodded. ‘I’ll tell him,’ she said. She looked at Nightingale.
    ‘She says you
have to help.’
    ‘She said
that?’
    Tracey nodded
earnestly.
    ‘Did she say
why?’
    ‘She said you
know why. She says it’s important.’
    ‘Tracey, can
she tell me herself?’ asked Nightingale.
    Tracey
looked towards the fridge. ‘Is that okay?’ she asked, then stared
into space for half a minute. She frowned. ‘Can you say that
again?’ she said and stared at the fridge for several seconds
before looking back at Nightingale. ‘She said you need to
think about Astronomy Chapter Six Verse Sixteen.’
    Nightingale frowned. ‘Astronomy? You mean
Deuteronomy?’
    She nodded. ‘That’s right. That’s what she
said. Deuteronomy’
    ‘What is it?’ asked Jenny.
    Nightingale smiled at her. ‘You shall not put
the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.’
    Jenny frowned. ‘What?’
    ‘It’s a quote from the Bible. Deuteronomy
Chapter Six Verse Sixteen. That priest said the same thing to me in
my office. There’s no way Tracey could have known that.’
    Jenny leaned towards him. ‘Are you saying
she’s really here? The Virgin Mary? She’s in the room now?’
    ‘She’s there,’ said Tracey. ‘It’s just that
you can’t see her.’
    ‘ Really
Mr Nightingale, it’s way past Tracey’s bedtime,’ said Mrs
Spradbery.
    ‘That’s okay,’
said Nightingale, standing up. ‘I think we’re done.’
    ‘ I’ll
show you out,’ said Ricky. He took Nightingale and Jenny down the hall to the front