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&039;Could be&039;

&039;Mrs Conner&039;s the sa&039;

&039;Who&039;s Mrs Conner? I thought you said you hadn&039;t been out?&039;

&039;She lives next door She was out in her garden thisI saw her when I went out to put the dustbin out I said goodat hty years old and we&039;ve never had a cross word in all the time I&039;ve lived here but today&039;

&039;So what exactly did she do?&039; I asked, keen to know if this old lady&039;s behaviour matched that of the other people I had coat s you just wouldn&039;t expect to hear from someone like that&039;

&039;The people I&039;ve seen have either been like that or completely bloody catatonic Siobhan went off the handle atthere like a bloody cabbage You know Jaht shouting at each other and this ot themselves dressed&039;

&039;Christ, what about their baby?&039;

&039;I left the kids with next-door You, Jahbour and Ray Mercer are the only people I&039;ve been able to have anything rese a sensible conversation with so far today&039;

Clare held her tired head in her hands and ran her fingers through her hair I could see that she was trying toand, for the first ti from conflict to conflict to conflict and I hadn&039;t actually stopped to try and understand as going on It was only now that I was able to take a step back that I began to think there ht actually be ht It had been all too easy to gloss over the reasons behind all that had happened as I had been preoccupied with each individual argument

&039;What about Rob?&039; she asked

&039;Haven&039;t seen hiot up&039; After that there was silence

About ten ot up from her seat and picked up the telephone She tried a few numbers - various family members, the doctor, Siobhan, et any answers All that had happened was so sudden and inexplicable thatviolently One moment I felt complete and utter fear, helplessness and disorientation, the next nothing but disbelief

It was like a switch had been flicked

Numb and almost too afraid tothe long, slow hours that followed I tried to telephone et any answers using either Clare&039;s phone or my mobile It was only four o&039;clock but it feltClare drew the curtains and switched on a table lary?&039; she asked

I shook my head

&039;No&039;

&039;Want a drink?&039;

&039;No thanks&039;

She stood up and paced iain, frustrated

&039;You all right?&039; I asked instinctively Bloody stupid question Of course she wasn&039;t all right

&039;I&039; apart, I can&039;t get anyone on the phone andbed like she&039;s been fucking loboto fine! What about you?&039;

&039;Sorry,&039; I runted and shook her head

&039;Look, do you think we should?&039;

The lights went out

&039;Shit,&039; Clare hissed

&039;Where&039;s your fuse-box?&039; I asked

&039;Cupboard under the stairs,&039; she replied as she felt her way across the room to stand next to me

I carefullythe walls and furniture to support and guide me I eventually reached the front door, then the stairs, then the cupboard The fuse hadn&039;t tripped

I retracedroo looks okay,&039; I said &039;Has this happened before?&039;

&039;No&039;

Clare was standing by theAlthough I couldn&039;t see clearly what she was doing, I knew she was opening the curtains

&039;Is it just us?&039; I asked

Even fro I could tell that it wasn&039;t The world outside was bathed in a total, inky darkness I couldn&039;t see even a single electric light out there The houses nearby were dark Every street light was dull and unlit

&039;A power cut,&039; Clare hissed &039;Bloody hell, that&039;s all we need&039;

Instinctively I tried a few ic said that none of them would work The television was dead, as was the stereo Strangely, even the little battery powered radio which Clare kept in the kitchen see

&039;What about the phone?&039; I wondered

&039;No-one&039;s answered the bloody thing all afternoon,&039; she snapped, &039;what difference will it ly she walked over to the phone, picked it up and then dropped it down again

&039;Well?&039;

&039;Dead,&039; she sighed &039;Can&039;t even get a dialling tone&039;

&039;So what do we do now?&039;

&039;Are you going to try and get back hoht for a moment There didn&039;t seem to be any point There probably wouldn&039;t be anyone there On the other hand we could all have gone toPenny in her current state

&039;I&039;ll stay here with you if that&039;s all right,&039; I said

&039;Good,&039; she replied &039;You sure?&039;

&039;Sure&039;

&039;What about your brother and Siobhan?&039;

&039;I don&039;t know&039;

&039;Should you try and get to them?&039;

&039;Don&039;t know I&039;d rather stay here and sit tight I knohere Siobhan is and I haven&039;t got a clue where Rob is I&039;d rather not take any chances tonight We&039;ll wait for the power to come back on and then we&039;ll decide what to do next&039;

&039;Are we going to be safe here?&039;

&039;Safe froical but surprising and iht I saw her shrug her shoulders She turned away from me to look out of the

I crept upstairs to check on Penny a short time later On my hands and knees (so that I didn&039;t trip in the darkness and disturb her) I crawled into the bedroo under the bed where I had left her earlier I gently pulled her out, lifted her surprisingly heavy frame and lay her on top of her covers Her skin was cold and clahtly closed, her face looked troubled and unnatural Her innocent features were twisted and contorted with pain and confusion