Charlie's Dream Read Online Free PDF Page A

disappeared and, as she looked up, the silhouette of a person loomed over her. She gasped at the appearance, but the voice was gentle and familiar.
    "Are you okay, Marie?" the person asked. It was Gemma, looking down at her in a concerned way.
    "Mmm. no, not really," croaked Marie faintly.
    "I heard about the accident and I was just on my way to the hospital," said Gemma, kneeling down beside Marie.
    "Oh," said Marie quietly, before bursting into tears again.
    "Come on, let's get you back to my house," soothed Gemma.
    "Okay, I'd like that," said Marie quietly, climbing gingerly to her feet. They made their way down the street in the direction of Gemma's home. She was a small woman and Marie was surprised by the strength in her grip, which was firm and reassuring.
    "Don't you want to go to the hospital?" asked Marie.
    "Charlie's in good hands, the doctors know what they're doing. Anyway, I think I've found the person who needs me at the moment," she said, gently squeezing Marie's hand.
    Marie met Gemma the day she came to Marie's school on an environmental project the previous year. They were replanting trees on a deserted plot of land that had once been the local rubbish tip. For some reason, Gemma had taken an immediate interest in Marie and had asked her to help at the nursery during the school holidays. From then on, they had become close friends in a way that Marie hadn't experienced with an old person before. Gemma was like no one she had ever met. Even though Marie was the teenager, she often thought that Gemma was younger at heart and more unpredictable than she was. At times, Marie was amazed at Gemma's attention to detail, enabling the nursery to run like clockwork, but then, she would disappear for days without telling anyone. When Gemma finally reappeared, she would refer vaguely to, 'collecting wildflower seeds in the New Forest with some old friends', before carrying on as though nothing had happened. Despite such inconsistencies, she had been there for Marie when it mattered and Marie had come to trust her advice implicitly. When Charlie came onto the scene, Marie's focus had gradually become dominated by thoughts of him. Gemma remained in the background and Marie was very aware of the subtle support Gemma provided her and Charlie, but she sometimes wondered why Gemma had the desire to do so.
    In the relatively small community of Chelmsley, Gemma Granlin was virtually a celebrity. With her slightly thinning, curly, grey hair and faded tweed skirts, she looked like a kind, vaguely unkempt grandmother. In seeming contrast with this appearance, she also ran the most successful specialised nursery in the south of England; receiving orders from all over the country and indeed the world. She had been a member of the board of the local council for many years and was one of the founding members of an environmental movement that boasted Prince Charles as its patron. With his not-so-subtle encouragement, the British Soil Association had presented her with a lifetime achievement award for her work only two years earlier. She was responsible for such initiatives as having street trees planted throughout the county, the introduction of environmental studies at the local schools and the reintroduction of vegetable allotments for council estates. Yet, despite her notoriety, she was a humble, private person. These days, Gemma was 'getting on', as she put it, so she had a team of 'youngsters' running the nursery and her involvement in community matters was negligible.
    Gemma's home was a small stone cottage tucked at the back of the nursery compound. It had been one of the caretakers' cottages from the landlord's estate and was little more than a burnt out shell when Gemma took over it. Her home was tiny but beautiful, with a rambling garden full of exotic trees that, in summer, completely hid it from view.
    As the front door swung open, Marie squinted so her eyes could adjust to the slight lack of light. The smell of peppermint