Spiritwalker by Siobhan Corcoran Page A

two are connected somehow.”
    The colour drained from Molly's face as she slowly took in the last piece of information.  Anna could see the thoughts racing through her head.  Oh my God.... Mum.  Oh my God.”  She moaned.  She was starting to have difficulty breathing.  She began to gasp, she was struggling to catch her breath, and it was coming out in harsh rasps.  “My inhaler.” She gasped.  “It’s in my bag on the hall table” She was barely able to get the words out.
    Anna jumped off the couch spilling the remainder of her coffee on the carpet.  She rushed out to the hall and grabbed the only bag in sight.  She ran back into Molly, opened the bag and found the inhaler.  She put it up to Molly's mouth.  Molly grasped the inhaler greedily and pumped it a few times.  Colour began to slowly come back to her cheeks and her jagged breathing eased. 
                It took a few minutes for Molly to recover and for her breathing to return to normal.  She asked Anna to fetch her a glass of water.  When Anna returned with the water she was relieved to see that the young woman was almost fully recovered.  Molly had given her a fright, she had never seen anyone have an asthma attack before and was shocked at how sudden it had come on.
    “I'm sorry, I don't have attacks much anymore.  It must have been the shock.”  Molly said faintly.
    “Can I call anyone for you?” Anna asked, concerned that the girl would be alone when she left.
    “It’s okay I'm fine now.  Tell me everything, I have to ring Dad and Sam.  We have to find Mum.  I thought she would be back next week, we were supposed to be looking at venues to hold Sam’s twenty first.  Mum's great at organising parties.  She wouldn't forget.  She must be okay...Mustn't she?  Maybe that thing with Sassy was a mistake.  Maybe it was some boyfriend messing around.  Sassy has a boyfriend you know, she told me not to tell her mum.  Maybe it was him.”  Molly was babbling now and she was beginning to get upset again as she trawled through the various possibilities out loud.
    “Molly.”  Anna said firmly.  “I'm going to call your dad and sister for you.  First though I need you to tell me anything, anything at all unusual that your mum might have said or done before she left.  I'm sure she is fine, we just need to find her.  To make sure she is.  She might be in Scotland with this Mary.  We just want to know that for sure, okay.”
    “Okay, I'm fine, just let me think.”  Molly thought for a while.  “I can't think of anything, everything was the same as usual.  Mum didn't go out socially much after they split up.  She couldn't face meeting her friends.  She was afraid that they would all be talking about her behind her back, pitying her.  I remember she went out one night, Sylvia persuaded her.  I was glad, she hadn't been out for ages and was starting to mope around.  I heard her come back in about midnight, she had someone with her...a man. I stayed where I was I didn't want to interrupt anything.  Shortly after, I heard loud voices and I shouted down to Mum to see if she was all right.  She said everything was fine.  I thought it was Dad at first, but then I saw a man storm out the front door and slam it behind him.  I ran down to Mum, she was in tears.  I asked her who he was and she just said it was someone she had met at the party.  I could see she was upset.  I didn't really ask her anything else.  She didn't want to talk, so I just gave her a hug and we both went to bed.  She didn't say anything about it the following day and neither did I.”
    “Do you know who he was?” Anna asked
    “No.  I didn't see his face and she never mentioned him again.  Oh my god.  Do you think it might be him?  Do you think he might have done something to my Mother?”
    “It’s okay, Molly.  Calm down.”  Anna was careful not to get her too excited as she asked.  “How long ago was that?”
    “Let me