"Girls, your picnic is ready!" Mum called.

Lily and I raced down the stairs.

"Thanks Mum," I said, kissing her on the cheek. "We should be back around three."

"Be safe," said Mum. I know she's been as worried about the strange man as I have, but we'd told the police about the incident involving the white car. There wasn't much more we could do, other than try to be extra careful when we went out.

Besides, we were only going to the meadow behind the field at the back of the house, it wasn't far away.

Lily and I took our picnic and the blanket, and I showed her how to get across the stiles across the fields to get to the meadow. When we reached the meadow, Lily gasped. "It's beautiful," she exclaimed.

She was right. This meadow was always beautiful in the summer. There were pretty flowers of all different colours. The tiny blue forget-me-nots, purple clover, yellow buttercups and white daisies poked their heads through the lush green grass. Around the edge of the meadow there were rowan trees with their bright red berries, and beyond the edge was the start of the forest. Sometimes deer came out of the forest and into the meadow and I was hoping we might be lucky and see one today.

We found a nice patch to sit to eat our picnic, so I spread the picnic blanket across the floor. We sat down and started unpacking the food. Sandwiches, scotch eggs and a variety of fruit and vegetable sticks. Mum had also packed us some of her home-made flapjacks and a little cake each.

"The food looks great," said Lily, and I had to agree. Mum made the best picnics.

I told Lily that if we're lucky we might see a deer, or some of the other wildlife. We ate while we chatted about the flowers around us.

"I've just realised something," I said while Lily took a drink as we were finishing our food.

"Hmm?" prompted Lily.

"We both have the names of flowers in our names," I said. "We're both Flower Girls."

Lily chuckled softly. "You're absolutely right," she said. "I like being a Flower Girl with you. We're surrounded by flowers too. How about we make a daisy chain?"

"That sounds great," I said enthusiastically, and plucked a nearby daisy with a long thick stem. Lily picked up a daisy close to her, and we started the chain.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked her while we were adding more daisies. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Lily looked up at me. "It's fine, you can ask," she replied.

"What happened that you had to leave your parents so quickly?" I asked.

Just as it looked like she was starting to reply, a loud bang ripped through the air. Suddenly Lily was looking at something small and shiny in her hand.

"Is that a bullet?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Lily. "Get down and stay down." She stood up as I lay down, and then she was gone. From my position on the ground, I looked round the meadow. We'd been sitting in the middle of the field, yet she'd gone. There was no way she could have disappeared – even if she'd been running, I should still be able to see her somewhere. I kept looking around me nervously. What on earth was going on?

As suddenly as she'd gone, Lily was back, out of breath and panting. She sat down and took a drink of water.

"I've checked all around the perimeter of the meadow, I can't see anyone," she said. "But I can guess who was trying to shoot us. I believe he's gone now though."

I stared at her incredulously as I sat up.

"You can't have checked the perimeter, you can't possibly move that fast," I commented. "But then nobody can catch bullets with their hands either. Apart from you, apparently. I think it's time you told me what's going on."

Lily sighed and looked at me warmly. "You're right, this will be easier if I help you understand. But you must never ever mention any of this to another soul, OK? It's important."

"I promise," I said, and I meant it.

Lily took a deep breath before she started speaking again. "I was born with an ability to manipulate time. I can make things around me go faster or slower."

I gasped. This girl could control time? To what extent?

"You can travel through time?" I asked.

She shook her head. "My abilities don't allow me to travel through time, just speed things up or slow things down around me," she clarified. "So, for example, when I was checking the perimeter, I slowed time down around me, and then jogged around at my normal speed. From your point of view, it would have looked like I was moving fast, but from my point of view, I was just running normally and everything around me was moving slower."

"That's how you were able to push me out of the way of the white car," I realised. "You slowed everything down and then came over and pushed me out of the way?" Lily nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "When we were at the swimming pool, I did the same thing so I could get to you before you drowned."

I looked down at the bullet. "And bullets can't hurt you?"

Lily laughed. "Just as much as they can hurt anyone else," she replied. "Here, hold the bullet."

I took the bullet as instructed and looked down at it.

"OK," I said, confused.

"Is it hurting you?" asked Lily.

"No," I said, wondering where this was going.

"Exactly," said Lily. "When someone shoots at you, it's not the bullet that kills you, it's the speed it's moving at when it hits you that creates the pain. When I heard the gun, I slowed everything down, so from my point of view, the bullet was moving very slowly. I could just reach up and pick it up like I was picking it up off a shelf. If I hadn't slowed time down and it had hit me, it would have hurt me just as much as it would hurt anyone else. So, no, I'm not bulletproof, but it is very difficult to kill me if I can see or hear something coming."

I blinked. This was a lot to take in. Lily could speed up and slow down time around her. I wasn't sure what to say.

"Wow," was the only thing I could find.

"Look, there's more, and I want to tell you everything, believe me. But the more you know, the more dangerous this situation becomes for both of us." Lily took my hand in hers. "Please trust that as much as my abilities allow, I will protect you. With my own life if I need to. I don't want you to get hurt."

She didn't want me to get hurt, and would protect me with her own life? We'd only known each other for around a month. I couldn't understand why she'd risk so much to protect me.

My head was jumbled, and I could only squeak out one word. "Why?"

She smiled at me, the warmest smile I'd ever seen. "Why? There are many reasons, but mainly because I love you."

She loved me after four weeks of knowing me? I felt strongly for her too. Something I'd felt from the beginning, but I couldn't understand. Something like love.

"Because of the connection?" I asked, not even really knowing what I was asking.

"The connection?" she asked, looking bewildered.

"Yes. Since I first met you, I felt like we were connected somehow. Like we were sisters or something. Or like you were just meant to be in my life. It sounds silly now that I've said it out loud, especially since I don't even know what I'm trying to say or what it even means."

Lily laughed. She actually laughed. I didn't know whether to laugh with her, or whether to be embarrassed. Was she laughing at what I said? Did she think I was silly for thinking we had some kind of bond? I smiled sheepishly.

"This is amazing," she finally said. "I assumed you wouldn't be able to feel it. At least not in the same way as I could."

"You feel it too?" I replied, shocked at her words.

Her smile grew larger.

"Yes, Caroline, I feel it too. I'm surprised you can, though. I wasn't expecting that."

Lily flung her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. Her words made very little sense to me, but I was pleased the feelings I had towards her weren't all in my imagination.

Lily looked up into the sky at the oncoming rainclouds. "We should go," she said, starting to pack up the picnic things. I helped her, and we made it across the fields and safely into the house before the rain came.