Hi
Your reviews for Always and Forever were lovely and some of you asked me to write another fanfic so I decided to have a go at writing a prequel. This is likely to be very short though, maybe only four or five chapters, as I'm more or less only taking it up till when Kane and Kirsty meet for the first time. Soz I can't have them meeting up too much (I'd have to rewrite AAF if I did!) but hope you enjoy reading. The one thing I have changed is that Suzy Palmer's little boy is about a year older - that kid was just too smart otherwise!!
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***WHAT DREAMS MAY COME***
Captain Kane Phillips leaned on the ship's rail, enjoying the the salty taste of the fresh sea wind and the sea spray falling on his face like a light summer rain, frowning as the ship lurched slightly left. Good navigation should feel make it feel like the ship was flying. Able Seaman Byrne was going wrong somewhere and he'd have to check it out. Still, Tommy Byrne was a bonzer bloke, even if he didn't yet have the navigating skills of himself.
"Good evening, Captain Phillips!"
Uh-oh! Kane knew the voices even before he turned. Gemma Simpson. Gemma Simpson and her pushy Mum. Both of them worth megabucks from some inheritance or other.
"Evening, ma'am. Evening, ma'am" He lightly touched his cap twice, ever mindful of being polite to the passengers.
"So we'll be...uh...dining with you tonight?" Mrs Simpson glanced meaningfully from her daughter to Kane.
"Of course, ma'am, it will be my pleasure." He faked a smile, used to dealing with passengers like Gemma Simpson and her Mum. "The chef has prepared a wonderful course of eggs, fries and beans."
"My favourite!" Gemma said, giving a little giggle that she imagined was attractive but which never failed to grate on Kane's nerves. "I think I..."
"Tane! Tane!" Jamie's little face was a picture of excitement and Suzy Palmer had difficulty keeping up with her small son as he gripped her hand, pulling her towards his hero. But she didn't mind too much. They'd met Kane before when they'd last holidayed at the Summer Bay caravan park and he was a nice kid.
"G'day, mate!" Kane swung Jamie round, both of them losing their balance and falling back into the soft white sand, which made Jamie roll about laughing. "G'day, Mrs Palmer!"
"Hi, Kane." Suzy didn't bother to correct him it was still Miss Palmer and she preferred Suzy as she flopped down on the beach without a thought about the sand staining her clothes. Being Mum of a two-year-old, she was used to getting dirty. "So we're both on our holidays the same time again, huh?"
"Yeh." He gave a strange look, she thought, but maybe that was because of the question on his mind. "Do you know what do they have for dinner on cruise ships?"
"Cruise ships?" Suzy leaned forward to tickle Jamie and make him laugh some more. "Wow, your Mum and Dad saving up for a cruise one day then? Um...from what I've heard, you kind of eat all day long on a cruise ship, there's everything from salads and fresh fruit to roast dinners and apple pie."
"No eggs, fries and beans?"
Suzy laughed. "Maybe, couldn't say, I don't think it's what people ask for much! But don't go knocking back a cruise ship holiday and upsetting the oldies just because of that. From what you've told me about them, your Mum and Dad adore you and your little brothers."
"Yeh. Yeh, they do. We took Luke and Jordan to the pool before and I was teaching 'em how to swim and Mum said I could have eggs, fries and beans for tea tonight just 'cos it's my favourite."
"Cool!" Suzy said. He was a funny kid at times. Always staring out to sea dreaming about something or other, always talking about how great his family was and how his kid brothers loved to copy what Kane did. She'd yet to meet his wonderful family though. She guessed his Mum and Dad thought him far too young to be looking after two even younger kids, which was why they didn't mind whenever he wandered off to Suzy.
He was one lucky kid, having such a great family, his folks planning a cruise holiday for them all, but he just didn't seem to know it There was still a faraway look on his face as he watched Suzy and Jamie having a pretend fight before he finally shook himself out of the dream and grinned broadly.
"C'mon, mate, race you to the flag!"
Jamie was up like a shot, his plump little legs speeding over the sand, blissfully unaware that Kane was letting him win. Suzy smiled at them as she basked in the warm sun. It was a beautiful day and Summer Bay was a beautiful place. No one in Summer Bay could possibly have a care in the world.
*****
There was a steady splish-splash as Kirsty Sutherland swam smoothly through the pool. She was way, way ahead of the other competitors and she was barely out of breath. It was funny. No matter how many times she swam, she never lost the thrill of floating weightlessly through water.
It was almost like flying, she thought, vaguely aware that the blur of colours was the crowd, vaguely aware of their excited cheering and of the loudspeaker:
"...and Kirsty Sutherland, ladies and gentlemen and Jade and Dani and Kirsty's Mum and Dad, the world champion swimmer, heading for her third gold medal, she makes it look so easy..."
Kirsty popped the last of the chocolate in her mouth, screwed up the paper, tossed it to the bin, missed, didn't care, and lay back on the bed, returning to the dream...
"...Kirsty Sutherland has won again! Just listen to that crowd! Listen, listen!"
"Listen, Kirsty!" Dani sighed for the third time."Don't eat when you're lying down, you might choke."
Dani clicked on the Barbie lamp that separated the twins' beds and Kirsty blinked in its sudden light. It wasn't like five-year-old Kirsty to half-doze, but she was bored, bored, bored, grounded by the heavy rain, and tired of watching Dani and Jade play doing each other's hair. Large raindrops were hitting the window in a steady splish-splash and outside already looked like night though the evening didn't usually go so dark until much later.
"Jade said this was from Ben Smith." Dani had picked up the screwed-up paper, ready to throw it pointedly into the bin until Jade had whispered Ben Smith had wrapped the bar of chocolate in it. Dani had been hearing a lot about Ben Smith lately and how he was keen on Kirsty. Admittedly, all the infomation had come from Jade, and none from Kirsty, but Dani loved matchmaking.
"Yeh. So what?"
"Omigod, Kirst, have you read it?" Dani smoothed the creased, chocolate smeared paper some more, sharing a look with Jade, who looked all knowing.
Kirsty glanced briefly at the large, clumsy, rainbow-coloured letters.
"Go oot witt me Ben" she read aloud, and shrugged. "Yeh. So what?" she said again.
Why was everyone making a big deal of Ben's words? When she'd first unwrapped the square parcel left on her desk she'd been aware that Ben was watching closely. She hadn't a clue what it meant, but Ben was from England and Kirsty was still in the middle of teaching him words like bonzer, dill and g'day. Thanks to Mum, Dad and Dani always reading with them, the twins were far ahead of the rest of their class at reading and writing and the message was nonsense to both, but Jade seemed to understand things about boys that were a complete mystery to Kirsty.
Her twin hadn't been able to stop giggling as Kirsty had unwrapped the chocolate, given Jade a piece, taken some herself, and smiled at Ben, which seemed to make him happy. Then, when she'd got home from school, Mum and Dad had looked amused when they saw Ben's words.
"Is this kid German or Scottish, Kirst?" Rhys Sutherland had grinned and he and Shelley both fell about laughing.
Of course she'd asked Jade what was so funny, but Jade had only giggled again and said she couldn't wait to tell Dani.
"He wants to be your boyfriend!" Dani said breathlessly. "It's sooo cute, giving you chockie and everything. What did you tell him?"
"She smiled at him," Jade said.
"Good enough," Dani said approvingly. "Oh, Kirst, you got a boyfriend!"
"Urrggh, no way, I'm no geek!" Kirsty put her fingers to her throat to indicate her feelings.
"But you told him yes, you smiled at him and ate the chockie," Dani said. "So now you're his girlfriend."
"I am NOT!" Kirsty scowled as she jumped off the bed and stomped downstairs.
Jade and Dani got all girly and giggly about boys, but Kirsty had better things to do. Why did Ben Smith have to spoil everything? She liked him as a mate. If she ever fell in love like in the fairytales, it would be with a boy who never, ever expected her to sit round being girly and giggly. It would be with a boy who would want to run with her faster than anyone had ever run, climb with her higher than anyone had ever climbed, who believed they could touch the moon and the stars. Not Ben Smith nor Dale Armstrong (her best mate, who Dani insisted would really like Kirsty to be his girlfriend) nor any other boy she knew.
She thudded angrily on the bottom stair at the same time as thunder rolled overhead, lightning flickered, and the house plunged into darkness.
*****
It was evening when Kane pushed open the creaking garden gate. Hours since Suzy Palmer and her kid had returned to their caravan but he'd been roaming down on the wharf because he only ever went home when it was too dark to stay out. Sometimes he almost convinced himself that the makebelieve family, especially Luke and Jordan, actually existed, but when he got home he couldn't pretend anymore.
He didn't have any younger brothers, he had just one brother, Scott, who was older and who was always thinking up ways he would kill him. And he still didn't know how you got your Mum and Dad to like you.
Maybe you had to be cute like Jamie. Jamie's Mum played games with him, bought him lollies, fussed over when he fell over. Or maybe you had to be smart, he knew kids who were smart whose parents seemed real proud of them when they picked them up from school. Or maybe you always had to be real good so they never got mad at you and instead took you to the movies and read you bedtime stories.
It was obviously his fault they didn't like him, but he tried real hard to be good, never crying, no matter how much he wanted to, when he got bashed. And he must have been cute too when he was Jamie's age and he sometimes got gold stars in school but when he told them they only said stuff like stop jabbering or he'd get a thick lip. He couldn't figure it. Maybe he was just plain unlikeable.
The front door had been left half open. Kane crept warily indoors, automatically hunching his shoulders. Dad was talking on the phone.
"We got the spirits alright. In the room at the top of the stairs, the whole ******* lot of them." As he spoke, Richie Phillips glanced up at the door that still had an "I" shaped crack in its frame from the time he'd smashed his fist against it, too drunk to use the handle.
Oh, Jeez, Jeez, Jeez, Dad had found out! Only Kane had known before.
That the room was haunted.
Your reviews for Always and Forever were lovely and some of you asked me to write another fanfic so I decided to have a go at writing a prequel. This is likely to be very short though, maybe only four or five chapters, as I'm more or less only taking it up till when Kane and Kirsty meet for the first time. Soz I can't have them meeting up too much (I'd have to rewrite AAF if I did!) but hope you enjoy reading. The one thing I have changed is that Suzy Palmer's little boy is about a year older - that kid was just too smart otherwise!!
*****************************************************************************
***WHAT DREAMS MAY COME***
Captain Kane Phillips leaned on the ship's rail, enjoying the the salty taste of the fresh sea wind and the sea spray falling on his face like a light summer rain, frowning as the ship lurched slightly left. Good navigation should feel make it feel like the ship was flying. Able Seaman Byrne was going wrong somewhere and he'd have to check it out. Still, Tommy Byrne was a bonzer bloke, even if he didn't yet have the navigating skills of himself.
"Good evening, Captain Phillips!"
Uh-oh! Kane knew the voices even before he turned. Gemma Simpson. Gemma Simpson and her pushy Mum. Both of them worth megabucks from some inheritance or other.
"Evening, ma'am. Evening, ma'am" He lightly touched his cap twice, ever mindful of being polite to the passengers.
"So we'll be...uh...dining with you tonight?" Mrs Simpson glanced meaningfully from her daughter to Kane.
"Of course, ma'am, it will be my pleasure." He faked a smile, used to dealing with passengers like Gemma Simpson and her Mum. "The chef has prepared a wonderful course of eggs, fries and beans."
"My favourite!" Gemma said, giving a little giggle that she imagined was attractive but which never failed to grate on Kane's nerves. "I think I..."
"Tane! Tane!" Jamie's little face was a picture of excitement and Suzy Palmer had difficulty keeping up with her small son as he gripped her hand, pulling her towards his hero. But she didn't mind too much. They'd met Kane before when they'd last holidayed at the Summer Bay caravan park and he was a nice kid.
"G'day, mate!" Kane swung Jamie round, both of them losing their balance and falling back into the soft white sand, which made Jamie roll about laughing. "G'day, Mrs Palmer!"
"Hi, Kane." Suzy didn't bother to correct him it was still Miss Palmer and she preferred Suzy as she flopped down on the beach without a thought about the sand staining her clothes. Being Mum of a two-year-old, she was used to getting dirty. "So we're both on our holidays the same time again, huh?"
"Yeh." He gave a strange look, she thought, but maybe that was because of the question on his mind. "Do you know what do they have for dinner on cruise ships?"
"Cruise ships?" Suzy leaned forward to tickle Jamie and make him laugh some more. "Wow, your Mum and Dad saving up for a cruise one day then? Um...from what I've heard, you kind of eat all day long on a cruise ship, there's everything from salads and fresh fruit to roast dinners and apple pie."
"No eggs, fries and beans?"
Suzy laughed. "Maybe, couldn't say, I don't think it's what people ask for much! But don't go knocking back a cruise ship holiday and upsetting the oldies just because of that. From what you've told me about them, your Mum and Dad adore you and your little brothers."
"Yeh. Yeh, they do. We took Luke and Jordan to the pool before and I was teaching 'em how to swim and Mum said I could have eggs, fries and beans for tea tonight just 'cos it's my favourite."
"Cool!" Suzy said. He was a funny kid at times. Always staring out to sea dreaming about something or other, always talking about how great his family was and how his kid brothers loved to copy what Kane did. She'd yet to meet his wonderful family though. She guessed his Mum and Dad thought him far too young to be looking after two even younger kids, which was why they didn't mind whenever he wandered off to Suzy.
He was one lucky kid, having such a great family, his folks planning a cruise holiday for them all, but he just didn't seem to know it There was still a faraway look on his face as he watched Suzy and Jamie having a pretend fight before he finally shook himself out of the dream and grinned broadly.
"C'mon, mate, race you to the flag!"
Jamie was up like a shot, his plump little legs speeding over the sand, blissfully unaware that Kane was letting him win. Suzy smiled at them as she basked in the warm sun. It was a beautiful day and Summer Bay was a beautiful place. No one in Summer Bay could possibly have a care in the world.
*****
There was a steady splish-splash as Kirsty Sutherland swam smoothly through the pool. She was way, way ahead of the other competitors and she was barely out of breath. It was funny. No matter how many times she swam, she never lost the thrill of floating weightlessly through water.
It was almost like flying, she thought, vaguely aware that the blur of colours was the crowd, vaguely aware of their excited cheering and of the loudspeaker:
"...and Kirsty Sutherland, ladies and gentlemen and Jade and Dani and Kirsty's Mum and Dad, the world champion swimmer, heading for her third gold medal, she makes it look so easy..."
Kirsty popped the last of the chocolate in her mouth, screwed up the paper, tossed it to the bin, missed, didn't care, and lay back on the bed, returning to the dream...
"...Kirsty Sutherland has won again! Just listen to that crowd! Listen, listen!"
"Listen, Kirsty!" Dani sighed for the third time."Don't eat when you're lying down, you might choke."
Dani clicked on the Barbie lamp that separated the twins' beds and Kirsty blinked in its sudden light. It wasn't like five-year-old Kirsty to half-doze, but she was bored, bored, bored, grounded by the heavy rain, and tired of watching Dani and Jade play doing each other's hair. Large raindrops were hitting the window in a steady splish-splash and outside already looked like night though the evening didn't usually go so dark until much later.
"Jade said this was from Ben Smith." Dani had picked up the screwed-up paper, ready to throw it pointedly into the bin until Jade had whispered Ben Smith had wrapped the bar of chocolate in it. Dani had been hearing a lot about Ben Smith lately and how he was keen on Kirsty. Admittedly, all the infomation had come from Jade, and none from Kirsty, but Dani loved matchmaking.
"Yeh. So what?"
"Omigod, Kirst, have you read it?" Dani smoothed the creased, chocolate smeared paper some more, sharing a look with Jade, who looked all knowing.
Kirsty glanced briefly at the large, clumsy, rainbow-coloured letters.
"Go oot witt me Ben" she read aloud, and shrugged. "Yeh. So what?" she said again.
Why was everyone making a big deal of Ben's words? When she'd first unwrapped the square parcel left on her desk she'd been aware that Ben was watching closely. She hadn't a clue what it meant, but Ben was from England and Kirsty was still in the middle of teaching him words like bonzer, dill and g'day. Thanks to Mum, Dad and Dani always reading with them, the twins were far ahead of the rest of their class at reading and writing and the message was nonsense to both, but Jade seemed to understand things about boys that were a complete mystery to Kirsty.
Her twin hadn't been able to stop giggling as Kirsty had unwrapped the chocolate, given Jade a piece, taken some herself, and smiled at Ben, which seemed to make him happy. Then, when she'd got home from school, Mum and Dad had looked amused when they saw Ben's words.
"Is this kid German or Scottish, Kirst?" Rhys Sutherland had grinned and he and Shelley both fell about laughing.
Of course she'd asked Jade what was so funny, but Jade had only giggled again and said she couldn't wait to tell Dani.
"He wants to be your boyfriend!" Dani said breathlessly. "It's sooo cute, giving you chockie and everything. What did you tell him?"
"She smiled at him," Jade said.
"Good enough," Dani said approvingly. "Oh, Kirst, you got a boyfriend!"
"Urrggh, no way, I'm no geek!" Kirsty put her fingers to her throat to indicate her feelings.
"But you told him yes, you smiled at him and ate the chockie," Dani said. "So now you're his girlfriend."
"I am NOT!" Kirsty scowled as she jumped off the bed and stomped downstairs.
Jade and Dani got all girly and giggly about boys, but Kirsty had better things to do. Why did Ben Smith have to spoil everything? She liked him as a mate. If she ever fell in love like in the fairytales, it would be with a boy who never, ever expected her to sit round being girly and giggly. It would be with a boy who would want to run with her faster than anyone had ever run, climb with her higher than anyone had ever climbed, who believed they could touch the moon and the stars. Not Ben Smith nor Dale Armstrong (her best mate, who Dani insisted would really like Kirsty to be his girlfriend) nor any other boy she knew.
She thudded angrily on the bottom stair at the same time as thunder rolled overhead, lightning flickered, and the house plunged into darkness.
*****
It was evening when Kane pushed open the creaking garden gate. Hours since Suzy Palmer and her kid had returned to their caravan but he'd been roaming down on the wharf because he only ever went home when it was too dark to stay out. Sometimes he almost convinced himself that the makebelieve family, especially Luke and Jordan, actually existed, but when he got home he couldn't pretend anymore.
He didn't have any younger brothers, he had just one brother, Scott, who was older and who was always thinking up ways he would kill him. And he still didn't know how you got your Mum and Dad to like you.
Maybe you had to be cute like Jamie. Jamie's Mum played games with him, bought him lollies, fussed over when he fell over. Or maybe you had to be smart, he knew kids who were smart whose parents seemed real proud of them when they picked them up from school. Or maybe you always had to be real good so they never got mad at you and instead took you to the movies and read you bedtime stories.
It was obviously his fault they didn't like him, but he tried real hard to be good, never crying, no matter how much he wanted to, when he got bashed. And he must have been cute too when he was Jamie's age and he sometimes got gold stars in school but when he told them they only said stuff like stop jabbering or he'd get a thick lip. He couldn't figure it. Maybe he was just plain unlikeable.
The front door had been left half open. Kane crept warily indoors, automatically hunching his shoulders. Dad was talking on the phone.
"We got the spirits alright. In the room at the top of the stairs, the whole ******* lot of them." As he spoke, Richie Phillips glanced up at the door that still had an "I" shaped crack in its frame from the time he'd smashed his fist against it, too drunk to use the handle.
Oh, Jeez, Jeez, Jeez, Dad had found out! Only Kane had known before.
That the room was haunted.