It was a Sunday morning – and a very busy one at that!
That was what Carmen thought as she descended the treacherous stairs, dodging children and indoor tennis games and the hoover wire to reach the entrance hall. EVERYTHING was cacophonous.
"WHY," screamed Sasha, following Carmen down the stairs in her dressing gown, with her messy hair devoid of its multi-coloured extensions, "HAVE I JUST BEEN WOKEN UP AT SEVEN ON A SUNDAY?!"
Carmen was about to answer, when she noticed a football arcing through the air and heading straight for the glass windows of the office! She dived – had she been quick enough? – she stretched out her arms – as long as she could – got to reach the ball…
It slammed into her palms and she wheeled around. "Guys!" she said, exasperated. "No football in the house, yeah? How do you even have the energy this early?"
"Exactly!" shouted Sasha. "Will no-one tell me why I'm forced to be up this early?"
"If I knew, I'd happily tell you," said Carmen, throwing up her hands in mock surrender. "Has anyone seen Mike?"
"WHAT?" asked Tyler, pointing to his ears.
"HAS?! ANYONE?! SEEN?! MIKE?!"
"OH… UM… NO!"
Carmen mouthed 'thanks', rolled her eyes (where was he? This was chaos!) and forged a path through the space. Mike had told them yesterday that everyone had to clear their diary for today (no ifs, no buts) – but he hadn't told them why!
Carmen was getting more and more furious, ducking past kids' flailing arms, when Elektra emerged from the kitchen, dressed in a blue button-up shirt, her hair tied up and with a duster and a can of polish in her hand.
"MORNING!" she called above the din.
"MORNING! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" asked Carmen.
"CLEANING! OUR UNION REP'S COMING TODAY."
"WHAT? WHO'S OUR UNION REP?"
"I DON'T KNOW, BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION. HAVE YOU SEEN MIKE?"
"NO! NOBODY HAS! JAY, PUT THAT FOOTBALL DOWN!"
"CAN YOU QUICKLY CHECK THE KITCHEN'S CLEAN?"
"WHAT?" yelled Carmen, straining to hear Elektra above twelve kids all shouting at each other in the cramped entrance hall.
"I SAID, CAN YOU—"
They were interrupted by three very loud, very decisive knocks on the door. Elektra motioned to Carmen, who found a way to the door whilst Elektra shushed the kids.
Carmen unlocked the door and swung it open. She was met by a flustered-looking early-40s woman whose clipboard was the only indicator she had any grip on reality. Her shiny black hair, more greasy than glossy, swept down into tiny curtains framing a face that radiated concern; it was impossible for Carmen to believe she wasn't a youth councillor of some description. One of her eyes had a slight smoky effect, the other apparently didn't, and her lipstick made her lips blend into her skin, like she had no mouth, whilst her sartorial decisions could kindly be summed up as 'ill-advised': she'd teamed long beige shorts with a light blue shirt, looking like a well-intentioned raid on Primark.
The woman tried to stick a hand out, but realised it would be impossible with a pen in one hand and clipboard in the other. After much adjusting, she thrust the hand out again, and Carmen slightly reluctantly shook it.
"Good morning… Carmen, is it?" she simpered.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"I'm your careworkers' union representative. I'm here just to get to know you a little bit, see how you're getting on as we approach the six-month stage. I must say, it sounds like they're rioting in there! Let's see if we can't sort that out."
The woman gently eased past Carmen into the entrance space, determined to sort out the residual chaos. Jay and Bird were playing football, Aisha and Rafiq loitering on the stairs, Ryan and Chloe playing catch, Sasha shouting at the top of her voice and Floss lying face-down in the middle of the carpet – but through all that, this strange woman spotted Mike as he lumbered down the stairs.
"Mike?" she exclaimed, her jaw dropping in shock. "I had no idea—"
Mike's eyes widened. "Elaine?"
And just at that moment, Jay kicked the football a little too vigorously – before she could move, Elaine was hit straight in the face.
THE DUMPING GROUND: RENAISSANCE
Chapter 10: "A Day on the Lake"
Blurry… everything so blurry…
Elaine let her eyes focus on the exceedingly blue room around her. She sat up, winced with the sudden sharp pain in her head, then replaced it with a rehearsed cheery smile.
"Ah, good morning, everyone! I- … No. I've already said good morning; what do I mean?"
"Hello, Elaine," said Mike softly. "You're in the quiet room. You might remember you took a football to the face just now, so we thought it'd be best for you to stay in here for a little while."
"No chance!" Elaine grinned. "Thank you for your concern, Mike, but…" She clasped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, whata fun day we're going to have!"
"Yes, I was meaning to ask about that, Elaine… What exactly do you have planned for us today? I'm assuming you're the reason why we've all been told to book our Sunday off."
"Yes, yes!" she enthused, taking a cup of tea that Mike offered. "Oh, it's going to be so marvellous, Mike, it really is, yes, because, you see, we're going, all of us, we're going… on a day trip!"
"A day trip? Where to?" Mike raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"All in good time. And, before you ask – don't worry, this has all been cleared by the council, oh yes, pages and pages of paperwork it took, but don't worry, we're sorted now. Yes, it'll be great. I'll be able to get to know how Carmen and Elektra are settling in, whilst the kids can have some educational and enriching fun!"
"Question still stands – where are we going?"
"You'll find out when we get there! No spoiling the surprise. Oh Mike, it's good to see you again."
Mike smiled. "And you too."
"Oh, it's going to be lovely! So… lovely!"
"And… Lewis! No, hang on, sorry – Tyler!"
Tyler grunted in reply.
"That means we are…" Elaine fiddled about flipping the sheets on her clipboard. "missing… Traylen comma Demon. Any ideas, anyone?"
"He's meeting his social worker this afternoon, so we've let him stay at home. Don't worry – there's a relief careworker coming in," Mike assured her, oblivious to the fact that Demon had cancelled that careworker days ago.
"So we have got everyone – brilliant!" beamed Elaine. She carefully discarded the clipboard and addressed the group. "Come on everyone, off your phones for a minute, and I'll explain where we are!"
They'd been on the road for ages and ages, watching the houses outside the minibus gradually thin out to be replaced by streets of trees and estates of winding country lanes. Now, they were stopped in a rocky car park; by craning their necks round, the kids could just make out a mountain, looming ominously down at them, bridging the dusty yellow car park and the eternal clouds.
"Well, children," began Elaine excitedly, "I'm delighted to announce that we're in the beautiful heart of… the Lake District!" The kids groaned and began to complain. "Order! Order!" Elaine shouted feebly. The shouts grew louder and louder, a hailstorm of 'why are we doing this?'s and 'this is the worst day ever's and 'I can't believe we're spending Sunday here's.
"QUIIIIEEET!" roared Elektra. The kids promptly shut up. "Let's let Elaine finish."
"Yes, thank you, uh… Elektra," flustered Elaine, pushing her greasy black hair behind her ear (it immediately sprung back). "Right, so the plan is for a fun, educational, enriching day out! Feel the fresh air, smell the countryside, hear the sounds of the mountains!"
Under his breath, Ryan sang, "The hills are alive…" and Joseph giggled.
"So, we're going to climb up a hill – or a fell, actually, I think it's a fell – and then we should end up at a glorious lake just in time for a late lunch. And as a bonus bit of excitement, I've managed to enter one of you into a Rotary Club Young Photographers' competition! Isn't that exciting?"
"So… who is it?" asked Floss.
"Well, we only have the one camera, and I thought that Sasha here…" Sasha winced at the mention of her name. "…would be more than capable of taking some great wildlife pictures during today's festivities."
"Whoop-di-doo," groaned Sasha.
"Right, children, I want to get going as early as possible, so let's be quick setting off. It should take about three and a half hours to get up Great Cockup."
The kids looked uneasily at each other, defying one another not to splutter with laughter.
Mike ventured the question, "To get up what?"
"It's the name of the hill. Come on, Great Cockup awaits!"
Three quarters of an hour down the line, the unenthusiastic group were trudging up a stony mountain path, hemmed in on both sides by rocky walls. If they'd turned round to look at how far they'd come, they would have been privy to the unparalleled beauty of the expansive green valley, the patches of dark green trees and the lush patchwork quilt of pastures. Instead, they were busy complaining about how tired their feet were; Elaine was dismissing it all as nonsense.
"Okay, soooo…" said Carmen, swooping past Elektra to stand next to Mike. "How do you know her?"
"Who, Elaine?"
"Well, duh," said Elektra, pulling a face.
"Ah, it takes me back to the good old days, this does – she was a social worker, back when I was working in care homes down South. Must have been fifteen years ago when we started working together. She was Tracy's social worker, actually."
"Ah, cool," said Carmen. Then something dawned on her. "Wait! Is she in Tracy's book – is she Awful Aileen?"
Mike gave a subtle nod and Carmen's eyes widened in terror.
A little way behind, Tyler and Jody brought up the rear.
"Tyler," said Jody, very, very quietly. "This is boring, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he whispered back.
"Do you wanna go somewhere better?"
"Suppose so."
Together, they snuck off back down the hill, to find somewhere better.
They must have covered thousands of miles, Sasha thought, but somehow the clock on her phone only read 10:30. And her feet hurt so, so much, and the October wind was whipping round her, sending her hair into a Medusa frenzy, and she hadn't taken a single bloody picture yet.
"How's our resident photographer doing?" called Elaine from a little way in front, where she stood in all her beige glory, a map hanging from her neck in a plastic pouch.
"Terribly!" replied Sasha honestly.
"Oh, don't say that – I'm sure it's going marvellously!" Elaine cooed as she marched back to join the rest of the uninterested group. "Right, can I have your attention, everyone! I think we've more than earned a little pit stop at this point. Yes, come on, let's have a break, everyone, sit down!"
"Sit down where? On the ground?" asked Bird, looking suspiciously at the muddy, stony, sloping path they were walking up.
"Well, yes, you can all sit on the ground; I'm off for a comfort break."
Elaine turned and walked further up the path.
"Mike?" asked Jay. "What's a comfort break?"
"Do you know, Jay, I don't actually know," he replied. Suddenly it dawned on him, as he saw Elaine stop and take off her rucksack. With all his might, he shouted, "DON'T LOOK, KIDS! FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T LOOK!"
Tyler and Jody felt like they'd been walking for years, too. But they'd been going in an entirely different direction – Tyler had led her down a narrower path that led off the main track, and they'd been following it aimlessly for half an hour or so.
"This is actually quite nice, isn't it?" reflected Tyler out loud. "Peaceful, I mean."
"Peaceful, yeah, but also painful! My knees are stinging."
"We're nearly at the top of this hill… I don't know, maybe it's just having the others there that makes it all boring and stressful. It's nice when it's just us two."
Jody smiled, partly at Tyler's comment and partly because they'd reached the summit of the hill. The view was stunning: a picturesque, hidden idyll. Patches of heather illuminated the curtain of mighty green hills, which stood like sentries around a vast pellucid lake, iridescent in the light of the furiously shining sun. The light breeze, the moderate heat, the utter tranquillity – everything spoke of a quiet, contented power. It was like a perfect scene arranged by award-winning architects and sculpted in mountain.
"Look!" cried Tyler, pointing into the middle of the lake. Jody had noticed it too: nestled in the middle of the sprawling lake was a tiny island, unimposing and unassuming. Protective trees encircled the centre, shielding it from view. It looked private; it looked enticing. Jody's eyes wandered across to the edge of the lake, where an old off-white rowing boat and its battered oars had been abandoned on the rocky shore.
"I think we've found somewhere to spend today," she smiled.
"Jody, we can't row! How are we gonna get there?"
"Anyone can row, Tyler. Come on, it'll be fun."
Tyler thought about this; she was probably right. Time for an adventure.
"Come here, everyone – I've got a treat for us all!"
The kids had only known Elaine for a few cruelly long hours, yet they already knew to be wary of her 'treats'; Elaine operated on a whole other scale of 'fun'. How odd that she'd spent a lifetime working with children, but still couldn't understand them.
As soon as the group had crowded around, Elaine lowered her rucksack to the floor, rummaged about in its capacious innards, and produced several tinfoil packages.
"Sandwiches!" she exclaimed, handing them round. "Lovely homemade sandwiches!" From the disapproving looks on some of the kids' faces, she might as well have handed them a bag of dog poo. "Well, you couldn't go without lunch, could you all, now?"
She distributed the last of the packages, and the kids suspiciously opened them up. In sync, they grimaced.
"Egg mayonnaise?" spluttered Floss, holding her nose.
"Be thankful it's only that – I've got spam or something!" cried Jay.
"Ew, what's that?" asked Carmen in disgust, gazing in horror at her lunch.
Elaine peered at Carmen's sandwich. "Oh, that's some lovely sandwich spread!"
"It looks like sick," Carmen said under her breath. Meanwhile, Aisha, who had a little less moderation than some of the others, simply chucked her sandwich away like a tinfoil grenade.
The rest of the kids sat on the stone seats that had been erected near the trig point – they'd now reached the summit, and their aching feet were going to need a hell of a rest before attempting the descent.
"Eat up, children!" Elaine smiled. "We're going to need all the energy we can muster, if we're to encounter the Lake Sprite!"
"The what?" asked Jay judgmentally.
"Yes, the Lake Sprite! It's the reason why I've planned the walk to end at the lake, you see – it's all local folklore, very interesting."
"So who is the Lake Sprite?" Aisha asked sweetly.
"Well, she's a fairy, of sorts, and her castle is supposed to be in a hill by the lakes, and, well, she grants wishes, and does things like that."
"Are we going to meet her?" wondered Rafiq.
"Well, we'll see, won't we?" smiled Elaine.
The older kids were all thinking the same thing – what a load of nonsense. Clearly, Elaine had realised that nobody liked her, and was trying to get the younger ones to side with her with a load of preschool fairytale gibberish. To them, this was just further evidence of Elaine being rubbish.
Elaine smiled. She had everything under control.
Jody and Tyler rowed up onto the bed of pebbles which marked the boundary between the voluminous lake and the minuscule island. After making sure the boat was securely moored to a stump of wood that stuck up from the stones, they traipsed up to the circle of trees. A quick peer through a gap in the wooden Stonehenge revealed the mother of all oases.
The ground was thick, hard, flat mud, with small plants dotted about the surface. Suspended between two sturdy trees, and bathed in the glow of the sun, was a big striped hammock. It was like a dream. More than that, it was peace.
The two friends had the same idea at once, and both squeezed through the gap in the trees, quickly kicked their shoes off, and gently clambered into the hammock. It took a moment for them to adjust their legs so they both comfortably fit in, but eventually they lay opposite each other, their legs entwined in the centre.
"So…" said Jody quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace of this perfect clearing.
"So…"
"We're here."
"Yeah, yeah we are. It's nice."
"Really nice. And the weather's so nice, too."
"Great weather, yeah… Yeah… it's nice."
Jody couldn't stand this small talk. Exactly what was it achieving? Nothing. There were things that needed to be said – they both knew that. So why not start with the biggest question of all?
She looked him in the eyes, admiring their seductive hazel beauty as the sun illuminated them, and asked, "How are you, Tyler?"
Onwards marched the DG gang. Having a map around her neck hadn't helped Elaine (who was very clearly lost), whilst there was no phone signal for the kids to navigate their way out of this mess. None of this deterred her.
"Isn't this a fun day?" she exclaimed, sidling up to Elektra and Carmen.
"Yeah, yeah, we're all having… lots of… fun," lied Elektra.
"So, how are you settling in?" she asked. "How's Waterland House living up to your expectations?"
"I think it's wonderful," said Carmen. "Honestly, I do. There's never a dull day."
"How do you both feel the transition has gone, from cared-for Young Person to careworker? It's not been very long since you were in the system yourselves."
"It's been fine. A couple of times it's been a little bit weird, but we've all got into the swing of things now, so we know where we stand. The kids are really nice, Mike's great-"
"Ah, yes. I assume he must have got a little better over the years – he really wasn't up to all that much back when we worked together."
Elektra was visibly shocked. "No, Mike's great!"
"You must admit, he's been acting a little strangely today, hasn't he?"
Before Elektra could make a retort, there came a horrific shriek from somewhere behind them. The careworkers all wheeled round and were met by the sight of Jay, who lay face-down in the grass. They rushed to him and helped him to awkwardly push out his hands, manoeuvring him into a sitting position.
"Oh goodness, are you okay?" asked Elaine frantically. "Jason, are you okay?"
"It's Jacob!" hissed Elektra.
"It's Jay!" gasped Jay. "I'm okay, honestly, I just… I think I've sprained my ankle. Ahh, it really hurts".
"Right, don't worry, everyone, I'm trained in health and safety procedures," Elaine assured the assembled group. "Mike, please would you take Jay back to the bus – I think there might be a shortcut if you keep going left until the end of this field, and then… oh, I don't know; just try your best. The rest of us, onwards and upwards!"
She turned and marched down the dewy field. Snapping her head around to check the group was keeping up, she spotted Sasha stealthily creeping off the other way, following Mike and a limping Jay.
"Sasha!" shouted Elaine, turning and stomping up to the sheepish girl.
"WHAT?!" roared Sasha.
"Come on, what's got into you?"
"What's got into me? I'm BORED, that's what!"
"But how can you be bored? This is the Lake District! And I bet you've taken some marvellous photographs."
"I've not taken any, Elaine. Not! One! There's nothing here worth taking a picture of, and even if there was, I probably wouldn't notice because I'm so bored!"
"Sasha, this is just typical of you today – it's your whole defeatist attitude, all over! Come on, today should be really fun – but you have to have the right mindset!"
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't."
Sasha stormed away.
"How am I? What, right now? In general?"
"Well, both if you wanna answer both, I guess," replied Jody, shifting slightly in the divine warmth of the sunlight.
"Well, right now, I'm having a lovely afternoon. In general… yeah, I'm not too bad. Better than I thought I'd be, to be honest with you, for two weeks after… you know, after it happened. She's gone, and I guess that's just something I have to live with."
"You're being really brave about it, Tyler."
"Yeah, well I guess you just have to be, don't you?"
"Not necessarily. It's a big thing to happen to you. If you need someone to talk to, someone to cry to – it's me. I'll be that person."
"Yeah, I know," he smiled weakly. "I know."
"Guess it helps that you've got us lot at the Dumping Ground, right?"
"Suppose so... do you know what I miss most about her?"
"Oh Tyler, don't say things like that – it'll just make you miss her more."
"No, it's okay! Guess."
"I don't know, her… smile?"
"Nope. It was just… nice to know she was… there, you know? That's it – her presence, I guess."
"But you've always got Mike, or me, or… maybe Carmen or someone? I don't want you to feel alone. We'll be there for you."
"Not forever, though. You can't be – you've got your own lives to lead! That's what worries me most – after uni, when it's just me, all alone, with nobody to fall back on."
"Who's saying you need to fall back on anyone?" Jody smiled encouragingly, blinking in the sunlight. "And I reckon there's loads of other people feeling like that. You've got to be one of the strongest of them."
"Thanks. Even if you don't mean it."
"Of course I mean it! Don't be silly, you. I'm proud of you for coping so well. And I'm sure your mum would have been too."
Tyler's soul felt a little relieved.
Stupid walk. Stupid hills. These were Sasha's thoughts as she dejectedly stomped her way along a mountainous path, not noticing that she was actually going further up the mountain she was trying to descend. Stupid Lake District. Stupid camera. It still swung on its strap around her neck; she hadn't taken a single photo – not as a form of rebellion; simply because there had been nothing worth photographing.
Maybe her temperament was just more inclined towards defacing, rather than preserving. That was the beauty of graffiti, the freedom to turn the everyday into the canvas. So what if some stuffy people thought it was vandalism – if the original had no aesthetic interest, then where was the harm in making it interesting? Society was always moving on – a living, breathing ecosystem of people – so why shouldn't people be allowed to keep the monuments and buildings around them fresh and vibrant, living and breathing?
Instead she'd been asked to take pictures, preserve millennia-old hills (that had probably been photographed millions of times before)… for what purpose exactly? Stupid day out. Stupid Elaine.
She turned a corner and forgot everything she'd just thought.
About twenty feet above her, perched in a little alcove in the crag, was the most majestic-looking bird she'd ever seen. Its feathers shone in a treasure-trove of browns, and its stick-like legs tapered to four hooked talons on each foot. Its stern, judgmental face seemed to survey the fields below it. The King of the Valley.
Quickly, Sasha primed the camera and took as many pictures as she could. The creature – surely a bird of prey (of some sort) – gave a high-pitched screech and, extending its wings to their full majestic wingspan, took off from the cliff. As it soared through the skies, Sasha's finger kept clicking the camera buttons. This would shut Elaine up.
"Okay, enough of the emotional stuff – pick a number from 1 to 75," pleaded Tyler, showing Jody the webpage open on his phone.
"Uh, I don't know… 38."
He scrolled down. "Okay… if you could be a pizza topping, which one would you be?"
Jody laughed. "If I could be one? … Um, pineapple. Not everyone's sure about me, but if you like me, you like me."
Tyler giggled. "Okay, fine, whatever… pick another."
"Nah, it's your turn, mister!"
"Okay," he said, handing her the phone. "58."
She found the right question. "Have you ever broken a bone?"
"Never," he announced proudly. "What about you?"
"Wrist and left elbow."
"Guess I'm just made of stronger stuff than you," teased Tyler, earning a light slap. He smiled. "I like this game. This is much better."
"Okay, okay," said Elaine excitedly. "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with… G."
Immediately, Elektra threatened, "If it's 'grass' again…"
"Yes, it's grass!" chirped Elaine, her forehead green from when Ryan had tricked her into rubbing it after she'd had her hands in the grass. "Well done, Elektra! Your turn!"
Elektra sighed, rolled her eyes, and complied, "Well, I spy, with my little eye, something… beginning… with…"
"Pony!" shouted Aisha, pointing excitedly at the spectacle in front of her. As the others' eyes followed the line of her finger, they saw, about fifty metres away, a small black pony, with oddly-shaped clunky hooves, slender legs and a mane of stringy brown hairs flying wildly all around its head.
"Ah yes!" exclaimed Elaine. "Yes, it must be a, oh, what's the name, yes, it must be a wild fell pony! Yes, yes! It's native to this part of the country, although I must admit they're not usually seen in the wild like this, oh yes, children, this is very exciting! I don't think you all realise what a unique experience this is!" Some of the kids were still chatting to each other; others were snapping pictures of the wild pony on their phones.
The cluster of the Dumping Ground's younger residents had become very animated at the sight of the pony in the distance.
Aisha exclaimed, "I want to stroke it!"
Rafiq and Floss turned and looked at each other. Of course she does, they telepathically said to one another.
"Do it!" they said to her in unison. She looked a little unsure, now – wouldn't Elaine get cross?
"Go on – do it!" urged her brother.
"What's there to be scared of? It's just a pony," Floss reminded her.
Her mind made up, before anyone could stop her, Aisha ran across the moor and up to the docile horse, which was barely taller than she was. Noticing the developing situation, Elaine called, "Come on Aisha, don't be silly, get away from that pony!" As Aisha clumsily mounted the pony (and as Ryan whispered, "Wish I could just run away like she can"), she tried again, yelling, "Aisha, will you come here now! It might not be safe!"
Aisha had never ridden a horse. Not that she wanted to start now – besides, she had no idea how to make a horse go, and certainly no idea how to make it stop.
Nobody had informed the horse of that.
It reared up on its hind legs and, possessed by a fury disproportionate to its diminutive size, sped away over the moors – not the fastest creature in the world, but fast enough to be dangerous on this uneven ground… Aisha bucked and jumped up and down on the pony's back, and Elaine cried, "AISHAAAAAAA!"
Carmen could see her already preparing the incident report in Elaine's head as she chased after the pony in all her pathetic beige glory.
"Okay, question number 17 is… what are you scared of?"
"I don't know, uh… getting to the kitchen in the morning and finding out all the Frosted Loops are gone?"
Jody sucked her teeth, growing more and more frustrated with each flippant answer. "Come on, Tyler! I want to talk seriously with you, not make everything into a joke."
Tyler looked stunned for a second. Then he composed himself. "Okay, I'm sorry. Well, what are you scared of, then? If you want to talk seriously…"
"To be honest… the future."
He nodded. "I get what you mean. University. That's the big one. Have you applied yet?"
"Don't know where I want to go. Don't even know if I want to go. How are you supposed to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're only seventeen? You?"
"I've tried to apply, but I've got Mr Ashbrook a.k.a. the worst senior tutor ever – he's not written my reference or anything, and the longer he leaves it, the more I worry about is this the right thing to do, you know? It scares me, not knowing."
Finally they were getting somewhere. "And then even before that, we've got to do the exams to actually get into uni. It's like, why has nobody talked to us about this? Exams aren't until summer – why am I stressing about them now? Why can't I just live my life?"
"Honestly Jody, I'm not the person to talk to about destressing. I'm up to my eyeballs in Media coursework, and it was due weeks ago, but I'm so, so busy with everything else. I try to do it at home, but then there's people screaming and shouting, and then I try to do it on the bus, but I always end up falling asleep on the bus. What am I supposed to do?"
And they continued, like that, for a good hour or two. Moaning about coursework, bitching about teachers, counting down the weeks until mocks, laughing until tears streamed down their cheeks. Learning things about each other: Tyler was adamant that he wanted an en-suite in his university room. Jody was fine sharing. Tyler had been disappointed with his GCSE results. Jody sometimes missed her big brother Luke. Tyler still sucked his thumb sometimes, when he needed to feel comforted and retreat from the world. Jody was scared about having sex. Tyler's biggest regret was that he didn't let himself be more sensitive. Jody's was that she was too sensitive. And then they fired questions without answers at each other – if their questions did have answers, they certainly weren't ones they knew right now.
Jody summarised it: "I guess coping with all of this is part of growing up. But it's the growing up that scares me the most."
"There's definitely cool bits of growing up, though. Like, I can get better jobs when I'm eighteen, and drink in clubs and stuff."
"Yeah, whatever floats your boat. But growing up means… being separated. From you, from the Dumping Ground, from my friends. I don't know how much I want that."
"It's just a change. See it as a fresh start, I suppose. That's what chatting to you's made me realise: it's always time for a change."
Jody felt like she'd been stung. What was this about?!
"What?" she asked, sitting up in the hammock and facing Tyler. "What do you mean, talking to me made you realise that?"
"Wha-?" spluttered a confused Tyler, sitting up too.
"Do you hate talking to me?"
"Wha- No!"
"Why's it time for a change, then? Time for a change from me?"
"No! I just… we're going to have to be apart from each other in the future, and maybe we should start getting used to not spending as much time tog-"
"That's eleven months away, Tyler! Eleven months! That's nearly a whole year that I wanna spend with you! Don't start spouting crap about the future, because you've got a whole lot of the present to go first."
"Okay, but-"
"And why can't we go to uni together?" she wailed, plaintively. "I'm sure we're looking at the same places."
"I've told you we are – you know that! Why can't you remember anything I tell you?" Tyler hissed.
"I forget stuff!"
"Rubbish – you just don't care!" He folded his arms in anger.
"You don't care about me!"
"Do too!"
"Why can't we stay together then?"
"Because I'm okay with us being separated if we have to be!"
It felt like he'd slapped her in the face. Jody climbed out of the hammock. As she got out, the shifting centre of gravity made the hammock wobble. Unable to stop it, Tyler was forced out, and he flopped onto the hard mud below with a thud. As he rolled over and stood up again, he saw Jody storming off through the canopy of trees and out of this paradise.
"So, the situation is: Elaine's gone – we don't know where. Aisha's gone too – on a pony – we don't know where. Jay and Mike are gone – we do know where, they're back at base, hopefully. Sasha is also gone – no idea where – and Tyler and Jody have been gone for ages – we also don't know where they are," summarised Elektra. "All in all, guys, this is looking pretty standard for a Dumping Ground day out. But it probably doesn't seem that good if you're on the outside looking in, so… hello, you!"
Her train of thought evaporated as a fluffy black Cocker Spaniel bounded up to her. The whole group's attention was now lost in the cute, slobbering, smiling dog – which seemed, worryingly, not to be accompanied by an owner.
As the others stroked the new arrival and rained down 'hello's and 'aww's and 'isn't he cute?'s, Ryan walked up to where Carmen stood, trying to get phone signal by holding it up to the sky like an offering. "Says a lot when the most interesting part of the day is a stray dog," he muttered to her. "What a boring waste of-"
Just at that moment, he tripped over a little stone… and tumbled face-first into a pile of thick, oozing, glistening, viscous mud.
Luckily for him, the others didn't notice… but Carmen did. As Ryan got back to his feet, face dripping with mud, she dissolved into a paroxysm of laughter. Quickly, the others heard her, turned round, and started cackling at him as well. Underneath the brown, Ryan's face turned red.
Happily, the humiliation was broken up by the arrival of a man in a bright blue waterproof.
"Oh, thank god, you've found Womble!" he cried happily, reaching down to pet his dog before attaching it back onto its lead. "I've been so worried. I was sorting the boat out, when he just slipped away. Thanks ever so much for making sure he didn't run off. He's a beggar for running off."
"Oh, well I'm happy you found him," Carmen said.
"Where are you guys headed, then?" inquired the man.
"Well, we don't have our map anymore, since we don't have our map-reader anymore, but I think we're just looking for the nearest lake, wherever that is. We've just done the Great Cockup walk, if that helps."
"Ah, brilliant – I'm going the same way. That's where I was parking my boat – until Womble here ran off. Let's walk together – you're only a few minutes away. Lake's beautiful this time of day."
Tyler followed Jody's route out of the tree-lined hideaway, and joined her on the island's rocky shore. They were both confronted by the same horrible sight.
The wind must have picked up whilst they'd been languishing away the hours on their hammock. Now the massive lake was ablaze with arcing white waves, pushing the screaming water in every direction! Not too high, but they were fast. Too fast to make the return journey an easy one. The problem was that they couldn't make the return journey, even if there had been no waves at all – the boat had been washed away! It taunted the stranded islanders from a few hundred metres away, bobbing up and down, tossed by the waves.
"HOW ARE WE GONNA GET BACK?" Jody cried.
"I DON'T KNOW!" he admitted, having to raise his voice above the wind that boxed their ears and whipped around their heads. A wave slapped the shore. He turned to face her. "JODY! I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID. I DON'T THINK YOU UNDERSTOOD. I MEANT THAT… WELL, I LOVE YOU, BUT I KNOW THAT I HAVE TO GO TO THE BEST UNI FOR ME. TO MAKE ME THE BEST PERSON I CAN BE. IF THAT'S THE SAME UNI AS YOU, GREAT, BUT IF NOT, THEN… WELL, I'VE ALWAYS GOT THE REST OF MY LIFE TO SPEND WITH YOU, I GUESS… if you'll have me, of course."
Jody ran up to him, and gave him the most furiously passionate hug they'd ever shared. She let go, and whispered into his ear, "Thank you Tyler. I love you too."
They hugged again – but both knew that they still had no route off the island, as the waves coursed savagely around them.
The depleted party of kids trudged over the last small hill on their journey to the lake.
Below the children, an enormous lake unfolded, with mountains wrapped around it. The grey, uncertain sky was mirrored in the turbulent waters – they were even whipped up into patterns of waves, which sped to and fro across the surface like flies skimming a pond. Thunder roared, reverberating in stereo around the mountains like they were in a nightmare.
"Not too sure about this thunder. Shall we turn back?" shouted Elektra to the group.
"We can't turn back now!" protested Floss. "Not when we've spent all day looking for this lake!"
"Ooh, still looking for the 'Lake Sprite', are we?" laughed Ryan, eliciting laughs from the other remaining kids.
"So what if we are?" yelled Rafiq.
"What do you mean, 'so what'? It's. Not. Real!" he cackled. "Stupid kids," he muttered. "Thinking Elaine's so cool just because she'll tell you fairy stories." Floss and Rafiq glared at him.
Just at that moment, a bolt of jagged lightning erupted from the dark cauldron of the heavens. It shot across the sky, electric. Carmen started counting the seconds between the violent thunderclaps.
It was on the lake, however, that something was happening. Waves tossed and turned every which way, getting bigger and bigger as the storm grew in size and fury, but there was something else: quite near to the shore, an isolated patch of water started to bubble.
Bird noticed it first, pointed and loudly asked, "What's that?!"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the bubbling lake – it seethed, and seemed to hiss, effervesce.
The water was almost alive.
Quickly, the group ran down the hill to the shore, eager to get a closer look at the frantic lake. The lightning flashed around them, the thunder crashed and clapped, and the water boiled and bubbled in movements that seemed to be growing bigger and bigger and bigger and—
"SOMETHING'S COMING!" shouted Ryan above the din, gazing in horror at the white water.
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSS… HISSSSSSSS… BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE—
POP! A figure shot out of the water, clutching something rod-shaped in its hand. It was just a silhouette in the darkening light of the storm, but bucketloads of water cascaded off its form as it erupted upwards, dripping with icy water, loudly hissing and slobbering, a crown upon its head, looking awfully like… no, it couldn't be…
"THE LAKE SPRITE!" screamed Bird and Ryan, backing away from the shore.
In a flash, the figure's arms were held straight out in front of its body, like a mummy's, and it began to walk out of the water, each cacophonous step reverberating around, sending water streaming out – clunk, clunk, clunk – Bird and Ryan couldn't take it any longer – they cowered against a rock, terror-struck by this supernatural phenomenon – the figure approached – it was coming nearer, nearer, nearer – it was nearly upon them – they could hear its gargled breathing – this was the end…
… "BOO!" shouted Elaine.
"AAH!" cried Bird and Ryan, a millisecond after, both boys jumping out of their skin. They could hear their hearts thumping in their ribcages. They lay there on the muddy sand, panting with subduing fear.
"You've been… pranked!" cried Elaine jubilantly, plopping her sopping-wet costume-jewellery crown on Ryan's head.
"Wha- what?" asked Bird.
"Pranked!" she repeated. "I pranked you. Or, more accurately, a few of us did. You see, back in the olden days I wasn't too highly-regarded as a social worker – I'll admit that now, with the passage of time. They said I was a bit feeble, bit inept. When I found out that Mike Milligan was in charge of Waterland, I thought this would be a great opportunity to challenge some of those preconceptions that still float around about me.
"So, I pretended, didn't I? Pretended all day to be that feeble, inept social worker I used to be. Lulling you into a false sense of security, see? Meanwhile, I was laying my plans. Jay never sprained his ankle – it was all a ruse! He and Mike snuck off, got dressed up in the pony suit I brought along-" Ryan and Bird groaned. "-and took Aisha away (after some prompting from Floss and Rafiq). Then, I followed Aisha – that was my getaway, so I could prepare for this bit of the prank. And what better way to get one over on some disbelieving kids, than to make them terrified of the very thing they told everyone wasn't real!"
The kids looked at each other, proud of their involvement in the scheme. Bird realised he had to see the funny side in this, and chuckled with the others. How silly it all seemed in hindsight. Ryan, however, kept his sour face on; he got onto his feet and marched up to Elaine. "Okay, but whilst you've been having your little jolly, thinking you're such a cool prankster, where do you think Tyler and Jody are?" Elaine's face fell a little. "They've been gone all day, and God knows where they've gone now."
"Wait!" cried Elektra. "Listen!"
The kids all kept quiet for a moment, and listened. They could hear the savage wind and the dissipating but still powerful rumbles of thunder. But then, through all nature's chaos, they discerned two voices – a boy's and a girl's – shouting out, as loud as they could, "HELP! HELP! WE'RE OVER HERE!"
Their eyes followed their ears – and suddenly they saw the desperate, waving Jody and Tyler in the middle of the lake.
"Oh my god, they're stuck on that island," realised Carmen. "Someone do something! Help them! WE'RE COMING TO HELP YOU!"
"Uh, oh god," stammered Elaine. "D-does anyone – YOU!" She turned to Womble's owner. "You were parking a boat here – where is it? Can you row it?"
"Don't be stupid!" shouted Elektra. "Not even Steve Redgrave could row their way there and back in this storm!"
"Good thing it's a speedboat, then!" cried the man in the blue waterproof. "I'll do what I can!"
Scared for their friends, the kids watched as the man disappeared from sight. Soon, they heard the sounds of a mighty motor revving, and a grey speedboat sped into view like a bullet, scything through the waves to the island.
"Climb on!" shouted the man to Tyler and Jody, who stood trembling on the shore.
"Come closer!" Tyler yelled. "You're too far away!"
"I can't – I'll run aground! The motor'll stop! YOU HAVE TO JUMP!"
Without much hesitation, Jody took a small run-up – and leapt onto the back of the boat! Shivering on the shore, Tyler recoiled from the violent waves; the water was haphazardly attacking the rocks he was standing on, drenching his trousers. He couldn't make it – it was too far away! But Jody had managed, and there she was, on the boat, screaming, "YOU CAN DO IT, TYLER!"
With one look back at the hammock, lying undisturbed in the seclusion of this tranquil paradise, Tyler took a run-up, just as Jody had, and scrambled onto the speedboat.
Finally, they were rescued.
"Excuse me, everybody!" tinkled Elaine from the front of the minibus as it pulled into the front drive of Waterland House. The kids, who'd spent the surprisingly quick journey home chatting about the things they'd seen on their own individual adventures and munching on delicious Grasmere gingerbread, parcels of which they were laden down with, obediently stopped talking and focused their attention on the front.
"I just wanted to say thank you for all your efforts today – not just those of you who were involved in my little prank, but… well, all of you really. It was a pleasure getting to know you and, well, I think we really had a pretty decent day after all of that moaning, didn't we?" The kids reluctantly nodded. "And maybe I'm not as 'rubbish' as I first seem, eh?" Elaine joked.
"Special thanks," she added, "to Carmen and Elektra – girls, I'm more than satisfied that you're having a wonderful time at Waterland House, and that Waterland House is better off for having you – and to Sasha, for some of the best wildlife pictures I've ever seen! We won't be entering them into the competition-"
"WHY NOT?!" rasped Sasha in disbelief.
"Well Sasha, I was thinking about this: why should we submit such high-quality, professional, excellently-composed images to a dingy competition, when you could make some real money from selling prints of it? I'll get onto Head Office to see what we can sort out, but you really do deserve to be recompensed for your sterling work today. Well done – round of applause for Sasha!"
The kids all clapped, and Sasha found herself blushing a little.
"Come on everyone, let's go inside – who's up for hot chocolate and biscuits before I go?!" cried Elaine, and suddenly in everyone's eyes she was like a rockstar. In terms of popularity, nobody on that bus would ever be eclipsed. With Mike leading the way (and clumsily faffing around fitting the key in the lock), they filed into Waterland House.
Elaine was last – and she found herself greeted by a boy wearing black head-to-toe, with jet-black hair drawn up into a loose man-bun, a few strands of which hung loose. It was safe to say he didn't have the friendliest look about him – something deceptive, calculating…
"Ah, good afternoon – you must be Demon," Elaine said, proffering a hand that the boy reluctantly shook. "I trust you had a good meeting with your social worker?"
"Uh, yeah, she's just leaving now." At that moment, Roxy, his social worker, came out into the lobby. Clad in her usual ensemble – striped black-and-white tights, a black jacket over an emo T-shirt, fair-hair ponytail given an illusion of spikiness by an explosive pink scrunchie – she hadn't changed since she'd been terrorising Elaine a decade before.
"Elaine?" said Roxy in disbelief.
"ROXY WELLARD?!" cried Elaine in utter fear. All the colour draining out of her face, she turned on her heels immediately and ran, screaming, out of the house.
"Some things never change," laughed Mike.
I hope you enjoyed! If you did, feel free to leave a review - that would make me so happy! Thanks, as ever, to linneagb for their wonderful ongoing support.
This episode was added quite late into the story, primarily as some light-hearted relief to break up the dark stories around it (Coping last week, and the final three episodes to come, which have a relatively dark/dramatic tone). Once I'd thought of the idea to bring back Elaine the Pain, there was no way I could say no to myself - it's my little treat to long-term Dumping Ground fans, and she was a joy to write; I hope you like how I wove her uselessness into the story! Whilst it was intended to be a light-hearted piece, Jody and Tyler's sections act as quite a neat little coda to Coping, I'd like to think. Let me know what you thought of it! This story was outlined on 1 February, then written from 2-20 February, and my research this week included finding out about the various activities you can do in the Lake District and the animals that live there (the fell pony, Lake District golden eagle and [incredibly] Great Cockup hill are all real!)
Here's a sneak preview for next week, which ramps the story arc up a bit in preparation for the two-part finale:
Winter is coming thick and fast, and despite the careworkers' best efforts to keep up the Young People's happiness and morale, all seems lost – something that isn't helped when Mike mistakenly locks everyone out of the house! Stuck in the dark together for the night, they learn some previously well-kept secrets about each other, whilst Elektra begins to pay the price for her involvement with Ryan, and Joseph becomes the victim of a cruel practical joke.
Episode 11, "Fear of the Dark," is coming next Friday (29 March).