CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
The Saturday afternoon was a hive of activity for SPLAT. The five children were meeting straight after Lunch, which for Harvey, was an absolute nightmare. Nevermind that he was still feeling betrayed by Dinah over yesterday's events, and now, he had to finish his Lunch early!
The brothers sat in the den, Harvey scoffing down his sandwich, eyes formed into slits that were aimed at his brother whilst Lloyd nibbled at his pasta, thumb flying over his phone screen as he received various confirmations from the rest of SPLAT that they had left their homes and were on the way to the shed.
Pocketing his mobile, Lloyd finished off his meal and drink, then stood up, saying:
"Come on, H! The others are already on their way!"
Lounging on the sofa, Harvey ate the last piece of his sandwich, smacking his lips noisily. He murmured:
"Do we have to go?"
Aghast, Lloyd grabbed hold of his brother's arm and yanked him off of the sofa. As Harvey landed with a thud, Lloyd exclaimed:
"YES! Now get moving! Otherwise, they'll be waiting for us for ages!" He let go of Harvey's arm and moved towards the door, saying: "I'll wait for you in the hall-way. You've got five minutes."
The door shut behind him, and Harvey leapt on this opportunity to narrow his eyes at the closed door and mock his brother in a hushed, high pitched tone.
"Five minutes! Chop chop! Five minutes before I explode and my head falls off! Before I start rambling at you, H, about 'purple pancakes' and whatnot!"
He scoffed, tittering at his imitation, then climbed to his feet, hand brushing the crumbs off of his pyjama top. Continuing to grumble under his breath, Harvey ventured to his bedroom, smiling sheepishly at his mother on the way as she eyed his attire with exasperation. Harvey wasn't bothered at still being in pyjamas in the early afternoon, but for some reason, his mother was pretty offended by it. Especially if they had anyone coming round to their house, who could see Harvey in his Superhero glory.
Shutting the door behind him, Harvey stepped over the pile of comics in his way and opened his wardrobe, selecting a casual outfit and changing into it, along with fresh underwear, socks and shoes within seconds.
He popped a stick of peppermint gum into his mouth, checked that he had his inhaler and phone, and then raced out of his room, nearly falling down the stairs in his haste to reach his brother. Lloyd rolled his eyes at Harvey's almost fatal entrance and pulled open the front door, hollering:
"We won't be long, Mum!"
A reply came from the garden, which they hovered around to listen to, then they were out of the front door, the pair of them streaking down the road towards the SPLAT shed.
Across town, Dinah beat the hill with huge strides, her ragged walking boots crunching into the blanket of white, and encrusted with dried snow and a few strands of grass. Although she would have preferred to hike among a coastal terrain, this sole hill in the neighbourhood would contend for now.
'You never know. My next foster home might be near the coast somewhere. Hopefully, the set of parents I'm allocated enjoy taking long walks.'
She inhaled a lungful of fresh, cold air, her thoughts dampening her already pessimistic mood. Still reeling over yesterday, how she had lied to her foster mother, betraying her foster brothers, and with no single clue as to why, Dinah had taken to her second love, the first being books.
Hiking helped her to clear her mind and dwell on any new knowledge she had either picked up or been taught, or for herself to attempt to shed new light on anything momentous that had happened recently, and the motivation to take a hike straight after Lunch was all regarding yesterday.
Dinah tugged her battered jacket that was reserved for hiking, closer to her slim frame. Her sharp eyes peered into the town not far below, her steps drawing her to a halt. Dinah shivered slightly and checked her watch, making an internal decision to start heading back to her temporary home.
After a sip of water from her bottle, Dinah descended the hill, her body tinged with sweat, courtesy of the way she raced up the snowy hill upon approaching it an hour before. Her mind was still in turmoil even when she was back on solid pavement, her facial features shifting into a small smile at the sight of Lucy Green.
Her fellow pupil was wrapped up, and rightly so as the day resembled the peak of winter. Dinah hunched in on herself in order to gain some much needed heat as she slowed to a stop, voice emerging as a chattering whisper.
"H-Hello, L-Lucy."
A radiant beam was flashed back at her, and Dinah reckoned that it could melt the snow away and result in the sun appearing, thus generating heat onto the land and making everyone much warmer. Yet, Dinah knew that her wish was absurd and took to simply accepting Lucy's offer as soon as the words left her mouth.
"Hi, Dinah! O-Oh my! You must be f-freezing! Here, l-let's go into the coffee shop!"
Dinah followed Lucy in, the two of them bagging a table in the corner. Whilst Dinah perched on the chair, mindful of how messy her shoes were, Lucy secured two coffees, (having galloped over to ask Dinah how she wanted it before returning to the counter similar to a frenzied whirlwind, but with an answer), then she purchased a muffin and brought all of the items over to the table.
"Here we go. One coffee for me, and a coffee and muffin for you."
Originally smiling in thanks, a frown formed on Dinah's face as she pushed the muffin towards Lucy.
"You have it! You bought it with your own money, I'll just stick to my coffee, thanks."
Lucy beamed brightly and placed the muffin directly in front of Dinah. "I bought it for you. I bet you're hungrier than I am, trekking up hills!" Her blue orbs twinkled with happiness. "Plus, consider this muffin as a token of my appreciation for helping me in the study circle on your first day."
At the mention of her first day, Dinah shuddered, but managed to play it off as a shiver from the cold outside at Lucy's inquisitive look. Sipping her coffee, Dinah murmured:
"Thank you very much, and I wasn't going to stand by and watch you struggle. T-They expect too much for someone your age."
Unlike some others, Lucy did not take any offence to Dinah's declaration, instead probing for more.
"Who do you mean, by 'They'?"
"Oh…. Just everyone at St Champions in general, really."
For fear of hearing Lucy chant out a series of words in a robotic tone, hailing the six demons, Dinah didn't mention the Prefects. Neither did she mention the Headmaster for the same reason.
Lucy bit her lip. "Well, I get where you're coming from, but Julie's not that bad. She just wants our study group to be the best, that's all."
"Julie?"
Lucy giggled. "The girl who kept pressuring me to answer the question you helped me with."
"Ah, right." Dinah snorted, muttering drolly: "The girl who glared at me for being helpful."
Quickly glancing round, Lucy then faced Dinah after sweeping the café and let loose a laugh. "Yes, that's her! She can be awfully nice, but there are times…."
"Where she cracks the whip?"
As Lucy nodded, laughter consuming her, Dinah bit into her muffin. Eyes closing in relief, Dinah chewed and swallowed the mouthful, and then opened her eyes and grinned.
"This is delicious! So, Luce…" Lucy grinned back at the nick name, chirping: "Yes, Di?"
"Do you like to read?"
They sat there for almost an hour, discussing their favourite authors and books and their interests in an animated manner, though Dinah compared to Lucy, certainly downplayed it.
As for all she knew, once she moved on from the Hunter's, she may never see Lucy ever again. And something stirred within Dinah that made her feel slightly upset.
Noticing that the atmosphere had settled somewhat, Lucy finished off her coffee and glanced outside, watching the snowflakes flutter down to the ground for a few seconds.
Glancing at Dinah, she whispered: "We best be heading home. You need to change into something warm and comfortable!"
Dinah agreed with her on that, gladly following Lucy out of the café and falling into step beside her whilst walking down the road. They continued to chat, the pair checking to see if they had each other's correct phone numbers. By the time they were approaching Lucy's house, the elder of the girls was in a happy mood. Unaware that her name was being mentioned and that that, along with her 'reputation', was being slandered.
"So, what do you think about that?!"
Stunned silence from Ian, Mandy and Ingrid caused a smirk to form onto Lloyd's face. One so smug, that Harvey wanted to wipe it clean, (with his fist), off of his brother's freckled complexion.
He was dismayed at his friends and girlfriend's reactions. Yes, Dinah had betrayed them by fabricating a story regarding the horrid snow punishment, thus protecting the Headmaster and branding him and Lloyd, liars. However, he was sure that she had been forced to!
Before anyone could speak, he piped up:
"Hear me out before any of you explode. L, you said that Dinah had gone to have it out with the Headmaster during school, after she found out what happened to me and Ing…. Well… what if he forced her to lie? Blackmailed her or something?!"
"Oh come off of it, H!" Lloyd rolled his eyes. How could his brother be so gullible?!
"She played you, in fact, she played all four of you! Not me though, no way. I was onto her from the beginning!"
"Alright, God. Don't climb any further up your-"
"Ian!"
The tall boy smiled sheepishly, before whacking Mandy's arm, whining: "Leave off, Mandy! Just trying to lighten the atmosphere!"
"Don't HIT me!"
"Whoa, Mandy!"
"I'm irritated because of what she's done….. Hell, I'm irritated because we've been betrayed!"
She sighed and retreated from Ian. "Look, whether she was forced into telling the story or not, we all know now that Dinah Glass can't be on our side."
"Why not? If you get to know her, she's really nice and-"
"She's a moody cold cow!"
Ingrid burst into laughter at this as Mandy attempted to shush her, whilst Harvey focussed on not pummelling his brother. As tempers rose, shouting erupted. Four voices hollered back and forth, Harvey against Lloyd whilst Mandy was screaming, very uncharacteristically, at Ingrid for her to 'SHUT UP!' Over the noise, Ian started to sing, grinning as this caused all of the raucous to die down.
Pretending to wipe his eyes, he drawled: "I never knew my talents were so… brilliant at drowning people out."
The others scoffed and groaned, whilst Lloyd reached across and ruffled Ian's hair roughly. As Ian smoothed his dark locks down, Lloyd leant back in his deckchair and cleared his sore throat.
"Right, so clearly all of that arguing was no help. As Chairman, I believe that we should take a SPLAT vote on it."
"On what, Oh Mighty God?"
"On whether we should view Dinah as a potential 'friend'-"He placed the word into quotation marks with his fingers. "Or an enemy."
Everyone else stared at the floor briefly then raised their heads, their expressions allowing Lloyd to announce:
"Everyone who believes that we should see Dinah Glass as an enemy, raise your hand!"
Immediately, Lloyd's shot up, his fingertips stretching towards the ceiling of the shed. Silence dictated, as slowly, Mandy raised her hand to mid-height, a weak excuse unravelling from her lips.
"I still d-don't know… But she did b-betray us by lying…"
She reeled at the fierce glare that Harvey gave her, eyebrows raising at the sight of Ian with his arm raised. He shrugged his shoulders, muttering:
"I agree with Mandy. For now, w-we can't trust her."
Lloyd nodded, then placed his gaze onto his brother and his girlfriend. "Well, you two, what are you waiting for?"
"For you to say something." Harvey bit back.
Bristling, Lloyd's arm snapped down along with Mandy's and Ian's at a slower rate as Lloyd hissed:
"And those who view Dinah Glass as a friend, raise your hands."
Harvey raised his. "She might be one of Them, but she's our foster sister. Someone's got to have faith in her."
"Your funeral…. Ingrid, you have to vote!"
The small girl glowered at Lloyd, snapping: "Don't tell me what to do! I don't think a stupid vote is going to decide on whether we trust her or not! We are individuals, so we should choose to talk to her if we want. Not this crap."
Lloyd gritted his teeth. "Fine. Are you going to submit your vote?"
"Honestly, I can't make my mind up with Glass yet. She is a bit suspicious, but hey, maybe she'll gain a sense of humour soon! Or even crack a smile!"
A few snorts came from Ian and Lloyd, Mandy frowned and Harvey shook his head, muttering quietly: "Ing, don't be horrible."
"But for now…" Ingrid thrust her arm up into the air, exclaiming: "I'm agreeing with my Harv-Harv!"
The other boys groaned while Mandy smiled warmly. Ingrid smooched Harvey on the cheek, then batted his arm down, hissing in his ear:
"You smell nice. Have you got cologne on?"
He frowned in confusion. "No…." His features relaxed and he lounged back fully into the chair. "Unless you consider my unwashed body, a 'nice smell.'"
"URGH, THAT'S VILE!"
The three elder members of SPLAT laughed as Ingrid held her nose and proclaimed about having 'the smelliest boyfriend in England!' and how 'I need to buy him some cologne so when we cuddle, I don't get any traces of the day and night before on me!'
Whilst the laugher built, a lightbulb switched on in Harvey's mind.
'Buy….. Oh, I should buy Ingrid a present! In order to show her how much I LOVE HER! You can only say 'I love you' so many times and kiss and cuddle, but if I buy her something nice…. Something she can wear at all times… then she'll always be reminded!'
A happy grin spread across his face, and throughout the rest of the day until the precise moment he drifted off to sleep at night, the smile remained.
Sunday morning bloomed, and Harvey was determined to not get side tracked at the Mall. Model planes could wait. Right now, he had to splurge some hard earned cash, through months of back breaking chores, (back breaking to his mind anyways), on a gift for his beloved.
Stepping off of the bus, town clock chiming ten in the morning, Harvey bustled past a group of shoppers and towards the shop he wanted. Whilst in the shower that morning, Harvey had mentally scrawled through all of the shops in the Mall, disregarding what ones were not appropriate as he went along. Finally, he settled on one of the jewellers, and that was where he was heading now.
He entered the jewellers a few minutes later, politely rejected the offered help from the staff and proceeded to scan the contents with sharp eyes. His gaze raked over shelf after shelf, and as his appraisal of the entire shop drew to a close, Harvey's shoulders slumped.
He was never going to find anything suitable for Ingrid!
Harvey was about to give up, hang his head in defeat and catch the bus home, when something sparkling caught his eye. On the nearest shelf was a locket. The two chains were a fine gold that would flash in the sunlight, and the heart shaped locket was split into two pieces, (one chain for one half of the heart,) and they were lying next to one another on the plush surface.
"Locket's split into two….. Excuse me? Hi, I'm interested in this locket and I was just wondering, are the two separate pieces meant for two different people?"
The staff member smiled warmly, moving over to unlock the case and take the box containing the locket out. She allowed Harvey to examine it visually whilst she explained.
"Why yes, this locket is intended for two people to wear it. It is mainly for couples, as they would both wear one piece of the locket and I'm sure you can see that together, the two pieces form a solid heart, so when the couple were together, they could click their pieces together and they are formed as one."
Harvey grinned, chirping: "My girlfriend's gonna love this! We've only been dating for about a week or so, but I want to show her how much she means to me!"
"That's very sweet, and this is a very thoughtful gift for your girlfriend. I'm sure she'll love it."
Harvey blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. Intent on changing the subject, he voiced:
"So how much is it?"
Upon being shown the price tag, he winced, but accepted that there would be some setbacks. Withdrawing his wallet, he was about to open it when the staff member piped up:
"Look, because this gift is very special to you, I'm going to lower the price. How does ten pounds off feel? And I'll throw in the box and bag for free."
Mouth gaping, Harvey passed over the correct amount of cash, keeping in mind the discount, and sputtered:
"Gosh, t-t-thank you! You d-d-didn't have t-t-too!"
"Can't deny someone the chance to show their love."
She winked at him, his blush spreading further and Harvey escaped a few minutes later, his face positively burning.
Several hours later, Harvey was leading Ingrid into the SPLAT shed. He had dropped her a text, which she had replied too instantly and they had arranged a 'meeting' in the shed within five minutes. Both of them had been on time, keen to see one another, and after a quick kiss, they headed towards the shed. Now, they were seating themselves in their deckchairs, Harvey's sweaty hand clutching the plastic bag tightly.
Noticing his discomfort, Ingrid pouted. "You not pleased to see me, Harv?"
"Wha?! No, no! I mean, yes! I mean, I-I-I've got s-s-something to-"
His tongue got twisted and in the end, he simply withdrew the box from the bag and opened it in full view of his beloved. There was a sharp intake of breath and momentarily, Harvey thought he had messed everything up.
'Oh no! She's going to hate it! Laugh at me for getting such a PATHETIC GIFT! Oh, I knew I was out of my league, I-'
"Oh, Harvey!"
He blinked then watched, amazed, as Ingrid carefully pulled one of the chains out, the half of the heart attached dangling between her fingers. She gasped again, her eyes suddenly becoming wet. Before Harvey could launch into action, she smiled tearfully at him, voice wavering.
"This is the sweetest idea ever, but you didn't have too. I know you love me and I love you! But, this is absolutely brilliant, I love it!"
She sniffed and held the chain out. "Put it on for me?"
He nodded and after a few fumbling tries, managed to clasp it around his girlfriend's neck. Whilst Ingrid fingered her half of the locket, he snapped his own one onto his neck, instantly liking the feel of his half of the heart on the tip of his torso.
He was skimming his finger over the jagged edges the middle bit of his half heart created when a hand enclosed onto his. Eyes locking with Ingrid's, he smiled as she whispered:
"Let's join hearts, yeah?"
"Yeah."
He pulled his finger away and breathed in her strawberry scent as she connected her half of the locket with his. It clicked together and they stared at the formation proudly, then let their eyes wander up to each other's lips. Pausing for a beat, Ingrid promptly declared:
"Best Gift Ever."
Before crashing her lips against his. Harvey accepted the desperate kiss with much enthusiasm and the pair didn't break apart for breath until two minutes later.
Panting, Harvey smiled lovingly. "You've made my Sunday."
"Baby…" Ingrid practically growled. "You've made MY YEAR! Now come here and kiss me, or I'll chase you down the street with my slingshot!"