A loud bang and swishing noise from outside jolted her suddenly out of her reverie and Cassie chided herself as she narrowly stopped them herself and Hayley from tumbling back downstairs. It was only fireworks - God only knew how and when they'd been acquired when fireworks were illegal - but someone had a whole heap of them and had been busy setting them off in the grounds. (Chapter 36: Dreams)
CHAPTER 38
written by I love music
ideas and suggestions by Skykat
FIREWORKS
"Hey! How come they've stopped?"
Gypsy Nash sounded as though she had just paid for over a hundred dollars for a ticket only to be cheated out of the show. She was leaning alone against a crooked tree on the river bank, where she'd been craning her neck to watch the glorious shower of colourful sparks that lit up and then fell from the sky, cheering with each new swish. It was an odd kind of cheering however. If he hadn't known better, Jack Holden who, after very little persuasion from his three companions and despite his laughing protests he intended to be a fully-fledged cop upholding the law one day (he already had a place at police training college in Melbourne for next summer provided he got the required grades) had been busy lighting rockets and sending them off on their final journeys, would have sworn she was crying.
Noah and Kit had discovered the box of illegal fireworks hidden in a shed at the side of grand Hartwell Mansion. They didn't say exactly why they had gone looking in such an out-of-the-way place and Gypsy and Jack grinned knowingly and decided not to ask. Especially as after initially being so keen to watch the fireworks they had strolled further and further along the river bank, lost in each other.
With Noah and Kit too busy pashing to notice the end of any firework display outside of their own, it was left to Gypsy to turn to ascertain the reason for the no-show. She cut a striking figure. Haunting was the word that sprang suddenly to Jack Holden's mind.
The flowing white wedding dress that she'd borrowed from Summer Bay High's drama department with the specific purpose of scaring Hayley to death, was soaked and mud-spattered yet its sequins still shone and glittered like diamonds while the intricately-laced bridal veil borrowed from same (against all odds on that storm-ravaged, muddy night having managed to somehow stay virginal white) which, during her impersonation of Lady Eleanor's ghost, Gypsy had chosen to wear as a jaunty scarf, was drawn down over her face.
The drama department's bonnet hung on the crooked tree's branch where last she'd thrown it, its ribbons dancing in the breeze, as Gypsy pulled back the wedding veil, allowing her magnificent red hair to tumble freely down over her shoulders, and, raising arms clad in the wedding dress's matching long gloves (alas, no longer white but grey) and, shielding her eyes to see through the moonlight, she looked enquiringly at Jack. Some of the luminous greasepaint that she'd painted on her face to add to the ghostly illusion had streaked and cracked and he was sure there were tear streaks running down. Pretty damn sure. Oh, but her eyes...those sparkling green eyes, they were so beautiful.
"Sorry, Gyps. That's the lot." He shrugged apologetically, wishing there could be more to make those beautiful green eyes smile at him again.
"Already? No way! You sure you've checked properly?"
Gypsy made to see for herself only for her foot to catch in the long hem of the mud-spattered wedding dress. A loud ripping noise ensued and sent her flying into Jack's arms and into an uncontrollable fit of giggling.
"Omigod, that sounded like...nope, I'm too ladylike to say it!"
Gypsy had celebrated her success at frightening Hayley with a couple of glasses of strong wine and this, plus the alcohol she'd consumed earlier, was taking its toll. The slippery mud made it difficult for Jack to steady both of them and made it seem as though they were performing a crazy kind of dance, which made Gypsy giggle all the more. The box that had held all the fireworks was kicked over in the struggle to stay upright and a solitary packet of matches coughed out.
"Rats!" Gypsy looked down in drunken disappointment. "Hey!" She frowned quizzically after seeming to think it over, looking back up at him. "Hey, Mr Cop, how come fireworks got here in the first place?"
"Who knows?" Jack smiled because Gypsy was an amusing drunk. Or perhaps he smiled because in the end the only way to keep her upright was to clasp his arms around her soft, slender waist and she leaned her head against him as if she'd always belonged there. "Kane Phillips said something about making sure Hayley's party went with a bang though. And you know Phillips, he can lay his hands on pretty much anything, legal or not. Wonder where he's got to anyway?"
"Well, who the hell cares?" Gypsy's voice was muffled and tickling his chest. "He'll be breaking and entering someplace or dealing drugs or bashing some old lady..."
"Aw, come on. Give the guy a break. Even Phillips isn't into bashing wrinklies. You know, I think he could even be a half decent bloke given a chance."
"Whoo-hoo, get you! What's the story, Morning Glory?" Gypsy teased, licking her pert lips, the usual flash of mischief returning to her pretty face. Jack only grinned. With his track record for the ladies, the one thing Jack Holden could never be accused of was batting for the other side.
Gypsy was about to add more, warming to her theme and in true Gypsy fashion determined to bait, except Kit interrupted with an intriguing invitation. "Guys! Come check this out!"
Noah and Kit were almost silhouettes in the moonlight by now, having strolled as far down as the old, disused restaurant that was on the fringe of the vast grounds of Hartwell Mansion and it was only the river that carried Kit's voice although she yelled so loud her throat was sore.
"Think you can make it?" Jack helped Gypsy swing around.
"Sure I can!" Gypsy's floppy-doll actions didn't back up her words however and her clumsiness as she ran into him had Jack only narrowly stopping himself from slithering backwards into the river.
"Sorry!" Gypsy exclaimed guiltily. "Ohhh...sugarplum fairy!" She added as she tried to reach out to help and wobbled uncertainly.
"Sugar what?" Jack took matters into his own hands and had her lean on him.
"Aw, it's what Irene says when she's trying not to swear. Everyone used to say it way back when. She told me once she had a boyfriend who's Mum thought she was common as muck and Irene was trying to impress at a family dinner only she couldn't saw through the roast beef and it slipped off her plate and sent gravy and peas flying over snobby Mum's lap so Irene said sugarplum fairy only the old bat thought she was insulting her and threw her out of the house. Irene swore then alright! I've never been so happy in all my life!" She added, spluttering with laughter.
"Then why are you acting like your heart is broken?" Jack asked quietly.
"I am not!" Gypsy protested vehemently. "I am not, Jack Holden!"
She looked down at the thick brown mud though and didn't say anything else.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Jeeezus!" Will Smith did a double take as he unexpectedly came across the silent figure already sitting there. "What the ---- are you doing here?"
Kim Hyde glanced up briefly and returned to watching the swaying moonlit river overlooking the harbour. "I could ask you the same question."
He sounded edgy. Probably still be sore over the blue they'd had last time they'd spoken tonight when Kim had stormed off after he flatly refused to hook him up with his sister Hayley, Will figured.
"I asked first. Barley?" With a grin, he made the crossed fingers sign that had always accompanied the expression which called a truce to games when they were kids.
Kim only shrugged in answer and Will, after a moment's hesitation, sat down beside him on the bench overlooking the river bank and sheltered by the spreading branches of a benevolent old oak tree, one of several benches with a view situated at designated spots along the river, which were provided for hikers who often followed the trail that eventually led to Whitelady Woods and out to either the picturesque rolling hills of Summer Bay or to the equally picturesque cliffs. Where he'd been planning to sit anyway but in the original scenario played out in his head it had been alone.
"Okay, I'll start. I've just been dumped by the sexy Dani. Not cool. But it was the wake-up call I needed to make me realise Gypsy Nash is the only chick I ever loved or ever will. So I planned to sit here awhile before I head back to my kid sister's party to figure out exactly how I'm gonna get back with her. Because I swear to you I will. Or I'll die trying."
Will Smith, who normally treated everything as a big joke, had never spoken more sincerely in his whole life. Even Kim, lost in his own thoughts of a night that had yawned and stretched and thrown up its secrets, looked up in surprise. A thread of guilt twisted through him.
"Man, I'm really sorry about what happened with Gyps and me tonight. Really sorry. I was drunk, I was mad at Hayley, Gypsy was...I guess there aren't any excuses." He finally admitted, his voice dropping. "I know it's one helluva big ask but..." Kim bit his lip, uncertain what Will's response would be. "Shake?"
Will swallowed and, if truth be told, fought back a strong urge to punch him, to draw some satisfaction in drawing blood. He had taken it easily enough before when Gypsy seduced his friend as she had seduced so many guys before. Or thought he had. He'd been fooling himself when he told himself he didn't give a stuff about her anymore. But if he owed Kim he owed others. And he knew all too well that Gypsy had been playing games both to spite her arch enemy Hayley and to prove to Will that she didn't need him. With a rare clarity, as though the fresh breeze of the river had breathed some new magic into his heart, Will could suddenly see the truth that had been there all along, waiting for a tangle of emotion to be unravelled. Gypsy didn't love herself enough to believe she was worthy of being loved. So it was up to him, the guy who loved her, to make her see that she was, wasn't it? He reached out and magnanimously shook Kim's hand.
"Though if it ever happens again," he promised, only half joking. "You're a dead man."
"It's never gonna happen again," Kim replied solemnly. "I don't do the dirty on mates."
Will nodded, still puzzled by his sombre attitude. Whatever had happened, he wasn't himself and he didn't seem prepared to talk about it anytime soon. Somehow he knew Kim would fob him off with the answer but still he asked.
"Sooo...I 'fessed up. You still haven't said why you're here?"
Kim shook himself. Where to begin? Where did anyone begin when they'd just learned that their mother had deliberately drowned their brother then tried to drown them? That their father had murdered her and buried the body? There was a storm brewing up inside him and he didn't know how to deal with it. But if he was going to tell anyone, he needed more than a mate. No, if he was going to confide in anyone, it was going to be Cassie Turner.
"I need to get my head together before I see Cassie," was all the information he volunteered.
"Cassie? As in the Cassie?"
His friend was immediately on the defensive. "I just need to talk to her," he said testily. "And she isn't crazy like everyone says."
"I never said she was." Will grinned his trademark broad grin. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to get together, s'all. Wow! Cassie!" He slapped him on the back and Kim gave a small smile.
"That obvious, huh?"
"That obvious to all but you guys," Will confirmed. He was about to say more when something floating on the river caught his attention. "Hell! There's someone in the water!"
But Kim, coached by his father to be a swimmer of almost Olympian standard, had already kicked off his shoes and dived into the icy river. Will quickly scrambled down and waded in after him to help drag the soaking, heavy body onto the grassy bank. He fell down, panting, to regain his breath, and it was only as Kim turned the man over that he saw his face.
"----!" Will said. "It's..." He didn't need to finish off the sentence however.
Kim didn't yell. If anything, he was strangely calm. Frighteningly calm, Will thought, especially considering the identity of the person he'd just pulled out of the water. Maybe it was because, as an expert swimmer and volunteer lifeguard, he had regular first aid courses and had practised CPR a thousand times before. Maybe it was because last summer he'd saved the lives of two kids who'd got a little out of their depth and had only blushed and hurried away from the gathered crowd's praise, insisting he'd just been doing his job.
The man's eyes flickered open briefly before fluttering closed again. Long enough to recognise who held his life in his hands. Long enough for Kim to decide in that moment whether or not he hated his father enough to take a fitting revenge for his mother's death...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like I said way, way back in this fic ONE person dies - Hayley, Martha, Kane, Irene, now Barry...? Keep guessing! ;)