Chapter Three
Author's Note: I seem to of unintentionally offended my British readers with my last chapter. I'm really sorry about that!!! I didn't mean to!!! I can take that part out if you want. (just email/review me to let me know.)
And for the record, I'm not a Yank, I'm an Aussie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evelyn took Rick by the hand and led him away from the restaurant that had been the cause of so much agony and affliction. She would rather have faced ten disapproving Bembridge scholars in an interview room than have gone in after everything that had happened because of the place. She glanced back at Rick, who was looking speculative, no doubt wondering if this 'idea' was going to involve forcing him to carve their names together in the trunk of a tree, as her last brilliant inspiration had. It was not HER fault that the most attractive tree they could find had been in a public park. It wasn't HER fault a few gardeners, cheating their employers by taking an unscheduled break behind the aforementioned tree, had happened to bear witness to the one time Evelyn Carnahan had broken the law. She was rather inebriated at the time, and could not be held responsible for anything she'd done or said. No, it was Rick's fault. He had known she was drunk- he should have stopped her! Yes, he was to blame-yet here he was, hoping she would not do anything similar again!
Ha! She would show him and his doubting ways.
'Are you gonna tell me where we're going?' Rick asked, as Evie dragged him along the sidewalk in the opposite direction to that they'd been walking in.
'You're the one with the sense of direction- you tell me.' Evie replied lightly, turning a corner and setting off again at a rapid pace.
'Ha, ha. Very funny, Evie. Not.'
'Darling, you have to trust me! If I tell you, it will ruin the surprise.'
Instead of mollifying Rick, this remark only served to fill him with terrified apprehension. Evie's 'surprises' were usually of the nature that got the two of them in a very tight spot which he, Rick, had to then get them out of.
Or they involved spending the whole day staring at dug-up corpses arranged in glass cabinets.
'This is a GOOD surprise, right?' he asked suspiciously, hoping fervently for a favourable response.
'Absolutely!' she gushed, throwing him The Smile, which never failed to get Evelyn what she wanted, from choosing the restaurant she and Rick ate in to persuading the waiter to bring her a complimentary glass of water.
At that moment, led by Evelyn, they ran down a pathway between two shops and out to the waterfront. Rick almost gasped. The view was spectacular. As far as the eye could see, crystal-clear blue water sparkled playfully as light got caught in the facets and pocks of the water. On the horizon, an ocean liner could be seen, a spiral of wispy smoke rising out of a smokestack. Rick was amazed to realise that he had forgotten that this was what they had come for- to be near the ocean.
'It's beautiful, isn't it?' Evie said breathlessly. Rick turned to her and felt a surge of love so strong he thought it would tear him apart. He quickly looked away, trying to get his emotions under control. Rick didn't want to be totally at the mercy of these strange new pangs he knew were love. He could admit them, but he wanted to be able to keep them under control.
That was beginning to seem impossible.
Together they ran down to the beach and across the sand, finally dropping, breathless and laughing hysterically for no particular reason. Neither Rick nor Evie cared that their clothes were now covered in sand, although both of them had spent a considerable amount of time searching for the perfect ensemble to wear.
Evelyn finally sat up, and with a mammoth effort controlled herself enough to cease giggling so sillily. Rick continued to lie in the sand at her feet. The warm sun on his face and the relaxing atmosphere prompted him to close his eyes and commence in unwinding.
Evelyn, however, felt energised and was not in the least inclined to rest. Instead she looked around, and to her surprise saw that there were quite a few people on the beach who she hadn't noticed before, perhaps because she was otherwise occupied with noticing Rick.
Evie caught the eye of a girl who appeared to be around her age strolling along the beach. She was in the company of a handsome but exceedingly dull looking gentleman, who was talking incessantly but failing to notice the antipathy and boredom signals his companion was sending him. He was clearly a man with an exaggerated sense of his own importance. Evie smiled as she remembered when she had thought Rick to be such a person, and for once was glad that she'd turned out to be wrong.
As the couple passed Rick and Evelyn, the girl gave Evie an envious look, the origans of which were no doubt linked to Rick. The man, however, looked positively scandalised at the two dishevelled adults lying about in the sand. He put his arm protectively around the shoulders of his companion -who looked disgusted at this turn of events- as if fearful that the poor protocol of Evelyn and Rick would rub off on her.
There had been a time when such blatant disapproval of her behaviour would have alarmed and ashamed Evelyn. This was not the case now. She smiled happily at the couple, wanting them to know she wasn't ashamed of choosing to sit in sand. The girl smiled back, but her companion frowned and ignored Evelyn. After they had passed by, he plunged into further incessant chatter, from which he didn't seem to take a breath at all.
'Evie?' Rick said sleepily, causing her to transfer her gaze from the couple now walking away along the beach to him, still sprawled lazily with both eyes still shut.
'What is it?' she asked, stifling a yawn and brushing some of the sand from her lap.
'Was this the surprise?' he asked.
'That all depends on what 'this' is,' she replied easily, smiling easily.
'This.' Rick said. He sat up, opening his eyes and indicating the stunning panoramic ocean view.
'Well, yes. I thought it would be a waste to come to the seaside and only see the ocean from behind a window, even if the window was in the wall of a fancy restaurant.' Evie explained, leaning her head against his shoulder companionably.
'Well, for once your surprise wasn't a total loss.'
'If you misguidedly regard that as a high compliment, Rick O'Connell, be warned that I will not do likewise.' Evie said, chagrined at his lack of appreciation for her efforts.
'Well there's a surprise.' Rick said automatically. Evie decided against replying, rightly guessing that the wit of the remark was entirely coincidental.
For a while they sat together in silence, although of course the beach is never silent. There was the noise of the waves smashing against the rocks, and shrill squawks of a myriad of seagulls.
Less natural sounds were the squeals of the children whose feet had been wet through by walking too close to the water. These brought frustrated exclamations from angry mothers and nannies, who then led -or dragged-the now whining children away.
After a while, Rick noticed that the once bustling beach had become almost deserted. He scanned it up and down and realised with a start that there were now only three other people in sight apart from Evie and himself. Rick frowned, and wondered what had driven the droves of other people away. Beside him, Evelyn gave an involuntary shiver.
'Rick, darling, I do believe it's about to rain!' she said, startled at the realisation, for she, too, had failed to notice the threatening rain clouds approaching. These clouds were now directly above the beach, plunging everything into dreary shadow and transforming the unusually bright, sunny day into one of many examples of England's cold weather.
Evelyn gave a yelp and struggled to her feet.
'Rick, I felt a drop!' she exclaimed. 'We'd better go.'
Rick leapt up, trying unsuccessfully to brush some of the sand off himself.
'Come on, Rick!' Evelyn yelled, hurrying up the sandbanks towards the path between two shops they had used before. Rick was quick to follow, and the two of them ran side by side as the rain come down in droves, pelting onto their unprotected backs.
They ran through the alleyway to the main street, where people everywhere were hastily putting up umbrellas or ducking into shops.
'I don't suppose you brought an umbrella with you, did you?' Evie asked Rick, although she didn't hold out much hope of a confirmation, as she desperately tried to shelter herself from the stinging precision of the raindrops under a discarded newspaper.
'Nope. You're the smart one, remember?' Rick pointed out, pulling her under a shop awning. Although this was a definite improvement, it didn't keep the rain from blowing underneath the striped awning, further soaking the two unfortunates. They huddled together as far back as they could go without pressing against the glass of the shop, their teeth chattering from the cold, wildly thinking of places where they could take shelter.
'Why don't we just go in here?' Rick suggested, looking longingly inside the warm, inviting café that they stood in front of.
'Not in this state!' Evelyn said in dismay, gesturing to her saturated and stained dress. Rick looked at his own ruined clothes, which were not only stained and wet but where also torn in several places, and shrugged.
'Nothing wrong with them that I can see.'
Evelyn shook her head decisively. 'The owners would never let us in.'
'Fine, but where are we gonna go? Our train doesn't leave for another'-and here Rick consulted his pocket watch- 'four hours. We can't stay out in this!'
A loud boom of thunder illustrated his ominous point perfectly, and Evelyn shivered as she frantically considered where they could shelter from the cold and the wet.
'Got any bright ideas?' she finally asked Rick, having come up with none of her own.
He shook his head slowly, and Evie bit her lip to keep from uttering a scream of frustration. She hadn't been this unable of finding the right solution to a problem since, well, ever.
Where could they go?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note to Readers: If anyone has any ideas about where Rick and Evie can go, PLEASE email me. (my address is on my page.) I have no idea at this stage.(
Also, if you liked/disliked this story, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE REVIEW IT!!!!!!! It's very annoying when you don't, as I don't know if it's worth continuing, or what to change, or what to do next. It also takes much, much longer for me to post the next chapter. I may even be too discouraged to continue at all. (Hint, hint.)
You don't have to log in or anything, just REVIEW!!!! PLEASE!!!
Oh, and read my other story!!! (A perfectly Horrid Night)
Author's Note: I seem to of unintentionally offended my British readers with my last chapter. I'm really sorry about that!!! I didn't mean to!!! I can take that part out if you want. (just email/review me to let me know.)
And for the record, I'm not a Yank, I'm an Aussie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evelyn took Rick by the hand and led him away from the restaurant that had been the cause of so much agony and affliction. She would rather have faced ten disapproving Bembridge scholars in an interview room than have gone in after everything that had happened because of the place. She glanced back at Rick, who was looking speculative, no doubt wondering if this 'idea' was going to involve forcing him to carve their names together in the trunk of a tree, as her last brilliant inspiration had. It was not HER fault that the most attractive tree they could find had been in a public park. It wasn't HER fault a few gardeners, cheating their employers by taking an unscheduled break behind the aforementioned tree, had happened to bear witness to the one time Evelyn Carnahan had broken the law. She was rather inebriated at the time, and could not be held responsible for anything she'd done or said. No, it was Rick's fault. He had known she was drunk- he should have stopped her! Yes, he was to blame-yet here he was, hoping she would not do anything similar again!
Ha! She would show him and his doubting ways.
'Are you gonna tell me where we're going?' Rick asked, as Evie dragged him along the sidewalk in the opposite direction to that they'd been walking in.
'You're the one with the sense of direction- you tell me.' Evie replied lightly, turning a corner and setting off again at a rapid pace.
'Ha, ha. Very funny, Evie. Not.'
'Darling, you have to trust me! If I tell you, it will ruin the surprise.'
Instead of mollifying Rick, this remark only served to fill him with terrified apprehension. Evie's 'surprises' were usually of the nature that got the two of them in a very tight spot which he, Rick, had to then get them out of.
Or they involved spending the whole day staring at dug-up corpses arranged in glass cabinets.
'This is a GOOD surprise, right?' he asked suspiciously, hoping fervently for a favourable response.
'Absolutely!' she gushed, throwing him The Smile, which never failed to get Evelyn what she wanted, from choosing the restaurant she and Rick ate in to persuading the waiter to bring her a complimentary glass of water.
At that moment, led by Evelyn, they ran down a pathway between two shops and out to the waterfront. Rick almost gasped. The view was spectacular. As far as the eye could see, crystal-clear blue water sparkled playfully as light got caught in the facets and pocks of the water. On the horizon, an ocean liner could be seen, a spiral of wispy smoke rising out of a smokestack. Rick was amazed to realise that he had forgotten that this was what they had come for- to be near the ocean.
'It's beautiful, isn't it?' Evie said breathlessly. Rick turned to her and felt a surge of love so strong he thought it would tear him apart. He quickly looked away, trying to get his emotions under control. Rick didn't want to be totally at the mercy of these strange new pangs he knew were love. He could admit them, but he wanted to be able to keep them under control.
That was beginning to seem impossible.
Together they ran down to the beach and across the sand, finally dropping, breathless and laughing hysterically for no particular reason. Neither Rick nor Evie cared that their clothes were now covered in sand, although both of them had spent a considerable amount of time searching for the perfect ensemble to wear.
Evelyn finally sat up, and with a mammoth effort controlled herself enough to cease giggling so sillily. Rick continued to lie in the sand at her feet. The warm sun on his face and the relaxing atmosphere prompted him to close his eyes and commence in unwinding.
Evelyn, however, felt energised and was not in the least inclined to rest. Instead she looked around, and to her surprise saw that there were quite a few people on the beach who she hadn't noticed before, perhaps because she was otherwise occupied with noticing Rick.
Evie caught the eye of a girl who appeared to be around her age strolling along the beach. She was in the company of a handsome but exceedingly dull looking gentleman, who was talking incessantly but failing to notice the antipathy and boredom signals his companion was sending him. He was clearly a man with an exaggerated sense of his own importance. Evie smiled as she remembered when she had thought Rick to be such a person, and for once was glad that she'd turned out to be wrong.
As the couple passed Rick and Evelyn, the girl gave Evie an envious look, the origans of which were no doubt linked to Rick. The man, however, looked positively scandalised at the two dishevelled adults lying about in the sand. He put his arm protectively around the shoulders of his companion -who looked disgusted at this turn of events- as if fearful that the poor protocol of Evelyn and Rick would rub off on her.
There had been a time when such blatant disapproval of her behaviour would have alarmed and ashamed Evelyn. This was not the case now. She smiled happily at the couple, wanting them to know she wasn't ashamed of choosing to sit in sand. The girl smiled back, but her companion frowned and ignored Evelyn. After they had passed by, he plunged into further incessant chatter, from which he didn't seem to take a breath at all.
'Evie?' Rick said sleepily, causing her to transfer her gaze from the couple now walking away along the beach to him, still sprawled lazily with both eyes still shut.
'What is it?' she asked, stifling a yawn and brushing some of the sand from her lap.
'Was this the surprise?' he asked.
'That all depends on what 'this' is,' she replied easily, smiling easily.
'This.' Rick said. He sat up, opening his eyes and indicating the stunning panoramic ocean view.
'Well, yes. I thought it would be a waste to come to the seaside and only see the ocean from behind a window, even if the window was in the wall of a fancy restaurant.' Evie explained, leaning her head against his shoulder companionably.
'Well, for once your surprise wasn't a total loss.'
'If you misguidedly regard that as a high compliment, Rick O'Connell, be warned that I will not do likewise.' Evie said, chagrined at his lack of appreciation for her efforts.
'Well there's a surprise.' Rick said automatically. Evie decided against replying, rightly guessing that the wit of the remark was entirely coincidental.
For a while they sat together in silence, although of course the beach is never silent. There was the noise of the waves smashing against the rocks, and shrill squawks of a myriad of seagulls.
Less natural sounds were the squeals of the children whose feet had been wet through by walking too close to the water. These brought frustrated exclamations from angry mothers and nannies, who then led -or dragged-the now whining children away.
After a while, Rick noticed that the once bustling beach had become almost deserted. He scanned it up and down and realised with a start that there were now only three other people in sight apart from Evie and himself. Rick frowned, and wondered what had driven the droves of other people away. Beside him, Evelyn gave an involuntary shiver.
'Rick, darling, I do believe it's about to rain!' she said, startled at the realisation, for she, too, had failed to notice the threatening rain clouds approaching. These clouds were now directly above the beach, plunging everything into dreary shadow and transforming the unusually bright, sunny day into one of many examples of England's cold weather.
Evelyn gave a yelp and struggled to her feet.
'Rick, I felt a drop!' she exclaimed. 'We'd better go.'
Rick leapt up, trying unsuccessfully to brush some of the sand off himself.
'Come on, Rick!' Evelyn yelled, hurrying up the sandbanks towards the path between two shops they had used before. Rick was quick to follow, and the two of them ran side by side as the rain come down in droves, pelting onto their unprotected backs.
They ran through the alleyway to the main street, where people everywhere were hastily putting up umbrellas or ducking into shops.
'I don't suppose you brought an umbrella with you, did you?' Evie asked Rick, although she didn't hold out much hope of a confirmation, as she desperately tried to shelter herself from the stinging precision of the raindrops under a discarded newspaper.
'Nope. You're the smart one, remember?' Rick pointed out, pulling her under a shop awning. Although this was a definite improvement, it didn't keep the rain from blowing underneath the striped awning, further soaking the two unfortunates. They huddled together as far back as they could go without pressing against the glass of the shop, their teeth chattering from the cold, wildly thinking of places where they could take shelter.
'Why don't we just go in here?' Rick suggested, looking longingly inside the warm, inviting café that they stood in front of.
'Not in this state!' Evelyn said in dismay, gesturing to her saturated and stained dress. Rick looked at his own ruined clothes, which were not only stained and wet but where also torn in several places, and shrugged.
'Nothing wrong with them that I can see.'
Evelyn shook her head decisively. 'The owners would never let us in.'
'Fine, but where are we gonna go? Our train doesn't leave for another'-and here Rick consulted his pocket watch- 'four hours. We can't stay out in this!'
A loud boom of thunder illustrated his ominous point perfectly, and Evelyn shivered as she frantically considered where they could shelter from the cold and the wet.
'Got any bright ideas?' she finally asked Rick, having come up with none of her own.
He shook his head slowly, and Evie bit her lip to keep from uttering a scream of frustration. She hadn't been this unable of finding the right solution to a problem since, well, ever.
Where could they go?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note to Readers: If anyone has any ideas about where Rick and Evie can go, PLEASE email me. (my address is on my page.) I have no idea at this stage.(
Also, if you liked/disliked this story, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE REVIEW IT!!!!!!! It's very annoying when you don't, as I don't know if it's worth continuing, or what to change, or what to do next. It also takes much, much longer for me to post the next chapter. I may even be too discouraged to continue at all. (Hint, hint.)
You don't have to log in or anything, just REVIEW!!!! PLEASE!!!
Oh, and read my other story!!! (A perfectly Horrid Night)