And another bonus chapter... Gosh, I must be in the Christmas spirit! I hope you enjoy it. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Three Hundred and Five

"Are you okay, Alf?" Joey asked when her boss wandered into the Diner looking distracted and a little lost.

He hovered near the table she was seated at with Charlie, Aden and Justin.

"Just... worried about Miles," he said vaguely.

"What's wrong with him?" Charlie asked, very aware of the issues their friend was currently having.

"He's... gone," Alf said.

"Gone where?"

"Something about a farm and Leah and Elijah and..."

He shook his head and apologised for interrupting their dinner.

"It's fine," Joey said. "Do you need help finding him?"

"I've had a couple of beers," Alf explained. "I'm not drunk but I'm over the limit to drive. I wasn't planning on going out tonight but I feel like I should be driving after him and making sure he's okay."

"We could go," Charlie offered.

Alf shook his head again.

"You're busy," he said. "You're celebrating."

"It's fine," Joey said.

She glanced at the boys.

"You don't mind if we pike, do you?"

"No, that's fine," Aden said immediately. "I mean, we could help if you want us to..."

"Do you know where Miles said he was going?" Charlie asked Alf.


Miles cursed as his car broke down. As soon as he had left the Bay, he had been hit with bad weather. And in his hurry, not to mention the pain from his ankle, which made him largely unsafe to drive, he had run out of petrol. On top of that, in the chaos of his brain, Rabbit had disappeared. Now, lost and alone, he had no idea where to turn.


"I swear we will celebrate you passing your exams one of these days," Charlie remarked as she and Joey drove out of town in a bid to track down Miles and possibly Leah and Elijah.

They had tried to get through to both of them on the phone but to no avail and both women were worried. Between their own knowledge of where Elijah, Leah and the kids were caving and Miles's ramble to Alf, they hoped they knew where they were going.

"It doesn't matter," Joey said, looking out of the window. "I'm just happy that there's something to celebrate. If you'd have told me this time last year that I'd finally complete my college course, I'd have laughed in your face!"

"Kind of like the way you did when I suggested you went back to college?" Charlie smirked.

Joey chuckled and gazed at her girlfriend, reaching out to hold her hand.

"Kind of like that," she replied.


Aden and Justin stopped off for a drink at the Surf Club on their way home, having had their evening with Charlie and Joey cut short.

"I hope that guy's okay," Justin mused.

Aden nodded.

"Miles is a good man," he said. "He's had a hell of a lot of problems lately. I really hope he gets through whatever's going on with him."

Justin nodded.

"Speaking of getting through stuff..." he ventured.

Aden tried not to panic.

"I've decided to head back to base in a few days," he said.

"Why?" Aden asked, immediately upset.

"Because it's my job, Aden," Justin said honestly. "And because I came here to sort out our family's mess. Together, we've done that now so there doesn't seem to be all that much reason to stay."

"What about me?"

Justin was touched by how genuinely upset his brother looked.

"You could always come with me," he suggested.


"Okay, so what kind of restaurant would you like to run?" Charlie asked as she continued to drive through the bad weather.

"I don't know," Joey said. "Probably something with a seafood base."

"Like a Tapas bar or something?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Joey said with a smile. "Maybe with the idea of all the fish and stuff being caught locally. We could run it as a way of giving and taking from the community at the same time."

"That sounds like a good idea," Charlie said, smiling as Joey's excitement began to grow.

"And we'd have to have a vegetarian option," Joey continued. "Maybe a few. There must be nothing worse for a veggie to go for dinner with their friends and not be able to eat anything but a pile of chips or something!"

She shook her head.

"And I'd create some really unique starters and desserts that would all be Ruby friendly," she said. "And we'd have a really cool bar with loads of local drinks to go with the local catch."

"Not that you're remotely excited about the idea," Charlie smirked.

Joey grinned.

"Well, maybe I am a little," she admitted shyly.


Soaked to the skin and with nowhere else to go, Miles entered the nearest building he could. It was a farm house and although it didn't look particularly warm, at least it was shelter. Opening the door, he paused in horror. Crashed out on various bales of hay were Elijah, Leah, VJ and half a dozen school kids. Miles also detected the distinct smell of gas.


"Okay, well, these are the caves they were going to," Charlie said.

Still in the car, she and Joey had parked nearby.

"They wouldn't have gone in though, would they?" Joey wondered. "I mean, there are warnings all over the place."

"I guess we'll have to go and check it out," Charlie decided.

Trying to be brave, they both climbed out of the car.


Aden sighed heavily and explained for what felt like the millionth time that he was not planning on joining the army.

"You don't have to enrol," Justin said. "But why don't you just come out to the city with me?"

"The city?"

"Yeah, you know, part of a world outside Summer Bay?" Justin said sarcastically.

Aden merely glared at him.

"I'm not telling you to move away and never come back," Justin said more gently. "But maybe it's a good time to expand your horizons. Just see what's out there. Figure out what you really want to do with your life."

"Maybe," Aden said thoughtfully. "Maybe."


Miles raced around the barn, frantically checking for pulses. He cursed his broken ankle for impeding his ability to help his friends. Fighting pain, he dragged VJ out of the barn and into the rain outside. Cold had to be better than gas fumes. Then he hurried back in and made a grab for Leah.


Charlie and Joey tried not to feel hopeless as they drove up and down the main road near the caves. They couldn't find the bus or their friends anywhere.

"What's that?" Joey asked, pointing to a car, abandoned rather haphazardly at the side of the road.

Charlie drove towards it and they both quickly recognised it as belonging to Miles.

"Well, I guess at least it means he has to be around here somewhere," Joey ventured, trying not to reveal quite how nervous she was.

Charlie nodded, also anxious. She allowed the car to crawl along the road, the headlights cutting through the dark and the rain.

"Over there!" Joey announced, pointing.

Charlie craned her neck to see what her girlfriend was looking at. Then she sped up towards a dirt track that led down to an old farm house. Without bothering to even turn the engine off, Charlie and Joey leapt out of the car and charged forward to where Miles, hobbling around on his broken ankle, was struggling to drag various bodies out of the barn.

"Miles!" Charlie said desperately.

"I told them!" Miles said. "I told them they were in danger!"

Charlie and Joey hurried forward as Elijah, Leah and the kids slowly began to come to. Joey pulled out her phone and called an ambulance while Charlie checked on everyone individually.

"What happened?" she asked Leah, who struggled to focus her eyes as she woke up.

"I don't know," the Diner owner mumbled.

"I think they breathed in gas," Miles said, pointing ahead to several canisters outside the barn.

"Well, it's a good thing you showed up when you did," Charlie said, stroking Leah's hair gently. "You saved their lives."

"How did you even know?" Leah wondered, still groggy.

"Rabbit told me," Miles replied.


Next time… VJ organises a party, Miles says goodbye to Rabbit and Nicole breaks up with Aden…