Adam's Thorn (8 page)

“Nothing.”

“Exactly!”

“Laura, it’s nothing, all right? 
Stop stressing.  I’m not.”

“Call the police.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“No need.”

“We can keep going in circles
here.  I can do this all night and you know it.”

“I can hang up.”

“I’ll just keep dialling you.”

“I’ll ignore the calls.”

“You can’t sleep with the phone
ringing noisily.”

“I’ll just put the answering machine
on.”

“Fine, then I’ll call the cops
myself.”

Barbie straightened on the sofa. 
“No!”

“So you tell me why.”  Laura added
warningly, “Truth.”

Shit, her friend wasn’t going to
let this go.  Rubbing her forehead again, she mumbled, “Because Adam’s there.”

“What?”

“I said, because Adam’s there.” 
She flopped back on the sofa.

Fred jumped onto the coffee table,
strolled across it like he had all the time in the world, which he did, and
jumped onto her lap.  She winced when he started kneading her, his nails sharp
through the thin cloth of her skirt.  Gently she stroked his head, and he
closed his eyes and purred, rubbing his big, scarred head against her palm, his
one remaining ear flattening against her hand.

“Adam Moor?” Laura breathed.

“Yes.  I didn’t know he was here. 
Apparently he grew up in Peeron and came back at some time.”

“Wow.  How’d the meeting between
you two go?”

“Let’s just say we’re not friends. 
Big surprise.”

“Wow again.  Does Melissa know?”

Barbie stared down at Fred, who’d practically
melted into her lap and now sprawled across her, back legs on the sofa on one
side of her knees, his head and front paws flopped over on the other side of
her knees.  “No.”

“Probably wise, given the circumstances. 
Mind you,” Laura pondered, “It was a long time ago.”

“I don’t want to bring it back
up.”

“Sure, I understand.”  Laura
paused.  “Even though she doesn’t hold it against you anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter, Laura.  Once
the house is fixed up and sold I’m out of here.  Home sweet home never looks as
good as when you’re away from it.”

“Okay.”  Laura returned to the
other matter.  “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t notify the police that
you’ve had trespassers.”

“Maybe they’re not human,” Barbie
pointed out.

“You’re alone out there with just
Fred and Barney.”

“They’re street cats, tough and
all, you know,” she joked.

“This is no laughing matter, Barbie. 
You get on the phone and let the cops know.  They can have a look around, cruise
past there at night.”

“I’m not-”

“If you don’t, I will.”

Barbie scowled.  Her friend didn’t
make idle threats.  “I’m sorry I even told you.”

“Don’t give a rat’s arse.  You or
me, which is it to be?”

“Fine,” Barbie snapped.  “I’ll do
it.”

There was silence on the other end
of the phone before Laura replied, “You’re not going to, are you?”

“Yes I will.”  Barbie sighed. 
“I’ll call them, make an idiot of myself, make you feel better.”

“Barbie-”

“
I’ll
call them, all
right?”

“Good.”  Not in the least phased
at her show of annoyance, Laura continued, “Is there a herb shop there?”

“This is a small town, no herb or
speciality shops.”  Barbie sighed.  “Sorry I snapped.”

“I understand,” Laura said
soothingly.  “It can’t be easy with Adam around.  But put that aside for now
and concentrate.  Adam’s the past, intruders are your present.  Police for the
human variety, sage for the ghostly.  You need sage.  I’ll post some to you.”

“Oh, but-”

“Overnight delivery.  It’ll be
there tomorrow.”

“I’m sure I don’t-”

“Now you get on the phone and do
your bit.”

“My bit?”

“Phone the cops.”

Knowing she wasn’t going to be
able to talk her friend out of the sage posting, Barbie rolled her eyes.  “Yes,
ma’am.”

“And when you come back home,
we’re going to have a chat about protecting yourself.  I think you need self-defence
lessons.”

Not a bad idea.  “Okay, I could do
that.”

“Great.  I’ll check out the
classes and get back to you.  We can enrol.  When do you think you’ll be back?”

Barbie rubbed Fred’s one ear,
making him purr louder.  “I don’t know.  A month, maybe two.  Depends how long
it takes to fix this place and then sell it.”

“So you’re staying until it
sells?”

“Maybe.  I don’t like leaving a
house empty, not with vandals and squatters.”

“True.”  Laura lowered her voice. 
“I’m not prying, but sweetie, do you need a hand financially for that?  I know
your Great Aunt left you some money, but that’s quite awhile without work.”

Smiling, Barbie ran her fingers
down Fred’s spine, making him wiggle and lift his head to blink at her in
pleasure.  “Thanks, Laura, but I’m fine.  I’ve got my annual leave pay coming through,
and I’m also doing a little bit of massage to bring in extra money.”

“You sure?”

“If I run out of food, I have
plenty of reserves on my body.”

“So do I, but I prefer food.”

Barbie laughed.

“Okay, I better go.  Now you ring
the police and I’ll go shopping for sage.”

“Stay safe in the big, bad city.”

“Stay safe in the spooky
country.”  Laura wasn’t laughing when she hung up.

Holding the receiver in one hand, Barbie
looked down at Fred.  “I have light bulbs to attend to.”

He didn’t move.

“Which means I have to get up.”

Not a whisker twitched.

“Which means you have to get off
me.”

If not for his breathing, she’d
have thought he was dead.

“Are you listening?”

Not a muscle moved.

“No, I thought not.”

Carefully she slid Fred’s lazy
bulk to the side, settling him onto the sofa where he simply flopped and closed
his eyes.

Laughing, she stood up and crossed
to the phone, dropping the receiver into the cradle.  Glancing up, she studied
the few phone numbers printed in an elegant hand with now fading ink on the
piece pf paper taped to the wall.  The phone number of the police station was
at the top.  After several seconds, she shook her head and turned away.

No way.  One happening wasn’t
enough to make her face Adam’s derision.

Going into the kitchen, she
switched on the CD player, the light pop music filling the room.  Turning it up
a little so that she could hear it through the house, she returned to the hallway
and eyed the ladder.

Picking up the little box
containing the light globe, she weighed it in her hands.  “All right, matey,
it’s you and me.”  She looked at the ladder.  “And you.  Don’t let me down.”

Luckily, if she fell off there was
no one to witness except for two lazy cats and maybe ghosts.

Not liking that thought, and not
particularly sure she even believed in ghosts, she focussed on the music and
climbed up the ladder.

~*~

Sitting at the kitchen table, Adam
took a sip of hot tea and nibbled on one of his Aunt’s homemade biscuits.  Now
having morning tea at her house beat the hell out of having morning tea at the
police station.

“Here, honey, have another biccie.” 
Leaning over his shoulder, she proffered the container.

“Thanks, Aunty.”  Taking out a chocolate
chip, he dunked it in his tea.

His Aunt ruffled his hair while
passing.  “I hear you and the new girl aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye.”

It was bound to get noticed in
such a small town.  “Really?”

“Something happen at the pub last
night?”

He cast her a wry look.  “However
did you hear such a thing?”

Picking up a tea towel, she
started drying a mug.  “I hear a lot of things.”

“Form Mrs Hubble?”

“Mrs Hubble doesn’t go to the
pub.  She thinks it’s unladylike.”

“But Old Man Parker goes, and he
visits her.”

“So something did happen?”

“Nothing important.”  He chewed
the last of the biscuit.

“Mrs Hubble wanted you to have a
word to her, something to do with Hallie.”  His Aunt’s eyes studied him.  “Do I
need to be worrying?”

“Not at all.”  Standing up, he
took his cup to the sink and rinsed it

“Mrs Hubble said this Barbie could
be a bad influence on Hallie.”

Adam dropped a kiss on top of her
head.  “It’s all taken care of.”

“I can always count on you.”  She
smiled up at him.

“To true.”  Unable to help
himself, he took another biscuit.  “One for the road.  Thanks for the cuppa,
Aunty, I better head back to work.”

“Got plans for tonight?”

“No, but tomorrow I’m meeting Matt
and Ghost for the footy game.”

“Ah.  Pizza and beer.  Very
nutritious.”

“Glad you agree.”  Grinning, he
left the room.

When he stepped out onto the
veranda, the security screen swinging shut behind him, Hallie sprang up from
where she’d been sitting on the swing chair.  “Adam, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure.”  Seeing her narrow-eyed expression,
he raised one brow.  “Something wrong?”

“Yeah, something is wrong all
right.  I overheard you and Mum talking about Barbie.”

“Eavesdropping isn’t polite.”

“Neither is listening to gossip,
which you apparently did.  I’m surprised at you, Adam, you don’t normally take
notice of gossip.”

He studied his cousin, noting with
interest the very pissed expression on her face.  “I don’t.”

“You did when it came to Barbie.”

Ah, so that’s what this is about.
 
“Let’s just say I know her a little more than you do.”

“Oh really?  So how, exactly, is
she a bad influence on me?”

“Telling you that you could-” 
Stopping, Adam glanced behind him at the security screen before taking a step
forward and, placing one hand on his cousin’s shoulder, ushering her to the
edge of the veranda and finishing in a lower voice, “Pierce your…you know.”

“Clit, Adam, the word is clit.  Or
clitoris.  You can say it, you know.”

“Fine.  Yes.  And she had no right
telling you that you could do it.”

“She didn’t.”

Adam looked at her.

Folding her arms across her chest,
Hallie shook her head.  “She never said that.”

“Look,” Adam said patiently, “I
understand that you like her, she seems nice, but she had no business telling
you such things, not a girl your age.  And as for her laughing at the idea of
your Mum getting upset about any piercing-”

Hallie’s eyes widened.  “Where did
you hear that?”

“I hear things.”

“It’s not true.”

“Hallie-”

“I’m telling you, Adam.”

“Are you denying the conversation
even took place?”  Tipping back his head, he looked up at the veranda roof and
sighed.  “Look, you’re impressionable and-”

“Don’t pull that bullshit on me.”

He looked down at her.

“Bull crap,” she automatically
corrected, but her eyes glinted angrily.  “Whoever told you the story got it
twisted, way twisted, which is why I’m betting it was Mrs Hubble, because she
was pis- uptight.”

“Offended?” Adam suggested.

“Yeah, that too.”

“Actually, it was you who told me
that Barbie suggested piercing your privates.”

At any other time Hallie would
have laughed at his choice of words.  He normally spoke quite frankly to
people, but when it came to his female relatives, especially young Hallie, he
chose his words carefully.  He wouldn’t even dare mention the word ‘clit’ to
his own mother.

Now Hallie just looked even more furious. 
“I never said that.”

Hands on his hips, Adam looked her
right in the eyes.  “You said, and I quote, ‘she said I could have pierced my
clit instead’.  Exact words, if my memory isn’t failing me.”

“Dude!”  Exasperated, Hallie
rolled her eyes.  “That wasn’t the whole conversation.”

Oh, this should be good.  “So
enlighten me.”

“Mrs Hubble was having a fit about
my tongue piercing, and Barbie said, and I quote,” she added sarcastically, “‘It
could be worse.  It’s just her tongue, not her clit.’  She wasn’t condoning it,
Barbie was just trying to calm Mrs Hubble down.”

Adam studied her closely.  Was she
speaking the truth?  Or was she just trying to ease the pressure on Barbie
because she liked the older woman?

Hallie read his expression
correctly.  “I’m not lying.  I don’t lie to you, Adam, I never have.”

No, his cousin was honest,
sometimes painfully so.  A small, uncomfortable niggle started low in his
belly.  “What about her laughing at the thought of Aunt Betty’s reaction?”

“Actually, she grinned at me when
I said that Mum would soon know.  I didn’t have to say anything further, she
knew that I meant that Mrs Hubble would tell Mum.  She really only laughed when
I said that you hadn’t gotten your tongue pierced.”

Adam’s eyebrows shot up.  “What
has my tongue to do with anything?”

“You had to be there for the whole
conversation.  Thanks to you, Barbie is barely talking to me. Thanks heaps!” 
Moving closer, she stuck her forefinger against his chest and prodded
painfully.  “You better fix this.  I like her, and you’re being a total ars-
jerk.”

Taking her wrist between his
fingers, Adam tugged her hand away.  “I could arrest you for assault, cuz.”

“Shame
you
can’t be
arrested for being a dumb arse.”

“Where did you get this mouth on
you?”

Hallie glared up at him.  “Fix
it.”

“Your mouth?  A bar of soap would
do that.”

“Barbie.  Fix Barbie.”

His little cousin had no idea he’d
fixed Barbie Declan a long time ago, but he knew what she meant.  Actually, he
was starting to feel a little guilty, something to which he definitely wasn’t
accustomed, and he’d never been a man to refuse to acknowledge his wrongs.