Careful What You Wish For (23 page)

‘Okay! Keep your shirt on. I didn’t mean to insult you.’

‘
My work
involves very sophisticated skills.’

‘I’m sure it does,’ Ruth muttered apologetically. ‘I didn’t mean to imply …’ ‘Believe me, I want this one to work just as much as you do. You’re going to have to trust me.’

19

‘C
runch time, ladies and gentlemen! Whoever wins this round of
Brain Box
will be Victorian state champion and will go on to compete in the national final next week.’

There was a loud rolling drumbeat followed by a bouncy guitar riff.

‘Please give our two contestants a hand!’

Enthusiastic clapping and catcalling, along with a few whistles, drowned out the music.

Ruth blinked as her eyes adjusted. There was a sea of strange faces in front of her. She looked around and felt herself go a little woozy.

She was sitting in a kind of booth and the lights were so bright she could hardly see. A man in a snappy suit with silver hair and his face covered in make-up was standing about a metre away from her; on the other side of him sat a boy roughly her age dressed in a white shirt and tie. The boy’s hair was combed up into spikes. Her own long hair had been set into tight curls that fell to her shoulders and were stiff with lacquer. It felt a little like having an animal on her head. What was she doing in front of all these people?
Where on earth was she?

She looked up. Huge lights were beaming down from the ceiling. A couple of enormous black swivel cameras pointed at the three of them on the stage. She must be in a television studio! Ruth was overcome with an intense desire to get up and run. A shy person wanting to
be somebody
! And that idiot rat thought she meant in the actual spotlight and famous– that wasn’t what she’d meant at all. What could she have been thinking to trust him
again
?

‘So in case you’ve just joined us at home.’ The man with the silver hair was looking directly into the camera with a wide, oily smile. ‘We have Leon and Ruth and they are slogging it out to make it to our final!’ He turned to them. ‘Tell me, are you guys ready?’

‘Yes, sir!’ Leon said with a confident grin, and the audience clapped wildly.

‘And Ruth?’

‘Yes … sir,’ Ruth said nervously.

The applause for her was more subdued.

‘Okay, this is the big one!’ the man said.

The drumbeat rolled again and the audience went quiet.

‘First on the buzzer gets the chance to answer.’

Ruth looked down at the button in front of her. As though on autopilot, she positioned her hand above it.

‘In what year did man first walk on the moon?’

He had to be kidding.
That was way too easy
. But maybe it was a trick question? The boy was frowning, probably trying to work out the same thing. Ruth decided to go with what she knew. If it was a trick question, then she might as well get it over with. She pressed the buzzer and the man invited her to answer.

‘1969,’ she said, then added, ‘sir.’

‘And you are absolutely right!’ the man shouted, and the crowd went wild.
‘Go, Ruth! Go!’

In spite of her nerves Ruth felt a buzz of excitement. If the questions were all this easy, she might actually win!

‘Spell
accommodation
’ was the next question. Of course Ruth knew how to spell that, but the boy beat her to the buzzer. Annoyed with herself for being slow, Ruth decided to really concentrate. The drumbeat started rolling again. This must be
it
. She tensed up in anticipation.
She wouldn’t let him beat her again!

‘Who was the first Queen Elizabeth’s father?’ the man asked.

There was a hushed silence, but not for long. Ruth pushed her buzzer, just beating Leon.

‘Henry VIII,’ she said matter-of-factly.

‘And Ruth is absolutely correct. Henry VIII was Queen Elizabeth’s father. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Will you all please go ballistic for Ruth Craze!’

The applause began and built quickly to a crescendo. It flooded Ruth’s ears and swirled around her head like a barrage of thunderclaps.

The man came over, took her hand, and pulled her up out of her seat. ‘The winner, ladies and gentlemen: Ruth Craze! Take a bow, Ruth!’

Ruth stood holding hands with the man in front of the huge crowd, thinking that just maybe … Rodney had got it right.

‘Here is your cheque for … ten thousand dollars!’

More drums, and two pretty blonde girls brought out an enormous signed cheque.

Ten thousand dollars! To think it was now actually hers!
She was … a winner.

‘Good night, ladies and gentlemen, and don’t forget to tune in next week. Ruth will be competing against all the other state finalists. Next week we will find out who the national
Brain Box
champion is! Good luck, Ruth!’ the man yelled. ‘We’re all behind you.’

‘Good luck, Ruth!’ the crowd echoed as the show closed. ‘Good luck!’

The lights went down and the cameras backed away and everyone relaxed. About to step off the stage, Ruth was intercepted by hugs and whoops of congratulation from members of the crew.

‘Fantastic, girl.’

‘Good on you, Ruth!’

Ruth noticed that her opponent was sitting in his booth all alone, looking very disappointed. She pushed through the throng of people surrounding her and walked over to him.

‘Thanks, Leon,’ she said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say, only that she wanted to make him feel better.

‘Congratulations,’ he said, holding out his hand, ‘you did real good, Ruth.’

‘But so did you,’ Ruth said quickly. ‘That last one was a bit of a fluke for me.’ This was actually a small lie; she loved reading about the kings and queens of England. ‘It was just luck, you know.’

‘Tell that to my parents,’ he said, pointing to a couple standing near the door away from everyone else. A big sour-looking man was dressed in a fawn business suit. Next to him stood a very heavily made-up woman dressed in a white linen suit with lots of gold jewellery around her wrists and neck. They both looked very glum.

‘They’re going to be so mad,’ Leon sighed.

‘What will they say?’

‘They’ll say I didn’t put enough work in.’

‘But that’s crazy,’ Ruth protested. ‘I mean, you were one point off winning!’

‘I know but …’ He shrugged unhappily. ‘But my brother wins everything.’

Ruth took another look at the couple. She would have liked to go up and tell them that it was terrible to expect so much of their kid, but of course she didn’t.

‘They your parents?’ Leon asked as he stood up. She looked over to where her mum and dad, Marcus and Paul were sitting in the front row smiling proudly.

‘Yeah,’ she murmured. Her mum was waving now, in full view of everyone. Ruth gave a small wave and then turned away. Her mother had on that bright-pink knitted dress which didn’t really suit her figure at all.

‘They look nice.’

‘Thanks,’ Ruth said humbly. Well, at least they’d never give her a hard time for not winning something like this. She shook Leon’s hand again and was about to run down the stairs to greet her family when the silver-haired compere stopped her. He wasn’t quite so enthusiastic or friendly now the lights were down.

‘See you next week,’ he said. ‘Make sure you get here a good hour before we’re due on.’

‘Okay,’ Ruth said. ‘What happens now?’

‘Cindy will look after you,’ he said with a tight smile.

* * *

By the time Ruth got to her parents and brothers they were surrounded by a group of people who were slapping them on the back and congratulating
them
.

‘Amazing girl you have there,’ someone was saying warmly.

‘You must all be so proud.’

‘Well, yes, we are,’ her father’s voice boomed. ‘Ruth’s always been a bit of a one-off. She could read at four.’

Ruth pushed through the crowd and elbowed him in the ribs.

But her father was on a roll. ‘Of course, she was in the accelerated program at school.’

‘Dad!’

‘Oh, here she is!’ Her mother turned around and opened her arms. ‘Good for you, Ruthie!’

‘Thanks, Mum.’

‘How did you know that last one, Ruth?’ Marcus asked quietly, his voice full of awe. ‘I wouldn’t have had a clue about Queen Elizabeth’s father.’

‘If you win next week you get a trip for two to America!’ Paul said excitedly. ‘Have you thought about who you’re going to ask?’ He was looking at her with such longing that it made everyone laugh.

‘I probably won’t win,’ Ruth said.

‘Of course you’ll win.’ Her mother was smiling proudly. ‘I just know it.’

Try as she might, Ruth couldn’t help feeling a glow of pleasure when she saw that her whole family were so proud.

‘Bye, Ruth,’ Leon called as he made his way out of the studio between his disgruntled parents. ‘Good luck for next week.’

‘Thanks, Leon.’

* * *

‘Excuse me, Ruth.’ A glamorous-looking, orange-haired woman in her twenties, dressed in a tight red suit and extremely high heels, interrupted them. ‘I’m Cindy from the network and I’ll be looking after you for the rest of the week.’

‘Oh, hello,’ Ruth said shyly. The woman was so perfectly turned out that she looked like a doll. ‘This is my mum and dad and my brothers.’

Cindy nodded curtly and handed Mr Craze a printout without really looking at him. ‘This is a copy of Ruth’s itinerary for the rest of the day. As you will see, we’ve booked her into the Hilton Hotel for three nights, assuming that’s okay with you?’

‘The Hilton!’ Mr and Mrs Craze chorused.

‘Well, it’s much easier to get to places from there because you’re, like, way out in …’ She frowned and looked down at her notebook. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t even know where that is.’

‘Well …’ ‘I guess …’ ‘You’ll have a big, beautiful room all to yourself,’ Cindy said, smiling down at Ruth, ‘your own bathroom and whenever you want anything you just have to ring down for room service. Night or day.’

Ruth nodded, trying to imagine what that might mean. ‘So, if I want a milkshake in the middle of the night …?’ She looked at her brothers, who were almost choking with envy.

‘Or a hot pie and Coke,’ Cindy laughed, ‘or your clothes ironed or access to the internet … all you do is just pick up the phone.’ Ruth stared at her, openmouthed. ‘Think you can handle
that
?’

‘I’m afraid we don’t have the money for that sort of thing,’ Mrs Craze said awkwardly.

‘You don’t pay a cent!’ Cindy gave her a condescending smile. ‘The show will be picking up the tab, and please don’t worry about her. I’ll be in the room right next door. Each morning I’ll take Ruth to whatever media events are happening that day. Staying in a hotel will be a great experience for her,’ Cindy said, reaching out and squeezing Ruth’s arm, ‘and it will make the whole week leading up to the final much easier to manage.’

‘I think she might be a bit young,’ Mrs Craze said. ‘To stay in a hotel room on her own, I mean,’ she added. They all looked at Ruth, who was trying not to look as nervous as she felt. But she’d been thinking the same thing.

‘What do
you
say, Ruth?’ Cindy asked.

‘I’ll be fine,’ Ruth said quickly. She’d never been inside a fancy hotel before. Not even on the ground floor. Imagine being a guest there!

‘I’ll be fine,’ she said again, more firmly.

‘Good girl!’ Cindy turned to Mr and Mrs Craze. ‘Think of it as a great … opportunity.’ She consulted her notebook again. ‘Now, that’s about all, I think,’ she said, putting a hand on Ruth’s arm. ‘Want to come and have a look at those prizes?’

‘But I’ve got my prize,’ Ruth said, holding up the cheque.

‘Oh, I’ve got loads more for you!’ Cindy gave her a toothy smile and winked. ‘I think you’ll be pleased.’

She looked around at the rest of the family. ‘There’s no need for you to hang around. I’ll take care of her,’ she said. Ruth saw the disappointment on all their faces and felt bad, for her brothers especially. At the same time, she couldn’t help seeing them all through Cindy’s perfectly made-up eyes. Her parents looked so wretchedly old-fashioned and so badly matched. Never before had she noticed just how skinny and tall her father was compared with her short, dumpy mother.

‘Ruth?’ Marcus was actually begging her with his eyes. Ruth turned to look at Cindy, who reluctantly relented.

‘Well, you could come by for a few minutes to take some of the prizes home,’ she said. ‘I assume you drove here?’

Mr Craze nodded.

‘Off we go, then.’

Cindy linked arms with Ruth and led the way back into the building through a long windowless corridor, and the rest of the family followed. Ruth glanced behind at them occasionally. The boys were excited but her parents seemed uneasy. She’d be glad when they did go home and she could get on with dealing with … whatever was going to happen next.

As they followed Cindy’s clicking stilettos down the corridor, every now and then a door would open and a famous face would peep out.