Girls, Muddy, Moody Yet Magnificent (17 page)

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33

The sun had set, and in the ten minutes I’d been in the cafe with Oliver (or had it been ten years?) somehow Newquay had changed utterly. Now it seemed sinister. Street lights were flickering, fluorescent shop windows glared harshly, traffic snarled past. People shouted obscenities, somebody chucked a burger across the street. I had to find Chloe. Where was the silver door? Who could I ask? And how could I kill Oliver – and his goddam girlfriend – in a way which would somehow cause them maximum pain while elevating me into some kind of criminal-chic style icon?

I ran down the road and the tears ran down my face. I would have to go into one of these bars to ask somebody where the silver door was. Or ask somebody in the street. But everybody in the street looked like an orc or a zombie. And I had to stop crying first. It was crazy. I’d been thrilled the moment I saw Oliver leaning on the railing and looking down at me, and now, only a few minutes later, I was the heartbroken heroine in a horror movie.

I hated him. I hated him for not being the guy I’d thought he was. It wasn’t just that he’d got involved with some girl – so what, it was bound to happen. But just sitting there like a plonker and not helping when Chloe so badly needed somebody! This was the last straw. I was so over Oliver, and once I’d rescued Chloe, I was going to celebrate my freedom.

A gang of people loomed up, their shapes black against the street lights. I stepped right off the pavement to avoid them. The last thing I needed now was aggravation. But somebody reached out from the blackness and grabbed my wrist.

‘Hey! Zoe! What’s wrong?’ I squinted through the darkness. It was Beast, surrounded by his rugby team.

‘I’ve just had a call from Chloe!’ I gasped. ‘She’s in trouble! There’s a fight!’

‘Take it easy, Zoe, no need to cry, chill out,’ said Beast. He let go of my wrist and kind of touched my shoulder very briefly. ‘We’ll sort it for you, no worries. Where is she?’

‘Somewhere with a silver door . . . ?’ I faltered.

Beast looked round at his mates.

A guy with a big wide jaw and fluffy fair hair said, ‘Big Bucko’s Surf Shack?’

‘Yeah!’ said another guy. I recognised Dave Cheng – the guy we’d met back home in the Dolphin Cafe. ‘Bucko’s has a silver door.’

The gang all turned and began to run along the pavement towards the centre of town. I scuttled along behind them, like a rather fat small dog trying to keep up with a herd of . . . well, Antelopes.

At some point we ducked off the main street and charged down a dark alley. At the bottom of the alley was one hell of a noise, coming from an open door with music and strobe lights spilling out – shouting, swearing, and stuff being thrown about. A chair sailed across the street and crashed into the opposite wall. Beast stopped for a moment and turned back to me.

‘Stay here, Zoe,’ he said quietly. ‘We won’t be a minute.’

They disappeared through the open door. I saw the lights flash briefly on their faces as they went in. It was like watching an advert for the SAS or something. I lurked in the alleyway, my heart thudding, biting my nails.

A heap of big blokes came flying out of the silver door. One guy grabbed a broken chair and lifted it above his head – but luckily, he was so drunk he kind of tottered over backwards and ended up lying against the wall and groaning quietly to himself, with the chair perched stylishly on his head.

A couple of minutes later, after a lot of yelling, several figures burst out of the door. They included a small scarecrow-like figure I recognised as Chloe. Dave Cheng was holding on to her arm. I heard the scream of police-car sirens approaching. Chloe stumbled and scrambled up the lane towards me. A police car arrived at the top of the lane, its blue light flashing. We heard the car door slamming just as Chloe reached me. Dave dragged us both into a doorway as several cops thundered past down the alley. Chloe kind of whimpered and held on to me. She smelt boozy and her make-up was blurry and greasy.

‘OK?’ enquired Dave. Then he peeped out into the lane. ‘Good moment for your exit,’ he suggested.

I grabbed Chloe’s hand and we legged it up the lane together, and then out into the safety of the main street. Well, when I say safety, there was another police car arriving, and the pavements were crowded with people kind of roaring and pushing each other about and being slightly drunk and a bit frisky all over the place. I felt suddenly deeply tired. It seemed about two weeks since we’d arrived by bus, but it was only a few hours ago. This was still only our first evening in Newquay. If life went on at this pace, we’d be in need of intensive care by the day after tomorrow.

‘Are you OK, Chloe?’ I asked, peering into her face. ‘What happened?’

‘I was with Leo and Fritz,’ she said. I assumed they were the two goths she had been talking to in the games arcade. ‘They said there was a tequila and salsa night at Bucko’s . . . But some guys at the next table got into an argument . . . Oh God! It was horrible!’

‘Have you been drinking tequila?’ I demanded, in Governess mode.

‘Not much, hardly anything, I’m not a complete idiot!’ she protested. I thought we ought to wait for Beast to emerge and thank him for rescuing Chloe, but it seemed more sensible to get home while we could. We could always thank Beast later.

‘OK . . . uhhh . . . maybe we should go back,’ I said.

‘Back where?’ said Chloe, looking disoriented and weird.

‘Back to the B&B.’

‘OK,’ she said. ‘Where the hell is it?’

I spotted a taxi rank and headed over, arm in arm with Chloe as she was slightly tipsy and a bit clumsy. We bundled into a cab, and luckily as I hadn’t been downing tequilas, only a sad little cup of coffee with Oliver, I was able to remember the address of the B&B.

Chloe grabbed my hand and squeezed it, and kind of cuddled up, leaning on my shoulder.

‘Sorry I was so horrid earlier,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve been so moody recently about Brendan. I was kind of desperate to pull tonight, maybe to sort of prove something to myself. I got talking to Leo and Fritz, and then . . .’ She seemed to doze off on my shoulder for a few minutes.

I couldn’t help worrying about what had happened to Beast. What if he’d got hurt in the fight? What if the police had got their wires crossed and arrested him? The taxi lurched round a corner and Chloe woke up again.

‘Thanks so much for rescuing me, Zoe,’ she said.

‘It wasn’t really me,’ I said. ‘It was Beast and his mates.’

‘Beast?’ asked Chloe, looking puzzled. ‘Bizarre . . . It was all strobes and lasers . . .’ She evidently hadn’t recognised him in the darkness of the club. Then she drifted off to sleep again.

We arrived at Haddock Hall and managed to let ourselves in and creep up the stairs without attracting the attention of the owner, the grim Lord Haddock. I sighed with huge relief as I pushed open the door of our room. OK, it was squalid, but at least it was our little refuge for the week.

The room was dark. I switched on the overhead light. There was a groan from Tam. I’d almost forgotten she was there.

‘Zoe!’ She gave a feeble little cry, almost like a baby. Her normal voice was completely gone. ‘Help me!’ she croaked. ‘I’ve been sick on your bed, I’m sorry!’ I looked at my bed. It was covered with a towel. How disgusting could you get? There was a washbasin in the corner, for God’s sake.

For some reason Chloe thought it was hilarious. She started giggling and flopped down on her bed. Tam was kind of sobbing.

‘Please, Zoe!’ she gasped. ‘Help me!’ I just stood there, panicking and staring at the horrible mess that was my bed. What could I do? Tam was ill, Chloe was drunk, I had nowhere to sleep: it was a nightmare. Not for the first time, I wished that my parents had come with us after all. I hadn’t the faintest idea what to do.

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34

I decided to start by dealing with the soiled sheets. I didn’t dare to ask the landlord if he had a washing machine, because I’d have to explain what had happened. I was going to have to use the Stone Age method. I dragged the sheets off my bed and bundled them up, picked up a bottle of shower gel, and crept out to the bathroom. There was nobody about: the place was deserted.

I locked myself in, knelt down by the bath and rinsed the sheets under the tap. It was gross, and I was beginning to feel really annoyed with Tam. Sometimes she is such a baby.

When the worst of the mess had gone, I filled the bath with shower gel and swished the sheets about in the bubbles. At last there was a pleasant smell of citrus. Then I had to rinse them, but I’d used too much shower gel, so it took for ever. I was halfway through the third rinse when I heard a banging sound.

I stopped what I was doing, sat up on my heels and listened. Somebody was banging on the street door. I heard footsteps inside the house and a kind of grumbling. Then the front door was opened and I heard raised voices – Beast’s voice! I was sure of it!

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring a sudden attack of pins and needles, and dried my hands. I could hear somebody climbing the stairs and as I emerged from the bathroom I saw Beast going into our room.

‘Zoe?’ I heard him say. ‘Where’s Zoe?’

‘Here,’ I said quietly, right behind him. He turned round and stood aside for me to enter. Chloe and Tam both seemed to be asleep.

‘I just wanted to make sure everything was OK,’ he whispered. ‘I was worried about you.’

‘Well, I was worried about you,’ I replied. ‘I thought you might have been hurt or something.’

‘No, I’m fine,’ murmured Beast. He glanced over at Chloe, who had started to snore. A tiny smile passed across his face. ‘It all looks pretty cosy,’ he said. ‘I’d better leave you to it.’ Then he registered that my bed had no sheets.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘Tam was sick on my bed,’ I sighed. ‘I’ve been trying to wash the sheets in the bath . . .’

Tam stirred beneath her covers. ‘Zoe?’ she called. ‘Who are you talking to?’

‘Beast’s here,’ I told her. ‘. . . Tam’s had a tummy ache,’ I explained. Beast frowned and strode across the room. He bent over the bed, talking quietly to Tam and feeling her tummy. Then he kind of patted her arm and told her she’d be OK – and turned away and got his mobile out.

‘Hi there,’ he said, ‘I need an ambulance. I think there’s a girl with acute appendicitis at the Haddon House B&B in Upper Street.’ My heart gave the most awful, sickening lurch. I stared at Beast in disbelief. He calmly arranged the details and then finished the call.

‘Are you sure?’ I whispered. ‘God, how awful!’

‘It’s OK,’ he said softly. Then he turned back to Tam. He went over and squatted down beside her bed. ‘It’s OK, Tam,’ he said cheerfully. ‘There’s an ambulance coming to sort you out. They’ve got a terrific little hospital here – Wills went there last year when he broke his collarbone.’ Tam made a grateful kind of noise and grabbed his hand.

Suddenly I was reminded of the time once when Chloe had sprained her ankle at a rock concert. That was the first time we really got to know Beast a bit. He and his dumb mate Donut had helped her out into the foyer, then driven her to casualty, where we’d waited for ages.

All the time Beast had been holding Chloe’s ankle and stroking it, and kind of touching her in a slightly gross way, and it had really bothered me. That was when I’d started to hate him. I knew he had a reputation as a serial love rat and I assumed he was softening her up as one of his victims, and of course Chloe had gone completely mad about him for some time after that.

Now, in this scruffy B&B, I was mesmerised, watching Beast holding Tam’s hand, and I suddenly realised that it wasn’t a seduction technique, it was the bedside manner of somebody who was going to be a doctor. I knew Beast was going to read medicine at uni. Suddenly it all made sense. All he was doing was giving Tam the care and attention she needed. He seemed really focused and kind of expert. I felt shocked and guilty to discover that poor Tam might have appendicitis, and instead of helping her, earlier, I’d just shouted at her and stormed out. Beast patted Tam’s hand, then started to get up again. Tam whimpered.

‘Don’t go!’ she croaked. ‘Stay!’ Beast sat down on her bed and took her hand again. His hands looked square and strong. For a split second I felt an astonishing, weird pang of jealousy that he was never going to hold hands with me. At this moment I realised that my feelings for Beast had changed completely: that I now liked him as much as I had hated him before.

My heart soared up my throat and got stuck somewhere behind my eyeballs. The room whirled, and life was suddenly unrecognisably strange. How could I feel this way about Beast? I was in total shock. Thank God Beast was preoccupied with Tam, because I was shaking from head to foot, and I think if he had looked at me at that instant, I would have passed out.

‘Don’t leave me, Beast!’ Tam begged feverishly.

‘I won’t,’ promised Beast. ‘Don’t worry!’

Quite soon the ambulance arrived and took Tam away. While the paramedics were helping her downstairs, Beast turned to me.

‘Zoe – what’s your mobile number?’ We swapped phones for a minute, and he entered his number into my system while I entered mine into his. ‘I’ll text you from the hospital once I know how she is,’ said Beast. ‘But try and get some sleep. Don’t stay awake waiting for my text. You need some rest. Sleep in Tam’s bed. Appendicitis isn’t catching!’ He grinned. I gave a weak little smile. It was so bizarre, falling for somebody in the middle of an emergency like this. My emotions were in absolute turmoil.

‘Does anyone ever die of appendicitis?’ I asked feebly.

‘Never!’ said Beast firmly. ‘She’ll be fine. You’ll be joking with her by tomorrow afternoon – you’ll see. But you should ring your parents, because they’ll want to come down. Don’t worry. I’ll go to the hospital with Tam and I’ll keep you posted.’

Beast went downstairs. I heard his footsteps echoing down the stairs and the front door slam behind him. Suddenly I felt terribly lonely and tired. I could hear other people moving around in the B&B. Footsteps passed our door. Having strangers so close made me feel lonelier than ever. I sat down on Tam’s bed and rang Dad’s moby. He picked up right away.

‘Hello, old boy!’ he bellowed, bless him. He sounded festive. This was awful. ‘Everything hunky-dory?’

‘Well, yes, but . . .’ I didn’t want to panic him. ‘Tam’s been a bit ill, and we think she might have appendicitis, so she’s gone off to hospital . . . just as a precaution.’

‘My God!’ said Dad. ‘Is anybody there to help?’

‘A friend from school,’ I said. ‘Beast Hawkins. He was the one who realised Tam was really ill. I think he’s going to be doctor or something. He’s been brilliant. He’s gone with her to the hospital, now.’

My voice sounded a bit trembly. I felt like crying. I expect it was delayed shock. What if Tam died, because she should have gone to hospital earlier? It would be my fault, then. I’d have killed my sister!

‘Right, we’ll come down,’ said Dad. ‘We’ll go straight to the hospital. It’ll take us most of the night to get down there. Are you OK, old boy?’

‘Yes,’ I said tremulously. I so wanted Dad to be in the room, so I could hug him right now.

‘Good girl!’ said Dad. ‘Try to get some sleep – we’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning. I’m sure she’ll be OK.’ And then he was gone.

I stretched out on Tam’s bed, feeling utterly limp and weak. The pillow smelt of her moisturiser. I stared idly at my mobile, scrolling through the memory. Beast’s number was in there.
Harry Hawkins
, it said. Harry! So that was Beast’s real name! It suited him, somehow. I was glad he’d put ‘Harry’ not ‘Beast’. I was trying to figure out why, exactly, when my moby started to ring. It made me jump for a minute, but then I got a grip. I had to. This would be Mum having her hysterics. I took a deep breath.