Gypsy Girl (18 page)

It was the worst idea I’ve ever had.

No one was looking my way – they were too busy checking the crate of weapons – and even if they did, they wouldn’t see me, because everything beyond the yard lights was pitch-black. I aimed just as the boy raised a gun and posed with it, laughing and larking about. There was only a very quiet click, but he must’ve had ears like a hare.

He looked over, straight at me.

I froze, crouching in the undergrowth, cursing myself for being so stupid. But after a few moments, he looked away and began talking to Pony and McCloud. I relaxed a little. No one else had taken any notice, but I had to get out of there as soon as I could. I stayed crouched, my calf muscles cramping, and waited for my moment. It wasn’t going to be yet. There were too many people milling around. It seemed as though something was about to happen, as Pony swung the barn doors open.

“Hudson – catch.” McCloud threw a bunch of keys to the boy. So I was right about the personalized number plates,
HUD
for Hudson. “Drive it out.”

“I’m on to it!”

He disappeared inside the barn. There was the sound of a motor revving and then settling to a purr. Then a sleek white Porsche shot out of the barn, slowed, and drove up the ramp and into the lorry. Immediately, the forklift started loading crates, blocking it in, hiding it from sight. All eyes were on the lorry. I should’ve taken my chance and run, but I didn’t.

International Express had guns
and
stolen luxury cars.

Rocky was wrong. Gregory was wrong. McCloud wasn’t this upstanding businessman with a string of sucessful export businesses across the country. McCloud was crooked, and so was his business. No wonder he tried to have me beaten up so we’d leave. No wonder they’d made sure none of us came close. I looked at the men doing the loading and unloading, and the ones on patrol at the gate. They were heavies – you only had to look at how they handled themselves. And Hudson McCloud was in on it as well. He was making his way out of the lorry, leaving the Porche inside. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear his clanging footsteps.

“Hudson, we can get off home now,” McCloud called.

“Hang on, Dad.”

That shocked me. His voice sounded close, too close. I froze, but I was sure no one could see me here. I was in the deepest shadows. As I crouched and waited, a moth landed on my face. I don’t like moths, and this one was enjoying itself, crawling round my nose and over my mouth. I desperately wanted to brush it off, but I daren’t move. Very slowly, I tried to blow it away, but it wouldn’t budge. I nearly raised my arm to brush it off. Thank God I didn’t.

A footstep crunched on gravel. It was on the other side of the fence but only feet away. There was a blast of Paco Rabanne. I risked a glance. The boy was there. He was peering into the darkness. The moth began to crawl all over my face again. I wanted to sneeze. I needed to sneeze, but if I did, I was done for. Better to have alien antennae and horrible, freaky little feet tickling my face than be at the mercy of McCloud and his son.

“Hudson?” It was McCloud again. “Come on. Let’s get moving.”

“
Wait
. Pony – throw me the flashlight.”

Jeez. No, no, no. I tried to slide farther into the undergrowth. It was too late. Suddenly a beam of white light blasted into my face, half blinding me. My heart nearly stopped. I thought he’d seen me, but it moved off and swept over the bushes either side.

“I’m sure there’s someone out there, Dad.”

Footsteps approached. At first I couldn’t see a thing, just the dazzling light and shadows moving on either side. Then I saw McCloud.

“Fitz! Morgan!” he shouted. I saw more shadows as the two guards on the drive came running. “Check the bushes to the right of the gates.”

Easy for him to say, but the tangle of shrubs, creepers and brambles was head-high and so thick with thorns and nettles they’d need a machete to get through it. I could hear them cursing as the brambles tripped and ripped at them.

“Pony. Get the gates open. Go and help them.” McCloud was staring this way. I held my breath.

“Yes, boss.”

“And get more torches out there!”

For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to do. Should I run for it? They would see me, but the nearest men were trapped on the other side of the brambles and they’d never catch me. Or should I stay hidden and hope they didn’t find me? A moment later I got the answer. Two more flashlights clicked on, coming from left and centre. This time I was spotlit in the middle, like a rabbit in headlights.

“Yes, I knew it. There she is!” It was Hudson, sounding like he’d won the lottery. He was standing behind the fence, fingers grasping the mesh, his father at his side.

“I knew I saw a face,” he said, without taking his eyes off me. They were shark eyes, like his dad’s, but the smile was all his own.

I stood up slowly, not taking my eyes off him. He was enjoying this, looking me up and down, his face full of glee.

“So this is the one who’s been freaking you out? Seriously, Dad? I know she beat Milo up, but that’s not difficult.”

McCloud was standing very still. He really did look like a respectable businessman. Except that now he looked ready to murder someone. He glanced at his son. “Go and help with the loading. Leave this to me.”

I thought Hudson would obey. Everyone else obeyed McCloud all the time. But he grinned and said, “Are you kidding? I want to see how this goes.” And McCloud didn’t say a thing. He just turned his attention to me.

“Have you heard the expression, curiosity killed the cat?”

I held his gaze. “Nope. Sounds stupid. I only came to see what the noise was about. And it’s just you working through the night, packing stuff up. Big deal,” I bluffed.

Hudson gave a delighted laugh. “She’s lying. She’s not stupid. She saw it all, Dad.” He gave me a fake sorrowful look. “You’re in trouble, girl.”

McCloud signalled for him to shut up. “She knows. She’s not like her ridiculous, screaming sister. She thinks she’s fearless. But she has a weakness, and that’s all we need.” His eyes were fixed on me. “I warned you to leave, but you didn’t. You came spying on us.”

I backed away a few steps. The spotlights followed me. “It doesn’t matter. We’re going Sunday,” I said. “I don’t want to know anything about your stupid business. Do what you want.”

Something moved to my left. Pony had managed to get through some of the brambles. He was within touching distance of me. I backed away some more, and he stumbled as a creeper wound itself around his ankle.

“He won’t get me,” I said. “None of you will catch me.”

“We don’t have to,” said McCloud. “You’re not going to say a word about what you saw tonight. Because bad things will happen if you tell tales or go to the police.”

I was ready to run, but that stopped me. “What are you talking about?” It was the way he’d said
bad things
.

He leaned right up to the fence, gripping it with his fingers. His knuckles were white. He was seething with anger.

“You think you’re unbeatable, you’re not. I will exploit your one weakness – your family. You’ve shown me there’s no shortage of them. Maybe you aren’t scared of me, but you should be scared for your father, your sisters, their children, your aunts and uncles. Do you understand?”

I could hardly get my breath. “Yes.”

“One word to anyone…”

“I said yes. We don’t talk to the police. And I don’t care what you’re doing. After the wedding, we move. You won’t see us again.”

He nodded and glanced at his son. “I want her watched every second of every minute until she leaves. But make it subtle. We don’t want anyone noticing.”

Hudson grinned. “It’ll be my pleasure. Oh, by the way” – his grin disappeared, and he pulled a sorry face at me, like it couldn’t be helped – “I think she’s got a phone with her. I bet she took a picture. I would’ve done.”

I backed away some more. “I didn’t. I told you. I’m not interested in what you were doing.”

“No matter. She wouldn’t dare use it,” said McCloud.

It didn’t stop Hudson smirking at my little shorts and crop top.

“Damn. I would’ve enjoyed patting her down and checking.” Did he never stop that creepy smile? “Ah well, at least I get to watch her.” He wagged a finger at me. “Keep your mouth shut and you’ll be safe. But if you don’t – I’ve got to warn you – you’ll make my father and me and everyone here very, very angry.”

I couldn’t stand it any longer, I turned and ran.

I’d been in some dangerous situations in the past, things that made most girls tremble, but I’d never been this scared. Speed and strength don’t count when there are weapons around. I flew down the little path, leaping the creepers and crashing through the bushes, and dashed out into the safety of the trailers. I was back with my family, but that just made me feel worse. I was safe here, but I’d made it unsafe for everyone else. I’d brought danger to all of them – Sabrina, Granny Kate, everyone who knew me. And all because I was too proud. Too sick of people telling us to get off their land even though we weren’t doing any harm.

As I walked through the trailers, I felt totally alone. A couple of lights were on, and one of the doors was open. I could hear a radio burbling. A baby was crying somewhere. Soon everyone would be awake. It was morning, and it was Sabrina’s wedding day.

I pushed my way through the dresses and underskirts and sat on my bed, my mind racing. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t stop shaking. I got my phone out and looked at the image of Hudson with the guns. It was proof, but I couldn’t show anyone. I couldn’t risk it. And the police – what use were they? They wouldn’t believe me; they’d believe him. And they’d go and tell him, and he’d make sure we suffered.

I wrapped my arms around myself to try and stop the shivering. I’d been fighting in my daddy’s gym since I was three. I know Muay Thai, Brazilian ju-jitsu, judo and karate. I have fighting in my genes, I have reflexes like lightning. I can beat most people, even the men – men might be stronger than me, but I’m faster, and when it comes to winning a fight, speed and fast thinking can triumph over strength. Until now I’d never seen a fighter that scared me, even in the back-street clubs, where there are no rules. But I was scared to death of McCloud. And his son.

I lay back and thought of Hudson’s last words. All I had to do was not talk and leave after the wedding. But I didn’t trust his smiling face one little bit. If he caught me on my own, I bet he’d make sure I never talked to anyone ever again. I hugged my phone to me.

Tomorrow I would stay surrounded by people at all times.

“It’s going to be wonderful!” said the manageress.

Sabrina’s wedding day had dawned sunny and warm, with just the right amount of magpies sitting on the marquee in the grounds of the White Swan Hotel.

One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding. Granny Kate would be pleased. I wasn’t. I just wanted it to be over, so we could leave this place and never see McCloud and his creepy son again. The day might’ve been sunny, but my mind was dark with fear, my body was bruised from the fight with Rocky, and my heart was aching because of Gregory. No one would’ve guessed, though. You would’ve thought I was the perfect bridesmaid as I smiled at the manageress.

“Yes, it’s a wonderful day.”

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you,” she said. “We’re all excited. We can’t wait to see the bride!”

The girl setting out rows of wine glasses on the buffet table behind her wasn’t quite so excited, judging by her sulking face. It was Alice, and she was dividing her time between getting the marquee ready for the reception and giving me evil looks.

When the manageress left, I went over to her. At first she pretended not to see me, and carried on arranging a whole load of little liqueur glasses on the table.

“That’s too many,” I said. “The blackberry wine is just for our family. There’s only one bottle. The other guests will have champagne, so you need more flutes.”

She huffed and slammed a few of the glasses back on the tray and went to walk off.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be here,” I said to the back of her head. “I don’t want any trouble.”

She stopped. She turned round. I thought she was going to shout at me, or burst into tears, but she didn’t. And it wasn’t evil looks she was giving me any more. Now we were close I could see that she looked tired and sad. She nodded. “I know. I’ve tried to change shifts, but I can’t. There’s no one to take my place. You’re stuck with me.” She put her chin in the air. “I don’t want to ruin the wedding. It’s not Sabrina’s fault. It’s yours.”

That didn’t surprise me. Everything was my fault.

“So, I’ll keep out of your way,” she carried on. “You keep out of mine.”

“Fine.”

I pushed past her and made my way upstairs to Sabrina’s room. The hairdressers were there to do our hair. One of the girls was already curling Sabrina’s raven locks into long, long curls that would hang around her shoulders and down her back. The rest were twisted cleverly on top of her head, framing the Swarovski crystal crown. The girls kept saying how beautiful it was, and how it must’ve cost a fortune. Sabrina had no idea. Only I knew it had cost me one fight with a man who took great delight in hitting me as hard as he could. Me daddy thought it cost a quarter of its true price.

Every surface was covered in make-up, straighteners or tongs. I perched myself on a chair by the window so the other girl could get started on my hairstyle. While she sectioned my hair and started giving me the same long curls as Sabrina, I glanced outside. I knew what I’d see. Hudson was there. He’d been true to his word. He was going to watch me every second, but he was much better at it than Pony or Milo. He was in the Impreza, but he’d parked it where he could see both entrances, and I could only get a glimpse of him sitting behind the wheel, half watching me, half messing around on his phone.

“Where’s your dress?” said my girl, bringing me back to earth as she clamped the tongs onto the last lock of hair. “I bet it’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“It is, but it’s back at our trailers.”

“You should’ve got changed here. We could’ve helped you. We’re dying to see the dresses.”