Suzy P and the Trouble with Three (15 page)

More acts pass, and then Devon’s back on the stage again.

“Now we have our final act of the evening,” Devon says. “It’s a very mysterious one… we have Chris, doing ‘entertainment’, so let’s see what he’s got in store for us.”

I sink into my chair, trying to hide my face as Dad squeezes past. He kneels down on the stage and pulls some juggling batons out of one of the cases. All that hype, for some juggling?

Then Dad also pulls out a trombone.

Say what now? Dad plays the trombone?

And then he unclips the other case.

From which he pulls out a unicycle.

Dad clambers onto the unicycle, trombone balanced on one arm, and starts to cycle around the stage, before playing the song that accompanies every circus performance I’ve ever seen. I hate to admit it, but he’s actually pretty good. Yeah, sure, there are a few duff notes, but the man’s wearing next to nothing and balancing on one wheel, for goodness sake.

“More!” the crowd screams, thoroughly overexcited. “More!”

Dad jumps off the unicycle to grab the batons and a match, and sets fire to them. The ends ignite with a
WHOOOPHF!
and then he’s holding three canes of ferocious flames.

Devon goes pale. “Health and safety!” he shouts, grabbing a bucket of water from beside the marquee.

He throws the water all over Dad, who looks utterly put out.

In more ways than one.

The crowd seems to think it’s part of the act, and goes bananas.

“That’s all we’ve got time for,” Devon says crossly, ignoring the boos from the crowd, who clearly want to see Dad set fire to himself. “Now it’s time to vote. We’ll divide the contenders into pairs, and cheer for each person.
The one in each pair that gets the loudest cheer will go through, and we’ll whittle down to the final two that way. Okay?”

Devon’s convoluted voting system takes a while. Mum, Clare and the dogs don’t get anywhere, and nor does Amber, who’s still crying to herself and hasn’t really noticed anything else going on. Harry also gets knocked out in the first round. Ant rushes up to the side of the stage to greet her.

“You were robbed,” Ant says loyally. “I’d love to see the trick with Hagrid and the cup if you still want to show me.”

“Sure,” Harry says, beaming.

Up on stage, the French maid has been eliminated and only leaves after giving Devon a thorough dusting.

Now the two acts left are Millie and Isabella, and Dad. Yes. My father in his scary tight pants could be about to win this thing.

Mum’s jumping around like crazy, clapping her hands above her head.

“Right then, ladies and gents,” Devon says, clearly relishing his role as MC. “Our last two acts. We’ve got our lovely dancers and our unicycling, trombone playing, fire-starter here. Let’s start with applause for the dancers.”

There are pretty loud cheers, especially from Ben and Tom. But they get louder still when Devon announces Dad.

“I think it’s obvious we have our winner. Well done, Chris!”

Millie congratulates Dad, and I can tell that she means it, but Isabella hasn’t moved. I stifle a snigger at her expression. She was so sure she had the prize in the bag.

Ah well. I guess nobody expected a half-naked, middle-aged man tromboning on a unicycle. It’s hard to compete against that.

“And now the prizes,” Devon announces.

“For you two in second place, you win a bundle of firewood each! A great prize, I’m sure you’ll agree. Should keep you going for a good few nights.”

Snort. This is getting funnier by the minute. Isabella now looks like someone’s kicked her in the face, she’s so horrified. All that effort, and she’s won some sticks?

“Thanks,” Millie says, taking her voucher. She’s trying not to smirk, I can tell. At least she can see the funny side.

“And now our star prize,” Devon says, grimacing slightly. “It’s a fantastic treat. We’d like to award our winner tonight one week’s free camping next year, here at this site!”

Devon doesn’t look exactly overjoyed at the thought of us returning, but that’s nothing compared to Dad’s expression. His face falls as Devon thrusts a bottle of
elderflower champagne into his hands.

As does mine.

That’s
the prize worth hundreds of pounds?

All of a sudden I’m not laughing any more. We’re going to have to come back?

Oh. Please. No.

Back at
the caravan, Mum’s popped the champagne and is handing it around. I take a sip from the plastic glass and wince. Devon’s home brew is
disgusting
.

“I still can’t believe it was such a ridiculous prize,” Dad grumbles for the eighty-eighth time.

“Oh, stop being such a grouch,” Mum tells him. “You won, enjoy it!”

“We were misled,” Dad insists. “Devon said the prizes were worth hundreds. He deliberately gave the wrong impression about what they were. I spent a fortune in petrol going back to get my props.”

“Well, you didn’t have to,” Mum points out. “And anyway, it
is
a prize worth hundreds. In August, the rates are very high to stay here.”

“That’s not the point,” Dad says.

“Well, I’m pleased,” Mum says. “Now we’ve got a good reason to keep the caravan. Another free holiday next year – brilliant!”

Hmmm. Brilliant is not the adjective I’d use.

“Um, I think we’re going to go to bed,” Isabella says, shooting a meaningful glance at Millie.

“Yeah, I’m really tired,” Millie says, faking a yawn and stretching.

“Are you sure, girls?” Clare asks. “It’s still early.”

“Need some beauty sleep,” Isabella says. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

My insides twist into a tense knot. I know they’re going to their tent to get ready to sneak out later.

“I’m tired, too,” Amber says. “I’d like to go to bed.”

“Well, I’m not ready to sleep yet,” Dad says. “Let’s talk about my act some more. It’s a shame you didn’t get to see my fire juggling, that was the best part, but did you like the bit where—”

“I can’t sleep if the lights are still on,” Amber interrupts.

“It won’t hurt for us all to get an early night if Amber needs some rest,” Mum says.

From the gleeful glances they’re exchanging, Millie and Isabella clearly can’t believe their luck. Everyone downs their champagne (or chucks it outside, like I do) and gets into their pyjamas.

I lie awake, nervously waiting for Millie and Isabella to come and get me. Are we really going to be able to sneak off without getting caught?

I’m rigid as a plank in my sleeping bag, checking my watch obsessively. Soon it’s 1 a.m. What time is this party starting, anyway? Surely we’re leaving soon.

And then I hear the sound of someone shouting outside.

“Who’s that?” Harry sits up in bed, yawning.

“What’s going on out there?” Dad says, opening the caravan door.

“It sounds like Dave,” I say, suddenly worried. Because he’s shouting the names of the boys. Which means he must have discovered they’re missing.

“Excuse me,” Dave says, outside the caravan. It sounds like he’s knocking on the windows. “I need your help.”

Groaning, Dad heads outside.

“Have you seen my lads?” Dave asks furiously. “They’ve gone. Snuck off somewhere.”

“All right, let’s just calm down,” I hear Dad say. “It’s very late.”

“I’m sorry to wake you,” Dave says, “but I know that your girls have been hanging around them and thought they might know something.”

I stare over at Millie and Isabella’s tent. It’s silent. But I refuse to believe that with all the commotion going
on they wouldn’t have woken up.

They can’t have gone already. They wouldn’t do that to me.

Would they?

“I assume you’ve heard that?” Dad says, sticking his head into the awning. “Any idea where the boys are?”

“Er, no,” I lie, blinking rapidly.

“You sure?”

“Sure,” I lie again.

I do
not
feel good about this.

“What about your mates?” Dave asks. “Tom seems pretty keen on that Isabella girl. Do you think he’s said anything to her?”

“I’ll go and see if she knows anything,” I say.

“I’ll go!” Harry says, starting to dart off. I grab the back of her pyjama top and yank her back.

“No, don’t!” I say, panicked. “I just mean, they’re not going to be happy to be woken up. I’ll do it.”

I walk over to the tent. It’s dark and silent.

I undo the zip for Millie and Isabella’s tent and poke my head inside.

Just as I thought.

They’re not there.

They went to the party without me.

Doing my best to ignore the hurt I’m feeling, I try to
figure out what to do. What am I supposed to tell Dad and Dave now? As much as I’d like to tell the parents where they’ve gone, I can’t drop Isabella and Millie in it, even after what they’ve done.

“They were both still asleep,” I say to Dad. “They haven’t seen the boys. No idea where they might be.”

“Right. Then we’re going out looking,” Dave says. Dad goes to wake Devon, then the three men head off in the direction of the woods.

I feel sick. If they find Millie and Isabella out there, they’re going to kill them. And me, for lying.

Just over an hour later, there’s commotion across the field, and it quickly becomes apparent that the boys have been found.

I scour the group. Cat and Jem are with them, following sheepishly, but there’s no sign of Millie and Isabella.

“I’ll deal with you all in the morning,” I hear Dave hiss, followed by the sounds of tent zippers.

But… but that means Millie and Isabella haven’t come back.

Which begs the question – where the flipping heck are they?

“They were hanging out in a cave in the woods,” Dad says wearily as he joins us. “Excitement over. Let’s go back to bed.”

He turns off the caravan lights, and Harry curls up in her sleeping bag. In a matter of minutes, she’s fast asleep.

I lie, wide awake, listening out for the zip that’ll tell me Millie and Isabella have returned. But there’s nothing. Nothing apart from an owl hooting.

Millie and Isabella are still out in the woods somewhere.

And nobody else knows they’re missing.

The minutes
tick by and I still don’t hear Millie and Isabella come back.

Where
are
they?

They’ll be back soon, I reassure myself, over and over.

But they aren’t.

What if they went out looking for the boys and got lost in the woods? What if they’re stranded out there, all by themselves?

It’s been too long. I’m going to have to go and look for them. They were definitely going to meet up with the boys, I’m certain of it, especially after what Millie said this morning about Isabella not wanting to leave Tom and Jem together.

I throw on a hoodie and some jeans over my PJs, and then my trainers.

I wobble into the food shelves as I’m trying to tie my laces with one hand, and a tin falls to the floor.

Eep! I freeze, but nobody in the caravan seems to have heard me. Harry, however, rolls over and half opens her eyes. “Whatchoo doin’?” she mumbles.

“Nothing. Go back to sleep. Just going to the loo,” I whisper as I grab a torch and venture out into the night.

My first port of call is the girls’ tent, just in case they’ve come back and I haven’t heard them, but they’re still not there. Their sleeping bags lie flat and unopened.

I suppose next I need to find out if they were definitely with the boys.

Am I really going to wake them up to ask if they’ve seen my friends?

I guess so. I don’t seem to have any other choice. I can’t abandon Millie. Even if she hasn’t acted much like a mate this evening.

Or all holiday, come to that.

I sneak over to the tent I’m pretty sure is Tom’s. I’m going to be in so much trouble if I get caught, and do I have a good explanation as to why I’m sneaking into a boy’s tent in the middle of the night?

No. No, I do not.

Please don’t be awake, Dave,
I think, over and over.

I grab the zipper and sneak it up as quietly as I can.
To me, it sounds like it’s deafeningly loud. I freeze, but nobody else seems to have heard it.

I shine my torch inside.

It’s not Tom. It’s Joe and Ant.

“Who’s that?” Joe says, sitting bolt upright as the light shines onto his face.

“Shhhh!” I hiss, pressing my finger to my lips.

“Suzy? What are you doing?” Joe says, in a low voice.

“Were Millie and Isabella with you tonight?” I say. “At the cave?”

“Yeah,” Joe says, squinting against the light. “Would you stop shining that torch in my face?”

“Did they come back with you?” I hiss urgently.

“No,” Joe says, as Ant continues to sleep next to him. “They’d already gone by the time Dad busted us. Why?”

“Because they’re not in their tent,” I say. “They haven’t come back.”

“They definitely weren’t there when we left,” Joe insists.

“I’m going to have to go and look,” I say.

“You can’t go wandering around the woods on your own,” Joe says. “You could get lost. You need to get proper help, tell someone what’s going on.”

I know I should. This is the point I should do that. But I can’t bring myself to. Things seem weird enough between Clare and Millie at the moment as it is, and this won’t help
anything. My friends would never forgive me if I said something, and my parents and Clare would be mad I didn’t say anything sooner.

Basically, if I tell now, everyone will hate me.

“I can’t,” I say. “You were in that cave off the track, right? I’ll start there. Sorry to wake you.”

“Suzy, you can’t go wandering around on your own,” Joe repeats.

“Haven’t got much of a choice,” I say. “Thanks for your help.”

Joe sighs heavily and reaches for his trainers. “I’ll come with you. You’ll never find the way by yourself.”

It’s weird being in the woods at night. They’re all kinds of creepy. Branches crack. Leaves rustle. I try not to imagine a mad axe man hiding behind trees, about to attack me. I’d never admit it, but I’m glad Joe’s with me.

“The cave was empty when we left,” Joe says, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet.

“Well, we need to start somewhere,” I say.

“If they’re not there, or anywhere obvious, we’re going to have to get proper help,” Joe says firmly. “Watch out for that puddle.” He grabs my good arm and steers me round it.

Maybe I had Joe wrong. He’s not that bad after all.

“I’m sorry about the other night,” I say, awkwardly,
as we pick our way through the mud. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Me too,” Joe says. “It’s just, you know, Ben and Tom were all over your friends and I thought…”

His voice trails off, but I know what he’s saying. He was trying to keep up with his mates. Boy, can I empathise with
that
.

“I get it,” I say. “And thanks so much for coming out here with me. I’d have been terrified by myself.”

“I just hope we find them. The cave’s up there,” Joe says.

We clamber over rocks and roots, until we’re standing at the large black mouth of the cave. They’d better be here. Because I don’t want to think about what might have happened to them if they’re not.

Ooh, this cave is seriously creepy. It’s huge and so dark I can’t see anything at all inside. Don’t think about the moths, Suze. Don’t think about the moths that live in this cave… or the bats. Or ghosts or anything else horrible.

And then I hear the sound of familiar voices, echoing around the cave.

Oh thank the Lord and all that is holy.

We’ve found them.

The relief is immense, and I’m about to call out when I tune into what they’re saying.

“I really don’t want to go home,” Millie’s saying.

I freeze, and put my hand on Joe’s arm to prevent him moving.

What’s Millie talking about?

I can’t wait to get back to Danny and Jamie and Bojangles and away from this campsite. I thought Millie felt the same.

“I get it,” Isabella says. “It’s so difficult to be stuck in the middle of everything.”

“I just don’t know what to do,” Millie says miserably.

Do about what?

“It’s such a flipping nightmare,” Millie continues. “She’s making everything so complicated.”

She? Who’s she talking about?

As the realisation sinks in, my heart starts pounding.

It’s me.

There’s no other reason why Millie wouldn’t have said something. We don’t keep secrets from each other. We never have.

She doesn’t want us to be best friends any more, because she wants to hang out with people like Isabella, and doesn’t know how to tell me. Breaking up our friendship group really would be complicated, especially with Danny and Jamie being best friends.

It all makes sense.

“Aren’t you going in?” Joe says, swinging his torch into the cave. “That’s them, right?”

There’s a deafening shriek.

I lift my torch, and eventually it settles on two figures, arms wrapped around each other, huddled together on a large rock at the back of the cave.

“It’s me,” I say.

“Suzy?” Millie and Isabella jump to their feet.

“Thank God!” Millie runs over, Isabella following close behind. They stumble over the stones underfoot, and then Millie collapses onto my shoulder to give me an enormous hug.

I want to hug her back, but can’t bring myself to do it.

You ditched me
, I want to say.
You went off without me. And now you’re sharing secrets with your new best friend and telling her you don’t want to go home
.

Isabella’s stopped a short distance away, looking like she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself. A thank you would be a good place to start. Seriously, I risk life and limb to rescue her in the middle of the night, and she can’t even bring herself to do that?

“What are you doing here?” Joe asks. “We thought you’d left.”

“We needed to pee,” Millie says, shamefaced. “So we left the cave. And then we heard shouting, and Dave’s voice,
so we hid. We were going to follow you back from a distance. But we didn’t have a torch and you guys were further ahead than we thought. We figured we’d hide in the cave until it got light and then head back. But that cave is seriously, seriously spooky. I’m so glad you guys found us. Are we in tons of trouble?”

“Nobody knows you’re gone,” I say. “I told them you were in your tent. So if we get back without everyone waking up, we should be fine.”

“Phew,” Millie says, gratefully. “Thanks, Suze, you’re such a good mate.”

Unlike you
, I think to myself.

“You didn’t tell anyone?” Isabella says.

“Nope. Didn’t want to land the pair of you in it,” I say.

I can’t read Isabella’s expression as she stares at me. She looks almost… astonished?

“Thanks for your help,” I say to Joe, once we’re back. I’m so relieved that everything’s turned out okay, I give him a one-armed hug. I feel his body stiffen against mine, then he relaxes and hugs me back.

“No worries,” he says. “At least we found them, yeah?”

“Night,” Millie says to me, as we approach the awning. “See you in the morning. Thanks again, for everything.”

“Uh huh,” I say, as coldly as I can manage, and go back to bed.

I don’t sleep much. I spend most of what’s left of the night staring up at the canvas above my head, waiting for morning to come and wondering what I should do.