by Lizzie Rose
‘Are you excited?’ Linda asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I replied truthfully. ‘It depends where we’re going.’
‘Wait and see,’ Simeon called back to us. ‘But I think you’re going to like it.’
We drove for some time before rounding a corner and then suddenly I saw a line of deep blue, running parallel to the land.
‘The sea!’
‘That’s right,’ Simeon chuckled, ‘we’re going to the seaside.’
‘Wow!’
Bouncing up and down in my seat, I watched as the line got thicker and thicker and then I could see the tiny crests of white breaking over water. We followed the coastline for some time before heading inland again. Joe drove the car right on to the main street of a small town and parked in front of a memorial shaped like a sailing ship.
We got out and I spent a moment taking in the scenery. On the right-hand side of the street was a row of shops and cafes and on the left was the harbour. Several small boats bobbed up and down gently, huddled together against the cold breeze. Behind me was a pier which went right out into the sea, and below that was a beach.
‘Where do you want to go first?’ Simeon asked.
‘I want to see it all,’ I replied, my teeth chattering as the wind wafted over me.
‘Let’s go into the shops first,’ he said. ‘With a bit of luck it will have warmed up a bit by the time we come out.’
We headed over to the first shop in the row. The only person present was the shopkeeper, who was so keen to welcome us that he knocked over a stand of trinkets.
‘What would you like, Ava?’ Simeon asked, raising an eyebrow at the man who was scrabbling about on the floor, trying to pick up all the bits. I crouched down and picked up a little box made out of shells and held it out to him. ‘It’s ok, I’m sure he can cope.’ Simeon put his hand on my arm and pulled me up. ‘Would you like that?’ he gestured to the box.
‘I don’t have any money.’
‘You don’t need money here – we own the entire town. You can have anything you want.’
I frowned. ‘That doesn’t seem right. I don’t like taking things without paying for them.’ A memory of an apple sprang into my mind and I quickly pushed it away.
‘Look at me,’ he commanded, pulling my chin up with his fingers. ‘You are one of us now and you do not need to pay for anything any more. I promise you, it’s all ok. You deserve some happiness for a change.’
Taking the little box out of my hand, he turned to the shopkeeper. ‘Can I have a bag please?’
The man rushed around to the back of the counter and produced a large carrier bag. Simeon took it and promptly began filling it with all manner of items – pens, fridge magnets, and even a chess set. After a bit of encouragement from Linda, I joined in and soon got into the swing of it. When we’d exhausted the first shop, we moved on to the next. This one had shelves full of strange foods. The lady who ran the shop gave me lots of samples and every time I said I liked something, she put a box of it in a bag.
‘Do you eat this stuff a lot?’ I asked Simeon, examining a stick of rock.
‘Not if you want to keep your teeth.’ He laughed. ‘It’s more of a novelty really. Come on, let’s go see what else we can find.’
Next we came to a booth selling candy floss and drinks. Simeon spoke to a nervous looking girl, who promptly flicked a switch to turn on a machine in front of her. Glancing at me, she grabbed a large bag of sugar and tipped it into the machine. Producing a big stick from under the counter she prodded it into the sugar, her brow creased with concentration. Little strands of blue-coloured fluff stuck to the stick but her hands were shaking so much that she kept dropping it off the end. I was about to tell her not to worry when she suddenly got the hang of it and the next thing I knew, she’d stuffed a big ball of the fluff into a bag and was handing it proudly to me, her eyes on Simeon. I wondered if the fact that he was so good looking had put her off. He turned and grinned at me.
‘Shall we move on? There’s an arcade next door.’
‘What’s an arcade?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Oh my goodness! You haven’t lived until you’ve wasted a whole lot of time in an arcade.’
My eyes lit up as we entered the building. There were machines all over the place. Some had flashing lights whilst others repeatedly played little bits of music.
‘Go ahead,’ Simeon shouted over the noise. ‘Have a go. It’s all free.’
The nearest machine had lots of large teddy bears sitting in the bottom of it. I pressed a flashing button and a metal arm moved. I manoeuvred it over a large brown bear and pressed another button. The arm dropped down over the bear, closed around its head, lifted it up into the air, then dropped it down a chute. Linda pulled it free and handed it over to me.
‘Wow! That was fun. Brogan would love this . . .’ I glanced up at her, my heart suddenly aching. ‘Well, maybe Gracie would like it.’
‘I’m sure she would,’ Linda smiled and patted me on the back. ‘How about having a go at some of these 2p machines? Here you go.’ She handed me a little tub full of copper-coloured coins. I soon got the hang of putting them in the slots and was delighted when more coins fell out into the metal trays at the bottom of the machines. When my tub was finally empty, we went outside again and Joe took my bags back to the car.
‘Shall we have some lunch?’ Simeon asked. ‘There’s a great little place next door.’
Suddenly hungry I followed him into the restaurant, my teddy bear still in my hand.
I was allowed to choose any table I wanted, so went for one by the window where I could look out at the sea.
‘So, what do you think of the seaside so far?’ Simeon asked.
‘It’s great! There’s so much to do here. It’s a shame . . .’ I cut off the thought, suddenly conscious of what I was about to say.
‘What’s a shame?’ he dipped his head to catch my gaze.
‘Well, Noah told me that no one from the town comes here any more because they’re not allowed to.’
Simeon let out a long, slow breath. ‘Ava, when Nicholas first bought the land for Paradise, the council practically begged him to take on the coastline as well. There was no money left to put into it, the town was run down and almost empty, and those who were left had terrible gambling habits. You’ve seen for yourself how tempting it is to spend money in the arcades. That’s all they did all day long, hoping for a big win despite the fact that they couldn’t afford food or their rent. Nicholas agreed to take on the town and invest into it. No one has ever been told that they can’t come here – in fact we actively encourage people to visit. But they don’t because they know that we run it and have boycotted it.’
‘They are strange.’
‘Quite so,’ he agreed. Three waiters came over, carrying trays laden with food. I hadn’t so much as seen a menu, so was surprised when a large plate was placed in front of me.
‘If you’re at the seaside, you have to try the fish and chips,’ Simeon explained, laughing at my expression. ‘It’s a tradition. You really can’t beat it.’
‘And what exactly are those?’ I poked my fork into a lump of green goo.
‘They’re mushy peas,’ he replied. ‘Honestly, they taste far better than they look. Give them a try.’
The meal was delicious. I quickly added fish and chips on to my ‘favourite meals’ list and finished the lot.
‘Can we go for a walk now?’ I asked, rubbing my stomach.
‘Shall we go down to the pier?’ he replied. ‘The wind seems to have died down a bit.’
We left the restaurant and retraced our steps. Feeling suddenly free, I ran. When I got to the bottom, I leaned over the side, watching the water crash around the bottom of the pillars supporting the pier. Simeon and Linda caught up with me eventually, looking bemused.
‘Sorry,’ I skipped over to them, ‘I got a little carried away.’
‘Not at all,’ Simeon chuckled. ‘You really are incredibly fast.’
‘Can we go on the beach now?’ I jumped up and down on the spot. ‘Please?’
‘Of course,’ he replied, ‘lead the way.’
As I approached the town end of the pier, I could see a couple walking hand-in-hand along the beach and a family of four – two parents and two small children playing in the sand. I swung myself around the end of the pier, kicked off my shoes and raced right up to the water’s edge where I jumped in and out of the cold sea, making deep rivets in the wet sand. When I tired of my game, I wandered back over to where Simeon and Linda stood.
As I passed the family, the younger of the two children approached me, a blue bucket in one hand and a bright orange spade in the other.
‘San’ castle?’ He held the bucket up to me.
‘What did you say?’ I crouched down so I was the same height as him. He was adorable, with chubby cheeks, blue eyes and white-blond hair.
‘San’ castle?’
‘Show me.’
He squatted down, dug into the sand with his spade and emptied it into the bucket. Repeating this several times, he then tipped the bucket over, whacked the bottom of it with his spade and pulled the bucket up with the air of a magician revealing the end result of his trick.
‘San’ castle.’
‘Can I have a go?’
He held out the spade to me. Taking it, I dug deep and filled the bucket right to the top then tipped it over.
‘Pat, pat,’ he instructed. I tapped the bottom with the spade, which seemed to please him and then carefully lifted the bucket off. For a first attempt it wasn’t a bad little castle. The little boy squealed with delight then jumped on to it with both feet, crushing it instantly. I laughed and tickled him under the chin.
‘We’re going to have to get back now, I’m afraid,’ Simeon said. ‘The tide will be coming in shortly.’
‘Ok.’ I stood up and dusted my clothes off. ‘Bye bye.’ I waved at the little boy.
‘Bye bye, Ava,’ he replied.
I froze.
‘How do you know my name?’
‘He must have heard us talking on the pier.’ Linda reached out and stroked the white-blond hair. ‘Clever little thing, aren’t you? Are we ready then?’
With a last wave at the family, I put my shoes back on and headed for the car. Whilst the day had been fun, I was quite glad to be getting back. Apart from feeling tired, there were grains of sand sticking to my skin in all manner of places and I couldn’t wait to get underneath the shower.
*
My day trip to the coast lifted my spirits and I was brimming over with happiness for several days. The Paradise members were eager to hear about my experiences and seemed truly thrilled that I’d enjoyed it so much. Well, everyone except for Gracie, who refused to be drawn into conversation about my excursion. Thinking that maybe she was jealous, I tried not to feel too hurt when she rejected the gifts I’d brought back for her.
Other than that, my inability to sleep soundly was the only negative aspect of my new life. Almost nightly I woke up breathing heavily with my sheets tangled up around me. In order to try and relax my mind, I tried listening to music on my MP3 player before I went to sleep, but it didn’t seem to make much difference.
One night, just over three months after moving to the commune, I awoke in the early hours with a start. As my eyes acclimatised to the dark, I scanned the room, taking long, deep breaths. The hairs on the backs of my arms were standing on end and a shiver ran through me. Climbing out of bed I moved over to the window and pressed my nose against it, staring out into the back garden. Unable to see much, I grabbed my robe and headed outside. A shape loomed up through the darkness.
‘Argh!’
‘Sorry, Miss Ava,’ a gruff voice said in my ear, ‘didn’t mean to scare you.’
Two security guards stepped forward. Their uniforms were identical to those worn by the guards I’d seen in the town, except these were red rather than green.
‘Is everything all right, miss?’
‘Well it was until you gave me a heart attack,’ I scolded. ‘Something woke me up that’s all. I thought I heard voices.’
‘Voices, miss?’
‘It sounded like someone was outside my window so I just thought I’d take a look.’
‘Miss Ava! You must not put yourself at risk!’ the gruff-voiced one exclaimed. ‘There’s a phone in your pod that links directly to our office. If you have any concerns at all you should contact us and we’ll come and check for you. It’s what we do.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.’
‘We just want to keep you safe, miss. Now, if you wouldn’t mind going back inside, we’ll conduct a search of the outside of your pod and if there’s anything else you need, please use the phone.’ He swept me back down the path and through my pod door. ‘Have a good night, miss.’
Shaking my head, I went back to my room and climbed into bed.
*
I half expected to be told off the following morning and felt somewhat nervous heading into breakfast but no one mentioned the previous night at all. In fact, the people around me seemed somewhat pre-occupied. When Simeon entered the room he climbed up on a chair and cleared his throat loudly.
‘Can I have your attention please?’ The entire room fell quiet and every single person turned to watch him. ‘Thank you. I have some very exciting news! This morning Nicholas contacted me and asked me to start preparations for a new intake of Paradise Community members.’
People glanced at each other sideways but no one spoke.
‘Now, as I’m sure you’re aware,’ he continued, ‘our current accommodation is full. Therefore, we must build two accommodation blocks to house our new neighbours. I am very excited to tell you all about “Project Welcome”, so named because, as you know, the policy of our community is to welcome with open arms all those sent to us by our esteemed leader. We have put lists of names up for the building teams near the doors. Those selected will be expected to work in shifts, assisting with the construction of the new blocks.’
‘How long do we have to complete them?’ a man shouted out from somewhere in the middle of the room.
‘The newcomers will be here in just over a month,’ Simeon replied, ‘so we’ll need all hands on deck to get the project completed in time. There will be a small group going into town today to arrange the delivery of the supplies that we can’t provide for ourselves and I also have a job to do, so the work will begin tomorrow. Please check the lists as soon as possible. If you don’t find your name on there and you’d like to help, please speak to either myself, Naomi or Linda and we’ll let you know what we need doing. Thank you.’
I expected him to come over to my table but instead he headed out of the door again. Excusing myself, I crossed over to where the lists had been pinned to the wall, glanced over them then sprinted out into the corridor.
‘Simeon, wait! My name’s not on the list.’
‘That’s right.’ He flashed his usual grin at me but kept on walking.
‘But I want to help with the building work.’
‘That’s very sweet but it really isn’t necessary. We have plenty of people living in our community who have building experience and expertise. I’m sure there’s something else we can find for you to do.’
‘Ok, well how about you let me go into town with the others?’ I asked.
He stopped short, his eyebrows raised.
‘Excuse me?’
‘You said that some of the others are going into town to order supplies. Can I go with them?’
‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’
My heart sank. ‘Why? Don’t you trust me?’
‘Of course I do. It’s just that it’ll be a very different experience for you – going there as one of us.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ I replied.
‘Ok. Well they’re setting off right after lunch so if you still want to go then, meet them at the front entrance.’
‘Great, t
hanks!’ I bounced off down the corridor wishing it was lunchtime already.
*
At one o’clock exactly I was sitting in a large saloon car next to Naomi. Two men, who were introduced to me as Frank and Drew, accompanied us. I was issued with designer sunglasses and, glancing at my reflection in the mirror, I thought I looked kind of cool.
‘Ok, we have two places to go in town,’ Naomi told me, ‘and the plan is that we get the jobs done as quickly as possible and get straight back home. Ok?’
‘Ok,’ I nodded, ‘straight in and out.’
‘That’s right. So, Drew will stay with the car,’ the driver nodded in response, ‘and Frank will come with us.’
‘Ok. This is so exciting!’
Once we’d parked up, we headed for the first stop. Frank and I waited just inside the door of a small office while Naomi marched up to a man sitting behind a desk and gave him a sheet of paper with our order written on it. He was obviously used to this kind of interaction as he didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. Next we went to the only bank in the town. Again, Frank and I waited, perched on plastic chairs in the reception area whilst Naomi went off to speak to one of the managers. She returned a little while later, tucking something into the pocket of her trousers. Nodding to us, she headed straight out of the door and we hurried to catch her up.
‘Ava?’
Standing in a small group, right outside the bank were Beth, Noah, Oscar and Lissa.
Chapter Seventeen
‘Come,’ Naomi spoke softly in my ear, ‘we must get back.’
‘Ava? Is that you?’ Beth took a tentative step forwards but, as soon as she moved, Frank stepped between us.
‘It’s ok.’ I put my hand on his arm and stepped around him.
‘How are you?’ Beth asked but her eyes were on Frank.