‘Hi,’ I said unenthusiastically, looking around to see if there was anyone else I knew. So far, there didn’t seem to be. I waited for Beatrice to turn away and ignore me. She was one of the bleach-blond, spray-tan brigade at school, the ones who chewed gum and never thought I was worth talking to – and were conceited enough to think I minded. Then her eyes lighted on my lime-green wristband and widened.
‘How did you get that? That’s a staff wristband.’
‘I know.’ I smiled smugly. ‘I’m here with my sister. We’re both working as volunteers. Been here for over a week already.’
I could see the thoughts whirring through her mind. She had only the common fluorescent orange wristband of a paying visitor. She didn’t usually hang out with a swotty kid like me, but if I was staff I’d have an inside track on things …
Before she had decided what to do about that, I heard an equally unwelcome voice on my other side. ‘Hey, you! I’ve been looking for you.’
It was Dex. He already had a large hand on my shoulder, pinning me to the spot. I’d managed to avoid him completely for the last couple of days and had been so successful I’d assumed he was likewise avoiding me. So I’d stopped looking out for him. Big mistake. My heart started beating madly as I tried to pull away.
I caught a whiff of beer on his breath as he bent closer. ‘Where the fuck is Beck? Tell her it’s time she came back now. She’s had her little joke and I’ve been patient but I bloody well want her back.’
I tried again to shake off his arm. ‘That’s up to her, isn’t it?’ As far as I knew Becky was still in my tent, sleeping, which seemed to be the only thing she wanted to do. It wouldn’t take him a minute to find her if he really looked.
‘She’ll come back,’ he said. ‘She always does.’ He bent closer still and hissed, ‘You haven’t said anything to her, have you?’
This time I managed to step away from him and say bravely, ‘So what if I have?’ but really I was petrified. It was getting dark, everyone was stoned or drunk. Who would notice if he wanted to have a go at me again? Where was Finn? Why was I such an idiot as not to have kept an eye out for him?
‘Bitch,’ he said, and seemed about to say more, then suddenly wheeled around and disappeared. I looked up to see Marcus watching us from a distance.
Beatrice said, ‘Wow! Who was that? Cool tattoos.’ She tossed her long hair and the two girls with her giggled.
‘He’s nasty, you want to stay away from him.’ I was starting to sound like Finn, but I wouldn’t wish Dex Barker on anyone, not even silly, bitchy Beatrice Graham.
I eventually managed to get rid of her and went back to the tent to make sure Becky was all right. I didn’t know whether to mention what Dex had said or not. She must know what he was like, so what was the use of worrying her further? As long as Marcus was around, I didn’t think Dex would try anything obvious, like dragging her back to his van. She was awake and cheerful for once.
‘Come on, let’s go and raaaave!’ she said, redoing her makeup in a tiny pocket mirror. She didn’t bother to wipe off what was already there, just put a new layer on top. ‘There’s supposed to be proper music tonight, isn’t there? And the dance tent’s opening. Time I showed you the fun side of being at a festival.’
‘Well, okay.’
‘And get changed. You can’t party dressed like that. D’you want to borrow some of my stuff?’
‘Er, no, I’ll find something of my own.’ If I was going to get dressed up, I didn’t fancy the pink ballroom dress or the turquoise tutu, neither of which looked like they’d ever been washed.
I riffled through my rucksack. I found the ripped shirt and pushed it hurriedly out of sight. I was never going to wear that again. Eventually I chose one of the skimpy tops I had packed with such high hopes. I hadn’t had a chance to wear them yet. I’d stick to jeans and boots on my lower half, but there was no harm in glamming up a bit, was there? I didn’t want to be totally overshadowed by Beatrice Graham and her crowd.
It was typical of Becky that after haranguing me to go with her, she linked up with a crowd of weird people as soon as we entered the dance tent and more or less forgot me. The only interest she showed was when one of her friends offered to buy me a drink. She was adamant I couldn’t have any alcohol because I was too young. That was a bit much coming from her! I remembered the arguments she’d had with her mum about being allowed to drink and she’d definitely been younger than I was now.
So I was quite pleased when Cami appeared and suggested we go and check out the Chill Zone.
‘Should you be up?’ I asked. He was limping a bit and sat down with a groan on one of the rough wooden benches inside the Chill Zone tent. It was quite strange in here, all silvery light and recordings of running water (why couldn’t they have just pitched the tent beside the river and had the real thing?) but at least it was quiet enough to hear yourself speak.
He grunted. ‘Lying in that van is so bloody boring. Anyway, Marcus wanted me out of his hair, said I should move back to my tent. Then I’d be bored and freezing.’ He glowered around, looking more disreputable than usual with his missing teeth and blackened eye.
‘Have you seen Dex?’ I presumed Cami would be even more nervous of him than I was.
He just sneered. ‘I don’t think he’ll give me any trouble, do you? You heard what Marcus said to him.’
Which made me immediately want to ask if Cami had been dealing for Dex, and what had happened to cause the fight. But it was no use asking people round here any questions. They never answered them. At least not to me. And I got the impression the police didn’t get much co-operation either.
‘Bet Marcus is pleased the police have finally cleared off,’ I said, hoping to nudge the conversation in the right direction.
‘Bloody right he is. Don’t know why they think people here had anything to do with the bloody painting. Picasso. As if anyone round here has even heard of him. That’s the way it always is, just ’cos we look a bit different they want to pick on us.’ He sniffed and tried to look self-righteous.
‘And of course none of you ever break any laws.’
He looked at me warily. I don’t think he really got irony.
A high-pitched laugh heralded the arrival of Beatrice Graham. Brilliant. The girl had spoken to me more in one day than in the whole of our school career. And I would have really preferred it if she hadn’t.
‘Mind if I join you?’ She didn’t wait for an answer but sat down on the far side of Cami. She was eyeing him with fascination, giving him her best toothy smile. He seemed quite interested in her, too. He certainly spent a long time eyeing up the amount of flesh she was displaying.
‘What happened to your face?’ she said, eyes wide with interest. ‘Ooo, looks sore.’
‘I fell off the stage. Lucky I didn’t break anything, really.’ So that was his story. ‘We’ve been doing the setting up here all week. My brother’s in charge, you know.’
‘Ooo.’ Beatrice wriggled her breasts to show how impressed she was. Jesus, did Cami have to stare so hard? ‘Georgina said she’d been helping too.’
I got the impression Beatrice was hoping Cami would contradict me but all he said was, ‘Yeah, I suppose.’
He was watching someone who had come into the tent, hesitating momentarily before coming over to us. I tensed, but it was only Finn.
‘Nice to see you,’ said Cami snidely. ‘Thought you’d buggered off for good. Where’ve you been?’
I wouldn’t have put it quite like that, but I wanted to know the answer too. I’d hardly seen anything of him since our second trip to the village.
Finn shrugged. He glanced at Beatrice but didn’t seem impressed. ‘Around. How’re you feeling?’
‘Bloody marvellous.’
‘That’s good.’ He turned to me. ‘Where’s Beck?’
Great. Why did his first thought have to be for my sister? ‘She was having a good time in the dance tent, last time I saw her.’
He thought about
this and then frowned. ‘I’m not sure it’s good for her to be on her own there.’
Cami narrowed his eyes. ‘What’s it got to do with you? You can’t save everyone. In fact, being you, you can’t save anyone. Can you?’
Finn just stood there, his face an absolute blank. ‘Whatever.’
Cami said, ‘Go and check on her if you want. And then you can go off to your studying. You don’t have to waste your time here with us.’ He said in an aside to Beatrice, ‘He’s a real hot-shot swot, is Finn.’
She giggled and looked at me. ‘I’m surprised to see Georgina here at all. I thought she’d be at home revising.’
I could feel my face going rigid, trying to look like I didn’t care. She wouldn’t be so smug when she failed every exam in sight and had to get a job sweeping streets, would she?
‘You know, that’s not a bad idea,’ said Finn. ‘I haven’t done nearly as much revision as I’d intended, with one thing and another.’
‘And you wouldn’t want to upset the teachers at your prissy school, would you?’
Finn shrugged and said, ‘I didn’t choose the school.’ Then he said stiffly, ‘See you around,’ and wandered off.
‘Bloody orphans,’ said Cami. ‘Get everything they want. And everyone has to feel sorry for them, don’t they?’
‘Is he an orphan?’ asked Beatrice, sounding interested, which made Cami scowl all the harder.
‘Yeah. His father buggered off and left Finn and his mum when Finn was a baby. It wasn’t as if his father was even interested in him.’
I remembered all too well that Finn had said he didn’t have any parents, but he hadn’t told me anything else. I said casually, ‘So Finn’s mum and dad had split up, had they? Same as mine, except both of mine have remarried.’
‘And I bet they still look out for you,’ said Cami with his usual sneer. ‘I don’t know why bloody Finn is so up himself. It just happened that when his dad died the life insurance money went to him, to give him a good education.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with a good education,’ I said. I mean, I had to stand up for Finn a bit, didn’t I?
‘Isn’t there?’
‘Why are you so down on Finn? At least he looked out for you after …’ I glanced at Beatrice, who was listening enthralled. ‘After your accident.’
‘For about five minutes.’ He sniffed loudly and looked fierce. ‘You want to know why I’m down on him, do you? It’s not because he thinks he’s so bloody la-di-dah. No, it’s because he’s the sort of person who’d hand his own mother over to the police. What do you think about that, hey? Good as killed her, Finn did, and he doesn’t even fucking care.’ He spat on the grassy floor and then groaned as the movement jarred his ribs. ‘Bastard. I told Marcus we shouldn’t have him around. You can’t trust him.’
I stared at him. What did he mean, about Finn not being trustworthy? Handing his mother in to the police? He wouldn’t do that, would he? I mean, why? I thought of how he was when the police were around the site. He wasn’t nervous of them, as almost everyone else was, but he didn’t seem that keen either.
‘Ooo, your life sounds so fascinating,’ said Beatrice breathlessly. She was probably hoping he was going to tell us more, but true to form Cami clammed up after that. He was happy enough to talk about the festival and the bands who would start arriving tomorrow, but family was off limits again.
Chapter Nineteen
FINN
I walked into the forest, as far as I could go. I wanted to scream or punch something – or weep. I wanted to lie down on the damp earth and give up.
Except I’d promised myself I wouldn’t give up.
It was worth making an effort. It had to be. Sometimes there might be a good result. Beck had been a friend of Mum’s, I couldn’t let her down just because of what Cami had said.
After a while I realised I was near the top of the track, the route all the motor vehicles came in. It was as though I’d come here on purpose. I checked to see that I got reception on my phone. Yes! I began to make some calls. First to Michelle, who was brilliant and said she could come by herself in a couple of hours.
Then, after only a slight hesitation, I called the number Inspector Morrison had given me.
Sometimes you had to keep trying.
GEORGE
I wasn’t sure if I was pleased or not when Finn reappeared a few hours later. Cami, Beatrice and I had moved over to the pub tent, where Cami seemed to have no difficulty procuring alcohol for us. I’d checked on Beck a couple of times but seen no sign of Finn. Cami paid for drinks and crisps for me and Beatrice and her giggly friends, which was a bit of a surprise. He also gave me a screwed up bit of paper to pass to Beatrice. I wondered if he was giving her his mobile number, as if it would be any use out here.
He was back at the bar when Finn approached.
‘Shouldn’t you be studying?’ I said. I was still annoyed with him for only being interested in Becky.
‘Shouldn’t you be?’ he shot back, but for some reason he seemed in a much better humour. ‘Actually, I came to find you ’cos Beck wants a word. You coming?’
‘I suppose.’ I was pretty fed up of Beatrice and her friends’ conversation – or lack of it. I’d far rather be with Finn.
I stood up, glad that I was drinking coke at the moment so he couldn’t be disapproving. Beatrice eyed Finn up and down. I could tell she wanted this boy’s attention too, even though she probably thought he was pretty plain compared to Cami. I remembered I’d thought that at first.
‘See you around, Georgie,’ she said.
‘Probably,’ I muttered.
‘A friend?’ asked Finn once we were out of earshot.
‘No.’
He grinned at that.
‘Where’ve you been?’ I asked. He had that smell of the woods about him, so different from the smoky tents. I didn’t think he’d been studying. Maybe he’d been off in the forest again, doing one of his night walks. Looking for – what?
‘Around. Look, here’s Beck.’
Becky was sitting on a bench outside the Chill Zone tent. She seemed to have shed most of her clothing while she was dancing and was still hot enough to be fanning her cheeks. In the gloom beside her sat another woman who was speaking earnestly. They turned as we approached.
‘Here she is,’ said Finn, as though they couldn’t see me for themselves. He indicated the stranger. ‘This is Michelle. She’s, er, a friend of Beck’s.’
‘Hi,’ I said doubtfully. Michelle was large and sensibly dressed in jeans and a jersey. She wasn’t like any friend of Becky’s I’d seen around here.
‘All decided?’ said Finn to Becky. ‘You okay to go?’
‘Look, I told you, I can’t go just now.’ Becky had a hunted look about her. The numerous dark locks had come loose and she pushed them back from her pale face. She looked very small and fragile, making constant, restless movements. ‘I told my mum I’d keep an eye on George. And … Well, the festival proper is just about to start. I can’t miss that.’
‘I’ve got my car here, I can give you a lift.’ This was Michelle.
‘Dex won’t know where you’ve gone,’ said Finn.
‘Where are you going?’ I asked, more loudly than I’d intended. I didn’t like the sound of this. I’d got used to having Becky sharing my tent. I didn’t want her to desert me.
‘She’s going to stay with Michelle for a while.’
‘I don’t know …’ said Becky, fidgeting. ‘Who’ll look after George?’
‘She can go, too.’ Finn’s face brightened as he spoke, ‘Yeah, she can go with you. That’s easily the best thing.’
I glared at him. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ What was all this about?
Becky gave a shudder and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘I’d rather be here, you know?’ She looked around, as though there was an answer out there. Then she jumped up and faced the three of us. ‘I know! Why don’t we let George decide?’ She waved her arms about. ‘I’ll do what
George does. If she wants to go, I’ll go. If she wants to stay, I’ll stay.’
Then she smiled angelically.
Michelle shrugged her plump shoulders.
Finn opened his mouth. ‘I don’t really think …’
Michelle touched his arm. ‘Whatever Beck says,’ she said firmly.
They all looked at me. I gazed around the festival site that was just beginning to come to life. Tomorrow there would be stalls to buy stuff from, and bigger bands, and in a few days there would be Murdo Mensah! I couldn’t miss him, I couldn’t. I could see that Becky really wanted to stay, too.
I took a deep breath. ‘I’d rather stay,’ I said, not meeting Finn’s eyes.
‘Yes!’ Becky clapped her hands. ‘See, George wants to stay, and she needs me, so we’ll both stay, okay?’
Finn and Michelle considered her, neither saying a word.
‘I’ll go after the festival, okay?’ said Becky, looking from one to the other of them. ‘Dex isn’t going to do anything with Marcus around. I’ll be good, and I’ll go once the festival is over, I promise.’
Finn glanced at Michelle. ‘It’s got to be her decision,’ said Michelle. ‘You know that.’
‘She’s right,’ said Becky, nodding happily.
‘But to make a break now …’ said Finn. ‘You think you’re coping, but it won’t always be like this.’
‘I’m fine,’ said Becky, impatient now. ‘I can’t go, can I? I’ve got to keep an eye on George.’
Finn’s finely shaped lips were pressed into a hard line. He closed his eyes for a moment. I thought he was going to cry or something. ‘Okay, have it your way.’ He stood up abruptly. ‘Don’t you think it was time George was in bed, then? It’s past midnight and there’s still a lot to do tomorrow.’ He turned and looked at me. ‘You fool,’ he said, very quietly.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Becky looked after him, and shrugged. She was shivering now, looking round for her clothing. ‘Yeah, I think we should call it a day.’
She said a hurried goodnight to Michelle and hustled me over to our tent.
Music and Lies (George and Finn Book 1) Page 10