Getting dressed was a nightmare. Her fingers were all thumbs and her thumbs wouldn’t work. Pulling on the fleecy suit over one of Sylvia’s froufrou lingerie sets, she was already sweating as she fastened the safety harness. Then she picked up the silver Lycra bodysuit, which shimmered and danced in the rays of dusty sunlight, and gradually, grunting and groaning, eased herself into it. Boots . . . Her fingers shook as she tied the silver laces. Pick up the gloves . . . pick up the helmet . . . She glanced in the mirror. No make-up . . . She’d need loads. Her hands shook even more as she reached for her slap bag.
Twenty minutes later the slender silver, green, and purple person who stared back at her looked like a serpent. It didn’t look like it could ever wear Timberlands and dungarees and swear a lot. A shadow fell across her reflection. Billie swirled round.
‘You look stunning, sweetheart.’ Reuben lounged in the doorway. ‘But I think the Lily Savage make-up might be a bit too much.’
Chapter Forty
‘What the hell do you want?’
Reuben frowned. ‘You always greet me in the same way, Billie. I can’t think why. As I own this place I have every right to be here. With all the crowds, I merely thought it would be pertinent to be on the spot to protect my investment, and also take the opportunity to inspect my – er – assets.’ His eyes trawled up and down her body. ‘And I must say they’re shaping up very nicely indeed.’
‘Sod off!’
Reuben shook his head, sighing. ‘Not nice language – and especially when you look so gorgeously feminine for once . . . And very insulting since I only came in here to wish you good luck and –’
‘No you didn’t.’ Billie gritted her teeth. ‘You’ve come to harass me – as always.’
Reuben smiled his slow smile. ‘As with so many other things, Billie, you’ve got it spectacularly wrong. There’s absolutely nothing left to harass you over, is there?’
‘What?’ Billie’s nerves were jangling far too loudly for this sort of convoluted argument. ‘If you’ve got a point to make, just bloody make it – and then bog off.’
Reuben sighed even more dramatically. ‘It’s true what they say, you know. You might be able to take the lady out of the cab-driving, but you’ll never take the cab-driving out of the lady.’
‘Reuben, go away! Leave me alone!’
‘One day, maybe. When I’m satisfied that . . .’ He shrugged. ‘Oh yes, you wanted me to get to the point, didn’t you? OK then, as I said, as you’ve apparently made everything to do with the rich and famous Mr Squires public knowledge, then I’d be very grateful if you’d stop accusing me of this ridiculous vendetta.’
Billie’s head reeled. She whimpered a bit. Why the hell didn’t the Whiteacres ground crew come storming back into the shed and trample Reuben into the dusty concrete? Why didn’t Faith come back and hit him with her handbag? Why wasn’t there anyone else around when the whole of the airfield was teeming with about ten million people?
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Reuben shifted his weight to his other hip. He inspected his fingernails and smoothed back his hair. Sod the cavalry coming to the rescue, Billie thought, I’ll just go over and punch him myself –
‘Your mother knows all about Kieran.’
‘What?’ Billie thought she’d stopped breathing. She sucked in some air. ‘No one knows about Kieran except you and me and Kieran. And you’ve never met my mother! What the hell are you talking about?’
Reuben’s smile was knife-edge sharp this time. ‘She came to see me a couple of days ago. Lovely lady, Billie. You didn’t tell me she was so pretty.’
‘She did what?’
‘Came to see me. She’d chatted to Miranda too, apparently. I’d say she just wanted to get a perspective on your life. You obviously keep far too many secrets . . . Anyway –’
‘And you told her about Kieran?’
‘No, I didn’t. She already knew. She just seemed to want to fill in the gaps. Honestly, I didn’t need to tell her anything. I merely talked about your working for me, but believe me, she knew. Names, dates, times, places . . .’ Reuben shifted his position again, and flexed his shoulder muscles. Then he walked towards her. She backed away. If she screamed no one would hear her, would they? Everyone outside was screaming with excitement. One more scream would be lost in the multitudes.
‘So,’ he stopped a couple of feet in front of her, ‘can we please stop all this crap? I’m not harassing you, I’m not stalking you, I’m not intimidating you.’
‘You are! You bloody always have! What the hell is your problem?’
Reuben’s eyes flickered up and down her body again.
Oh, come on, sweetheart. You’re not that dumb.’
‘Bastard! You’re living with Miranda! She loves you!’
‘Yeah, I know.’ He frowned. ‘And why the hell should that make any difference?’
‘You total shit!’ Billie screamed.
‘Billie – wow, you look totally amazing! God, I’m so sorry I haven’t been here. It took ages to get the Shorts organised, and Barnaby still hasn’t turned up, and then I got tied up with the remaining Incs, who wanted to discuss things, and then my –’ Jonah rushed into the warehouse. He skidded to a halt and looked enquiringly at them both.
Oh, I’m sorry. I’m obviously interrupting something.’
‘No you’re not.’ Reuben was all smiles. ‘I was just leaving. Good luck for the little display, both of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go and collect Miranda. Naturally, neither of us would want to miss a minute of your show.’
Jonah looked as though he was going to thank Reuben for his good wishes. Billie flew in first. ‘Bugger off and rot in hell!’
Both men flinched slightly. Billie didn’t care. She couldn’t believe what was happening. ‘You’ve been in here, telling lies, propositioning me, and all the time Miranda’s here? Why the hell didn’t she come and see me, then?’
‘Oh, I’m sure she will.’ Reuben headed for the stream of sunlight glaring through the rolled back double doors. ‘But she had a small task to do for me first. I left her next door checking with – um – Sylvia that she’s OK with her new living arrangements.’ He directed the smile straight at Billie. ‘You see, Billie, you really have got me all wrong. I’m nothing more than a caring landlord.’
Billie squeaked. Miranda was next door. Faith was next door. Sylvia was next door. The whole bloody world would know about Kieran Squires by now. She clenched her fists and rushed towards the doorway, but Reuben, waving jauntily, was crossing the cracked concrete and just approaching Sylv, her mother, and the still-gaping crocodile. They all, with the exception of the crocodile, waved too. Faith’s wave seemed a bit rigid, and her mouth sagged open. Billie, feeling no sympathy, hoped that she felt some sort of guilt on seeing Reuben and Billie in the same air space.
It was only when she’d spun round to walk back inside the warehouse that she realised she was wearing the wingwalking costume. Faith’s stunned expression probably had far more to do with that than the unscheduled appearance of Reuben Wainwright.
Jonah raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘And are you going to tell me about it?’
She shook her head. She felt drained and angry and shaky all at the same time. ‘Nope. I’ve made a complete prat of myself, and now I’m reaping the consequences.’
‘I think it would be better if we got it cleared up before the show. Possibly not the best thing to be doing – wingwalking – while you’re jittering with nerves and in a foul temper.’
‘I’m not jittering with nerves. But I am bloody angry!’
Jonah smiled. ‘Yes, your ex-boss does seem to have an amazing effect on you.’
‘Jesus, Jonah! You think I fancy him, don’t you? Everyone thinks I bloody fancy him!’ She sucked in short, angry breaths. ‘Look, years ago, I had a stupid affair with a married man, OK? Reuben knew. He’s held it over me ever since. There! That’s it!’
If she’d expected sympa
thy, then she was going to be unlucky. Jonah just wrinkled his nose. ‘Is that all? God, three-quarters of the consenting adults in this country have had flings with people they shouldn’t have done. Why the hell would it matter to Reuben or anyone else? No, sorry. You’ll have to come up with something better than that. I’d say the man had the hots for you and –’
‘Get stuffed!’ Billie wrenched the helmet from her head. Her ears itched and her hair was damp with sweat. Proper hearing rushed in. ‘Still, I suppose I couldn’t expect anything else from you, could I? Men always stick together! And your track record is pretty abysmal, isn’t it?’
Jonah’s face paled. Billie felt almost triumphant. Serve him right. Bloody men! The phone rang but neither of them answered it. Her recorded voice screeched through the silence, followed by Estelle’s real one.
‘Excuse me! Would someone please tell me if I’m flying the Slingsby? Only if I am, there are simply a couple of minutes to go before the slot, and I’ll need -’
Billie skirted Jonah and grabbed the receiver. ‘Estelle?
Yes, sorry. Barnaby phoned me about an hour ago, I think . . . No, he’s in Paris . . . No, he won’t be back! What? . . . No, Jonah’s here. Hang on . . .’
He took the phone from her as it if were reptilian and snapped one-syllable staccato messages into it. Billie stood and shivered with self-righteous indignation.
Jonah slammed the phone down and looked at her. ‘Nice of you to tell me about Barnaby. You might run the bloody warehouse, Billie, but you’re not in charge of Sullivanair!’
‘Christ! There was hardly time to tell you about it, was there? Now where are you going?’
‘To watch Estelle in the Slingsby, of course. As you know nothing about planes I’m sure it won’t interest you in the slightest, but I happen to care.’ He stopped in the doorway and glared at her. ‘And as we’re scheduled straight afterwards, get your hat back on, and get yourself into the right frame of mind – if that’s not too much to ask!’
Frustrated beyond belief, Billie rushed after him. By the time she’d reached the doorway, Jonah was striding towards the perimeter fence. Bastard, she thought, and poked out her tongue.
‘Billie!’ Faith suddenly erupted from the melee round the crocodile outside Sylvia’s unit. ‘Billie – we need to talk!’
Sylvia, Miranda and Reuben were all staring at her. Billie closed her eyes. Great. Nothing better for calming the nerves than three blazing rows in the space of an hour. ‘Mum, not now. Yes, we do need to talk, but really –’
‘You’re wingwalking! Sylvia said so – and Miranda – and I didn’t know!’
‘No, I wanted it to be a surprise.’ Billie exhaled, forgetting that she wasn’t going to allow herself to get sucked into any more arguments. ‘No doubt like you did when you’d conveniently failed to remember to mention your visit to Reuben.’
Faith blushed. ‘He shouldn’t have told you. I was just being –’
‘Nosy? Yes, you were. And I hope you found out all you wanted to know.’
‘Not really, no. And don’t take that tone with me. I’m still your mother.’
Oh God. Billie suddenly felt thoroughly deflated. Why was she yelling at Faith? After all, she was the one who’d been in the wrong first, wasn’t she? If she hadn’t had the affair with Kieran, then Reuben wouldn’t have got involved and – oh, sod it! What the hell did any of it matter? ‘OK, sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted.’
‘No, you shouldn’t. And you shouldn’t be wingwalking either!’
‘Mum, the wingwalking is the least of my problems, as you probably well know.’
‘Really?’ Faith straightened her shoulders and didn’t quite meet Billie’s eyes. ‘I don’t think I get your drift.’
Billie hesitated. Reuben might have been lying. She couldn’t mention Kieran – just in case. ‘I think you probably do, but don’t let it worry you. No doubt you’ll have dug out someone else’s sordid secrets before tea time!’
‘Billie! What on earth is wrong with you?’
Billie shrugged. ‘To be honest, Mum, I don’t really know. I think I’m probably going mad. Maybe we’ll talk about it one day, but not now. Not when I’m supposed to be barnstorming in less than an hour. I hope you’ll watch me and maybe feel just a little bit proud. God knows, I’ve given you little enough to be proud of, have I?’
And spinning round, she raced back into the warehouse, dashing at her eyes with her silver gloves. Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.
‘If you’re going to cry, I hope that mascara’s waterproof, doll, otherwise you’ll be doing the wingwalking looking like Alice Cooper.’
Billie raised her head and blinked at Miranda. ‘Are you going to start nagging at me too?’
‘Course not. Look, doll, to be honest, I haven’t got a clue what’s going on here, but I’m sure it can all be sorted out later.’
‘Has Reuben –’
‘Told me that you and he have had words? Yes. Miranda rushed across the shed and hugged her. ‘Bloody hell! I’m so sorry! I’ve given him a right rocket! Your nerves must be shot to pieces without him playing the heavy! What was he going on about, anyway? He said it was something to do with the warehouses, but I didn’t understand.’
Billie pulled a face and sniffed. ‘It’s all got a bit Shakespearean, if you ask me. No one is telling anyone all of everything, only half-truths, and –’
‘Sorry, doll, you’ve lost me again. I didn’t do any Shakespeare at school, but if you mean it’s all going to end in a bit of a Gwyneth Paltrow, then I’m right with you on that one. Your mum looks like she’s going to bawl her head off at any minute and I’m not far off it –’
‘Don’t!’ Billie wailed into Miranda’s pink plaits. ‘Now I’m really going to cry and my face’ll go all blotchy even before I get off the ground!’
‘You look like a dream, doll. And I’m petrified for you – and I really miss you.’
‘I miss you too.’ Billie blew her nose. ‘The flat isn’t half so scuzzy.’
Miranda giggled. ‘That’s better. Now, you go and be sensational and I’ll keep my fingers crossed and try not to panic. You must be shitting yourself, though, surely? I mean, I know you’ve practised, but this is the first time in public and –’
‘Please don’t start me off again!’ Billie groaned. ‘My knees are buckling as it is. Just wish me luck.’
Miranda kissed her and hugged her some more, and then, grabbing the helmet and the silver gloves, Billie ran from the warehouse. She didn’t stop running until she reached the perimeter fence. It was far enough away from the warehouses for her to feel more relaxed. God – what a fiasco! She took a deep breath, aware that people were staring at her in the body suit. Let them stare. She couldn’t feel any more embarrassed than she already did.
The show was in full swing. Malcolm Bletchley had appointed himself as commentator, and was droning informatively from his Tannoy across the field. It was all absolutely perfect. Well, almost . . .
There were queues right round the fence for rides in the Aeroclub’s planes, Estelle was stunning everyone with some real daredevil stunts in the Slingsby, and Vinny was proudly piloting the Shorts on the flying equivalent of ‘trips round the bay’.
The warehousers’ efforts were also going down a storm, with a tailback at Isla’s tarot, and children screaming with delight over Sylvia’s treasure hunt. Billie couldn’t see her mother or the crocodile and presumed they were together somewhere. She felt they deserved each other. Zia had attached himself to the Guspers’ set and was making a promotional video of the whole event.
Billie’s stomach lurched again. It was simply terrifying, the prospect of wingwalking in front of all these people. There were now going to be thousands of pairs of eyes trained on her as she attempted the manoeuvres. What if she froze? What if she slipped? What on earth would happen if she and Jonah had a row in midair and – oh my God!
Hurrying towards her, shoving his way through the crowd, and dressed in his full summer finer
y, was her father.
‘Dad!’ Billie waved like mad and started to run. She threw herself at him, trying to kiss him and hug him at the same time. ‘Oh – I don’t believe it! Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get away.’ Stan held her at arm’s length. ‘But the boys were ace, so I set off at the crack of dawn, and here I am. My goodness, you look pretty! What’s all this in aid of?’
‘I’m – er – being a wingwalker . . .’
‘My God! You’re pulling my leg? Really?’
‘Really. Mum’s not too happy about it.’
‘She wouldn’t be. We had the Waldo Pepper film from the video van. Twice. Well, you know how she’s got a bit of a pash on Robert Redford? She probably thinks you’ll drop off the wing or fry in the smouldering wreckage or both. You leave her to me.’ He chuckled comfortingly. ‘So that’s what you’ve been up to with the Stearman, is it? A spot of barnstorming? Well, well . . .’ He hugged her again, stroking her hair. ‘Goodness, I’m so proud of you.
Billie sniffed back happy tears against his chest. ‘Thanks, Dad. You’ve no idea how pleased I am that you’re here to watch me – and look, there’s the plane on the runway. The one with the crowd round it. Beautiful, isn’t it?’
Stan nodded. ‘Very. Do you know, on second thoughts, I probably won’t watch.’
‘It’s going to be fine. Really. Look, you know how I feel about flying, but this is quite different. It’s so safe – and we’ve practised for ages. Oh, and I can’t wait for you to see my warehouse.’ She felt the happiness oozing back into her veins. Stan couldn’t have appeared at a better time. ‘And can you imagine what the boys would make of this costume?’
‘They’d be bloody rude about it! And proud as Punch. Um – before I go and track down your mother, would it be OK if I went and had a look at the Stearman? Just to give it a bit of once-over?’
‘Of course – but it’s totally safe, Dad. I promise. It’s inspected and tested all the time. And we’ve had the CAA checks done and got all the proper certificates.’
Walking on Air Page 43