The Tango

by Cain Hopwood

  As he bumped through Bruce’s creek bed and climbed up the other side, he was so preoccupied with the thought of the questions he’d have to face, that he completely failed to notice Jade’s Toyota already parked by the fence. When he wandered down the hall into the living room, he was caught completely by surprise when she sprang to her feet and rushed over to give him a hug.

  “When did you get in?” he asked, blinking in surprise.

  “Just this afternoon. I told you silly, remember?”

  Simon tapped his forehead. “Of course, sorry there’s been just so much on that it completely slipped my mind. Shit, how’d you get home from the airport?”

  “It’s OK,” Jade said, patting Simon on the arm. “Fay picked me up. She knew that you’d been flat out and called me yesterday.”

  Simon nodded and opened his mouth to apologise when Jade interrupted.

  “It’s OK, I understand,” she said, waving him quiet. Then she leaned in. “Now tell me everything. Fay was at the hospital when everything went down. She’s filled me in on the last couple of weeks, but not, you know…”

  “The tango?”

  “Yes, what happened?” she asked in a breathy voice.

  Simon took a deep breath, and then let it out. “Look, you’d have been really proud, he did a fantastic job.”

  “To be honest, I didn’t think he’d be able to do it,” she said. Then she cocked her head to one side. “But Simon, what were you thinking dancing with him? This is Galah, they’re not ready for that.”

  “I know but that wasn’t the plan. Fay had arranged some mystery dancer, she was supposed to have come up from the audience.”

  Jade smiled. “Cool idea, very tango.”

  “For sure. That was the angle, they’d never danced before and the audience would see a true argentine tango.”

  Jade pursed her lips. “Risky.”

  “Sure. But if they’re a bit rough it’s expected, so that kind of takes the pressure off.”

  Jade shrugged and Simon ploughed on. “Anyway, she never appeared. I’ve still no idea why.”

  Jade’s eyes were wide. “Christ, what did Daryl do?”

  “Nothing, he froze. He just stood there, high and dry.”

  “Poor bastard.”

  “Exactly. So I went out to rescue him.”

  “To dance with him?”

  Simon straightened. “God no. I just wanted to get him off the stage. But as soon as I touched him he grabbed me and started the routine. And you know how strong he is, what could I do but follow.”

  He then went on to explain how the rest of the dance unfolded. And how, halfway through, Daryl seemed to wake up. Jade’s eyes grew wider and wider as he told her how Daryl went from somnambulist automaton, to tangero extraordinaire.

  “Well that explains a lot,” she said after Simon finished his story. “And the kiss was…”

  “Oh yes. It was,” Simon said. He took a deep breath, then let it out and silence fell.

  It must have been half a minute before Jade replied. She slowly shook her head and then said softly, almost as if to herself, “And I thought I had shitty luck with blokes.”

  Simon let out a soft snort. “Well, given that for the last eight weeks you’ve been chasing the only other gay guy in town, you’re coming a pretty close second.”

  They both laughed out loud, but then Jade frowned. “Shit Simon it’s like some kind of twisted fairy tale. After these last few loveless years for you, you finally find someone and in Galah of all places. Then, before anything can happen, bam! He’s taken away from you.”

  Simon pursed his lips. “I don’t know about your fairytale story. It was just one kiss, I really didn’t really know Daryl all that well. There’s not all that much more to mourn than if any other acquaintance had died.”

  “But still.”

  “Yeah, yeah look don’t get me wrong, I miss the big boof-head. But it’s more the possibility of what could have been that I’m sad about.”

  Jade nodded. “As I said, shitty luck.”

  One corner of Simon’s mouth lifted. “That it is. And I’d pretty much resigned myself to a loveless life here in Galah. Now, I’m not so sure.”

  Jade frowned. “Surely there’s no…”

  “Oh no,” Simon interrupted. “There’s no one else that I know of. And after the way the town reacted to that dance, if there’s any other locals in the closet they’ll probably stay there. Galah’s just not the place for me to find someone. And after that one kiss, I’ve realised that I’m not going to settle for a life lived alone”

  “You don’t want to turn into some bitter old spinster like Miss Laura,” Jade said.

  “Well, I’d probably be more like a sad old queen, but I get your point,” he replied.

  Betty came in then from the kitchen with a pot of tea, and her usual plate of biscuits. As she poured Jade asked how she was going after her ordeal, and the two fell into conversation.

  Simon sat back and sipped his tea. It wasn’t long before he heard the rumble of a diesel four wheel drive and shortly after that Fay and Wendy joined them.

  He gave both women a few moments for the vital catchup hugs with Jade, but before she could start on a full blow by blow retelling of the last few weeks on tour, he held up a hand.

  “Hang on girls hold on just a second. Fay, I need to know. What happened to Daryl’s partner?”

  The room fell silent, and all eyes were on Fay.

  She looked left and then right. “The mystery lady?”

  “Yes,” Simon said, exasperated.

  “Well,” Fay paused and looked downcast. “She never really existed.”

  “What!” said four voices at once.

  “Look it wasn’t my fault,” Fay pleaded. She looked around the room. “I tried, but it was just too last minute. I called everyone I could think of, and in the end I just decided that I’d get up and dance with him myself.”

  Simon face palmed. “Of course, and then when David was taken away…”

  “Yes, I just went with him in the ambulance. It wasn’t until the whole thing was over that it even occurred to me that I’d left Daryl in the lurch.”

  Betty shook her head. “That would have been completely against the rules you know. Doctor Hudson would have lodged a complaint in a flash.”

  Fay shrugged. “Sure, Daryl would have been disqualified. And that’s why I couldn’t tell a soul. I figured at worst case it would add some extra drama to the show.”

  Betty grunted. “Like that was needed.”

  Simon shook his head slowly back and forward in disbelief. “Wow, you had us both completely fooled.”

  “Sorry Simon,” Fay said looking genuinely contrite. “You of all people know that the only way to keep a secret in Galah is to tell no one and then forget it yourself. I couldn’t risk this getting out.”

  “That’s OK, I understand. I’d have done the same I guess.”

  Fay touched his arm. “But how are you after all this sweetie? I heard that you’d made a bit of a… connection with Daryl.”

  Simon rolled his eyes. “Look, I was explaining this to Jade earlier. Sure I miss him but it’s more that I’m missing what might have been.”

  Fay just nodded and said nothing. It was almost as if she was inviting him to fill the silence.

  “To be completely honest,” he said, and paused. “It’s made me wonder whether I shouldn’t head to Sydney again.”

  “To find someone?”

  “I guess. Well at least have a chance of finding someone.”

  Fay gave a slow confucian nod. Then a small smile danced across her lips. “So you’ll be joining Jade then?”

  Jade sprang to her feet. “What! How did you know I’m going to Sydney?”

  “Sit down dear, I know the look of a dancer who’s decided to head to the city. You had it when you stepped off that plane this afternoon. Let me guess, one of Joe’s dancers has a spare room.”

  Jade’s eyes were like saucers. “That’s impos
sible, I told no one.”

  Fay’s smile was wide. “There’s always a room somewhere. Dancers like rooming together, and if they like you…”

  “What’s happening, where are you going?” Simon asked.

  Jade took a deep breath. Then machine gun like said, “Her name’s Marie, she’s danced with Joe in New York, there’s a new show starting in Sydney, small company, they need dancers, and she thinks I’m in for sure. She’s a principal, she should know right?”

  Fay lifted a finger. “Nothing’s for sure, you’ll have to work hard.” Then her tone softened, “But whoever this Marie is she knows talent, you should have gone to Sydney a couple of years ago.

  Jade lowered her head. “I know, but it’s just so hard to leave, even though I know I should. Everyone I know is here.”

  “Not any more,” Simon said. “You know this Marie now, and I won’t be far away either. Besides I’d say you’ll be way too busy with this new dance company to worry much about friends and socialising.”

  Jade looked up, her brow furrowed but just before she could say anything Fay interrupted.

  “Don’t worry, You’ll be back,” Fay said. Then Fay turned to look at Simon. “And so will you. We all go to the city to seek something at some point in our lives. I did, David did, even Miss Laura did. But we all come back eventually. Well, most of us do.”

  Simon cocked his head. “What did happen between you David and Miss Laura all those years ago?”

  Fay’s eyes twinkled. “I’m sure a clever young journalist like you can find someone in the Sydney dance scene who knows the story. It might take you a while of course. And if you don’t, well that would be a good reason to come back to Galah then wouldn’t it.”

  Simon sat there with a slack jaw but before could say anything Bruce swaggered into the room. “Well folks have I got a surprise for you,” he said, oblivious to the conversation going on.

  Before anyone could reply he turned on the television with a flourish. “Check this out.”

  The telly took a moment to warm up and then a picture suddenly snapped onto the screen. It took Simon a moment to recognise it. He was used to squinting through fuzz and snow and trying to work out what was happening, but this picture was crystal clear. It was so crisp he could even read the tiny TV station logo in the corner. The screen showed every detail of the furniture and electrical goods that were strobing frenetically by, while the garish sale graphics seemed to pop right out of the screen. The quality of the image was so amazing that he barely noticed the grating machine gun like yelling of the voice over track accompanying the advertisement.

  “What have you done Bruce,” Simon asked.

  “Nothing, just plugged in a set top box.”

  “A set top box? But we don’t…”

  Bruce grinned. “No, we don’t have digital yet, not officially anyway. But I got talking to one of the techies this afternoon at the pub and he said that they were testing the new tower. I persuaded him to leave it on tonight so we could watch our favourite show.”

  “That’s incredible, just in time for the final episode,” Simon said.

  Betty was looking at the telly in amazement. “So darling, did the technicians say when we’d be getting this permanently?”

  Bruce’s big shoulders twitched upwards. “No, but they’re working on it now so it would have to be before the next season starts.”

  Fay was watching the screen with a distant look on her face. “So the whole of Galah will finally be able to watch,” she said in a soft voice.

  Simon leaned in close to Jade. “She’s thinking about the enrolments,” he whispered, and Jade tittered.

  At that moment the screen faded to black and the opening sequence for Celebrity Dance dazzled them in high def glory. The room was stunned into silence and barely a comment was made for the whole show.

  Of course, it was the last episode. So the tango butchering couple, and the lame tap dancing footballer, had been voted off weeks ago. The remaining few couples each had a good measure of both talent and showmanship. However, being the final show it went on significantly longer than usual, and it was quite late by the time Simon said goodbye and got up from the couch to leave.

  Once outside he looked up. The sky was clear, and unusually, it hadn’t rained all day. Even so, the ground was still soft from the long summer of rain. When he stepped off the end of the garden path he sank with a familiar squelch into the sodden muddy grass.

  But he didn’t swear, he didn’t even look down. Sure he was wearing his good shoes, but he knew he’d have a new pair before too long.

  More From the Author

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  About the Author

  Cain Hopwood grew up in country New South Wales and now lives on a farm in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. Yes, Australia has snow. It’s not all heat dust and flies you know. Just mostly heat dust and flies.

  He’s been dancing argentine tango for well over a decade. Which is long enough to discover that tango is one of those activities which will have you learning it, and struggling to improve it, for your entire life. If you allow it to get under your skin. Like jazz, or skiing.

  Cain has worked as a farmhand, ski coach and also done a bit of tulip koping. Though he’s worked for most of his life in the software industry. Now he also writes.

  The Tango is his first published novel.

  Acknowledgements

  Firstly I would like to thank everyone who read this book in it’s various rough stages: Grace Soutter, Brenda Murray, Scott E Douglas, Ivan Karajas, Scott Hopwood, Kyla Hopwood and of course my mother Wilhelmina Hopwood. Your comments and insight helped make this a better book. I would also like to say thanks to Tony Murray who helped immensely with blurbs and summaries. Finally, thanks to my ever patient wife Elle.

  A special thank you must to go Rosie O’Sullivan who not only runs the best dance school in the snowies but who also read this novel before publication, and corrected a number of my gaffes. She was instrumental in providing the spark that brought this book to life.