Six Steps Down

by Mandi Greenwood

  Aisley beamed at her friends. 'Welcome to Cariad Lili Bay Beach,' she said, her green eyes shining happily.

  It was the first day of the term holidays and the day after their presentation. Cate's eyes were the size of golf balls. They had been ever since she'd first seen the open trap door in the wine cellar.

  Archie had his hands on his skinny hips and was looking about and nodding knowingly. 'Yep. I knew it,' he remarked. 'Didn't I always say it? There had to be a way to get down here, I said.'

  Aisley snorted. 'Um, yeah. I think I said that, Archibald.'

  Archie pointed at her. 'Hey I'll have you know I was thinking it long before you said it, girlfriend.'

  Then Aisley related the story to them of the sheepish look on her father's face that morning, when she and Wade lifted the stones to show their parents the trap-door. 'He had to confess to mum that he only said he levelled the floor when he was restoring the cellar. In actual fact he didn't touch it at all!' She laughed, remembering Grant squirming under Shay's incredulous look. 'He said he had so many other things to do, he just sort of didn't bother. I was so relieved to hear that because it was the one thing that still made no sense.'

  'This is all extremely mind-blowing,' said Lucan solemnly. 'That tunnel is quite a feat in engineering.'

  'Forget engineering principles,' breathed Cate. 'It's just about the most romantic thing I've ever seen.' Impulsively, she slapped Archie on the bum. 'Hey! I could almost find you attractive here,' she told him.

  Archie looked offended. 'What do you mean, almost?' he demanded.

  Freya laughed. 'Let's explore!' she cried. She skipped off across the sand like a little girl.

  Cate slung one arm around Aisley and the other around Chandra. 'I'm so glad you guys kissed and made up,' she said softly. She kissed both of their cheeks then took off after Freya, shouting at her to wait.

  Lucan followed the girls at a more civilized pace with his arms swinging by his sides. He had his chin raised as he looked around at the steep cliffs.

  Chandra took Aisley's hand, linking their fingers together. Together with Archie, they ambled along the beach towards a low cluster of rock formations.

  'Me too,' Archie said. He glanced at Aisley and Chandra, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. 'I'm happy you've patched things up, too,' he said.

  'Thanks, man,' Chandra told him.

  'That's sweet, Arch,' Aisley smiled.

  'Yep,' Archie squinted up at the sky. 'Just don't tell anyone I showed you my soft side, okay. I don't want my tough reputation tarnished too much.'

  Aisley and Chandra snorted.

  'What?' Archie spread his hands.

  They arrived at a rock pool and stopped.

  'So,' said Chandra. 'Our good friend Michael takes some of his miners off duty at the Seamere coal mine and brings them home to do a little overtime.'

  'Seems like it,' Archie took up the story. 'He gets them to dig out a tunnel that leads down to a private beach, which he names after his wife! He was a seriously romantic dude.'

  'That photo I have of Lily was taken by Michael somewhere around here,' said Aisley. 'Down here in private, she could ignore all the rules of her ultra-conservative age and strip down to her petticoat.' She looked around. 'Can you imagine the fun they must have had together?' she grinned.

  'Maybe they even skinny-dipped,' suggested Chandra.

  'Maybe they did,' Aisley agreed.

  'Maybe we could skinny-dip?' he added hopefully

  'You wish.'

  'Yes I do actually.'

  'Get a room, you two,' barked Archie. 'Sheesh!'

  Aisley smiled and leaned over the edge of the rock pool. She peered into the crystal-clear depths, looking for crabs and tiny fish. The sun shone down on the water making the coral below the surface sparkle.

  'This is so gorgeous,' she said quietly.

  'You are so gorgeous,' observed Chandra leaning over and brushing her hair back over her shoulder.

  She gazed at him. 'You know, sensitive comments like that will get you a long way,' she said.

  'Is that right?' He raised his eyebrows.

  'It is.'

  'Would a comment like that get me as far as skinny-dipping?' he wanted to know.

  'Maybe.'

  'Serious?'

  'You'd have to come up with a lot of comments like that, though,' she said.

  'That's okay,' Chandra grinned. 'Cause babe, I've got a lot of comments like that!'

  Meanwhile, Archie had moved around to the other side of the rock-pool.

  'Oh. My. God.' he remarked suddenly.

  'What?' Aisley and Chandra asked at the same time.

  'You guys are so going to want to see this,' Archie said. He was standing on the far side of the rocks and looking at something intently.

  Aisley and Chandra walked around to join him. 'Oh wow!' cried Aisley.

  Lo and behold, mounted on the rocky wall in front of them was a large plaque, about one metre square, with the inscription —

  Cariad Lili Bay

  Where our hearts shall dwell forever more

  They'd finally found their plaque. Quickly they called to Cate, Freya, and Lucan to come and see. The six of them stood in a group, staring at the plaque. In the background, they could hear the sounds of Wade and Nyle hooting and shouting happily.

  'It was right here that the photo was taken of Lily in her petticoat,' marvelled Aisley, pointing to a rocky outcrop just below the plaque. 'She sat right here. We found their special place on their private beach.' For some reason she felt like crying.

  Cate looked quite teary too. She reached out and hugged Aisley's arm and Aisley hugged her back. 'It's so sad,' said Cate huskily. She cleared her throat. 'Why did she have to die?'

  'At least they had each other for the time they did,' said Freya, philosophically. 'Some people aren't lucky enough to love like that in a lifetime.'

  Lucan looked at Freya as she spoke. He was silent. Who knew what he was thinking. Cate sniffed and wiped her eyes and Archie went over and put his arm around her. For once she didn't smart-talk him. She just leaned her head against his shoulder. They all had an impromptu minute's silence for the memory of Lily and Michael Sheldon. After a little while, Lucan and Freya strolled away towards where the younger boys were playing. Not long after that, Cate and Archie followed them.

  As the others drifted away, Aisley was amused to see that Archie still had his arm around Cate's shoulders. Cate was a tall girl, but Archie was taller and she fitted very comfortably into the crook of his arm.

  Chandra sat down on the rocky outcrop. Reaching out, he grabbed Aisley and pulled her down onto his lap. 'Do you think there's any hope there?' he asked, nodding at Archie and Cate.

  Aisley smiled and shrugged. 'There's always hope,' she said. 'Look at us.'

  Chandra pulled her closer to him. He kissed her throat, her ear, her cheek, and her lips in slow succession making her shiver.

  'I love you, Aisley Brannon,' he said, huskily.

  'I love you too, Chandra Sarin,' she replied.

  He held her in his arms and they sat there in the very same spot where Lily Sheldon had sat one hundred years before. Aisley thought how happy she was. That this was perfect and she hoped nothing would ever change.

  That was the middle of June.

  In September, everything changed.

  'I don't understand why you're talking to me about this,' Aisley frowned. 'Shouldn't you be speaking to Chandra?' She was sitting in the office of Mrs Herald, the senior school co-ordinator at Seamere Secondary College.

  Mrs Herald was seated across the desk from Aisley. The teacher took off her reading glasses and folded her hands on the desk in front of her. 'Oh believe me, I have,' she said, smiling. 'He won't even hear me out.'

  'But you think I can convince him?' Aisley guessed.

  Mrs Herald nodded. 'This is a wonderful opportunity for Chandra,' she explained. 'He's a remarkably bright young man, but sometimes he needs help focussing on the big pictu
re, which will be his future after year twelve.'

  Aisley chewed her lip. 'He does get … distracted,' she admitted.

  'He's never had to try,' Mrs Herald said. 'Learning has obviously always come easily to him. He gets bored in class and, well, his attitude suffers.'

  Aisley squirmed in her seat. 'I still don't see how I can convince him to take part in a student exchange program if you can't,' she said. 'I don't know that I even want to.'

  'You could convince him, because he listens to you, Aisley,' Mrs Herald explained. 'You are a big influence on him.' She smiled. 'His attendance record has dramatically improved this past term and I'm certain it's down to you.'

  Aisley looked out of the window at the bright spring day. The sun was shining. What was she doing sitting in Mrs Herald's office? She sighed and looked back at the teacher.

  'But Costa Rica?' she said. 'It's so far away.'

  'So is France, which is the other option,' said Mrs Herald. 'Did you know that some of the world's most renowned surf beaches exist off the coast of Costa Rica?'

  Aisley shook her head.

  'Well, they do,' Mrs Herald continued. 'In between classes, Chandra could spend his entire free time on those beaches.'

  Aisley was confused. 'So you're saying the exchange program is good for him because he'd get to go surfing?'

  'No,' said Mrs Herald. She put her glasses back on and peered at Aisley over the top of them. 'I'm saying that living and learning in another country for six months would be of enormous benefit to any student, particularly someone like Chandra. It would help him to gain perspective, knowledge for how others live, tolerance, resilience, and it would give him some definite direction. He'd learn so many new skills I can hardly list them. The experience would be amazing for him.' Mrs Herald smiled again. 'However, yes, in his spare time he could go surfing.'

  Even though Aisley could see how valuable the offer was, she felt awkward. 'I can't tell him what to do,' Aisley said.

  'I believe you can suggest it.'

  'He'll think I'm trying to run his life for him.'

  'I don't agree.'

  Aisley tried one more thing. 'Surely you have to discuss this with his parents, rather than me?'

  Mrs Herald shook her head. 'There's no point bringing them into this unless Chandra wants to go,' she explained.

  Aisley sighed. 'I just don't know,' she said.

  Mrs Herald stood up and came around the desk. 'I won't force you, Aisley,' she said. 'But please say you'll at least think about discussing it with him. It is a great prospect that he may later regret missing.'

  'I know, I know,' Aisley muttered. She got to her feet.

  Mrs Herald opened the door for her. 'If he wants to do this,' the co-ordinator said. 'Then he needs to confirm with me by the fifteenth of September. That's ten days from now.'

  Aisley picked up her bag and walked out into the hallway. 'You know where to find me,' said Mrs Herald. 'So, you will think about it?'

  'Okay,' said Aisley, gloomily. She wandered down the deserted hallway. It was lunchtime and everyone was out in the sunshine, so she made her slow way to the art centre steps where she knew she'd find her friends.

  Aisley had a moment of fierce anger, directed at the co-ordinator. She and Chandra had only had a bare two months together and now Mrs Herald wanted to tear him away from her and send him off to the other side of the world for six whole months! It sucked. It wasn't fair! Aisley felt like just forgetting she'd ever heard the words, student exchange program. Ignore the whole thing altogether.

  She approached the art centre and she could see her friends. Cate and Freya were there, talking to Lucan and Drew King. Archie was leaning against the railings with Stewart Thomas and Brice Daly. They were listening to something Chandra was telling them. The three boys laughed at whatever he just said.

  Aisley stopped still and watched him, loving everything about him. The graceful way he moved, the way he buried his hands in his pockets, his untucked shirt, and his easy smile. How could she tell him to go away? But then, how could she not? If she discouraged him from leaving, what sort of friend did that make her? He'd come back to her. It was only six months after all …

  Chandra chose that moment to turn around. He spotted her straight away. He cleared the distance between them in seconds and picked her up. 'Where have you been?' he said, kissing her. 'I missed you!'

  She put her arms around him and rested her face against his neck. Well, I'm going to miss you every single moment of every single day, she thought, breathing in the smell of him. 'Let's go and sit down,' she said. 'I want to ask you something.'

  About the Author

  Mandi Greenwood

  Mandi Greenwood was born in the seaside town of Hastings, in East Sussex, England, in June of 1966.

  In 1972, at the age of six, she moved to Australia with her parents and brother as "ten pound Poms", and the family settled in Melbourne's south east. She grew up with Port Phillip Bay on her doorstep and beach culture plays an important role in her memories.

  An ardent lover of books from day one, Mandi has been reading and writing fiction her entire life, and has always wanted to be an author. Surrounded by books since childhood, she was besotted early on by the likes of Charlotte Bronte, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and of course, JRR Tolkien. Her first copy of Jane Eyre, given to her at age ten, was re-read over and over until it literally fell apart.

  Mandi still adores reading and she has encouraged this love and respect for books in her children as well. She has a passion for music and enjoys a good movie, and she cherishes time spent at home with her family.

  Mandi lives with her husband and two children in the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and finds time to write between running a household and working in community pharmacy, a field she has enjoyed for thirty years.

  Six Steps Down is Mandi's debut novel. It and the sequel she is currently writing come from ideas formed over time inspired by many things, but predominantly by her love for Victoria's beautiful, rugged coastline.