by SR Silcox
“Pop wouldn’t really cancel the festival would he?”
Tess sniffed. “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Pop today. He was gone super early this morning and Gran’s not sure when he’ll be back.”
Maddie placed her hand on Tess’s and said, “I’m sorry, Tess. We’ll work something out.”
Tess sighed. “That’s what everyone keeps saying, but no-one seems to know what ‘something’ actually is.”
Maddie didn’t respond and Tess realised that she probably didn’t need to speak the way she had. She turned her hand over and intertwined her fingers with Maddie’s.
Maddie squeezed back and said, “You know what? We should do something today.”
“Like what?”
“I’m sure we could come up with something.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” Tess said, “this is Chesterfield. There's nothing to do in Chesterfield.”
“Well,” Maddie said. “We could just meet in town and see if we can find something to keep us busy.”
“I don’t know,” Tess said. “I don't feel like doing anything at the moment.” She tossed another rock into the blackened cane. She knew that Maddie was trying to lighten the mood and get her mind off of last night’s fire, but the fire and the festival were all Tess could think about.
“What else have you got planned for today?” Maddie asked. “Apart from moping around about the fire?”
Tess pulled a face and replied, “Nothing. We were meant to start setting stuff up today, but Gran said to hold off.”
“I have an appointment this morning and nothing on this afternoon. What about we meet for lunch?”
Tess thought about it for a second and though she wanted to have lunch with Maddie and spend more time with her, she didn’t want to miss talking to Pop when she finally had the chance. She said, “Thanks for the offer, but I’d just be a wet blanket.”
“Are you sure?” Maddie said.
“Yeah,” Tess said. “Sorry.”
Maddie checked her watch. “I have to get going. I’ll call by later if that’s okay and we can just hang out.” She let go of Tess’s hand and stood up.
Tess stood up too and shoved her hands into her pockets. “I guess.”
Maddie smiled and said, “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay,” Tess said. She leaned on the fence post, watching Maddie walk back to the McGregor’s. When Maddie reached the bottom of the steps she turned and waved. Tess waved back and, taking one last look at the blackened stalks of cane, she went back inside to have breakfast.
SEVENTEEN
Maddie sat at the conference table, the laptop in front of her, waiting for the Skype call to come through. She’d run into Will and Lizzie in town that morning and between them, they’d all decided Tess needed to get out of the house. All three of them had tried and failed multiple times to get Tess to answer her phone, and it was Will who’d come up with the idea of staging an intervention and taking Tess up to the tree house to force her to have some fun. Though Maddie wasn’t entirely sure whether it would work or not she was up for the challenge. When Lizzie said she had to work on the paper with her dad and Will suddenly remembered he had band practice, Maddie wasn’t so sure she could pull it off herself.
“Tess likes you,” Will had said when Maddie questioned whether Tess would even come if it was just the two of them. Hearing the words that confirmed what Maddie thought she was feeling from Tess had given her butterflies. Will had also offered to go up to the tree house to help Maddie clean it up a bit, since it was still full of dust. She’d have sworn Will was trying to set her and Tess up on a date, but since she didn’t know Will all that well, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, asking Tess on a date was what Maddie had tried to do this morning. What would it matter if it was a set up?
The laptop screen lit up as the call came through and when Maddie answered it, Freya appeared trying to wrestle her wild curls into a scarf.
“Hey stranger,” Freya said.
“Hey. How’s things?” Maddie asked.
“Good,” Freya said. She peered closer at the screen. “Have you changed your hair?”
“What do you think?” Maddie turned her head left and then right so Freya could see it properly.
Freya whistled. “It’s different,” she said.
“You don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that,” Freya said. “I'm just so used to seeing it longer and blonder, that’s all.”
“I just, you know, wanted a change.”
“Some change,” Freya said. “How do you feel about it?”
Maddie shrugged. “I like it. I haven’t had short hair since I was little. It’s freeing being able to get up in the morning and just put a hat on.”
“Ha! I wish I knew what that was like,” Freya said shaking her head and loosening some of the curls that had so far managed to stay put in the scarf.
Maddie laughed and said, “Have you seen Andy?”
Freya threw her head back and laughed. “Are you kidding? All I’ve had from Andy have been a couple of pictures of girls at the beach and a text that said ‘surf's gnarly’.”
Maddie laughed. “Yeah. He sent the same ones to me. I’m glad he’s having some fun.”
“I think we all needed to let off some steam after the last few months,” Freya said. “Speaking of, have you spoken to your dad?”
“No,” Maddie lied. “Have you?”
Freya made a face. “Yeah. He’s gone back to Sydney. He’s not happy with Andy and me. He thinks we know where you are but won’t tell him.”
“Sorry,” Maddie said. “Has he said anything?”
“About what?”
“About why I left.”
Freya shrugged. “He’s trying to put out spot fires. You know what he’s like. All business.”
“Yeah,” Maddie said. “That’s why I left.”
“As long as he’s dealing with business, he’s leaving us alone,” Freya said.
“Yeah,” Maddie agreed absently. “So you’re okay? With everything that happened?”
Freya shrugged. “I have to be. You weren’t happy, man, and blind Freddy could’ve seen it. I’m surprised you took so long to crack.”
Maddie laughed. Typical, easy-going Freya. “As long as you’re not mad.”
“Why would I be mad?”
“I walked out on you guys,” Maddie said.
Freya shrugged. “None of us were happy, and you were the only one with the balls to say something.”
“Yeah but I might’ve stuffed everything up,” Maddie replied. The last thing she’d wanted when she’d left was to leave Freya and Andy in the lurch.
“Nah. It’s all good. Everyone needs a break at some point. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Maddie wasn’t so sure and she wished she could share Freya’s optimism.
“Hey, check this out,” Freya said, leaning away from the screen. When she popped her head back up, she produced a square piece of wool with a hole in the middle and knitting needles sticking out of the sides.
“What is that?” Maddie asked.
“It’s a scarf,” Freya said. “Part of one at least. Can't you tell?”
Maddie squinted at the screen and said, “You missed a bit.”
Freya stuck a finger through the hole and said, “I’m still getting the hang of it.”
“I didn’t know you knitted,” Maddie said.
“I do now.”
“Why?”
“I have a lot of extra time on my hands,” Freya said. “I thought I should take up a hobby.”
“And you chose knitting?”
Freya nodded and said, “Yep. I was at a cafe last week and there were these old ladies there in a group and they all had their knitting out going hell for leather and chatting. It looked like fun.”
“So you started knitting?”
“I just went over and asked if they could show me how. They gave me some old needles and a couple of b
its of wool and voila! I started a scarf. Only cost me a round of flat whites too,” Freya said, smiling.
“Good for you,” Maddie said.
“And the best part is, because I have something to do with my hands, I’ve stopped biting my nails. See?” Freya showed Maddie her fingernails.
“Wow,” Maddie said. Freya had been a chronic nail-biter for as long she’d known her.
“Oh,” Freya said. “I almost forgot. I’ve been writing again too. It’s amazing how knitting frees up your mind.”
“Wow. Really?”
Freya shrugged. “Yeah. Most of it’s crap, but at least it’s crap I can work with right?” Before Maddie could reply, Freya asked, “So, what have you been up to on your break?”
“I’ve just been hanging out, really.”
“With who? Jo? She doesn’t seem like the hanging out type,” Freya said. “She’s not there is she?”
Maddie laughed. “No, she’s not. I’ve met some of the locals and we’ve been hanging out.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about you having fun without me.”
“You wouldn’t like it. The town’s way too small for your ego,” Maddie teased.
“Ha ha,” Freya said. “So where is this small town? Or is that a secret?”
“I’m in Chesterfield,” Maddie said. “You won't have heard of it. I hadn’t.”
“Chesterfield, Chesterfield…,” Freya said leaning in to the camera.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m googling it. Hang on.” Freya squinted at the screen and screwed up her nose in concentration.
“Seriously?”
“Here it is. Chesterfield. Heart of the sugar cane industry. Blah, blah some famous person I’ve never heard of, population…” Freya whistled. “Population three thousand. Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you wanted to get away from people.”
“Like I said, it was Jo’s idea.”
“Yeah, right. So what’s it like being in a small town?”
“It’s quiet,” Maddie said. “And it's nice.”
“You’re not exactly selling it to me,” Freya said. “What's to do in Chesterfield?”
“It’s a small town, so not much. It’s mostly farms out where I’m staying.”
“Right,” Freya said, obviously unimpressed.
“I won an ice cream in a belly flop competition,” Maddie said.
“Ooh, exciting. Tell me more.”
Maddie knew Freya was being sarcastic but she decided to tell her the story anyway. “Tess and I did a tandem dive and won the judge’s choice.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Who’s Tess?”
“Oh, she’s a girl I’ve met,” Maddie said. “We’ve been hanging out.”
“Hanging out?”
“Yeah,” Maddie said. “I’ve been helping out with a festival they were meant to be having on the weekend.”
“What sort of festival?” Freya asked.
“I think it’s kind of like a fete. You know like we used to have in primary school?”
“So, like, kiddies rides and a dunk tank and stuff?”
Maddie shrugged. “I’m not too sure, actually, but there’s a lot of baking involved. They had some local bands playing too. They were supposed to burn a block of cane to close it out but it burned last night, so that’s not going to happen now, and they’re not even sure if it will go ahead.”
“Bummer,” Freya said. “I’ve never seen a cane fire.”
“They’re pretty spectacular,” Maddie said, remembering the fire from last night. Which reminded her about helping out with Tess's supposed intervention. “Hey, sorry to cut this short, but I have to get going. I’ve got a few things I need to do.”
“Would these things have anything to do with Tess?” Freya asked.
“Maybe,” Maddie said. “But we’re just friends.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Freya asked. She moved closer to the camera so she was just an eyeball looking straight at Maddie.
Maddie laughed. “Go away! There’s nothing to tell I promise.”
Freya moved back from the camera and said, “You’d tell me though, right? I need to know who I’m competing with for your attention.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Maddie promised. “Tell Andy I said hi. And I’ll let you know when I’m coming back. It’ll be soon, I promise.”
“Okay. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get him away from his surfboard if he has too much more time with it.”
Maddie laughed. “We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And keep knitting. I want to see that scarf finished when I get back.”
Freya saluted and said, “Yes boss.”
Maddie laughed. “Bye.”
“Bye!” Freya was gone.
Maddie shut down the laptop and checked her watch. If she hurried, she might be able to get to the bakery to grab some sweets for later.
EIGHTEEN
“Do you think he’ll go for it?” Lizzie asked as Will as they strode across the yard to the sheds.
“Not sure, but it’s worth a try. Are you sure we shouldn’t tell Tess what we’re doing?”
“Positive,” said Lizzie. “You heard her yesterday. She doesn’t want the festival to change.”
“But the fire last night might have made her change her mind.”
“I don’t think so. She’s been moping all morning about it. I think we just talk to Pop and see what he says.”
“Whatever you say,” Will said. “But I think she’s going to be pretty upset when she finds out we went behind her back.”
“She’ll only be upset for a little while. Especially if we pull it off. And don’t worry. I’ll take all of the blame.”
“Whatever,” Will said. “Hey, what do you think of Tess and Maddie? They seem to be hitting it off.”
“Yeah, they seem to be,” Lizzie agreed. “They looked pretty close in that photo you sent me on Monday.”
Will shrugged. “That was pretty innocent. Tess was helping Maddie get up to the diving board because of her sore ankle.”
“Right,” Lizzie said. “So why did you send it through to me then?”
“I thought they looked cute together.” Will laughed when Lizzie gave him a friendly shove.
“Is that why you’ve set them up on a date?” Lizzie asked.
Will put his hand to his chest. “Me? Set Tess up?”
“I know you Will Armstrong, and I know what you’re up to.”
Will shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious they like each other, and after the fire last night, there’s no way Tess was going to do anything about it. Besides, she needs to get out of the house and have some fun.”
“Yeah, well I hope it doesn’t backfire,” Lizzie said.
As they rounded the corner of the shed, they could hear raised voices coming from inside. They slowed down to listen.
“If I find out you were behind it, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Pop,” Will mouthed to Lizzie and then turned his attention back to the shed.
“Now Jack, why on earth would I, or anyone else for that matter, deliberately burn your cane? The question is, what’s going to happen to the festival now? That’s what I want to know.”
Lizzie dug Will in the ribs and when he turned around she whispered, “Barry Montgomery.” Will nodded. Barry Montgomery was the Deputy Mayor and an all-round sleaze. As soon as he’d been elected to council a few years ago, he’d changed the planning laws to allow him to redevelop his farm and instead of people being angry with him, he just threw money at every organisation he could find so they couldn’t say a bad word about it. Pop was one of the only people not to accept Barry’s money, but the grants from the council he got every year helped pay some of the costs for the festival. If Barry took that away, who knew how they’d cover the extra costs.
“You’re not getting it, that’s for sure,” Pop said. “The festival’s a Copeland tradition, and as long as I’m al
ive, it’s going to stay that way.”
“Well, I don’t think the council can keep supporting it. Especially considering it’s not bringing in the tourists it used to.”
“So you’re not giving anything at all?”
“We can’t. Budget’s tight. You know that.”
“Not tight enough to stop you and Mack Ferguson from going to China next year.”
“That’s a trade trip,” Barry said. “Very important for our agriculture.”
There was a bang. “So you want to take the festival by stealth? We fail, and then you can swoop in with funding you just happen to have hiding away somewhere that didn’t exist when we needed it? It’s not bloody happening.”
Before Will could stop her, Lizzie strode past him into the shed. He had no choice but to follow.
“Hi, Pop,” Lizzie said, as if everything was rosy and she hadn’t heard any of the conversation. “I just wanted to make sure it was still okay for us to come take some photos tomorrow?”
Pop looked at Will, who shrugged. Pop said, “Tomorrow?”
“I know it was meant to be today, but those new bands we organised aren’t going to be here until the morning, and we’d really like to get a few shots of them setting up.”
“The new bands?” Pop said.
“Yeah,” Will chimed in. “The ones we spoke about last night.”
Pop narrowed his eyes and Will was sure he was going to remind him of the answer he gave last night but instead he said, “Sure. Tomorrow’s fine.”
“Great,” Lizzie said. “Dad’s holding the front page for you this year, so we’ll do a big feature. He’s even talking about doing a double page spread next week with photos and stories from people who came.” She turned her charms on Barry. “I’d love to know how much the council is giving this year to help with expenses, Mr Montgomery,” she said. “So we can include it in the article.”
“Oh, er, I’m not sure we’re able to help out this year,” he said, looking from Lizzie, to Pop, and back again.
“That’s a shame,” Lizzie said. “Isn't it a shame, Will?”
“A real shame,” Will agreed.
Lizzie continued. “I mean, the election’s at the end of next year and it would be great to do a story on how much Mr Montgomery and the council gave to the only major music festival in Chesterfield to keep it going.”