The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection)

by Sadie Mills

  'Well?'

  Delia snatched the phone receiver, cutting him a look.

  'Hello, Dumbleton Dropzone?' Delia crooned through her nose, smiling politely, peering down at her perfectly manicured nails. 'No, I'm sorry, all our lifts are full for today... Yes, that's right. Uh-huh...'

  Joshua watched her grit her teeth.

  'Well, I suggest you try again tomorrow,' she said blinking, raising her eyebrows, the smile turning blatantly fake.

  'Yes... Thank you so much. Goodbye.'

  She glowered up at Josh, slamming down the phone.

  'In case you haven't noticed, I've got a dropzone to run,' Delia snarled. 'I can't be organising it around your love life!'

  Joshua flinched. He stepped back.

  'OK, change of plan,' he said wandering back to his tandem student. She sat waiting patiently on the slatted bench. The kit room was deserted.

  'I'm afraid there's been a cock up with the numbers, but we're up on the next lift.'

  She looked up at him, smiling sadly.

  'Go and grab a coffee. They'll call you when they're ready.'

  Josh turned on his heels, stalking to the counter, snatching the walkie talkie. He could hear the engines firing; he burst out of the door. He jogged out just in time to see them hurtle down the runway, running his hand through his hair, swallowing as he saw the wheels pitch. He squinted up through his fingers. They were off.

  It's his job.

  Lucy stared out of the window, bracing herself against the turn as the plane started banking to altitude.

  That's what he did when you met him. That's what he does now. Build a bridge and get over it.

  Where was he though? Why weren't they up on the lift? Had he taken her to the café?

  She waggled her jaw from side-to-side as far as chin strap of her helmet would allow. She heard the reassuring pop as her ears equalised. Lucy sighed.

  Needy and insecure didn't exactly work out last time. He thinks you're beautiful. Didn't you hear him this morning?

  Lucy smiled. Phil never said that to her. Phil never said anything close.

  'There's nay sense getting jealous.'

  Lucy nodded. Froggy was right. She was just being stupid.

  Her face dropped.

  '…What did you say?'

  'I said, there's nay sense getting jealous,' Froggy shouted again through the roar.

  Her helmet whipped around, wide eyes fixing him hard.

  'I can read ye like a book, Lucy!' he grinned. 'I know exactly what's goin on in y'heed.'

  '…I'm not jealous!' she implored.

  Oh God! Was it that obvious? Did they all know?

  She broke with Froggy's playful glint quickly, facing forward again, cringing as she felt him laugh against her back.

  'Yer eyes were greener than Snowy's!' he chuckled.

  She clenched her eyes shut, lowering her head. Lucy felt Froggy's hands, squeezing her tight shoulders.

  'Donnay worry, Lucy,' Froggy shouted. ‘Some of 'em have got a couple a jumps on ye. So what? Y'should still be qualified by the end of the day. Like I told ye, it is'nay a race.'

  It took a few seconds to filter through.

  Oh…

  Lucy's eyes blinked open, her head slowly rising. Her shoulders slid from just under her ears. She grinned with relief.

  'Snowy's a lucky man, by the way,' she heard Froggy chattering on. 'Ma'missus does'nay like pie. No wonder he wants you to mo—.'

  '...FROGGY!'

  Lucy's mouth fell ajar as the voice permeated her helmet. She blinked down at the walkie talkie strapped to her chest, lowering her chin timidly.

  '...Hello?'

  'Hello Lucy,'

  Lucy flinched.

  'Josh?' she breathed, brow crumpling.

  'Hiya, baby. That's me.'

  She snorted, eyes glittering. Lucy started to laugh. She turned back to Froggy and grinned. He glanced up sheepishly.

  'I'll hand you over to your somewhat indiscreet, but more than capable instructor,' the walkie-talkie crackled. 'If he's quite finished chatting, perhaps he could go through the brief with you again?'

  She could tell by the tone that Froggy was in trouble. The look on his face crystallised it.

  'Concentrate Lucy, please,' the walkie-talkie told her, albeit a little more gently.

  Froggy proceeded to talk her through the brief again. And once more after that.

  'Lucy, y'ready?' she heard Froggy shout, feeling him shuffling behind her, shunting her forward along the bench.

  She nodded quickly.

  'C'mon,' he shouted. 'It's time t'go and start spotting.'

  Froggy knelt with Lucy at the door, breathing in the stench of diesel, squinting across a perfect blue sky. They couldn't have hoped for better conditions. He jabbed his finger at the dropzone. She stuck her head all the way out, golden curls whipped from beneath her navy blue helmet. She nodded confidently. She certainly wasn't shy of the wind.

  Big crystal blue eyes glinted back at him through the perspex goggles. Froggy smiled at the touch of colour in her porcelain cheeks. The plane was still gently banking. They were about a minute from their exit point. He held his arm out against the gush of the wind, pointing down at the earth in a vertical line. She peered down after it, then nodded again.

  The plane levelled off. Giles turned back from the cockpit and tipped him the wink.

  'Lucy?' Froggy shouted. 'Are y'ready?'

  He could see it in her eyes: the terror; the exhilaration. She blinked at him.

  'Ready!' he watched her say.

  She climbed up to the door steadily, back to the blue, placing her left foot against the doorstep. He was with her every step of the way, gripping the yellow handhold at her right thigh with his left hand; the freezing cold bar with his right. Froggy glanced down at her legs in the navy blue jumpsuit, raising his eyebrows. She wasn't nearly so shaky this time.

  He watched her foot swing out. She began the exit count.

  Ready, set, arch.

  The two of them fell in perfect synch.

  She was stable. Froggy let go of the handhold. He pivoted in front of her, watching her squint down at the alti as the air rushed up, pulling the stray curls perfectly straight. Froggy came around to her right, watching her look for her heading.

  'Good!'

  Lucy turned her head and fixed him, slowly lowering her right hand, raising her left. She stopped at a perfect 90 degrees and grinned.

  'Brilliant!'

  She turned to her original heading, so he had her sideways on again. Froggy watched her check her alti. He squinted down at his own. He saw her leg kick out.

  'No, no, no!'

  Froggy's heart clenched.

  'Fuck!'

  He reached for her, but his arm fell into nothing. He saw her eyes bulge. She went into a spin.

  Froggy drew his hands to his sides in a controlled, fluid motion, raising them behind his back, swooping after her. He could see her below him, tumbling. All arms and legs, like a ragdoll on a spin cycle, somersaulting towards earth.

  'Arch! ARCH!' he screamed into the wind rush. He knew she couldn't hear. Froggy squinted at his alti then looked for her again. His dark eyes flared as he saw her wave off.

  Josh stood on the wet grass scowling up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the late afternoon sun. She should have been open by now. He saw the over-inflated tandems; Froggy's orange parachute burst, way off target. Josh chewed his fingers.

  What the fuck's going on?

  Maybe she'd bailed? But if she had, why would Froggy have jumped? Joshua's brow knitted tighter, eyes scanning the sky. It didn't make any sense.

  Suddenly, he saw it. A splodge of blue in his periphery. Joshua's eyes flickered; he breathed in sharply.

  ‘LUCY!'

  His fingernails blanched as his grip tightened around the walkie talkie. Joshua started to run.

  It went like a dream. They fell away together into the blue. Lucy got stable in record time. She went through the dr
ill in her head and started her checks; Froggy beamed back and nodded as she performed her 90 degree turn.

  She turning back to her original heading, squinting down at her alti. The frown melted, lips twisting as she felt the euphoria burst. Lucy wrestled with the updraft to turn back to Froggy. In a beat, it was gone.

  Her heart clenched: the warm ball quickly turning to ice. The roar of the wind was incredible. It wasn't just beneath her, it came from everywhere; flipping her like a crisp packet in the wind. Earth/sky/earth/sky/sea/blinding sun. Over and over in rapid rotation. She pushed as hard as she could but she couldn't arch. Her body was rigid; frozen by fear. Lucy was out of control.

  The face of her alti was just blur. Her eyes were stinging with tears. She didn't know how low she was.

  I don't want to die...

  She had to get that parachute over head. It was her only hope. She waved off quickly, still tumbling, wrenched her left arm forward uselessly, the right back as she flipped through the air. She grasped the drogue, quickly throwing it out.

  Lucy held her breath, waiting for what felt for forever. She sagged in relief, finally feeling a jolt. Within a couple of seconds, she knew something wasn't right. It took her two seconds more to crane her neck and look up.

  ‘One thousand and… Fuck!'

  It wasn't like all the other times. It wasn't quiet; Lucy's stomach turned. What should have been big and blue and square was a bunched up mess. The lines were twisted. She was spinning again.

  ‘Come on you motherfucker!' she screamed through gritted teeth; knuckles blanching, wrenching her arm muscles as she tried to part the lines.

  'Oh please, you bastard… please, come on! Oh shitting hell! Oh fuck!'

  And you thought the shopping bags were heavy...

  She scissor kicked hard, sweating profusely, the adrenaline surge reaching its peak. She gaped as she finally felt herself pivot.

  ‘Come on! Come on!' Lucy squealed, blinking up hopefully. She finally saw the twists start kicking away.

  As the world whisked around her, Lucy heard a beep through the rush. A wave of dread washed over her with the realisation of what it was.

  Her altimeter was going off. 2,000ft. She'd reached her hard deck. She panted up at the two twists remaining.

  A few more seconds…

  But it was useless. Lucy didn't have any time left.

  She couldn't get her breath; her heart was galloping. Her raw, rope-burnt hands let go of lines. She barely had the strength left to raise her right hand. She blinked down at the handle. Tears pooled in her eyes.

  If this doesn't work...

  She gripped it in her trembling, sweaty fingers. Lucy screwed her eyes shut and pulled.

  She slumped forward as the parachute disconnected. She was falling again, fast and hard, belly down. She blinked down at the fields, bigger than she'd ever seen them in freefall.

  I'm stable.

  She grabbed the reserve handle and yanked.

  Her stomach dropped. She was shooting upwards. Finally, the wind stilled; all she had left was the hiss in her ears. Lucy blinked up at the white canopy, fat and square and perfect against beautiful blue; felt the euphoria burst in her chest. It was stronger than she'd ever felt it before. She reached up with trembling hands, pulling the toggles from the risers, sobbing her heart out. Now all she had to do was land.

  Josh sprinted across the airfield, the long, wet grass threatening to trip him with every stride; the tandem harness pulling tight against his thighs. He could still see the saggy blue parachute spiralling down; Froggy's orange canopy chasing her. The brow of trees was coming up. Josh pushed himself to pick up speed to clear the ditch beneath them. Teeth gritted, legs flailing; his fingers grasped the wooden fence, his feet plunging down into the bank of nettles. Josh hauled himself over, brambles tugging his jump pants, ripping at his bare arms; jumping down into the green undergrowth; staggering out into the cornfield. Joshua looked up and froze.

  He held his breath as the mangled blue parachute floated away; his heart in his mouth as he saw the black dot plummet down. He stood there: helpless. He could hear the trickle of the stream behind him; his thundering pulse; a blackbird sounding the warning alarm. He raised the walkie talkie to his lips, blinking up at the white canopy. Josh started running again.

  She knew she wasn't on the airfield. It wasn't green beneath her, but gold. Lucy tried to think back to the drive in; Josh grilling her.

  Landing and approach...

  She could see flawless skin; him smiling at her from the driver's seat.

  Lucy let out a sob.

  Her thoughts were muddy. She felt dog tired; every inch of her body hurt. She couldn't concentrate, she couldn't think. She'd had far too much sensory overload for one day. Her body was shutting down.

  Her mind flicked back to his bed: a snapshot with every blink, the blinks getting progressively longer. White light, the crumpled duvet, his black dressing gown. Toast and coffee, jam and sticky fingers. Joshua's hands, his nose, his smile.

  Lucy heaved her heavy eyes open. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw each ear of corn. A blink: Joshua's green eyes, the laughter lines at the corners. Open again: a golden blur.

  Lucy used her last shred of energy to flare. Her feet finally touched earth. She slumped down, rolling limply, spikes of corn snagging and snapping and pricking her. The blue sky disappeared behind a shroud of white. She could finally close her eyes.

  'Lucy? ...Lucy!'

  Froggy fell to his knees, hands diving into the canopy, yanking it back, quickly gathering it up in his arms. Froggy's eyes flared as her hand came into view. Motionless, fingers outstretched; toggle in her palm. Froggy's hands suddenly stilled.

  A startled blackbird chirruped and dipped across the sky. Froggy's head shot up. Josh was hurtling towards him, eyes wild, t-shirt drenched in sweat.

  Froggy watched the walkie talkie bounce then disappear into the corn in slow motion; heard Snowy panting as he dropped to his knees, wrenching the white parachute back.

  'LUCY!'

  Froggy squeezed his eyes shut, his stomach turning in an icy knot.

  'Don't be angry with me.'

  Froggy's eyes blinked open. He stared down into the goggles. Blue eyes flicked from Josh to him, then back again. Her face was crimson, tendrils of hair sticking to her forehead; almost black with sweat.

  '…Lucy.' he heard Joshua breath.

  'You're not going to shout, are you?' she croaked timidly.

  Joshua's face crumpled. His shaky hand covered his mouth, eyes pooling with tears. He let out a heart-wrenching sob.

  Froggy grasped his shoulder.

  'Do'nay move her,' he warned Josh.

  Froggy's head turned quickly as he heard the crackle of snapping corn. His eyebrows jumped up. She was already up on her knees.

  'I'm all right!' Lucy told him. She reached out for Josh, stroking his shoulder. Her hands were shaky; covered in welts and contusions.

  'I heard you on the walkie talkie,' she said gently.

  Josh slowly raised his head.

  'I couldn't speak. I couldn't get my breath.'

  She grabbed Joshua's hands.

  'I love you too,' she smiled up at him. ‘Just saying,' she shrugged. ‘Just so you know.'

  They stared at one other for what seemed like forever. Suddenly, they were in each other's arms. Hugging; kissing urgently.

  Ach, young love…

  Froggy grinned up at the sky.

  He stumbled shakily up onto his feet, wrenching off his helmet. He began gathering the lines of his canopy, feeling the sweet, cooling air on his cheeks, whistling to himself.

  He glanced back at the two of them, smiling. The smile dropped; Froggy's eyes bulged. He turned back at the lines; began hauling in double time, suddenly aware that he shouldn't be there.

  'Look at your hands,' Joshua tutted, holding one up by their entwined fingers, his voice cracked with concern.

  Lucy couldn't open her eyes, let alone lift her
head.

  He gently raised her hand to his mouth, pressing a feather-light kiss to the back of her knuckles. She smiled to herself, nuzzling the soft down of his warm, damp chest.

  'I've never done it in a cornfield before,' she smirked, listening to his heartbeat finally slowing. She breathed in his scent, his strong arms enveloping her. Joshua pulled the white parachute tighter around them, shielding her from the twilit breeze.

  'No, neither have I.'

  'It's warm under here,' she sighed.

  'Don't get too comfy.'

  'Thanks for helping me get my jumpsuit off,' she mumbled.

  'Anytime.'

  She could hear his smile.

  'Do you think we ought to go and look for the main?' Lucy asked reluctantly, leaning into his hand as he smoothed the hair from her damp forehead.

  'I'm pretty sure Froggy's got it.'

  His fingers rested on her chin, gently tilting her face up. Lucy looked up at him.

  'How are you feeling now?'

  Joshua's green eyes searched her face in the fading light.

  'Wonderful,' Lucy grinned woozily, pupils still wide. Joshua laughed.

  Her eyelids lowered, like lead canopies.

  'Tired,' she admitted.

  His fingers loosened, allowing her cheek to rest back down on his chest.

  'You're crashing,' he told her gently, stroking her bare back. 'It's the adrenaline.'

  'Hmm... adrenaline,' Lucy said, smiling drowsily, her chest expanding in a deep yawn. His chest shook her head as he laughed.