Summer's Edge

by Noël Cades

  "She should go to the hospital," Becky said.

  Alice managed to say that it hadn’t gone that far, that she was ok, just bruised and shaken up.

  "You could still press charges though."

  But she just wanted to be home, in her own house, in her own bed. She wanted to take a shower and wash every trace and memory of his horrible clammy hands off her, his raw beery breath.

  In the end Joe ordered them a taxi. He wanted to come back with them but they assured him they would look after her. "You can go and beat the living hell out the arsehole who did this," Jules told him.

  "That’s already been taken care of. Not by me, worse luck, or he’d be the one needing hospital." The player had been dragged off somewhere while they were looking after Alice and no one was quite sure what had happened to him. Or who he was.

  "Did you recognise him?" Becky asked Joe.

  "No. We’re due to play them next week. He’s in for a bat round his skull if he so much as shows his face."

  They bundled Alice into the taxi, getting in after her, and gave the driver her address.

  "I really am fine now, you guys can stay on at the party."

  "No way are we leaving you," Jules said and the three of them travelled together back to Cheltenham.

  Alice was so glad of them. So grateful. No one in the world had such amazing friends as she did. They didn’t ask her anything about it, didn’t make her relive it. They were just there for her.

  Alice’s parents were asleep when they got back at around two o’clock in the morning, so they tried to be as quiet as possible.

  "I’ll run you a bath, you can soak it all off," Becky said.

  Getting out of the bath Alice was overcome with a wave of exhaustion so intense that she could barely pull a t-shirt on.

  She had feared that when she tried to sleep she would be kept awake by visions of his leering face and her terror and panic. But when she closed her eyes there was only gentle darkness.

  15. Aftermath

  They all slept in until nearly midday on Sunday. Alice’s mother didn’t disturb them but when they eventually wandered down the kitchen she looked concerned. All the more so when she saw the scratch on Alice’s face and that her lip was bruised.

  "You’ve had several phone calls, Alice, all from men asking how you are. What on earth has happened?"

  "Some guy got a bit too drunk and had to be thrown out of the party," Alice said.

  "But look at you! What happened to you?"

  Alice really didn’t want to say. It would only worry her mother and she felt totally fine now. It all seemed to have happened a very long time ago.

  "This player got a bit friendly with Alice and had to be pulled away," Jules said. She guessed that Alice wanted to play it down to her family.

  "It was all very quick and nothing really happened," Alice said, seeing her mother’s alarm. To try and change the subject she asked who had rung.

  "Someone called Joe rang and left his number," Alice’s mother said, looking at the notepad by the phone. "Then there was a Graeme. And someone who sounded Australian who didn’t leave a name or number."

  They all caught one another’s eyes. No prizes for guessing who that was.

  "Will you call Joe?" Becky asked. "He was pretty great last night, getting us the taxi and everything."

  Alice really didn’t want to call anyone except the one number she didn’t have.

  "I’ll call Graeme," Jules offered. "They must have broken for lunch by now and if he rang at eleven o’clock he probably gave the dressing room number." She went into the hall to use the phone and was gone for a short time while Becky and Alice rather nervously chewed toast. They couldn’t really discuss things in front of Alice’s mother.

  Eventually Jules came back and it was clear from her face that she had something she needed to tell them. "Graeme was just checking how you were, he’ll let the others know you’re ok. It’s caused a bit of a stir because apparently that arsehole has done this before and was already on his yellow card. So now he’s out."

  "You mean from the team?" Alice asked.

  "Yes. I don’t think he was their star player, I’d never heard of him and you know how my dad goes on about cricket all the time."

  "We should get outside, it’s a lovely day," Becky said. Like Alice she was dying to know what more Jules had to tell them.

  "Should I ring Joe first?" Alice asked. She didn’t want to be rude.

  "You can do that later. Worcestershire are playing in Birmingham today aren’t they? I’m pretty sure that’s not a Birmingham number as my aunt lives there and her code is different. So it’s probably his home number from Worcester or wherever he lives."

  It was a beautiful late May day and very sunny. They didn’t have school tomorrow thanks to the Bank Holiday and no one felt like revising. Jules suggested they went down to the beer gardens in town and sat in the park there. "We can get some crisps and stuff and try and get a tan."

  * * *

  The beer gardens, more formally known as the Imperial Gardens, lay between the Town Hall and the town’s grandest hotel. Being such a central location they attracted large crowds on a sunny day and there was a good chance of bumping into people you knew.

  They bought some snacks from the nearby off-licence and found a spare stretch of grass next to a flowerbed of garish, regimentally-planted petunias.

  "Civic flowers. They’re always really fake looking, aren’t they?" Jules said.

  "We want to know what Graeme said." Becky and Alice were getting impatient because Jules had refused to reveal anything until they got there.

  "Do a little drumroll for me then," Jules said.

  "Come on!"

  Jules finally yielded. "Someone we know may be walking around with grazed knuckles today." This left them none the wiser. "Your rescuer, Alice, the one who ripped that Somerset arsehole off you and punched his lights out was none other than your beloved Mr Walker."

  Alice didn’t know how she felt. Glad and grateful, of course, and thrilled, but also anxious.

  "I never got a chance to thank him. I never saw him again that night, not since way earlier," she said.

  "He was there the whole time, just brooding and avoiding you I imagine. You were pretty full on with Joe." Alice felt ashamed at this.

  "But you can’t blame yourself," Jules continued, seeing her face. "Mr Walker took himself out of the running. Anyway he was there all along, and by coincidence or whatever he saw you being assaulted and saved the day."

  "Where was he when we left?" Becky said.

  "No idea. Probably outside giving the guy a good thrashing. We were in the bathroom for some time. He may have left the party then, but I doubt it. You’d think he would have wanted to speak to Alice, check she was ok. Especially since he rang the next morning."

  Alice felt even more terrible for having had Joe around while they were leaving. "I just assumed it was anyone at the party. I had no idea it was him," she said.

  "Now he’s your rescuer. So you’ll have to find some way to reward him." Jules grinned, and then her own face fell as she looked over at another group of people. "Oh god, of all the people who could be here today, it’s Maddy Pullen."

  "Where?"

  "Over there, with the usual crowd of them. I hope they don’t see us."

  But Jules hoped in vain. Maddy saw them, then held some kind of conversation with her friends while giving jeering glances, and then came over.

  "Not shagging any cricketers today? Finally get dumped for someone better, Becky?"

  They knew better than to rise to her bait.

  "How did you find Biology?" Alice asked, referring to the previous week’s A-level exam. She had noticed Maddy looking particularly stressed and miserable when she came out of the examination hall.

  Maddy scowled. "It was fine and I don’t need to get an A in biology anyway."

  "You don’t even need any GCSEs to do what you’re doing," Jules said.

  "Actually yo
u need ABB to do Sociology," Maddy told her.

  "I wasn’t talking about Sociology. I was referring to your degree in being a stupid slag."

  "Look in the mirror if you want to see a slag," Maddy said. She turned to Alice. "And what were you up to sucking up to Mr Walker last Friday, going into the pavilion with him?"

  Alice felt her heart thump. She must not, must not give anything away. "He wanted some litter picked up in there."

  "Very cosy I’m sure. Just as cosy as your night in the Dog & Duck?"

  "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

  "Just some very interesting rumours that I heard, but I couldn’t possibly believe given you’re such a sad ugly cow. Now I wonder," Maddy said.

  "You can wonder all you want," Jules told her. "The only nasty rumours around here with any truth in them are those that feature you."

  "Yeah, well there’s no way he’d lower himself to you lot anyway." Maddy left, not satisfied that she’d scored any direct hits.

  When she had gone the others were silent until they could see she had rejoined her group and was well out of earshot. Alice felt physically exhausted. With the events at the party last night, and what Jules had just told them about her rescuer, Maddy hearing something about Mr Walker and her was all too much.

  "She knows. What am I going to do?"

  "She doesn’t know anything. She’s just digging," Jules said.

  Becky, who had been lying on her side, sat up. "She doesn’t want to believe what she heard because she likes him herself. I heard her talking about him in class. You’ve got nothing to worry about."

  Alice disagreed but didn’t want to dwell on the subject. She thought it was far more likely that Maddy would stir out of jealousy, if what Becky said was true.

  "Whatever happens it’s only a few more weeks now. Then we’re free of it all. No more Maddy ever." Jules was trying to reassure Alice, but all Alice could think of was no more Mr Walker, ever. She figured the link via Becky and Brett would still be there, but there wouldn’t be the daily opportunity to see him. It was a miserable thought.

  "Will you ring Joe tonight?" Becky asked.

  Alice supposed she would have to. She was grateful to him but she really didn’t want to lead him on any more. Now he had taken on the role of her protector he possibly had expectations and she would have to let him down. "I guess so. I’m not sure what I’ll say though," she said.

  "Don’t stress it. He’s not going to be devastated if you turn him down. I’m sure he has other girls lining up around the block. He certainly will if he gets an England cap," Jules said.

  "What about Mr Walker, will you call him too?"

  "He didn’t leave his number," Alice reminded Becky.

  "But what about school next week?"

  "I’m not sure, if doesn’t go out of his way to avoid me I’ll try and thank him," Alice said.

  Just then Jules gave an excited wave. "Kate and Tash are here!"

  Tash turned out to be the non-dreadlocked girl from the Selsley rave. There was also another guy with them whom they introduced as Jez. He was small and nondescript save for his t-shirt printed with an elaborate sun design.

  "We’re going up to Castlemorton later. It’s absolutely huge, there’s thousands of people there," Kate told them.

  The Castlemorton festival, described as an illegal rave by the newspapers, had been making headlines the past couple of days. Tens of thousands of travellers and ravers had congregated on common land in the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, driven away from an earlier, cancelled festival. Police had been powerless to turn back so many people and it was anarchy.

  "What about school?" Jules asked.

  "It’s a Bank Holiday tomorrow, remember? And this is the gathering of a lifetime, it’s massive."

  "Bigger than Lechlade?"

  "Way bigger. It’s like a supermarket for drugs. All the sound systems are there," Tash said.

  "We’ve got space for you in the car if you want to come," Kate offered.

  Jules had an exam the next week and was hesitating. Becky didn’t want to go since Brett wouldn’t be there. Alice didn’t care either way.

  "Leafy’s there," Kate said. Jules knew this but the nudge was enough to help her decide.

  "OK, let’s go. We’ll have to pick up some stuff first. What time are you planning to head up?"

  "Whenever. It’ll be light for hours. Late afternoon, early evening maybe?" Kate said.

  "It’ll be better when it’s dark. Easier to avoid any police on the way." Tash pointed out.

  Alice was starting to feel excitement. It was such a last minute thing to do, go all the way to Worcestershire, she liked the impulsiveness. She would have to lie to her mother and Richard because they had been tut-tutting at the television news reports every night and would freak out if they thought she was planning to go there herself.

  * * *

  Back home Alice threw some things into a bag and waited for Jules to call her. Her parents were watching the news again and there was more coverage of Castlemorton. Their sympathies lay with the nearby villagers who were sick of the disruption, rather than the party goers. Alice felt a guilty twinge about her plans. Not enough to change her mind though, the scenes of revelry on the television only acted as a greater drawcard.

  The phone rang, it was Jules. "Bad news. Kate’s car is kaput and I can’t borrow either of my parents’ ones, not overnight anyway. The others have managed to get a lift with someone else but there’s no room for us."

  Alice was dismayed. "There must be some way to get there?" They discussed different options. It was in the middle of nowhere so even if they got a train to Worcester it wouldn’t be much use. There wouldn’t be any buses at that time of night and taxis probably wouldn’t want to go near the area due to the police. Alice’s parents both needed their cars the next day.

  "We could try and hitch a ride from Worcester or something?" Jules suggested. "There must be other people heading that way. They’re arriving all the time according to the news."

  "It’s nearer Malvern isn’t it? Is that on the train line?" Alice asked.

  "Not sure. Anyway Kate’s making a few calls, the problem is all her mates are already up there."

  "Call me back if she has any good news, otherwise let’s give it half an hour and just get a train and hope for the best."

  Alice replaced the handset. Immediately it rang again. "That was quick," she said.

  "Is that Alice?" A male, Australian voice. Definitely not Jules.

  Oh god, it was him. Mr Walker.

  "Sorry I thought you were Jules," she said, confused.

  "I was ringing to find out how you were after last night."

  She knew from that moment, from the tone of his voice, that the battle was won.

  "I’m fine, thank you so much for your help. I didn’t realise it was you who intervened until today."

  There was a short silence. Then he spoke. "I was wondering if you’d like to meet me for a drink tonight?"

  Her heart leapt. But she couldn’t let Jules down. "I would love to, but Jules and I are going to the Castlemorton festival." Please let him suggest another time, she thought.

  "The one on the TV?"

  "Yes. Our lift fell through so Jules was trying to arrange something else. That’s why I thought you were her when you called," Alice said.

  "I’ll drive you both there."

  She was stunned. "Seriously, you don’t have to do that. It’s miles."

  "It’s no problem. Besides I’d be interested to see it for myself. It looked like quite an event on the news."

  This was unprecedented. She was trying to get her head around it.

  "If you’re absolutely sure, I’ll call Jules. Her sister needs a lift too, will that be ok?"

  He said it would be and asked for her address. "I’ll pick you up in half an hour. You can direct me to Jules’ place.

  Alice sat on the chair in the hall for a while, still in shock. Then she remembered she had b
etter phone Jules. The number was engaged the first two times she dialled but eventually she got through to Kate. "Oh hi Alice, I was still trying to sort us out some transport. No joy yet."

  "It’s all sorted. Put Jules on."

  Alice told Jules the developments and Jules started laughing. "My god. We’re going to an illegal rave with a teacher. This is the most insane thing ever." She rang off, leaving Alice wondering how she was going to explain Mr Walker’s arrival to her parents. She decided it would be best to just wait outside and get in his car before they saw.

  16. Castlemorton

  Mr Walker arrived exactly when he said he would and got out and opened the door for her. For the first time Alice found herself feeling horribly shy around him. She was still fearful that he might think she was fickle for being around Joe all night.

  "He scratched your face," he said.

  "It’s nothing, it’s barely anything." She felt more embarrassed about the whole episode than traumatised now.

  "I wish I’d got to the bastard earlier."

  Alice got into the front seat, and looked across at his profile as he pulled into the road. He also seemed to be avoiding looking directly at her. Maybe he was still hesitating, still wavering? She sensed that he was torn between wanting to be with her and what he thought was doing the right thing. It would be interesting to see how he would act at the festival.

  They drove to Jules’ house and Jules and Kate got in the back. Jules was all sly grins to Alice, who hoped that Mr Walker couldn’t see. She knew that any pointed remarks or innuendos from Jules would only send him further away again.

  Instead they talked about the festivals and the whole movement, Kate leading the conversation as she had been involved in it for so much longer.

  "Is there anything like in Australia?" Jules asked him.

  "In the outback they have B&S balls - bachelor and spinster - that get pretty wild. But they’re organised parties," he told her.

  "What about travellers?" Kate asked.