by Paula Wynne
Then, he noticed Cami tapping her upper lip and giving him a pointed look. Instinctively, he touched his upper lip and found a layer of cream. He dropped his head and quickly licked away the creamed moustache.
Silently, and not for the first time, he wondered why she was being so kind to him. She wasn’t just a girl, she was a goddamned gorgeous one!
During all his visits in and out of hospital he’d never taken notice of any girls there, and then back at school the ones who’d joined in mocking his limp had put him off. Until he’d worked hard and learnt to do the painful walk that disguised the injury, it had made him walk, as Ben had frequently and loudly pointed out, “like a spazz”. At least, up in the skies, he would have been away from the earth and all the girls who walked normally on it. Above the clouds he could forget about the way he dragged himself over the ground and focus on his missions.
But now.…
Maybe, just maybe, there was hope. A chance that girls might like him if they got to know him. Especially since Cami had asked him if he was going to the Air Fest.
Something fluttered in his stomach. A thing that he didn’t know or need, but he found himself warming to her idea.
20
Leading Cami out of The Cinnamon Stick, Matt walked as steadily as he could on the slippery gravel. He had been worried about walking anywhere with Cami in case the limp put her off him, but she didn’t seem in the least bothered by it and hadn’t even asked him about it. It must be because she had her own bad leg: she understood.
Now, Matt realised two things. He was going to have to quickly suck up to Luke to do some covering for him at the Air Fest, so he could show Cami around. And he would have to put his plans to visit his aunt on hold, just for a while.
As if reading his thoughts, she asked, ‘When are you going to Oxfordshire?’
‘Hey, Matt!’ a voice shouted from behind.
They both spun around to see Luke coming towards them, waving something in his hand. A piece of paper flapped in the breeze.
After a quick introduction, and Luke remembering Cami with far more enthusiasm than was needed, he shoved the paper at Matt.
‘Look!’
Matt and Cami bumped heads as they both leant over the paper at the same time.
‘Sorry,’ Matt murmured.
‘It’s okay,’ Cami rubbed her forehead.
Impatient to tell them the news, Luke explained, ‘It’s a competition…to win a flying lesson.’
Cami gasped and gave him a sweet smile hidden behind her manicured fingers.
‘So what?’ Matt muttered.
Luke shoved the leaflet into Matt’s hand. ‘Give it a go.’
Matt refused, ‘No way!’
‘Why? You’re mad, this is the perfect opportunity.’
‘You know why!’ Anger crept through Matt. He didn’t want to have to explain himself to his brother in front of Cami. Sure, she had been supportive so far, but this kind of thing could easily put her off.
‘Because,’ Luke leaned in and his voice was angry, ‘you don’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone if you win the lucky draw and everyone jeers at you, like on the bus.’
Matt’s hands shot out, pushing Luke away. ‘It’s not that. You know it’s because…because of the other thing.’
‘Jesus, Matt, stop living in the past. Get on with life.’
‘Stop cursing!’ Matt noticed that Cami was watching with what looked like interest as he and his brother argued.
Luke huffed and stalked off, shouting, ‘If you don’t, then I will.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Matt muttered, kicking at the gravel. It wasn’t a good start to sucking up to his brother so he could be a priority hanger-on at the Air Fest.
She asked, ‘Have you ever been in a plane before?’
He nodded. ‘When I was a kid.’
Ever since his accident he hadn’t needed friends, apart from Luke and Mum, and anyway they were family. If he helped Luke with the Air Fest and if he won the lucky draw he would have to open up, he would have to accept other people knowing he wanted to fly.
Only last week he and Luke had had a big argument, and it had ended with his little brother shouting at him, ‘You know your problem Matt? You’re terrified that if you get close to someone they’ll just let you down!’ With that, Luke stormed off.
Matt hated to admit it, but Luke might just be right. And now Cami was enticing him into that circle of fear.
Her soft voice asked, ‘Why don’t you enter? Just for the fun of it?’
‘I don’t care about winning the prize. I wouldn’t want to fly with Bomber anyway. ‘
‘Why?’
‘Lon―’
Cami waved her hand to silence him. ‘Long story, I get it.’
‘Sorry, it’s just―’
‘Don’t keep apologising. It’s cool. I’m cool. Listen, it seems we won’t see each other again―’
‘No,’ he interrupted, ‘I’m only leaving after the Air Fest.’
‘Oh, okay,’ She smiled, and Matt’s heart sang.
‘Tell you what. My cousin is with a film production company in London and he’s doing a documentary down here. You wanna come watch?’
Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a delectable little “O”. ‘Wow! That’d be really cool.’
He really liked this girl, and he wondered again if she had noticed the limp, exactly how bad it was. He’d been secretly eyeing her to see if she looked at his foot weirdly like other girls did, but she didn’t seem to notice it. How did she feel about it? Could she really just ignore it, when other girls couldn’t stomach it?
Deciding that the only way to approach this was head on, he said ‘Hey, listen, you want me to walk you home?’ Earlier she had said she was staying at her old home which her parents still hadn’t sold. It was on the other side of the woods, and if she hadn’t already seen his limp then she certainly would have by the time they got there.
‘Sure,’ she tucked her arms around her chest and rubbed them.
‘You cold?’
‘No. Just thinking and remembering.’
‘Something that gives you chills?’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Possibly. I’ll tell you about it someday. Long story, you know!’
Matt gave a short laugh and nodded. ‘This way,’ he said, guiding her along a dirt track that led behind The Fairground and through woodlands. ‘You okay with me taking you through the woods?’
‘Of course, unless you’re the big bad wolf and out to get Little Red Riding Hood.’
They both laughed and it eased the tension.
‘Anyway, I reckon I can outrun you, even with my bad leg!’
They laughed even more, and Matt started relaxing, even though the whole sodding foot thing really was like a giant cloud of uncertainty hanging over this whole…what was it now, a date?!
‘So, are you going to ask me?’ She was looking at him seriously.
‘About what?’
‘The damned limp that I try my best to hide but never quite can.’ She pointed at her foot. ‘You won’t come across as nosey or anything like that.’
‘Okay, so what happened?’ He smiled at her, feeling great that conversation came so easy.
‘It was four years ago. I used to be a pretty good skier, but then one day…I don’t know, I suppose I wanted to prove I could do something to someone, but really I was just being stupid. I went down a black runway too fast and on one of the turns my left ski hit some ice and came off. When I landed all the force went into that leg and it broke in a couple of places. It’s never been right since, and I’ve had to relearn to even walk this close to normally.’
Matt stared at her. It felt as if he was looking in a mirror.
‘I’m always worried what people think, but I’m so glad you don’t seem to mind.’
Matt had the strongest urge to tell her about his own leg there and then, but the resistance to doing that wasn’t ready to be broken yet. They had bonded
so quickly, why risk putting her off now? After walking for ten minutes and chatting about their old school, Matt was still trying to work out how much older she was. She’d seemed quite a bit older in primary school, but age differences got amplified when you were small. A year, maybe two, he decided.
Not a big deal. To him, anyway.
He pointed at his house and said, ‘Hey, you mind if Buster joins us?’ He laughed at her surprised expression. ‘He’s our old neighbour’s dog. Luke and I walk him, since old Bill can’t do it anymore.’
‘Then why does he have a dog?’
‘Cause he got Buster as a pup to keep him company and it was only later on he got a bit lame.’ He whistled through two fingers. ‘Old Bill would be heartbroken if he had to get rid of Buster, so we help out.’
The dog came bounding around the next door house and jumped up on the fence. Matt leaned over and stroked his head. ‘Hey, boy, I’ll be out in a minute. Would you like Cami to join us?’ He gave her a sidelong glance.
She laughed. ‘Okay, what the heck. Take me dog walking.’
‘Okay, I’ll just be a minute. Come in while I grab his lead and collar.’
‘You keep that too?’
‘Course, in case old Bill’s asleep when I have to do the trot.’
She followed him through the front door and into the living room. ‘Makes sense.’
Matt headed for a small basket and lifted out a dog collar and long lead. He’d thought Cami would be charmed by Buster, but in fact she seemed to be a bit nervous around dogs. A burst of energy surged through him: and yet she’d still agreed to him bringing Buster. Cami must really like him to go dog walking on a first date. He blinked as the words came into his head.
First date.
Was that what this was? A date? With a girl, and a stunning one at that! A warm flush washed through him and he bent back into the basket to hide his blush. Glancing at her through the corner of his eye, he saw her taking in the room. It wasn’t the most stylish home, he knew that, but it had its own lived-in cosiness. He straightened, still feeling the euphoria warming his belly. ‘Okay, I’m armed and ready.’
Cami suddenly blinked as she pointed at something on the mantelpiece. ‘What’s that?’
Matt’s eyes followed her finger. Dad’s little red toy aeroplane. ‘That’s my Dad’s.’
Before she could ask him any more about all that, he hurried to the front door, calling out, ‘Come on, Buster’s waiting.’
With a last look around the room, she followed him outside.
21
Ambling along listening to Cami chatting about her travels to New York, Matt’s clumsy foot didn’t keep in time with the other and he stumbled. Quickly righting himself, he mumbled, ‘Stupid.’ He was about to add “foot” when he realised he had spoken out loud.
‘I’m sorry about the old lady’s handbag back in the coffee shop.’
He waved it away as if it were nothing. ‘Not your fault.’
‘I remember you used to run around very fast. At school you always won the races.’
‘Hah, the egg and spoon race probably!’
‘No,’ she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Her voice softened to barely a whisper, ‘Sometimes that helps. It did when I busted my leg.’
He eyed her with suspicion. But instead of a mocking sneer, Cami’s face shone with genuine concern. He sighed. ‘I was stupid, that’s all.’
She waited in silence, forcing him to continue.
The old ache that was often in the back of his throat returned, along with a sour taste on his tongue. Tucking his shirt into the back of his jeans kept him occupied for a little while, but her large blue eyes were fixed on him.
He changed the subject. ‘Hey, have you seen the lost airfield?’ He pointed down another dirt track that disappeared into the woods.
‘The what? No, I haven’t!’
‘Want to see it?’ He asked, already heading down the route that held secrets and surprises.
She nodded and hurried after him. Her limp wasn’t as bad when she was in a rush.
‘It was abandoned after the war and never put back into action because the Balmaine family didn’t need to do anything with this land.’
‘That rich, huh?’ Cami muttered.
‘Dad told me that before the war old man Balmaine had leased some of the land to the military, and the far northern section had become a huge RAF base during the war.’
‘And now?’ Cami asked looking around.
‘After the war ended he kept this small airfield alongside their cul-de-sac, which the RAF had used as a dummy air base. See!’ He pointed at a small Second World War observation block barely visible amongst the hedgerow. Moss covered the concrete, making it look as though it fitted perfectly into the woody landscape. Its two look-out holes gave it the impression of the empty eyes of a green monster from a kids movie.
Many of the surrounding trees, also covered in moss, leaned over as if peering down to figure out who this foreigner was in their midst.
‘Are we allowed?’ Cami indicated the various Private Property signs punched up against trees, swinging from fence posts and hammered into stakes at gate posts. ‘Anyone would think the Balmaines had something to hide!’
Matt chuckled and shoved at a rusty farm gate, kicking it with his right foot.
As he guided Cami through the thicket of bush surrounding the airfield, a flood of memories washed over him. ‘Luke and I used to spy here when we played barmy army. We built dens out of whatever we could nick from Dad’s shed.’
‘Sounds like fun.’
‘It was. Often, we tunnelled and forced our way through the dense vegetation, and we’d suddenly find an untouched building that we'd never seen before.’
‘What do you know about the place?’
‘Just what I told you. Nobody seems to care.’
‘Except the Balmaine family,’ Cami remarked.
‘Exactly! And they’re not saying much.’ Matt headed to a military truck decaying in the woods, strangled by brambles and thorny weeds. Its broken rear side mirror peeped out at him, as if beseeching him to rescue it from the tightening, thorny noose.
A tree on the other side had grown through the truck’s carriage and now stretched its branches through the cracked front windscreen.
As he had done himself many times before, now Cami stood on the footplate and craned her neck to look inside.
‘Watch out,’ he warned, ‘the brambles will attack you. I’ve often been left with bleeding rips along my arms.’
As if it had heard, a bramble snatched at her sleeve. Cami tugged, but the bramble wouldn’t let go. She grimaced at a loud rip and swore under her breath. ‘Damn, my new shirt!’
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you here,’ he tried to pull together the ripped cloth, then realised he was touching her skin and quickly pulled his hands away.
‘It’s not my favourite shirt, anyway.’
Quickly changing the subject, Matt said, ‘Within a few years, we probably won’t be able to even see the truck anymore.’
As they left the dirt track and re-joined the gravel path leading up to the flight control tower, Buster barked up ahead and Matt suddenly remembered he was supposed to be walking the dog, not just entertaining Cami.
At least Buster loved it out here, and he was safe from cars and always came back.
They passed a war time pump engine that looked like a stump-nose truck with no front carriage.
‘Dad said all these old war machines were just left to die here after the war.’
‘Why?’
‘Dunno. I guess they were just old or broken and no one ever bothered to fix them. I guess it’s no surprise with the whole Balmaine estate and the kid’s animal park as well as all their shops to look after. Even some of the buildings are falling apart, like that old mansion they sold to a hotel group. Little Hollow Hall, it’s called now.’
‘I know it,’ Cami cried out, �
��I used to love that old place.’
‘I love this place,’ he countered. ‘There’s something about these rotting, decayed machines that sparks my imagination into a frenzy.’ He turned and looked for Buster.
He was nowhere in sight.
He did his usual whistle, but still Buster didn’t respond.
‘Come on, I’d better find that stupid dog.’ Annoyed Matt scuttled down the remains of a concrete pathway that snaked between the dilapidated buildings. Here and there weeds had squeezed through the cracks and taken over, and the ubiquitous brambles climbed their way over the sorry remains of the structures.
‘See those?’ His gaze flicked to the far side of the
X-shaped runway where a Mosquito II fighter and a Mustang fighter bomber were parked.
Cami followed his eyes.
‘Dad and Bomber restored those,’ his voice filled with pride for a moment and then dropped to a murmur, ‘They inspired me to dream of being an RAF pilot, but that’s all over now.’
‘Why?’
‘I can’t join the RAF.’
Without saying anything, her eyes questioned him.
‘You see, I’ve got all the grades I need, but I’ll never pass the physical.’
‘Physical? Why do you need to be able to walk and run normally, if you’re in the air?’
‘Yeah, I know. But they have this thing called a basic physical fitness test. I need to run at least two miles in under eleven minutes to pass it.’
‘Wow, really?’
‘And there’s a bleep test.’
‘Which is what?’
‘It’s like a running test over a distance of twenty metres. I need to do at least fifteen points on the bleep test.’
‘That’s insane. Pilots wouldn’t need to do that much running when they’re in the cockpit. I can understand lungs and heart and stuff, by why legs? I mean, look at Douglas Bader, he was one of the best pilots in the war and he had no legs at all!’
‘I know! Apart from the running stuff I’ll ace it, but it seems like there are no exceptions: if you can’t past the test you can’t join.’
‘God, that’s so rough! Do you have to fly that way though? Why not fly privately? That Bomber guy who’s offering the flying lesson could teach you. Even Luke said so.’
