Beyond the Lens

by Hannah Ellis

  Dylan won in the end, but no one was very competitive about it, even Ryan. It was too much fun to worry about winning.

  Since my facial muscles had got a good workout from all the laughing, I had a quick swim after lunch to exercise the rest of my body. I was thoroughly relaxed when I joined everyone on the couches, where they were drinking beers.

  “Does anyone else think this is all a bit weird?” Dylan said, looking shiftily at the cameraman nearest him. “How can they record everything with so few cameras?”

  “Dylan’s got a point,” Margaret agreed. “It all seems a bit amateur. It seems far too easy to escape the cameras.”

  “I just don’t think this is going to be a big show,” Chrissie said. “I think they’re doing a trial run to figure out the logistics. If it was a real show, they’d pick the participants to make sure they got an interesting bunch. They’d get extroverts who would argue and fight or wander around naked. Stuff that makes good viewing. They’d be more organised, not just pick people an hour before the plane left.”

  “I don’t really care,” Matt told us. “I’m having a great time. I’m not going to ruin it by overthinking things. I’m quite happy to relax and enjoy myself.”

  “Dylan’s right about the cameras, though,” Kelly said, pausing to take a swig of beer. “There’s been a few times when I don’t think there was a camera pointed at me at all. It worries me. They might miss something good. What if I have a bikini malfunction and no one sees it?” She flashed her mischievous grin at us.

  “I could probably keep an eye on that situation for you if you want …” Ryan offered, killing the atmosphere.

  “I think you have a problem with your delivery,” Matt told him, one eyebrow cocked. “You need to stop staring at boobs and loose the creepy little smirk.”

  I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at the look on Ryan’s face. Chrissie snorted beside me.

  Ryan seemed to be attempting to kill Matt with a look. Matt took the hint and stepped away from him. “I think I’ll have a dip,” he told us. “If you ladies could do me a favour and avoid having any bikini malfunctions while I’m not around to monitor the situation, I’d really appreciate it!” He winked at Ryan before continuing his path to the pool, taking a run up then diving in.

  “Oh my God!” Ryan jumped up from his seat and headed into the living room at lightning speed. I looked around, confused.

  “What’s wrong?” Chrissie asked as we watched Ryan huddle in the doorway. “What?” she snapped, when he just stood there, frozen to the spot.

  “Look!” He pointed, looking like he’d seen a ghost. We all shifted our gaze to the far side of the pool. There was a little wooden fence separating us from the overgrown bushes which ran up the hill beyond. Wandering on the other side of the fence was a large brown chicken.

  “Yeah,” Chrissie said slowly as we looked back at Ryan, who was clutching the doorframe. “It’s a chicken.”

  “It’s creepy,” Ryan told us, shaking his head. “They freak me out.”

  “Are you serious?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah, they’re horrible.”

  I saw the mischief in Matt’s eyes as he pulled himself out of the pool and leaned over the fence to pick up the chicken. When he turned to goad Ryan with it, Ryan was nowhere to be seen, and it was an hour before he cautiously returned to join us outside.

  Matt corralled us into a game of water polo in the afternoon, but it didn’t last long before we gave up in favour of splashing and dunking each other. I was laughing hard when I pulled myself out of the pool to catch my breath.

  “I need a rest,” I told Chrissie as she stood laughing at the side of the pool. We ducked to avoid the ball that Matt threw at us and, as I went to throw it back at him, Chrissie shoved me into the pool.

  “I’ll get you back for that!” I told her when I came up laughing.

  Chapter 12

  Silence fell as everyone settled down for a siesta. I smiled at Matt when he walked past me with a finger to his lips. I watched him walk inside. When he reappeared a few minutes later, he had a chicken under his arm. I sat up and watched him place it on the floor next to Ryan and then come to perch on the edge of my sun lounger.

  “Ryan,” Matt called gently. “Hey, Ryan!”

  Ryan slowly opened his eyes and looked over at us.

  “I think there’s finally a bird interested in you,” Matt told him and nodded at the chicken.

  It felt a bit mean, but I couldn’t help laughing as Ryan fell out of his seat in a bid to escape from the chicken. He managed to scramble to his feet and shot inside at top speed.

  “I think you enjoy teasing him a little bit too much,” I told Matt.

  “I know,” he sighed. “But it’s just too easy.”

  “It’s not funny!” Ryan’s voice drifted down from above us and we looked up to the bedroom window. “Can you please get rid of it?” He looked genuinely upset and I felt sorry for him.

  “Take it away,” I encouraged Matt.

  “It’s just a chicken,” Matt told him.

  “It’s a real fear,” Ryan replied.

  “Sorry,” Matt shouted up sincerely. “But maybe you should face your fear. It’s not going to hurt you.”

  “It might …” Ryan hesitated as though he couldn’t quite bring himself to say the words. “It might … peck me.”

  “How about I keep hold of it and you just come and have a look at it?”

  “I don’t trust you,” Ryan shouted down.

  “I’ll hold it,” Margaret offered. “I’ll keep it still and you can come and stroke it.”

  “I’m not touching it!”

  “Come down,” Margaret told him as she moved to pick up the chicken. “I promise I won’t let go of it.”

  Ryan hesitated for a minute before moving away from the window. He arrived at the living room doorway moments later. “Don’t move,” he warned Margaret.

  “Let’s call it Matilda,” Matt suggested. “It’s difficult to be scared of anything called Matilda, isn’t it?”

  Ryan’s eyes moved from Matt to the chicken. He looked as though he might turn and flee at any moment.

  “Matilda is a lovely chicken who wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Matt told Ryan in soothing tones. “She just wants to be friends.”

  Ryan took a few steps towards Margaret and the chicken, as Matt kept talking. “Matilda is the nicest chicken in the whole world. She’s shy around people and insecure. She just wants to be loved.”

  Ryan inched closer.

  “She’d really love it if you stroked her soft feathers.” Matt stopped talking and Ryan took a deep breath before backtracking the way he’d come.

  “Can you take her away now, please?” Ryan called as he retreated. “I can’t touch it.”

  “Okay,” Matt told him while he scooped Matilda up out of Margaret’s grasp.

  “That was nice of you,” I commented when Matt returned without the chicken a few minutes later.

  “She’s gone,” he shouted to Ryan, then lay down on my sun lounger, nudging me off it.

  “Hey!” I laughed from the grass and automatically held my hand out for Adam to pull me up. He’d been standing not far from me for the last hour, and I decided he could make himself useful. He hesitated before reaching out and pulling me up.

  “Thank you!” I grinned at him and got the briefest flash of a smile in reply.

  Aimlessly, I wandered inside. I was restless, and needed to get out of the sun for a while. Adam followed me and when I found myself in the kitchen I was drawn to Maria’s door, which was slightly ajar. I moved over and pulled it wide. Adam coughed. I looked back at him before walking down the stone steps.

  The steps turned a corner, and I followed the dim light to the passageway at the bottom. It was creepy, but blissfully cool, and I called for Maria as I moved towards a door that was slightly open off the cramped passageway. I glanced back, surprised that Adam hadn’t followed me, and when I continued, I let out a short scream at t
he sight of a man, looming in front of me.

  “You’re not supposed to be down here,” he told me, pulling the door beside him and banging it into the frame.

  “I know. I was just looking for Maria. Who are you?”

  “The catering assistant,” he told me gruffly.

  Then Maria appeared from the other end of the passage. She was chattering as she went, and pushed the huge guy out of her way as she came towards me. I didn’t resist when she turned me around and escorted me back up to the kitchen, where I found Adam waiting for me. He lifted his camera to his shoulder when I walked in but said nothing. Maria patted my arm and disappeared back the way she’d come, leaving me more confused than ever.

  Chapter 13

  I counted five cameramen spread around us when Chelsea sauntered out the next morning in hot pants, sequinned tank top and a pair of sandals with stiletto heels.

  “Good morning, boys and girls!” she addressed us in her usual grating voice. “And isn’t it a beautiful morning?”

  We stared at her and she barely managed to conceal her contempt for us as she cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’re excited to find out what’s in store for you today!”

  “I’m so excited I might just wee my pants.” Matt told her sarcastically. “Please, tell us quickly, before the anticipation kills us.” He grinned at her and my mouth twitched while I fought to contain my giggles. I didn’t dare look at anyone else, sure that if I caught someone’s eye the laughter would take over.

  “Well, Matt!” Chelsea glared at him, a huge fake smile plastered on her face. “This activity should be right up your street. It’s a test of fitness, stamina and good old-fashioned map-reading skills!”

  She turned to the doorway, where a big cardboard box had appeared. “In the box you’ll find everything you need for today’s adventure. There’s a backpack for each of you, filled with essential supplies to get you through the day, and you’ll also find a compass and a local map marked with places you need to find. At each of the points marked on the map, you will find a flag. Collect all the flags and get back home to claim your reward!”

  I managed to smile at her. I felt pretty sorry for her really; we weren’t making her job easy.

  “I’ll see you back here later. Good luck!” She sauntered back into the house, leaving us to explore our box of supplies.

  Ryan opened it up and passed around backpacks, which were tagged with our names.

  “I just want to sit by the pool, not hike around the countryside,” Kelly complained as she peered into her backpack. “They’ve even supplied awful clothes for us to wear.” She took out a pair of hiking boots and a camouflage-patterned baseball cap. Somehow, when she pulled the cap on and threaded her long blonde ponytail out of the back of it she still looked stunning. I left my cap in the backpack, certain that I couldn’t pull it off in quite the same way.

  “It looks pretty straightforward,” Matt told us while he pored over the map. “We start out along the road and then veer off into the hills. Let’s meet down at the fountain in ten minutes.” He was clearly happy to take the lead in organising us, and no one complained. Having a teacher around might just come in useful.

  ***

  Adam and Carl got to work attaching microphones to us when we gathered at the fountain, and then we set off down the driveway and walked along the road, before turning off onto a dirt track through the barren countryside. We reached the first flag in just under an hour, and half an hour after that we had to stop for another break. We were out in the open, and the heat was becoming unbearable. As I returned the bottle of water to my backpack, I pulled the cap onto my head, hoping to keep the sun off my face a bit. I could feel sweat trickling down my neck and the backs of my legs.

  “Isn’t there a way to stay in the shade?” Ryan asked Matt, looking towards the trees farther to our left. “I really think we need to try and keep out of the sun.”

  “Yeah, we need to go that way,” Matt told us, looking at the map and then pointing to the trees. “But first we need to find the flag, which is over there …” He pointed in the opposite direction. “It’s just in that next field.”

  “I’m dying,” Chrissie told me. She was sitting beside me, slumped against a rock and leaned in to rest her head on my shoulder.

  “You all head over to the trees,” Dylan said, peering at the map over Matt’s shoulder. “I’ll get the flag and meet you over there.”

  “My hero!” Kelly announced, looking slightly revived by the suggestion. She seemed to have been coping the worst with the heat, and I was starting to wonder whether she could manage much more hiking. To be fair, she was doing her best to stay positive, but she was clearly struggling. I thought about the conversation we’d overheard the previous morning, and wondered whether this task was designed to push us to breaking point and have us fighting among ourselves. So far, it wasn’t working very well.

  “I’m not sure you should go alone,” I shouted to Dylan who had set off across the field.

  “I very much doubt I’ll have the luxury of being alone.” He turned and grinned at me and then shifted his gaze to Adam, who was following behind him. We also had Carl hanging around us and another guy whose name I didn’t know. I had asked him, but he was taking his job rather seriously and had completely ignored me. I think there were seven or eight cameramen altogether, and I’d only managed to get any communication out of Adam and Carl.

  We made it to the trees and then sat down to wait for Dylan. It was still hot but it was infinitely more comfortable under the shade of the trees.

  “Can we stay in the shade for a while?” I asked Matt.

  “Yeah, mostly. There are a couple of places where we’ll be out in the open again, but not too much.”

  “Great,” Ryan groaned, leaning back against the tree.

  I opened my backpack, pulled out the envelope with my name on it, and turned it over in my hands before taking out the photo that was inside. It was of an elegant ladies Rolex watch. The watch was silver with a pale pink face and looked beautifully simple in its design. It was exactly what I would choose for myself if I were ever going to spend a small fortune on a watch. I had never owned anything so extravagant, and was unsure that I would ever dare to wear something so expensive. Apparently it was mine, though.

  The first flag we’d found had flapped gently in the breeze above a small wooden box which contained an envelope for each of us. On the back of the photos were instructions to bring the picture back with us and exchange it for the real thing. Needless to say, we had abandoned any thoughts of opting out of the task, and were now intent on making sure we found all the flags before returning to our temporary home. A clever move on the part of the producers.

  “What did we get this time?” Ryan asked excitedly when Dylan and Adam re-joined us.

  “I need a drink.” Dylan slumped down on the ground and pulled his water out of his backpack. We watched him gulp down the water before reaching into his bag and pulling out a bunch of large brown envelopes. “I haven’t looked yet,” he told us and handed them out to us.

  I felt the envelope, which seemed to be empty apart from one lumpy object. I heard Kelly gasp and Ryan swear just as I upended my envelope and caught the car key that fell out. I stared at it for a moment, spotting Chrissie jumping up and down somewhere in my peripheral vision. I shook the envelope and a piece of paper fluttered out. It read: Stay for the week and your prize will be parked outside your house on your return home.

  “Is this real?” I asked Dylan, who was sitting on the floor in front of me while the others danced around us. “We really get a car?”

  He shrugged. “It seems like it.” I tried to gauge the look on his face. I was desperate to know what he was thinking as he casually slipped the key into his backpack and reached for the map, which Matt had abandoned in all the excitement. “Are you okay?” he asked when he looked up and caught me staring at him.

  “Yeah, just a bit surprised by how the day is going,” I told him
.

  “Crazy, huh?”

  “You can say that again.”

  At that point the rest of the group bounced over and drew me into their rowdy group hug. We walked on through the shade of the trees and had a great time chatting and joking as we went. I could feel the anticipation building as we neared the next flag, and we increased our pace when the blue flag came into view in a little clearing in the wood. Two wicker picnic hampers and two cool boxes stood under the flag.

  “Not quite a car or a Rolex, but I’ll settle for a picnic,” Margaret told us. “I’m famished!”

  The rest of the group seemed to be in agreement as we went to work spreading out picnic blankets and setting out a lovely selection of picnic foods complete with champagne. There’d been sandwiches and cereal bars in our backpacks, but I think everyone had devoured them early in the hike, and were glad of the extra sustenance.

  We were tipsy thanks to the champagne when we packed up the picnic. Matt and Ryan were fooling around like school kids and seemed to be playing a game of tag, running between the rest of us. When we continued our treasure hunt, I dropped to the back of the group and ambled along beside Dylan.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, slowing to put some distance between us and Margaret, who was just ahead.

  “Fine,” he told me with a fixed smile. I glanced back at Adam, who was a little way behind us, and then unclipped my microphone to shove it in my pocket. Dylan copied me.

  “Where did you learn that trick?” he asked.

  “From Adam.”

  “Ah.” He smiled coyly and glanced back in Adam’s direction. “I see!”

  “No,” I told him defensively. “Not like that. He just … Never mind. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said uncertainly. “I’m just a bit suspicious of all this, I guess.”