by Karen Cossey
He looked stressed, like he might cry. Lia rubbed the back of his neck.
“I ran into the kitchen, and it was all smoke and flames. I got down on my hands and knees and there was Meeka, hiding under her play table. She was unconscious from the smoke. I pulled her outside and resuscitated her. The rest of it … it’s a bit of a blur.”
“That’s because he was so wound up. We all were,” Lia said. “He wouldn’t leave Meeka’s side. He had this terrible burn on his shoulder from reaching under the hot table, but he didn’t even notice it. When one of the male nurses at the hospital tried to get him to leave Meeka so he could tend to his shoulder, Jason almost punched him. I had to come up to him and jab a sedative into his arm.”
She put her arm around Jason’s shoulders and kissed the side of his head.
Jason smiled at her then turned to look at them all. “Hence, Meeka doesn’t cook either, although she has mastered the toaster and the electric jug, and she makes a mean peanut butter sandwich. A fine accomplishment I say, and all that is necessary for now.”
“I’m still scared of fires though.” Meeka gave a sad smile.
Poet sat up straight and leaned towards Meeka. “Don’t worry. I’m scared of going to the park by myself.”
Now everyone looked sad, remembering Cole and Poet’s dad getting stabbed in the park. If only Meeka would transform back to Captain Happy again.
Nate broke the mood. “And I’m scared of sharing a room with Logan, especially after he’s eaten baked beans. I sleep with a gas mask under my pillow.”
Everyone laughed as Logan jumped on Nate, pushed him to the sand, and started a wrestling match. It didn’t take long before Nate had Logan pinned to the ground.
“Unfair advantage!” Poet yelled, and launched herself on Nate’s back, causing the tussle to start again. Meeka joined in and between them they overcame Nate, but it took a while and they only managed because Nate couldn’t stop laughing.
“Wow, he’s got skills!” Lia said, eyebrows raised.
“He’s going for his Taekwondo black belt this year,” said Steve. “Been doing it since he was five. We can’t keep him away from the training centre. He teaches a junior class and does Capoeira and Brazilian ju-jitsu as well. Poet’s half way to a black belt, but she prefers dancing and gymnastics. Logan only started a year ago, so it’ll take a while for him to catch up, especially as his dirt bike seems to have more priority.”
He put his arm around Logan’s shoulders as Logan sat down next to him again.
“I can’t handle the sparring in Taekwondo. Reminds me of my dad too much. I have to leave the dojang whenever they start that,” Logan said.
Steve squeezed his shoulder and Jason smiled at him, understanding his eyes. That was nice, but he didn’t want to dwell on it so he gave a big smile back to Jason and said, “I like watching Nate and Cole though. They’re really good.”
Poet jumped up and did some turning kicks and knife hand strikes into the air accompanied by ninja-like sound effects. “Nate’s so quick he could disarm someone with a gun, but Cole’s so fast he could deflect the bullet.”
Everyone laughed.
“Nate is pretty fast, but there’s no way I’m going to be beaten by a twelve-year-old,” Cole said. “I got my black belt a couple of years ago. I’ll be going for my second dan later in November.”
“Awesome, a family of ninjas!” Meeka said. “I tried Taekwondo when I was five, but there was a bully in my class who broke my arm. Now we have someone come in to teach me martial arts at home twice a week. I don’t do gradings because I’ve had so many different kinds of teachers from all sorts of martial arts over the years.”
“That’s brilliant!” said Nate. “What’s your favourite?”
“Well ...” She looked up at the sky. “I loved what Nick Mileson taught me.”
Everyone stopped moving and stared at her. Nick Mileson! She’d been taught by the world’s number one stunt fighter!
Nate went crazy. “Nick Mileson! You’ve been taught by Nick Mileson! That’s the best! You are so lucky!”
He would have kept going but Jason coughed and gave Meeka one of his organ-burning stares.
She grinned at him and then turned to Nate. “Did you know Nate, that if you spell gullible slowly it sounds like orange?”
“Huh?” Nate mumbled, still lost in the idea of being taught by Nick Mileson. “G… u…l…l…aw, you were pulling my leg about Nick Mileson.”
Logan grinned at Meeka. “Was any of it true? Do you know some martial arts? Don’t make me come over there and check your eyes for bluffing.”
“Everything else was true, Logan. I wouldn’t lie to you. Nate, on the other hand, is going to provide me with hours of fun.”
Chapter Nine
Sunday Morning — Early
Logan convinced Nate to sleep under the stars. The girls shared a tent with Abby. It turned out that Lia was mid-tour and needed to be back on the road again in a few days, so Jason insisted she sleep inside and get a good night’s rest. He crashed on the sand next to Steve and Cole.
About one o’clock in the morning, Logan felt Nate shaking him awake. “Bad dream, buddy,” Nate spoke in a quiet voice as they sat up in their sleeping bags. “You haven’t had one of those for a while. Must be the cold. Was it about your dad?”
Logan shivered. “No. There was a fire. Meeka and I were tied up and couldn’t escape.”
“Wow, that’s the first nightmare about someone other than your father since you moved in. I have to say I’m offended. I thought it would be about me.”
“I don’t need to be dreaming to have a nightmare about you. I get a fright every time I look at you.”
Nate laughed. “Uh-oh, looks like we’ve got company.”
Out from the tent squeezed Poet, still in her sleeping bag. She stumbled over and plonked herself between them, making them move apart to give her room.
“You didn’t have one of your nightmares, did you?” Nate asked her. Poet often had bad dreams about the night her father was stabbed, even after almost five years.
“Nope, but Logan’s moaning woke me up. I thought I might have a bad dream if I went back to sleep, so I came out here instead to cheer you guys up.” She swivelled around and lay down, with her head on Nate’s lap and her legs draped over Logan’s knees. She was asleep in less than a minute.
“Can you believe it? That sure helped a lot, didn’t it? Are you feeling cheered up yet, Logan?” Nate asked.
“Nope, can’t say that did much for me,” Logan said.
“It should, you know. I always feel kind of comforted when Poet does her sleeping on her brother’s trick.”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
“Cos it’s good to know that if I flunk out at school I’ll be able to get a job as a sofa.”
“Right, good point. I’ll remember that next time I fail a maths test. What I want to know though is why she always puts her head on your legs and leaves me with her knobbly knees and smelly feet?”
“That’s easy. It’s because I’m so good looking. Nobody wants to stare up at your ugly mug when they’re falling asleep, but one look at handsome me and she knows she’s bound to have good dreams.”
Logan raised his eyebrows and replied in a polite tone. “I have to disagree, Nate repugnant-face. Personally I think you’re extremely ugly, much uglier than me.”
Nate stared at him and replied in the same tone, “Actually, Logan loathsome-looks, you are incredibly ugly. You are so ugly that the only friendship you’ll ever have is in the pigsty.”
“That might be so, but at least my friends speak. The pineapple you keep in your room for a friend is never going to make a sound.”
“Would you two cut it out!” Poet growled, sat up and turned to face the ocean. Steve, Jason and Cole yelled out as well.
“I agree,” Meeka said, coming out of the tent in her sleeping bag and sitting between Poet and Logan. Abby also called out from her tent, telling them to keep quiet.
<
br /> Wicked. They’d managed to wake everyone up! Logan and Nate grinned at each other.
“Okay, okay. We’ll be quiet,” Logan said.
They all sat staring out to sea. Five minutes later Poet and Meeka were about to nod off, when Logan noticed something.
“Do you see that light out there?”
“Looks like it’s coming towards us. Must be a boat. Should be close enough to hear it soon,” Nate said.
Sure enough, a minute or so later they picked up the sound of an outboard motor. Steve, Cole and Jason sat up and stared out to sea as well.
“Must be someone doing some late-night fishing,” Steve said.
“It better not be the paparazzi,” Jason said, and stood up. “You guys didn’t telephone anyone when you went home, did you?”
“Of course not,” Steve said as he stood up.
Jason folded his arms. “I sure hope not.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Cole said. “Dad avoids the press. They always want to run stories about what a hero he is every time he saves someone’s life. He always fobs them off and lets someone else have the glory.”
“Abby and I believe in living quiet lives, Jason.” Steve spoke calmly. That was something Logan liked about Steve—he always kept his cool, even when he was angry. Cole stood up and Abby came out from the tent and stood beside Steve, holding his hand as he continued.
“We don’t need our kids to have any attention from the likes of the press. It’d create a whole lot of stress if anyone published their stories.”
Meeka went over to Jason and he put his arm around her shoulders. “Okay, I’m sorry Steve,” he said. “I believe you. The thing is, the media are making a huge thing about Lia’s tour, even more than normal. It’s like her whole life is on show right now. So I’m a little uptight about her having somewhere to go where she won’t be hounded by the press. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.”
Steve spoke, his voice firm. “We do appreciate you taking the risk to let us spend some time with you, Jason. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you all. But if you want us to leave, we’ll go right now.”
Logan’s heart sank. Surely not? Not now. Not in the middle of the night.
“No, I don’t want that. I’d like it if we got to know each other even better. But I need to tell you something,” Jason said, shifting about on his feet. “After we had coffee the other day, I had you all checked out by a private investigator.”
Logan heard Steve and Abby both draw in a breath of surprise.
“Everything he came back with reassured Lia and me that we wanted to meet you all. According to him, you’re one trustworthy family, so I was pleased to see Logan come down the cliff this morning. I was hoping we’d get a chance to meet again.” He held out his hand for Steve to shake, which he did after a brief pause.
They turned their attention to the boat and everyone was quiet for a few minutes. What would they say next? Hopefully they could drop the aggro.
The lights on the boat went out, and the motor stopped. Logan stared hard and made out the silhouette of the boat as someone rowed it.
“Why would they turn off their lights and motor?” Meeka asked.
“Might be in trouble,” Steve said. He stared a bit longer. “Nope, looks like they’re still moving. Wonder where they’re headed? I thought they were coming in here but it doesn’t look like it now.”
They could hear the sound of oars splashing in the water.
“Blackbeard, oh, I mean, Jason, said there was another cove over the hill. Maybe they’re headed that way,” Logan said.
“Could be,” Jason said.
“Smuggler’s Cove is what they call it down at headquarters—isn’t that right, Dad?” Cole asked. He volunteered with the coastguard when he could, and had even been out on a few cliff rescues.
“Been awhile since any smuggling was done here, but back in the 1700’s it was the main source of income for the farmers and fishermen around these parts,” Steve said.
“What were they smuggling?” Meeka asked, her eyes cutting across to Steve.
“Tea and alcohol. The government of the day had imposed such hefty levies on tea and alcohol to raise money to pay for its wars that by the end of the 1700’s it was estimated that over half the tea drunk in England was smuggled in.”
Cole spoke in a hushed whisper. “So, what would happen, was that smugglers would bring over tea from France in the dead of the night, rowing their boats into small coves all along the coast. They’d hide the tea in caves, and wait for daylight. But they would have to …” and here his voice changed to a shout … “Watch out!” Everyone jumped.
“Cole!” Poet growled. “What did they have to watch out for?”
“The ever vigilant coastguard, who’d spot them and shoot them dead. Those were the good ol’ days.” He sighed, a content smile on his face.
Steve spoke up. “Actually Cole, the ever-vigilant coastguard didn’t stand a chance against the smugglers. They mostly had free rein around these parts because nearly everyone in the villages was involved, either in landing the goods, or selling the stuff. You see, it was against the law to smuggle tea and alcohol in, but it wasn’t against the law to sell it. So the smugglers would leave the stuff in a cave for someone else to pick up later and they would sell it, never committing a crime.”
“Maybe the people in that boat are smugglers, bringing in bad stuff. We should go capture them!” Meeka said, taking a few steps towards the ocean.
Jason reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her. “Maybe we should go to sleep. It’s almost two o’clock.”
“Meeka,” Steve said. “The people in that boat are likely on a camping holiday, moving from cove to cove. They’re probably coming in after fishing all night, and turned off their motor and lights off so they didn’t disturb anyone. Otherwise they could be had up for trespassing. Isn’t that right, Logan?”
Everyone laughed while Logan squirmed. “I think we should get some sleep. I’m going into the tent.”
“Me too,” said Poet, and took Meeka’s arm. “Come on Meeka, let’s get some shut-eye.”
*****
Out in the boat, Oscar and Zach rowed to the nearby cove. Only when they were sure they were out of earshot did they speak.
“Tenting on the beach! You’ve got to be kidding! What kind of deep pockets do that?” said Zach, shaking his head.
Oscar shrugged. “Looks like we got past them though. We’ll hafta move this last lot to the house through the tunnel, seen as we can’t go up the main beach anymore.”
“You know, I’d rather try the beach and risk being spotted by a bunch of mindless money-spinning superstars than have that tunnel collapse on me. Didn’t you see it last time? It’s going to cave in any day now.” Zach shuddered like a fly bouncing into a spider web.
“Cut it out, Zach. Let’s land this load and take it to the basement speedy-like, while they’re all still crashed out on the beach. The tunnel’s all good. If it ain’t caved in after all this time, it ain’t gonna cave in now.”
Chapter Ten
Sunday Morning
Early in the morning, Logan heard Meeka come into the boys’ tent and whisper to Jason that she was going into the house to sleep with her mum. He checked his watch—five-thirty—and went straight back to sleep.
He was woken by Nate throwing a towel at him from outside and telling him everyone else was up. When he managed to get himself outside, Jason walked over to him, tagged him on the arm and took off, yelling, “Race ya to the house, sleepyhead!”
Jason was fast, and reached the doorway to the house in front of Logan. He stopped, turned around and gestured for Logan to slow down and be quiet. As Logan approached, Jason put his arm around his shoulders and whispered, “See why I’m one of the luckiest men in the world?”
Inside, Lia and Meeka were singing and dancing to a song on the stereo. They sounded amazing. Meeka could sing exactly like her mother.
“Wow, they sound lik
e angels,” Logan said.
Jason smiled. “Yes, they do.”
Logan watched some more then smiled wickedly. “Too bad Meeka doesn’t act like an angel!”
Jason laughed out loud, and Lia and Meeka stopped dancing and looked their way. Jason stepped inside and gave Lia a hug as the others came up to the door.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked her.
“Pretty good, apart from some nightmares about tigers banging around in the basement. One time when I woke up I thought someone might be down there, but then I figured it was a bad dream, so I went back to sleep. That is, until somebody woke me up by kneeing me in the back.” Lia grinned then messed up Meeka’s hair.
“I thought I told you to stay on your side of the bed,” Jason said to Meeka.
“I did!” she said. “But Mum was on my side of the bed too, and it was bit of a tight squeeze.” Before Jason could respond she added, “I’ve got one of your favourite songs for you,” and she pointed the remote at the stereo and started singing along to the chorus of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” with Doris Day. The others came up to the door and listened too. She sang a few bars then flicked off the song and hugged Jason, looking up at him with big pleading eyes. “Please say yes...”
“Wow, that is begging as an art form,” Abby said. She turned to her kids, “Don’t you ever try that on me.”
They all sniggered. They wouldn’t dare.
Lia laughed. “It only ever works on Jason—he’s such a big softie.”
Logan remembered Jason’s comment at the door about being the luckiest man in the world. Lia was right—he was definitely a pushover.
“What is it you want, Meeka?” Jason asked, standing up tall and looking down his nose. Sure, like Meeka didn’t have him wrapped around her little finger.
“To go exploring over the hill and see if there are any smugglers there, hiding in the cave. Mum said if Cole would go along to supervise it might be okay.”
“Whoa, what’s this about smugglers? You never mentioned anything about smugglers,” Lia said.
