Chapter 6

On Friday the three of them were sitting on a bench in front of the cloisters, “So, we’re off to Glasgow on Monday,” Lucy said, looking over the beautiful valley beyond the sports hall.

“Arghh, I’ve got to go home, I’m really not looking forward to it, mum and dad’s relationship is just getting worse,” Gabbie sighed.

“No, you don’t understand, we’re off to Glasgow on Monday, all three of us, I’ve got it all sorted. You even emailed your mum yesterday letting her know you aren’t going home this holiday.”

“Did I, I don’t remember doing that.”

“Ahh, well, you might have left your phone unlocked when you went to the toilet yesterday. My bad.”

“So, seriously, you’re taking me to Glasgow!” Gabbie cried, excited.

“I assume dad is ok with this Lucy,” Steve said, “I’d hate to get into more shit over this break.”

“Relax Steve, I phoned him yesterday, he was fine with it, I emphasised how you wanted to go to the Kelvingrove and the School of Art. He even suggested a hotel to me, said he had a special rate there if I mentioned his name.”

“Two rooms?”

“Yep, he’s OK paying for two rooms and three lots of food.”

“No way! How did you swing that Lucy?” Steve said.

“Well, I might have said Gabbie is your girlfriend, so now mum needs to meet her, which is a slightly unfortunate consequence, but this means Gabbie gets to go home with us for the weekend, sleep in Steve’s room while he sleeps on the sofa, then you come with us to Glasgow and we’ll take you over to Edinburgh to meet Jordan.”

“Wow, seriously? That would be so great, I’ve not seen him in ages, I miss him so much. You two really are the best friends ever.”

“So, dad’s picking us up after classes tomorrow lunchtime, we go down to our house, you endure 36 hours of our parents, dad’s great but mum can be hard work at times, then we go to Glasgow for five nights of fun and culture. How does that sound?”

“I’ve read all your mum’s books, I’ll enjoy meeting her, really, I will.”

“That’s handy, I’m sure she’ll be extra happy to meet you, we need her in a good mood because I want to borrow the Audi for the drive to Glasgow.”

“I’m so looking forward to this holiday, and I really can’t remember a time when I preferred being on holiday to being in school.”

“Oh man, that’s so sad Gabbie, I’m glad we can make you happy.”

Saturday lunchtime the three of them were waiting outside the girls’ boarding house as Jerry pulled up. Lucy’s heart sank when she saw Diane in the passenger seat, damn, so now she gets an extra 90 minutes to quiz Gabbie, Lucy thought.

Jerry jumped out and took Gabbie’s bag, stowing it in the big 7-seater’s boot, which with the rear seats up wasn’t going to hold all their bags, so Steve folded the rear row and the kids squeezed together on the middle row, which with Steve as the thorn between two roses was no hardship at all.

“I’ve read all your books Mrs Temple,” Gabbie said excitedly as they pulled onto the M6 and the big Audi stretched its legs.

“Please, call me Diane, even Lucy calls me Diane unless she wants something.”

“Ok Diane, I really enjoyed the Huntress series, Stacy Young was my hero for a long time.”

“Oh really, did you like the illustrations in Lost and Found?”

“Oh yes, they were great, although the artist saw Stacy differently to me, I always thought she’d be a redhead, being so feisty and all.”

“So, you didn’t notice the name of the artist?” Diane laughed.

“No, should I have?”

“Well, he’s sitting right next to you.”

“Really! It was Steve! Oh wow, they were great drawings, just I never saw Stacy as blonde is all.”

“That’s why books are so much better than films, with a book it’s the readers’ imagination that does a lot of the heavy lifting with the characters and locations.”

“That’s so true, those books kept me sane while I was at my last school. When I came to this school, it’s been Lucy that’s kept me sane.”

Gabbie chatted all the way back to Cheshire, Lucy and Steve just sitting in silence while Gabbie poured her heart out to Diane. She’d obviously read every word of every book many times, so much so she told Diane about a couple of plot holes in Far From Home, the fourth book in the Huntress series, it seems Stacy hurt her ankle badly on page 67, but by page 71 she was OK because she managed to chase down a mugger who’d just robbed an old lady.

“Oh my, Gabbie, no-one pointed that one out to me before. I have a new book out next year, it’s a bit different from my other books, this one is an adult novel, a political thriller. I’d love you to proofread it for me.”

“Wow, that would be such an honour Mrs Temple, sorry, Diane I mean. Have Lucy and Steve read it yet?”

“No, no they haven’t, I gave Steve an outline so he could design the cover, but no-one other than my editor has read it yet. I don’t have any printed copies, so you can’t see the whole cover design yet, but I can give you a pdf copy for your iPad, and Steve has the original drawings he can show you.”

“Thank you, I’ll read the book this week.”

“I’d appreciate your feedback, when you’ve finished it.”

At the house Steve took all the bags. Diane let them in the house as Jerry took the car round to the garage block.

“I love this house,” Gabbie gushed, “so modern and bright. We live in an old manor near Durham, it’s all dark and cold. The hot water almost never works, dad won’t spend a penny he doesn’t have to, so half the house is closed off because it’s basically a death trap.

“I imagine it was once a lovely house back when his great, great grandad or whoever built it 400 years ago, but now it’s horrible.”

“Ahh, and that’s why you don’t want to go home this holiday?” Diane said.

“Well, that’s one reason.”

“Ahh, ok ... Lucy will show you around while I have a quick word with Steve.”

The girls went upstairs, Lucy looking back at Steve, worried because Diane rarely took the time to speak to either of them unless it was something serious.

Steve followed Diane into the sitting room, “So, Gabbie’s your girlfriend?” she started as they sat down.

“Well, yes.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“mmm, yes, she is.” Steve muttered, embarrassed.

“Are you being careful?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Oh, right, yes, very careful.”

“Well, this really isn’t my place, but well, she’s very petite, and well, if you are like your dad, well, you get my drift, be careful.”

“err, yeah, mmm...” Steve genuinely didn’t have a clue what to say.

“I’m sorry, I’ve embarrassed you, we don’t talk about stuff like this do we. Well I just want you to have fun, but don’t get anyone pregnant, ok. I don’t want grandkids any time soon. So be careful and be kind.”

“Ok mum.”

“Now go find your sister and that gorgeous girl, well, they’re both gorgeous aren’t they. I’m so glad Lucy takes after Jerry’s side of the family and not mine. You never saw Aunt Judy did you, poor girl, passed away so young. Here, before you go, let me show you a photo, you’ll like it, I know you will.”

Steve was totally confused now, Diane never acted like this, she was being so nice and friendly.

Diane came back with a large photo album, she sat down on the sofa, “Sit here with your mum for a while.”

Steve moved over to sit beside Diane on the sofa, she laid the photo album across their knees and flipped through the book, eventually alighting on the page she wanted, she pointed at a glossy 8x10 photo.

“There, that’s your Aunt Judy.”

Steve’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open, “woah!”

“Oh yes, I thought you’d like her, isn’t she a babe.”

“Very much.”

Steve’s Aunt Judy was the spitting image of Lucy, quite tall, slender, the most amazing boobs, which were full and high on her chest, and entirely unencumbered by clothing.

“She’s 17 here, this photo was taken by a professional photographer who thought she was 18, he took a full portfolio and managed to sign a contract with a men’s magazine, but they wanted ID and Judy’s passport said she was only 17, so the contract was put on hold.”

“Oh right, yeah, she’d need to be 18 or they’d get in trouble for publishing the photos wouldn’t they.”

“Yes, but before her 18th birthday she fell pregnant, she had a baby girl. The men’s magazines weren’t interested in a girl with stretch marks, no matter how pretty her face, and how big her boobs. She got a bit of work here and there, catalogue modelling shoots, make-up catalogues, they paid the bills but it wasn’t what she wanted. She was still so much prettier than the girls in the glamour and top shelf magazines. She was a bit messed up though, a beautiful mess, that’s how Jerry described her once, he was right.”

“What happened to her.”

“One night she got really drunk, she was out with a boyfriend, they got into the car to drive home, crashed into a wall. The police reckon she died instantly, we hope so.”

“Oh, that’s awful.”

“Yes, it was, I really liked Judy, she was so beautiful in many ways, but a person only has so much life to live, and if you use up all your life too quickly, well...”

“So what happened to the little girl, her baby?”

“Ahh, the baby, she’s upstairs with Gabbie I imagine.”

“Oh right ... wait ... what ... you mean ... Lucy? She’s Judy’s daughter?”

“Yes, Lucy, she isn’t your sister,” Diane said quietly, almost inaudible, “she’s your cousin.”

“Oh ... wow ... I’m speechless.”

“We’ve debated long and hard about telling you both. We wanted to wait for the right time, but recently, I’ve seen how you two look at each other, and that painting, I know she said she was wearing a bikini, but even so, that’s a very sensual painting Steve, there’s a lot of love for the subject in that portrait, so I know what you’ve been doing, and I can understand it. So I decided the time was right, or rather, long overdue.”

“...” still speechless, Steve’s mind was whirling along far too many tracks, some of them going in opposite directions. Lucy wasn’t his sister, she was his cousin, so it was ok, but how to tell her.

“I think I know what you’re thinking, and we do need to tell Lucy, but I don’t know how and when to tell her.”

“Lucy is the brightest person I’ve ever met mum, I don’t think she’ll react badly if we just told her.”

“Judy was so clever, that’s what distressed Jerry the most, how she didn’t use her brains to get on in life. He never forgave the man who got her pregnant.”

“Didn’t he die in the crash?”

“Oh no, he wasn’t the father. No, her father is the photographer.”

“Oh, right.”

“It happens a lot, the photographer promises a girl a contract, be it fashion modelling, glamour modelling, it tends to be fashion for the slim girls, glamour for the girls with big boobs. They promise them the earth then take advantage of the girls’ desire for fame and fortune.”

“So what happened to the photographer, was it anyone I might have heard of?”

“Oh I doubt it, he’s no-one famous. Jerry and a few of his road crew paid him a visit when he found Judy was pregnant, nothing too serious, and they did more damage to his studio and equipment than they did to him.”

Diane was looking down at the album, a tear in her eye.

“Steve, will you do me a massive favour?”

“Anything mum.”

“Do you think you could turn this photo into a painting as good as the one you did of Lucy? They’d look good hung together.”

“Of course, I could do it next week when we get back from Glasgow.”

“That would be nice. She was a bit of a ditz, but she loved Lucy for the short time she had her, and Jerry, he would tear his hair out trying to sort out her shit, but I loved Judy, I really did...”

She was crying now. Steve passed her some tissues and closed the photo album.

“Thank you Steve, this is why I don’t talk about Judy, breaks my heart every time.”

“I think we need to tell Lucy today, I can’t keep a secret this big while we’re away.”

“Yes, of course, but not right now. I need wine, lots of wine, and food. We’ll order a takeaway, tell her after we’ve eaten, can you wait that long honey, please.”

“No problem, thanks for confiding in me, it can’t have been easy.”

“It needed to be said, and we’ve been putting it off for too long out of fear of Lucy’s reaction. Now, go find the girls, they’ll be worried you’re in trouble, we’ve been talking for ages.”

Steve ran upstairs, they were in Lucy’s room, Gabbie was looking at Lucy’s portrait and the other drawings.

He suddenly felt awkward, he shook his head to clear it and tried to sound like nothing had happened.

“Oh Steve, you were ages, is everything OK?” Lucy asked, a look of concern in her eyes.

“Yeah, no problem at all, mum just needed a chat about something, nothing important. Have you had the full tour Gabbie?”

“Well, so far I’ve seen this room, and spent the whole time looking at this fucking amazing picture.”