Chapter 14

"I'm going to miss you, you know." Elspeth's muttered, her eyes tearing up as Briana pushed the last of her gear into her bag.

"It's two weeks, El... it's not like you weren't getting ready for it, we'll be apart at Christmas, too."

"I know, but... I was expecting that."

"Hey, come here." Briana wrapped her up in a hug, kissing her gently. "I'm going to miss you too. I told you I don't have to go."

"Oh yes you bloody do!" Elspeth snapped, pushing her away with hand and brushing at the tears with the other. "You've worked too hard for this to give it up, and I'm not going to have you blaming me for it."

"Right then... then don't cry about it, it does horrible things to your eyes."

"I'll look after her." Shawna promised, leant in the doorway.

"Thanks, Sho." Briana gave her a tight smile, appraisingly. She was still quiet, still subdued, but a little of the old Shawna was beginning to shine through.

"I can't promise she won't have forgotten you by the time you get back, of course." Elspeth shot her a look, poking her tongue out.

"I'll trust her." Briana decided, kissing her on the cheek as she passed. "But I really have to go, the bus leaves in about twenty minutes and I still have to get to the gym."

"Ooh... I'm excited for you, Bri," Elspeth clutched her arms as they walked out, "I know I'm not looking forward to you being away, but... playing for Scotland!"

"It's not actually playing for Scotland... it's just a training camp. There's about sixty of us there."

"Is Kelly Prendeville going to be there?"

"Probably, she's been to the last two camps."

"Well that should boost your reputation, at least."

"Why's that?" Shawna asked.

"When we played St Andrews last month, Kelly Prendeville's one of their defenders." Briana explained, as Elspeth started giggling. "So I'm waiting at the edge of the D for the ball to come in, and she steps across me and tried to jab my boob with the butt of her stick."

"Ah... wrong one?"

"You should have seen the look on her face!" Elspeth's giggle burst out into full laughter. "She just stood there, smiling, then turned as the ball came through and left her stunned."

"It was a picture... the team have christened me Irontit now."

"Do they know?" Shawna asked, and she took her head. "Are you going to be able to keep it a secret when you get to the camp?"

"I hope so... I guess it'll depend on what the arrangements are for showers and things."

"Must be hard."

"You tell me..." Briana stopped, opening the door out of the dorm block. "I keep my secret from most people, but I tell my friends. You're still keeping yours."

"I'm..."

"Yes you are, Shawna." She smiled, gently. "We don't know why, we don't know what it is, but you're not telling us everything. That's OK, just so long as you know that if you want to talk to us, we'll be there for you."

"Is that why you're jetting off to sunny Edinburgh for a fortnight?" she managed, with a wan smile.

"Something like that — I'm leaving my chief listener here though." Shawna gave them a little space to say goodbye, and then there was just Elspeth.

"I thought we'd go and see Marcus." She said, quietly, obviously down. "He's been kind of quiet, lately."

"Sounds good to me, Roomy." Shawna forced herself to smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "See, looking after other people when you're down, that's why we love you."

"And you've been kind of quiet, lately, too." Elspeth pointed out, letting herself be led.

"See, that's where you cross over from looking after people to pushing it..." she half-joked.

"So you keep saying — I'm allowed to look out for everyone except you, is that it?"

"Pretty much, yeah... El, I'm alright, really." Elspeth remained unconvinced, but they spoke quietly about trivialities as they walked, admiring the Christmas decorations.

"I love Christmas." Shawna announced, as they rounded the corner into Marcus' road.

"Normally I do," Elspeth agreed. "It's going to be strange this time."

"Are you heading home?"

"I don't know... I was going to, but... with Bri being away this week it'll make it more than a month until I see her."

"Well, I guessed that might be the case... I've asked around to see if I can bunk in with someone over the holiday, let you and Briana have the room to yourselves."

"She was so angry when enrolment assigned her a room-mate."

"I heard she was terrible."

"Well, she's probably very nice... you know... for a Siberian brood-mare."

"Olga! Is that really her name?"

"We're not sure, she speaks about three words of English, and all of those are foods."

"Russia must be a hell of a place if she'd rather spend Christmas somewhere she doesn't even speak the language rather than there."

"Russians don't celebrate Christmas until January 7th." Marcus' voice interjected as he jogged to a halt beside them. "In line with the Julian calendar."

"I see the speaking clock is back in working order, at least." Shawna offered, and Marcus opened the door for them. He didn't smile at the comment, though. "Hey, Grouch... no smile for me today."

"What's to smile at?" he asked, and crossed the sitting area to his room.

"Don't even bother." Tony assured them, looking up from his reading. "I've tried talking to him, I can't get more than one syllable at a time out of him, either."

"I don't get what his problem is."

"He hasn't been the same since that day he flipped out at Connor."

Shawna blanched. "I'll go talk to him."

"We'll give you some space." Tony offered, gathering up his books.

"We will?" Elspeth looked surprised.

"Unless you wanted me to drive up to Aviemore on my own to watch my sister training?" he offered, and she squealed a little giggle.

"Go on," Shawna smiled, glad to see someone happy. "I'll see what I can do here and tell you all about it tonight."

They were gone in seconds, and Shawna settled herself down in front of the television to wait for Marcus to emerge from the shower.

"Hey." She called as he appeared, catching him a little by surprise.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Briana starts her hockey camp thing today, and Elspeth and Tony have gone to see her first day. Come sit with me, Bullfrog." He stared for a moment, obviously considering it, then slouched across to take a seat opposite her on one of the armchairs. "Have I done something to upset you?"