Gypsy Girl (14 page)

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, miserably. “Yes! I saw her outside their house. And last week after his stag night I turned up early the next morning, and I saw her outside again. He was talking to her. I drove past. He never noticed me.”

“You sure it wasn’t someone from his boxing agents?”

“No! I know all of them! I asked him about her the first time I saw them. He pretended he didn’t know what I was talking about. And last night she was outside Gypsy’s Acre waiting for him! He looked around, seeing if anyone was watching, and then got into her BMW and they drove off fast.”

“BMW?” said the eyelash girl. “So she’s got some money, then.”

That made Sabrina wail again. “I know!”

“What does she look like?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

Sabrina’s lip curled. “A dirty, slutty tramp in a leather jacket, and she’s got spiky, bleached-blonde hair like a punk, and she’s too old for him. Why would he want her and not me?”

“She doesn’t want Tyson. She’s Rocky’s mystery woman, but you can’t tell anyone.”

That stopped her. “Why?”

“He says she’s his probation officer.”

Even Sabrina didn’t believe that. “Since when do they turn up after midnight?”

“Exactly. I expect he’s keeping it secret from his daddy because she’s not a Traveller girl and because she’s older than him. Now stop fretting about it.”

She gave a sniff. “You sure? Or are you just trying to make me feel better?”

“Honest. Cross me heart. Tyson’s had a lucky escape. If he had been seeing another woman, I’d have had to fight him.”

Sabrina’s face broke into a sheepish grin. “Did you hear that?” she said to the girl. “See how me sister looks after me!”

I patted her shoulder. “Now get your eyelashes fixed, and I’ll see you later.”

I got out of that place as quick as I could, ignoring Milo Scarret, who was sitting across the road, hood shading his face, hands in his pockets. I had no idea how he’d found us – he’d arrived half an hour ago and sat himself down so he could watch the doorway. As I walked off, I saw him get up and start to follow, but I didn’t show him that I’d noticed. He was too scared to come near me. I busied myself ringing Rocky.

“You nearly caused the wedding to be cancelled,” I said when he answered.

“How?”

“Tyson got a lift from Miss Stroud. Sabrina was convinced he was having an affair with her.”

Rocky gave a hoot. “Tyson and Miss Stroud! Now that would be a marriage made in hell.”

“So who is she, and what was she doing hanging around our field last night?”

There was a pause. “She came looking for me, but I’d left already.”

“Why did she come looking for you?”

Another pause. “None of your business.”

He rang off before I could question him any more. But at least the wedding was safe and Sabrina’s lashes were being fixed. Now I only had a million more wedding things to do before tomorrow. And one of them was to go to the hotel to make sure the cakes had arrived and that they were in the marquee, ready to be displayed. After that I had to go home and decorate a plastic garden arch with silk flowers for the bride to walk through as she left the trailers, and trim the patio chairs with white satin bows.

The manageress took me over to the huge marquee, which was now standing on the lawn. We went inside and she showed me the brand-new ivory-and-gold roof drapes, with the tiny little lights twinkling like stars. It did look amazing, like a fairy-tale palace. Sabrina would love it.

The cakes had been delivered and were stored in boxes on the wedding table. There were three of them: one traditional fruit cake, one sponge and one chocolate. Which doesn’t sound much until you realized that each cake had seven tiers. Twenty-one cakes in all. I hoped all the wedding guests would be hungry. There were three big stands to display the cakes, beside the wedding table. The marquee was already set out with the chairs and tables which would be filled tomorrow by the wedding guests. There were Smiths coming from all over the country to see Sabrina married.

As we left, the manageress said, “It was such a shame about poor Gregory, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t want to talk about it. She did. I think she’d got it on her mind. One of her staff was injured, and the girl paying for the huge wedding was rumoured to be involved.

“I’ve had a word with all my girls. They know they were wrong to gossip. It was silly of them.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It was nothing.”

It only got me thrown out of the Langtons’ house, and nearly got us thrown off the field.

“I wanted to let you know that we’re all on your side. We’re looking forward to the wedding,” she said. “She’s going to be beautiful bride.”

I smiled and smiled and told her what a good job she’d done organizing everything for us, and how I was sure everything was going to go fine, and that all the staff were being very nice to us. Only to find five minutes later that I was wrong. There was one member of staff who wasn’t going to let me forget.

We had one of the best rooms booked for tomorrow, where Sabrina and I would have our hair done, rather than down at Gypsy’s Acre. I got the key and checked it out. It had a big four-poster bed with white silk hangings, and, unlike our trailer, it had enough room for us and the two hairdressers and all their equipment to fit in. Everything was going well. Too well. Just when I thought it was all sorted and I could go and get Sabrina, I walked out of the room – and ran into Alice standing at the top of the stairs, pale as a vengeful ghost.

At first I thought she was just going to stare at me as I went by, but she didn’t move aside. She stood there, blocking my path. Her eyes were red-rimmed. I had a feeling I was going to get the blame for that.

“’Scuse.”

She didn’t move. She kept her hand on the rail, blocking me. “What’s going on?”

“About what?”

Her face screwed up. “You chasing after Gregory. Going up to the house to visit him, like he’s a friend or something.”

“I’m not chasing after him. I’m not trying to take him from you.”

“As if you could.” She laughed, but there was no humour in it. “Do you really think I’m jealous of you?”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t hang around with gorjer boys. And that’s what Gregory is. So don’t worry.” Even as I spoke the words, I knew it wasn’t true.

“I’m not. I think you’re making a fool of yourself. Everybody’s laughing about it.”

I shrugged. “Let them. I don’t care.”

She gave a little cry of rage, and then the truth came out. “Me and Gregory have been going out since Year Eight, and suddenly you come along and ruin it.”

I tried to push past her again, but she wasn’t budging. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did! Last night we had a big row. It was all because of you. He had a go at me, because I showed his dad the photo.”

That stopped me. “The photo was wrong.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. I
know
. He told me over and over. Big deal. You just happened to be there – rescuing my boyfriend, who was only out there because he was checking on you! And then there you are at his house, sitting right next to him, practically on his lap, in your stupid slutty dress. Making out that you’re sorry he got beaten up.”

“I was sorry.”

“Yeah, right. I’ve heard all about you. You’re always getting into trouble.”

She hadn’t heard
all
about me. She had no idea what I was up to at night. I tried to imagine her going to a no-rules fight. But things like that didn’t exist in her world, or Gregory’s. She would never have a sister who wanted the biggest, most expensive wedding in the universe. It was no use talking to her.

“Yeah, whatever. Now ’scuse.”

She wouldn’t let me get by. She kept her arm blocking the stairs. Her face crumpled. “Everyone’s right. You are a bitch.”

I was tempted to show her that I was. One quick strike with my hand, and I could knock her down before she blinked her red-rimmed eyes again. I was tempted, but I met her eyes instead. “I’m not. I’m a good person. I want everything to be fair. I don’t want to fight with anyone. Not even you.”

It was true. I couldn’t be bothered to argue. She didn’t mean anything to me. After tomorrow I would never see her again. I would never be her friend. But she still didn’t move out of my way.

“He’s not speaking to me. We’re over. All that time together!”

I’d had enough. Sabrina’s eyelashes, Rocky’s mystery woman and now this. I tossed my hair back.

“Maybe it’s time you had a change, then. Maybe he was fed up with you anyway. I would be. Don’t you do anything but moan, moan, moan?”

Her mouth dropped open, her eyes brimmed with tears. I went to push past her, but she did the pushing. She gave an annoyed squeal and shoved me hard. I went down the first three steps and grabbed for the first thing to stop myself. It happened to be her arm. We half slid down the rest of the stairs and landed at the bottom.

“You nearly killed me!” she cried as she got to her feet.

“No, she didn’t,” boomed someone, before I could speak. “It was your fault. You pushed her.”

Someone sticking up for me. That was a novelty. I turned round and there was the beaming handsome face of Uncle Bartley from America. It was a wonderful sight, but that’s where the wonderfulness ended. Standing next to him was Beryl, glaring at me in horror. And following behind was Rocky, wheeling Bartley’s suitcase, with Sabrina bringing up the rear. Rocky was grinning. Sabrina was staring at me and Alice, open-mouthed. There was no doubt about it. They’d all heard the argument.

I was in trouble now.

We were in Bartley’s room. He’d booked in at the White Swan. He was perched on the windowsill, dividing his time between looking at me and staring out of the window.

He’s the youngest of all my aunts and uncles and hasn’t got any children of his own yet. He went over to America ten years ago, and he soon got a name for himself as a fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit. After every contest he’d give a speech, telling everyone he was one of the fighting Smiths. It didn’t matter if he won or lost, he’d still take the mike off the host and address the crowd. They loved him. So when they started the
CAGED
programmes, they went straight to him to present it. It had made him loads of money, as Sabrina was finding out.

She was happily unwrapping a whole suitcase-full of presents he’d brought from America for her. Her eyes were looking luscious again. The Paradise girl had done a good job on her.

Beryl was pacing up and down. “I can’t believe you’d do this to us, Sammy,” she said.

“What?”

She stopped and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. “We all heard. You’ve been hanging around with that Langton boy. And he’s got a girlfriend!”

“Had a girlfriend,” I said. “He fell out with her, if you’d listened. It’s not my fault. I never asked him to.”

Beryl began pacing up and down again. “That’s not what we heard. She says you’re after him. I wanted to go up to her and tell her that no way would you shame us by going near him. But I can’t, can I?”

I had to get out of there – they were driving me crazy – but Rocky was leaning on the door, his arms folded. I was stuck.

“I told you. I went to his house because I was worried about him. That’s all. She got jealous. She saw us talking. People are spreading rumours about me to cause trouble.”

I don’t know why I bothered. Beryl wasn’t listening to a word I said. She’d made her mind up.

“Tyson’s cousin Scarlet married a man from a house near the site,” she said. “You go and ask them how that worked out! She hated living in a house. He hated living in a trailer on the site. It doesn’t work.”

“I know.”

“All right, leave her now, Beryl,” said Bartley. “Maybe we won’t have to worry about her and this boy. Not if she comes back with me. Your aunt Crystal would love to see you over in California.” He smiled at me. “I’ve been hearing good things about your fighting, Sammy. You’ve got the strength and the speed. You’ve won everything going.”

“I have.”

He nodded. “Good. Me and you will have to talk after the wedding. I reckon I can get you some work behind the scenes, helping with the training. How about it?”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I’ve got things to do. I’ll have to see.”

“She needs a holiday,” said Beryl. “She needs to get away from Sam’s gym.”

“Yes,” said Rocky. “Take her back with you.”

“No!” I headed for the door. I’d had enough. “I can run my own life. I don’t need everyone telling me what to do.” Rocky didn’t move. He leaned back on the door, watching me. “And why are you following me around?”

“You’ve got yourself into trouble.”

Bartley was looking out of the window. “She certainly has. There’s a skinhead boy in a hoodie who’s been watching this window since we brought Sammy up here.” He looked over at me. “Who is he?”

“Milo Scarret. He’s nobody.”

He’d followed me from the nail bar. I was hoping no one else had noticed.

“Doesn’t look like nobody to me,” said Bartley. “He looks like trouble. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Uncle Bartley. Nothing I can’t handle. He tried to pick a fight with me, and I beat him, that’s all.”

He didn’t look convinced. “I get to choose the lost boys that go on
C
AGED
. I go into the streets. I judge them with one look. I know who can be saved. Who can learn to control themselves. All I need to do is look at their faces.” He stood up and came over to me, and grabbed my shoulders with his big fighter’s hands. “He’s not saveable. Keep away from him.”

I shrugged him off. “Thanks for the advice. But I don’t need it. I don’t need anyone’s advice.” I turned on my heel and looked Rocky in the eye. “’Scuse.”

He moved out of my way at last. I stormed out without another word.

There was definitely something wrong with my brain because after all that shouting and upset and everyone getting mad at me, all I could think about was this:
Gregory had fallen out with his girlfriend!

But as I walked outside, even that fact went out of my head. Milo had moved. He was in the street outside now, and he wasn’t alone. A car had just pulled up in front of him, a battered old Jeep. I skipped back into the doorway, because I’d seen that Jeep before, parked in between McCloud’s Range Rover and the red Subaru in the yard of International Express. And the driver was none other than Pony. He’d got the window down, and he was talking to Milo like they were good mates. And they were definitely discussing me because Milo kept looking back at the hotel as he spoke. In the end, Pony said something to him and he got in the car and they drove off.