Gypsy Girl (22 page)

“I don’t want it,” I said, and I threw it carefully back into the aunts. But they gave it back to me.

“It’s the custom. You caught it,” said one of the Quinn aunts sadly.

But I wasn’t paying attention, because my bodice had started vibrating. Someone was ringing my phone. I quickly wriggled it out. I didn’t recognize the number, so I should’ve ignored it, but I didn’t. I answered it.

“Who is this?”

There was a pause. “Gregory.”

My heart gave a thump. “Wait.” I quickly walked outside so no one would overhear. “How did you get me number?”

“Sorry. It was on the wall of the office. In case you had to be contacted about the wedding.”

“What do you want?”

“I have to talk to you. McCloud’s been to the house to speak to my dad.”

“I don’t care about him. We’ll be gone tomorrow.”

“Please. It’s important.”

I glanced over to the bar. Hudson wasn’t there any more. I didn’t want him or anyone else seeing me talking to Gregory. “OK. But not out here.”

“Where?”

“Wait for me upstairs, outside our room.” I clicked the phone off and went to find Sabrina.

“Do you want your flat shoes?”

She gave a huge sigh. “Oh God, yes! These are killing me. They’re in my case in the room.”

As I walked out, I managed to avoid Beryl, who was giving the DJ instructions about the music for the first dance, but then I ran slap into Rocky. “And where are you going, Gypsy Girl? Not to make more trouble, I hope?”

“No. To get comfy shoes for the bride.”

He didn’t look as though he believed me.

“Not running after the Langton boy again?”

“No.”

“Funny. I saw him going upstairs just now.”

For a moment, I desperately wanted to tell him all about McCloud and his threats, but I couldn’t. Rocky would start a fight, and that would be dangerous. “Please. Just leave it, Rocky. OK?”

He raised an eyebrow but let me go.

I marched across the lawn to the hotel doors and dashed up the stairs two at a time, my dress rustling. Gregory was waiting for me outside the room. I let him in and closed the door behind me and leaned on it.

“What?” I said. “This’ll ruin me reputation. Spending time in a bedroom with a boy. Beryl will make you marry me, if she finds out.”

He didn’t laugh. His eyes moved over my hair and face and dress.

“I thought you’d got something to tell me,” I said.

He nodded. “Yes, I have.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s just that you look amazing. Like a film star or something. I’ve been trying to forget you, but I can’t.”

My heart sang, but I didn’t let it show. “Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

“No.” He blew out a breath. “Sorry. I can’t think straight with you this close.”

Him and me both, but I was hiding it better. “I thought you’d hate me after last night.”

“No. Never.” He pulled a sorry face. “Even though Rocky drove off without me and I had to hitch home.” He reached out and touched my arm with his fingertip and slid it down till he was holding my wrist. “I can’t believe that tomorrow you’ll be gone. I won’t see you again.”

Nor could I. His touch burned like fire. I wasn’t thinking straight, either. We were never going to be together – I could never come back here – so why not make the most of these last few minutes? Why not have something amazing to remember?

“So you better kiss me now,” I said.

He was so close, I could feel his breath on my face.

“No.” It was more of a groan than a word. I hadn’t expected that. First Rocky, and now Gregory. Did no one want to kiss me?

“Why not?” I said.

He leaned his hands on the door, either side of me. “Because—”

“I’ll be gone tomorrow,” I told him, quickly. “Alice won’t know. It’s not like you’re betraying her.”

He shook his head. “It was over with Alice before I saw you. I just hadn’t realized it. But I didn’t fall out with her yesterday just so that I could get off with you straightaway. I’m not like that.”

“You don’t want to kiss me?”

He groaned again. “Of course I want to!”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. He was so sweet, so unlike most of the boys I came across. “Then kiss me.” I slid my arms up around his neck. “I want to know what it feels like.”

His mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “So it’s an experiment. And I happened to be near by?” He leaned closer.

“No. It’s my first kiss. And I want it to be with you.”

His eyes widened, so did his smile. “You never kissed anyone before?”

“No. I never met anyone I wanted to kiss. I’m usually fighting the boys I meet, not thinking about kissing them.”

“Thank goodness you don’t want to fight me,” he said, breathlessly.

“Are you going to kiss me, or what?” I said.

His hands moved and pulled me towards him. Our lips touched – lightly at first, until he wound his hands around my neck, pulled me even closer, and we kissed properly.

It took my breath away. I never knew it would feel like that. I forgot everything – the wedding, Milo, McCloud, Alice – everything except Gregory and the smell of his hair and the feel of his hands on my neck, and the touch of his lips. It was soft and strange and urgent, and it left me breathless and wanting more. But in the end we let go of each other, and he moved back and stared in wonder.

“Not bad,” I said, when I could speak.

He laughed. “You’ve got nothing to compare it with, but I do. And I know that was amazing.” His smile faded. “We’ve done it now, haven’t we? One kiss is never going to be enough, is it?”

I leaned back against the door. “It’s all there’s going to be.” I shook my hair back. “I thought if you saw me fight, you’d never want to see me again. I thought I could get over you that way.”

“No. It doesn’t have to be like your aunts think it should be. You’ll be in the next town. I have a car.”

“My uncle wants me to go to America. Everyone’ll make sure I agree to go. They’ll never let me get near you. I shouldn’t even be here. I should be with Sabrina as she cuts the cake, or takes her first dance with Tyson.” I pushed him away, even though I wanted to pull him closer again. “I have to go.”

“Wait, I haven’t told you yet,” he said. “McCloud came to our house. He was ranting at my dad, saying that you and some of the boys at the site had climbed over the fence in the night. That you were trying to steal from the barns and the warehouses. That when you couldn’t get in, you smashed the place up – did lots of damage. He took my dad up there and showed him the damage you’d done.”

“We did nothing, he’s lying. I bet he didn’t report it to the police.”

“He said he was giving you a chance, and that if you hadn’t moved by tomorrow morning at the latest he wants my father to help get rid of you.”

“He’s a liar.”

“I know. What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Please.”

“No.”

As I opened the door, my hand shook. McCloud was covering his back. Making sure everyone thought we were thieves, so that I would never be believed. Granny shouldn’t have mentioned the mullos. No matter how sunny the day was, I could feel it getting darker around me. I walked out into the corridor. He followed me and grasped my hand.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“I know.” I looked out of the window next to us. It faced the lawns. I could see Beryl and Queenie herding everyone inside the marquee.

I pulled my hand from his. “I better go back, or I’ll be missed.”

That’s when I saw the magpies. Four of them sitting along the roof of the marquee. All in a line. One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding and four for a death.

Behind me Gregory’s phone started ringing. He looked at it and frowned. “My dad. Wonder what he wants?”

Perhaps he was psychic and knew his son had been kissing someone he shouldn’t. Gregory answered it and stood with the phone against his ear, looking shocked. “When? That’s so weird. Is he ok? Shall I meet you at the hospital? OK, will do.”

He ended the call.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“My great-granddad’s been taken ill.”

“He was OK this morning when he was having a drink with my granny,” I said.

He looked bewildered. “I know. I saw him, too. Mum says he started gasping for breath, and rambling.” He put a hand gently on my face. “I have to go. But don’t leave tomorrow without seeing me. Please.”

I didn’t answer him. Something was bugging me. First Granny Kate starts acting strangely, and now the old man. Their only connection was that they were together this morning, drinking Granny’s blackberry wine. I thought back to us picking the berries, and brushing the dust from them, and Granny saying, it’s just their bloom. And in the background, Pony was hosing down the yard because a stack of sacks had fallen and scattered their contents everywhere. If McCloud handled stolen cars and weapons, maybe he handled drugs or dangerous substances as well.

Four magpies on top of the marquee. Four for a death.

A wave of panic swept over me. Something terrible was about to happen.

“What?” said Gregory. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.”

I pushed past him and ran.

“Shoo!” I shouted, holding my dress up with one hand.

As I dashed outside, I bent down and picked up a plastic ball that had escaped from the ball pit, aimed and threw it as high as I could. The four magpies squawked and flew into the air, a whirl of black and white feathers. Everyone was inside the marquee for the buffet and the cutting of the cake. Only the children on the bouncy castle were left outside. They watched me run by, and then carried on bouncing.

And there was Hudson, of course. He watched me, but he stayed at his table. I had a glimpse of him, leaning forward, but at this time I didn’t care about him. I rushed into the marquee. My knees were shaking beneath my white silk dress. I prayed that I was wrong. Nobody took any notice of me. Sabrina was having more photos taken at the wedding table as they cut the cake. Everyone was clustered round her. I could see Rocky and Bartley clapping and cheering as Sabrina cut the biggest of the fruit cakes. Cameras clicked, flashlights strobed, reflecting from the silk-draped ceiling. Even Beryl and Queenie weren’t on patrol at the moment.

I looked through the crowd, hoping to see Granny Kate there with them. Please let her be with them!

But she wasn’t. She was at the back, where I’d left her. Her hands were folded in her lap, her head lolling forwards. She looked like an old lady taking a quick nap in the middle of a hectic day. Everyone must have thought the same, and left her to doze in peace. I threaded through the tables towards her. Please let her be sleeping, I prayed. Or unconscious at the worst. Please let me be wrong about the blackberry wine. I hitched up my dress and bent down in front of her.

“Hey, Granny Kate. Are you OK?”

Nothing. She still had the plate of sandwiches and cakes on her knee. They hadn’t been touched.

“Wake up! Please. They’re cutting the wedding cake.”

I touched her poor old arm. It was cold beneath her lacy sleeve. I crouched down and looked up into her face. Her dark eyes stared back at me. But they weren’t seeing me. They weren’t seeing anything in this world any more. The vardo had come for her. She was far away now, going to wherever Smiths went when they died.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Me mummy sez, does Granny Kate want some cake?” It was Whitney Jade. She held out a napkin with a slice of fruit cake.

I sat back on my heels. “No. Go and tell Beryl I want her.”

“But I’m supposed to be handing the cake around.”

“Now!”

Whitney Jade took one look at my face and turned and ran. While I waited, I held Granny’s cold hand, and going through my mind was only one thought: McCloud had killed me Granny. Whatever had blown out of the spilt sack and dusted the brambles had poisoned the wine. I had to find out what it was. It was too late for Granny Kate, but Gregory’s great-grandad was still alive. He needed saving.

“What’s wrong?” said Beryl, appearing at my side. “We’re going to drink a toast with Granny’s wine. I suppose we better wake her. She made it.”

I looked up at her. “She’s dead.”

Beryl gawped at me. “Don’t talk rubbish.” She bent down beside me and took Granny’s hand. “Come on now, Granny.”

She let go of her hand as though it had stung her, and shot up like she’d got hydraulics in her legs. “She’s dead! Do something! Granny’s dead!”

It was a loud and frantic shout. Heads turned.

“Help!” Beryl shouted. “It’s Granny Kate!” That brought people flocking over. I fought through them until I ran into Sabrina.

“What’s wrong?” she said, her eyes panicked. “We’re supposed to be having the toast.”

Not any more. There wasn’t going to be any more people poisoned. I hadn’t time to soften the blow. “Sorry. Granny’s dead.”

Sabrina’s mouth turned oblong, and she began to cry. “No! She can’t be. Not at me beautiful wedding. People don’t die at weddings!” She pushed past me and ran, wailing, towards Beryl.

I headed to the drinks table. The bunch of little glasses that Alice had laid out earlier were full of blackberry wine. And she was now holding a tray of them, ready to hand them out to the family, even though she was craning her neck, trying to see what was going on in the corner. It had to be Alice, didn’t it? I hadn’t time to explain to her. How could I? What would I say? “’Scuse, don’t serve the drinks. They’re poisoned.”

So I rushed up to her and kicked the tray from her hands. It flew upwards at speed. She screamed as the glasses turned somersaults, sending a cascade of deep purple wine over everything. I had this flash image of her standing there, purple splattered all down her and dripping from her hair. Any other time but now it would’ve been funny.

“Why?” she howled, as the tray clanged down, destroying her shoes with the last of the wine. “Why would you do that? I kept out of your way!”

“Sorry. It’s not you. The wine’s bad.” I pushed her to one side and swiped my arm across the table, spilling all the little glasses before anyone could drink from them.