Lawson's Bend Page 20

  Stephen worked his magic all the way back up until she called out his name in a mixture of euphoria and frustration. As he entered her and they began to move together, Stephen’s eyes never left hers and in that moment she realised just how cherished she was.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Henny

  Killop Reservoir, 2 February 2008

  Henny looked up as the first stars were appearing in the darkening sky. A warm evening breeze brushed over her and she could hear the soft lapping of water against the old wooden pylons of the platform. Stephen was silent beside her but it wasn’t uncomfortable, and neither of them appeared to feel compelled to break the silence. The others scattered across the platform weren’t immune to the sense of calm as they sat together in small groups, staring out across the now black water towards the fire on the shore. Henny turned her head and saw Georgie and Dan sitting close together as he whispered in her ear. Henny smiled; it had taken them all year but finally they were having a moment. Whatever happened in the future, at least they had tonight to remember.

  Suddenly Stephen stiffened beside her and let out a cry as he pitched forward. Henny made a grab for him as the sound of laughter came from the water. Henny looked over the edge to see Ethan and Jamie hanging onto Stephen’s ankles and pulling him off the platform. Henny tried to hold onto Stephen’s arm but the combination of Ethan and Jamie was too strong. He was wrenched out of her grasp and pulled into the dark water.

  ‘You’re a shithead, Ethan.’

  ‘Aw, just chill, Hen,’ Ethan said with a grin as he waited for Stephen to break the surface before he dunked him under again. This time he held him under a second or two longer. There was a lot of cheering from his mob of mates and a couple of hangers-on.

  ‘Oh, stop it, Ethan—why do you have to be such an idiot all the time?’ Henny asked as she looked down from the platform. ‘You’re such a fucking bully, and the same goes for you, Jamie. I thought you had more sense.’

  ‘Geez, Henny, you sound like my mum,’ Jamie called back as Stephen surfaced again, this time coughing and spitting out a mouthful of water. He swam over to the ladder and started to climb it. Jamie gave Ethan a glance and a wink and they both moved towards him.

  Henny was terrified that they were going to dunk him again. ‘Just leave him alone!’ She reached down and grabbed onto Stephen’s hand and yanked him up.

  ‘Come on, Hen, lighten up. We’re only having a bit of fun.’

  ‘What, by drowning people?’ Henny spat. Stephen spluttered out more water as he climbed up the ladder. ‘Are you alright?’

  Ethan and his smug smile bobbed up and down in the water below. ‘Stephen knows that we were only mucking around. No hard feelings, right?’

  Stephen ignored him and sat down next to Henny. ‘Thanks for the hand,’ he said, glancing over at her.

  ‘Anytime.’

  ‘Aw, isn’t that cute. Is there anything you want to tell me? I mean, have the two of you got something going?’ Ethan asked, his grin getting wider, as if the entire idea was preposterous.

  ‘Yeah—how about it’s none of your business what I do,’ Henny replied sweetly as she held up her middle finger.

  Ethan laughed. ‘That’s harsh, Hen.’

  ‘Go away, Ethan. I’ve got better things to do than waste my time listening to you.’

  ‘Oh yeah, like what?’

  ‘This,’ Henny said before turning to Stephen and kissing him. It was meant to be a quick kiss to shut Ethan up. Since their break-up six months ago, Ethan had staged a couple of public displays of affection in front of Henny to upset her. The first time was in the quadrangle with Kylie Patterson and the next outside the art room with Amber Tavish hanging off him. That time Ethan had looked past Amber and smirked at Henny, which only confirmed what her gut had been telling her for the past two months—that Ethan was a complete and utter shit.

  So this spur of the moment kiss with Stephen was only meant to give Ethan a little payback. As she leaned in and kissed Stephen she noted that his lips were still cold from the water, and for a moment he didn’t react. But his lips softened and warmed under hers and there was a jolt somewhere deep inside her that she hadn’t expected or understood. His hand went behind her back and pulled her to him—and she didn’t pull away. They lingered, longer than Henny ever intended.

  ‘Looks like she’s moved on, mate,’ Jamie said, and several of Ethan’s crew started to laugh.

  ‘Whatever,’ Ethan said.

  Henny broke the kiss and leaned back. She stared at Stephen for a moment and it was like she was seeing him for the first time. It took her another second or two to gather herself before she glanced down at Ethan and his mates. Jamie had his hand on the ladder, obviously intent on joining her on the platform.

  ‘Why don’t you just go and annoy someone else, Ethan? Besides there isn’t enough room up here anyway.’

  ‘I reckon I’d rather hang out up there with you,’ Ethan called back.

  Henny glanced over her shoulder. There were already almost a dozen people on the old swimming platform; it was an unwritten law that twelve people was the limit. There’d been talk over the last few years about getting rid of the whole structure but it had been met with a lot of opposition from the town. The platform had been at Killop Res for generations and there were years of fond memories and long hot summers of youth tied up in it. As a compromise, council gave it a safety check every year and said it could stay until deemed otherwise as long as everyone stuck to the rules and didn’t overload it.

  ‘There isn’t enough room—there’s a limit, remember?’ Henny said.

  ‘Rules are there to be broken.’

  ‘Why don’t you just leave it, mate? Come back when there aren’t so many people here,’ Stephen said evenly. Henny had to give him credit. If she’d been held under the water twice, she’d be far from calm.

  ‘Maybe we don’t want to,’ Ethan said, and this sentiment was echoed by his idiot friends.

  ‘Oh for God’s sake, you’re acting like a four-year-old. If you’re that bloody intent on coming up here we’ll leave. Just get out of the way and give us room to get down.’ Henny stood up. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Georgie had also got up and was making her way over to her, Dan in her wake.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Georgie asked.

  ‘Ethan’s being a jerk, so nothing out of the ordinary. He wants to come up so I say let him have the platform. I’m not staying here with him,’ Henny said.

  ‘I’m right behind you,’ Georgie said before turning to Stephen. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah, fine,’ Stephen answered with a quick smile.

  Georgie swayed to one side and bumped into Henny, who glanced at her with concern.

  ‘What’s up?’ she asked.

  Georgie shrugged and touched her temple with her hand. ‘It’s nothing, I just feel a bit dizzy—probably shouldn’t have finished that glass of bubbly.’

  Henny gave her hand a squeeze. ‘Hang on and we’ll get out of here, then I’ll find you a drink of water.’

  ‘Okay, guys, you’ve had your fun. Get out of the way for a second so some of us can get down,’ Dan said.

  ‘What’s the matter, Danny? Are you like Henny, too scared to jump?’ Jamie called out.

  ‘No, but some of the others prefer to use the ladder. So stop being a dick about it and get out of the way,’ Dan replied.

  ‘That sounds like a challenge to me,’ Ethan said with a laugh as he started to climb up the ladder followed by Jamie, Harley and the rest of them. There was laughter and jostling and a couple of cries of dismay as everyone packed onto the platform.

  Henny had had enough and started elbowing her way through them towards the ladder. It was true that she’d always been a bit nervous when it came to jumping into water. When she’d been about eight years old she had a fright at the local pool when she jumped into the shallow end and hit the bottom. She could swim fairly well but always felt safer if she eased into the water.


  The problem was that there was now almost two dozen people on the platform, some trying to get off while others were still climbing on. It made it difficult for Henny to make her way through the bodies. She had Georgie by the hand and Stephen and Dan were following close. She’d almost made it back to the ladder—the only thing in her way was Ethan.

  ‘Just get out of the way and you can have the damn platform,’ she said as she tried to step past him.

  ‘What’s the hurry?’

  ‘Come on Eth—just let her pass. Joke’s over and you’re crossing a line,’ Dan said.

  ‘You’re being an idiot,’ Stephen said, stepping forward and placing himself between Henny and Ethan.

  ‘You’ve got something to say to me?’ Ethan said, getting up into Stephen’s face.

  ‘I just said it. Tonight’s meant to be a celebration for everyone. Back off and let all of us enjoy ourselves,’ Stephen said.

  ‘Listen, Drake, I’ve had enough of you.’ Ethan shoved Stephen in the shoulder but he stood his ground. ‘You want to make something out of this?’

  ‘Oh for God’s sake, Ethan—no one is having a go at you, we just want to leave,’ Georgie called out behind.

  Stephen took Henny’s other hand and started forward. ‘Anytime,’ he said quietly as he pushed past Ethan.

  Ethan’s eye’s narrowed and he pulled his arm back to deliver a punch when a crack as loud as thunder sounded. For a second everyone stood still, and Henny glanced around trying to work out where it had come from. The answer came in two heartbeats: the tremble under her feet was accompanied by another crack and instantly the platform pitched to one side and broke apart.

  She looked at Stephen for a moment before they both fell into the dark water amid a wave of screams.

  ***

  Stephen

  There was a flash of fear as the platform threw him off balance before disappearing altogether. He managed to drag in a breath and tightly clutch Henny’s hand as they were thrown into the now-churning water of the reservoir. Stephen opened his eyes but could barely see anything, the water dark and filled with bubbles and debris. He kicked his legs and tried to pull them both back to the surface but out of nowhere he was hit across the back by something hard, probably wood from the broken platform. The impact stunned him for a moment as the pain radiated through his body. Then he felt Henny start to become heavier beneath him so he kicked his way back up to the surface again, dragging her with him.

  He took a deep breath as he broke through the water and quickly pulled up Henny. She lolled unresponsive in his arms, blood running down the left side of her face.

  ‘Henny!’ He gave her a shake. ‘Hen—come on, wake up!’ The water around him boiled with splashing and the flailing of arms and bodies as people tried to stay afloat. Cries for help sounded in the night air and Stephen could make out shouts and screams from the shore.

  ‘Come on, Hen, you’re scaring me,’ he gasped as he patted her face. ‘I need you to wake up.’

  Her eyes flickered open and she let out a cough along with a mouthful of water.

  ‘Oh thank God,’ Stephen said as he supported her in the water. ‘It’s okay, Hen—you’re okay.’

  ‘Stephen?’

  ‘We’ve got to get out of here. Come on.’

  She reached up and touched her head. ‘I’m not sure I can . . .’

  ‘It’s alright, I’ll get us to shore.’

  ‘Wait—where’s Georgie? Can you see her?’

  Stephen glanced around. ‘No, I can’t.’

  ‘I was holding her hand but when we fell we were pulled apart.’

  ‘Maybe she was with Dan or Ethan—we were all together. I’m sure she can’t be far away.’

  ‘I should look for her,’ Henny said.

  ‘You’re in no shape for that.’ He pointed to her head. ‘We need to get to the bank.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘We can’t stay here, Hen—let’s get to the shore and figure it out from there,’ Stephen said.

  With Henny floating on her back, Stephen sidestroked them towards the campfire lighting the shore.

  Charlie Nichols ran forward and helped Stephen and Henny out of the shallows. The bank was chaos as people went in and out of the water to assist others. Some people were huddled together in small groups, faces white with shock and disbelief.

  ‘Is she alright?’ Charlie asked Stephen as she wrapped her arm around Henny.

  ‘She’s got a cut on her head but other than that I think she’s okay,’ Stephen said, helping Charlie guide Henny over to a large log so she could sit down. ‘Is everyone accounted for?’

  Charlie shook her head. ‘No, not yet.’

  Henny reached up and grabbed Charlie’s hand. ‘Have you seen Georgie or Dan or Ethan?’

  ‘Sorry, no,’ Charlie replied as she brushed Henny’s fringe aside so she could check out the cut. ‘I’ve rung Dad and the emergency services are on the way.’

  Stephen let go of Henny and stood up. ‘I’m going back in—you’re right here?’

  Henny looked up. ‘Yes, thanks, Stephen.’

  Stephen gave her a nod before he turned and ran back down the pebbly shore and into the dark water.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Harley Turner was looking at her with intensity in his eyes. ‘Run away, Henrietta Bolton, run away and don’t come back. He was on the cliff, don’t you understand—he was on the cliff.’

  Before she could respond she found herself by the barbecue area at the res. Georgie was standing on the bank, her blonde hair fluttering in the breeze. A lump formed in Henny’s throat as Georgie beckoned her to follow. Henny so wanted to go but she was frightened; she knew what would happen if she stepped into the water. But Georgie didn’t go towards the platform, instead she drifted over to the tiny island further up the bank. ‘Come on, Henny—you have to come here. You’re not seeing what’s in front of you. Look up, Henny, look up.’

  Henny began to follow but as she neared the water’s edge, Amber, Laura and Alistair laughingly caught her and pulled her in.

  She felt the water close over her head, but when she opened her eyes they had all gone.

  As she swam towards the surface she could hear Harley’s voice in her ear, ‘He was on the cliff.’

  The water was dragging her under and no matter how hard she fought against it she couldn’t reach the surface. It was cold and dark beneath the water, and she flayed her arms as the last ounce of air bubbled out of her lungs and danced towards the surface. She was sinking lower and lower as the blackness of the res swallowed her up. A hand broke the waters and caught hold of her fingers and started dragging her upwards . . .

  Henny sucked in a breath and sat up, heart hammering. There was a chill in the air and she rubbed her hands along her arms, skin cold and damp, just as if she’d stepped out of the res. The idea made her shudder. It was just a stupid dream, and as Henny glanced down and saw Stephen sleeping beside her, she knew she was safe. But the damn nightmare had rattled her. Henny closed her eyes and as she did the dream reached out and latched onto her. It was beginning to fragment and fade but she could still recall Harley’s words.

  He was on the cliff.

  Henny opened her eyes and ran the line again. ‘Son of a bitch,’ she whispered under her breath. ‘God, I’m so stupid!’

  Henny reached over and shook Stephen awake.

  ‘What’s up?’ he asked sleepily, rolling on his side and looking at her. ‘Aw, geez.’ He covered his eyes as Henny turned on the bedside lamp.

  ‘It’s been a cover-up for all these years!’ Henny said quickly, not taking any notice of Stephen trying to adjust to the light.

  ‘Okay, what the hell are you talking about?’ he said before glancing at the clock. ‘Hen, it’s almost four in the morning.’

  Henny ignored his protest. ‘The reason why Mark was the last one out of the water was because he went in last.’

  ‘What are you talking about? He went back in after he saved
Harley—we all know that.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Again—what?’ He dropped his hand as his eyes adjusted to the light.

  ‘Mark was up on the cliff. That’s what Harley was trying to tell me and I was too stupid to work it out.’

  ‘Okay, run through this—it’s four in the morning and I’m not exactly with it at the moment.’

  ‘Okay. The last time I saw Harley he said, He was on the cliff. At first it didn’t make any sense. I couldn’t work out what he meant so I dismissed it and put it down as Harley just saying random stuff. But he was trying to tell me that on the night of the accident, he’d seen Mark on the cliff above the res.’

  ‘Okay,’ Stephen said as he sat up, ‘but even if he did that still doesn’t make any sense.’

  Henny frowned as she mulled over his words. ‘Yes, I think it does. Something else happened at the res that night other than the accident, something that had to be hidden and kept a secret.’

  ‘What could be worse than what happened?’

  ‘I don’t know, but that’s what we need to find out.’

  ***

  The sky was beginning to lighten as Stephen drove Henny back to her place. It was just after six thirty in the morning and there was a chill in the air. Henny was lacking in sleep, they both were. But as she looked across at Stephen, he smiled back and her heart seemed to beat a little faster—she had no regrets and something inside told her that this fledgling relationship could be very different from anything she’d ever experienced before.

  Stephen pulled into the driveway. ‘Well, here we are,’ he said.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘You don’t have to thank me,’ he said as he reached over, took her into his arms and kissed her.

  The kiss was warm, delicious and lingering, and Henny could have quite happily stayed like this all day. She felt his reluctance as he pulled back.

  ‘I guess I should go. I promised Dad that I’d move the sheep back to the top paddock.’

  ‘Then you’d better go.’ Henny smiled back. ‘Besides, I’ve got a heap of things to do today.’