A Voice in My Ear

[Red Ranger 1]

Big thanks for all your comments, hope you like this one.

CHAPTER 11

Alf loaded the last of his things in the back of his ute and turned to where Miles and Rabbit were standing. “Well, I guess that’s me off then.”

“Alf, are you sure this is a good time to be doing this?”Miles asked.

“Business is getting back on its feet so if I’m about to be overrun with customers, this might be my last chance to go on a fishing trip.I’ll only be gone a few days and young Ruby’s going to keep an eye on the place for me.”

“And are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Well, she’s had experience with that fish market and she’s the only one of the youngsters round here who hasn’t made other plans for the weekend.Unless you want to take over..?”

“If you’re going to be spending time with buckets full of maggots, I’ll be giving you a wide berth for a while,”Rabbit warned.

“I think that’s a no,”Miles decided,“But what if your friend Brighton decides to pull another fast one?”

“Then I guess we’ll have to rely on our little guardian rabbit to tip us off.Is she..?”

“She’s here,”Miles confirmed, nodding to his side.

Alf crouched down slightly.“Now, you make sure you keep an eye on this one while I’m gone, okay? Keep him out of trouble.”

Rabbit looked askance at Miles.“Does he know how old I am?”

“She says she will,”Miles translated.And ignored Rabbit’s answering glare.

“You know, this reminds me of when your sister thought you were still hanging out with her,”Alf commented,“’Course, she was eight at the time.”Miles gave him a steely look that said more than mere words could manage.Alf held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.“All right, I’m gone.See you soon.”

The pair watched him drive off.Rabbit gave Miles a friendly punch on the arm.“So, guess us imaginary friends have to stick together, right, Milco?”

Romeo brought his pack of camping gear out of the house and set it down next to Xavier’s.Then he looked over to where Xavier and April were enjoying what seemed to be a rather long goodbye kiss.“Dude, don’t mean to rush you but I was hoping to be there by nightfall.We’ve only got nine hours.”

Xavier looked round.“Hey, I’m not going to get a chance to do this again until we get back.Unless you’re going to oblige?”

Romeo sighed.“Take as long as you like.”

The pair resumed their kissing for a while longer before they disengaged.“See you when you get back,” April told him.

“I’m counting the hours,”Xavier confirmed.

“No, I’m counting the hours,”Romeo corrected.

April pecked Xavier on the lips before heading off down the track.“Bye, Mr.Copeland!”she called out as she passed him and Rabbit heading in the opposite direction.

Miles and Rabbit gave her a wave in response before turning to Romeo and Xavier.“You two ready for the off?”Miles asked.

“On our way any second,”Xavier told him, lifting up his pack and trying to get it into a comfortable position on his back.He glanced at Romeo.“Er, do you mind?”

Romeo sighed and helped him put the pack on before lifting his own pack.“Communing with nature is definitely going to be an experience.”

“I can give you a lift out there if you want,”Miles pointed out.

“No, we’ll be cool with the bus,”Romeo replied.He gave Xavier a pat on the back which came close to causing him to overbalance.“Come on.”

“Have a good time camping!”Rabbit called after them.She looked at Miles.“See what I did with the implied double meaning there?”

“You’re a comedy genius.”

Inside the house, Nicole was looking at her suitcase uncertainly.“I’m still not sure this is a good idea.”

“Well that’s a surprise,”Lucas commented.

“Seriously though, I’m seven and a half months gone.Shouldn’t I be taking it easy?”

“Well, that’s the whole point of the trip away.You need pampering as much as anyone.”

“And are you sure you’re going to be all right with going to a health spa?”

“Well, I’m going to be with you, aren’t I?”

Nicole sighed.“You know you make it very hard to argue with you.”

Lucas kissed her gently on the lips.“What about now?”

“Even harder.”

“Good.”He kissed her again.

Rabbit came in and sighed.“Miles, they doing it again!”

Miles followed her in.“Don’t mind me, guys!I’m just going to fit a bell around my neck so you can hear me coming.”

The two youngsters smiled awkwardly at him.“Sorry, Miles,”Nicole apologised.

“Ignore me, I’m just out of touch with what the kids are into these days.You off then?”

Lucas looked at Nicole.“Are we?”

“We are.”

“I’ll put your suitcase in the car.”Lucas headed out.

Nicole gave Miles a quick hug.“See you in a few days.”

Rabbit waited until they’d both left before turning to Miles.“Looks like we’ve got the place to ourselves then.”

“Yeah,”Miles sighed wistfully.

Rabbit put on a cod sympathetic voice.“Aww.Are you feeling left out?”

“You could say that,”Miles answered as he opened the fridge in search of a comfort snack,“I mean, are you sure you couldn’t perform a miracle and get someone into town who’d be perfect for me?I’m not choosy, although if you do happen to have Natalie Imbruglia’s phone number…”He turned round and realised Rabbit wasn’t listening to him.Instead she was staring into space, a glazed look in her eyes, as though in a trance.“Oh, that doesn’t look good.”

Rabbit blinked and then turned to him, a worried expression on her face.“Mr.Stewart?And Romeo?And Nicole?”

“They’ve all gone, it’s just the two of us.”

Rabbit swallowed hard.“If we don’t do something quickly, one of them’s going to die.”

[Red Ranger 1]

But you can't kill Alf, Nic or the cheating tosspot can you surely?

You wouldnt? Kill Alf or Nicole? I dont mind if you kill Romeo

Of the 3 possibly at death's door, I like Romeo the least !!!

So...would anyone actually mind if I killed Romeo..?

I was going to leave it until tomorrow to post this one but I thought I'd stick it up now.Let me know what you think.

CHAPTER 12

“Slow down, Miles!”Rabbit protested as Miles threw the car around yet another bend.

Miles paused to glare at her.“You tell me one of my family’s going to die and you want me to slow down?”

“Well, if you crash it could be us.And keep your eyes on the road!”

Miles sighed deeply, doing his best to stay within the bounds of safe driving.“Are you sure it’s Romeo?”

“No.”

“I could have done with something a bit more reassuring than that.”

“I don’t know it’s him, I told you.It could be any of them.I’m just getting this odd feeling about him.”

Miles nodded as he pressed on.“Do you remember much of what he and Xavier said about where they were going?”

Rabbit shook her head.“I mostly tune out their conversations.”

Miles grimaced as he took another corner with a grinding of gears.“You know, sometimes, as a font of useful information, you really suck.”

“Are you sure it’s this way?”Romeo asked as he and Xavier tried their best to follow the path through the woods.

“You saw the map just as much as I did,”Xavier replied.

“Yeah, the map which you forgot to bring.”

“We follow this path and there’s a clearing.Everyone knows about it.”

“Well, maybe we should have brought ‘everyone’ with us because you clearly don’t have a clue.”

Xavier glared at him.“Look, can we stop bickering like a married couple?Everything’s fine, it’s this way.” He pointed.

Romeo followed his outstretched finger carefully before pointing in another direction.“The path leads this way.”

Xavier suddenly seemed to realise he was pointing into the trees.“It must curve round.”

Romeo looked at him sceptically.“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s out towards Hansons Field.We can probably take a short cut.”So saying, he plunged into the trees.

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”Romeo sighed as he followed him.

“Quit worrying,”Xavier told him,“Nothing’s going to happen.”

The ground gave way beneath them.

The two boys flailed around wildly as they suddenly found themselves falling down a shaft cleaved out of rock, unable to do anything to halt their fall.Then the air was knocked out of their bodies by an impact with something cold and wet and they found themselves sinking into a large body of water.

They shrugged off their heavy packs and swam to the surface, coughing and spluttering.They paddled desperately to stay afloat, holding onto the sides of the shaft to provide any help they could manage.“You all right?”Xavier asked.

Romeo winced.“I think I hit my ankle on the way down.What is this place?”

“I don’t know.Some sort of old mine that’s been flooded?It could go down for miles.”

“Guess we’re lucky the water’s here then.So long as we can stay afloat.”

Xavier twisted round to examine the sides of the shaft.“I guess we could try climbing out of here.”

“Off you go then.”

Xavier looked at his friend in surprise.“I meant both of us.”

Romeo shook his head.“Not with this ankle, you go and get help.”

Xavier hesitated then nodded, getting foot and hands holds on the rock surface and trying to pull himself up.The rock crumbled at his touch, sending him slithering back down into the water.He tried again with the same result.“It’s no use.”

Romeo leaned back against the rock, his face etched with despair.

Xavier put a consoling hand on his shoulder.“Look, chill, man, all right?They’ll come looking for us.”

“When, Xav?”Romeo snapped,“They’re not expecting us back for days, remember?You really think we can stay afloat that long?No-one’s going to find us.”

Miles brought the car to a stop near the beginning of a path through the woods.“They were going to head this way, we’re going to have to go on foot.”

“Lead on, MacDuff,”Rabbit agreed, getting out of the car with him,“Let’s hope the cut price cavalry is enough.”

“Can’t you just, like, zoom on ahead and check on them?”Miles asked as they headed down the path.

“What, you expect me to lock onto their brain waves or something?”Rabbit mimed pushing buttons on a keypad.“Gooshie, centre me on Romeo!”She paused and then looked back at Miles.“Ziggy doesn’t have the answer right now, Sam.”

“Oh boy,”Miles sighed.

Then he realised he was alone.Rabbit had stopped in her tracks and seemed to be staring into space.He walked back, crouching down slightly and putting a hand on her shoulder.She looked up at him anxiously. “Are you all right?”he asked.

Rabbit swallowed hard.“It’s Romeo.I could…I could feel him for a second.He’s cold and frightened.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.We need to find him and Xavier, quickly.”She quickened her pace down the path.

Miles nodded and followed her.“What about the others?Do we have to worry about them?”

Rabbit shook her head.“Mr.Stewart’s with his fishing buddies and Nicole’s with Lucas.They’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry about this,”Nicole sighed as she and Lucas arrived back at the house.

“It’s no problem,”Lucas reassured her,“If you’re not feeling up to it…”

“I know but you went to all that trouble to arrange something nice for us this weekend and I have to end up feeling ill.”

Lucas shook his head.“Seriously, Nic, it’s not a problem.We’ll just do it another time, okay?”

She gave him a weak smile.“Thanks.”

He looked at her, worried, and felt her brow.“You’re looking a bit pale, do you want me to sit with you?”

“No, I just need to lie down on my own for a bit.I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.I’ll check up on you later.”He gave her a quick kiss before leaving her alone.

Nicole made to go upstairs but as she reached the door a surge of pain went through her stomach.She gasped, clutching the doorframe.For a moment she thought it had passed but then it came again.She groaned, sinking to her knees.Was she going into labour?Was this what having a baby felt like?She didn’t think so.This felt like something else.Something worse.

“Lucas!”she tried to call but it came out as a strangulated gasp.The pain seemed to be worse now.She sank to the floor, unable to even scream, everything going gray as she passed out…

[Red Ranger 1]

Huge thanks for the comments, glad you liked the chapter, I was worried I'd written it in a bit of a rush.And that everyone would just go "Huh?" at the Quantum Leap references.

I'm wondering if you've already decided the outcome of these events and just like stringing us along ...

Well...yeah.

Hope you all like this one.

CHAPTER 13

Rabbit suddenly stopped dead.“Uh-oh.”

Miles gave her a worried look. “‘Uh-oh’?What does ‘uh-oh’ mean?”

Rabbit swallowed hard.“It’s Nicole.”

Miles looked at her, stricken.“I thought you said it was Romeo?”

“It’s Romeo and Nicole!They’re both in trouble.Nicole’s at the house, she’s on her own.She’s in pain.”

Miles looked from the path that should lead them towards Romeo to the car that would take him back to Nicole.“Could…could I find Romeo and then go back for Nicole?”

Rabbit shook her head.“No, there isn’t time.And there isn’t time for you to go back for Nicole and then come back for Romeo either.”

“Then…then you’re going to have to help Nicole.”

Rabbit was looking as anxious as Miles was.“What am I supposed to do?Shout things she can’t hear?”

“Can’t you talk to someone else?I mean, Marilyn saw you…”

“She was asleep and she was thinking morbid thoughts at the time, it was easy.I don’t think I could get through to her now.”

“Rabbit, there must be someone, somewhere in Summer Bay who you can get through to.”

She thought long and hard, biting her lip in concentration.“There is one person but…it’s a bit of a long shot.”

Miles crouched down so he was level with her.“Try?Please?”

She gave him a nervous smile.“Am I still your favourite rabbit?”

He couldn’t help smiling back.“Still my favourite rabbit.”He hugged the strange little girl tight…and then suddenly he was alone.“You couldn’t have left a compass?”he complained before hurrying back down the path, calling.“Romeo!Xavier!”

Romeo was slowly starting to sink below the surface of the water.Xavier pulled himself over to his friend, putting an arm round him to help keep him afloat.“Hey, Romeo, stay awake!”

“I am awake,”Romeo replied drowsily,“It’s my ankle, it hurts when I move it.And when I don’t move it, I sink.”

“You’re meant to be the lifeguard surfer dude in this outfit, can’t you think of something cool to keep us afloat?”

“I’m too cold to be cool.”

Xavier took his point.He was beginning to feel the effects of being in cold water for too long as well.“I hope you’re not going to suggest we take all our clothes off and get in a sleeping bag together?”

That managed to wake Romeo up a bit.“What?”

“Well, that’s what they always do in the movies when they’re cold.Share body heat.”

Romeo grunted.“Shame our sleeping bags ended up at the bottom of a mineshaft.”

“Missed a trick, hey?”

“Defo.”

“Hey, shh.”Xavier gestured for him to be silent.

A voice drifted down to them from above.“Romeo!Xavier!”

“Is that…Mr.Copeland?”Xavier raised his voice.“Mr.Copeland!We’re here!”

“Miles!”Romeo joined in,“Miles, we’re down here!”

There was an agonising wait, then Miles’ face appeared at the opening.“Would it be a dumb question to ask what you’re doing down there?”

“Waiting for someone to get us out?”Xavier offered.

Miles thought for a moment.“Rope,”he realised at last,“We brought some rope.Ah, wait there.”He ran back to the car, grabbed the coil of rope and then ran back to them, attaching one end to a tree and dropping the other end into the pit.“Can you climb out?”

“I might be able to,”Xavier admitted,“but Romeo’s hurt his ankle.”

“You go,”Romeo told him.

“No, you should go first.”

“Romeo’s right,”Miles decided,“You climb up, then you can help me with him.”

Xavier hesitated for a moment then nodded, using the rope to help him as he climbed up the unstable shaft, Miles helping slightly by holding the rope steady.Once he was up, Miles called down.“Okay, Romeo, tie the rope around yourself and we’ll pull you up.”

Romeo did as instructed and Miles and Xavier pulled on the rope, lifting him out of the water and up the shaft, Romeo helping as much as he could with his injured leg.Finally, they got him up over the edge of the shaft and all three of them collapsed to the ground, panting in exhaustion.

Romeo glared at Xavier.“Next time we stick to the path.”

“Agreed.”Xavier looked at Miles.“We’d better get him to the hospital and get his ankle checked over.”

Miles suddenly looked uncertain.“Yes…”

“Is something up?”Romeo asked.

“I was just thinking maybe we should check on Nicole first…”Miles thought for a moment then gave a decisive shake of his head.“She’ll be all right.Come on, lean on us.We’ll get you to the car.”

Nicole found herself swimming in and out of consciousness, barely aware of her surroundings.She hardly noticed the pain anymore but she wasn’t sure whether that was because it had lessened or because she’d reached the point where she was past feeling anything.

“Nicole?Are you there?”

The sudden voice was nervous, tentative.She could tell it was male and she was sure she recognised it but her brain refused to come up with an identity.She tried to call out, to let him, whoever he was, know what had happened to her, but her body refused to do that either.

“Nicole!”His voice suddenly became anxious and she realised he had crouched beside her, tapping her face gently to try and get a response and checking her pulse.She tried to focus on his face, see who he was, but she couldn’t even manage that.All she could do was hear the bleep of a mobile phone making a call and then his anxious voice again.“Ambulance, fast.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Massive thanks as ever for your comments.All of the answers will now be revealed!Well...some of them.

CHAPTER 14

Miles and Xavier helped Romeo down the hospital corridor, supporting him as he hobbled along.Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to them.“My god!What happened to you?”

They looked round in time to see April springing to her feet where she had been sitting with Lucas and Dexter.Xavier looked down and realised his clothes were coated in mud, as were Romeo’s.“I’m not as bad as I look,”he promised but didn’t have much time to say more before April threw herself at him, hugging him and kissing the side of his face softly.

In that condition, he didn’t have much opportunity to keep hold of Romeo, who staggered against Miles, now bearing all his weight.“Hey, I’m the wounded one here,”he complained,“How come I don’t get a hero’s welcome?”

Dexter shrugged.“I would say I’m pleased to see you but I can never remember whether I’m supposed to like you or not.”

“So what are you doing here anyway?”Xavier asked,“How did you hear about what happened to us?”

April suddenly looked very uncomfortable, swallowing hard.Dexter looked down at his feet.“We’re here for Nicole,”Lucas explained quietly.

Miles had been dreading the moment when he’d have to face Rabbit’s prediction, to find out whether or not they’d managed to have an impact on events.“What’s happened?”he asked.

“We don’t know, she just collapsed.”

“Dad’s in there with her now,”Dexter explained,“We haven’t heard anything.”

“Well, thank goodness you were with her,”Romeo told Lucas.

Lucas looked shamefaced.“I wasn’t.She felt ill and needed a lie down so…I left her at the house.”He glanced at his companion.“Dex found her.”

Xavier looked at Dexter in surprise.“You?What were you doing at the house?”

“Weird thing,”Dexter explained,“April and I were studying at her place when I got this phone call from this strange little girl saying if I wanted to be a hero I should go to the caravan park and find Nicole.April went to check out Lucas’ van and I went to the house and…there she was.”

“When Luc and I got there, he’d already called for the ambulance,”April added.

Miles gave a cautious smile.“Good job she managed to reach you.Whoever she was.”

Sid suddenly emerged from the treatment room and everyone crowded around him.“How’s Nicole?”asked Lucas.

“What happened?”Romeo added.

Sid held up his hands.“She suffered a placental abruption.We’ve placed her on IV medication and she’s stable and free of pain.She’s going to have to be carefully monitored throughout the rest of the pregnancy but we think she’s out of the woods.However, she’s very lucky we got to her when she did.When she got here, she was on the verge of haemorrhaging.On which subject…”-he glanced at his son-“she wants to see you, Dex.”

Dexter looked uncomfortably at Lucas.“If you want to go in and pretend we misheard that last bit…”

Lucas shook his head.“No, you go on.”

“Okay!Feel free to continue the sudden tense atmosphere while I’m gone.”He skipped into Nicole’s room.

Romeo had lowered himself into a chair next to Lucas, Xavier sitting on the other side of him.Sid glanced at Romeo’s ankle.“I’ll, ah, get a nurse to look at that in a minute,”he decided before leaving them.

Miles nudged April.“I think they’re going to discuss secret boys business.I’ll shout you a coffee.”

“I could stay and eavesdrop on them,”Rabbit offered, as Miles suddenly noticed her standing next to him.

“No,”he said forcefully,“We’re going for a coffee.”

“Okay, I heard you the first time,”April agreed, as the three of them headed in the direction of the cafeteria.

“Right, yeah.And, um, thanks for your help with Nicole.”His gaze wandered to Rabbit as he spoke. “Whoever it was that called Dex, they did our family a really big favour.”

Rabbit shrugged.“I just figured if anyone was weird enough to start hearing voices, it was him.”

“Don’t worry, coz,”Xavier said reassuringly,“Nicole only asked to see Dexter because she wants to thank him.She’s not gonna propose to him or anything.”

Lucas forced a smile.“Yeah, I know that, it’s just…”He took a deep breath.“I thought I was gonna lose her.”

Romeo looked at him carefully.“I’m sorry,”he said at last.

“What for?”

“For being suspicious of you and Nicole.Just blame it on me being an overprotective brother.”

Lucas shrugged.“It’s okay.I remember what it’s like to have one of those.”

Xavier gave him a nudge, trying to lighten the mood.“Hey, just you wait until Harry’s old enough to be dating girls.You’re gonna be checking them all out, making sure they’re not going to hurt your little bro.”

“Yeah,”Lucas agreed, smiling briefly,“Except…”He trailed off.

The other two looked at him expectantly.“Except what?”asked Romeo.

Lucas shook his head.“I should tell Nicole that one first.”

“Well, at least I can see who you are this time,”Nicole commented.

Dexter looked slightly bemused.“You could really mistake me for someone else?”

“Good point.I should have known.”Her manner became slightly more serious.“Listen, I need to thank you for what you did.”

He shrugged.“Hey, all I did was punch a few numbers on a phone.Not like I rescued you from a pit of crocodiles or anything.”

“Yeah but if you hadn’t…We’re both really grateful.”

Dexter looked confused.“Both?”Nicole gestured to her bump pointedly.“Ah!Gotcha.Course, it’s that weird little girl that phoned me that you really need to thank.”

“Yeah.”Nicole looked suddenly thoughtful.“I wonder who she was…”

“Maybe she was our daughter from the future, sending a message back along the timelines to save your life so you don’t die before we conceive her!”Dexter noticed Nicole’s look.“It’s possible.Haven’t you seen Back to the Future?”

“Yes, I suppose it is at the farthest reaches of possibility.But until I get the sudden urge to procreate with you…”

“You want me to go away and send Lucas in?”

“Wow, you really can tell the future.”

Lucas hadn’t been sure how’d he react to seeing Nicole but as soon as he entered the room he ran to her bedside and kissed her.“I really thought that…”

“Hey, Lucas.”She took his hand reassuringly.“I’m okay.”

“I know but…”He took a deep breath.“I’ve never said any of this before but…when I left here, I told everyone it was ’cos I wanted to go off to uni, become a writer.And, yeah, I did.But truth was…I could see I was being left behind.Everyone else was pairing off and having children and…I knew I had to get out if I wasn’t gonna be stuck in a rut.And I never came back.I told people it was because of Jack or Beth or whatever bad thing I could think of that happened here but…I guess I was afraid of being a failure.I went to the city, I went to India, I went to the States.Never settled anywhere.I had girlfriends but they never lasted. Whatever it was I left town to find, I never found it.”

“So…you came back?”

“It’s weird but…I suddenly kept having dreams about this place.About the happy times, about Mattie and Ric and Belle and Cass, about Dad and Jack and…somehow I knew I had to come back here.And…I found something.I found you.”He took a deep breath.“I think I love you, Nic.”

She smiled at him.“Good.”She gripped his hand hard.“Because I think I love you too.”

“So, do you mind if I…stick around for a while?”

“I think I could cope with that.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Massive thanks again for all your comments, which I seem to be saying a lot.It always means something when people take the time to say they like what I'm doing.This is the last chapter, hope you like it.

CHAPTER 15

“But you’re sure you’re all right?”Miles asked for the umpteenth time.

Even down a telephone line, there was no mistaking the irritation in Alf’s voice.“I’m sure.”

“It’s just after everything that’s happened, Rabbit saying someone living here could die and what happened to Romeo and Nicole, I just thought I’d…”

“I’m not going to fall off a boat and drown,”Alf interrupted,“I’m not going to accidentally hook a shark and get eaten by it.I’m not going to be calmly driving along in my ute when some nincompoop drops an anvil on it.And if I do happen to meet with an unfortunate freak accident, then you have my full position to say ‘I told you so’.”

“Okay, okay.Just thought I’d check.”

Alf’s tone became more serious.“So, how are young Nicole and Romeo?”

“They’re fine.Romeo’s just got to rest up for a bit.Nicole’s been discharged, they’re happy for her to go in as an outpatient twice a week to make sure everything’s fine until she gives birth.”

“So, you’re not going to panic about this prediction anymore?”

“No, Alf, consider the prediction forgotten about.See you when you get back.”

“What prediction was that?”asked Nicole, who’d come in at the latter end of the conversation.

“Ah, nothing,”Miles replied hastily,“Just Marilyn doing a tarot card reading and…”

“So nothing to do with that mysterious little girl that phoned Dex then?”

Miles tried his best to look nonplussed.“Sorry, what?”

“It’s just…I can’t help remembering all that stuff you got up to last year, whilst I was busy with Britt and Aden and everything, and that little girl you were meant to be seeing.She’s not here again, is she?”

“I’m here!”confirmed Rabbit, who was suddenly sitting perched on the kitchen table, even though Miles could have sworn she hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“She’s here,”Miles echoed, gesturing in her direction.

Nicole turned to look in the direction he’d indication.“Well, Rabbit, if you are there, then…you saved me and my baby so…thank you.”

Rabbit smiled at her.“You I like.”

“She says ‘You’re welcome’,”Miles told Nicole.

Nicole nodded.“Right, well, I’m meant to be meeting Lucas.”

“You sure you’ll be all right?”

“Don’t worry, he’s not letting me out of his sight at the moment.”

“Must be hell for you.”

“It’s torture,”Nicole agreed,“See you later!”

Rabbit looked after her.“Don’t you love a nice happy ending?”

“They’re the best,”Miles agreed.

“Right!”She jumped down from the table and grabbed Miles’ hand.“We’re going to the beach.”

“Do we have to?”

“Never argue with your rabbit.Come on.”

Rabbit led Miles to a deserted spot along the beach and there they stopped, looking out at the waves.“Are we going to have to build a sandcastle again?”Miles asked.

Rabbit gave him a sad smile.“Not this time.”

“Good.My creative juices are a bit dry at the moment.”He sighed.“This is goodbye, though, isn’t it?”

Rabbit shrugged.“Had to happen.”

“Guess so.”

“But hey!”She danced in front of him, taking his hands, a smile on her face.“It’s all okay now, remember? Everyone’s going to be all right!”

“Even Alf?”he asked cautiously.

Rabbit suddenly gave a gasp of horror.“Oh no!Mr.Stewart!He’s going to be mauled to death by a sheep!” She saw Miles’ expression, half puzzled, half horrified, and broke into a wide grin.“Only joking.He’ll be fine.”

Miles glared at her.“I don’t know why I’m going to miss you.”

“You’re only human.”She hugged him and then stepped backwards, walking away from him.

“Will you ever come back?”he asked.

She shrugged.“Who’s to say I’m not going to be around anyway?”

“You really like being enigmatic, don’t you?”

“It’s a gift.”She gave a little bow.“But, as a reward for all your help, I’m going to grant you three wishes. Well, one wish.But it’s a good one!”

Miles realised Rabbit was starting to become faint, transparent, as though fading away.“Don’t you want to know what it is?”he called.

“You’ve already made it, silly!”she called back.And then she was gone.

Miles paused in the doorway of the house.Empty.Nicole and Romeo both out.He took in the silence for a moment then sighed and headed for the inner door.

Then he heard the running footsteps behind him and turned round.

The girl skidded to a halt in the middle of the room.She looked about the same age as Rabbit but her hair was lighter, her features softer.Despite this, he was sure he knew her from somewhere.He just couldn’t quite place it.“Er, hi,”she greeted him awkwardly.

“Hello,”he replied,“Ah, can I do something for you?”

“A van, please.”

Miles looked at her in bemusement.“We normally rent them to people a bit older than you.”

The girl’s face fell.“Don’t you remember me, Miles?”

A red-haired woman a few years younger than Miles appeared in the doorway, giving the girl a scolding look.“Lily, I told you not to run on ahead.”She saw Miles and held out her hand.“Hi, you must be Sally’s brother.Lily told me about you.”

Then it hit him, who the girl was.He’d only known her a few weeks before he’d gone to Africa, he hadn’t remembered at first.And he knew who the woman whose hand he was shaking was as well.“You’re Gypsy, aren’t you?Sally told me you used to live together.”

Gypsy nodded.“Yeah, she was really good to me when I was expecting Lily.”She looked around.“I used to live here too, before Mum and Dad split up.Feels weird being back here.”

“Like you’ve never been away, huh?”

“Kind of.”

“So, what brings you back here?”

Gypsy paused, considering.“It’s odd, for ages I thought I’d never come back here.I mean, my life was in Queensland now.You can’t look back, right?But…I guess you heard that things haven’t been that good in Queensland recently.And Lily kept talking about this place, the friends she’d made and how nice everyone was.And…then I started having these dreams.About this place, about all the good times.”

“Like something was telling you to come back here?”Miles suggested.

She nodded.“Yeah, that’s right.Sounds silly, doesn’t it?”

“Stick around.Most of what I say sounds silly as well.”Miles handed her a van key.“Van 10.Don’t think it’s been moved since you were last here.Enjoy your stay.”

Gypsy smiled at him.He couldn’t help noticing it was a nice smile.“I think maybe we will.”She put her arm round Lily and let her towards the door.

“Told you he was nice,”Lily said quietly.But not so quietly that Miles didn’t hear her.

“Gypsy!”he called.

She looked round.“Yeah?”

Miles hesitated, unsure what to say.“Do you believe in miracles?”

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