A Ring Through Time (23 page)

She swallowed hard, remembering her panic as she’d realised that she was being swept away.

‘That’s to say, I got caught in the rip. Jason was a bit behind me, and when he saw I was in trouble he turned around and headed back to the beach. He said he’d gone to alert the lifeguards, to get help.’

But Allie had seen the fear in Jason’s eyes as he assessed the situation before turning to swim away. Alone and abandoned, she’d tried to shout for help but had swallowed water instead. It had taken all her strength to stay afloat as waves crashed over her and dragged her further and further out to sea.

‘Maybe that was the best thing for him to do,’ Meg ventured. ‘I mean, I saw how you clutched hold of Noah. If he hadn’t broken your hold, you might both have drowned.’

It was true. ‘Thanks, Noah, I owe you one,’ Allie muttered.

Noah shrugged. ‘I bet there were other surfers around, on boards, who could have kept you afloat until help came?’ he said. ‘He could have shouted to them instead.’

‘Yeah, there were,’ Allie said. ‘And that’s what happened. A guy saw I was in trouble and paddled after me. He pulled me across his board, and I tell you, I nearly coughed my guts up I’d swallowed so much water. But I wasn’t quite so terrified once I could breathe, and once there was someone with me. We were swept quite a way out so it was a while before the rescue boat came to pick us up. Jason took all the credit afterwards, boasting about how he’d broken all the records to get back to the beach to summon help. He even got a commendation at school. But I knew why he’d left me — because he was shit scared, that’s why.’

Allie knew how bitter she sounded, but she couldn’t help it. Jason’s cowardice had rankled and festered for so long, and so had her anger.

‘Sounds like you’re well rid of him,’ Noah said cheerfully.

‘Yeah. But he’s going out with my best friend back in Sydney now. My ex-best friend.’

‘So what? They’re there and you’re here,’ Meg said, unconsciously echoing Steph’s words. ‘Forget about them, Allie. They’re not worth bothering about.’

Allie nodded. Good advice, if only she could take it. But she did feel a bit better for telling them about it.

‘You know what they say about horses?’ Noah asked, with a lift of an eyebrow.

‘If you fall off, you’ve got to get on again straightaway?’ Allie gave an involuntary shiver. ‘I can’t bear to think about it,’ she confessed.

‘It’ll get better, you’ll see,’ Meg comforted her.

There was no pity in Meg’s eyes, just understanding and friendship. For that Allie was grateful.

‘You guys haven’t caught anything yet,’ she said as Pont directed the boat back towards the pier. ‘I don’t mind if you want to keep on fishing, honestly.’

Honestly, all she wanted to do was go home and hide under the bed, but she felt she owed them.

Perhaps Noah understood how she felt. ‘Maybe some other time,’ he said. ‘All I want to do now is change out of these wet clothes.’ He gave an exaggerated shiver. ‘I dunno about you guys but I’m freezing.’

‘Me too,’ said Meg.

Allie didn’t know if they were just being kind, but she was glad anyway. She was shivering too, but couldn’t be sure if it was the cold or a reaction to what had just happened.

‘Okay, some other time,’ she echoed. She kept her fingers crossed behind her back, silently vowing that next time would never come.

Allie was relieved that her parents weren’t around to question her when she got home. They knew all about the surfing incident, and she thought they might have guessed about her panic attacks for she hadn’t been out surfing since then. She knew they’d want an explanation if they saw her looking so wet and bedraggled now. She still felt cold and shivery as she stripped off, showered and changed. She draped her wet clothes beside her open window to dry, and began her homework. She wondered if Noah would call to see how she was doing. He’d been understanding about everything, they all had, but she still felt ashamed and stupid. So she was relieved but also disappointed when the evening passed with no word from him. Or from Meg or Pont. She wondered if their mobiles were running hot with the gossip about her, but told herself not to be paranoid.

Nevertheless, she felt acutely uncomfortable when she arrived at school the next morning. All her senses were on high
alert for any whispers or sniggers or sidelong glances as she walked into her first class of the morning. But everyone seemed to be ignoring her as usual. Except for Meg, who stopped by her desk for a quick word. ‘I was gunna call you last night but one of the waitresses was sick and Dad needed my help in the restaurant. Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

‘Good. Talk later.’ Meg slid into her seat.

Comforted, Allie sat back and tried to concentrate on the lesson. Halfway through, she became aware that Noah was trying to get her attention. ‘Later?’ he mouthed, when she looked over at him.

Allie nodded. Her heart thudded uncomfortably in her chest. What did he want from her? More important, what did
she
want from him?

As soon as the buzzer pinged for recess, Noah came over.

‘You okay after …?’ he asked.

‘Sure.’

‘We need to talk.’

‘Okay.’ Allie picked up her books. ‘I’m right here.’

‘Not here. Let’s go out to the playing field, find a tree to sit under.’

‘Sure.’

Allie waited for Noah to lead the way. Whatever he had to say, it must be important for him to miss the usual basketball line-up, she thought, as he bypassed the court and kept on going. She saw Meg in the distance and waved, and was
mortified when Meg raised her fist and shook it in triumph. She hoped that Noah hadn’t noticed.

‘I … er … thanks,’ Noah mumbled, once they’d settled down on the grass.

‘What for?’

‘Er … meeting me.’

‘That’s okay. In fact, I should be thanking you,’ Allie said. ‘I really appreciate what you did yesterday.’ It was still an effort for her even to think about it.

‘Oh, that? It was nothing. I’m just really sorry that … you know …’ Noah’s voice trailed off.

He was usually so confident. Allie wondered what had happened that he seemed so unsure of himself now.

‘So … what did you want to talk to me about?’ she prompted when she couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

‘The thing is …’ Noah stopped, then started again, ‘I guess you must know that I think you’re … well, I only realised yesterday when you … but then I got to thinking that I’ve always … that is, I hoped you might …’

‘Noah, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ This was becoming more bizarre by the moment. ‘Is it about you giving me violin lessons? It’s okay if you’d rather not.’

‘No. Yes, I mean … but no.’

‘As in no, you’ve changed your mind? You don’t want to teach me?’ Allie wondered if she was sorry — or slightly relieved.

Noah cleared his throat. ‘No, it’s nothing to do with violin lessons.’ He looked away from Allie, over to the basketball
court and his mates. ‘I just want to say that I understand now why you’re so afraid of the sea. But you know, the past is past and you should try to let go of it, if you can,’ he mumbled.

Allie stared at him, feeling flat with disappointment. Just for a moment, she’d hoped … But no, obviously not. Nevertheless, it was good of Noah to try to cheer her up, even though she couldn’t help smiling at the irony of his advice.

‘The past is past? Is that what you and your family believe?’

‘Yeah, I know. I should take my own advice, shouldn’t I?’

‘Yeah, maybe you should.’

‘What about Jason? Is he in the past too?’ Noah’s expression was serious, his gaze intent.

‘Gone and forgotten,’ Allie assured him.

A smile transformed Noah’s face. His hand crept out to link with hers. ‘So, if we’re going to bury the past, would you go out with me sometime?’

Allie blinked, and looked down at their joined hands. It felt so right to be holding hands with Noah. She wanted desperately to say yes. But she couldn’t, because he was wrong. The past was still between them and there was no way she could bury it. Not yet.

‘Allie?’ Noah let go of her hand.

She hesitated, needing time to think. To tell or not to tell? If she did, it was entirely possible that Noah and his family would never forgive what John Bennett had done to Cormac. That would mean she and Noah would never get together. She would also be betraying Alice’s secret. But if she didn’t share
what she knew, her relationship with Noah would forever be based on a lie. She hated the idea of that.

Noah stood up, no longer smiling. ‘I’m sorry. It looks like I’ve wasted your time.’

‘No, wait!’ Allie said quickly. She hadn’t made up her mind. But she didn’t want to mess things up between them either. ‘I like you. I really do. I like you a lot.’

‘But?’

Allie shook her head. ‘I can’t say right now. I need to think about it first.’

‘What? You’re not really over Jason, is that it?’

‘No. It’s nothing like that. It’s nothing about me. But there’s something I’ve got to sort out first.’

Noah squatted down beside her and looked her in the eye. ‘Then have a think about it. Because …’ He hesitated. ‘The thing is, ever since I met you, I’ve felt some sort of … I don’t know. A connection, I guess. Don’t laugh!’ he added, looking defensive. ‘You probably think I’m stupid, but —’

‘No, I don’t.’ The explanation was on the tip of Allie’s tongue, but she was too frightened of his reaction to risk it. ‘I’ve felt it too,’ she said instead.

Noah looked at her; Allie felt the spark zing between them. This was what must have happened between Alice and Cormac: this flicker of lightning that changed everything.

‘I’ve got to go,’ she said, and fled.

The rest of the morning passed by in a daze. Allie noticed that Noah was avoiding her. So did Meg, and she bailed Allie up during the lunchbreak.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘Jeez, I thought you two were going to get it together at last after your cosy little talk at recess. But you look like a cat that’s been caught in the rain and Noah’s barking at anyone who even looks sideways at him.’

‘Yeah, well.’ Allie couldn’t think of any explanation that would satisfy Meg’s curiosity.

‘Yeah well what?’ Meg exploded. ‘What’s happened between you two?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’ Now Meg looked really angry. ‘I thought we were friends, Allie. I thought if things had gone wrong between you and Noah I might be able to help. But if you can’t trust me even after what happened yesterday, then forget it! I don’t care.’

And she stomped off, leaving Allie to spend a miserable lunchbreak alone in the library.

Although her mother offered to drive her home after school, Allie insisted on walking. She felt restless, needed the exercise. She wished there was someone who could tell her what to do for the best, even though she knew she was the only one who could make that decision. She switched off her mobile and also her iPod, not wanting music to distract her from her thoughts. What should she do? Keep Alice’s secret, and pretend to know nothing about the past even though it meant lying to Noah?
Or tell him what had really happened to Cormac and risk alienating him forever? It was a no-win situation. Whatever she decided invited disaster.

Allie’s thoughts turned to Georgy. She’d sent several emails asking how the search was going, but had received only one reply.
I’m on the case. I’ll let you know if I find anything
. Allie hadn’t liked to harass her any further in case Georgy told her to get stuffed. She had only the vaguest concept of the Mitchell Library but assumed there must be thousands of books and reports and records there. She had no idea how Georgy would go about the search, but she had faith in her. Georgy haunted the library at school; she was always at the computer googling away, or sitting with her head in a book. If anyone knew how to locate information on anything, it was Georgy.

For the first time, Allie wondered if Georgy’s studiousness was a defence against being unpopular. Since coming to the island, she’d done her own share of hiding in the library at recess and lunchtime. And now she’d blown things with Meg, she was back hiding again. It was no fun being a loner. Allie wished now that she’d been kinder to Georgy, wished she’d made an effort to include her in her group of friends. But Sara and Steph wouldn’t have made Georgy welcome, she knew that now. They’d have made sure they treated her like the outsider she was. Like Allie had become.

Allie thought about her ex-friends. Not friends at all, she realised. A true friend would have stuck by her, just like Meg had stuck by her in spite of the silent treatment everyone else
had given her. So perhaps she should start by trusting Meg with the truth; and by setting the record straight by admitting to everyone she’d been wrong about John Bennett. Would it be enough to tell Noah that she agreed with him about her ancestor, without going into detail about Cormac?

Allie shook her head. She touched the hair ring she still wore on her finger. She wished she could ask Noah to show her his ring, the one Alice had woven for Cormac. A sudden thought stopped her footsteps. What if she didn’t have to tell Noah anything at all? What if there was some other way for him to find out the truth? If only she could think of something! But her mind was a blank.

When she walked into the house, the first thing she saw was a fat envelope sitting on the hall stand, with her name on it. She picked it up and stared at it. Could it be from one of her ex-friends? She didn’t recognise the writing. She turned it over and saw the name on the back and she began to fizz with excitement.

‘I’m home,’ she called, as she hurried across the courtyard and into her bedroom. She dumped her backpack onto her desk and flopped down on her bed, wasting no time in ripping open the envelope. A note fell out and she read it.

With shaking hands, Allie unfolded a thick wad of paper. It was a photocopy of a letter. She began to read, with some difficulty, the faded handwriting.

Although Allie hadn’t read the signature at the end, she had no doubt who the letter was from. She skimmed over the next few paragraphs, knowing already from Alice’s diary what had happened. What she really wanted was news of Alice.