Dory's Avengers (46 page)

About twenty minutes before the wedding Alan and Louis started to coerce the wedding guests out of the pub and into the church. Gideon and Chris had left a little earlier to take their place at the front of the church. Chris felt as calm and collected as his fiancée, while Gideon was a mass of nerves.

‘Good grief, Gideon,' said Chris, laughing as he wheeled Gideon's chair into the church, ‘if you're like this about being my best man, what state will you be in when Louis performs at the Games?'

Laughing nervously, Gideon replied, ‘I was so pleased to be asked for today, I don't want to let you down.'

‘I know you won't, Gideon, that's why I chose you…'

‘We both know it would have been Elliot had he been alive…'

‘Of course it would. We also both know that Elliot would be delighted that I chose you in his absence. Now, come on! The guests are starting to arrive.'

The guests were indeed starting to file into the church, with Alan and Louis hurrying about showing them to their seats.

‘I thought Cameron was supposed to be helping you,' said Chris, catching Louis's attention briefly as the young man hurried past.

‘I'll try one more time to prise him away from Chloe,' replied Louis, grinning. Exiting the church, Louis was delighted to see Theo coming up the path with the rest of his family.

‘Cad! Bounder!' whispered Louis, laughing as he passed Theo.

‘Heartbroken man, actually,' whispered Theo in return, looking anything but heartbroken as he grinned and winked at his friend.

Louis was glad to see Chloe coming up the path behind the St Benedicts to join her father and friends in the church, an apologetic Cameron in her wake. Having been rushed off their feet, Alan and Louis sat back for the last five minutes and left Cameron to usher the final guests into the church on his own. Finally, everyone was seated, the only slight hiccough being Chris's parents' obvious distaste at having Lord William placed right behind them. Hugging their grandchildren Theo and Marina warmly, they refused to even acknowledge the man who'd made their daughter's life so miserable. In return, they were ignored by their eldest granddaughter, Rosanna. Determined not to let the nastiness spoil their son's big day, Richard and Eleanor Farrell turned their attention back to Chris with warm smiles.

Outside, Alan signalled across the road to Matilda in The White Lion to let her know that the guests were all in the church and the wedding could begin.

Georgia Montfiore looked beautiful. It's said that every bride looks beautiful on her wedding day, but Georgia was a truly jaw-droppingly gorgeous bride. Dressed in a long gown of cream silk which clung to her curves, its sweetheart neckline complimenting her full breasts to perfection, Georgie swept down the grand old staircase of The White Lion Inn on her brother's arm. Out on to the main street of Applethwaite she stepped, where the rain had finally given way to a soggy dullness, as her favourite love song started to play in the church. Hearing the music start Chris Farrell stood up, tall and proud, happy in the knowledge that he would soon be marrying the woman he loved. The Unsponsored photographer was capturing every moment as Georgie crossed the road, Jenny directly behind her followed by Matilda and Abi, while yet again a wall of Unsponsored volunteers kept the Sponsored cameras at bay. The Sponsored photographers weren't too disappointed; they'd got what they really wanted when Lord William emerged from the Applethwaite Guesthouse and allowed them to photograph him and his family in their wedding finery. After all, how could some Unsponsored bride compete with the head of the Sponsorship Scheme?

Georgie entered the church on Dex's arm as her song reached its crucial point, and there was nothing to compare to his Unsponsored bride as far as Chris was concerned. Nothing in the world. To Louis there couldn't be a more lovely sight than Abi; stunning in a simple dress of blue silk, her hair adorned with flowers. Looking over his shoulder, Theo felt pretty much the same about the identically attired Matilda; and he tried, unsuccessfully, to push memories of their wild lovemaking to the back of his mind in deference to being in church. Lysander had eyes only for his beautiful little daughter, looking more like her mother by the day, while Alan's gaze never left Dex for a second. Georgie walked slowly up the aisle beside Dex, smiling happily the
whole time, until she stood level with her groom and the ceremony began.

Shortly after half past two the familiar music of the ‘Wedding March' boomed from inside the church, and the Unsponsored wall totally lost its form as everyone rushed forward to greet the bride and groom. The doors flew open as the church bells started to ring, sending their joyful message into 'Thwaite's Wood and up to the fells that Georgia Montfiore and Chris Farrell were married. As the happy couple came out into the drizzly day to cheers from the Unsponsored crowds, Georgie kissed her new husband and whispered that she felt like royalty. The rain held off long enough for a few photographs to be taken in the church garden, before another downpour drove the wedding party back into the church and the Unsponsored in the street back into their homes. Formal photographs complete, the photographer followed the wedding guests into The White Lion to get some more informal shots of the celebrations.

Back in The White Lion champagne and canapés were waiting for the guests as they arrived in the bar. The adult bridesmaids along with the ushers guided everyone over to the refreshments, while Georgie and Chris greeted each of their guests as they walked through the door.

‘Lord William,' said Chris, holding out a hand to the man he despised with an admirable attempt at hospitality, ‘glad you could make it.'

His Lordship looked at Chris's outstretched hand as though it were something threatening for a second, before shaking hands with his brother-in-law and mumbling congratulations. In the Unsponsored surroundings of The White Lion, Lord William found himself uncharacteristically ill at ease, and if he'd known how often his name had been ridiculed by the people around him in that very bar it would only have increased his unease. Smiling briefly at Georgia, knowing instinctively that she wouldn't welcome
a kiss from him, Lord William moved on towards the champagne and did his best to pull himself together. Lady Rosanna didn't even make any attempt to congratulate her uncle and his bride; instead, she snatched a glass of champagne from Matilda's tray and gulped it down in one.

‘Don't mention it!' said Matilda sarcastically, in reference to Rosanna's lack of thanks as she put her empty glass down and took another full one.

‘What did you say, underclass?' snapped Lady Rosanna.

‘I said, I trust you slept well,' replied Matilda, starting to laugh and leaving Rosanna too baffled to think of a retort before Matilda disappeared into the throng of guests.

Unlike his rude girlfriend, Adam Foster offered warm congratulations to Chris and Georgie, giving both a friendly hug and a big smile.

‘What a nice lad,' Georgie whispered to her new husband as Adam went off to face a stinging barrage of abuse from Rosanna. ‘Why is he with Lady Bitch?'

‘It's one of life's mysteries,' replied Theo, next in line to offer his congratulations and catching Georgie's whisper. ‘Lovely bridesmaid, I mean wedding! Congratulations, both of you! Georgia, you look stunning.' As Theo hugged his uncle and new aunt, Georgie laughed and said, ‘Almost as stunning as Matilda, eh Theodore? You're looking good on so little sleep…'

Grinning wickedly, Theo kissed Georgie on the cheek then went off in search of Louis.

As the guests filed into The White Lion, all stopping to offer their congratulations to the happy couple, Louis was in rather intense conversation with Chloe and Brains.

‘So what's the plan, Louis?' Brains asked. ‘We're often a bit out of touch in London despite Max's newsletters, and this isn't exactly something he can write about…'

‘What isn't?' asked Louis, genuinely confused. ‘What's what plan?'

Brains and Chloe looked at each other, a little baffled by Louis's answer. Brains tried again.

‘Well; the plan for today of course, Louis? The plan to get Theo away? Today being the day of the great escape and all that.' Abi joined the group as Brains was speaking and began to look as horrified as her boyfriend. Looking from Abi to Louis, realisation dawned on Chloe.

‘Don't tell me Dory's Avengers haven't formulated a plan to get Theo away. That's what getting him here today was all about, wasn't it?'

‘Umm,' mumbled Louis, tapping his fist on his bottom lip. ‘Er, actually we, er, didn't really think beyond getting Theo to Applethwaite…' Shaking her head in disbelief, Chloe turned to Alan and Dex who'd just joined the group, Dex carrying a full bottle of champagne in case anyone needed their glasses topping up.

‘What about you guys? Do you have any thoughts on how to get Theo away from His Lordshit and the thugs today?'

Looking as awkward as Louis and Abi, Alan reiterated what Louis had just said.

‘We were just so pleased that Theo had been given the go ahead to come to Applethwaite, we kind of didn't look beyond that…'

‘Oh boy,' said Chloe in disbelief. ‘So no one's made a plan. Dory's Avengers have had all these weeks to discuss it, and yet it's been left until His Lordshit's in our midst.'

‘What did you think His Lordshit would do?' asked Brains, as aghast as his daughter. ‘Just say: ‘‘Off you go, Theodore; now you're here you might as well stay!'''

‘We thought maybe you'd think of something, Brains…'

‘Did you now, Alan. And what would be the point of me formulating a plan in London? We've got Theo away from London. It's the Applethwaite escape we need to think of now, and it should have been down to you…'

‘Theo's coming this way,' said Chloe. ‘So who's going to tell him there's no plan?'

‘Hello, everyone. Yes please, Dex,' said Theo, grinning round the group and holding out his empty glass for more champagne. ‘What's this plan that doesn't exist then? As if I can't make an educated guess.'

‘I'm sorry, Theo,' began Louis, still tapping his lip, ‘but as Brains has just pointed out, while we were all being so excited about you coming back to Applethwaite we should actually have been working on a plan to get you away from His Lordshit once and for all…'

‘It's OK, Lou, stop looking so worried! For what it's worth, I haven't been working on a plan either.' Theo started to laugh, and added, ‘I suppose I thought I'd just stay. Refuse to go back to London.'

‘Won't His Lordshit force you to go?' asked Abi.

‘I'm sure he'll try, Cuz, but he's a bit outnumbered by Unsponsored today. Besides, Philip Lorimer's here too, and His Lordshit's anxious not to let Philip know what an evil tyrant he is.' A frown crossed Theo's face briefly as it always did when he mentioned his father, but it soon passed as he grabbed Matilda by the hand and pulled her to his side.

‘I could get trapped in Matty's bedroom. I'm quite used to being trapped in a bedroom, and believe me I wouldn't be complaining if it were Matty's. Once she's got those thighs wrapped round me I won't be escaping in a hurry… Oh, sorry Alan…'

Alan clapped his hand across his eyes in mock horror as everyone else in the group roared with laughter.

‘OK, Theo,' said Alan, taking his hand away from his eyes and starting to smile. ‘I'll let you off that excessively lewd comment about my daughter if you let me play your Les Paul.'

‘My guitar? Oh my word, yes! I need to liberate it from that guesthouse. It's one of the only possessions I care
about; that and a photo of my mother which is safe in Marina's bag at the moment. Oh, and this.' Grinning, Theo briefly pulled the letter from Louis, Abi and Matilda from his pocket. ‘Of course you can play it, Alan; you'll probably get better music out of the poor thing than I do. I'll go and fetch it now, before the wedding breakfast begins.'

Dodging through the throng of wedding guests, Theo made for the door and was about to push it open when Lord William roared his name above the chatter in the bar.

‘THEODORE! Where the bloody hell do you think you're going?'

Turning away from the door reluctantly, Theo answered in the deadpan voice he reserved for his father.

‘I was going to fetch my guitar, Your Lordship.'

‘You'll do no such thing! I want you here where I can keep an eye on you.'

‘Shall I fetch it, Lord William?' asked Adam, appearing by Theo's side.

Chuckling, Lord William replied, ‘You love that bloody guitar, don't you, Adam? Yes, off you go. Theodore, come here!' Smiling gratefully at Adam as he handed over his room key, Theo then walked slowly over to Lord William as the conversation started up once more in the bar.

‘Now then, Theodore,' said Lord William when his son was in front of him. ‘Would you like to explain what's gone wrong between you and Miss Lorimer?'

‘She dumped me,' replied Theo.

‘Why?'

‘Because; well, we weren't really that well suited, were we?'

‘I thought I told you to keep the young lady sweet,' hissed Lord William. ‘It's crucial that I am able to liaise with her father, especially with the Games coming up…'

‘For the last time, Your Lordship, I didn't have a relationship with Cathie to help out your damn Scheme. I had a
relationship with her because I liked her, but it's run its course now and we've split up. Your business with her father is nothing to do with me or Cathie…'

‘I suppose she caught you sniffing round that tart, did she? The poof's daughter? I noticed you helping yourself to a little feel earlier…'

‘Let's get one thing straight, Your Lordship,' said Theo furiously. ‘Matilda is not a tart. She only came to me after she was sure Cathie and I had split…'

At that moment the door opened and Adam walked in, Theo's guitar and amp in his hands. Glad of the excuse to get away from Lord William before he said something he'd regret, Theo took his precious guitar from Adam with a smile of thanks and beckoned Alan over. Not needing to be asked twice, Alan took the Les Paul from Theo's hands and plugged it in to the Dory's Avengers' amplifiers. Making sure it was tuned to perfection, Alan then proceeded to make the guitar sing while the wedding guests relaxed following Theo's tense conversation with his father.