Pep Squad (13 page)

Surprisingly Emily was quite restrained.

‘So how was it?' asked Jess, when Emily didn't volunteer any information.

‘Signora Enigmistica made it look super easy, but in the split second I had the controls we nearly crashed,' said Emily.

‘Really?' said Matt.

‘Of course Signora Enigmistica would never have let that happen, but it was pretty scary,' said Emily.

‘The winner of the South African Go-Karting Constructathon scared of driving a machine?' said Matt.

‘Piloting,' snapped Emily. ‘And this is totally different. For a start, when you build a vehicle you know exactly what its capabilities and weaknesses are. But that helicopter … did you know there are two rotors? The one in the tail stops the chopper from spinning out of control, but it also affects the main rotor, so flying straight is kind of like trying to balance on a basketball. Plus, if something goes wrong with a car, you stop. If something goes wrong with a helicopter, you plunge to your death.'

Jess looked at Emily sideways.

‘You're messing with us,' she said. ‘You loved it.'

‘Yeah, I did,' said Emily, cracking a smile. ‘I didn't want to make you all jealous. It's tricky but it's great. And I get to go up again next weekend.'

‘Rather you than me,' said Matt. ‘Heights aren't my thing.'

‘Really? I never would have guessed from that abseiling exercise,' teased Emily.

Luckily heights didn't pose any problem for Jess. The following afternoon at the
Wizard of Oz
rehearsals, Jess and the other monkeys were sent to the gym, where Signora Enigmistica was waiting for them.

The whole floor was covered in crash mats and a complicated system of pulleys and wires was suspended from the ceiling.

‘We're going to start today with some wire work,' said Signora Enigmistica. ‘It should be familiar to most of you. We'll be using wires in the tornado scene at the start, the flying scenes for the Wicked Witch of the West and her monkeys and for the Tin Man when the witch casts a spell on him.'

Signora Enigmistica held up a wide, padded belt with a carabiner on it.

‘These anchor belts will be sewn into your costumes. The carabiner attaches to the wire and the backstage staff will work the wires to, well, fling you around, I guess. Orla, you'll be the first one to use this in the tornado scene, so why don't you go first?'

While Signora Enigmistica helped Orla, who had the role of Dorothy, into the belt and clipped her onto the wire, Evan, the sophister who was playing the Tin Man, whispered to Jess, ‘One of the Fieldwork Fundamentals you do in freshman year has you wearing a belt like that with a spring-loaded grappling hook attached to it. You have to shoot it to the top of the cliff, then press the
Retract
button and it pulls you up to the top.'

‘Sounds cool,' said Jess as Orla flew over their heads, swirling as though she was in a hurricane.

‘OK, Orla, could you do some freestyle swimming with your arms, like you're reaching for something to grab onto?' said Signora Enigmistica. ‘Good. Now try to straighten from the waist – you're looking a little like a rag doll.'

Jess thought it all looked a bit difficult and was glad that no monkeys were involved in the tornado scene. As she watched the other actors have their turns, Jess got more and more nervous. Finally Signora Enigmistica called her up.

‘Now, for the monkeys the belts are a bit different,' explained Signora Enigmistica as she helped Jess into a harness. ‘These have two wires, one either side of your waist. This should allow you to turn somersaults in the air.'

‘Yay,' said Jess nervously.

‘I know you haven't done any wire work before, so let's start with some simple tugs.'

Signora Enigmistica nodded over to the side where Lieutenant Parry and Herr Klug were working the wires.

‘Ready, Jess?' said Lieutenant Parry, then he pulled on the wire and Jess felt herself hoisted up into the air. She swung back and forth a few times, going higher and lower.

‘How does that feel, Jess?' asked Signora Enigmistica.

‘OK, I guess,' said Jess.

‘Can you try turning a forward somersault?'

Jess was feeling a little light-headed but gave it a go. It was weird not having anything to push herself off.

‘How about backwards?' Signora Enigmistica called.

Jess needed to grab onto the wires to still herself before changing direction. As she spun around, she noticed a new face in the room.

‘Is this her first time on the wires?' Principal Metsen asked Signora Enigmistica.

‘Yes, she's doing really well. They all are,' said Signora Enigmistica. ‘Are you ready to come down now, Jess?'

‘Yes, please,' said Jess, not particularly liking being the centre of attention when she was several metres up in the air.

Lieutenant Parry lowered her to the ground and helped to unhook her. Jess thought she saw him frown slightly as he glanced in the principal's direction, but as soon as she'd noticed it the expression was gone.

‘Well done, Jess,' he said, then beckoned to the group of transition-year cadets. ‘Aidan.'

Jess sat with Lauren while Lieutenant Parry hooked Aidan up and Signora Enigmistica talked him through the same basic moves. Aidan was a natural. Principal Metsen nodded at Signora Enigmistica and left.

After Lauren and the other novices had had a turn each, Signora Enigmistica called Orla and Evan back to practise some more complicated moves.

The rehearsal flew by.

‘That was good work today, everyone,' said Signora Enigmistica. ‘I'll work with Miss Ball on the choreography for your flights, and we should have some really exciting moves for you next time.'

Spring was making a concerted effort to appear some weeks later as the cadets gathered in the foyer to be taken to the secret location of their next Fieldwork Fundamentals class.

Bang on nine o'clock, six jeeps rolled up. Lieutenant Parry poked his head out of the driver's window of the first one.

‘Jess, Matt, Ben and Emily, with me.'

The four of them scrambled into the jeep, with Emily taking shotgun.

‘Where are we going?' asked Matt.

‘Wouldn't you like to know?' said Lieutenant Parry.

‘That's why I asked,' muttered Matt under his breath.

They headed south, following the coast road.

‘Any of you ride on a board before?' Lieutenant Parry asked after a while.

‘Like hoverboarding?' asked Ben excitedly.

‘Noooo,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘Like snowboarding or surfing?'

‘We went snowboarding last season,' said Matt.

‘I wasn't very good at it, though,' admitted Ben.

‘How about you, Emily? Ever indulged in any non-motorised sports?'

‘I've done some surfing,' said Emily.

‘Jess? Any board experience?'

‘I used to skateboard a bit before I got into free running,' said Jess.

‘Great,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘We'll go a bit further on then.'

‘Further on where?' asked Emily.

‘Now that would be telling and by now you know that's not my style.'

Lieutenant Parry took a turn-off that put them on a dirt track towards the coast. The track was quite steep and came to an end at the top of a cliff. Lieutenant Parry parked the car and unbuckled his seat belt.

‘OK. Everybody out,' he said, leaping out of the car and going to the boot. By the time the cadets had scrambled out of their seats he was sorting through some pairs of chunky lace-up boots.

‘OK. Matt,' he said, throwing a pair on the ground, ‘these are yours. Ben … Jess … Emily.'

‘Snowboarding boots?' said Matt picking up his pair. ‘What are we supposed to do with these?'

‘Put 'em on your feet and clip 'em onto these,' said Lieutenant Parry, pulling out some boards. They were about a metre and a half long and a shoe-length wide. They curved in towards the middle and up slightly at each end. There was what looked like a cross between a boot and a sandal spaced one third of the way in from each end. ‘Watch the edges, they're sharp,' warned the lieutenant.

‘But there's no snow,' objected Matt.

‘No, but there's lots of sand,' said Lieutenant Parry, pointing over the ridge.

The other side of the ridge was a twenty-metre-high sand dune with a roughly ten-degree slope heading down to the beach below. The tide was coming in and the waves were large but breaking cleanly.

‘Do the boards float too? That surf's cranking,' said Emily.

‘Unfortunately not,' laughed Lieutenant Parry. ‘But if you speak to Herr Klug about it he might get the guys at P.E.P. Labs to work on a surfboard/duneboard hybrid.'

‘I think I know the answer to this, but once we get down how do we get back up?' asked Ben.

‘You've got legs, right?' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘Speaking of legs, can I get you to all line up next to each other, facing away from me?'

The cadets lined up. Lieutenant Parry walked up behind them and pushed Jess so hard in the back that she fell forward.

‘Hey!' she yelled.

‘What the …?' yelled Emily as she, too, was shoved forward.

‘Oof,' panted Ben.

‘Hey, man,' said Matt.

‘Great, no goofies here,' said Lieutenant Parry.

‘Care to speak English?' asked Jess.

‘Goofy means right foot forward. You all stepped forward with your left foot to steady yourselves, which means you're regular foot, so you go down the mountain with your left foot forward on the board. Right,' Lieutenant Parry continued, pulling a screwdriver from his pocket, ‘we need to set your bindings. Jess, step on here and slide your feet roughly shoulder width apart.'

Jess slid her boots into the bindings on the board. Lieutenant Parry moved the bindings in and out and twisted them a bit.

‘Feel all right?' he asked.

‘I guess,' said Jess.

‘It'll probably feel a bit strange to start with. Unlike in skateboarding, both feet are fastened to the board,' said Lieutenant Parry, tightening Jess's bindings in place with the screwdriver. ‘Emily, you're up.'

When Lieutenant Parry had adjusted all the cadets' bindings, he clipped his own duneboard on.

‘Quick lesson. Stand with your knees slightly bent, arms out to the sides, shoulders relaxed like this. To turn,
don't
throw your arms around – you'll just fall over. To go right, dig your toes into the sand. Kind of like sticking an oar in the water when you're rowing a boat. To turn left, dig your heels in.

‘The board will start moving if the base is flat on the sand and reach maximum speed when it is facing straight downhill, so you might want to avoid that until you get your confidence up. Never let your right foot go forward, because you'll lose control and end up eating sand.

‘To stop, just dig your heels or your toes in like you're turning, but dig in really hard. Ready? Let's do it!'

Lieutenant Parry pointed his board straight down the slope and took off, carving left and right effortlessly. Matt followed suit, gaining ground on him before the front of his board caught in an uneven patch of sand and he went head over heels three times before coming to a halt midway down the dune.

‘What a
doos
,' laughed Emily, following cautiously at first, then gaining speed and confidence before swerving sharply in front of Matt, purposely spraying him with sand.

‘Hmm,' said Jess nervously.

‘I can teach you the way I learned snowboarding,' offered Ben, bouncing over to Jess on his board. ‘But I have to warn you, I'm not very good.'

‘You'll be better than me,' said Jess.

‘I'll go down the slope backwards. Now you take my hands,' said Ben nervously, ‘and when I say brake, dig your heels right in. Ready?'

‘Ready,' said Jess.

She took hold of Ben's hands. They were quite sweaty.

‘Stand flat on your feet,' said Ben.

Jess did as she was told, rocking the board slightly forward, and the pair of them started moving down the dune.

‘How's that feel?' asked Ben.

‘OK …' said Jess nervously.

‘Wanna stop?' asked Ben.

‘Yes, please,' said Jess.

‘Then dig your heels in.'

Jess dug her heels into the sand hard. She stopped and was stationary for about half a second before falling backwards and landing on her bum.

‘That's one way of stopping,' laughed Ben.

‘Thanks for instilling me with confidence,' said Jess.

‘Great. Now let's try it again …'

Slowly, and after several more tumbles (mostly as she tried to stop), Jess and Ben made it down the slope.

‘Ready for another run?' Lieutenant Parry asked as soon as they got to the bottom.

‘Sure!' said Matt. ‘And a bit of advice for you all – if you land on your face, keep your mouth closed. The sand may look clean and white but it tastes disgusting.'

The cadets unbuckled their boards and carried them back up to the top of the dune.

After a few more runs with Ben, Jess was getting the hang of it and actually helping
him
out.

‘OK,' said Lieutenant Parry when they had all returned to the top of the dune again. ‘Time trials.'

The cadets lined up along the ridge.

‘On your marks,' said Lieutenant Parry, setting the timer on his watch, ‘get set,' he held his arms up, ‘go!' he said, dropping his arms.

Matt and Emily shot off down the hill, elbowing each other. Jess went wide to the right and Ben went out left. Emily's elbow shot out and Matt spun around before falling backwards down the slope. He skidded to a stop with his board pointing up the hill, then flicked his feet into the air, spun on his back and flipped himself upright in one fluid motion. He pointed his board down the slope and zoomed off again after Emily.

Meanwhile, Jess was carving a steady path down the hill without any tumbles, when she sensed a figure behind her. She didn't dare turn her head to check, fearing she'd fall. As the figure got closer, Jess could hear their board sliding over the sand. She bent her knees a bit deeper and leant forward, keeping her centre of gravity low so she could go faster. Just in front of her Matt had ploughed into Emily and they were both down. If she could hold Ben off, she'd win.

Jess carved left and she heard a shout. Sand sprayed over her back, followed by the sound of a body hitting the sand. The dune was a lot less steep now, and Jess had to point her board straight down to maintain her speed, slowing down under gravity as she met the wet sand of the beach.

She turned around to see Matt and Emily clambering to their feet and Ben cruising to a slow stop way over to the left side of the dune.

Lieutenant Parry was sitting on the dune, clapping, a few metres from where Jess had stopped.

‘Were you trying to cut me off?' he said.

‘Was that you? I thought it was Ben,' said Jess.

‘Nice riding.'

Emily and Matt skidded to a stop between them.

‘And wooden-spoon honours go to Matt and Emily. This was supposed to be a straight time trial, not snowboard cross,' Lieutenant Parry said.

‘What can I say? I like to wrestle,' said Matt.

‘Good work, everyone. You're looking pooped.'

‘I'm knackered,' said Ben, dropping his board and falling on the sand.

‘Well, the good news is that's all the riding for today,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘The bad news is you've got one last hike up the hill. See you at the top.'

Lieutenant Parry balanced his board on one shoulder and started jogging up the dune.

‘Show off,' said Emily.

The boys slung their boards over their shoulders and headed after Lieutenant Parry. Jess noticed Emily was limping.

‘Are you OK, Em?'

‘It's probably nothing. I slammed down on my knee pretty hard in that second crash with Matt. I'll be fine if I take it slow.'

Jess walked up the hill slowly with Emily, noticing her wince every now and again.

‘I think you should go to the infirmary when we get back. Let me help you,' she said, taking Emily's board from her and letting her friend lean on her.

Back at the abbey, Signora Enigmistica was on nursing duty.

‘This looks quite nasty,' she said, gently prodding Emily's knee and trying to bend it back and forth. ‘You may have a bruised patella or torn ligament. We'll have to take you to the local hospital to be sure.'

‘You mean there isn't a magic cream that can make it better overnight?' said Emily.

Signora Enigmistica shook her head.

‘But look on the bright side: it's Sunday tomorrow so you won't miss any classes.'

Jess waved goodbye to Emily as Signora Enigmistica drove her out of the school grounds. Just as the car disappeared down the drive, another jeep pulled up. Krivan, Svetlana, Lauren and Aidan got out.

‘Hey, Jess. What's up?' asked Aidan.

‘Emily has to go to hospital for an X-ray,' said Jess.

‘What happened?'

‘She and Matt were going a bit hard on their last run.'

‘Sounds nasty.' Aidan paused for a moment and then said, ‘This'll probably sound a bit weird, but what are you doing now?'

‘You mean other than enjoying the peace and quiet of my roommate-free dorm?' said Jess.

‘Yeah, sorry, of course.'

‘Why? Did you have something else in mind?'

‘I'm really struggling with Arabic and, since you're not in the beginner's class, I was hoping that maybe if I helped you with Chinese you could help me with–'

‘What's wrong with my Chinese?' Jess attempted to say in Chinese.

Aidan looked really confused.

‘Why would a hamburger be wearing a dress?' he asked.

‘Huh?' said Jess.

‘That's what you just said, in Chinese,' said Aidan.

‘Oh man, I'm hopeless,' said Jess, wishing the ground would just swallow her up. ‘Yes, yes, of course I'll help you with your Arabic, although I think my Chinese is beyond hope.'

‘Look at it this way, it can't possibly get any worse,' said Aidan.

‘And to think I was going to share my secret stash of sweets with you,' said Jess in mock horror.

‘You think you're the only one with a secret stash of sweets?' laughed Aidan.

‘Well, no, because I have to share with Emily, and we only have one because we stole it from Matt and Ben, so that's at least three other people–'

‘Jess, relax. I'll bring the sweets,' said Aidan, looking up at the sky. ‘It's a nice day. Want to meet outside somewhere?'

‘Wouldn't the library be more conducive to study?' asked Jess.

‘You're not supposed to talk or eat in the library, remember?'

‘Oh, right,' said Jess.

‘There's never anyone out on the front lawn. No one to eavesdrop,' said Aidan.

‘What are you implying about my Chinese?' said Jess.

‘Actually, its more about my Arabic. It's a lot worse than your Chinese,' said Aidan.

‘I doubt that,' said Jess. ‘The front lawn would be great.'

‘See you there after lunch.'

Jess went off to shower. Sand had managed to work its way into crevices she didn't even know she had.

‘Hey, Jess, got any plans for after lunch?' Matt asked as they sat in the refectory.

‘As a matter of fact, I do. Why?'

Ben and Matt looked conspiratorially at each other.

‘We were kind of hoping you might have a go at our latest computer game,' said Ben.