The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection) (2 page)

'Hi Lucy.  I'm Josh.  Josh Snow,' came a voice from behind her.

Lucy closed her eyes.  She knew it was him.  She didn't know how, she just did.  When she opened them again, she found the lady behind the counter smirking. 

Lucy turned slowly.  There he was.  Colgate Man.

The
dropzone was a goldmine for any single woman on the prowl.  Lucy had sussed that immediately - Suzie would have been in her element.  More talent per square foot than her voracious best friend could shake a perfectly manicured fingernail at.  Colgate Man was the cream of the crop.

But Lucy hadn't come here for that.  Entirely the opposite, actually.  She wanted a female instructor, or a bald, fat, middle-aged man.  She didn't want any of him.

She smiled back at Josh nervously, folding her arms across her chest tightly, trying to crush the butterflies. 

'Come on.  Let's get you kitted out.'

She picked her way through the crowd of folks getting their gear on and dropped her bag on the slatted wooden bench.  Her tongue felt like sandpaper.  She had coffee breath.  She fumbled around for a moment, popping a peppermint into her mouth.

The show-stopping smile was stowed away as Joshua fitted the harness.  His brow was clenched in concentration, his fingers working adeptly.  Lucy felt awkward, watching him kneeling in front of her, fiddling with the fastenings and straps; dressing her, like a child.  The harness came across her chest; around the tops of her thighs - all the most intimate places.  Joshua was very professional, he'd obviously done it thousands of times.  If he felt uncomfortable, he wasn't showing it.  She knew he was taking care not to touch her. 

He made her put on one of those hideous rubber hats, slipping her goggles over the top.

'How does that feel?' he asked. 

She caught her reflection in the safety glass door.

'Honestly?' said Lucy.  'Ridiculous.  I look like a
Tellytubby.'

Josh laughed for a moment then quirked his brow.

'What's that in your mouth, Miss Simkins?'

His stare was smouldering.  Lucy looked down at the ground.

'Peppermint,' she mumbled, rolling it over her tongue.

She saw his fingers under her chin.

'Spit it out.'

She glanced up at him, startled; embarrassed. 

'You're holding the lift up,' he warned.  'Everyone's waiting.'

The peppermint popped into his palm. 

Josh smirked down at her for a moment.  He gently closed her mouth with the back of his thumb.  He held the seemingly innocuous piece of confectionary at arm's length between his thumb and forefinger, examining the sticky, white mint. 

'Do you know how dangerous this could be at 15,000 feet?'

He threw it up in the air.  As if from nowhere, the Chow Chow launched up, catching it with a loud snap.

'Oh God!' Lucy breathed, anxiously following Josh out of the hangar, running to keep up.  'I hadn't thought of that...  Would it...  Could it kill them?'

She remembered Martin warning them in training, they weren't allowed to take anything with them.  She had a vision of the mint slipping from her mouth, careering towards earth, caving in the roof of a combine harvester.

'Easily,' came Josh's flat response. 

As she fell from the door, the world turned 360
°, then was beneath her again.  There was almost a sucking sensation as she glided from the plane, then... nothing.  It didn't feel like she'd imagined.  It didn't even feel like she was falling.

The rush of the wind was deafening.  She could feel it creasing her cheeks.  But at the same time, it was almost like weightlessness.  She was suspended.  It felt like she was floating in time.

Suddenly, It dawned on her.  She couldn't feel anything; she couldn't feel Josh anymore.  He wasn't pressed against her back - she tried to turn her head.  She couldn't see anyone.  Had the straps come undone? 

At first there was panic.  Then, for one eerie moment, calm.  A strange sensation swept over her.  It was almost as if she didn't care.

Then she felt it - a sharp tap on her shoulder.  Lucy grinned.  He was there all right.  She looked down at the chequered blanket of fields, so far below.  Another tap.

Oh...  Oh right!  Oh shit! 

She unhooked her thumbs from the chest strap, finally remembering the drill, quickly spreading her arms.  Lucy felt the faintest tug.  They seemed to slow a little. 

There was someone else with them in the air.

Stu was smiling.  He looked completely at ease.  Two muscular brown arms came into view from behind her.  Stu's smile broadened as he floated towards them.  She saw the playful glint through his goggles.

Josh's hands reached out.  He was only wearing a t-shirt.  Terminal velocity made his flesh ripple, tanned skin distorting against muscle, sinew and bone.  Lucy watched Josh grasp Stu's ankles, Stu laughing back with a hand gesture: pumping his arm - outstretched forefinger and pinkie.  Lucy grinned. 

They were playing like kids, thousands of feet above earth.  She squealed, but the wind stole the sound.  

Josh let go.  Stu tumbled away from them.  Lucy looked down at the ground.  The patches were x2; so much bigger already.  She felt Josh's hand on her forehead, gently drawing her head back.

Oh...

They started spinning, around and around, an endless expanse of blue whirling around them.  Lucy's laugh bubbled up; they stilled.  She looked out across the cobalt sky; to the brilliant white clouds in the distance, glancing down at the chequered fields; the sparkling sea
.

It hit her like a freight train, tears soon pricking her eyes.  Something unravelled: a ball of warmth in her chest. An explosion: pure euphoria.  It was like every snippet of joy she'd ever felt, wrapped up in a bow, multiplied by a thousand.  It surged through her veins like electricity, pumping from her heart to her head, to her fingers and toes; surging back again, amplifying.  She savoured every second.  They didn't have long.  Lucy knew what was coming. 

It felt like they were shooting upwards.  Lucy could feel him again; she felt heavy in her harness.  The sense of weightlessness had gone.  The roar of the wind died down to a whistle, and then, nothing.  There was an overwhelming sense of silence, but for the parachute, gently flapping above their heads. 

'How was that?' came Joshua's voice. 

It was so quiet.  He sounded miles away.

'Oh my God!' Lucy panted.

'...You didn't like it?'

Her eyes rolled, then settled back on the horizon.  She could feel they were dropping in altitude, but oh so slowly.

'Oh my God!'

'... ... ...You
did
like it?'

Lucy tried to formulate a tangible response.  Her brain was scrambled, her mouth like cotton wool.  She nodded furiously.

'Uh-huh.'

She heard Josh laughing behind her.

'OK, Lucy.  I'm just going to remove your goggles.'

She felt his forefinger and thumb brush her brow and cheek, pulling her goggles down, letting them hang around her neck.  Lucy reached up, quickly dashing her tears on the back of the rough canvass gloves.

'Are you all right?' Joshua asked.

Lucy nodded.

'I'm fine,' she beamed, sniffing.  'It's just...  It's so beautiful.'

'It sure is,' Josh agreed.
  'Look!' 

She followed his finger. 

'That's the bay over there.' 

It glittered back in a royal blue arc. 

She'd looked out at that strip of coast almost every day of her life, but she'd never seen it like this. 

An unwelcome thought popped into her head.

'Can they see us?' she asked anxiously. 

She had a vision of her mum, pegging out the washing, looking up.

'...Huh?'

She looked again.  She could see Berry Head.

'If we can see them, they must be able to see us...'

Josh thought for a moment.

'I guess so...' he agreed.  'With binoculars or a telescope.'

Her mother had neither, thankfully.  Lucy's stomach lurched as she felt the parachute turn.

'And if you look to the left, Madam,' said Josh, in full anorak-tour-guide-mode, 'that's the start of the Bristol Channel.  On a very clear day, you can see all the way to Wales.' 

Lucy smiled, turning her head slowly, trying to take it all in.  Martin told them in training they'd be able to see both the north and south coasts.  She hadn't really believed him - it didn't seem possible - it was a huge expanse.  Looking down now, they were just lines on a map.

'Do you see that building down there?' asked Joshua.  She frowned, tracing his finger to a terracotta speck in the green. 

Lucy nodded. 

'What is it?' she asked. 

It didn't seem very much. 

'Ah,' grinned Josh.  'You're looking at my favourite sight of them all. 
That
, Miss Simkins, is the pub.'

Lucy's laughter quickly faded with the realisation.  Magnification x4 now.  Her heart sank as she saw the grey strip of runway.

'Lucy, you're doing a great job so far.  Would you like to have a go at steering?'

Her head whipped around.  He was still wearing his goggles.  Through the clear
perspex she caught his green eyes; cocked eyebrow. 

'OK...'

'Excellent.  Right then, raise your hands, put them through the loops, but don't do a thing until I say so.  All right?'

'Sure.'

Her stomach fluttered.

I can do this.

She reached out with her right hand, slipping her gloved fingers through the yellow canvass strap, following suit with the left, careful to keep them as still as possible.  She hadn't thought for a minute they'd let her do this.  She swallowed, thinking what might happen if she screwed up.

'When I say so, you're going to pull down by four inches.  You're going to do it slowly, smoothly and gently.  But not until I tell you.  All right?'

All trace of humour had disappeared from his voice.

'Yes,' she said, arms outstretched, hands dead still.

'These are called toggles,' Josh explained.  'We use them to steer with.  This is how we make turns.  If you pull the left toggle, we'll turn left.  If you pull the right, we'll turn right.  With me so far?'

Lucy nodded, suddenly very excited. 

'Yes!'

'You pull down by a four inches, then raise your hand back up.  Do it smoothly and slowly when I tell you to. 

'Don't keep your hand down, or we'll keep turning.  Does that make sense?'

She nodded again.

'Absolutely.'

'OK.  I want you to make a left turn now, Lucy.  Remember, gently does it.'

'Now?'

'Yes, now.'

Lucy pulled the left toggle cautiously.  They turned, just like he'd said.  She felt resistance, her hand pulling back.  She peered up at the toggle, saw his fist clenched above hers. 

Oh...

She wasn't steering at all.

'Very good,' said Josh.  'Now let's try a turn to the right.'

They repeated the process, wheeling around to the right.  She knew he was steering it really.  But it would be her one day - she made up her mind up then and there.

'Good job,' said Josh.  'You can let go now, Lucy.  I've got it.' 

Lucy lowered her hands, lips pursed, brow crinkled. 

'Do you want me to show you some proper turns?' asked Josh.

'OK,' she replied sulkily.

'If you don't like it, tell me to stop.'

'Fine,' she said. 
Whatever.

In a split-second, they were spiralling right, her legs swinging out like they were on a fairground ride, her stomach turning somersaults.

'Whoa!' 

The ground was coming up fast. 

They levelled off, slowing considerably, the rush of air replaced by the gentle flap of the parachute above them.

'Enough?'

'No!' Lucy protested.  'Oh please! Do it again!'

Joshua grinned.

'All right then.  One more.' 

And with that, they went spiralling left, Lucy giggling like a little girl; Josh soon joining her.

They levelled again. 

'I'm just going to loosen your leg straps for landing.'

Oh...

Lucy's heart sank.  She could see the
dropzone below them. 

'OK,' she said reluctantly. 

She felt him fiddling around with the straps on her thighs.

'Thank you, Josh.  That was amazing.'

'You're very welcome,' he told her.  'It was my pleasure.'

She could see every blade of grass; the two catchers waiting for them.