Chapter 21 A LINE IN THE SAND #2
‘Ooh, ground’s getting a bit low,’ said Rosie with a chuckle. ‘Glad I brought some extra cushions. So, who are we betting on today?’
Sandy Balls, or, more properly, the Beach Soccer Tourney, which was how I’d refer to it in my article, was an annual tradition among Summerween visitors.
Everyone who was still in a fairly upright state after two straight weeks of beach bonfires participated, with the grand prize being Rosie’s famous pineapple upside-down cake.
This was currently sitting on a huge trestle table beneath a glass dome jar.
The rest of the table was set up with platters of cheeses, chopped fruit, and dips and bread, with a light chilling spell cast over it all to keep flies and cheese sweat at bay.
Ordinarily, I’d be at the table filling a plate, but my stomach was of a particularly delicate constitution today.
Instead, I peered over at the soccer pitch, using my giant sunglasses as a shield as I snuck a peek at Finn and Noah in turn.
Seemingly unaffected by our late night, Finn was turning cartwheels along the water’s edge as a group of kids cheered him on.
I smiled, marvelling at how Finn always brought lightness to the moment, whatever it was.
Noah, meanwhile, was off to one side, scribbling lightly in his Moleskine sketchpad. He had such a different vibe from Finn. But not in a bad way. More serious, yes, but not aloof or self-important.
Strangely, while Finn pretended not to care what people thought of him, I got the feeling he cared very much – like how right now he was performing for the kids, the cameras, for me.
Noah, meanwhile, seemed to actually be in the moment, not looking in on it.
I watched him sketching away, his pencil working quickly and assuredly, his attention on what he was doing and not on the attention he was being paid.
But then his pencil paused, and he glanced up. Wait. Was he looking at me?
More importantly, giant pair of glasses notwithstanding, could he tell I was looking at him?
I turned my head, sipping at the punch I definitely did not need right now. Wow, it was strong. It was less hair of the dog and more entire coat of the dog.
Josephine’s ring smarted, and I wondered if it was chastising me. I pulled out her diary, trying not to wince as my head pounded.
This is going to be fun, Josephine had written in her elegant prose. Let me know if it devolves into a fist fight.
Why would it do that? I scribbled.
Just speaking from experience. You could just pick, you know. Make this easy on everyone.
I sighed. Do you have any tips on that?
Just don’t do what I did, Josephine replied cryptically.
‘Match is starting, match is starting!’ called Rosie, clapping her hands to get our attention.
The players had split off into two groups – the greens and the purples – and were pulling on bedazzled jerseys courtesy of Keiko’s art campers.
The greens were decorated with leafy motifs, while the purples had starry design elements.
And the odd penguin or whale, because while you could give a group of kids all the art direction in the world, chances were they were going to do their own thing.
‘What about the Tucker boys?’ shouted Lara, hands cupped around her mouth. ‘They’re too hot to bench.’
‘Oh my goddess, Lara.’ I swatted her with my sunglasses. Bad idea. I put them back on immediately. ‘You’re lucky I’m hungover, or I’d actually come after you.’
‘You should be thankful,’ she teased. ‘Although Finn could have at least worn his short shorts for us.’
‘Next time,’ shouted Finn, as Noah scowled behind him.
Lara and I burst out laughing: a whisperwind had apparently carried our conversation in his direction.
‘How about we up the ante?’ he yelled. ‘If my team wins, we get the cake … and I get the girl.’
‘You wouldn’t know what to do with me,’ I called back. I blinked – a cloud had abruptly blocked the sun, casting a shadow across the beach. Noah, standing there with arms folded, glanced up at the sky. I could see the magic crackling off him.
‘A kiss,’ Finn promised. ‘One kiss.’
The shadow deepened, and I glanced up, wondering whether we were about to get a storm. Tiff had her weather app pulled up and was muttering something about pressure systems.
‘Finn,’ chastised Rosie. ‘Leave the poor girl alone.’
‘Go on,’ purred Lara. ‘It’s hardly torture.’ At my amused look, she shouted, ‘She agrees to the terms.’
‘Why are you doing this to me?’ I groaned. I buried my face in my towel, but only for a moment, because Lara prodded me.
‘We have another Tucker contender!’
Noah had stepped up to take his place on the opposing team. I hid a smile at how awkward he looked in his bedazzled jersey.
Rosie raised an eyebrow. ‘Look who’s become a joiner. Sibling rivalry knows no bounds.’
My ring smarted, and I clamped my left hand over it, trying to ignore its magical fizz. Overhead, the clouds darkened to an angry purple, and the beachgoers looked up, murmuring about the possibility of getting rained off.
I frowned. This was a magical storm – another one. And more ominous than those we’d experienced since arriving in Whisperwind Cove. Like the others, it had sprung up when the boys were pitted against each other.
What’s next? wrote Josephine. A tornado?
Did that happen to you? I scrawled.
All I can say is that you’re on borrowed time. Look at your ring.
I glanced down at my ring, which was fizzing away. Hang on – had another of the moonstones started to dull?
‘Look at you taking notes,’ said Rosie. ‘We haven’t even started yet.’
‘Just trying to capture the mood,’ I said uneasily, twirling my pen in my hand.
‘All right, let’s do this before the skies open and our dessert spread gets ruined!’ Mom, who never missed an opportunity to be in charge, blew her whistle.
A few onlookers ran to fetch umbrellas and ponchos from the sundry store – just in case.
‘Let the chaos begin,’ shouted Lara, topping up her punch. ‘Rosie, you’ve outdone yourself with whatever’s in here. The entire bottle shop, by the looks of it.’
‘You’re not far off,’ said Rosie with a giggle. ‘Charlie always made me dilute it, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Sorry, love!’ she called to the sky as she sipped her drink.
I smiled. Closing Josephine’s diary, I turned back to my notepad, trying to focus on the match and not the increasingly angry skies overhead. My fingers tightened around my pen as I prepared to jot down my observations. Ugh, why had I decided that staying up all night drinking was the smart move?
For everyone else lounging on their towels or nibbling their way through the grazing table, the match was just a Summerween staple – an excuse to drink cider and bask in the lingering warmth of summer as it transitioned over to the cooler months.
At worst, they’d get drenched by a storm, although there were probably enough people with magic around that they could ward off the worst of it.
For me, it was higher stakes.
Not only did I have this article to deliver for Eddie, but now I had the added issue of Finn’s bet.
If Finn’s team won, I had to kiss him.
And if Noah’s team won … then what?
Unlike Finn, Noah would never propose a wager where I was the prize. Although, watching him play, I had to say that I didn’t particularly mind the prospect.
Fortunately, the article gave me an excuse to channel my attention elsewhere. This was a relief, because both the players and the audience members were making it their full-time job to whisper and nudge about Finn’s teasing offer.
Although, as the game went on, the whispers focused less on that and more on the sky. It hurt my poor hungover head to stare for too long, but I could see that what had been a few bruised clouds had become a giant scarf of purple draped overhead.
‘Is my hair starting to frizz in the humidity?’ muttered a college kid with voluminous curls, twisting their hair between their fingers. ‘I bought some of that serum from Deep Cuts, but I don’t think it’s working.’
I touched my own hair, making sure that it wasn’t repeating its antics from the other day. No, it was still looking good.
‘Is it safe to carry a beach umbrella in a storm?’ a girl in a striped romper was asking. ‘Wouldn’t it channel lightning? It is made of tree parts.’
‘I’d be more worried about the metal spike,’ her friend replied.
‘I’d be worried about being stabbed with it if I were Finn,’ said the girl in the striped romper. ‘Noah looks like he’s trying to kill him with that ball.’
She was right. Although it was getting harder to see what was going on with the skies getting darker and darker with every kick, it was impossible to ignore the drama on the pitch.
The tension between the Tucker boys was so strong you could just about cut it with one of Mom’s cheese knives – they were battling for the ball with such intensity it was a wonder no bones had been broken. Yet.
Mom blew the whistle to signal the end of the period, and the two teams retreated into small knots, grabbing water from the cups that Lorraine was passing around. Finn and Noah glared at each other for the full three-minute break, and it was a relief when Mom signalled the start of the next period.
Finn’s team was kicking off this time. I bit my lip as Finn squared up against Noah, then kicked off so violently that the sound of it echoed across the beach.
‘Um, is it just me, or is this game getting a bit heated?’ whispered Lara, nodding towards the pitch.
Now Noah was coming in for the ball. There was such violence in his tackle that he almost knocked Finn to the ground.
Sand scattered everywhere as Finn fought for his balance, his face twisted in anger.
Recovering fast, Finn gained control of the ball, kicking it down the pitch so viciously that I was surprised he didn’t pop it. Had he used magic?
‘Don’t get me wrong, Molly, I love this for you,’ said Lara. ‘But … I think it’s going to end with you administering gauze to a broken nose.’