Читать книгу Brigadier and the Spirit Pony - Marga Jonker - Страница 6

The plan

The rhythmic clatter of the Land Rover’s diesel engine was soothing. The N2 highway stretched out in front of them in the easterly direction of the Garden Route. With her earphones in and her iPod on, Gabi leant at a bit of an angle against the car door, which allowed her to keep an eye on Briggs in the trailer.

Alex was tapping away on her cellphone, as usual. The thick black eyeliner she’d applied made her look older, and made her blue eyes bigger. Sunlight reflected off the fake diamond stud she’d stuck to the side of her nose – she was still devising a plan for getting a real piercing, because she had to get it past her mom.

Gabi sighed and ran her fingers through her long brown ponytail. Her eyes were tired from staring at the horsebox. She’d been very nervous about seeing Ben again, and hadn’t slept well the night before. To her, he’d always been a bit like Father Christmas – someone vague and unreal, occasionally taking shape on postcards and in photographs. Christmas presents and pretty birthday cards in the post had always been enough for her. Ten years ago, just after the divorce had gone through, he’d got a job offer in London. Since she was four, she’d only seen him once a year when he’d come home and they’d had a meal together at the Spur. That had been the sum total of their relationship. Until now.

Brigadier was peering out from the side of the horsebox. He pricked up his ears every now and then, but otherwise he seemed quite relaxed. Gabi sighed again, wondering how Alex was feeling. At least she looked happier than she had that morning.

“Mom left Bio-daddy because he wasn’t all neat and organised like her,” Alex had told Gabi behind the closed door of her bedroom a few weeks earlier.

Wanting to escape from yet another fight between her mom and sister about the state of Alex’s room, Gabi had been listening to music on her earphones and reading a book about American mustangs when her sister had snuck in.

“I mean, can you actually believe someone would leave their husband because he’s not Mr Tidy?! Seriously?! He told me in his last email. I mean, he didn’t actually say that, but it’s what he implied.”

Alex had flopped down onto the carpet next to Gabi’s bed, her face tortured. Dramatically, she’d pushed her hands to her chest like someone having an asthma attack – Alex hadn’t been awarded school colours for drama two years in a row for nothing.

“And I’d love to know what Mom said in divorce court.” Alex had stretched out her arms, the palms of her hands turned upward in a pleading gesture. “Your Honour, this man’s clothes are always on the floor.” She’d made her voice quiver with emotion. “Would you believe, Your Honour, that he doesn’t wash the bath, and that he leaves his towel in a damp heap. Yes, Your Honour, yes, it’s a disgrace. Right there on the floor – and sometimes, yes, sometimes, it’s even draped over the open door of his cupboard !” Alex had rounded off this performance with a racking sob.

Tired of her sister’s histrionics, Gabi had merely shrugged and tried to carry on reading.

“I wish she would leave me!” Alex’s rant clearly hadn’t been over. “I once watched a movie where the kids divorced their parents, and I am sooo over Mom – she’s is so old-fashioned and closed-minded.” After another dramatic pause, she continued: “‘My child, street-punk clothes are so unfeminine! You’re catching the attention of the wrong kind of boy!’ And my personal favourite: ‘Jinx is different, isn’t he? Does he take part in any sport?’”

“Maybe Mom thinks you just need a good father figure. Maybe Marcus is planning to come live with us permanently and –”

“Freakin’ hell, Gabi,” Alex had interrupted her, “if that fossil moves in here, I’ll slash my wrists. No, my only hope is Bio-Daddy. I’m pretty sure I take after him!” Alex had yanked the book from Gabi’s hand, snapped it closed and turned up the music on Gabi’s iPod. Then, with a quivering lower lip and her hands pressed to her heart, she’d whispered: “I have Ben’s blood running in my veins, I just know it. I know how liberated he must have felt when he escaped from this neatness … regime. After he’d been tortured day in and day out by the neat police. I get it. And I feel the same way.” The pain on Alex’s face had been quite convincing. She’d continued in a whisper, proving that she could sound like an army general even when speaking softly: “And, Gabi, you and I are going to spend this coming holiday with him. And you will tell Mom that you want to go.”

“What? No! I’m not going anywhere without Briggs!” Gabi had protested.

“Yes, I know you won’t go anywhere without your beloved Brigadier, and I am one step ahead of you.” Alex’s blue eyes had sparkled like disco lights. “Ben wants to get to know you better. He no longer wants to see us once a year over a Spur burger. He’s suggested taking both of us plus Briggs away for the April holiday. He’s busy arranging everything with Mom right now.”

“Mom will never say yes,” Gabi had said weakly.

“She can’t say no. He’s our biological father, and according to the terms of the divorce, he has access to his children. She’s not allowed to refuse.” Alex had announced this with a satisfied smile. “And anyway, he’s dutifully been paying for all our extras all these years.”

“Extras?”

“I’m talking about the maintenance he pays Mom every month. Do you really think she’d pay for drama and riding from her own pocket ?”