Ethan spluttered an answer something about needing a change, wanting to do something different. It wasn"t the whole truth, just some of it. He didn"t think now was the time to admit that the jobs had bored him to tears.
The man was silent for a moment and Ethan realized he still hadn"t introduced himself. Perhaps it wasn"t Sam? It could be anyone. Who was he talking to?
"Why do you want this job?"
Ethan was silent for a moment, thinking.
"This is a skydiving centre," the man went on. "People only come here if they"ve got a sense of purpose, even if that purpose is simply to jump. I don"t do layabouts or slackers. You want to waste your time, then you leave right now. So, do you have a purpose, Ethan? Well?"
For a few seconds Ethan didn"t know what to say. Then a picture of his dad lying pa.s.sed out on the sofa flashed into his mind along with a reason for being there. It made total sense. "I don"t want to waste my summer," he said at last, almost with relief, as though hearing the words made him realize just how true they were. "And I"m thinking of joining the Royal Marines. I figured working here I"d meet some interesting people, learn some relevant skills..."
The man wrote something down, then looked up again. Ethan could feel his eyes drilling into him like they were searching for something. "Where did you find out about the job?"
"Your website."
The man raised an eyebrow. "You skydive?"
Ethan shook his head. "No. I b.u.mped into someone who does. His Mys.p.a.ce site had a link."
"Johnny?"
Ethan nodded.
"Hmmm..."
Silence.
"When can you start?"
Ethan looked up, surprised. "Pardon?"
"Ignoring the fact that the deadline for applications expired a week ago," said the man, "when can you start? I need someone immediately."
Ethan felt a smile spreading across his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.
"You busy today?"
"No," said Ethan.
"You are now," the man told him. He stood up and offered Ethan his hand once again. "I"m Sam," he said. "I run FreeFall. Welcome aboard."
Unable to find anything to say, Ethan grinned and shook Sam"s hand. Once again he noticed the strength of the grip. But there was something else that struck him. It was the way Sam had said, "Welcome aboard." It was as though he really meant it, like it was one of the most important things he could say to anyone.
"Wait in the cafe and I"ll sort out the paperwork," said Sam.
At last Ethan managed a "Thanks, that"s great."
Sam turned. He wasn"t smiling. "Survive your first week, and I"ll believe you."
Sam wasted no time in getting Ethan known around the centre, introducing him to far too many people for Ethan to remember all their faces, never mind their names. The job, Sam explained, required Ethan to be available across the centre to help out whenever and wherever necessary. And no sooner had he learned the ropes in one area than he was whisked off to another. By the end of the day Ethan had taken bookings, sorted out DVDs of people"s first skydives and static line jumps, guided groups from the hangars to the DZ, watched the training for a tandem skydive, manned the tills in the shop, sold a couple of skydiving rigs, called groups to their jump over the tannoy system, and washed dishes for Nancy, who ran the cafe. Everyone had been friendly from the off, particularly Nancy, who was plump, but wore it proudly, like it was an advert for her food.
It was soon early evening and Ethan was sweeping the yard area in front of the hangar when Sam came over. He stood, arms folded, looking at Ethan.
"Well?"
Ethan stopped sweeping. "It"s cool," he said, and meant it. "It"s an amazing place. Thanks for giving me the job."
"Don"t get all Hollywood on me," said Sam. "No one else applied. I"ll see you tomorrow. Eight o"clock."
That night Ethan drifted off to sleep with his mind full of the dozens of faces, young and old, he"d seen happily throwing themselves out of planes.
Whatever it was about skydiving, about Sam"s freefall centre about Sam about Sam that made them do it, he wanted some of it for himself. that made them do it, he wanted some of it for himself.
He spent the next six hours and eight minutes dreaming of falling through the sky.
CHAPTER 4
"It"s for my birthday," said the middle-aged man at the counter. Ethan was taking bookings at the FreeFall reception. It was early in the morning and people were flooding in to head off into the sky. He wished he was one of them.
Ethan had had a busy few days since taking the job and, with the week drawing to a close, was only now beginning to settle into the place, get a feel for how to do things and for how to not not sound like a total t.i.t when anyone asked him what skydiving was all about. He could now tell people what happened, what the training involved, what the equipment was. Even his mum and his sister had been impressed not just because he had a decent summer job, but because it was something out of the ordinary; something he really enjoyed. sound like a total t.i.t when anyone asked him what skydiving was all about. He could now tell people what happened, what the training involved, what the equipment was. Even his mum and his sister had been impressed not just because he had a decent summer job, but because it was something out of the ordinary; something he really enjoyed.
Ethan looked up and saw that the man"s smile refused to let go of his face. There were three other younger men standing behind him. The guy gestured to them. "They thought it"d be fun to throw their dad out of a plane for his sixtieth."
Ethan smiled as the man handed over a voucher for a tandem skydive, then turned back to his family. As Ethan logged the details into the computer, he listened to the guy chatting with his sons and a well-dressed woman presumably his wife. They were all laughing and joking, as if jumping out of a plane to celebrate a birthday was a normal thing to do.
He typed in the man"s occupation. And paused. "You"re a vicar?"
The man nodded.
During his first few crazy days at FreeFall, Ethan had seen plenty of people from all walks of life sign up to jump out of a plane, but never a man of G.o.d.
The vicar winked at him. "At least I know where I"m headed if something goes wrong."
It was lunch time before Ethan had a break. He sat down on a tired picnic bench and pulled a magazine he"d found in the FreeFall shop out of his pocket. The cover showed a skydiver upside down and smiling.
He flicked through, staring, between mouthfuls of bacon and bread, at the pictures. OK, so he didn"t really understand everything that was in the mag, but he was still fascinated by it. And with all the time he"d spent at FreeFall, he was beginning to wonder whether he could ever find the money to have a go himself.
"I"ve still not made the front cover," came a voice from behind Ethan. He looked round to see Johnny pulling up a chair. He was in his skydiving suit and carrying what looked like a small surfboard.
"Bit far from the sea, aren"t you?" said Ethan.
"I do freestyle," said Johnny. "And let me tell you, surfing through the air on this thing beats doing it on the sea."
"I"ll take your word for it."
Behind Johnny, Ethan saw the minibus pull up, fill up and drive off, taking another group down to the plane that waited just out of sight on the runway.
"I need to get some binoculars," he said as the minibus disappeared. "I want to see what it"s like when people actually leave the plane."
"Only way to really see that is to do it," said Johnny. "How"s the job?"
"Busy," said Ethan, lifting a can of drink to his mouth and taking a swig. "But fun. This morning I had a vicar in to do a tandem. Nuts or what?"
Johnny reached over and ripped a chunk off Ethan"s sandwich. "Takes all sorts," he said, stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. "Speaking of which, what do you do when you"re not here other than the joy that is school work and exam revision?"
"Sod all," said Ethan. "You"ve seen where I live. Jumping off the roof seems like a good idea more often than you"d think."
Johnny laughed. "That bad?"
"Worse."
Johnny didn"t press him, but Ethan continued he couldn"t help himself. "Jo, my sister, she"s all right, and Mum"s your typical mum."
Johnny raised an eyebrow.
"You know... Can"t help feeding you or commenting on what you"re wearing."
Johnny nodded a knowing smile.
"But my dad"s a t.o.s.s.e.r." Ethan"s voice was angry. "The sooner I leave home the better, to be honest. Either that or I kill him."
He fell silent for a moment. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his dad; have him ruin what he was doing now, here, away from the flat. Wasn"t that part of the reason he had come to FreeFall anyway? To get away from his dad to be somewhere he couldn"t be affected by him? So he focused on finishing what was left of his lunch which wasn"t much, thanks to Johnny.
The sound of the plane taking off thrummed through the air. Ethan turned with Johnny to watch it go airborne.
Johnny leaned back in his chair. "Got any plans?"
"How do you mean?" said Ethan.
"You know, travelling or uni or whatever."
Ethan shook his head. "Finishing my A-levels will keep Mum happy, and after that, well, I"ve thought about the Royal Marines."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," said Ethan. "I just can"t stand the idea of an ordinary life in a shop or an office. And I don"t want to end up like my dad. He"s the best reason you could ever meet for mindless violence. Steals from Mum... never has a job for more than a few months... drinks."
"Nice," said Johnny.
"What about you?" asked Ethan. "You"re no longer at school now, so what next?"
"I forget the plans and just get on with living. It"s more fun that way."
Ethan shrugged. "Maybe for you. But I wouldn"t mind at least having some idea of where I"m going."
Johnny laughed. "I figured there was another reason Sam hired you."
"Why"s that then?"
"He just thinks people should have a purpose," said Johnny. "Or be given one."
"He"s quite a scary bloke," said Ethan, thinking back to his interview. "Seems nice enough, but he looks b.l.o.o.d.y hard."
"Ex forces," said Johnny. "And if you let on you"re thinking of joining up, he"ll have you doing push-ups and bleep tests before you know it!"
"Really?" said Ethan.
Johnny nodded, his face almost serious. "And he"s a world-cla.s.s skydiver."
"Does he teach you?"
"Me and a few others," said Johnny. "He wants us to be the best skydiving team there is. He works us hard, doesn"t stand for any messing around, but there"s no one better."
Ethan looked up, trying to see if the plane was over the DZ yet.
"Listen out for a drop in the sound of the plane"s engines," said Johnny, following Ethan"s line of sight. "That means it"s slowing down so people can jump."
Immediately after he spoke, Ethan heard the change in the sound of the plane. A few seconds later, tiny dots dropped into the sky like erratic flies. Straining his eyes, he followed the dots as they grew larger. He soon realized that one of them was actually made up of a number of dots; a group doing a formation dive. The dot exploded. Parachutes burst into life and drifted down like confetti.
"Check these guys out," said Johnny as the four skydivers from the formation came in above them. "They"re swooping."
Ethan didn"t have a chance to ask what swooping was: in quick succession, the skydivers turned into the DZ at an impossible speed. He watched as they sped through the air, only inches from the ground, then pulled into a perfect landing.
As they touched down, he noticed their parachutes; they were the smallest he"d seen more like power kites.
"Cool, eh?" said Johnny, grinning. "A swoop"s a high-speed landing. The control you need is amazing. It"s unbelievably difficult. Which is why I"m the best."
Ethan ignored Johnny"s comment and said, "Those parachutes they just don"t look big enough."
"They"re Raiders," said Johnny. "Small, fast and scary. And the word"s canopy, not parachute. If you"re gonna work here, you may as well sound like you know what you"re talking about."
"You tried one?"
Johnny shook his head. "Sam"s got some on order for us though me and the rest of the team, that is. Want a go?"
Ethan saw the challenge on Johnny"s face. "Yeah, no worries," he said. "I reckon it"s easy. It"s just people like you want to make the rest of us think it"s difficult so you look cool."
"But anyone can can skydive," said Johnny, and Ethan saw a wild spark in his eyes. "And it skydive," said Johnny, and Ethan saw a wild spark in his eyes. "And it is is easy. Just look around you!" easy. Just look around you!"
Ethan did just that. Like every other day he"d been at FreeFall, he was amazed at the variety of people who had all signed up to jump: pensioners, teenagers, mothers... even vicars.