"Wow," says Suze. "You have changed. Sorry," she adds sheepishly, as she sees my face.
Honestly, what is she like? I would always have taken the marriage.
I"m . . . pretty sure I would have.
"So what will you do with it?" asks Jess. "Sell it?"
"You could donate it to a museum!" Suze says excitedly. "It could be "From the collection of Rebecca Brandon." "
"I"ve got a better idea," I say. "It can be star prize of the raffle this afternoon." I grin at them. "And we"ll rig it so Kelly wins."
By one o"clock the house is full of people. Everyone has gathered here for a final pep talk, and the atmosphere is just amazing. Jess and I are handing out bowls of vegetable soup, and Suze is showing all her painted banners to Robin, and everywhere there"s a buzz of conversation and laughter.
G.o.d, why have I never been on a protest before? It"s just the best thing ever!
"Isn"t it exciting!" says Kelly, coming up with a bowl of soup in her hand. She"s wearing camouflage combat pants and a T-shirt with hands off our land written on it in marker pen.
"It"s great!" I beam at her. "So . . . have you bought a raffle ticket for later?"
"Yes, of course! I"ve bought ten!"
"Have this one too," I say casually, handing her number 501. "I"ve got a good feeling about it."
"Oh, right!" She tucks the ticket into her pants pocket. "Thanks, Becky!"
I smile and sip my soup. "How"s the shop looking?"
"It"s fantastic!" Her eyes shine. "We"ve got helium balloons everywhere, and ribbons, and sparkling wine, and loads of free gifts all ready. . . ."
"It"s going to be a wonderful party. Don"t you think, Jess?" I add, as she walks by with a saucepan of soup. "The party in Jim"s shop."
"Oh," she says. "I suppose so." She gives a grudging, almost disapproving shrug, and ladles more soup into Kelly"s bowl.
Like she"s really fooling me with that act.
I mean, come on. I"m her sister.
"So . . . it"s amazing that we got a donation to fund the party," I remark to Kelly. "Don"t you think?"
"It"s incredible!" says Kelly. "A thousand pounds out of nowhere! We couldn"t believe it!"
"Amazing," says Jess with a small frown.
"Funny that the donor wants to stay anonymous," I add, taking a spoonful of soup. "Robin said they were quite firm about it."
"Yes." The back of Jess"s neck is reddening a little. "I heard."
"You"d think they"d want some credit," says Kelly, wide-eyed. "You know, for being so generous!"
"I agree. You"d think they would." I pause, then add innocently, "What do you think, Jess?"
"I suppose," she replies, roughly stacking bowls on a tray. "I wouldn"t know."
"I guess not." I hide a smile. "Great soup."
"Everyone!" Jim bangs on a table and the hubbub dies down. "Just to remind you. Our Village Shop party begins at five, right after the protest. Everyone"s welcome to come along and spend as much as they can. Hear that, Edie?"
Edie brandishes her purse back at him, and the room erupts in laughter.
"Anyone spends more than twenty pounds gets a free gift," adds Jim. "And everyone gets a free drink."
"Now you"re talking!" shouts the gray-haired man, and there"s another huge laugh.
"Bex?" comes Suze"s voice in my ear. "Phone for you. It"s Luke."
I hurry into the kitchen, still elated, and seize the receiver.
"Luke!" I say. "Hi! Where are you? At the airport?"
"Nope, I"m already in the car."
"That"s great!" I cannot wait to see him. "How soon can you be here? There"s loads going on! I"ll give you directions to exactly where we"ll be-"
His voice cuts me off. "Becky . . . I"m afraid there"s a hitch. I don"t know how to tell you this . . . but I can"t make it to you until much later."
"What? But . . . why? You"ve been away all week! I haven"t seen you!"
"I know. I"m livid. But something"s come up." He exhales sharply. "There"s a PR crisis with the Arcodas Group. Normally I"d leave it to Gary and the team, but this is a new client. It"s the first problem, and I"m going to have to deal with it myself."
"Right." My whole body is drooping in disappointment. "I understand."
"But I"ve had an idea." He hesitates. "Becky, come and join me."
"What?" I gape at the phone.
"Come now. I"ll send a car. I"ve missed you so much."
"Me too." I feel a pang. "I"ve so missed you."
"But it"s not just that." He hesitates. "I"ve spoken to Gary . . . and we"re both agreed. We"d love your input on this. We could do with a few bright ideas. What do you think?"
I stare at the phone, transfixed with longing. This is exactly what I always wanted! Husband and wife helping each other. Brainstorming together. A real, proper partnership.
But I can"t let Jess down. Not now.
"Luke, I can"t come." I bite my lip. "I really want to, but I"ve got something planned for today. I promised Jess. And . . . some others. I can"t just abandon them. I"m sorry."
"Fair enough," says Luke, sounding rueful. "My fault for not hiring you when I had the chance. Well . . . I"ll see you this evening." He sighs. "I don"t know what time I"ll be finished, but I"ll call when I have an idea."
"You poor thing," I say sympathetically. "I hope it all goes well. I"ll be there in spirit. Where will you be?"
"Well, that"s about the one positive thing. I"ll be up in the North. Fairly near where you are, in fact."
"Oh, right," I say, with interest. "So . . . what"s the crisis? Another fat-cat businessman cooking the books?"
"Worse," Luke says grimly. "Some environmental b.l.o.o.d.y protest group which has sprung up out of nowhere."
"An environmental group?" I say in amazement. "You"re kidding! That is such a coincidence, because-"
Abruptly I stop. My face suddenly feels hot and p.r.i.c.kly.
It couldn"t be . . .
No. Don"t be ridiculous. There must be millions of protests every day, all over the country- "Whoever"s taken control is clearly pretty media savvy," Luke says. "There"s a rally this afternoon; they"ve had press coverage; TV news is interested. . . ." He laughs. "Get this, Becky. They"re protesting against a shopping center."
The room seems to swim. I clutch the phone, trying to stay calm.
It can"t be the same thing. It can"t. We"re not protesting against the Arcodas Group. I know we"re not. We"re protesting against Maybell Shopping Centers.
Luke interrupts my thoughts. "Sweetheart, I have to go. Gary"s on the other line, waiting to brief me. But I"ll see you later. Oh, and have fun doing whatever you"re doing with Jess."
"I"ll . . . try," I manage.
As I walk back into the sitting room, my heart is beating rather fast. Everyone is sitting in an attentive semicircle watching Robin, who"s holding up a big diagram of two stick figures, labeled RESISTING POLICE ARREST.
"The groin area is particularly useful in this respect. . . ." he"s saying as I walk in. "Everything OK, Becky?"
"Absolutely!" I say, my voice two notches higher than usual. "Just one quick question. We are protesting against Maybell Shopping Centers?"
"That"s right."
"So this has nothing to do with the Arcodas Group."
"Well . . . yeah." He looks at me in surprise. "Maybell"s owned by the Arcodas Group. You knew that, didn"t you?"
I open my mouth, but I can"t quite produce a reply. In fact, I"m feeling a bit faint. I have just orchestrated a huge media campaign against Luke"s newest, most important client. Me. His wife.
"Evil b.a.s.t.a.r.ds." Robin looks around the room. "Guess what I heard today! They"re getting in their PR company to "deal" with us. Some big-shot firm from London. They"re flying the chief guy back from holiday especially, I heard."
Oh G.o.d. I cannot cope. What am I going to do? What?
I have to pull out. Yes. I have to tell everyone right now that I"m pulling out and disa.s.sociate myself from the whole thing.
"They think we"re small fry." Robin"s eyes are shining intensely. "They think we have no resources. But we have our pa.s.sion. We have our beliefs. And most of all"-he turns to me-"we have Becky!"
"What?" I jump in panic as everyone turns toward me and starts clapping. "No! Please. Really. I"ve . . . nothing to do with it."
"Don"t be modest!" exclaims Robin. "You"ve transformed the protest! If it weren"t for you, none of this would be happening!"
"Don"t say that!" I say, rattled. "I mean . . . I just want to take a backseat. In fact . . . there"s something I need to say. . . ."
Come on. Just tell them.
I catch Jim"s warm gaze and look away. This is hard.
"Wait," comes a trembling voice behind me, and I look round in surprise, to see Jess advancing toward me. "Before you speak . . . I"d like to say something."
As she comes and stands beside me, the room falls silent in expectation. Jess lifts her chin and faces the crowd squarely.
"A lot of you heard me the other night, telling Becky that we weren"t sisters. A lot of you heard me . . . disown her. Well, it turns out we are sisters." She pauses and the color rises in her cheeks. "But even if we weren"t . . . even if we weren"t"-she looks round the room, a little fiercely-"I would be honored to know Becky and to count her as a friend."
"Hear, hear!" Jim cries hoa.r.s.ely.
"And going on this march today . . . with all of you . . . and my sister . . ." Jess puts an arm through mine. "It"s one of the proudest moments of my life."
The room is utterly silent.
"I"m sorry, Becky." Jess turns to me. "What did you want to say?"
"I . . . um . . . well," I say weakly. "I was just going to say . . . let"s smash "em."
Twenty-five.
"LEAVE OUR LAND alone!" yells Robin through his loudspeaker.
"Out, out, out!" we all yell back, and I give Jess an exhilarated thumbs-up. If ever I had any doubts about whether I was doing the right thing, they"ve totally vanished. You just have to look around. You just have to see what would be ruined. We"re standing on Piper"s Hill, and it"s the most stunningly beautiful place I"ve ever been. There"s a wood at the top, and wildflowers nestling in the gra.s.s, and I"ve already seen about six b.u.t.terflies. I don"t care if they"re Luke"s clients or not. How could they build a shopping center on this? Especially a rubbish one with no s.p.a.ce.NK!
"Leave our land alone!"