Sea Change by Francis Rowan Page B

one day? Might make me learn how to put up with him and his
ugly friend." Greg gestured towards Simon. "Leave 'em alone,
like."
    "No way Sal,"
Simon said. "That's blackmail. I'll—"
    "Leave it, Si,"
she said. "Maybe. I'll think about it."
    "Sal!" Simon
said, "No way—"
    Greg took a
step forward, and Sal raised her hand. "I said I'd think about it.
So I'll think about it. Now I want to get home, out of the
rain."
    Greg nodded,
then held his hand out, gesturing down the beach, you first. As she
clambered down, he walked past Simon and John, smiling like the
Cheshire Cat. Then, for a moment, just before Sal reached the beach
and turned round, the smile dropped from his face and he pointed a
stubby finger at each of them in turn, right in their faces.
    "I'll be seeing
you around," he said, in a low voice, and then he walked off along
the beach, away in the other direction from the village, brushing
close past Sal even though there was plenty of room to walk round
her. The boys stood in the cave mouth and watched him swagger along
the beach, and then they climbed down and met Sal.
    "Sal, you
can't. I don't care how much hassle he gives me, you just
can't."
    "Leave it,
Simon."
    "I mean it!"
The boy was at that point between anger and tears. "Don't you dare,
Sal. Not him."
    "I said leave
it!" Now Sal was as angry as Simon, and John just wished that he
were somewhere else, not in the middle of a row between brother and
sister. Then Sal looked at him, remembered he was there, and Simon
followed her gaze and then looked down at the ground,
embarrassed.
    "Don't worry,"
Sal said, and started to pick her way back through the boulders,
heading towards the village. John and Simon stood there for a
moment, rain splashing off their faces. John felt that he ought to
say something, but he could not think what. Simon looked as if he
were thinking the same thing.
    "Ugly one,
him," John said. "Reckon he'd frighten the Hob on a dark night,"
and Simon grinned and it broke the tension, and they went trooping
off after Sal, soaked to the skin. They didn't say much on the way
back to the village, just walked on together with heads bowed so
that the rain did not hit them full on their faces, but all the
same it soaked their hair and it ran cold fingers down the backs of
their necks and dripped off noses and rattled and spattered all
around them on the rocks.
    When they
reached the village they came to a halt.
    "You around in
the next couple of days?" Simon asked.
    "Someone’s
calling you," Sal interrupted.
    "Me?" Simon
said.
    "No, John. Did
you not hear it? Someone calling for you."
    "Oh, probably
my sister. She must have seen us, shouted."
    "Well where is
she then?" Simon said. "Thought she’d be in the shop."
    "No, wasn’t
your sister," Sal said. "Was a man’s voice. Didn’t recognise it,
hard to hear properly, sounded kind of distant."
    "I don’t know
any men here," John said, and his voice sounded thin and
unconvincing. He blinked twice, took a breath, trying not to let
Laura or Simon see that he was shaken up.
    "Must have been
calling another John then."
    "Was probably
just a seagull," Simon said, standing up tall so that he could pat
his sister on the head.
    "Better get
off," John said. "Head back to my sister's or she'll be thinking
that I've fallen off a cliff or something."
    "Yeah, townie
like you, surprised you haven't."
    "If he did,
you'd probably fall off a second after him," Sal said.
    "Pfft, I'm a
natural, amazing sense of balance," Simon said. "Anyway yeah, we'll
get back to ours and get dry and have something to eat. You around
in the next couple of days?"
    "Think so.
Nothing planned. Laura said she was going to take me through to
Whitby for a day, sometime, but I dunno when."
    "Wow, see the
sights." Simon rolled his eyes.
    "Whitby's
cool," Sal said. "You enjoy it and don't listen to him."
    "S'all right,"
Simon said. "But it is only Whitby, it's not like it's London or
anything."
    "Like you'd
know Si, you've never been