Ondine (16 page)

Hey? Had she missed a segue? One moment he was talking about staying, then he talked about leaving.
Make up your mind!

Then he seriously overstepped the mark and took Ondine's hands completely in his. ‘Do me a favour and keep away from Lord Vincent.'

Fury took hold and her breath hitched. She pulled her hands away and felt her palms grow itchy. Oh, how she wanted to slap his smug face! It was bad enough that he was so beautiful, that he said such lovely things before ruining it all.

‘You sound just like Da.'

‘I want you to be happy, and I don't think Lord Vincent would make you happy.'

‘So I'm not even allowed to have some fun?' she blurted out.

Hamish looked into her eyes and a lopsided grin changed his face from serious to gleeful. ‘Aye, a girl like you should have some fun.'

The reprieve gave Ondine a chance to collect herself. Anyone else would have patronised her, treated her like a child, but not Hamish. Guilt stabbed at her heart. She owed him the same courtesy.

‘Hamish?' She hesitated, not knowing what to say next. It was right that he couldn't stay indefinitely. Her parents were pretty generous, coping with everything that had transpired, but generosity has its limits.

He leant closer, his eyes focused on her lips. Closer. Closer, his lips descended towards hers. His eyes closed, hers followed suit, her heart hammering with anticipation and belly turning flip-flops as she waited for his lips to touch hers.

To her utter dismay, his lips touched her cheek instead.

‘Jupiter's moons!' she exclaimed. If this was to be their first kiss (hopefully of many), she wanted it to be
a good one. Seizing her chance, she held Hamish's face in her hands and pressed her lips directly to his.

An arrow-fast jolt of lust shot through Ondine and her breath hitched in her throat. His lips felt so warm and inviting, the pressure not much more than chaste but the contact made her whole body buzz and fizz. Time locked around the two of them, extending the moment, filling her heart with a strange mixture of elation and pride. She'd kissed him, really kissed him, and hadn't botched it up.

Hamish pulled back, his shining eyes locked with hers. The smile he gave her sent warm flurries all around her.

‘Ye shouldnae done that,' he said, sounding like he, too, was short of breath.

‘Why not?'

‘Because now I have tae do this,' he said, parting his lips and pressing them back on Ondine's, coaxing her to open to him. She nearly lost her mind at the intimate contact and the swathe of sweet and strange sensations roaring through her body. The kiss deepened and she heard a soft moan escape from Hamish. Tiny electric
shocks danced over her lips, his chin felt prickly against her plump skin. Beard whiskers grazed her.

‘Ouch.' She pulled back and rubbed her fingertips over her inflamed skin.

A half-embarrassed grin spread over her face. Her first pash-rash? Expecting to see the same delight in his expression, she met his eyes just as they were turning from green to black.

Matching black fur spread over his face.

‘Oh no, not now!' A heavy weight grabbed at her heart.

‘What?' Hamish managed before he doubled over in pain, clutching at his belly. He reached to Ondine for support, and the skin over the back of his hand turned black and furry.

The sun rose for the new day, casting the beer garden into pink-orange light. The full moon was gone. A pile of second-hand clothes sat lifeless on the ground. Where Hamish the man had been, now sat Shambles the ferret.

 

47
Unpleasant business. The result of which seriously dented Charles Lamb's writing career. Shakespeare suffered no such problems.

48
Beer goggles make everyone look much more attractive than they really are. Especially at closing time when there aren't many singles left in the bar.

49
A popular form of entertainment, with dancing and music, pronounced ‘kay-lee'. Not to be confused with ‘Kylie', which is another popular form of entertainment.

50
Fancy French finger food. Pronounced ‘or-dervs' with a hint of garlic breath.

S
wearing. Some people are good at it, some people trip over their tongues. Take the not-yet-sixteen Ondine, for example. Her swearing wasn't very advanced, because she'd had a reasonably protected life so far – as protected as a person can be while living in a pub.

For example, when she becomes frustrated or shocked, she will just as likely say ‘Jupiter's moons!' as ‘Clutterbuck!' (or something sounding very much like that). On the other hand, Shambles, who up until now had managed not to swear too much in front of the de Groot family, proved himself proficient in profanity.

‘Ye chanty wrassler, A'll dun't ye!'
⁵¹
His accent came back thick and strong. ‘A'll gar ye claw whaur it's no
yeukie!
⁵²
A'll saut yer brose,
⁵³
Old Col! Ma tongue isna unner yer belt!'
⁵⁴

He laid the brogue on thick. Despite the accent, some of the swearing required no translation, which only made Ondine's face burn with shame. Those lips she'd just kissed were spewing forth the most fearsome curses.

‘Shambles, please calm down!' Her heart ached for the man he'd been not a moment ago. How horribly unfair that he should revert like this. Could the timing be any worse?

Despite her pleas, Shambles would not be stopped. He swore some more, with a few new expressions. After he'd exhausted his repertoire, he went back to the start and repeated the tirade all over again.

It was too cruel, watching him writhe about on the ground, her handsome young man reduced to ferret form again. Ondine felt her heart constrict, tied up like
one of Chef's string roasts. Heat seared her face and eyes. Something wet splashed on her cheeks. Oh for shame, she was crying! What was the point of trying to behave – and be treated – like an adult, if she ended up blubbering like a child who'd just found out Santa wasn't real.
⁵⁵

‘What's all the racket?' Ma said, as she came out to the garden and took in the scene of Ondine crying with a black ferret at her feet. ‘What did he do to you?'

‘It's yer mad auntie, she's struck me down again, and I didnae do anything!' Shambles complained, rubbing his furry paws over his head in anguish.

‘We only kissed,' Ondine said, surprised to hear her words come out as a croak.

‘That's highly inappropriate, Ondine de Groot,' Ma said.

It's a sure sign of trouble when parents use your full name,
⁵⁶
and Ondine knew better than to argue
with her parents when they were in a foul mood. Actually, arguing with them at any point often proved a waste of time because she seldom emerged the winner. But all good sense had flown because their Beautiful Kiss
⁵⁷
had ended too soon, as had Hamish's human form.

‘It was just a kiss,' she found herself repeating in a tone that implied it didn't really matter, when in reality it
really, really
did matter. It mattered a whole lot. She'd become good friends with Shambles the ferret, but Hamish the young man seemed the answer to her dreams. How long had she imagined what he'd be like as a real person? Then to get a glimpse of his true self, to let him into her heart – only to have it taken away so soon. Could life become any crueller?

Shambles was still busy swearing. Loudly and lustily.

‘Get inside, Ondine. I'd like to speak to Hamish alone,' Ma said.

‘You're so unfair.' Ondine wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. ‘I'm not a baby, so stop treating me like one!'

‘We'll stop treating you like one when you stop behaving like one,' Ma shot back.

In frustration, Ondine's hands balled into fists. This was an argument she couldn't win, but she'd try anyway. ‘You were my age when you and Da got together, so that makes you a hypocrite as well!'

‘It was different then –' Ma started.

‘Oh, blow it out your ear!'

Things went very silent. Ondine slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. She'd never spoken to her mother like that before, and the power of it made her heart hammer against her ribs.

Ma stood there, mouth agape. Even Shambles stopped swearing and moaning on the ground.

With lips pressed into two straight lines of fury, Ma straightened her shoulders and drew herself up to her full height, which was a couple of centimetres short of
her youngest child. When had her mother shrunk so? Ondine wondered about this for a nanosecond before they resumed the mother–daughter showdown.

Her voice low and dangerous, Ma said, ‘Show some respect for your elders.'

‘Is that the best you can come up with? Speaking to me like I'm a child? Ma, I'm nearly sixteen. I'm allowed to kiss whoever I like!'

‘It wasnae her fault,' Shambles piped up. ‘It was all me doing. I took advantage of her, and that must be why I'm a ferret again. I had lusty thoughts and didnae feel worthy of her.'

Confusion knotted Ondine's brain. Their encounter had been nothing like Shambles described. The way she remembered it, Hamish had given her a chaste kiss on the cheek, and she'd demanded more. Her cheeks flushed with heat.

‘It's “whomever”.
⁵⁸
Now get inside, Ondine – you're overtired.'

It must have been pure aggravation that made
Ondine say what she said next, because no rational person would have blurted it out.

‘Oh yeah, fine, send me to my room. But while you've been so busy spying on me, you haven't even noticed that Cybelle and Chef are making eyes at each other.'

‘She's just saying things. Don't listen to her,' Shambles said, but his intervention made no impact.

The colour drained from Ma's face and for the first time in Ondine's memory, her mother was at a loss for words.

A huge and theatrical yawn escaped Shambles's little mouth, as if he'd given up on both of them. Or he just wanted to clear the area for the oncoming catfight. ‘I did me best, ye wouldnae listen. I'm for the laundry. Goodnight, ladies.'

Heavy, nasty guilt sank into Ondine's feet. She couldn't move. She'd just dropped her sister right in it, and Cybelle had done nothing to deserve it. If Ondine believed she was entitled to happiness, weren't her sisters entitled to the same?

Which made her a hypocrite of the highest order.

Between clenched teeth, her mother said, ‘Go. To. Your. Room.'

Something made Ondine's feet move, although her brain felt so fogged she had no idea how she managed to find the way to her bedroom and crawl under the covers.

Sunlight pierced daggers through the curtain gaps. She feared sleep because of the frightening dreams that might come her way. Should she stay awake and feel miserable, or fall asleep and have her subconscious make her feel worse?

In the end, the choice was not hers to make. Despite the beams of early morning light in her room, Ondine passed into unconsciousness, just before the worst few hours of her life unfolded.

 

51
You liar, I'm going to bash you.

52
I'll put my fist where it's not welcome.

53
I'll get my revenge.

54
And don't even think about trying to silence me.

55
Sorry to break it to you. Santa's just a modern-day symbol of the Christmas season and the spirit of giving. Or rampant consumerism. Ach, dry yer eyes.

56
How to judge parental mood by the name they call you. e.g. Ondi = Ma in a good mood. Ondine = Ma is busy. Ondine de Groot = Ma is really narked. Ondine Benedicte Wilhelmina de Groot = Ma's just walked in and Ondine's standing over a dead body with a bloody knife in her hand.

57
This had been her first Serious Kiss, so it required capitalisation. Considering Ondine was fifteen, it shows how protected her life had been up until that point.

58
What is it with parents always correcting your grammar? They'd never do it to their friends.