‘Don’t know,’ said Alison. ‘She’s quite shy, my mother. I know that sounds weird, for a singer, but she really is. Very shy, in fact.’
‘Well, that’s probably the reason,’ said Ashley. ‘But I still think it’s a shame. We would all like to have heard her voice again.’
*
A few minutes later Alison left, and Selena offered to walk with her to the bus stop. It was a cold night, enough to make their teeth chatter as they stamped their feet to keep warm and waited for the Number 11 to appear. Once again, Alison found it hard to believe that this, a few days ago, had been her mother’s world, and yet now she was sitting around a camp fire in Australia with a guitar and a bunch of minor celebrities. She should have grown used to the unreality of it, by now, but it continued to stagger her.
‘By the way,’ she said, trying to put this thought aside, ‘I wanted to tell you something. Something about me. A little secret.’
‘Oh God,’ said Selena. ‘Not another one. It’s not your other leg, is it?’
Alison shook her head, smiling.
‘Glass eye?’
‘No.’ But now, some undertone of urgency in her voice made Selena fall silent, waiting for the revelation. ‘I’m gay,’ Alison said finally, in a quiet, neutral way.
‘Oh.’ Selena had been staring at the pavement. Now she looked up brightly. ‘Well, that’s no big deal really, is it?’
‘Isn’t it? You sure?’
‘Of course.’
Alison let out a deep breath and smiled and hugged her. ‘I’m so relieved.’
‘Why?’ said Selena, clasping her tightly in return. ‘What did you think I was going to say?’
‘I don’t know … People react in funny ways sometimes.’
‘They do?’
‘Well, actually I’ve only told two people — you and my friend Rachel. But she took it so badly it’s made me a bit nervous.’
‘Why, what did she say?’
Alison traced a careless pattern on the pavement with her right foot as she began to explain: ‘I’ve known Rachel for years. We were at primary school together. She lives in Leeds but we’ve always stayed in touch. So a couple of months ago, I wrote her a letter. And then the next day, I sent her a message on Snapchat, asking if she’d got the letter. And she sent a reply, saying that she had. And then I asked her what she was doing that night, and she said …’ (Alison swallowed hard) ‘… I mean I can hardly believe she said this, but she said she was going to be sleeping with her brother, and it was just the sort of thing I liked doing.’
Selena gaped at her. ‘She said what?’
‘Yeah. Being gay, for her, apparently, is just like fucking your own brother.’
‘Is that what she said?’
‘I only saw the message for a few seconds, because that’s how it works, but that’s pretty much what she wrote. I asked her where she was and she said: “With my brother. We’re doing the incest thing tonight.”’
Incredulous, half laughing and half frowning, Selena was almost lost for words: ‘Wow. That’s a … pretty weird thing to say. And a weird way of saying it, actually.’
‘Well, it was handwritten, and, like I said, it wasn’t on the screen for long. But that’s what it looked like. And then she said, “Right up your street I would have thought.”’
‘Shit,’ said Selena. ‘That’s harsh. Is that it? I mean, is that the sum total of her response?’
‘She did write me a letter, but I couldn’t face reading it. I chucked it away.’
‘Is she … is she, like, a born-again Christian or something?’
‘Not the last time I looked,’ said Alison, and then the bus swung into view. They managed a quick kiss on the cheek — fumbled but tender — before she climbed on board.
*
Danielle and Val followed their guide along the jungle path. They had no way of knowing it, but it was only ten thirty in the morning. The air was already dense and sticky, and the path was heavy going.
‘Can I ask you something, Val?’ said Danielle, over her shoulder.
‘Of course.’
‘It’s about your song the other night — which was really lovely, by the way.’
‘Oh, thank you.’
‘I can’t stop thinking about it, actually. Can’t stop thinking about the words.’
‘Yeah? Well, that’s a good sign, I suppose.’
‘It’s just that line: “I need your breath, Like the moonshine controls the water.” Have I got it right?’
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘I was just wondering … what does that mean, then? How can moonshine control the water? Is it just like … something you made up?’
Val hesitated, not sure whether this was a joke or not. She decided it wasn’t. ‘Well no, I was just talking about … you know, the moon, and the tides. The gravitational pull of the moon.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know — how when the tide goes in and out, that’s because of the moon.’
Danielle stopped and turned. Now she was the one suspecting a joke.
‘Are you winding me up?’ she said.
‘Of course not. I’d never do that.’
‘That’s why the tide goes in and out? Really?’
Val nodded.
Danielle’s beautiful eyes widened. This was a revelation to her, it seemed, and a very important one.
‘That’s incredible. Just fucking incredible. When we get out of here,’ she said, turning back to resume her progress along the path, ‘I want to spend a lot more time with you. You know so much. How did you get to know all these things?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Val, almost tripping on a creeper. ‘It helps if you work in a library, I suppose …’
In a few more minutes, they emerged into a wide clearing, where their chortling hosts, inevitably, were waiting to greet them.
‘Morning, ladies!’
‘We’ve got a nice little treat for you today.’
‘Yes, today we’re going to do not one but two jungle trials!’
‘But there’s a twist, as always.’
‘Yesterday we asked the viewers at home to say who was their favourite person in the camp.’
‘The person with the most votes is going to do the first of today’s trials, which is a pretty easy one, to be honest. It’s called The Fluffy Jungle Path of Pink Marshmallows and Cuddly Toys.’
‘Unfortunately, the person with the smallest number of votes is not going to have quite such a nice time. She’s going to be entering something called The Cave of Evil.’
‘So, are you ready to hear the results of the vote?’
They both nodded.
Val wasn’t surprised, of course, to hear that Danielle was the most popular person in the camp. But it was a shock to learn that she herself had been voted the least popular. As soon as the news was broken to her, with the hosts’ typical cheeky, ironic grins, her stomach turned over and she felt her legs were about to buckle. The least popular? How on earth had that happened? All the hard-earned confidence acquired over the last few days drained out of her. She barely knew what was happening as Danielle was led away in one direction and then she felt herself being taken by the arm as the other host (which one was it? She never could tell them apart) propelled her in the direction of a steep, intimidating escarpment at the other end of the clearing.
‘Now, Val,’ he was saying, his voice dripping with boyish charm, ‘how are you with the old creepy-crawlies?’
She had no idea what he was saying, what she had just been asked. All she knew, as her eyes slowly came back into focus, was that she was being pointed in the direction of a low, narrow aperture in the rock, which seemed to lead into nothingness. There was just about room for a human being to crawl through it, and a few seconds later she was inside.