“And where do you think you’ve been?” Stacey’s mum demanded, when Dan wheeled her back through the door of their beach house.
“I went to the beach,” Stacey answered, but her heart sank, because she could see her mum was upset.
“Do you know how worried we were?”
“I’m sorry, mum. I didn’t think. I just had to get out for a bit on my own.”
“You didn’t think?” Her mum looked close to tears. “Well, that’s pretty obvious.”
She took a breath, and probably would have worked herself up to shouting, but Stacey’s dad stuck his head out the dining room door.
“Lunch is ready,” he said, “and I’m starving.”
Her mum looked like she wanted to say more, but didn’t. Instead, she stalked into the dining room, leaving Dan, Jelly and Wade to follow after. They seated themselves around the table in an awkward silence, while Stacey’s dad served small steaks, and salad.
He looked up, as he sat down and picked up his knife and fork.
“It’s good to see you kids,” he said, and turned his attention to Stacey. “Where’d you go, today?”
So Stacey told him where she’d gone, leaving out the mermaid, but describing the men in the boat in great detail.
“I swear, dad. I don’t know what they’re looking for, but they wanted it real bad.”
“Did you get their names?” Her dad was clearly mad about Stacey being tipped over onto the sand.
Stacey shook her head.
“Sorry, dad. No, I didn’t.”
“Hmm. I’ll look into it. They can’t go dusting up kids, and driving like maniacs around the point. There are laws about that kind of thing.”
He frowned a little while longer, and then changed the subject.
“Where else did you go?”
So Stacey told him about visiting the surf shed, and meeting the president of the surf club.
“I only wanted to see what had changed,” she said, and then she frowned. “You didn’t tell me about the special surfing, I could do.”
Her mum and dad exchanged glances, and then focussed on her. Stacey forced herself to keep eating, although it was the last thing she wanted to do. She knew she’d had a busy morning, and her body needed to refuel—especially as she had to do physio in the afternoon—but she wanted to hear what they had to say.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, then they didn’t answer straight away.
Her dad looked at her mum, and her mum chewed her lower lip. Finally, her mum looked over at her.
“I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. I mean, not everyone can do it. What if you just weren’t able to?”
Jelly made a rude sound with her lips, and they all looked at her.
“Sorry,” she said, although she looked anything but. “It’s just we’ve seen kids who are way worse than Stace go surfing. And they’d never been out in the waves before.”
She stopped, realising that everyone around the table was staring at her. Stacey’s mum had gotten very red.
“What?”
“Not cool, Jell,” Wade said. “That was rude.”
Now, it was Jelly’s turn to go red. She glanced from Stacey to Stacey’s mum.
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t realise,” she said, and Wade cut in across her.
“I’m sorry, Auntie Mel, but Jell’s not real bright when it comes to people. She says what’s in her head, and doesn’t realise how it sounds.”
He looked over at his sister.
“It’s a thing,” he said, finishing lamely. “I don’t know what they call it, but she’s got it. Something starts with ‘A’, but she’s not serious enough to treat, so we’re just trying to teach her how to change what she’s doing on our own. You know?”
Stacey’s mum shook her head.
“No, I don’t’ know,” she said, and then her face softened, “but I’ll take your word for it.”
She took a couple of slices of bread and wrapped them around her steak.
“Tell me about this surfing deal,” she said.
And Jelly started talking, again. She talked about how the club had reacted when they heard about Stacey’s accident, and about the show with the American surfer who’d got himself back on a board, and about the camps.
“And we can fundraise for a new board for Stace,” she said.
Stacey drew in a sharp breath. She hadn’t been going to mention the cost of a new board to her parents. She’d been going to leave it, until she’d thought of some way to raise the money herself. From the look on her parents’ faces, the idea of a new cost was not a good one.
Still, they didn’t say no.
Instead her mother turned to her and said, “What do you think about it Stacey? You want to give it a try?”
Stacey felt her face warm as she blushed. She ducked her head so she couldn’t see their faces, but she couldn’t lie. To be able to surf again!
“Yeah,” she said. “I’d like to.”
She raised her head.
“If we can afford it,” she added, glancing towards Wade and Jelly.
“You could borrow a board from the club,” Wade said, frowning at his sister. “See if you really want to surf that way.”
Dan nudged her, and smiled.
“It was how you started out, remember?”
Stacey remembered. Borrowed boards. Adjusting her riding style. The rush to get them back, so someone else could have a turn. Well, she didn’t think that last one would be a problem. It wasn’t like there were lots of kids with wheelchairs in town. The only time she might have hassles would be when the school holidays were on.
…which was now, but it didn’t have to mean she never got a turn. She looked up at her mum.
“Pardon, mum?” she asked, realising her mother was giving her a curious look.
“I asked you when you wanted to start.”
“Oh.” Stacey glanced down at her plate. “I don’t know.”
That got her a worried look from her brother, but her mum was already thinking ahead.
“I’ll talk to the physio, this afternoon, and we’ll see what he says.”
“Cool,” said Jelly, before Stacey had a chance to respond.
Wade nudged his sister under the table, and she blushed bright red.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, and focussed on her lunch.
“Thanks, mum,” Stacey said, wondering what the physio would say when he heard about her very busy morning.