tear away from her mouth and she speaks.â
âSo what does she say?â
âShe says, Thereâs another one! Another one! â
I watched as Winter shuddered, shaking my dream away. âAnother one? Another what?â
âYou tell me.â
âWhat are you two talking about?â Cal asked, lifting his head from the pillow.
âDude, hey, how you feeling?â
âNot bad,â he said softly. âStill feeling a bit groggy, but thatâs about it.â
Winter hopped up from beside me and wandered over to Cal. âCan I get you anything? Water? Painkillers?â
âNo, thanks, Iâm good. Just tired.â
âAnd how about me, Winter?â I asked. âIâve been wounded too, you know,â I teased, holding up my injured hand. âI know itâs not like being mauled by a lion or anything, but still â¦â
âOh, very funny. Youâll be all right,â said Winter. âAnd Cal, Repro and Griff are stopping by again in the morning remember?â
âYeah, yeah, thatâll be good,â Cal said.
âAnd Jen says youâll definitely be good to go home in about a week,â Winter added.
âSweet,â said Cal, before drifting back to sleep again.
âBoges,â whispered Winter, after a moment.
âYeah?â
âIâm so relieved Calâs back,â she said.
âMe, too.â
âBut ⦠I feel like somethingâs not quite right.â
The darkness of my bad dream and the disturbing warning of another one was keeping me from settling, too. I knew Iâd be feeling better if Sligo was dead. And if there wasnât the mystery of his accomplice still looming in the air ⦠but I bit my tongue.
âLike you said, Winter, it will just take time. I bet when Calâs back home next week and we see Mrs O and Gab happy again, things will pick up where they left off. Who knows, we might even get to have that movie night after all.â
DAY 29
2 days to go â¦
Mrs Ormond took Calâs face gently in her hands. âAre you sure youâre OK with me and Gab going tomorrow? I feel like youâve only just come back from Melbaâs house and now weâre taking off on a glamorous cruise ship and leaving you behind!â
âPlease, Mum,â Cal replied, as though heâd been asked the same question a thousand times, which he probably had. âI want you both to go and have fun. Iâm fine here, I swear. We can all hang out together when you get back. I promise. These guys will look after me until then.â
Cal smirked at us knowingly. Winter, Ryan and I shuffled on the spot. Miraculously, weâd managed to keep the whole crazy Sligo incident under wraps ⦠so far. Out of the press, and out of the Ormond household.
âWhat about the auction tomorrow nightâare you sure youâre up to it?â Mrs Ormond added, still holding Calâs face in her hands. âIt soundslike itâs going to be a pretty big event. You donât have to go, you know. Theyâll understand.â
âItâs cool, Mum. Everyoneâs coming with me,â he said, looking over at us again.
I grinned and nodded at Mrs Ormond reassuringly .
âOK,â she said, leaning in to kiss him on the forehead. âGoodnight guys,â she added, smiling at us. âGood luck tomorrow night, if I donât see you before we go.â
âHave a great trip,â I said.
Gabbi had been busy texting, sitting on the kitchen bench. She tucked her phone into her pocket, slid off the table to her feet and clomped over to us in her ugg boots. She gave each of us a warm, sleepy hug.
âNight,â she said. âHope you guys enjoy school while Iâm off on the cruise!â she laughed.
âHere we go,â I said, looking at my friends. Cal and Winter were sitting on my left, tucking into a bag of microwave popcorn, and Ryan was on my
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