|
"Laura's Dream" |
| Copyright Francis Blow, 1986. |
| CHAPTER 16 |
| Laura sat at her desk doing homework. She was already in uniform so she could run straight to the car when Carla took her to the Venturer meeting. A glow of headlights lit up the front windows. Laura looked to her left and saw a dark coloured sedan park behind their car. Two men in suits got out. |
| Detectives, without a doubt. |
| The doorbell sounded, and the door was opened seconds later. Curious, Laura went around to the top of the stairs and looked down. Her parents and the two policemen were talking, so she joined them. |
| "Our investigations aren't concluded, not by a long shot, but we think there may be a connection between Faraday's breaking into your house and the kidnappings. Exactly what the connection is we don't know yet. Rest assured, though, that patrol cars will keep an eye on your house. Naturally, if any of your family notice or remember anything please call us." |
| A few minutes later, the unmarked police car backed onto the road and was gone. |
| "Go and finish your homework, baby," Carla told Laura. "You've got half an hour yet." |
| "Don't worry, Mum. It will all work out, you'll see." |
| "Off you go, obnoxious brat." Carla gave her daughter a playful swat on the behind. |
| The phone rang, so Laura sprinted to answer it. |
| "Hi, Laura, it's Doug. Guess what! I got a job." His voice was excited. |
| "Unreal! What are you doing?" |
| "Well..." |
| "Modeling, right?" |
| "Yeah. It doesn't pay much, but it will help. And McDonald's may be interested, too." |
| "Fantastic. When's your first photo session?" |
| "I'm not telling you. Some things a man has to keep to himself." |
| "What did your parents say?" |
| "I should never have listened to you. Dad laughed so much I thought he'd throw up, and Mum wasn't much better. I guess they're not worried, like they were when Suzie started. Tell you what. I'll try and get you a copy of my first photo." |
| "All-right! Way to go, Doug!" |
| "Cut it out, you little tart. Aren't you supposed to be going to Ventures?" |
| "I've got a few minutes yet. Now I've got you dangling on my hook, I want you to squirm." |
| "Good night, Laura." |
| "Spoil sport! 'Night, Doug." She said sweetly. |
| |
| Laura and her fellow Venturers were in for a treat that night; their special visitor turned out to be a flying school owner, who spoke about flying and offered to take the Venturer Unit for a free introductory lesson. While her friends carried on with excitement, Laura just stood, smiling at her good fortune. |
| Learning to fly was on her list of personal goals, though she had thought it would take years to achieve. Laura could hardly wait to get home and tell everyone. |
| |
| "Flying!" Carla exclaimed. "I'm not sure I approve of that. It's much too dangerous. John, you tell her." |
| "Carla, this is one time I think you might not know enough about the subject to be objective," Laura's father said gently. "I've known many people over the years who fly. It's not all that difficult, and it's certainly safer than driving." |
| The argument was still unresolved by the weekend that Laura was to take the lesson. However, Laura did fly, while her family, and several other parents and Venturers, all watched. |
| Laura sat in the co-pilot seat, scrutinising each instrument and control before her. The pilot told her what things did, as he prepared to take off. |
| Slowly, then gathering speed, the small airplane taxied out, turned at the end of the runway, and waited for clearance. |
| "Roger, tower. Taking off now." |
| In less than a minute, Laura was climbing towards the clouds. Her stomach told her it did not like what was happening, but she was too fascinated by where she was. |
| "Take the yoke, miss. She's all yours. Just make small movements, keeping us steady for a while... That's great," The pilot watched her and the instruments. "See if you can bring us round a bit. Press your right foot against the pedal... That's right... Well done! You compensated very well. You were the girl asking all the questions in the briefing room, weren't you?" |
| "Yes, sir. I'm Laura Shell. How long will it take me to get my flying licence?" |
| "That depends. There's a great deal of study and hard work, and we expect our students to help with maintenance on the equipment," the man watched Laura's face closely, and when she turned to smile brightly at him, he knew he had a special student. "What will your parents say?" |
| "Dad's all for it. Mum needs to learn how wonderful it is." |
| "Any brothers or sisters?" |
| "One brother, who's eight." |
| "Let's try this then. After I've taken up the last Venturer, how about your whole family comes up, and then you do exactly what you're doing now?" |
| "Would you? Really?" Laura looked back at him for a moment, wanting to hug him but afraid to release the steering yoke. "That would be wonderful." |
| Forty minutes later, the whole Shell family was in the sky. Joey was even more excited than Laura, and Carla had to admit the plane felt safe enough. While her mother was watching the scenery, Laura took the controls. |
| "Mummy, look!" Joey shook Carla's arm and pointed. "Laura's driving the plane!" |
| "Mrs. Shell," the pilot turned in his seat and looked at Carla. "Your daughter is a natural. She wants to learn to fly, and I'd be honored to help her." |
| Carla knew she had no more arguments. "All right. I suppose I can't deny her this. It is beautiful up here." |
| There was a slight twitch of the wings that only the pilot noticed; it was Laura's only reaction to the news that swelled her heart. |
| Laura had taken her first step off Earth towards space. |
| |
| Laura and her father attended a preliminary court hearing where charges would be laid against the burglar. Neither of them had to give evidence, but they wanted to see if anything new was brought to light. |
| Andrew Alexander Faraday was the name of the burglar. He was charged with break and enter, and possession of a weapon in the form of a pocket knife. No plea was entered, and bail was set by the judge at ten thousand dollars. |
| "You mean we just spent four and a half hours for that?" Laura was astonished. "Why, Daddy?" |
| "It's the way our legal system works," John did not sound happy either. "Sometimes it works against honest people. We obey the system, and the criminals don't. It's up to the judge to decide on the evidence put in front of him as to what to do." |
| "What happens in the two months between now and his trial?" |
| "He tries to get evidence that either he didn't break into the house, or he tries to put the blame on someone else. The police try to make sure their evidence is absolutely flawless. If any loopholes are found, Faraday gets off free." |
| "Gosh, Dad," Laura shook her head. "It sounds like it's aimed to help the criminals, not ordinary people." |
| "I guess it can appear that way. Unfortunately it would take a better man than me to explain how the courts are impartial." |
| |
| On Saturday morning, at six o'clock, Laura was waiting in the kitchen for Doug to pick her up. She always had hot tea and toast ready for when he pulled up in the driveway at five past six. |
| Right on time, Doug arrived, walking in through the back door. In his hand was a large envelope, which he put on the kitchen table in front of Laura. |
| "Is this it?" She asked, as she pulled out three photos. "Oh wow! Get a load of the rippling muscles under those masculine yellow pajamas... Now this one's more like it. I love the shaving cream." |
| "My disguise. The last one has my face, but in the ad my head is cropped from the picture." |
| "Cute," Laura tried to look serious and failed. "Is it going to be regular work?" |
| "I don't know yet, but I'm going to work week nights at McDonald's after all." |
| "They hired you! That's wonderful. But what about study and your tutoring?" |
| "That's the problem. I'm not sure if I want to go on with school." |
| "Not go on? I don't understand, Doug." |
| "Let's not talk about it here. Got your stuff?" |
| |
| With Laura's surfboard and bag in the car, they went to Terrigal where the best waves were reported that morning. |
| "Why don't you want to go on with school?" Laura pressed. |
| "I've been talking about it at home and with the teachers, and I'm giving serious thought to deferring for a year. I feel I need time to get experience outside. After that I can face the H.S.C. with some idea of what I want to do with my future. You know exactly where you're going, Laura, but the rest of us are spinning in circles 'cos we see what our parents do, and we don't want to get into that rut. Look at my Dad, he's a car salesman. Some months he gets a really good commission, other months we're overdrawn at the bank and survive on credit cards, until the next good month," Doug reached across and touched Laura's hand. "Dad said he'd try and get me a job there too, if I'm serious about leaving school." |
| "Doug. If you're working every evening, you've already decided. There's no way you can find enough time to study, unless you give up everything else you do. Like surfing, dances, me." |
| Doug shrugged. "You're right. It's just kind of hard to come right out and say it." |
| Laura squeezed his hand where it had returned to the steering wheel. "You made the decision. Okay, great! What's next?" |
| "How about you and me hit the waves?" |
| |
| In the council parking lot next to the beach, they put their wet suits on over their swimming costumes, and prepared their boards. In short time, the two of them were on their way out to where the best waves were building. Laura was learning to ride well, and could match Doug on all but the trickiest waves. Neither of them got bored until the waves started to flatten out, almost two hours later. |
| "Have you got warm clothes in your bag?" Doug asked her, when they were toweling off. |
| "I've got my tracksuit. Why?" |
| "Have a shower at my place, then come to Gosford with me. I want to show you something." |
| "Why not use the change rooms here, then go straight there?" |
| "Okay, it's just I know how much you love hot showers. Your dad told me you spend half your life in hot water!" |
| "Oh, you are funny. Besides, I like to be clean." |
| "Really? Remember those pictures of you at the Cub camp? Head to toe in mud in nearly every photo." |
| "I showered there, too. As a Venturer I felt it was my duty to show those little treasures how to have fun." |
| "Now who's being funny? Okay, last one dressed is a rotten egg!" |
| As it turned out, Laura won the title of Rotten Egg by two minutes. She could not get any showers to work properly, so she gave up and put on her track suit, while her swimmers went into a plastic bag. |
| "What's the big secret?" She asked, when they reached the city. "This is the way to where your dad works." |
| "Yep. They got a car in the other day as a trade in, and their mechanic thinks it's the best of its type he's seen come in." |
| "Excellent! How much is it?" |
| "I'm not sure yet. Dad's got to work it out with the manager." |
| "Which one is it?" Laura craned her neck when they drove into the car yard. |
| "It's around the back. We'll have to walk." |
| They left the station wagon and went behind the showrooms. Doug led the way to a huge, truck-like vehicle that was painted a revolting shade of orange. He opened the passenger door with a flourish. |
| "Your carriage awaits, madam." |
| Laura giggled and let him help her in; the seat was a long way up. "Are you allowed to drive it?" |
| "Dad's here and said I could try it out for a while. Put your seat belt on." |
| The motor started with a powerful rumble. Laura was daunted by the number of levers and other controls that Doug had to contend with. She knew approximately how to drive an automatic car, and even a plane seemed less complex than the landrover. |
| The four wheel drive vehicle was not as comfortable as other cars she had been in, yet Laura thought it had a special character of its own. When they drew into traffic, she was able to look down on top of the rest of the cars. Turning to face the back, all she saw was a flat floor that seemed large enough to hold a dance in. |
| "This is an unreal car, Doug. What's it like to drive?" |
| "It takes a little getting used to, because it's so big, but it's fun. And nobody's going to try and force their way in front of me!" |
| "Can you take it to my place, to show Mum and Dad?" |
| "Sure. I better put some petrol in it though. I was driving it yesterday and put a few kilometres on it." |
| They pulled into a service station and Doug put ten dollars of fuel in the tank, before he entered the office to pay. |
| As soon as Doug was out of sight, Laura was astonished to have her door opened beside her. She turned, mouth open to protest, and looked straight into the unshaven face of Andrew Faraday. |
| "Laura. I've been after you since I got out. Do you realise just how much trouble you've been to me?" Faraday opened his coat, and revealed a huge gun hanging from a leather strap. His hand reached towards the sawn-off rifle. |
| With people within a few metres of her, Laura was too terrified to scream. |
