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"I guess it's too early to be entirely certain we won'tstart spewing out dust," Madeleine said, far from pleased. "It's only going to get worse when theyknow there's two types of Blues." She explained briefly about Tyler and Nash.
"Is that what's going on with Nash?" Noi produced a low, appreciativewhistle. "Just what we didn'tneed. Damn, I was already lookingforward to meeting your cousin. Thismakes him twice as interesting! Think Ican talk him into biting me?"
Madeleine gave Noi awary look, and realised she was being teased.
"People really did give you a rough time for havingTyler Vaughn as a cousin, huh?" Noi said. "I would have thought they'd be queuing up to ask you to wangle anautograph."
"Some did. But atthat point I hadn't seen Tyler for six years. We knew he'd come back to Australia, and then we spotted himguest-starring on Blood Mirror. It wasn't until they asked him to come back as a rival love interest,and that whole 'you realise I'm physically male' story was released that mostpeople back home even recognised him. School got very strange after that."
She rubbed her forearm, still able to find a slight lump.
"It wasn't the people objecting to the way he dressedwho were my main problem. All his newBiggest Fans were angry at me for not producing him for some kind ofshow-and-tell session, and then decided to be offended that I didn't refer tohim as 'she'."
"'Tyler is Tyler'," Noi murmured, repeating whathad become his fan club's catchcry.
"Yeah, this was before he gave that interview aboutlabels, and what he identified as. I gottrapped in an argument with a bunch of girls about me not being sensitive orrespectful enough and, well, we were at the top of a flight of stairs. I ended up with a broken arm, Mum took me outof school for what was left of the year, and we moved to Sydney."
The two people in school she'd thought her closest friendshad been in that group. None of it hadbeen strictly intentional; it had all just escalated into stupidity. At her new school she'd almost gone out ofher way to cultivate a stuck up bitch reputation, and had maintained totaldisinterest in socialising right up until she met Noi'sDevonshire tea.
For someone who had been so convinced friends weren't worthit, Madeleine was aware of spending more and more time worrying about Noi. She wanted to find ways to make it easier forher, to relieve the hurt beneath her surface good humour. It was an impulse born of more than just apractical need for allies, or a change in herself to fit a new world. There were some people that you were justmeant to be friends with.
"Will you tell me about your family?" she askedtentatively, and saw immediately that it was too soon, adding: "Sometime?"
Noi had turned her head so the sun hat hid her face, but shenodded, and increased her pace, weaving through the clusters of people sittingon the east side of the lifeguard tower.
"Here you are!"
It was Emily, fine blonde hair tumbling out of its topknot,face strained, a waver in her voice.
"What's up?" Noi sounded startled. "Didsomething happen?"
"No, I –" The girl stopped in front of them, suddenly shamefaced. "I just didn't know where you were. I'm sorry."
Noi paused, expression quizzical, then her wry smilebloomed. "Don't worry so much. We're not going to run off and leaveyou. You must have seen that the car'sstill here."
Patches of red blotched Emily's fine skin, and she told themagain she was sorry. "I just kept –I keep thinking I see those guys, and then it isn't them. The thing is, I could have blown holes inwindows just as easily as them. I couldhave blown holes in walls. Butall I did was what they told me, and wish I could get away, and I don't know ifI could ever have stood up to them the way you did, and I feel so stupid and soangry and I just want to hit things."
"Millie the Mauler," Noi said, and tugged a lock ofEmily's hair. "Don't forget I'mtechnically the responsible adult around here. I've had more time to practice dealing with dickheads. You're, what, fifteen?"
"Thirteen."
"What?! You arenot allowed to be thirteen and taller than me! Between you and Maddie I'm going to get acomplex. But even with your u
"The Blue Musketeers. We can rescue people."
Emily took Noi's hand and gave hera look of such unbounded admiration that Madeleine, a step behind them, wasstruck with an urgent need to get them home so she could paint them.
"Weren't muskets guns?" Noi continued. "Why swordfights?"
Madeleine was about to suggest heading off for an artisticinterlude when a woman sitting on the sand a short way ahead glanced in theirdirection, gaped, and sprang to her feet. She was pointing above and behind them, so of course they stopped andturned, and saw a pale ball of light dropping out of the sky toward them.
A falling star.
Chapter Eight
"Back up," Noi ordered, gripping Emily andMadeleine's arms and drawing them toward the edge of the surf as thewatermelon-sized ball slowed to a stop about ten feet above the sand.
All those immediately around the light moved similarly,though others came forward, until there was a large circle of people south-eastof the lifeguard tower. Some kept goingtill they were well distant, and Madeleine spotted the Jabbourspausing near the ramp off the beach, and thought it strange that no-oneoutright left. They'd surely all seenenough movies where the alien arrives and starts disintegrating the people notsensible enough to run.
Yet she, too, stayed and waited because she wanted to know.
Pan hurried up behind them, and poked his head between Noiand Madeleine. "Is it singing?"
"I've heard that before," Madeleine said,frowning. "A couple of times."
"It's like an out of tune radio."
"A theremin," Nash said,leading Gavin and Shaun to stand with them at the edge of the surf. "Or very like."
"Shit, is this thing just some kind of speaker? We come from beyond the stars: it's time fora concert?" Pan started forward,but Nash snagged the back of his shirt and pulled him to a standstill.
"Where's Fish?" Shaun asked, looking about. "He'd hate to miss this."
Nash pointed to Fisher and Nick in the lifeguard tower,watching through the glass. "Thatmakes a good vantage. Let'srelocate. Move slowly, so we do not drawits attention."
"But I want to draw–" Pan began, and broke off.
The glowing ball of light was changing shape.
Triangular strips opened out like the petals of anunsymmetrical flower. The shortesttriangle pointed up, while two of equal length stretched left and right, withthe longest unfurling downward until the ball had become a different form ofstar, four-pointed, glimmering white. Anuneven centre band of dark blue reminded Madeleine vaguely of the body of abutterfly, though it was not actually separate from the rest of the star,merely a concentration of colour which thi
"An angel!" someone shouted.
Madeleine blinked, but she could see the co