What became of us

said. ‘Once I had the munchies so badly I had three Big Macs and I didn’t remember the last two until I discovered that all my money for the week had mysteriously disappeared from my purse. I still have to have one sometimes. It’s the sauce.’
    ‘Will you be quiet?’ Ian hissed.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Come on.’ He turned suddenly.
    ‘What?’
    Leaning against a lamppost in front of the shop were two unlocked bikes.
    ‘Orange or purple?’ Ian asked her.
    ‘We’re not going to...?’
    ‘Borrow them,’ he said. ‘I’ve been observing the owners closely and quite honestly I don’t think they’ll even notice.’
    But before he could finish his sentence, Annie had grabbed the orange bike and was pedalling fast down Cornmarket towards St Giles. The bike rocked from side to side as the skill not used for twenty years returned to her.
    ‘It’s like riding a bicycle!’ she shouted breathless with excitement as he caught up with her at the traffic lights. ‘Where to?’
    ‘There used to be an all-night cafe at the Wood-stock roundabout,’ he suggested.
    ‘No hills on the way?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘Lead on!’ she shrieked, as the lights turned green and she dared to look back to see the stoned men standing under the lamppost unable to work out what had happened.

Chapter 34

    There was a hazy mist on the water. The punt slid through clusters of lily pads. The pond was so vast she could not see the banks, nor the horizon, only the silver surface and the chalky air above it. She let her hand drop into the water and drag along beside the boat. The water was ice-cold. Her fingers became numb almost immediately. She looked at Roy. He smiled at her, then he brought the punt pole out of the water and rested it along the length of the boat so that they were drifting. He sat down opposite her, shifting along the cushions to make room for her beside him. She stood up, wobbling slightly, and took a tentative step towards him. Then she was falling out of the punt, arms flailing, but instead of sinking into the cold water, the lily pads held her up like a lifebelt, oddly warm around her body, and she realized she had fallen into a giant nest. She could see Roy’s stricken face drifting away from her, but she felt safe there, surrounded by soft downy warmth.
    Manon woke up. The wonderfully calm feeling remained for a few seconds as her mind tried to establish where she was. She closed her eyes again, willing herself back to the nest, but one of her arms had pins and needles.
    They were in the living room in Joshua Street, she remembered. Roy was sitting cross-legged on the floor behind her, cradling the upper part of her body in his arms. Most of her weight was resting on her left arm, which was why it had gone numb. She tried to extract it, alerting him to the fact that she had woken up.
    ‘Are you OK?’ he asked gently, as she wriggled out from his embrace and shook both arms.
    ‘How long have I been asleep?’ she asked.
    ‘I don’t know. You were lying on my watch. Not too long. It’s not even light yet. Sleep overcame you. I thought that only happened in novels but one moment you were talking, and the next, you just lay down on the floor. I was trying to keep you warm,’ he said, as if he needed to explain why he was holding her.
    ‘It’s all right,’ she said, yawning and stretching again, ‘I had a wonderful dream.’ But as soon as she said it, the dream seemed to shimmer out of reach and she could not remember it properly.
    As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she could see that his were sparkling with concern. He was such a serious boy. Still only half awake, she allowed her mind to drift back to the day she had met him.

    Finals were over, the last paper written, champagne popped in the street outside Schools, hugs delivered to people she did not really know, goodbyes said. The celebration picnic that Penny had prepared had been eaten, more champagne drunk.
    Roy had arrived just as she was leaving the others to while away the afternoon at the river.
    She had ambled back to Joshua Street in the hot sun, feeling the tension of the exams unravelling in her shoulders.
    The house was cool inside. She tore off the ridiculous gown they made you wear to sit exams. In the back yard, she struck a match. The black fabric took a moment to catch, then it burned so hungrily that she had to drop it and stamp on it for fear of setting Penny’s hanging baskets on fire. Then she went inside