Operation Eiffel Tower (9 page)

‘I’m Ali,’ the boy said. ‘And this is my stepsister Caitlin.’

‘Hi. I’m Jack. That’s Lauren. I haven’t seen you around before,’ Jack said.

‘We’re just on holiday,’ Ali replied. ‘Last year we went to France, but it’s nice here too.’

Jack smiled at Ali. Both Lauren and Caitlin frowned.

They took their position at the Great Pyramid – a par four.

‘That means you have four goes to get the ball in the hole, Caitlin,’ Lauren said.

‘Thanks, but we’ve been playing here all week. I know what par four means,’ Caitlin said. ‘I’ll go first.’

Caitlin placed her ball on the tee and gave a few practice swings before she chipped it up. It was clear to Jack that she knew what she was doing. The ball rolled gently between the paws of the Sphinx before curving round to face the stepped walls of the Pyramid.

Jack whistled between his teeth. She was a player.

Lauren went next. Her ball bounced hard against the Sphinx’s eye before landing back practically at her feet.

‘Oops!’ she said.

Ali took his first shot. His ball didn’t make it through the gap either.

Then it was Jack’s turn. He took deep, slow breaths and let the weight of the club settle in the middle of his palm. He swung gently, striking the ball in just the right spot. The ball leaped off the tee and swept easily through the Sphinx’s paws.

He and Caitlin were level.

They had to wait until Ali and Lauren managed to get their balls on to the green before they could take their turn again. After three shots Lauren was through the obstacle; four shots later, Ali joined them.

Jack was aiming right for the hole now, up the ramp on one side of the pyramid and down into the King’s Chamber. He wiggled his hips and bent his knees, just to keep loose. Then he swung. The ball rolled straight and true up the ramp, before dropping smoothly into the hole. Jack smiled – two under par for the first hole.

Then Caitlin took her shot. It was an exact replica of Jack’s and landed just as smoothly. They were neck and neck.

He won the next hole with one under; Caitlin was on par.

He was out in front until the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His ball bounced off the wonky side and Caitlin took the lead.

All around them, other players whooped or sighed as their balls landed in the holes or in the water. Lauren had knocked up a total that was more like a netball score than a golf one and Ali was no better.

But Jack and Caitlin were battling properly now. They were within one score of each other after every hole. They finished the first nine holes with their score tied. Caitlin scribbled her name on Ali’s scorecard as though she wished the pen would tear it in half.

When everyone had finished the first round, Mrs Khalid called all the players together. ‘I’ll take a few minutes to look at the scorecards,’ she shouted. ‘Then we’ll see which players will make the cut and move on to the next round.’

Jack sat chewing his nails, waiting for the decision. Lauren ran over to the ice-cream van to fetch a cone for them to share. Caitlin and Ali sat close by. Jack had the feeling that Ali would have liked to chat, if only Caitlin wasn’t glaring at him. She really wanted to win, Jack realised. But then, so did he.

‘Right,’ Mrs Khalid said. ‘We have two current leaders. Jack Dempsey and Caitlin O’Connor are tied in first place. There are eight other players within ten points of them, so the following players will make the cut and go through to the next round: Stefan Kalinowski, Erin Jones . . .’

Jack felt a tingle of delight that spread up to the tips of his ears – he was through! And in joint first place. He let Lauren finish the ice cream while he listened carefully to Mrs Khalid read the rest of the names.

‘. . . Max Ottar, David Andrews, Ashleigh Barrow, Jonnie Downend, Freya South, Naveen Qureshi.’

Lauren wasn’t on the list. Jack sighed. He wasn’t really surprised, but it did mean that he had to win, or at least come second, if they were to take home any money at all.

Lauren popped the wafer tip of the cone into her mouth and crunched it. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘You’re good enough for both of us.’

Jack bit the inside of his lip. Was he?

‘OK, everyone,’ William shouted. ‘Will the players please make their way to the Golden Gate Bridge, hole ten. You’ll play the final holes in pairs, with those furthest behind the leaders going first. Freya South and Naveen Qureshi, that means you.’

The crowd surged towards the final holes, everyone jostling for a good view. Jack walked up slowly. He would be paired with Caitlin and they would go last.

Freya and Naveen were both nervous in front of the crowd. They took far too many shots to finally putt the ball. Freya, a girl with long blonde plaits, held her head down as she walked to the next hole.

Most of the other players were the same, there was something about being watched that made the clubs seem too heavy, the shafts too slippery, the balls smaller than an ant’s eyeball.

Then it was Jack and Caitlin’s turn.

Jack looked up at William, who winked quickly. Then he struck the ball. It ran straight along the elegant span of the bridge and dropped right in the middle of the green on the other side. Perfect.

Caitlin’s shot was even better. It rolled on to the green, bounced hard off the back wall and cannoned into the hole. A hole-in-one! A totally fluky hole-in-one, but still a hole-in-one.

Jack’s heart sank. Caitlin had leaped ahead of him on the scoreboard. He putted his ball smoothly, but didn’t smile at the polite applause. He saw Lauren in the crowd giving him a thumbs-up. He nodded to her. He could do this.

In front of them the other players had stretched out along the course, with the crowd cheering them on – the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal, Sydney Opera House – all the way along to the eighteenth hole, the Statue of Liberty.

Jack tried not to let the score get to him. He took each shot carefully and deliberately. The crowd was busy working out the maths after every shot; none of the other players had caught up with the two leaders. The people flanking the course knew that it was between Caitlin and Jack. Jack tried to block them out. He pretended he was alone, playing the round early in the morning before anyone else was there. He played each hole for par.

At the Sydney Opera House, which was a complicated par four, Caitlin mishit. Her ball clanged against one of the shell-like roofs and bounced backwards. Jack was level with her score.

As they moved to the final Wonder, the Statue of Liberty, they were neck and neck.

Caitlin went first. Her shot rolled gently along the causeway on to Ellis Island, then slowed just inches from the green. She grinned at Jack and raised an eyebrow. She would putt the ball on her next go and would be one under par. She would win. Unless he did even better.

Jack gave his arms a gentle shake before placing the ball carefully on the tee. He closed his eyes for a moment and imagined the ball flying in exactly the right direction. He imagined himself putting £50 into the Paris fund.

He opened his eyes, took a few practice strokes, then hit the ball smartly in the centre.

The crowd held its breath as the ball flew right over the Atlantic Ocean.

It bounced once on the green.

It rolled towards the hole.

And dropped in.

The crowd roared!

A hole-in-one! He’d done it! Caitlin couldn’t catch up now.

Jack felt slaps on his back. His hand was shaken again and again. And there was Lauren clapping and clapping. She picked him up and whirled him round. Jack hugged her back tightly. Then William, holding banknotes and grinning from ear to ear. Jack gripped the notes and they crackled in his hand. He felt light, as though he had a tiny bit of helium in his bones. He saw Caitlin smile as William gave her the second prize. Jack nodded at her; she gave a small wave back.

He’d won.

And the Paris fund was nearly halfway there.

Chapter 15

When they got home Ruby was waiting for them on the doorstep, her doll’s pram next to her. ‘Where have you been?’ she asked. ‘Mum’s worried. Did you see Dad? Did you go without me?’

Jack smiled at Ruby. Though she was cross, he could feel the bulge of cash in his back pocket. He’d won! And a tantrum from Ruby wasn’t going to spoil it.

‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist,’ Lauren said to Ruby. ‘I brought you something. Close your eyes.’

Ruby screwed up her eyes so tightly that her eyelashes seemed to disappear.

‘Hold out your hands.’

Ruby thrust her hands out, palms upwards. She had felt-tip marks all over her fingers.

Lauren reached into her pocket and lifted something out. She dropped it gently into Ruby’s palm.

‘Open your eyes.’

Ruby gasped.

So did Jack.

Ruby was holding a tiny glass horse – one of the ornaments they’d seen in Dad’s bedroom.

‘What do you say?’ Lauren said.

‘Thank you,’ Ruby whispered. ‘It’s lovely. I’m going to call her Star, because she’s all twinkly.’ She had completed forgotten about being left behind.

Where had Lauren got that from?

Ruby held the little horse up to the sunlight. The pinkish glass glowed in her hands as the light shone through it. ‘I’ll look after it for ever,’ she said. She went inside, carefully cradling it in her hands.

As soon as she was gone, Jack turned to Lauren. ‘Where did that come from?’ he said.

‘Dad’s,’ Lauren said simply.

‘I know that! I saw it there. But did Dad give it to you? Or . . . or –’

‘Did I take it, you mean?’ Lauren planted a hand heavily on her hip. ‘What’s it to you? It’s just a stupid ornament.’

‘But why?’

Lauren shrugged. ‘Ruby liked it, didn’t she? And no one will notice. And if they do, I’ll say I broke it and was too scared to tell.’

Jack shook his head. ‘You shouldn’t have done it.’ Somehow the money in his pocket didn’t seem half as exciting any more.

‘OK, fine, whatever,’ Lauren said. ‘Come on. We’d better let Mum know we’re back. Are you ready for a telling-off?’

Jack nodded, then followed Lauren inside.

Chapter 16

‘Where have you two been? You’ve been gone for hours.’ Mum came out of the living room as soon as she heard their footsteps in the hall. She stood with her hands on her hips, the line between her eyebrows a deep furrow.

Jack looked down at his trainers.

‘We went out for some air. We did say,’ Lauren said.

‘For five hours? I’ve been worried sick. I can’t believe you’d be this irresponsible, Lauren. What am I supposed to think?’

Jack saw Lauren lift her head and tense a little. She was looking Mum straight in the eye.

‘Well,’ Lauren said, ‘if you’d just let us go in the first place, then we wouldn’t have had to sneak off. He’s still our dad, you know.’

Mum’s face was pale, even her lips looked as though they were coated in ash. ‘You’ve been with your dad? Even though I expressly said you weren’t to go?’

Lauren shrugged.

‘We just wanted to see him,’ Jack whispered.

‘Jack! I told you not to. It’s too soon. I don’t know what kind of place he’s gone to. Is it suitable? I don’t know anything about it.’ Mum’s voice wavered between angry and something else, something much sadder and deeper. She moved forward, as though she wanted to pull them both into a hug.