Misty Falls (5 page)

He steered me over to a group at the far end of the veranda. How picture-perfect they were, as if some cinematographer had purposely framed them standing bathed in the late sunshine as Table Mountain flushed pink above them. In the very centre was the most amazing guy I’d ever seen: dark brown hair, short at the sides but with what I called a negligent ‘whoosh’ on top that begged for you to run your fingers through it. It got even better on the way down: black brows, piercing light blue eyes circled by a navy ring that gave them added power, little lines on his jaw to emphasize his smile, strong tanned neck above his open collar, the muscle-tone of an Olympic rower, and height that I would put just shy of six feet.

Stop ogling the boy, I warned myself. If you don’t want to embarrass yourself, act like an ordinary human, not a chocoholic on a visit to Cadbury World. And
do not
mention bums under any circumstances.

‘Boys, I’d like to introduce you to Misty.’ Jonas waved his hand to each of the debate team in turn, starting with ‘Mr I’m-too-sexy-for-my-shirt’. ‘Alex du Plessis, team captain.’

I nodded, not trusting what would pop out of my mouth if I attempted to speak. I nailed down my gift, stuck it in a lead-lined coffin and buried it six feet deep so nothing leaked.

‘Hello.’ Alex glanced over at me, eyes resting for a moment on my hair, then he looked away. Was that a smile he was hiding?

‘Michael Steyn, Hugo Smith, and Phil Cronje.’

I nodded again, tagging them the blond movie star, the African prince, and the ginger hunk, but the king of the jungle was undoubtedly Alex.

‘Hi, Misty. Cool name,’ said Michael, the blond one. He had kind, light blue eyes.

I could do this if I stuck to facts. ‘Thanks. My parents like unusual names.’

‘Bizarre,’ muttered Alex, then frowned. I recognized that look: it meant he hadn’t intended to say it. I checked my gift. Not my fault this time; I was in control.

‘Maybe it sounds a little odd to a stranger,’ I admitted, ‘but we go for ones like that in my family. We were named in twos. My younger sister is called Gale; then come the twins, Peace and Felicity; my little brothers are Sunny and Tempest—though I just call the smallest Pest as he’s three and always bugging me.’ I really should stop talking now.

‘That’s not very nice of you.’ Even though Alex was using it to criticize me, I had to admit he had a brandy-sauce voice that must have won him half his debates on tone alone. It poured over anything unpalatable and made it slide right down inside.

Still, I was driven to defend myself. ‘I suppose it might sound that way, but it’s meant affectionately. He likes it really—you know: a brother and sister thing?’

‘No, I wouldn’t know as I don’t have any.’

That made sense as he had that heir-to-all-he-surveyed look to him that I found often went with being the sole focus of parent attention. ‘Then perhaps you can try to imagine?’

‘I’d really rather not.’

Phil, the ginger hunk, moved in to relieve the spiky atmosphere that had unexpectedly developed between us. ‘I call my little sister worse things than that so I understand completely. How are you liking Cape Town, Misty?’

‘Not seen it properly yet as we only arrived yesterday.’

‘We?’

‘I came with a sort of relative by marriage.’ My gift makes me annoyingly literal. ‘He’s over there with your history teacher.’

The boys looked over to see Tarryn returning across the lawns with Uriel’s arm around her shoulders.

‘He knows Miss Coetzee?’ asked Alex.

Uriel bent down and kissed her.

‘He does now.’

‘We thought she was holding out for someone special. That’s what she always told us,’ said blond-haired Michael.

‘He is her someone special.’

‘Whoa: major news.’

‘Hearts will be breaking in the staff room,’ said Hugo, his smile brilliant.

‘I think my heart’s breaking just a little,’ admitted Alex, then he clenched his jaw, tick of a muscle giving away his annoyance at himself.

Of course, his friends wouldn’t let him get away with it.

‘Seriously? You have a crush on Miss Coetzee?’ Michael crowed.

‘Don’t we all?’ said Alex irritably.

Phil rubbed the spot over his heart. ‘Ja, but you’ve never confessed while we’ve all put our reputations on the line about it.’

Michael began humming that old breakup classic, ‘All By Myself’.

‘Mike, you’re so funny. I’m going to find someone with half a brain to talk to.’ Alex strode off.

Hugo winked at me. ‘He hates people laughing at him.’

‘I kind of got that message.’

‘He’s not himself tonight; you notice that, bru?’ Hugo turned to Phil, intrigued by this development.

‘Ja, he was rude to Misty here. Does him good to be pushed out of his comfort zone; he so rarely is.’

Michael sighed with mock sorrow. ‘Miss Coetzee out of the dating game—and I’d been hoping she’d wait for me.’

‘In your dreams, partner.’

‘Exactly.’ Michael grinned.

This was venturing into boy-banter territory so I decided it was time to mingle with other guests. ‘Nice meeting you and, er, congratulations on your win in the competition.’

‘Thanks, Misty. See you around maybe?’ Hugo was the only one paying attention as the other two were watching Uriel and Tarryn. The couple were making their way through the guests. It looked a little like a royal progress from here as Tarryn introduced her prince to her closest friends; a few of them had to be savants from their enthusiastic welcome. At least two women were wiping tears of joy discreetly from their eyes before their mascara gave the game away.

‘Yes, see you.’ I scooted off to the nearest clump of shrubbery to bolster myself for the next attempt at socializing. That hadn’t gone too badly. That Alex guy had been a bit blunter than polite but I couldn’t be to blame as I had all my spillikins tightly gripped. I was determined not to spoil Uriel’s special night by releasing too much truth upon the party. Summer and Angel would be proud of me.

Then Jonas tapped his glass in the time-honoured signal to gain everyone’s attention. The noise fell away, leaving only the hiss of leaves in the breeze and the distant hum of traffic. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate with us. I’ve asked Alex to say a few words on behalf of the team.’

Alex joined him at the top of the steps leading to the garden. He really was gorgeous even from this distance. I noticed that his stance was less stiff than when we had spoken, his relaxed poise restored. This was the Alex who had won every debate. He wasn’t the first person to do better out of my radar range.

‘Thank you, Mr Burns.’ He ruffled his hair in a sweet just-gathering-my-thoughts-folks gesture. ‘My team mates and I wanted to thank all of you who have supported us on our journey to the final. We wouldn’t have made it so far without your generosity during the weeks spent with us on preparation.’

I closed my eyes, just enjoying his voice.

‘Thanks must go to our friends and family for sponsoring our travel and putting up with hours of voice practice in the shower.’ The crowd laughed. They were eating out of his hand and he’d only strung a few sentences together. As for me, I was busy trying not to think about Alex rehearsing with streams of hot water pouring over his seriously buff body. I held my ice-cold glass to my cheek. ‘We would like to give two very special people a gift to express our gratitude.’ I opened my eyes as Alex turned to Jonas. ‘Mr Burns, we know you have a taste for the finest malts coming from the land of your ancestors so we’d like to present you with a bottle of Scotland’s best whisky.’

Applause from the guests. Jonas held the bottle up like a Grand Prix winner, shaking it exuberantly.

‘Careful, it’s too good to waste on the front row,’ joked Alex. His voice took on a deeper, even sexier tone. ‘And Miss Coetzee, we cannot begin to say how helpful you have been to us, devoting so much of your free time to travelling with us around the country. It has been a pleasure to be in the company of such a lady, gracious under every circumstance.’

Gracious? That settled it: Tarryn was my female opposite.

‘We dedicate this victory to you, Miss Coetzee—and we’ve prepared something special to say “thank you”.’ I felt a surge of power from Alex—something only another savant would pick up. He had just outed himself: Alex was one of us. He was spreading his gift to the audience like a fisherman casting a net. His team mates emerged from the edge of the crowd to stand at his shoulder. The audience seemed to be expecting something—I couldn’t think what—then Michael tapped a beat, Hugo hummed the tone, and they began to sing unaccompanied. It was the kind of scene that worked in TV shows but I hadn’t thought to see in real life. I recognized the song: ‘Lucky Strike’, a fast energetic track I happened to have on my ‘Going for a run’ playlist.
She’s such a motivator … One in million, she’s my lucky strike
. It could have been embarrassing, it could have been lame, but they came across as amazing. They had the crowd bopping along with them, the other boys from the school used to this impromptu break into song.

Why did this work? Closing my eyes to stretch out my savant senses, I realized that the performance was boosted to a sure success by the force of Alex’s gift persuading us to love it. Under that influence, the boys aimed at cool and hit it in the bullseye. Was that cheating? Maybe, but great fun. I decided just to enjoy it.

Checking their reception with the chief audience, I saw that Tarryn was laughing along with Uriel as the group broke out some seriously good dance moves; I didn’t need Francie’s gift for thought-reading to know Tarryn was moved by their tribute. I was left thinking that, even with the help of a savant gift, you had to be super-confident to carry off what Alex and his friends were doing. I was the kind of person who struggled to join in a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ fearing I sounded a twit.

Whistles and cheers greeted the end of their performance. Alex produced a bouquet from behind his back like a magician pulling a dove from his sleeve. He bowed as he presented it to her. Letting go of Uriel, she kissed Alex on the cheek, then hugged the boys one by one.

‘I didn’t deserve that,’ she said when the applause had died down. ‘These boys create their own success, as I’m sure you’ve realized. This is the most amazing night of my life and your song has really put the icing on the cake.’ She reached back for Uriel’s hand. He squeezed it in support. ‘For those of you who haven’t had a chance to meet him yet, this is Uriel Benedict. My Uriel.’ She brought him forward. ‘You’ll be seeing a lot more of him so do come and say hi before the party ends. For now, enjoy the barbecue and have a great time.’

The audience broke up now the formal part of the evening was over. The quartet was the first to take up the invitation to meet Uriel and he was quickly setting them at their ease. They challenged him to a game of table tennis and it was no hardship to watch such fine sportsmen engaged in a cut-throat competition. I guess they were testing if he was worthy of their favourite teacher.

I was so caught up in my spying from the shrubbery that I did not notice that Tarryn had found me.

‘There you are, Misty. Uriel sent me to check on you. We didn’t meet properly earlier but I hope you are enjoying yourself?’

I was embarrassed to be discovered lurking undercover when I should have been mingling. ‘Um, yes, it’s been very interesting. I’m so pleased for you and Uriel.’

‘So you’re a savant too?’ She took my arm and propelled me gently back to the other guests.

‘Truth power. And you?’

She grimaced. ‘I see a person’s fate.’

‘You mean the future? Uriel’s mother and youngest brother can do that.’

She shook her head. She struck me as having a deep seam of sadness running under the surface glamour; her eyes had seen too much even though she was only in her late twenties. ‘I wish. I see their death and I’d really prefer not to know.’

No wonder she kept that quiet. It was far worse than my problem. ‘I’m sorry you’ve been landed with that. Maybe, you know, with Uriel, you’ll discover new sides to your gift? That’s what has happened to other soulfinder couples I know.’

She bent her head towards me, trying to see if I was telling the truth—which of course I was. ‘You’re sweet.’

‘I really mean it.’

‘Then I hope you’re right. It’s always been hard for me, being around other gifted people like my sister, feeling such a grim ghost at the feast.’ She frowned, wondering at her admission to a near stranger.

‘Sorry, that’s me. I make people leak the truth without meaning to.’

‘I’ll have to remember that.’

I wished she didn’t have to. I had to do something about my control; it was getting worse. Now I didn’t even know when I was letting it slip. ‘I feel sure I’m right that you’ll discover good things about your gift. I’m luckier than most savants; I’m surrounded by soulfinder couples back home and I’ve seen some amazing things.’

‘Your parents?’ She led me over to the tables set out with salads and bread.

‘No, not them. They’re the exception. Mum didn’t marry a savant, deciding that by normal standards Dad was the one for her. They’re happy together. I wouldn’t have Dad be any other way: he’s the best man I know. And the sanest compared to us savants at least.’ She laughed at that. ‘Makes me wonder sometimes if it’s better to be outside the savant community than in.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘Mum’s told Crystal—that’s my aunt, the soulseeker who sent Uriel here—that she doesn’t want to know who her soulfinder is.’

‘Sensible woman. That is what I think about my having foreknowledge of someone’s death: best not to know. I hate it when people ask me to tell them. It might change things—close down the escape routes from fate.’

I couldn’t imagine asking for such a hard truth. It would radically alter how you lived the rest of your life, surely? ‘Are there any other savants here?’ I wanted to know if my guess about Alex was correct.

‘Would you like a fruit salad?’ Tarryn handed me a cup of exotic fruits. They looked like little jewels resting in honeyed water. ‘Some of the older people belong to the community but I don’t really mix with that crowd; they’re more Francie’s friends than mine. Of the younger ones, the only one I’ve identified at the school is Alex.’