Laighs New Life

Part 1

“I want it to end.” she said softly. “that’s all I want. I want to start again, somewhere as far away as possible. Somewhere were no one knows what has happened to me and so won’t feel sorry for me.”

“Are you sure?” Amber couldn’t believe that Laigh had just said that.

“Yeah I’m sure.” Laigh pulled herself out of Bray’s arms and looked at her. Bray went to stand next to Amber and took hold of her hand.

“If that’s what you want, then it’s fine by me.” Bray said sadly. He couldn’t believe that he was letting his precious cousin go again. “But what are we going to do? How are you going to leave without the others asking questions?” Laigh’s eyes widened as she exclaimed

“The dream! Pretend I’m dead! I fell down the hill and banged my head badly!”

“WHAT?!?” Amber was bewildered, what was she saying? She knew that Laigh was upset about Max but the plan seemed a little drastic.

“Perhaps that’s a good idea” Bray said thoughtfully. Amber stared at him as if he was crazy. Bray stood and looked fondly at Laigh for a few minutes then finally said “OK, let’s do it. Laigh, get going. Amber and I will make a grave.” both Laigh and Amber were shocked. Bray was agreeing to it? Tears came into Laigh’s eyes again and she stepped forward and flung herself into Bray’s embrace.

“Thank you so much! I love you!” she looked at him, then reached around the back of her neck and took her feathered necklace off and handed it to Bray “Keep this to remember me by.” Bray looked down at it, tears streaming down his face

“Thanks. I love you too Laigh.” she then turned to Amber, who was also crying. They hugged

“I love you as well Amber, you’ve been a good friend to me. And now we’re related!” Laigh said as they held each other. She looked at Amber and winked as she said “Look after Bray for me, won’t you?” Amber laughed and sniffled

“Of course I will, cus! Oh this is crazy Laigh, but if it’s what you want, then go.”

Laigh stood back and looked at her newly-wed cousin and his bride, who were holding each other tearfully. She smiled and started to run. When she reached the bottom of the hill she called out

“Bye! Look after yourselves! I’ll miss you! I’ll let you know where I am soon, I promise! Good luck and let me know about your baby as soon as it’s born!” she waved, then turned and carried on running, Bray and Amber waving after her. Laigh, her hair flying back as she ran as fast as she could, smiled to herself - she was free at last!

Laigh was thinking back. That day had been the beginning of a new life for her, the moment she’d left everything - her friends and relatives - behind.

“Hey Leia, are you alright? You look miles away” her thoughts were interrupted by Tammy. Since she had started again, she had decided to call herself by her proper name. Tammy was one of the acrobats with the Wandering Minstrel tribe. That’s who she was with now, and they were great. She was doing something that she’d always wanted to do - perform in front of audiences.

“Oh, I was Tam. Sorry.” Laigh shook her head “That’s OK, it’s just Connor was looking for you...” Tammy said with a twinkle in her eye. Laigh smiled coyly but rolled her eyes. Everyone seemed to think there was something going on between them, but there wasn’t. They had just clicked the day he’d found her sleeping under a tree the day she’d left Bray, Amber and the others. He had invited her to join him and the rest of the tribe for dinner, but when he discovered that she could sing and dance so well he invited her to stay and perform. Since then she’d become a star attraction, she dressed all in white and wore a feathered mask (to disguise herself, just in case the Mall Rats or anyone else who knew her happened to come and watch) and always seemed to ‘disappear’ after her slot. Thanks to this she had become known as ‘The Ghost Dancer’ and audiences were enthralled by this mysterious girl and travelled from far and wide to see her. Tammy cleared her throat as she had noticed that Laigh had gone deep into thought again.

“Oops, sorry” she said sheepishly “Where is he then?” “Outside, do you want me to tell him where you are?” Tammy asked

“Sure.” Laigh smiled gratefully. Tammy left and Laigh went back to her stretching exercises and thoughts. She smiled as she thought of the day she’d got in touch with Bray and Amber and had asked them to bring the others to a performance. It was before she achieved her high status. She remembered seeing the proud faces of her cousin and his wife, whose pregnancy was just starting to show then. That had been about three months after she’d left and it was now four and a half months later, which meant that Amber must be about eight and a half months pregnant (she had been about a month pregnant when she found out), the baby was due any day soon. She remembered the others faces as well. They had looked amazingly at her, but the thing was they had no idea that the dancer just happened to be their old friend Laigh! She thought about Scott and Lucy, I wonder if those two ever finally got it together, she thought to herself. She then started to think about a certain couple that she had put to the back of her mind - her ex-love Max and Harley. She wondered if he had stayed with her after he’d discovered that she was expecting his child. She could still see his face, the look of sheer horror on it when Harley announced the news to the unsuspecting Mall Rats, who were in the midst of celebrating the marriage of Bray and Amber. Her thoughts were once again broken when Connor walked in. “Hey Laigh! I see what Tammy means about you being deep in thought!” he grinned. She smiled back at him and sat down, she was exhausted from exercising so much “I bet I can guess what you were thinking about again”

“Go ahead” she replied

“You were thinking about” he lowered his voice “Your cousin and co.” he was the only one who knew about her past and was the only one who knew her by her nickname. She had told him when he found her and she had sworn him to secrecy. She trusted him and one reason she felt so close to him was because, just like her, he was English. He had a really strong accent even though he had moved away about four years ago whereas she’d only moved away about two years ago. “Good guess” she smiled “I was thinking back to when I left them, and when we first met”

“One of the best days of my life!” he said with a sparkle in his deep hazel eyes. Laigh felt her cheeks start to burn, she put her head down quickly to hide it. It was too late though, he had noticed. “It’s OK to blush, you know” he laughed “I’m always embarrassing someone!” she laughed and looked at him, Connor was one of her best friends there. Suddenly the door swung open and there stood Cecily. She glared jealously at Laigh and Connor, sat on the floor laughing.

“Do you mind? This is a practice room, not a social place. Now if you don’t mind I’d like to practice my slot for tonight.” she said rudely. Laigh got up “Oh sorry, I forgot” she replied sarcastically “You need your practice, don’t you?” she stalked out, Connor followed, trying very hard not to laugh. Cecily had hated Laigh since day one. Before she had come along Connor had (according to her) only had eyes for her and she had been the star of the show. However according to Tammy and some of the others she had never been the star, and she wasn’t that good a dancer. And, according to Connor, he had NEVER had eyes for Cecily, but she’d always had her eye on him. It was quite scary because Cecily reminded her a lot of Harley, but a lot more vain. Connor suddenly burst out laughing

“I can’t believe you said that!” he said gasping for breath

“Well I was only being truthful” she replied honestly “And sometimes the truth hurts.” he laughed “I’ve gotta go and prepare for tonight, I’ll see ya later Leia” Laigh watched him walk away, she smiled. Connor was definitely the leader of the Minstrels, he was the one who said who was in and he arranged each night’s performance. However he always denied that he was the leader. He was a bit like a male version of Amber, she never said she was the leader of the Mall Rats but she was the one who kept them together and sorted things out. Laigh stood for a few seconds just watching some of the acrobats back-flip and cartwheel around the performing area when she heard a familiar voice call “Laigh! I’m so glad I found you!...”

Part 2

Laigh turned around and gasped as she realised who was calling her

“I’m so glad you’re here, I’ve been looking everywhere!” Bray said breathlessly. He had a huge grin on his face and sweat was rolling down his forehead. He looked as if he had been running for miles and he was obviously excited about something. Laigh ran upto him

“Bray! What are you doing here? If the others see...” she exclaimed quietly

“I know, they’ll ask questions. I HAD to come though, you would have never have forgiven me if I hadn’t...” he said excitedly

“Come on, let’s go somewhere where the others won’t see you!” she interrupted. Laigh took his hand and led him to her room, a small hut not too far from the performance area. They entered and sat down, however Bray jumped up again and started to pace around the room, he couldn’t sit still. “Now what is it? What’s made you so over-excited?” she asked.

“What?” Bray said with a confused look on his face “You don’t know? Isn’t it obvious why I’m here?” “No!” Laigh exclaimed, feeling a little tortured that her cousin wouldn’t tell her something that was evidently making him so agitated. Suddenly she realised what it was that Bray was here to tell her “Oh my...! Bray, is it Amber? She’s had the baby, hasn’t she?” Bray nodded his head ecstatically “Oh Bray! I’m so happy!” Laigh leapt up and hugged him “How is she? When did she have it? Boy or girl?” “It’s a girl! She gave birth last night, I would have come sooner but it took a while to sink in” he said proudly “She’s fine, just tired, naturally” “Oh this is brilliant!” Laigh was thrilled “Has she got a name?”

“Yeah, you are NEVER going to believe what we decided on!” he exclaimed “The others were talking about how happy you would have been if you’d still been ‘alive’, so we decided to call her Leia, after you of course! The others agreed that it was a sweet thought” Laigh was overwhelmed, so overwhelmed in fact that she burst into tears

“Oh Bray! You’re right - I can’t believe it! It’s so... So...” she couldn’t control her tears any longer. She was so happy for Bray and Amber, it was so wonderful of them to think of her. She finally calmed herself down “Look, you should be getting back, Amber will be wondering where you’ve got to!” Bray nodded. He was just leaving when Laigh remembered something. She picked up a teddy that was laying on the edge of a table “Here, for little Leia. Give Amber my love and congratulations!” Bray smiled at the teddy then at Laigh

“Thanks cus, Amber will be pleased I found you. She practically threw me out of her room this morning! Anyway, I’ll see you soon” he kissed her on the cheek and left. Laigh was feeling so pleased, that was the greatest news she’d heard in a long time. She just sat and thought about how Amber must be feeling at that moment in time. Just then there was a knock at her door

“Who is it?” she called out

“It’s me!” Connor called back, Laigh smiled “Come in, me!” she laughed. He walked in and went and sat next to her

“Was that Bray I just saw?” he asked, he had met Bray and Amber when they had come to the performance “Yes, Amber’s had the baby! A girl!” she exclaimed delightedly

“Hey great! Congratulations!” he replied, genuinely pleased

“Thanks, you’ll never guess what they’ve called her!” she grinned

“Sorry, haven’t a clue, what?” he asked

“Leia!” she announced

“After you? That’s great! Is it a kind of tribute to you for the other’s sakes?” he asked

“Yeah,” she smiled. He smiled back

“They’re really thoughtful, aren’t they?” he asked, however Laigh was lost once again in a world of her own. Connor nudged her and she jumped “Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”

“Bray and Amber, they’re very thoughtful”

“Yes they are” she sighed. There was another knock on the door and Anton called out

“Hey Leia! Are you in there?”

“Yeah,” she called to him. She opened the door and Anton was stood there, his bright green eyes flashed as he saw Connor sat on her bed

“Oh sorry if I interrupted anything...” he smiled “No you didn’t!” Leia laughed “We were just talking” Connor got up

“Actually, I’ve got to go. The crowds be flooding in to the arena in under an hour, I’ve still got a few things to sort out” he winked at Laigh and walked out, leaving Anton and Laigh stood in awkward silence. “So, what did you want?” she asked

“I was going to ask you if you’d seen Connor about, but I can see that you have...” he grinned

“There’s nothing going on, honestly!” she exclaimed exasperatedly

“OK don’t get too stressed, I was only teasing!” he took a step back “Do you want me to leave?”

“No, I was just about to come out anyway” they walked out of her room together and headed towards the area where they all relaxed after or before a performance. A small group was sat around talking, including Tammy and Sandy, who were giggling about something “Hey guys, what’s going on?”

“Oh hi Leia, nothing much’s going on, we were talking about Cecily actually”

“What about Cecily?” she asked suspiciously “What’s she been saying?”

“Nothing!” Tammy replied “It’s more what she was doing” “This sounds interesting...” Anton said, sitting down next to Tammy and slipping his arm around her waist. She smiled at him and he kissed her

“So what was Cecily doing that was so funny?” Laigh urged them

“You know when you and Connor left the practice room?” Tammy explained “Well when I was sure Cecily was well into practicing for tonight I kind of crept in to watch - it was hilarious! She’s about as graceful as an elephant!” Tammy could no longer contain herself, she got up and started to prance around, leaping and landing heavily and spinning wildly “Look at me, I’m an elegant swan!” she announced hysterically. Laigh, Anton and Sandy rolled about laughing, Tammy looked like a fool

“Tammy stop! You’ll hurt yourself if you keep landing like that! And if Cecily sees...” Laigh howled, tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard “Since when have you been bothered about her feelings?” Tammy asked, but stopped anyway “Hey Sandy, you can finish the story, I’m shattered from being so swan-like!” Sandy calmed herself and continued “Anyway, Tammy got out of there as soon as possible, she REALLY needed to laugh! She then came to find me so she could tell me what she’d seen and that made me remember something that happened a couple of days before you arrived”

“What?” Laigh asked, anything about Cecily was good to hear

“OK, picture this” Sandy leant forward “We were performing as usual, when Cecily leapt out to begin her slot. Anyway Tammy and I were feeling particularly cruel that day as she’d been being bitchy all day. So when she came on, instead of leaving the stage, we stayed on! Boy was she ever furious!”

“What happened?” Laigh gasped “I bet Connor wasn’t too pleased!”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” Tammy replied “But he was in hysterics! He had to put on a huge show of telling us off in front of Cecily but when she’d left, feeling pleased that we’d been shouted at, he cracked up and didn’t stop laughing for about an hour!” all this was too much for them all, they burst out laughing again. However, they didn’t notice Cecily walking up behind them

“What’s so funny?” she asked

“Oh nothing, we were just talking about...Swans!” Tammy shrieked. This just made them worse and Cecily looked at them angrily

“Tell me! What are you laughing at?!?” she demanded “Honestly, nothing to worry yourself about!” Laigh said breathlessly. Just then Connor ran up

“Come on everyone! The show starts in half an hour! Go and get ready!!!” he ordered. The group started to break up as everyone went to their rooms to prepare. Laigh, Anton, Tammy and Sandy all stood up

“Meet you out here in fifteen minutes?” Anton asked as he walked backwards towards his room

“Sure! See ya all later!” Tammy shouted over her shoulder as she started to walk away

“Yeah see you soon!” Sandy walked off too.

“I bet I’m the last one back!” Laigh started to run to her room. Cecily stood alone, glaring nastily at Laigh “I know you’re behind this Leia” she muttered to herself “You just wait, one of these days you’re gonna be sorry that you ever came here...”

Part 3

“Leia? Hey Laigh, are you in there?” Connor was knocking on the door of Laigh’s room.

“Yeah, come on in. I could do with your help anyway” Laigh called out. Connor sauntered in casually, but as he did a look of confusion came onto his face.

“Laigh? Where are you?” he asked. Laigh stood up from behind her bed, the front of her white leotard was covered in dust.

“Sorry, I seem to have misplaced my mask, you haven’t seen it, have you?” she asked, brushing the dust off of her. Connor looked guilty

“I kind of, borrowed it.” he confessed “It was starting to look a little shabby so...” he handed her the mask. She gasped with surprise when she saw it. He had totally re-made it, now not only did have the white feathers, but it had silver glitter on it. She hugged Connor and exclaimed

“Thank you! It’s great! But now I’m going to add some finishing touches to myself!” she grabbed a pot of glitter off of her dressing table and shook it all over her hair, she then added some silver makeup to go with the white that she already had on “What d’ya think?” she asked as she put the mask on, Connor smiled.

“You look fabulous” he replied. There was a bang on the door

“You were right, you were the last!” Tammy giggled. Laigh smiled and rolled her eyes as she opened the door

“Told ya, didn’t I?” she teased

“Oh, hi Connor” Tammy said in a sing-song voice, Laigh pulled a face at her

“Now now, there’s no time for arguing, it’s show-time!” Connor announced. He danced out of the room, closely followed by the two girls.

“I’ve got some news,” Tammy whispered “I think Cecily heard what we were saying earlier”

“You’re kidding!” Laigh gasped “How?”

“I don’t like to tell tales, but I think we’ve got a rat in our midst” she pointed towards Michaela, who was standing with Cecily

“Oh no, how did she overhear?” Laigh groaned

“Well we weren’t exactly being quiet, were we?” Tammy sighed. Connor turned around and called out to the tribe

“OK guys, just do your best out there, you’ll be great! Acrobats? Get going, you’re on first!” Tammy looked apologetically at Laigh and ran off to catch up with the others. Cecily shot a deadly look at Laigh, she turned away. She knew that Cecily was up to something. Connor noticed that Laigh was troubled about something

“Hey, are you feeling alright?” Connor put his hand on her shoulder, she jumped a little and then looked at him

“Yeah I’m fine” she said a little unsurely. He knew she wasn’t OK, but he had to go and check on the show “You’re on in five minutes Leia, I’ll be watching.” he walked away. Cecily strolled up to Laigh and whispered “I know there’s something going on between you and Connor, and I know your little secret - Laigh.” she smiled and walked off with Michaela. Laigh went pale, how did Cecily know her nickname? When she said she knew her little ‘secret’ - did she mean that she knew about her past? She shook her head and started to jog towards the performance area, she couldn’t let Cecily get to her...

“And now, here she is! The moment you’ve all been waiting for - the mysterious Ghost Dancer!” Anton announced. The crowds started to cheer as Laigh spun out onto the stage. She was determined that this performance would go smoothly, without a flaw. She jumped and spun her way through the music. The audience were astounded. She was flying through the air as she leapt perfectly. However when she landed she slipped on something and her ankle twisted under her. She fell to the floor in agony. Connor ran out in a panic

“Leia! Are you OK?” he asked anxiously

“No, I’ve hurt my ankle, I slipped” she groaned with pain. The audience were getting impatient, they started to boo wildly. “Carry on, everyone will want their things back” Connor nodded and told the next person to go on

“What happened?” he asked confusedly

“I don’t know, I just...Tripped” she replied just as confused as him. Connor’s expression changed as he noticed something. He reached over and picked up a bottle

“Do you think this is what you could have tripped over?” he asked, she just nodded. She was too upset to speak, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to dance for a while. Connor noticed how sad she was and hugged her “Everything will be fine, now let’s get you somewhere else” he lifted her up gently and carried her to the chilling-out area.

The show was finally over, Laigh was relieved, she felt so miserable about everything. Rochelle had told her that she’d got a bad sprain, and wouldn’t be able to dance for a couple of weeks. Connor was furious, he knew that it hadn’t been an accident, someone had put that bottle there on purpose.

“Right! I want to know who did this NOW!” he shouted angrily. The others stood in stunned silence. They’d never heard Connor so mad. “We’ve lost our best dancer, our star attraction, for two whole weeks! What are we going to do?” The others were still too shocked to speak. Laigh was getting more upset because of the way Connor was acting.

“Connor, please, it was an accident, OK?” she begged him

“No! I’m going to get to the bottom of this!” he said angrily “Right, there’s only one way that we’re going to find out who did this - I’m cancelling all shows until the culprit confesses!” he stormed off. The others started to talk at once - would Connor REALLY do that? What if no one EVER confessed? Laigh was shocked that Connor would go to those lengths just to find out who did it. She jumped up and hobbled as quickly as she could on her crutches to catch him up “Connor! Don’t please!” Laigh pleaded “The other’s shouldn’t pay for one person’s mistake!” he turned and looked at her, his hazel eyes flashed

“Laigh, whoever it was made you look like a fool today, you want them to carry on while you have to sit around feeling miserable?”

“YES!” Laigh shouted “I do! I don’t think it’s fair! We’ll lose precious food and water if we don’t carry on because no one will trade for nothing, will they?” Connor sighed.

“You’re right, OK the show will go on, I promise.” she smiled at him

“Thanks, you’re a star!” she kissed him on the cheek and he blushed, she winked “See, you’re not the only one who can embarrass people!” Laigh was sat in her room with her ankle propped up, Tammy walked in. Laigh had asked her to come and see her so she knew just to walk in.

“What is it Leia?” she asked

“I just wanted someone to talk to” she sighed “I bored” “You’ll be even more bored when we’re performing” Tammy replied

“I know, Tammy?” Laigh noticed a troubled look in Tammy’s eye

“Yeah?” she asked

“What’s up?” Tammy sat down next to Laigh and the troubled look turned into an angry glare “I know who did it” she muttered nastily

“Who?” Laigh asked gently

“Isn’t it obvious?!?” Tammy exclaimed

confusedly “Cecily, that’s who! She thinks that it was you that started those stories this afternoon”

“What?!? That’s crazy! She wouldn’t stoop this low, would she?” Laigh exclaimed

“You don’t know her very well then, she’s driven one person out already, she’ll do it again, I can tell you.” Tammy punched the bed “She’s gonna pay for this, I promise”

“Don’t! It’ll only make you as bad as her if it is Cecily who did this!” Laigh begged, but Tammy’s mind was made up, Cecily was NOT getting away with this, no way...

Part 4

Two days had passed since the incident and Laigh was bored. She was sat at the side of the stage watching Cecily dance. The music ended and the audience applauded as she took her bow. As she left the stage she smiled smugly at Laigh. She narrowed her eyes back as she walked past, she wished that she could be on the stage dancing instead of sat at the side with her ankle propped up. Tammy noticed her glaring nastily at Cecily and went up to her.

“If looks could kill...” Tammy started

“I wish!” Laigh sighed, Tammy smiled at her

“Anyway, you look bored and I’m here to cheer you up!” she announced. Laigh smiled thankfully

“Thanks, I could do with it” her facial expression changed from one of gratefulness to one of sheer frustration “Oh I’m so fed up! I want to dance! I mean, Connor must have gone crazy, why has he put Cecily on in my spot?” Tammy smiled understandingly.

“I know what you mean, I wonder how she managed to persuade him?”

“She didn’t need to persuade him, he asked, no begged, her to take your place” Michaela came walking past

“Don’t be stupid, he wouldn’t do a thing like that!” Tammy exclaimed

“Well he did, ask him yourself if you don’t believe me” Michaela gestured towards Connor, who was walking towards them

“Hey guys, what’s up?” he grinned. Michaela sauntered off, saying over her shoulder

“Now’s your chance” Connor looked puzzled

“What’s she on about?” he asked

“Is it true, Connor?” Tammy demanded to know

“What?!?” Connor was so confused he almost shouted “That you asked Cecily to take my spot!” Laigh blurted out. Connor’s eyes sank to look at his feet.

“It’s true... Sorry Leia, she was the only person who I could get away with moving” however, this wasn’t a good enough excuse for Laigh

“Why didn’t you give someone else a chance for once?!? Like Tammy or Anton? They pull their weight a lot more than her, and they’ve got more talent too and all they get to do is perform in groups or announce others!” Laigh shouted angrily

“I just didn’t think, I panicked when you sprained your ankle” he said quietly, still looking at the ground. Laigh was disgusted though. She got up and hobbled away to the chilling-out area.

Laigh sat in a huff, everyone could see that she was in a very bad mood and so kept their distance. That is everyone except for Rochelle, she wandered up to Laigh and sat down next to her.

“Leia? How are you feeling?” she asked gently “Terrible.” announced Laigh, Rochelle sighed and asked “So terrible that you won’t do me a favour?” Laigh looked at her and forced a smile

“No, not that terrible. What can I do for you?”

“You couldn’t look after Taylor, could you?” she asked, almost apologetically “Y’see I’ve gotta go into the city to do something...”

“Of course I will!” Laigh interrupted. Rochelle smiled gratefully

“Great! He’s in his room, I told him to wait there. Thank you sooooo much, you know how I hate to take him into the city, if I lost him...” she jumped up and set off on her journey “I won’t be too long, I promise!” Laigh also got up, but much more slowly. She limped to Taylor’s room. Taylor was Rochelle’s four-year-old brother, he had only been a baby when the virus had killed the adults and so he didn’t remember his parents, Rochelle was very protective of him and sometimes acted as if he were her own. However she had told him about his mum and dad, but he was too young to understand what had happened. She walked in calling out

“Hi Taylor! Your aunty Leia’s here!” Taylor ran to her and hugged her legs.

“Leia! What are you doing here? Are you looking for ‘Elle?” Taylor called his sister ‘Elle as he had always thought Rochelle was a mouthful. Laigh picked him up and sat down, putting him on her lap.

“No, I’m looking after you!” she announced and his face lit up “So, what do you want to do?”

“Can I go to Anton for another lesson?” Anton was giving Taylor dancing lessons. Laigh grinned

“Sure! C’mon then, let’s go and find him, that’s if he’s not too busy” he jumped off her lap and she got up and took hold of his hand as they left the room. “Anton!” Taylor screamed happily and ran to him. Anton picked him up and spun him around

“Hey there Taylor! Come for a lesson?” Taylor nodded excitedly “Well I’ve got plenty of spare time at the moment, so let’s go!” he waved to Laigh

“Thanks Anton!” she called

“No problem Leia!” he called back as they headed towards the practice room. Laigh sat down and looked up at the sky, suddenly she found herself in someone’s shadow. She turned around to find Cecily stood over her.

“What do you want?” she asked

“Just to talk” Cecily said sweetly, too sweetly. She sat down next to her “How’s your ankle?”

“Fine,” Laigh replied suspiciously “Now what do you want?”

“Like I said, to talk, Laigh” Cecily said casually “Now, how’s Bray? Oh and Amber, and their little daughter? Isn’t it nice, I bet you’re REALLY pleased for them...” Laigh’s eyes widened when she realised what she was saying

“How do you know?” she demanded in a lowered voice “Oh, I happened to be passing by your room when Bray came on his little visit. He’s cute, isn’t he? Who is he?”

“He’s my cousin, PLEASE you can’t tell ANYONE about this!” she begged

“Why should I keep it to myself?” asked Cecily nastily “Oh yes, of course, your reputation...” she got up and walked away “See you later, Laigh” She couldn’t take it anymore, she stormed off to her room and lay on her bed crying, why had this had to happen? Now Cecily would tell Lois, the biggest gossip of the tribe, and by that evening the whole tribe would know. Then she’d have to tell them the truth about her past. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Leia? It’s me, I came to apologise...” Connor said sheepishly

“Come in, we need to talk anyway” she sighed. He walked in and noticed straight away that she’d been crying

“What’s wrong Laigh sweetheart?” he asked with concern

“It’s awful Connor, Cecily knows!” she exclaimed worriedly

“What does she know?” he asked, his face had gone pale, he knew what was coming next

“About Bray and Amber! And my nick-name!” she sobbed, he held her and said

“Oh no! That’s awful!” Connor exclaimed

“It’s worse than that, she’s going to tell everyone, I know she is!” she sobbed harder. He held her and there was another knock on the door and Rochelle called “Leia, I’m back!” Laigh dried her eyes and opened the door, Rochelle smiled

“Where’s the little monster then? How’s he been?”

“I wouldn’t know, he’s been with Anton having a dancing lesson” Laigh explained

“Oh OK, I’ll go and try the practice room then”

Rochelle replied. Laigh and Connor walked with her and talked about Rochelle’s trip to the city. When they reached the practice room Anton was stood outside - alone.

“Hey you guys, where’s Taylor?” he asked. Rochelle looked confused

“I thought he was having a lesson with you?” she replied

“He did, I sent him back to Leia’s room” he answered. Rochelle’s face went pale and she turned to Connor “Could you get the tribe together to see if anyone’s seen him, he’s probably with one of the other girls” she said calmly. Connor called

“Everyone, could you come here for a minute?” the entire tribe wandered to where Connor, Rochelle, Laigh and Anton were stood. “Has anyone seen Taylor?” the group looked at each other and there was a lot of murmuring. Everyone shook their heads. It felt like there was a boulder in Laigh’s stomach

“Oh no...” she murmured

“NO!!!!” screamed Rochelle suddenly “Where is he? He can’t be missing, please no!” she started to sob uncontrollably. Anton and Connor tried to comfort her. Laigh couldn’t do anything, she felt so guilty - it was all her fault, she shouldn’t have gone off like that, she should have waited for Taylor and Anton to finish and then he wouldn’t be gone. She stood, frozen to the spot.

Part 5

“OK guys, keep calm please” Connor took hold of the situation “We’ve gotta find Taylor, he can’t be far. Anton, when did you send him to Leia?”

“Not long ago, about ten minutes before Rochelle came to see me” Anton replied, he looked so ashamed and guilty. Laigh thought that he shouldn’t let blame himself - it was all her fault for not staying with them and letting Cecily get to her like that. Rochelle was sobbing her heart out while Tammy tried to comfort her. Tammy looked at Laigh worriedly, she knew that if they didn’t find Taylor soon, who knows what Rochelle could do? The tribe was in uproar, everyone was talking at once and Connor was trying his best to keep control

“Shut up people! I’m trying to sort this out as best as I can without you lot panicking about it” the noise dropped. “That’s better. Now, we’re gonna split into two groups. Tammy, Anton? You take one and go and look in the fields nearby, myself and Leia will search the woods.”

“Connor?” Laigh interrupted “I can’t, my ankle. I’ll stay with Rochelle, OK?” Connor nodded

“OK Leia, Sandy? You’ll help lead my group instead.”

Sandy nodded and the tribe split itself into two parties and headed off to search. Rochelle had stopped crying and was just sat. Her eyes were wide with shock and she was as white as a sheet. Laigh didn’t know what to do, she gingerly walked up to her and said

“Come on Rochelle, you could do with a cup of tea” Rochelle got up and they went to her room.

Rochelle and Laigh were sat sipping cups of tea in silence. Laigh couldn’t think of a thing to say and Rochelle was too shocked to say anything. But suddenly she dropped her cup, spilling hot tea everywhere and leapt up

“This is all your fault Leia!” she shouted accusingly “If you hadn’t have gone off and left Taylor with Anton then he would never had gone missing!” tears were rolling down her cheeks “No! Please, I know it’s my fault! It was irresponsible of me to leave!” Laigh was distraught “It’s not just your fault, Anton should have walked him back to your room, I blame both of you!” she was so angry, but it was really the shock that was making her blame them. “Now leave me alone! I NEVER want to see your face AGAIN!” she screamed, pointing at the door. Laigh, who was now close to tears, ran out of the room, Rochelle slammed the door behind her. Laigh didn’t stop running, even though her ankle hurt a great deal. She ran to the woods and started to cry against a tree. She was so miserable, she couldn’t go back, could she? She decided that the only way to get Rochelle to be friends with her again was to try and find Taylor herself, she started to wander deeper into the woods when suddenly she heard Connor’s distinct voice calling

“Taylor! Taylor, where are you?” he stopped when he saw a very distressed Laigh standing nearby. “Laigh! What are you doing here?”

“Rochelle blames me and Anton for Taylor’s disappearance” she explained “She told me to leave and so I thought I’d come and help search.” she suddenly crumpled up and burst into tears again “I know it’s all my fault! It was just when Rochelle said it...”

“It’s not your fault at all Leia, honestly” Connor sighed, and started to comfort her. He noticed that he’d been doing this a lot recently. “We all make mistakes sometime in our lives, you know that”

“Well how come I make them more than others?” she asked “I mean, look at my life - first of all the virus, then my boyfriend cheats on me with the worst person possible, then I leave all my friends and family behind, now this...” she sobbed into his shoulder and he just held her

“We’ll find him, I promise...” he assured her. Suddenly there was a cry and Meg appeared from nowhere “Connor! Leia? What are you doing here?” she asked “What is it Meg?” Connor asked excitedly

“It’s Taylor! We’ve found him!” she exclaimed. Connor grinned at Laigh

“See? What did I say?” she breathed a sigh of relief “There’s one thing though,” Meg said more seriously “He’s unconscious, Sandy thinks he slipped and fell” Connor looked at Laigh, who once again looked worried

“I hope he’s going to be OK” she said anxiously “I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Connor replied optimistically.

Back at the camp. Taylor was laying in his bed, while Rochelle sat keeping watch of him. She was exhausted but wouldn’t sleep until she knew her brother was going to be alright

“I think he tripped over the root of a tree and banged his head” Tammy whispered to Laigh, who were stood along with Anton at the door “He should be OK” she smiled at Laigh reassuringly and gave Anton a quick kiss before leaving. Anton turned to Laigh and said “I feel so terrible, if only I’d gone back with him...” Laigh smiled

“It’s my fault, I should have stayed” she sighed. Rochelle shot them a look.

“Both of you are to blame. You know that.” she snapped then looked softly at Taylor, who was still outcold. Someone tapped Laigh on the shoulder, she turned to find Meg stood behind her

“Connor wants to see you, he’s in his room.” Laigh nodded and said goodbye to Anton. She was terrified as she walked towards Connor’s room, she had an awful feeling that she knew what Connor wanted her for - he was going to ask her to leave. But what would she do? She’d have to find somewhere to stay and a new tribe probably. She knocked on his door and waited for him to shout

“Enter!” in his usual way before she let herself in. Connor was sat in an armchair. He smiled at her and gestured towards the seat opposite him. She sat down in it and stared at him.

“Meg said you wanted to see me” she told him.

“Yes I did, I need to ask you something.” he sighed. She was now certain that he was going to tell her to go.

“Connor, I know what you’re about to ask me...” she started

“You do?” Connor asked, surprised. This confused Laigh, why was he acting like this when it was obvious that he was throwing her out?

“Yes, and if you want me to, then that’s fine” she sighed

“Erm, you’ve lost me Laigh, if I want you to what?” he asked

“Leave, of course.” she said knowingly “I made a big mistake and no one will forgive me for it, I know that”

“Wait a moment, you thought I was going to kick you out?” he asked her, shocked “What and lose my star dancer? No way!” Laigh looked so relieved that Connor couldn’t help but laugh. “No, don’t be stupid! They’ll forgive you, I promise. “

“Well what did you want to ask me then?” Laigh asked, perplexed.

“Well...” Connor started “I’ve been thinking recently...”

“About what?” Laigh asked suspiciously

“About how much you mean to me, and the rest of the tribe.” he replied “And how much the tribe means to you”

“It means the world to me!” Laigh exclaimed “What are you getting at?”

“I’ve been snowed under recently as you know, and well I think it’s starting to get to me. So...” he stopped deliberately

“So what?!?” Laigh asked, she was bewildered. “How would you like to be joint leader?” he asked. Laigh gasped, he was asking HER to be joint leader?

“Are you sure?” she asked

“Never been so sure in my life about anything.” he said firmly

“I’ll have to think about it...” she replied

“Take all the time you need!” he smiled. Laigh got up “I’ll go and think about it now, see you soon.” she grinned, she couldn’t believe it

“Bye Laigh!” he replied. She felt as if her feet had left the ground as she walked back to her room, what an opportunity! Joint leader! Bray would be proud of her, that’s if she decided to take it, it was a lot of work to take on. She was just opening her door when she heard

“Leia? We need to talk.” Rochelle walked up to her, hesitantly “I need to apologise, Taylor’s woken up...”

“Great!” Laigh exclaimed “How is he?”

“Fine, he told me what happened. Apparently he was heading for your room when someone came up to him and told him that you’d gone into the woods, he thought he’d go and look for you there. If he knew it was a lie he would never had gone. The person who told him was...” she paused “Cecily.”

“Cecily?!?” exclaimed Laigh “I should have known!”

“I’m going to Connor to tell him.” Rochelle

said “Anyway, I hope you can forgive me”

“Of course I can! See ya and good luck!” Laigh called to her. She was just about to open her door again when Cecily pounced

“Aaah Laigh, I’m glad I caught you. I see Rochelle’s told you about my little joke” she said

“It wasn’t very funny!” Laigh snapped

“And now she’s going to tell Connor. And that means I’ll get in trouble, and if I get in trouble, do you want to know what I’m going to do?” Cecily asked

“What?” Laigh asked suspiciously

“You know Lois? Well, I’m going to tell her your little secret and everyone will know by tomorrow night. Anyway bye, Leia.” she sauntered off. Laigh was left alone, what was she going to do? Let Cecily get into trouble or face the truth, before Cecily told her secret?...

Part 6

Laigh’s ankle suddenly felt stronger as Cecily walked off. She started to sprint as quickly as she could to Connor’s room. However, she stumbled over on her ankle which slowed her down. So by the time she reached his room Rochelle was leaving.

“Thanks Connor” she said, sounding slightly relieved “No problem, Rochelle. I’ll deal with it tomorrow” Connor replied. Rochelle smiled at Laigh as she walked off. Connor saw Laigh’s worried face “What’s wrong?” he asked

“Can I come in? There’s something you need to know...” she began. Connor nodded and she stepped in. He shut the door as Laigh sat herself down

“Now, what is it Laigh?” he asked again. He looked exhausted and from the tone of his voice he was a little fed up with people bothering him

“I know you must be tired, but I HAD to tell you this” Laigh started again “You can’t punish Cecily for Taylor’s disappearance!”

“Laigh, I’ve got to! What Cecily did is totally unacceptable, if something had happened to Taylor...” he looked at Laigh’s pleading face “Anyway, even if I could let Cecily get away with it, I’ve promised Rochelle now.” Laigh’s face was full of anxiety.

“Please, you can’t! She’ll tell Lois about Bray and Amber if she gets into trouble, then she’ll spread the news and then I’ll have to tell everyone what really happened before I came here!” up until now, Laigh had got away with just saying that she’d just left her old tribe because she had felt she hadn’t fitted in. If she had to go and now tell them the real story, would anyone trust her again? Connor knew what she was getting at.

“I’m sorry Laigh, I really am!” Connor begged “But a promise is a promise...” Laigh just shook her head then glared at him.

“No, it obviously doesn’t matter.” she snapped “If you can’t respect me, then how will anyone else if I’m joint leader?” she got up and left before Connor could speak. She stormed off to her room to try and get some sleep, as she walked in she wondered what the next day would bring...

The next morning finally came. Laigh wandered out of her room, worn out from lack of sleep. The others were sat around eating breakfast. Laigh went to sit with Tammy, Anton, Sandy and Meg. As she sat down Meg leant towards her and asked

“Have you heard the news?” Laigh gave her a puzzled look

“It depends what you’re talking about” she replied “That Cecily told Taylor you were in the woods with Connor, so he went to find you!” she exclaimed

“Isn’t it awful?” Sandy said “How could someone, even if they are as nasty as Cecily, tell a little child a lie like that?”

“Who knows?” Laigh replied “Yeah, I knew because Rochelle came to apologise last night before she went to see Connor about it”

“Yeah, she came to see me this morning” Anton said “She was too tired to come and find me last night, poor girl”

“Yeah, anyway have you heard what’s happened now?” Tammy asked

“No, what?” Laigh felt her heart start to pound

“Cecily’s been sent to Connor’s room to talk” she said in a hushed voice. Laigh felt the colour rush out of her cheeks.

“Are you OK, Laigh? You gone awfully pale all of a sudden” Meg asked concernedly

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t get much sleep last night that’s all” she tried to smile but found it very difficult, but it must have worked because Meg had started to chat to Sandy about something. Tammy moved to sit next to Laigh and whispered

“I KNOW that it was Cecily that set you up to fall on stage as well”

“Oh Tammy, it was an accident, OK?” Laigh sighed exasperatedly, Tammy was always jumping to conclusions, usually involving Cecily in some way. “No it wasn’t! You know Connor’s rule - no bottles or other objects to be left on or near the stage at any time” she recited “And you know everyone sticks to that rule, the only person stupid enough to break it is Cecily!”

“Maybe someone was having a bad day and forgot the rule - it happens, you know” Laigh sighed again.

“No! I WON’T forget it, OK? Something needs to be done about Cecily, and if Connor won’t do anything...” she began but couldn’t finish as Cecily had just walked out of Connor’s room. She looked furious. Michaela jumped up and ran to her

“Cecily! What happened?” she asked sympathetically “I’m not allowed to perform for three weeks.” she grumbled. Tammy’s face lit up, Cecily noticed and glared at her. Connor stuck his head out of his room and called

“Tammy? Anton? Could I see you for a moment?” they got up and walked into his room. Cecily walked over to Laigh

“I’ve changed my mind about telling Lois” she whispered “You have?” Laigh said with a sigh of relief

“Yes. I’m going to tell everyone myself” she announced to her.

She stood in the centre of the group and shouted “Could I have everyone’s attention? I have an announcement to make...” suddenly she stopped and started to stare. Everyone turned to see what she was looking at. Liam and Damon were stood there, with them was a seriously cute guy.

“Hey you guys! We’d like you to meet someone!” Damon said

“This is Marco, he’s an old friend of ours, and a great musician!” Liam finished. Marco flashed a sweet smile at everyone. Laigh looked at Cecily, who had obviously forgotten about her ‘announcement’ and was melting away.

“Erm, you were going to say something Cecily?” Sandy asked

“Oh, it doesn’t matter” she replied, a huge grin on her face. She stepped towards Marco “Hi I’m Cecily, pleased to meet you” Marco looked at his friend’s for help

“Let’s go and find Connor, you’ll need to audition” Damon said quickly. They turned and rushed to Connor’s room before Cecily could say anything else.

Marco wasn’t just a ‘great’ musician - he was brilliant! Laigh, Petra, who was another of the dancers, and Meg were sat watching him play the guitar “He’s brill!” Petra commented

“Yeah, Connor will snap him up definitely!” Meg added “As well as being cute” Laigh grinned

“Yeah, did you see Cecily? I’ve never seen her like that!” Petra laughed

“I wonder what that announcement was?” Meg said out loud

“Oh I’m sure it was nothing” Laigh said quickly and as Damon and Liam walked up saw the perfect opportunity to change the subject “Wow! He’s good!” she exclaimed “Thanks, Connor’s said he can join!” Damon said happily

“That’s great! I bet you’re both pleased” they nodded. Petra and Meg decided to go for a walk and left just as Marco walked up.

“Well? What did he say?” he asked nervously, sitting down beside Laigh

“You’re in!” Liam exclaimed. Marco’s face lit up “Welcome to the Wandering Minstrels!” Laigh said warmly, he flashed that smile at her.

“Marco? This is Leia” Damon introduced them. Marco grinned at Laigh again

“Nice to meet you, Leia”

“Nice to meet you too!” she smiled. He is soooo cute, thought Laigh to herself. She snapped out of it as Connor walked up

“I hope you’ll enjoy it here. What made you decide to come anyway?” he asked

“Well my step-sister said it was a great tribe and when I found out Liam and Damon were here I decided I’d give it a go!” he replied. They all laughed for some reason.

“Hey we’ll give you tour of the place!” Damon exclaimed, and so Damon, Marco and Liam left. Laigh found herself alone with Connor, she had been doing a lot of thinking while she had been watching Marco play “Connor...” she sighed. At the exact same moment Connor sighed

“Leia...” they smiled at each other and Laigh stood up. Her face became serious

“Look, I want to say sorry about last night” she said apologetically

“It’s OK, I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything” he sighed “You did, asking Marco to join was great! Cecily totally fancies him! It should keep her off of my back for a while” she laughed, then that serious expression returned “Connor, I’ve decided. If you still want me to be joint leader, I’d love to take the post!” Connor’s face brightened

“You do? That’s brilliant!” he hugged her and spun her around as they laughed again. They stopped and looked at each other, they both grinned and Laigh had an awful feeling she knew what was coming next. Connor leant in to kiss her but suddenly

“Connor! Thank goodness we’ve found you!” Tammy exclaimed as she and Anton came running up. Laigh didn’t know whether to feel relieved or exasperated. “What’s wrong?” he asked, slightly annoyed at the interruptance

“Marco’s step-sister’s here to see him!” Anton said breathlessly “You are NEVER gonna believe who she is!...”

Part 7

Connor and Laigh looked at Tammy and Anton with confusion

“Come on! You are going to be so shocked!” Tammy started to run, closely followed by Anton. Intrigued, Laigh and Connor ran after them to where a girl was stood. As they came a stop Laigh noticed that Connor’s jaw had practically hit the ground and Tammy and Anton were grinning. Laigh looked at the girl. She had wavy flame-red hair that tumbled to her waist, wrapped around her forehead was a piece of fabric which just touched her right shoulder. She was wearing a loose-fitting top, multicoloured flares and a pair of sandals. Her clear blue eyes danced as she smiled at Connor

“Surprise!” she said. Connor started to choke suddenly “Dove?” he finally managed to splutter. She smiled and opened out her arms to him, into which he ran to hug her.

“What are you doing here?” he exclaimed

“I came to see if my step-brother had arrived yet” she replied

“You mean Marco? Yes! He arrived this morning, and he passed the audition easily” he laughed “Oh this is such a shock! I thought I’d never see you again!” they hugged some more. Laigh looked at Tammy with a look of mystification, Tammy noticed Laigh’s facial expression and walked up to her

“Who’s she?” she asked quietly. Tammy gasped

“Of course! I’m sorry, I forgot she left before you arrived! That’s Dove, the love of Connor’s life before...” Tammy stopped herself “Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that...”

“Told me what?” Laigh asked “That Dove and Connor were an item? Look, Tammy, for the last time there is NOTHING going on between me and Connor!” however, Laigh couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Dove and Connor, who were still laughing and chatting away. “Now what were you going to say before you stopped so abruptly?”

“What?” Tammy had forgotten what she was saying “You said that she was the love of Connor’s life before something, but you stopped before you said what” Laigh reminded her. Tammy remembered

“Oh yeah, I know what I was going to say! Do you remember the day you sprained your ankle? I told you that Cecily had driven someone out of the tribe before?” Laigh nodded “Well that was Dove.”

“Why?” Laigh asked

“It’s a long story...” Tammy sighed. Connor and Dove had stopped talking,

“Who’s this Con?” Dove asked, obviously meaning Laigh. Connor smacked his hand against his forehead

“I’m so sorry! Dove this is Leia” he introduced and stepped over to stand next to her “Our star attraction and newly-appointed joint leader!” he grinned at Laigh, who stuck her hand out to Dove

“It’s nice to meet you Dove” she said politely as they shook hands

“Star attraction?” asked Dove “You’re the Ghost Dancer?” Laigh nodded proudly “Wow! I’ve seen you dance, you’re good!”

“Thanks!” Laigh replied, Connor was puzzled

“You’ve been to a show? I haven’t seen you”

“I’ve been to three! I hide myself so there’s no fuss, I don’t want Cecily to see me...” Dove began but stopped when she saw Marco running up “Marco! Here you are!”

“Hey Dove! I made it, I’m part of the greatest tribe alive!” he said excitedly

“I wouldn’t call it that, you’ll make Connor’s head swell!” Laigh laughed. Connor pushed her playfully but couldn’t help laughing himself. Dove smiled and said “I hope you’ll look after him, I’d better get going...”

“No don’t please! The other’s would love to see you!” Connor and Tammy exclaimed at the same time, Dove look a little nervous at the thought of seeing the tribe again

“I don’t know... What about Cecily?” she said apprehensively

“Oh she won’t say anything, especially when she finds out who your step-brother is...” Laigh smiled cunningly, glancing at Marco

“Oh, no way!?! Cecily fancies Marco?” Dove exclaimed “I’m afraid so, you’d better watch yourself” Laigh said to Marco

“I will, thanks for the warning” he replied flashing another one of those smiles in her direction. Laigh felt her head spin, she hadn’t felt like that since she’d been with Max! Perhaps she was as bad as Cecily, but who could help it? Marco was friendly, warm and not to mention totally gorgeous!

The group walked to the chilling-out area together, chatting. The tribe members who were sat around were already eating

“Hey you’re late!” Petra exclaimed “I dished dinner up about ten minutes ago! You’ll have to help

yourselves...” her voice faded as she noticed Dove “Oh my...”

“Dove?!?” Rochelle and Sandy screamed at the same time. It didn’t take long for the riot to start after that, everyone wanted to hug Dove and talk to her at the same time. Soon Connor and Laigh had managed to calm them down.

“OK, I have a couple of announcements to make!” Connor said loudly “OK the first is that Dove had come to visit Marco, who is her step-brother, and she’s staying for dinner” the tribe started to cheer “And,” Connor continued “The final announcement is that I would like to introduce you to our new joint leader - Leia!” Laigh stood up and smiled, this was followed by more cheering and then silence, as Cecily made an entrance.

“What’s going on here?” she asked moodily

“Hi Cecily” Dove said

“What are you doing here? How dare you come back!” Cecily shouted and stormed off again, followed by Michaela and Lois. Dove looked sad, Laigh noticed and went to sit next to her

“Just ignore her Dove, you should know that” she said gently

“I know, but I just wish that we could get on!” she sighed.

“Do you mind me asking, what exactly happened between you two anyway?” Laigh asked cautiously

“Don’t you know? Then I’ll tell you.” Dove began “Once upon a time I was part of this tribe, Connor and I were happily in love and everything was perfect” she sighed again “Well it was until Cecily decided that I wasn’t good enough for Connor.”

“What did she do?” Laigh asked

“She accused me of trying to hurt her. She thought of EVERYTHING - witnesses, stories, you name she did it” Dove looked sadly at Laigh “In the end I couldn’t take anymore of her and I left”

“You poor thing! You must have been heart-broken, having to leave Connor like that.” Laigh exclaimed “I was, and Connor was gutted” she stopped “Sorry, I can’t go on”

“That’s OK, Dove.” Laigh smiled reassuringly “Why don’t we eat?” I think we’re going to become friends, thought Laigh.

A while later, Dove, Connor and Marco were sat talking when Cecily stalked up again

“You still here? I thought you would have gone by now” she said nastily

“Actually, she’s staying for a while, just to make sure Marco settles in” Connor replied casually

“Oh poor Connor, had darling Dove got a new man in her life?” Cecily taunted “I bet you’re so upset” this angered Marco a lot

“Actually she’s my step-sister, try getting your facts right before you start accusing!” he snapped “Oh yeah I forgot, you like to accuse people of things they haven’t done don’t you?” Cecily turned bright red and rushed away. Connor smiled

“You’re going to become a big favourite on camp if you keep being like that with Cecily!” he laughed and got up “Anyway I’ll leave you two to talk for a bit!” he walked away and Dove turned to her step-brother.

“So, what do you think so far?” she asked

“It’s great! Everyone’s really great, well apart from Cecily” he said enthusiastically “I think I’m gonna like it here!”

“Anyone you particularly like?” Dove asked

“Connor’s great, so are Liam and Damon, and Anton’s pretty friendly” he replied

“What about the girls?” Dove hinted

“They’re friendly enough” he smiled

“Come on, I know you’re hiding something!” she exclaimed “How about... Leia?” Marco turned slightly red

“She’s so sweet, I really like her” he admitted

“I think she likes you too” Dove replied

“You do?” he asked “How can you tell?”

“There’s just something about her, that’s all” she smiled secretively “You’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure...”

Part 8

It was a week later and Laigh was skipping happily to the practice room. Rochelle had told her that her ankle was now strong enough to dance on again and so she was eager to start practicing for that afternoon’s show. She was just walking into the room when someone tapped on the shoulder.

“You’re in a good mood!” Marco said over her shoulder. She turned and grinned

“My ankle’s better! I can dance again!” she announced with a little jump to prove it

“Hey that’s brilliant news!” he replied, putting his arm around her in a friendly manner, which made Laigh feel a little faint “Do you mind if I watch?”

“No, I’d be glad of the company actually” she told him, and so she began to practice.

Connor and Dove were walking towards the practice room themselves. They had spent a lot of time together that past week, reminiscing about old times.

“I still can’t believe you’re here!” he said with awe, for about the hundredth time that morning

“I know, you keep saying!” Dove laughed “It feels strange to be back though, it’s almost as if I’d never left.” Connor smiled understandingly.

“It must have been a tough decision to come and see Marco after all of the trouble” Dove sighed and looked at the ground

“It was, I didn’t know how the others would react, especially Cecily... And you.” she looked at him. “Why were you worried about how I would react?” he asked, slightly dumbfounded.

“Well, I thought you’d be mad - I mean, I walked out on you.” she admitted “It wasn’t only that though, I was worried you’d... You’d have found someone else” Connor looked at her with an honest glow in his eyes “I couldn’t move on Dove” he confessed

“Really? Not even when Leia joined?” she asked

“Why does everyone automatically think that Leia and I are together?” he exclaimed “I know it annoys her as much as it annoys me. We’ve got a lot in common and we trust each other, she’s told me a lot of things she doesn’t want the others to know and I supported her when she first came here.” he sighed frustratedly. Then calmed himself as he said “The truth is Dove that I had this feeling you’d...”

“Come back?” she finished “Well for once you were right”

“For once?!?” he asked, trying to look appalled with her but he couldn’t help but laugh, which started her off.

They were still laughing when they entered the practice room, where they found Marco holding Laigh in his arms, they were also laughing about something “I see what you mean, you really can’t dance, can you?” Laigh chuckled, and then saw Connor and Dove staring at them. Marco quickly let go of Laigh and they both turned bright red.

“Oh hi, when did you two walk in?” Marco asked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Just a second ago” Connor replied, with a suspicious look on his face

“Hey Connor, my ankle’s better!” Laigh announced, trying to keep them from asking what was going on. His face lit up

“Hey great! Do you want your slot back?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, but what about Tammy and Anton?” they had been using the slot while Laigh recovered from her injury and Cecily was still banned. “No, I can put them in Cecily’s old slot, she’s still got two weeks of punishment left” he replied. Dove, meanwhile, was giving her step-brother a knowing look “Marco? Can we talk please?” she asked

“Sure” he replied and they stepped outside

“So...” she began “What were you two doing when we walked in?” Marco turned red again

“I was proving a point.” he explained “I told her I couldn’t dance, so she told me to prove it, so I did” “Oh” she said “But how did you end up with your arms around her?”

“She was trying to teach me to waltz” he smiled “It didn’t work, I’ve got two left feet!”

“I know!” she laughed. Just then Cecily came walking past

“Oh hi Marco,” she said casually, totally ignoring Dove, “I was just looking for you”

“You were?” he asked with a worried tone

“Yes, I wondered if you’d like to go for a little walk” she said, gazing intently into his eyes.

“Sorry Cecily, no can do I’m afraid.” a voice spoke up from behind him “He’s helping me with something.” Cecily turned to glare at Laigh

“Oh yeah? Is that true Marco?” she asked him sweetly “Actually, yes it is” he replied “I’m helping her... Cook lunch” she looked at him with disbelief

“Fine, you have no idea what your missing though. But if you’d rather slave over a hot stove than spend a relaxing day with me...” she stalked off. Laigh, Dove and Connor began to laugh

“Cook lunch?!?” Connor howled “I don’t think Petra would appreciate Leia and you taking her job!”

“Sorry! It was the first thing that came into my head!” he exclaimed. Dove and Connor smiled at each other and Dove said “Hey, will you help me find Tammy, Connor? It’s been ages since we’ve had a proper chat!” Connor nodded and they walked away. Laigh and Marco were left alone - again.

“Thanks a billion Leia, I don’t know how I would have got out of that if you hadn’t appeared” he smiled gratefully

“No problem at all Marco.” she smiled back “Just remember - you owe me one! See ya soon, I’ve gotta go and sort out some things for this afternoon” she waved as she walked away. Marco sighed to himself

“She is too cute...”

“Well done everyone!” Connor shouted, clapping them all

“Yeah, it was great!” Laigh told them

“Yeah, thanks to you!” Tammy shouted

“Let’s all hear it for the return of the Ghost Dancer!” Anton stood up and declared, everyone started to cheer loudly and Laigh took a sweeping bow. That afternoon’s performance had been a total success, there had been no stupid mistakes and Laigh had been so happy to be on the stage once again and this had shown through in her dancing.

“You were fantastic!” Dove told her “I wish I could dance like that!”

“Thanks, Marco did well too” she replied

“I know, I’m so proud of him!” she said “I’m glad he decided to join the Wandering Minstrels, it’s about time everyone saw how talented he was”

“Yeah, he’s also helping pull the crowds in” Laigh said cunningly

“How?” Dove asked

“He’s pretty big with the girls, did you see them all cheering for him today?” she asked

“Yes actually I did” Dove grinned “Anyway, I’m going to help Connor sort the stage out for tomorrow, bye!” and she walked away. Laigh decided to go to her room to relax as she was feeling a little worn out, it was hard work being the Ghost Dancer and joint leader. However, as walked into her room she stepped on a note that had been posted under her door. When she read it her heart leapt and she rushed out of the room again, suddenly feeling full of energy. On the paper it said -

“Dear Laigh,

We are in the usual meeting place, hope you can come as we want to introduce you to someone very special!

Lots of love,
Bray and Amber.”

Laigh entered the clearing excitedly. There sat on the bench were Bray and Amber. Bray looked up from the bundle which Amber was carrying as Laigh cleared her throat

“Laigh! You made it!” he exclaimed

“Hi cus, of course I made it!” she exclaimed back as they hugged “Hey Amber! How are you feeling?”

“Fine thanks,” Amber replied, smiling “Come here, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Laigh tiptoed towards her and grinned as she saw the tiny baby in Amber’s arms “This Leia.” Amber announced, even though Laigh knew very well who it was

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Bray asked proudly “Would you like to hold her?”

“Can I?” Laigh asked and Amber nodded as she placed the baby in her arms. Laigh sat down, cradling the baby, and said softly

“Hey little one, I’m Leia, your name-sake. But you can call me Laigh, alright?” Amber and Bray stood over her, smiling happily at each other. Laigh looked up and said “She’s beautiful, you two must be so proud.” they nodded. Suddenly someone else appeared, Laigh gasped as Marco walked up to her, looking confused “Hi Leia, who are these people?...”

Part 9

Laigh, Bray, Amber and Marco stood staring at each other in silence.

“Marco! What are you doing here?!?” Laigh exclaimed “I saw you run out of your room, I thought you were upset about something.” he explained “So I followed to see if you were OK. Now will you answer MY question?” Laigh sighed.

“Marco, this is Bray, Amber and their daughter Leia. Bray’s my cousin.” Marco looked shocked

“I thought you had no family or friends? That’s what the others said anyway”

“Look Marco, it’s a long story” she sighed again “Go back to camp, I’ll explain later. Just don’t say a word to ANYONE, OK?”

“OK, I promise I won’t say a thing.” he assured her, and headed off towards camp. “Wait a moment,” he turned and said “Did you say the baby’s name is Leia? I thought that was your name?”

“I told you, I’ll explain later” Laigh repeated herself. Marco shrugged and walked away. Laigh sighed and handed Leia back to Amber.

“I’m so sorry about this, perhaps we shouldn’t have come...” Amber began

“Don’t be stupid Am! I’m so pleased that you came to show me Leia, I really am! I shouldn’t have left in such a hurry and I should have made sure no one was following me!” Bray smiled at his cousin

“Anyway, let’s change the subject.” he said “What have you been up to recently?” Laigh grinned

“You are NEVER going to believe what’s happened since you last came to visit!” she exclaimed excitedly

“What?” Amber asked

“Well, to cut a long story short, I sprained my ankle and couldn’t dance for two whole weeks, got blamed for losing little Taylor, which then turned out to be Cecily’s fault, Cecily found out about you two and nearly told everyone, Marco joined, y’know the guy who’s just left? I became joint leader then Marco’s step-sister came for a visit and turned out to be Dove, Connor’s ex-girlfriend who left because of Cecily!”

“WHAT?!?” Bray and Amber exclaimed rather loudly at the same time

“Sorry?” Laigh replied

“You said that you became joint leader of the Wandering Minstrels!” Bray said

“Did I?” Laigh asked, pretending to have forgotten “Well I did!” she grinned happily “That’s brilliant!” Amber told her, genuinely pleased for her

“It sure is, who’d have thought it? My little cus the joint leader of a big tribe!” Bray said, impressed. Laigh smiled

“So what about you guys then? What been happening with the mighty Mall Rats?”

“Well,” Amber began “A lot, actually!”

“Yeah, both good and bad things” Bray added

“Start with the bad things, get them over and done with first” Laigh told them

“OK, first of all Brady got ill,” Bray began “Luckily she’s better now, then we had a run in with another tribe, then...”

“...We had yet another run in with Max and Harley” Amber sighed “Harley wanted to show off their child to Lucy and Scott”

“Well, what is it?” Laigh asked “Boy, girl or monster?”

Amber laughed “A girl, they’ve called her Maxine. Well, Harley called her Maxine anyway!”

“I knew Max wouldn’t get a say in the name” Laigh smiled “How are they coping?”

“Not too badly” Bray said “Max still isn’t interested in Harley, he’s only staying with her because of the baby.”

“He’s still in shock over your ‘death’” Amber told her “He said he’d never forgive himself for it, he kept going on about if it weren’t for his stupidity you would never have left and none of this would have ever happened.” Bray looked at Laigh and said gently “There’s something we should really have told you but never got round to it”

“What?” Laigh asked

“Well, after you left and we told everyone you’d gone Max was really distraught. Harley was trying to comfort him but he didn’t want anything to do with her, which upset her and so she ran off. Max couldn’t care less about her and so we kind of... Invited him to stay with us.”

“You didn’t?” Laigh asked with disbelief

“We did. Anyway a few days later he disappeared, we eventually found him climbing a tree with some rope. He was going to kill himself because he said he couldn’t cope with anymore trouble in his life.” Laigh’s eyes widened with horror

“I can’t believe he’d do something like that! He’s usually so sensible!” she gasped “What happened when you stopped him?”

“We talked, and he decided to go and find Harley, he was worried that she’d gone and done something idiotic herself” Amber continued the story “And, well the rest you can probably guess yourself.”

“Yeah, I can” she sighed “Anyway, what’s the good news?”

“Well, you are going to be VERY happy when you hear this,” Bray said, pausing to add suspense “Scott and Lucy have decided to... Get married!” Laigh screamed with delight

“Wow! That’s amazing! I KNEW they’d get together!” she danced around “When’s the big day? Oh I wish I could come!”

“They haven’t made any definite plans yet, but hopefully sometime soon!” Amber grinned “I knew that would make your day!” suddenly baby Leia started to whimper, “Oops, it’s feeding time, we’d better get back Bray.” he nodded and put his arm around her “It’s been great to see you guys!” Laigh said “I’d better get back myself and talk to Marco” she bit her bottom lip, “This is not going to be easy...”

Laigh found Marco sat outside her room, strumming his guitar. He looked up at her and said

“Look, I’m so sorry I followed you!”

“It’s OK, Marco. Come in and I’ll tell you my story.” they stepped inside and sat on her bed. She looked at him and took a deep breath before beginning “Well, my story begins when I was in a tribe called the Freedom Fighters...”

Marco listened intently to Laigh’s story, his face changing expressions all the time. When she finally finished Marco looked at her sympathetically

“I’m sorry, you haven’t had much of a happy life recently, have you?” she nodded sadly

“I know, please don’t say you’re sorry, that’s the last thing I want you to say. she sighed

“Is that why you couldn’t tell anyone, because you didn’t want any sympathy?” he asked

“Yes, I was fed up with people thinking they could change everything by carrying on as normal, faking my death was the best thing I’ve done”

“Why’s that?” he asked

“Because it’s given me the chance to start again, make new friends and make a new life.” she explained

“I see.” Marco went silent “Hey Amber and Bray seem friendly” he changed the subject

“They are, the next time they’re visiting I’ll introduce you to them properly.” she smiled “You will?” he asked

“Sure.” she took his hand in hers and looked at him “Can I ask a question?” he inquired

“Of course, go ahead” she replied, suspiciously

“Can I call you Laigh from now on?” he grinned

“Yes, actually I have an idea” she revealed “You start calling me Laigh, then hopefully everyone else will start calling me that because they’ll think you’ve just come up with the nickname!”

“Good idea, so no one else here knows you as Laigh?” he asked

“Well, no one except for Connor” she admitted “He knows my story”

“Oh OK” he stood up. “I think I’d better get going, it’s getting late and Dove will be looking for me.”

“OK” Laigh sounded slightly disappointed as she stood up as well.

“I’ll... See you later?” he asked

“Yeah, later.” Laigh smiled. Marco suddenly had the urge to kiss her and so leant over and gave her quick peck on the cheek.

“Bye, Laigh!” he whispered as he opened the door “Bye Marco” Laigh said faintly and as he left she fell back onto her bed and looked at the ceiling. What a good day I’ve had, she thought to herself.

Part 10

Dove was sat watching the sun rise. It’s going to be a beautiful day, she smiled to herself, and hopefully a perfect day. She had not felt so happy for a long time. Being part of the Wandering Minstrels again filled her with so much happiness it felt like she was going to burst. She thought of the day she had left it all behind, she remembered seeing the tribe stood watching her walk away. She pictured her friend’s faces as she had looked over her shoulder - a big mistake. Whoever it was that said not to look back was right, looking back only made you feel worse. She remembered Connor’s face falling when she had told him she was leaving, she had seen his heart shatter, which had in turn broken hers. However that was in the past, and if there was one thing she hated, it was living in the past. That was her motto, don’t live in the past, look to the future. That was what she was doing right now, planning where she was going to go to next. The others didn’t know yet but she was planning to leave - soon. How she was going to tell them, she didn’t know. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. However, this time she wouldn’t be breaking any hearts...

When Dove returned to camp the smell of freshly made bread was drifting through the air. She followed it to where Petra was preparing breakfast.

“Hi Petra, how long have you been up?” she asked. Petra turned around, looking rather tired

“Long enough to bake two loaves of bread.” she sighed, gesturing to the bread on the side “How long have you been up?”

“Since about 5 o clock, I didn’t hear you when I left.” Dove told her “Anyway, why are you cooking so early?”

“Didn’t you remember?!? Today’s Cecily’s birthday”

Petra said, shocked. “She’s been on about it for about a week now and she demanded I made a large celebratory breakfast for her!” Dove groaned and smacked her hand against her forehead

“Oh great, this is all I need! I try to make peace with her and then I forget her birthday!” Dove had been working really hard to get Cecily’s respect, over the last few days it had seemed to be working, Cecily hadn’t been so nasty to her, but now Dove had forgotten her birthday, who knows what would happen? “I’d better try and find her a present” Dove ran to her room, she had no idea what she could give Cecily for her birthday, perhaps talking to the others would help.

Dove re-emerged from her room about two hours later when she could hear the rest of the tribe chatting. She went to sit with Marco, Tammy, Anton and Laigh, who were talking about Cecily

“I still can’t believe that Petra gave in to her and made her that breakfast!” Tammy said with a slight tone of jealousy in her voice.

“She won’t appreciate it, she never appreciates anything” Anton sighed

“Poor Petra, she’s been slaving away all morning for nothing” Laigh said sympathetically. The others nodded in agreement, Dove leant over and whispered

“What are you guys giving her as presents?” the others sighed, they didn’t really want to talk about Cecily’s birthday anymore.

“I’m giving her a necklace I found” Laigh told her “I didn’t like it, but I think it’s the kind of thing she likes”

“I got her some flowers” Anton said “I had no idea what else to get her”

“I haven’t got her anything.” Tammy muttered. The others looked at her in shock “Hey I don’t like her and she doesn’t particularly like me so why should I bother?”

“That’s true, I’ve noticed you don’t seem to see eye-to-eye” Dove said understandingly “What about you Marco? What did you get her?”

“A diary” he said “She hinted to me that she wanted one”

“That’s not all she wants from you” Tammy said quietly, however it wasn’t quiet enough as the others heard and started to snigger. Marco looked apprehensively at them

“Help?” he said and they began to laugh. Laigh put her arm round him in a friendly way

“Don’t panic, we’ll protect you!” she declared as if she were a super hero. They began to laugh harder when Anton asked

“Hey Dove, what did YOU get her?” Dove looked at the group worriedly

“I’d forgotten all about it until Petra reminded me earlier” she confessed. The others looked at her horror-stricken.

“What? You forgot?” Laigh gasped

“You’re in for trouble now” Tammy warned her “I know, everything was just starting to look up and now I’m going to ruin it unless I think of something quickly!” she said distraughtedly. Marco hugged his step sister

“I’m sure you’ll think of the perfect present, you always have good ideas” he said reassuringly. She smiled at him

“Thanks, I’m sure I will.” suddenly Michaela came running up

“Everyone! Cecily’s coming!” she announced. The group of friends looked at each other confusedly

“Oh quickly, everyone get ready to pay homage to the darling Queen Cecily” Tammy mumbled sarcastically. Cecily skipped up

“Good morning everyone, isn’t it a lovely day?” and then sat down with Michaela and Lois

“Look at the Three Musketeers” Anton whispered to the others

“More like the ‘Three Little Pigs’” Laigh whispered back as they looked longingly at the huge breakfast that Petra was bringing out. Cecily stood up and looked apologetically at Petra

“Oh I’m soooo sorry, I’m just not feeling hungry today” she shrugged and skipped off again, closely followed by her ‘fan club’. Petra just stood gob-smacked, holding the tray out in front of her. Laigh, Tammy, Anton, Dove and Marco got up and went to her. Anton took the tray off of her while the others comforted her, she was sobbing exhaustedly.

“I’m - I’m so tired!” she wailed “I’ve been up for hours preparing this and now she tells me she isn’t hungry!”

“Oh Petra, it looks wonderful” Tammy said gently “Cecily’s just an arrogant pig.”

“Yeah, she always puts herself before others” Laigh added

“Thanks guys, hey why don’t you eat it?” Petra suggested “You deserve it more than her”

“Thanks!” Marco said hungrily, the others all started to thank her as well and then tucked in to the best breakfast they had eaten in a long time.

Dove sighed contentedly and looked at the paper “Finished.” she said proudly. She had finally thought of the perfect present for Cecily - a portrait. She knew how vain Cecily was and so a picture of herself would definitely please her. Connor looked over her shoulder.

“Hey, not bad!” he said, impressed.

“Not bad? I’ve spent three hours drawing it and all you can say is not bad?!?” she said, pretending to be angry. They looked at each other and laughed, Dove gave Connor a quick kiss and said “Connor, you’re wonderful”

“Not as wonderful as you” he said gently and was about to kiss her when someone hammered on the door.

“Dove! Connor! The party’s about to begin!” Michaela’s voice piped up. Michaela and Lois were giving Cecily a surprise party, however the others had a suspicion that Cecily had planned it herself.

“OK we’ll be out in a moment!” Dove called back. Connor looked confused

“In a moment? Why not now?” he asked. She looked seriously at him.

“Connor, there’s something I need to tell you.” she said gently, taking his hand in hers

“What? You can tell me anything, you know that” he smiled softly

“This is really hard for me Connor, I don’t know how to put it” she said, Connor was mystified.

“What Dove?” he asked

“I’m leaving, soon.” she told him. His eyes widened “No, not again! Why Dove? You and Cecily are getting on now!” he was really upset, his true love was leaving again?

“I know, but I told you that I was only making sure Marco settled in” she sighed sorrowfully “But this time Connor I can’t leave you behind.”

“What are you saying Dove?” he asked her, even though he knew what she was getting at. Dove took a deep breath

“I want you to come with me, leave this behind. Laigh’s a great leader, I’m sure she’ll be able to manage on her own.” Dove felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. However Connor was still in shock, could he leave the tribe he made behind?...

Part 11

Most of the Wandering Minstrels were hanging around, waiting for the signal to hide from Cecily. Laigh, Meg, Tammy, Anton, Marco, Rochelle and Petra were stood chatting

“This should be - interesting” Rochelle commented “Yeah, REALLY fun” Petra said with disinterest. She was still feeling bitter about the breakfast incident and had practically been dragged along by Meg and Rochelle. They all, of course, sympathised with her greatly.

“It’s so obvious that she set this up herself” Tammy said loudly. However the other tribe members who weren’t involved in the conversation took no notice, they knew how Tammy felt about Cecily and they were all quite looking forward to a change from the normal daily routine. It had been quite a while since they’d last had a party. Laigh smiled knowingly at her and then turned to look at Marco. She had noticed that he had been awfully quiet and when she looked at him he was staring into outer space, she nudged him.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she whispered in his ear. He shook himself out of it and gave her an anxious look “I was just thinking about what Tammy said earlier, y’know about Cecily wanting me? I’m just worried she might...” Laigh smiled at him sympathetically and took hold of his hand

“Don’t panic, we’re all here for you. We’ll keep a close eye on the both of you” he smiled back gratefully and squeezed her hand. They both felt the same way about one another and this could easily be seen by the others, as they were gazing at each other affectionately. Anton was the first person to notice and when he did he nudged Tammy and nodded towards them, she grinned

“Laigh, Marco? Is there something we should know..?” she inquired. Marco and Laigh snapped out of their trance and turned slightly red, however their hands remained entwined. Meg smiled slyly at Laigh, who smiled back with a dreamy look in her eye. Just then Dove’s door opened and she walked out with Connor, who looked a little white. Petra walked up to him

“Con? Are you feeling alright?” she asked him anxiously.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” he replied vaguely. The others looked at each other worriedly, he looked as if he’d just received some bad news.

“Perhaps you’d ought to talk to him, been as you’re so close and you’re joint leader” Marco advised Laigh, she looked at Connor and then replied

“Maybe you’re right, but not just yet, I’ll wait until the party’s in full swing.” Laigh then looked at Dove, she realised how guilty she looked. Dove noticed Laigh watching her and so wandered up to where she and Marco where stood. The first words out of her mouth were “Well, what’s going on here?” as she saw that they were holding hands

“Nothing” Marco replied

“I’m just giving him some moral support” Laigh explained. Dove looked at them skeptically “OK, whatever you say...” she said with a tone of doubt. Suddenly Lois came dashing up towards them quickly

“Everyone hide quickly! Cecily’s coming!” she squealed. The part of the tribe who were looking forward to the party moved quickly to their hiding spots, while the others moved more reluctantly to theirs. Laigh was walked idly to hers when she realised that Marco was still attached to her. He smiled sheepishly at her

“Sorry, I couldn’t bear to let go” she smiled back “That’s OK, there’s plenty of room in my hiding place” and so Laigh and Marco stood behind the practice room, their hands still firmly inter-locked.

“SURPRISE!”

It was half an hour later and everyone finally leapt out of their hiding spaces to greet Cecily. The reason they had been waiting for so long was that Lois had got it wrong, Cecily had been going for a walk - a long one - and as the tribe hadn’t realised that they had waited for her to come along. Cecily tried her hardest to act surprised however she had never been much of an actress, Tammy muttered

“Told you so, didn’t I?”

“Oh is this for me?” Cecily exclaimed unnecessarily, as everyone rushed forward to give her their presents. She looked at her comrades and said

“Oh Michaela, Lois, you’re the best friends a girl could have!” and started to hug them

“How over-the-top?” Rochelle remarked. Dove stepped forward to give Cecily her present

“I sense trouble...” Anton warned and they all began to stare persistently at the two girls. Cecily eyed the roll of paper suspiciously

“I hope you like it,” Dove said hopefully. Cecily took the roll of paper “It’s a picture I’ve drawn

myself...” her voice faded as she saw Cecily’s face light up as she opened it

“It’s me! Oh I look wonderful!” she said selfishly, and didn’t even bother to thank Dove, who walked back to the others and breathed a sigh of relief

“I told you that you’d come up with the perfect present!” Marco told her warmly. However his face turned white as he saw Cecily heading towards him “So, how about a kiss for the birthday girl?” she asked him coyly, he looked at Laigh nervously who smiled encouragingly at him. Suddenly he knew what to say

“Errr, no thanks Cecily, I’ll take a raincheck” he shrugged apologetically and she stormed off in disgust. Marco grinned at Laigh, who held his hand more firmly.

Later, and Laigh was dancing with Marco even though he couldn’t dance very well and had the habit of treading on her toes. She noticed that Connor was sat alone, she leant forward and told Marco

“I’m going to talk to Connor now, OK?” he nodded a little disappointedly and they hesitantly dropped each other’s hand. Laigh wandered over to Connor and sat herself next to him

“What’s wrong Connor? You’re not exactly the life of the party, are you?” she asked him teasingly. He tried to smile but he couldn’t bring himself to

“I don’t know what I’m going to do!” he exclaimed “I’m so confused” Laigh looked at him feeling a little bewildered

“What about Connor?” she asked gently

“Do you promise not to tell anyone?” she nodded “It’s Dove, she’s leaving...” he sighed

“What?!? Oh no...” Laigh interrupted

“She wants me to go with her” Connor looked at her “I don’t know if I can leave though, I’m worried that the tribe may fall apart without me”

“Hey I’m not going anywhere!” Laigh exclaimed “I can look after this lot easily”

“Are you sure?” he asked

“Sure as anything” she replied reassuringly “Anyway, the most important thing is that you follow your heart, just like I did all that time ago”

“Was the right decision?” he asked

“Yes, I miss my friends and Bray but if I hadn’t left I would never have met you, or my new friends, or...” she paused “...Marco”

“You really like him, don’t you?” he asked, she nodded dreamily. All of a sudden there was a lot of shouting from the party, Connor and Laigh jumped up and ran to where a crowd was starting to form. Tammy was pinning Cecily to the ground.

“If you ever say anything like that again you’ll regret it for the rest of your life...” Tammy said through clenched teeth

“Hey what’s going on?” Connor asked as the fight was broken up

“She said Anton was seeing someone else behind my back” Tammy muttered

“It’s true! I saw him hugging Sandy by the river the other day!” Cecily exclaimed

“You stupid cow! Anton was comforting her! We’d had an argument and it really upset her! If you’d stuck

around for a few minutes longer you would have seen me come and apologise!” Tammy explained. Sandy and Anton stepped forward

“It’s true” Sandy told them

“OK, so that’s that.” Laigh concluded “Now let’s either get back to the party or start tidying up.” the tribe decided to party, none of them wanted to face the clearing up. All with the exception of Tammy and Anton, who were fed up with Cecily, and Dove and Connor, who went to talk alone. Laigh found Marco and they began to dance again, Laigh rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly. I’m so happy, she thought to herself, now I just hope that Connor makes the decision that will make him the happiest...

Part 12

Laigh wandered out of her room, she could tell that it was quite early as the grass was still damp with dew and all was quiet. The perfect time for writing, she thought to herself and stepped back into her room to grab her notebook and pen off of her bedside table and headed to the chilling-out area.

Marco was sat strumming away at his guitar. He was so engrossed in his music that he didn’t hear Laigh strolling up behind him. As she got closer she suddenly recognised the song that he was playing “Won’t blame it on myself, yeah, I’ll blame it on the weatherman.” she sang. Marco stopped and turned to look at her.

“You like it?” he asked, meaning the song “Yes, I happen to be a B*Witched fan, well I was before the virus...” she smiled

“You’ve got a great voice, why don’t you sing at shows?” he inquired

“Because if anyone who knows me happens to be there they’ll recognise me.” she explained

“Oh, of course. Sorry I forgot” he apologised

“That’s fine” she smiled again and sat down beside him. “What have you got there?” he asked, pointing at the notebook

“Oh, this?” she asked, holding it up “It’s my book of thoughts”

“Like a diary?” he queried

“Yes, except I don’t just right my feelings in it” she explained “I write about dreams, poems, and sometimes song words”

“Song words?” he asked “You mean songs you’ve made up yourself?”

“Yeah, they aren’t very good” she confessed

“Can I see?” he asked

“You’re very nosy, aren’t you?” she grinned and he nodded. She flipped through the book until she came to the page she was looking for and handed it to him “Here, this is my favourite” his eyes skimmed the words. He looked up from the page, his eyes sparkled excitedly

“This is great! Hey would you mind if I used it? I could really make a good tune to them!”

“Of course I wouldn’t mind! Wow, you really like them?” she said ecstatically, but he didn’t hear as once again he was lost in his own little world trying to work out the right chords. As she sat watching him, the smile on her face looked like it would never fade. However she was brought back to earth by the sudden appearance of Tammy. She left Marco to greet her, she looked a bit flustered to see Laigh and Laigh could tell that she was trying to hide something behind her back

“Leia! What are you doing up so early?” she asked hurriedly

“I could ask you the same question Tammy, you’re usually the last one up in the morning and Anton’s always complaining about how hard it is to wake you up sometimes.” Laigh replied suspiciously

“I -I needed a walk, that’s all” she replied rather quickly “So what are you and Marco doing?”

“Don’t try changing the subject Tammy,” Laigh said dryly “What’s that behind your back?” she leant to one side, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that Tammy was hiding

“It’s - it’s a present for Cecily “Tammy stuttered “I felt a little guilty about not getting her anything yesterday. Look I’ve gotta get back to Anton now, see ya later.” she rushed off, still hiding the item.

Laigh knew that she was lying, it was very obvious. A present for Cecily? I don’t think so, especially after the argument yesterday, she thought to herself. What was Tammy up to? The grudge she’d got against Cecily was pretty big, so whatever it was that Tammy was planning was more than likely going to be just as big...

Laigh, Marco and Tammy weren’t the only ones who were awake. Connor was sat up in bed, Dove fast asleep at his side. He was thinking about what she had asked him the day before . He looked down at her, and brushed a few stray strands of her flame red hair off of her face. He smiled tenderly at the sleeping girl. He really did love her, but was he brave enough to walk out on the Wandering Minstrels for her? He recalled his conversation with Laigh, she had sounded so confident when she had assured him that she could run the tribe by herself. He then thought about the fight between Cecily and Tammy, how could he leave Laigh to cope with those two and their petty arguments? Would she be able to withstand the pressure by herself? He had noticed that she had recently looked exhausted from all the work she’d been doing as well as performing. He sighed, jumped out of bed and started to dress. As usual there was a lot of work to do and been as he was awake he might as well get an early start.

Breakfast time. Everyone had emerged from their rooms and were sat around listening to Marco’s new song as Laigh and Connor walked up. They had been clearing up the mess that had been left from the party (after the party had ended everyone had suddenly come up with excuses to leave quickly so they wouldn’t have to tidy up) and were starving. Everyone applauded as Marco finished playing.

“That’s brilliant Marco!” Rochelle commended “Yeah, the words are beautiful” Meg added “Well thanks, but don’t give me all of the credit” Marco said “It was Laigh who came up with the lyrics” “Really? They’re brill Laigh!” Sandy grinned “They’re not that good, Marco has changed a few of them” she replied modestly.

“Oh come on Laigh, they were amazing!” Marco exclaimed and flashed that cute smile in her direction. She sat down next to him and Meg and Sandy looked at each other with a knowing expression on their faces. Petra joined them

“Hi guys, where’s Tammy and Anton?” she asked

“I don’t know,” Meg shrugged

“Anton’s probably trying to wake her up” Sandy laughed “She’s such a heavy sleeper!” they all laughed then. Laigh didn’t know whether or not she should say anything about earlier that morning. She looked over at Dove and Connor, who were sat alone, talking about something. Laigh had a good idea that she knew what it was they were talking about, she wondered if Connor had decided to go or not. She was about to go and talk to them when Tammy wandered up

“Has anyone seen Anton?” she asked. The group shook their heads and she bit her lip, she seemed a little agitated about something.

“What’s wrong Tammy?” Sandy asked her

“Nothing, it’s just I don’t know where he’s gone”

Tammy sighed, however she was definitely hiding something from her friends. Cecily and Michaela walked up

“If you’re looking for Anton, I saw him heading towards the river” Cecily told her casually. Suddenly Tammy turned as white as a sheet and her eyes widened “Oh no...” she gasped quietly and suddenly started to run

“Tammy?” Laigh stood up and called out, what was wrong with her? She began to chase her to catch up when Connor stopped her

“What’s wrong?” he asked

“Tammy, worried about Anton, she’s gone to the river” she explained

“I’ll come with you” he said. Marco also stood up “I will too” and so they all began to sprint wildly to the river.

When they got there they found Tammy screaming on the bank

“Help! No, this can’t be happening!” she wailed. When they rushed up to see what was wrong a terrible sight met their eyes. There, floating in the river, was Anton.

“Oh no...” Connor murmured

“Help him, please he can’t be dead!” Tammy begged and Laigh hugged her as Marco dived into the water and swam up to Anton. He dragged him out and felt for a pulse, Tammy rushed up and knelt next to him, looking hopeful.

“I’m sorry Tammy, he’s gone” he sighed and she began to sob even harder as she held his drenched body in her arms. Laigh also began to cry

“It’s all my fault Laigh! I killed my own boyfriend!” she lamented

“Don’t say that Tam, you couldn’t have done anything!” Laigh sniffled.

“That’s what you think.” Tammy murmured woefully...

Part 13

Tammy, Marco, Laigh and Connor were heading back to camp, still deeply in shock about the tragic incident in which Anton had been killed.

“How did he end up in the river?” Laigh asked Connor quietly. They were walking a little way ahead of the others so they could talk about what they were going to tell the rest of the tribe. As leaders it was their duty to announce his death.

“He must have been stood near the edge.” he sighed “You could see where the ground had crumbled away, it must have collapsed under his feet.”

“Yes, but why didn’t he just swim for safety?” Laigh questioned “His feet weren’t caught, were they?”

“No” he shook his head sadly “He couldn’t swim, there was no way he could save himself.” suddenly there was a loud wail behind them. They turned to find Tammy on her knees sobbing uncontrollably

“It’s all my fault!” she moaned pitifully “I killed Anton!” Laigh rushed to her side

“For the final time Tammy, it wasn’t your fault!” Laigh said firmly, Tammy just shook her head. Laigh sighed and told her “Come on, we’re nearly back now” she got up and they carried on walking homewards.

The Wandering Minstrels were crowded around the stage. There was a feeling of confusion in the air as Connor and Laigh stood solemnly in the centre of the stage. They looked nervously at one another and then looked into the crowd. Neither of them knew how to break the news, it was the most difficult thing they’d had to do. A voice called out

“Well, come on, we haven’t got all day y’know!” followed by

“Yeah, some of us have better things to do with our time than stand around here!” Connor took a deep breath and said loudly

“OK, can I have everybody’s attention?” most of the tribe quieted down, but some were still chatting away earnestly “I said, everyone?” he shouted. Silence reigned. “That’s better” he said a little quieter “Now, you’re all obviously wondering why I’ve gathered you all here” more talking. “Hello? Thank you. I have some very upsetting news that will affect all of us in one way or another.” he stopped and looked and Laigh, who gave him a look that clearly urged him on “Right, I don’t know how to put this,” he continued “So I’ll hand you over to Laigh.” Laigh glared at him angrily for putting her on the spot. She sighed and took a little step forward

“Earlier today, you probably saw some of us run after Tammy.” she began slowly “Well we finally caught her up at the river, where we found Anton in the river.”

“So what? He was having a swim? Wow, shocking!” Cecily called out, not realising how wrong she was

“I’m sorry to say Cecily, but Anton couldn’t swim.” she sighed mournfully, a tear rolling down her cheek. The group then realised what Laigh was trying to tell them

“No, Laigh are you saying...” Rochelle cried out

“He’s dead, isn’t he? Anton’s dead” Liam said with disbelief. Laigh couldn’t continue, her words were stuck in her throat and tears were now streaming down her face, she just nodded and the uproar began.

Wailing and sobbing over came the silence. Even cold-hearted Cecily couldn’t hold back the tears. Connor finally found his voice

“He will be greatly missed by everyone, especially Tammy.” were the first words out of his mouth. Meg looked tearfully at the leaders

“Where is she? Where’s Tammy?” she asked worriedly “She’s in her room with Sandy” Connor told her and she rushed off to be with them. Rochelle was about to follow when Dove put her hand on her shoulder “Don’t, I think it would be best if we didn’t overcrowd her” she said gently. Rochelle understood and then asked Connor

“Where have you buried him? I would like to say goodbye, if that’s OK”

“He’s near the river, you’ll find his grave easily.” Connor notified her and with that she left. Laigh cleared her throat

“We want everyone to come up with some ideas for a memorial show, this means not only performance but things to say about him as well.” she managed to croak “Yes and we would appreciate any suggestions for a suitable memorial for him” Connor added. The tribe separated, going their separate ways to mourn the loss of their dear friend.

Laigh was laying on her bed, exhausted from all of the crying she’d done. She felt a little numb, Anton had been a good friend. She thought of all the times they’d all sat around having a laugh, she also thought of the day Taylor had gone missing. Taylor, she thought to herself, I wonder if Rochelle’s managed to tell him yet, he really loved Anton, he was like a big brother to him. She got up and decided to find Rochelle. As she opened the door of her room she saw Dove and Connor holding each other. Connor looked shattered from everything.

“Con?” she said. He looked at her, and smiled weakly

“Yeah?” he asked wearily

“You should go and lie down, you look terrible” she said sympathetically

“I can’t, too much to do” he sighed

“No there isn’t! There’s nothing else you can do!” she said with a tone of exasperation “Dove, take him to his room, now! That’s an order!” she demanded “But before, have you seen Rochelle?”

“She came back, but then left again with Taylor” Dove told her. Laigh smiled gratefully and Dove took Connor to his room. Laigh knew where she would find them.

Rochelle was crouched down next to Taylor, who was crying. Laigh crept up and whispered to Rochelle

“You told him then”

“Yeah, poor thing.” she sighed “He didn’t understand at first, so I decided to bring him here to see the grave.” Taylor looked up at Laigh

“Aunty Leia? Why did Anton go?” he asked woefully “I don’t know sweetie” she sighed and hugged him “I really wish I did, but I don’t”

“Who’s going to give me dancing lessons?” he asked “I will, I promise.” she wept, seeing Taylor so upset was distressing her

“It won’t be the same as Anton teaching me.” he moaned “I know,” she said softly “I know.” Rochelle stood watching them, trying to choke back her own tears, but it was too much seeing her little brother so confused. She threw her arms around both of them, and they all cried together.

Much later, Laigh looked at her candle on the bedside table. It danced and flickered as she sighed

miserably. There was then a tap on her door. She sat up sharply and called out gently

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Tammy” she whispered hoarsely. Laigh got up and let her in. She sat down on Laigh’s bed and looked up at her, there were dark rings around her swollen red eyes and she looked like she hadn’t slept a wink for about a week, even though Anton had only been gone for a few hours. “I needed to talk to someone.” she sighed “I knew you’d listen to me, I think I’ve worn Sandy’s ears out” Laigh smiled gently and sat down beside her.

“You know you can always come to me.” she said reassuringly. Tammy smiled back gratefully

“Thanks, sometimes I don’t know how this tribe managed to cope before you came along Laigh.” Laigh smiled again, this time feeling a little bit embarrassed

“Oh come on, you had Connor to keep you together” she said

“Yes, but we couldn’t really go to him with problems, not like we can with you.” Tammy explained. Suddenly she broke down again and Laigh put a supportive arm around her

“It’s OK Tam, I’m here.” she said soothingly

“Oh Laigh, what am I going to do?” she sighed “Everything’s gone totally wrong”

“I know, but you’ll survive.” Laigh comforted her “You’re strong enough to get through this”

“No, I just act like I’m strong, but deep down inside I’m as vulnerable as anyone else” she confessed “Oh Laigh, I don’t want to be a single parent! I won’t be able to cope with a baby on my own!” she sobbed as she broke down again.

“What?” Laigh asked her, not believing what she’s just heard Tammy say.

“That’s why I needed to find Anton so urgently.” she confided “I’m going to have his child...”

Part 14

Laigh didn’t know what to say. She just sat staring at Tammy, who looked even more miserable than ever.

“Are you sure Tam?” she finally managed to ask. Tammy was so overwhelmed with sorrow that she couldn’t bring herself to even attempt to reply. She nodded forlornly, Laigh leant forward and wrapped Tammy in her arms. Tammy broke down and wept loudly, her shoulders raised and dropped as she sobbed.

“Oh Tammy, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Laigh asked softly

“I couldn’t,” she whispered “I was scared, I was going to wait a few days and then leave.”

“Why?” Laigh asked with astonishment

“I didn’t want everyone to ruin their own lives just to help me look after the baby” she explained “If there’s one thing this tribe doesn’t need, it’s a single mother who can’t cope on her own, and I’m worried that you will all discover the truth...” she stopped herself abruptly. Laigh looked at her with a strange expression on her face.

“Whatever do you mean Tammy? What truth?...” what Tammy had said had a familiar ring to it, she knew how hard it was to keep a secret in this tribe, she herself had almost told everyone about her past more than once, however she had always been interrupted or had managed to stop herself.

“I wish I could tell you, I really do” Tammy sighed “But you’d hate me...” and you’d probably hate me if I told you mine, Laigh thought, no one would ever be able to trust me again.

“That’s OK Tam,” Laigh said understandingly “But if you ever do want to talk about it I promise I wouldn’t tell a soul.”

“You wouldn’t?” Tammy asked. Laigh nodded and she smiled. “Thanks, I’ll remember that for the future.” she yawned and Laigh looked sympathetically at her. “You’re exhausted Tammy, and it’s late, I’ll walk you back to your room.” they got up and walked to Tammy’s room together. When Laigh got back she jumped into bed, however she couldn’t sleep as too many thoughts were running through her head - what had Tammy got to hide?...

Marco was sat watching the sun rise, he was thinking about the events of the day before. He hadn’t known Anton for very long however they had become good friends, Anton was always giving advice to him and he had been one of the first people to introduce themselves when he’d first arrived there. Connor walked up and sat down next to him, he sat deep in thought when Marco said

“Good morning.”

“What’s so good about it?” Connor muttered “Everything seems to be going wrong recently” he wasn’t in a very good mood as he hadn’t got much sleep the night before as he had been thinking too much about the memorial show for Anton.

“I’m sure everything will get back to normal soon” Marco said with optimism

“I’m not.” Connor replied “Tammy going to be unhappy all of the time, Anton’s - well, Anton’s dead and I don’t know how much use anyone else’s going to be.”

“Well I’ll help as much as possible, and so will Dove, and Laigh” Marco was trying hard to brighten Connor’s spirits but it was no use. He finally gave up and left him to sit brooding about everything. What am I going to do? Connor thought to himself, this tribe’s gonna fall apart if someone doesn’t do something quickly and the way I’m feeling I don’t think I’m going to be the one to do that something. He sighed and just stared out into the distance, not knowing that Laigh was stood not too far away just watching him.

“How long’s he been like that?” she asked Marco “I don’t know, he’s really worried about the tribe.” he told her

“He worries too much” Laigh said with annoyance “He should let me take more responsibility now I’m joint leader but it’s like he’s scared to” Marco put his hand on her shoulder and said

“I’m sure that he will soon, you’re a great leader.” “You think so?” she asked unsurely

“Yes, I do” he smiled and they hugged. Laigh turned to look at Connor again and sighed

“I think I’d better go and talk to him.” she decided and walked over to where he was sat “Connor, we need to talk about this.” she said urgently to him.

“Laigh, look I don’t need you wearing yourself out” he said to her

“Well why did you make me joint leader?” she asked rather loudly

“I thought it was for the best at the time” he admitted, he couldn’t bring himself to look at her but he could guess that she would be glaring angrily at him.

“At the time?!? Connor, what’s going on? Am I a leader or not?” she asked

“Yes, you are.” he said firmly

“Right, then can we please discuss what we’re going to do?” she asked again

“Yes.” he replied finally “Have you spoken to Tammy?” “She came to see me last night.” she told him “Connor there’s something I’d better tell you...”

“Yes?” he asked, a little confused

“Tammy’s pregnant” she divulged “She’s really scared about what you’ll say when she tells you”

“She is?” Connor said in disbelief “I wouldn’t be angry, things like this happen. Did Anton know?”

“That’s why she needed to talk to him so urgently yesterday” she explained “She’d only just found out herself.”

“Poor Anton, he didn’t even know he was going to be a dad.” Connor sighed “He would have been good at it as well, did you see how he was with Taylor?”

“Yes, Taylor practically worshipped him” Laigh smiled as she thought of the day she had been looking after Taylor and had taken him to have a lesson with Anton, the way he’d ran to greet him, shouting his name and the way Anton’s face had lit up. She felt tears in her eyes but she blinked them back. “There’s one thing that’s bothering me though.” she said

“What’s that?” Connor asked

“Why does Tammy keep blaming herself for his death? And last night she told me she was going to leave because she didn’t want to us to find out the truth”

“Truth?” he asked

“That’s what I wondered, it kept me up most of the night” she told him. Connor frowned

“I wonder what that could be about?” he wondered “I have no idea, but I hope it’s not as bad as she seems to be making out” Laigh said.

“Thank you all for coming to this show.” Connor announced. It was the end of another show and Connor was stood on the stage, Laigh was stood in the wings watching him “I would now like to announce a sad event which happened yesterday. Now there are some members of the audience who will probably notice that Anton, our emcee, is missing. Well I’m very sorry to have to tell you all this but yesterday Anton was involved in an accident which tragically took his life.” a few people in the audience gasped with horror “As you can probably guess he was a huge asset to this tribe and will always live on in our hearts and minds, and I would like to tell you all that we will be holding a very special memorial show in dedication to him next week. So please tell as many people as you can about this event as it will be totally free-of-charge. Thank you very much for your time.” Connor walked off the stage amidst applause. He looked at Laigh, who hugged him

“That was great Con” she told him

“Do you think so?” he asked

“It was Connor” Tammy reassured him “Anton would have been proud”

“Not as proud as Anton would have been if he had known about his baby” Connor replied, she smiled and looked down. She had told him about her pregnancy after Laigh had finally persuaded her to. She was very glad she had, as he’d been very supportive as had the rest of the tribe when they had found out. Marco and Dove joined them

“I think we’re going to have to find extra seats for the memorial show” Dove grinned, holding up a piece of paper “People have been asking to reserve seats!”

“Really?” Tammy asked “I didn’t realise people cared so much! Or is it because it’s free to get in?”

“No, a lot of the people seemed genuinely upset.”

Marco assured her “Most of them told us to give you their sympathy”

“That’s very thoughtful of them” Laigh said “I think this show’s going to be good”

“Yeah, it’s just a shame it’s happening for such a bad reason” Connor sighed and they stood in silence.

Part 15

The camp was a hive of activity. There wasn’t a single member of the tribe not doing anything.

“Liam, could you ask Marco if he’ll do all of the announcing today?” Laigh called. Liam nodded and turned to go but was stopped by Connor.

“No need to, I’m going to do that today.” he told Liam. “Would you find Petra for me? I need to ask her about refreshments.” Liam finally left and Laigh jogged up.

“You’re going to announce the performers?” Laigh asked him, just to make sure that she’d heard him correctly. “Yeah, I think it would be best. Been as I knew Anton better that Marco did. I thought perhaps he could play for Dove.”

“Has she finally decided what she’s going to do then?” she asked

“Yeah, she’s going to sing one of Anton’s favourite songs.” he told her. He sighed and looked around at all of his friends.

“Con? Is there something wrong?” Laigh put her hand on his shoulder.

“No... Yes, look I’ve got to tell you something...” he began, but was cut short by Marco, who came running up. “Hey guys! Has either of you seen Dove around? Liam just told me that she wants me to play for her.”

“She’s in her room.” Connor told him. Petra then wandered up to them as well.

“You wanted to see me Connor?” she asked.

“Yeah. Look I’ll see you later Laigh.” he told her. Laigh nodded as he walked away chatting to Petra. She sighed, I wonder what’s been troubling him lately? She thought to herself. He’s been acting strangely for days now. She decided it must be the stress of trying to sort out this memorial show for Anton. She turned and headed for the stage, where she found Tammy sat forlornly by herself.

“Hey Tam, you look terrible.” Laigh said truthfully. “Thanks a lot Laigh, you really know how to cheer someone up.” she replied sarcastically. She then closed her eyes and sighed “I’m sorry Laigh,” she said apologetically “It’s just I haven’t slept properly since Anton died and I’m feeling really ill today.”

“Baby problems?” Laigh asked and Tammy nodded in reply. “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be better soon.”

“I’m not so optimistic...” Tammy muttered and Laigh put her arm around her.

“Oh Tammy, don’t be like that. Go to your room and try and get some sleep, it will do you good.” Laigh ordered. Tammy jumped off the edge of the stage and walked away slowly. Laigh stood up again and began to wander around, straightening chairs as she walked past them. Dove and Marco were sat together, he was strumming his guitar as she sang. Laigh stood and watched for a while. Dove had a beautiful voice which went perfectly with the guitar’s mellow sound. Marco looked up and realised that Laigh was watching. He grinned at her and she smiled back, her heart fluttering. She really did care about him, and she felt sure that he felt the same way about her. She looked at her watch and gasped

“Hey everyone get moving! We’ve only got an hour and a half before the show begins!” she shouted and began to run back to the performing area to check everything was in order.

The final hour and a half flew by and pretty soon everyone was stood backstage and the ‘auditorium’ was packed.

“OK, are we all ready?” Connor asked as he handed out green armbands to everyone. They had decided to wear them as a mark of respect, green seemed more appropriate than black. Laigh was peering out through a crack in the curtain, the Mall Rats were all there, and also - much to the horror of Laigh - Max and Harley. They were sat next to each other, Harley was holding Maxine on her lap, she was smiling proudly. Laigh’s eyes narrowed when she saw this. However her heart felt a lot lighter when she saw Bray, Amber and baby Leia sat together. Marco put his hand on Laigh’s shoulder and made her jump. She looked at him then beckoned him to have a look as well.

“You see the couple at the back with the baby? That’s Max and Harley.” she whispered.

“Oh, so THAT’S who broke your heart, is it?” Marco said, with a rather nasty tone in his voice. Laigh grabbed hold of his hand.

“Forget it, OK? Look, there’s Bray and Amber!” she pointed them out.

“Is that the rest of their tribe with them?” he asked “Yeah, they’re the Mall Rats.” she smiled. Suddenly she heard someone clearing their throat behind them. They both turned around and found Connor looking at them.

“Sorry.” they both said sheepishly “It’s OK.” he replied “Have you seen family out there?” “Family, friends and enemies.” Laigh replied. “Oh are Max and Harley here? You’ll have to point them out to me.” he said and then gestured to them to move to their positions.

The memorial show was running smoothly. The performances were now over and Connor was stood on the stage delivering a eulogy.

“Anton was a good friend to us all, and - as I have said before - an asset to the Wandering Minstrels. We will all miss him in our own way, and for different reasons. My condolences go out especially to Tammy, his beloved girlfriend who always stood by him. I would now like to hand you over to some of his closest friends.” he left the stage and Rochelle and Taylor stepped on. Laigh was stood in the wings with Marco watching. He took hold of her hand as Rochelle began to speak.

“Anton was always good to talk to and also a good laugh.” she smiled

“Anton was like my big brother.” Taylor said miserably “I miss him.” he burst into tears and ran off the stage, followed by Rochelle. People in the audience had begun to cry. Even Max had tears in his eyes, but not for Anton. He was thinking about his lost love Laigh. If only I hadn’t been so gullible, he thought to himself, perhaps she would still be here. If only he had known that Laigh was only a few metres away, things would have been so different. However she wasn’t thinking about him, her head was full of thoughts of Anton and of Marco, who was now stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her tightly. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked fondly at her and kissed her on the cheek. Laigh closed her eyes but soon opened them again when she realised that Tammy had stepped out onto the stage. Her eyes were swollen and red, but she had to say something.

“Anton saved me.” she sighed. “If it weren’t for him, who knows what could have happened to me. He helped me through the bad times when the virus struck and supported me through everything. Anton, if you can hear me, I love you and I’m truly sorry about what happened. I hope the fact that you’re going to be a father will make up for everything.” some of the audience gasped in surprise. She looked out at them and smiled. “Yes, as you’ve now probably guessed, I’m pregnant.” applause rang through the air as she made the announcement. “Now, I would like to thank all of my friends for their support, they’ve all been so good to me. And also, I would like to thank all of you for coming to this show and for all of your support and messages.” she stepped off of the stage and the audience clapped again. Laigh pulled herself out of Marco’s embrace and hugged Tammy, who was crying again. “Well done Tam.” she whispered. “I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been.”

“It was too hard.” Tammy sobbed. “I don’t EVER want to do that again!”

Most of the tribes had left. Only a few hung around, chatting to friends from the Wandering Minstrels.

Bray, Amber and Leia had also hung around, they were sat quite a distance away from the others with Laigh, Marco, Connor and Dove (who had found out about Laigh’s story by now). Laigh was holding the baby and they were all talking earnestly.

“Hey where are Luce and Scott?” Laigh asked, suddenly realising that they hadn’t been there.

“They decided to move on.” Amber told her. “They send their love, by the way.”

“What do you mean?” Laigh asked, bewilderedly.

“Well, we sort of... Told them.” Bray admitted “They over heard us talking and so we had to. No one else knows though.”

“Really?” Laigh asked “So they’re OK with everything?”

“Yeah, they were really happy for you, when we told them where you were they knew you were alright!” Amber reassured her. She then got up. “I think we’d better get back Bray, the others will be worried.” Bray nodded and picked up his baby.

“See you soon, guys!” he called out over his shoulder as they left.

“They are really sweet!” Dove exclaimed “I can’t believe that you didn’t want us to know about them!” “I thought it would be best.” Laigh admitted and then yawned. Look, I’m gonna hit the hay. I’ll see you in the morning. Connor and Dove nodded and Marco got up. “I’ll walk you to your room.” he told her.

“Thanks.” Laigh felt sure that she was blushing at that moment.

They walked in silence for a few minutes then Marco stopped and looked at Laigh. She stopped and looked back at him. Their eyes immediately met.

“Laigh, can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Go ahead.” she replied

“Do you believe in...” his voice faltered.

“In what?” she asked him cautiously.

“In love at first sight?” he blurted out. Laigh’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I... I don’t know.” she finally answered “What about you?”

“I didn’t,” he replied, taking her hand in his.

“Didn’t?” Laigh repeated.

“Until I met you.” he said so softly that it barely audible. Laigh smiled. Finally! She thought, at long last, no disturbances, no dramas - it’s perfect! She knew EXACTLY what was coming next as his arms slipped around her and they fell into a long, passionate kiss at long last. Laigh felt like she was floating on air, but was suddenly brought crashing back to Earth when she heard a voice cry out in shock -

“Laigh! What’s going on?!?”

Part 16

Laigh gasped. No, it couldn’t be...

“Max? What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. She then turned to Marco, whose eyes were

narrowed. “Marco, please calm down!” she begged him. He moved away from her and stepped up to Max, who was smaller then Marco and looked a little worried.

“What do you think you’re doing? This is private land, you’re trespassing.” Marco growled. Max cowered away from him.

“I... I was just passing when I saw you kissing Laigh.” he replied nervously. “Laigh, why did you lie? I thought you were dead!”

“Max, just go away, OK? I don’t want anything to do with you anymore, go back to Harley and your daughter.” she sighed “And if you really want to know what happened, go and ask Bray and Amber, I’m sure they’ll tell you. Oh and tell them from me to tell the others as well. I’m fed up with living a lie.” she turned around and headed for her room followed closely by Marco, leaving an utterly shocked Max.

“Laigh! Does that mean your going to tell the others here as well?” he asked as they reached her door.

“Yes.” she sighed “I’ve made up my mind, it’s about time everyone knew the truth.” she opened her door and then turned to kiss him.

“Goodnight.” he whispered and walked away. Laigh stood and watched him leave for a moment, then finally made a decision that was going to change a few things.

“Marco?” she called out. He turned slowly and looked at her.

“Yeah?” he replied. She took a deep breath and said “Do... Do you want to stay here tonight?” she asked. He smiled and walked back up to her. He took her in his arms again and said

“I thought you’d never ask!”

The next morning. Dove was walking to Marco’s room. She needed to speak to him about her decision to leave. She reached his door and knocked on it.

“Marco? Marco, answer the door!” she called. After a few minutes she sighed frustratedly and opened his door. She was confuse to see his bed made. She walked quickly to the chilling-out area, where Connor was sat.

“Con? Have you seen Marco?” she asked.

“No. Why? Isn’t he in his room?” Connor replied.

“No, it looks like he hasn’t slept in his bed.” Dove looked worried. However Connor’s face broke into a knowing smile.

“I think I know where he is.” he said cunningly, looking towards Laigh’s room.

“No way!” she replied in awe. Connor nodded.

“Come on, you saw the way they were looking at each other yesterday! It was inevitable!” he told her. Dove smiled with delight.

“Well it’s about time! He’s fancied her since they first met!” she began to walk towards Laigh’s room.

“Dove! What are you doing?” Connor called to her.

“I’m just checking...” she replied.

Of course Connor’s notion was right. Laigh was sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair whilst Marco watched from the bed. He couldn’t help but smile, everything was wonderful. Laigh noticed his huge grin and smiled back.

“Happy?” she whispered lovingly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Perfectly.” he replied, and gave her a kiss just to prove it. Suddenly someone banged on the door. Marco’s eyes widened with shock and he pulled the covers over his head. Laigh couldn’t help but laugh at him as she got up to answer the door. Dove was stood with a broad smile on her face.

“Morning Leia!” she exclaimed, looking over Laigh’s shoulder as she did.

“Hi Dove, what’s wrong?” Laigh asked suspiciously.

“Have you, by any chance, seen Marco this morning?” she asked shrewdly. Laigh smiled.

“Come in Dove.” Dove walked in and Laigh pulled the cover off of Marco’s head “No need to hide Marco, you’re step-sister’s far smarter than you thought!” Marco smiled rather sheepishly.

“Hi Dove.” he said.

“Sorry to... Disturb you but we need to talk Marco.” she said straight-forwardly. Marco nodded and Laigh opened the door.

“I’ll see you guys later.” she told them, smiling fondly at Marco. As she stepped out she took a deep breath and sighed, thinking how wonderful her life was. Then she remembered - not so wonderful. Today was the day she was going to tell everyone the truth, but first of all she needed to talk to Connor.

As she reached the chilling-out area the tribe members who were sat around fell silent. Laigh was confused.

“Hi everyone” she said. Sandy stood up.

“Well hello Laigh.” she replied “Did you... Sleep well?” as she said this the others sniggered.

“Well, doesn’t news travel fast?” she replied, looking at Connor, who was looking guilty. “Yes, OK Marco and I spent the night together. Happy now?” she sighed exasperatedly. “Connor? We need to have a chat...” the other tribe members looked at each other.

“Oooh, this sounds serious Con!” Petra joked.

“Do I hear wedding bells?” Meg asked teasingly. Laigh pulled a face at her.

“No!” she replied. Connor got up and they headed for his room, while the remaining Wandering Minstrels hummed the Wedding March.

“Now, what can I do for you Laigh?” he asked. Laigh took a deep breath.

“Something happened last night, something that made me make a huge decision.” she told him. Connor raised his eyebrows.

“This doesn’t sound good Leia...” he began

“It isn’t. Connor, Max came to see me! MAX!” she exclaimed

“No? You’re kidding?” he asked “What happened?”

“He wanted to know why I’d lied. I told him to go to see Bray and Amber, I wasn’t in the mood to tell him why I did what I did.” she sighed “I told him to tell them from me to tell everyone the truth, I’m fed up with hiding.”

“So, does that mean you’re going to tell the others here as well?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I needed to speak to you. Will you support me if everyone goes mad at me?” Connor smiled and put his hand on hers.

“Of course I will Laigh, you’re a good friend and you certainly deserve my support.” he replied “I mean, you’ve supported me!” she grinned.

“Thanks a million, I’m gonna go and find Tammy now, I want to tell her privately.” Connor got up at the same time as her and said.

“Sure.” Laigh opened the door and was about to leave when he said “I’m really pleased that you and Marco got together at last, you both deserve each other.”

“Thanks, I’m glad you and Dove got back together.” she replied, and left.

Tammy was at the river, staring into the water. All she could see was Anton’s blank face staring at her. She shuddered, why had it happened? What had she done to deserve this? She sighed and picked up the knife that was laying next to her and put it to her throat. One quick cut and it will all be over, she thought to herself.

“Tammy?” her thoughts were broken by Laigh’s voice. She quickly hid the knife and looked at her. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Just thinking, that’s all.” she sighed. Laigh sat herself down. “I heard about you and Marco, congratulations.”

“You make it sound like we’re getting married!” Laigh smiled bashfully. Her face then became more serious as she said “Tam? I want to tell you something.”

“You do?” Tammy replied

“Yes, it’s about time I told you the truth.” she sighed.

“The truth?” Tammy repeated.

“Yes, about where I came from.” Laigh told her. “I lied. I didn’t leave my tribe because I didn’t fit in. I ran away.”

“Ran away? From what?” Tammy exclaimed. Laigh disclosed the story about her broken heart and her fake death. Tammy gasped.

“So, you’ve lied to us all from day one?!?” she cried out. “How could you?” Laigh looked at her.

“Well, I’m not the only one hiding something here...” she began and picked up the knife. “I saw what you were going to do Tammy. Now what’s going on? Why are you trying to kill yourself?” Tammy began to cry.

“You’re right Laigh! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that about you! I’ve got to tell you before it kills me!”

“What Tam?” Laigh asked gently. Tammy breathed in shakily.

“I killed Anton! It was my fault!” she exclaimed.

“You keep saying that Tammy, but how?” Laigh replied gently.

“You know how you saw me the morning of the day that Anton died?” she reminded Laigh “Well I had been here, to the river, to... To sabotage the bank - the exact spot where Anton fell. I killed him!” she began to sob into Laigh’s shoulder. Laigh just sat there, feeling numb and very shocked...

Part 17

“Why Tammy? Why did you sabotage the bank?” Laigh asked her as they walked back to camp. Her face was pale and she felt quite sick, but she needed to know why Tammy had done such a stupid - and dangerous - thing.

“I... I wanted to get my own back on Cecily, for everything she’s ever done to me, Anton, and you.” she finally replied “She normally comes to the river everyday for a walk, so I thought it would be funny to loosen some of the ground near the river and make her slip and fall in...”

“And you never thought of what could have happened if someone else had come along?” Laigh demanded, she felt quite angry that Tammy had been so thoughtless.

“No, Cecily’s a strong swimmer. I didn’t think Anton would...” she broke down again. “I’m so sorry Laigh, I was an idiot! If I could go back in time...”

“I know, I know.” Laigh sighed “I think everyone wishes that they could go back in time sometimes in their life.”

“Even you?” Tammy sniffled.

“Yes, even me.” Laigh confided. They had reached camp and the scent of breakfast was wafting through the air. “Now, dry your tears and let’s get some breakfast, OK?” Tammy looked at her in shock.

“You... You mean you’re not going to tell anyone?” “No, it’s not my place to. Only you can tell everyone the truth.” Laigh told her seriously.

Laigh sighed and leant back in her seat. Her stomach was full and she felt content. She was sat with Dove, Connor and, of course, Marco. She looked around at the other members of the tribe, who were all sat in their groups gossiping. She sighed again, this time not so contentedly. Marco put his hand on her shoulder.

“Are you OK?” he asked her, aware of how uneasy she was feeling.

“When should I tell them?” she asked.

“Well, there’s no time like the present...” he told her honestly. Connor and Dove looked at her and nodded in agreement. She took a breath and stood up.

“Everyone? Can I have you’re attention please? I have something I need to tell you...” she began, but was interrupted by various comments.

“You’re getting married, aren’t you?!?” Rochelle exclaimed.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Petra asked worriedly.

“Hey, Meg’s not here!” Sandy said. Laigh sighed frustratedly.

“SHUT UP!” She shouted, everyone fell silent quickly. “Thank you. It doesn’t matter about Meg, Sandy, you can tell her.” she took a deep breath before she finally retold her story for the second time that day.

Silence followed Laigh’s shocking announcement. No one could believe that they had been lied to for such a long time. Of course Connor, Dove and Marco were all backing her up. After what seemed like an eternity Rochelle broke the silence.

“I’m glad you told us.” she said “We’re all here for you Laigh, just like you’ve always been here for us.” the others agreed with this. Laigh smiled thankfully. But then a voice piped up.

“Well I’m not here for you.” Cecily stood up with Michaela and Lois.

“Why not?” Sandy asked.

“Because she lied to us!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger at Laigh. “I move that we vote her out.” people began to murmur. Laigh felt faint - would they really vote her out? Suddenly Tammy jumped up to Laigh’s defense.

“NO!” she shouted “We shouldn’t even THINK about voting her out! Where would we be without her? She always helps us if we’re in trouble, don’t you think it’s about time we showed her just how much she means to us?” the murmuring turned to cheering, and Cecily was overthrown again. She stormed off, closely followed by her ‘fan club’. The cheering subsided as Dove and Connor stood up.

“We have an announcement as well.” Dove began.

“Yeah, we’ve made an important decision.” Connor told them “Dove and I have decided to...” he was once again interrupted. This time it was by Meg’s entrance. She looked a little flushed, but otherwise happy. Sandy jumped up.

“Hey Meg, where have you been? Why do you keep disappearing?” Meg grinned.

“I’ve met someone Sandy! A guy!” suddenly all of the Wandering Minstrels were listening intently.

“A guy? What’s his name? Where’s he from?” Rochelle inquired.

“He’s wonderful, and he’s an ACTUAL wandering minstrel!” Meg told them happily “His name’s Sasha!” the name made Laigh think. Sasha, she thought to herself, where have I heard that name before? Then she suddenly found herself thinking back to when she was with the Mall Rats...

...“Who’s going to marry you?” Laigh asked Amber. “Probably Tai-San, she did the first attempt at Lex and Zandra’s” Amber replied. That confused Laigh.

“First attempt?” she asked.

“Yeah, it was rudely interrupted by Ebony and by the time they finally did get married Zandra and Tai-San had fallen out and so I had to do it in the end.”

“I couldn’t imagine you doing the ceremony” Laigh smiled. Amber smiled back.

“Neither could I, it took a lot of persuasion from Zandra, and Sasha.” A sad look came into her eye as she mentioned his name.

“Sasha? Who’s that?” Laigh asked gently, she could tell that this was a difficult thing for Amber to talk about.

“He’s who I was with before Bray...”

..So THAT was where she’d heard the name before - of course! Could this Sasha be the same guy that Amber had been in love with? She was soon to find out because Meg asked Connor

“Would it be OK if he came to dinner?”

“Of course, I’m sure the others would like to meet him.” Connor replied.

After dinner Laigh finally got to talk to the guest. He seemed very friendly and everyone agreed that he was very good for Meg. It had turned out that they had been seeing each other for quite some time, without anyone realising it. Laigh went over to Sasha, who was sat watching Meg dance.

“Hi, Sasha?” Laigh asked. He nodded

“Yep, that’s me!” he smiled and invited her to sit down. As she did he asked “What’s your name?”

“I’m Laigh, nice to meet you.” she shook his hand politely and then jumped straight in “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead.” he grinned.

“Do you know a girl called Amber?” the moment she mentioned her name Sasha’s expression changed. He smiled fondly and replied

“Yeah, why do you know her?”

“Yes, she’s married to my cousin!” she told him. He looked at her in confusion.

“Married? Who’s your cousin?” she was just about to answer when he said “Don’t tell me, Bray?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Laigh answered “They have a baby as well.”

“A kid huh? What’s its name?”

“Leia.” she told him. “Sorry that I brought it up, if it upset you.”

“No, it’s OK, I’ve got Meg now. It’s good to hear how she’s doing though. How are the others?” he asked

“Fine, as far as I know. Zandra had a baby as well. A boy.” Laigh replied. Sasha grinned

“So, I take it her and Lex are still together?” he asked.

“Yeah, as solid as a rock apparently.” she smiled. Meg, who had now finished dancing, walked over and smiled at them.

“It’s nice to see you two getting on. Sasha? I think we’d better make our announcement...” he stood up.

“You’re right, the sooner we tell them the better.”

hand-in-hand Meg and Sasha took the stage.

“We have an announcement to make!” Meg called out over everyone. “I’m leaving!” Sandy stood up.

“Leaving? Why?” she asked

“Because Sasha’s asked me to go away with him, that’s why!” Meg replied “I hope you can all be happy for us.”

“I think this is cause for a celebration!” Connor announced and everyone cheered happily.

Later, the sun was setting over the party which was still in full swing. Laigh and Marco had crept away together to watch the sun set.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Laigh whispered, it was so quiet, she felt she couldn’t speak any louder.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Marco whispered back. Laigh reddened and smiled bashfully. He kissed her on the cheek and held her closer.

“Well, a lot’s happened today, hasn’t it?” she commented. Marco nodded

“Yeah.” he sighed, then he grinned. “Hey, just think, in a few days time we’ll be running the Wandering Minstrels full time.” Laigh pulled away from him and stood up.

“What do you mean Marco?” she asked him in confusion. “What? You mean Connor hasn’t told you yet?” Marco asked

“Hasn’t told me what?” she demanded to know.

“That he and Dove are leaving very soon, they want us to be the leaders!...”

Part 18

“Connor! Where are you? I think we need to have a little chat...” Laigh shouted as she reached the camp. She was feeling very angry, and she had a right to be. Connor was handing over the leadership without consulting her first - what if she didn’t want to be leader full-time? She walked around shouting Connor’s name when Dove appeared.

“Laigh, what’s wrong? What are you angry about?” she asked with concern.

“The fact that you and Connor are leaving, and no one’s even bothered to tell me?” she replied. Dove’s eyes widened.

“You mean he hasn’t told you?” she gasped “I’m so sorry Laigh, I told him to tell you the other morning, I told Marco because I thought you knew!” Dove looked a little mad now. “CONNOR!” she yelled, and he came running.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Dove looked at him angrily. “Why didn’t you tell Laigh about us leaving?” he looked guiltily at them both.

“I’m so sorry Laigh, every time I wanted to tell you someone interrupted. Cab it wait ‘til morning now? I’m feeling really tired...” Dove grabbed hold of him. “Not so fast, we’ve gotta talk about this NOW.” she told him. Marco ran upto the group.

“I’m sorry I brought it up Laigh, I thought you knew!” he apologised breathlessly. Laigh looked at him apologetically.

“It’s OK, I’m sorry I shouted at you, it’s not your fault.” she took hold of his hand. “Now, Connor? I think we’d all better sit down and sort this out...”

Laigh was tossing and turning restlessly in bed. She couldn’t sleep because her head was swimming. Connor had told her that he and Dove were planning to leave the day after tomorrow. She turned to look at her clock, it was midnight so it meant that they were leaving the next day! Laigh sat up sharply - there was so much to do - tomorrow the Wandering Minstrels would be Marco and her’s responsibility! She had butterflies in her stomach, and suddenly felt quite lonely. She got up and wandered out of her room. The grass was damp under her bare feet as she walked over to Marco’s room. She let herself in quietly, so as not to wake him. However, he was having trouble sleeping as well.

“Can’t sleep?” he whispered, she shook her head. “Me neither.”

“Can I stay here tonight?” she asked apologetically. “Of course you can honey.” he smiled. She blushed - no one had ever called her that before. She slipped under the covers and they snuggled up. Laigh found herself dropping to sleep almost straight away, the last thing she heard before she did was Marco murmur

“Sweet dreams Laigh.”

Later that morning Marco and Laigh wandered out of his room. The rest of the tribe were already up and chatting away to each other. The couple went their separate ways - Marco went to talk to Liam and Damon while Laigh sat with Rochelle, Petra and Tammy.

“Laigh! Where have you been?” Petra exclaimed.

“You missed the most shocking announcement ever!” Rochelle told her.

“What was it?” Laigh asked.

“Connor and Dove are leaving!” Tammy exclaimed.

“Oh, so they finally told you.” she replied. Rochelle, Tammy and Petra looked at her in disbelief.

“You mean you knew?” Rochelle cried out.

“And you didn’t tell us?” Tammy added.

“No, because I wasn’t going to ruin the surprise.” she smiled “They didn’t tell you who’s going to be leader next, did they?”

“No, why do you know?” Petra asked suspiciously. Laigh stretched and said

“Oh yes. They’ve decided to leave the tribe in Cecily’s capable hands...” she said absent-mindedly. Suddenly the three girls jumped up.

“WHAT?!?” they exclaimed together.

“Wait ‘til I see Connor...” Tammy growled. Laigh almost fell off her chair as she burst out laughing.

“You fools!” she howled, tears rolling down her face. “I can’t believe you fell for that!” the girls narrowed their eyes at Laigh.

“Why you...” Rochelle muttered.

“Well I knew that she was joking all along...” Petra said, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Now, come on Laigh, who got the job really?” Laigh calmed herself and replied.

“Who do you think?” Tammy’s eyes lit up.

“It’s you and Marco, isn’t it? You’re going to run this place, aren’t you?” Laigh simply nodded and Rochelle, Tammy and Petra all screamed.

“That’s the BEST news ever!” Petra said joyfully dancing around.

“Hey everyone, Laigh and Marco are taking over as leaders!” Tammy announced. Soon the whole tribe was cheering and celebrating. Cecily, Michaela and Lois joined the merry group.

“What’s happening?” Cecily asked.

“Connor and Dove are leaving...” Liam began

“WHAT?!?” all three of them began to exclaim

“And you’re CELEBRATING?!” Michaela asked in shock.

“Let him finish, for once in your life!” Petra cried out. “He was going to say that we were celebrating because Laigh and Marco are our new leaders!” Cecily looked at Laigh and Marco in disgust.

“Why those two? I’ve been here a lot longer than both of them!” she pouted.

“Because I know we can trust them Cecily,” Connor and Dove appeared. Cecily glared at Connor then sauntered off with her friends. Laigh rolled her eyes.

“Why do I have to put with her?” she sighed. Connor grinned

“I’m sure you’ll cope” he replied reassuringly. “If I didn’t think you could, I wouldn’t be leaving.” she smiled back at him, “Anyway, we’d better get going, Meg and Sasha are ready to leave.” she nodded and they all headed off to say farewell to their friend.

“Thank you all for coming to the show.” Connor was stood on the stage speaking to the audience. Another show had passed smoothly, and Connor was about to make his announcement. Meg and Sasha had left earlier, they didn’t know where they were going to go, but they’d promised to visit in the future. Sasha had asked Laigh to say hi to the Mall Rats the next time she saw them. Now she was stood at the edge of the stage, with a piece of paper in her hand.

“I have some news for you all.” Connor continued, “A dear friend of ours left us today with her new love, we wish her all the best for the future.” there was a ripple of applause then Connor beckoned to Dove, who walked out onto the stage smiling. He put his arm around her and said “And now the final announcement of the show. I hope that you will all come tomorrow as it is mine and Dove’s final show. We have decided to move on, but don’t worry - we’re going to leave this place in good hands so the show WILL go on!” as the audience whistled and clapped Laigh put her mask on, took a deep breath and leapt gracefully to where Connor and Dove were stood. Connor looked surprised as she handed him the paper she was holding. He unfolded it and read the note. “Oh!” he said with surprise “It looks like there’s another announcement!” he read the paper out loud “I hope you will all come tomorrow because I will be revealing my identity to everyone!” the audience fell silent with shock.

“Well it looks like it’s going to be a thrilling final show for us!” Dove laughed, and the audience went crazy as they left the stage. Marco greeted Laigh as she stepped off. He threw his arms around her.

“You’re really going to do that?” he asked.

“Why not? I mean I’m going to be the leader so everyone should know who I am!” she grinned. Suddenly there was a commotion as Sandy ran up shouting

“Laigh! There’s some people who want to see you...”

Part 19

Laigh looked confusedly at Sandy.

“Where are they?” she asked.

“They said they’d meet you at your room.” Sandy replied. Laigh ran quickly to see who her visitors were. Her eyes widened with surprise as soon as she saw Bray, Amber, Salene, Patsy and Cloe stood outside of her room.

“Laigh!” Patsy and Cloe shouted and ran to hug her.

“Oh my... I can’t believe you’re here!” Laigh exclaimed. Amber and Bray grinned.

“Max gave us your message.” Amber told her.

“Yeah, and then we asked if we could see you!” Patsy said happily.

“I can’t believe you’re alive!” Salene exclaimed “We were all really shocked when Bray told us that you hadn’t really died!” Laigh smiled at her.

“Well, you’d better believe it!” she laughed “Hey, did you watch the performance? I didn’t see you.”

“Of course we did!” Amber replied

“You’re still a good dancer!” Cloe informed her.

“Well, I hope I am!” Laigh said back “Hey are you all coming tomorrow?”

“Yeah, we’re going to bring the others as well, they’re all eager to see you again.” Bray answered. “What even Lex?!?” she exclaimed.

“Well, maybe not Lex...” Amber replied truthfully “But the others certainly do.” Laigh then remembered something.

“Oh I nearly forgot! You know how Connor announced that one of the members had left with her new love? Well guess who her love is?” she told them. They all shrugged and looked puzzled. “Sasha!” she exclaimed. Amber’s eyes widened.

“You mean you saw Sasha?” she squeaked. “Did you tell him about me?”

“Yeah, he’s happy for both you and Bray. He wanted me to say hi to you all as well.” Laigh replied. Bray looked at his cousin and smiled.

“We’d better get going, we’ll see you tomorrow, OK?”

Laigh nodded and gave them all a last hug before they left. They greeted Marco who was just coming to see Laigh as they went. He smiled at her and took her in his arms.

“So, I guess the truth is out?” he inquired.

“Yeah, thank goodness.” she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe that by this time tomorrow we’ll be the leaders of the Wandering Minstrels!”

“Me neither, feels like a dream - totally surreal.” he replied.

“I think our first duty as leaders will be to try and get some new members! Our numbers are decreasing fast!” Laigh mused.

“I know what you mean - we’ve lost Meg, Anton and now Dove and Connor are going...” he sighed.

“And I don’t think Cecily, Michaela and Lois will stick around for much longer.” Laigh groaned “I know I don’t get on with them, but they make up the numbers!”

“What makes you think that they’re going to leave?” Marco asked. Laigh looked at him in surprise

“Do you really think that Cecily will want to stay with US as leaders?” she asked him.

“Probably not.” he replied.

Meanwhile, Connor was starting to pack some of his things in a bag. He’d decided that he would let Laigh have his room, it was a lot bigger than hers after all. There was a tap at the door and Connor sighed, he didn’t feel like sorting out any problems at this moment in time. He turned to open the door when he noticed that a note had been pushed under the door. On the note it said-

“Dear Connor and Dove,

Please would it be possible for us to have a meeting before you left tomorrow? I have a very important confession to make regarding Anton.

Many thanks,
Tammy.”

Connor was puzzled - what was Tammy talking about? He went to find Dove, who was sat in the chilling-out area playing cards with Rochelle and Taylor.

“Dove? Can I have a word?” Connor asked her. She looked concernedly at him and stood up.

“What wrong? You’re not having second thoughts about leaving, are you?” she asked nervously.

“No, nothing like that. Read this.” he handed her the note, which she read quickly. She stared at it for a few seconds before saying.

“Let’s go and find her, obviously she wants to see us as soon as possible.” Dove concluded. They walked over to Tammy’s room and knocked on the door. She opened it and turned very pale.

“That was quick.” she told them as she let them in. Sandy, Petra, Laigh and Marco were also sat in the room. “Could you wait a moment whilst I fetch ‘Elle?” they nodded and she left the room. Dove sat next to Sandy and asked

“Do you know what this’s all about?”

“No, she just said she needed to tell me something.” Sandy shrugged.

“Same here.” Petra told her. Laigh and Marco had also found a note, with instructions to meet at Tammy’s room. Laigh knew exactly what Tammy wanted to tell them. She hoped that she wouldn’t chicken out at the last minute. Tammy returned with Rochelle, who also looked confused. She sat down and Tammy began.

“I can’t keep this to myself any longer, so I decided to bring you guys together and tell you.” she took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s about the day that Anton died...”

The group walked out of Tammy’s room in deep shock. All except for Laigh, who stayed to comfort Tammy.

“It’s OK, it’s all over now.” she said soothingly as Tammy sobbed into her pillow.

“I... I’m so glad that I told them.” she whispered. “I couldn’t live with myself any longer.” Laigh smiled.

“It was very brave of you to own up like that, believe me, I know how hard it is.” Tammy looked at her

“Thank you Laigh, I know you’re going to be a great leader.” she sniffled.

“I hope so.” Laigh replied. Tammy sat up

“Hey I’ve decided on baby names!” she told her.

“Great! What have you decided on?” Laigh asked.

“Antonia for a girl, Antonio for a boy.” Tammy said dreamily.

“They’re lovely names Tam, I’m sure that Anton would appreciate them.” Laigh grinned.

“I’m sure he would have as well...” Tammy sighed. She felt a great deal better now that she’d got rid of that terrible burden. She hoped that from now on her life would be better.

Part 20

Connor was dreaming. He was sat on the beach, the sun was warm on the top of his head as he watched the waves crash against the shore. He looked to his right, and saw Dove walking towards him. He stood up and began to run to greet her. But suddenly he stopped as he heard a voice shout

“Connor!” he turned to look “Connor!” but he couldn’t see anyone.

“CONNOR!” he woke up sharply. “Connor wake up!” Laigh was banging on the door. He groaned and got out of his nice warm bed to open the door.

“What is it?” he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. She walked in quickly.

“What are you doing? Connor you’re leaving in five hours!” she exclaimed. All of a sudden he felt wide awake.

“Five hours? Is that it?” he gasped and started to get dressed quickly. “That means the show starts in...”

“Just under two hours.” she informed him. As soon as he was dressed he burst out of his room and straight into a hubbub. Everyone was frantically putting the finishing touches to their performance or to the stage.

“I’m so sorry guys!” he apologised “I didn’t set my alarm to go off!”

“It’s OK Con, Laigh and myself have been getting some experience in before you leave!” Marco wandered up and put his arm around Laigh’s shoulders.

“That’s great, where’s Dove?” he asked

“Up on the stage. Oh don’t go too far, apparently Cecily has got an important announcement to make...” Laigh told him.

“Oh what now?” he groaned.

“I think she’s leaving.” Laigh lowered her voice. “She doesn’t like the idea of us two running the joint.”

Connor sighed and went to find Dove. She was watching Sandy practice her routine on the stage when he walked up.

“Hi Con, where have you been?” she asked him.

“I overslept, sorry.” he explained “Have you got everything sorted for this afternoon?”

“You bet I have.” she smiled and threw herself in his arms. “Oh Connor, I love you! I can’t believe we’re going away together!” he smiled

“Me neither.” he replied. All of a sudden Dove turned pale and sat down quickly. Connor sat next to her and looked at her worriedly.

“Dove, are you feeling alright?” he asked.

“Sorry, I just remembered what Tammy told us yesterday. I guess I’d put it to the back of my mind.” she sighed “It really shocked me.” Connor nodded solemnly.

“I know what you mean, I can’t get over the fact that it was meant for Cecily - I mean, I know she didn’t like her much, but to do that...”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Sandy shouted at Cecily as she shoved past her onto the stage.

“I have an announcement to make.” she said simply.

Laigh and Marco had walked over to the stage to hear what Cecily had to say. They sat themselves next to Dove and Connor as Cecily said.

“As you know, I object to Laigh and Marco being leaders of this tribe, so I made a decision. I have therefore come to the conclusion to leave the Wandering Minstrels.” Laigh saw most people’s faces light up. Lois stood up

“I’m also going, and so is Michaela.” she announced.

“I am, am I?” suddenly Michaela appeared from nowhere. Everyone turned to look at her.

“Of course you are Mick, you’re my friend!” Cecily exclaimed. Michaela’s eyes narrowed.

“When was I consulted about this?” she asked angrily “Perhaps I don’t WANT to leave!” Cecily looked shocked.

“Wh.. What?!?” she squeaked “You don’t want to go?”

“No.” Michaela said firmly. She then turned to the rest of the tribe “That’s if you guys still want me around, I know I’ve been a real pain in the past but I’m fed up with being Cecily’s crony. I used to think she was wonderful - now I can see she’s just annoying!” Cecily’s jaw dropped, she then scowled at Michaela and said

“Fine, if that’s the way you feel. Come on Lois, we know when we’re not wanted...” with that she left the stage, and went to her room followed by Lois. Everyone began to cheer happily - they were really leaving!

“Good riddance!” Tammy grinned, she then turned to Michaela “That was well said, I don’t mind you sticking around!” everyone else agreed and Michaela felt, for the first time in her life, as if she was wanted. She walked up to Laigh.

“There’s something I want to tell you.” she admitted “It was me who left that bottle on the stage - I’m sorry.” Laigh smiled.

“Thank you for owning up, it’s OK really. I forgive you.” she replied.

Connor and Dove’s final show was in full swing. Laigh was up on the stage dancing. As promised, all of the Mall Rats were there. Also there were Scott, Lucy, Max, Harley and Maxine. The Mall Rats, Lucy, Scott and Max looked really happy, Harley was being miserable as usual. She still didn’t realise that Laigh was still alive, and Max had dragged her out to give her a couple of shocks - one of which was, of course, the revealing of the Ghost Dancer’s true identity. The music ended and Laigh was given a standing ovation. Connor ran up onto the stage and announced

“Now, it’s the time you’ve all been waiting for - the Ghost Dancer will take off her mask and never put it back on again!” the crowd became silent as Laigh pulled it off. Her friends in the audience jumped up and cheered. Harley nearly dropped her baby in shock. She looked at Max, who leant over and whispered something to her. She glared at him and stormed off. Lucy, who was sat next to him, gave him a hug! Connor continued

“For all you people who don’t know her, this is Laigh and she, along with Marco, will be the new leaders of the Wandering Minstrels!” more cheering followed and Laigh took a final bow before they left the stage. Max was stood waiting for her.

“Laigh!” he called to her as she walked straight past him.

“What?” she asked feeling very annoyed.

“I want to ask you something.” he told her. “Would you give me an audition?”

“What?” she blurted out. “Max, if this is because of me...”

“No, it isn’t.” he sighed “I want to get away from everything, especially Harley. I know I can’t have you back, you’re with Marco now. Please give me a chance.” he begged. Laigh sighed.

“OK, if that’s what you really want...” Marco stepped up to them, giving Max a nasty look

“Is he bothering you Laigh?” he asked.

“No. Tammy?” she shouted. Tammy ran up.

“Yes leader?” she joked.

“This is Max, take him to the chilling-out area - he’s got an audition as soon as we get back.” Max gave her a grateful look.

“Thanks Laigh, you are NOT going to regret this...”

Connor, Dove and the rest of the Wandering Minstrels were stood on the beach. It was a fabulous afternoon, Taylor was paddling in the sea happily as the other said their good-byes to their old friends.

“What am I gonna do without you and your advice Con?” Laigh sniffled as she hugged him.

“You’ll survive Laigh, I know you will.” he whispered into her hair. She pulled back and looked into those deep hazel eyes for the final time. “I’ll be back, you can’t get rid of me that easily!” he laughed. She wiped her eyes and hugged Dove.

“Look after yourselves, OK? If you ever decide to get married let me know, won’t you?” Dove nodded.

“Of course, I’ll want you as a bridesmaid!” she told her. She then looked at Connor. “It’s time to go Con.”

“I know.” he said sadly. “Look after yourselves guys, I’ll be expecting a report when we visit!” he smiled. “Laigh, Marco, it’s up to you guys now. I know that the Wandering Minstrels will be safe in your hands.” Laigh and Marco smiled at each other.

“We certainly hope so.” Laigh grinned. Connor and Dove turned and walked away, amidst calls of “Bon voyage!” and “Be careful!” and “We’ll miss you” and “I thought they’d NEVER go! Now we can have some fun!” (the last comment was from Sandy). Laigh just watched in silence, tears rolling down her cheeks...

...”Wow! This place looks amazing!” Laigh exclaimed happily. Several months had passed since Connor and Dove’s departure and a huge amount of things had happened. Max’s audition had proved to be surprising.

It had turned out that Max was an amazing magician and had been invited to join almost straight away. This had led to another turn of events -

Tammy and Max had hit it off right from the start and had become a couple two months later. Tammy was now stood with Laigh, holding her baby son Antonio. He was the apple of her eye, the day he had been born she had said

“Every time I look at him I think of Anton smiling down at us.” the birth of Antonio hadn’t put Max off one bit, he cared for the baby as if he were his own. However, the biggest event was happening that day - the marriage of Laigh and Marco! Laigh was stood admiring the decorations when someone called her name. She turned and found Bray, Amber and the rest of the Mall Rats stood behind her.

“You made it!” she exclaimed. Bray hugged her. “Now do you think I’d miss my little cousin’s wedding day? Anyway, Tai-San’s going to perform the ceremony, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is!” Laigh smiled “Thanks guys. I’d better go and get ready now. Amber, Zandra, are you coming with me?” they nodded and followed her.

Laigh stood next to Marco nervously. He squeezed her hand encouragingly. She smiled at him gratefully. A lot of surprise guests had turned up. Meg and Sasha were there and so were Scott and Lucy, they were stood with the rest of the Wandering Minstrels and Mall Rats watching the ceremony.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.” Tai-San proclaimed and so they did.

Everyone cheered happily for the newly-weds and threw confetti as they finished their kiss. They almost immediately began to party - Laigh and Marco danced together.

“You still can’t dance, can you?” Laigh laughed.

“Oh well, I can’t be good at everything, can I?” he joked. He then became serious “Do you know what would make everything complete?” he asked her

“What?” she replied.

“A baby.” he whispered “I’d love for us to start a family sometime in the future.” Laigh smiled and closed her eyes.

“Well Marco, I think you can say we’re complete then.” she whispered back. He looked at her in surprise.

“Do you mean...” he stopped as she nodded her head. He grinned, picked her up and spun her around. Laigh threw her head back and laughed, her brown hair flying off of her face. She now knew that her life would be perfect from that day on.