Page 85 of Love in Tune

‘I’d be better without this damned chair,’ Mimi scowled, too proud to admit that she needed any support.

‘Actually Mimi, I think the chair adds to the visual impact of the protest.’ Honey rubbed Mimi’s shoulder. ‘You’re obviously injured, but you haven’t let it stop you from coming out today. It shows everyone how much this means to you.’

Mimi sniffed, but her mollified expression told Honey that her words had helped soothe pride-ruffled feathers.

‘Protester number fifty just chained themselves up!’ Tash called from the other end of the railings, and a cheer of appreciation rippled along the line, along with the clank and rattle of cuffs against metal.

‘You better make that sixty,’ a familiar voice called out, and there, line dancing towards her, was Robin, his hair doing a dance all of its own choosing as he boot-scooted along the pavement. Behind him trailed what could only be described as a rugby scrum of questionable-looking characters, all of them twice the size of the oddest pied piper in history.

‘Robin,’ Honey laughed, thrilled to see him. ‘How did you know?’

‘A little bird might have told me,’ he winked, and then winced at the shrill sound of a whistle.

‘A little bird with a big whistle, by any chance?’ Honey looked over to where Nell was good naturedly marshalling newcomers into place.

Robin nodded. ‘And these marvellous boys are my students,’ he said, emphasising the word ‘students’ in a conspiratorial,you get my driftkind of way. ‘Strictly speaking I’m supposed to conduct these sessions in the community hall to comply with their tags, but today my dance company is on tour, baby!’ His voice dipped in the middle of his sentence to spare the parole gang from embarrassment, and then rose at the end to almost operatic levels. He clicked his Cuban heels for good measure, and then pirouetted away towards Nell and her whistle. Honey smiled at each of Robin’s charges as they filed past her, most probably just relieved to not be spending the day listening to country music and doing the grapevine.

Hope flared hot in Honey’s chest. This was happening. It was really happening, even better than she’d dared to hope.

Skinny Steve reappeared with more tea and biscuits to rally the troops, walking along the line and chatting amiably. Honey watched him, struck by the change in him since Hal had arrived. There was a confidence to him, a baby swagger learned from his new master. It suited him well.

‘Get off me!’

A braying, male, distinctly alarmed voice reached her from down the line, and frowning, she hurried down to find Tash snapping purple fluffy cuffs around Christopher’s wrist and chaining him up next to the line dancing ex-cons.

His eyes lasered in on Honey as she approached.

‘Honeysuckle Jones! Unfasten me this instant or you’re fired!’

A boo went up in the crowd, and Robin’s line dancers all glowered in a way that made it clear they’d really love to break their parole conditions.

Tash grinned and dangled the little keys between her thumb and forefinger in front of her face.

‘She can’t. I’ve got the keys.’ She gave them a little shake for effect, and then let them go right over the drain in the road. They teetered for a second on one of the metal ridges, and she nudged them lightly with her toe until they slipped over and tumbled into the water beneath with a faint splosh. The crowd were behind her every step of the way, laughing as she put her hands to her expertly made-up cheeks in fake shock. ‘Oops. Sorry.’

Honey took advantage of the fracas to slink back down to Lucille and Mimi at the far end.

‘Christopher just arrived,’ she said, with a worried grimace.

‘That’s all we need,’ Lucille said, her blue eyes clouding with apprehension. ‘Where is he?’

‘Tash just chained him to the railings down the other end.’

Billy hooted. ‘I love that young lady.’

‘I love you too, Billy Boy,’ Tash laughed, appearing beside Honey. ‘This is fun! I sort of recognised him when he hopped out of a taxi and had him in cuffs before he could even pay the driver.’

‘What if he calls his bosses?’ Honey dithered. If head office got wind of things they’d no doubt come down hard to shut the protest down before it grew any bigger. And going on the way things had gone so far, it was going to grow quite quickly.

‘Call them on what?’ Tash grinned. ‘This?’ She fished a mobile out of her pocket and shrugged casually. ‘It kind of fell out of his suit pocket when I was chaining him up.’ Honey knew Tash well enough to know that ‘fell out of his pocket’ was a loose interpretation of the truth. The girl was a brilliant liability. ‘Don’t look so worried,’ she said, squeezing Honey’s shoulders. ‘I’ll keep it safe for him. He’s bloody lucky I didn’t drop it down the drain along with the handcuff keys.’

Honey often wished she were as bold as Tash, or as efficient as Nell. They’d each brought their own unique skills today, and between them they seemed to be pulling things off.

‘You really should go and let the kitchen know how quickly the numbers are growing,’ Mimi said, her beady eyes on Honey.

‘I can do it,’ Tash volunteered, and Honey almost shoved her towards the home out of relief at not needing to see Hal.

Billy had other ideas though, grabbing Tash’s arm with his free hand as she moved past him.

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