latter probably, since everything I did was wrong according to Mum. I covered up my shudder by reaching for Charlie’s hand. ‘Ready then?’
‘Yeah!’ After a bit of juggling and rearranging of his cargo, he slipped his hand inside mine and tugged me away from the car. A boy on a mission, he led me over the bridge with a brook bubbling beneath.
‘Where are you taking me, Charlie?’
‘Nearly there, Aunty Alice,’ he said, dragging me deeper into the heart of the park.
‘OK, if you say so.’
He finally came to a stop at the foot of a giant oak tree with several of its leaves already turning from green to brown. ‘This one,’ he declared.
This one?
‘What do you mean, Charlie Bear?’ I peered up into the branches to see if he was pointing at something specific, a carving or a bird maybe, but nothing jumped out at me. ‘Am I supposed to be looking for something?’
‘Silly, Aunty Alice.’ He giggled and let go of my hand to point at the tree trunk. ‘This is the tree you agreed to climb.’
‘I did no such th—’Ah. Come to think of it, I did recall something to do with a tree. A groan built in the back of my throat but I managed to hold it in. ‘I did, didn’t I?’
Charlie nodded so hard I feared he’d shake something loose. His eyes sparkled as he looked from me to the tree and back again.
Shit.
‘That’s fine. No problem at all.’ Somehow I managed to sound confident so I stared up at the tree to hide my cringe from him. When I had my expression back under control, I looked down at Charlie. With a bit of luck, I’d be able to distract him with something else so he’d forget. ‘I just thought we could play football first though. You know, work up an appetite for lunch?’
Damn it, he was already shaking his head. ‘You promised we could do this first.’ His bottom lip poked out and the light in his eyes dimmed.
‘Um…OK.’ Talk about being a soft touch.
‘You’ll do it?’ he asked, looking up at me with wide-eyed awe.
‘I said I would, didn’t I?’ My voice wavered only slightly. ‘A promise is a promise, Charlie Bear.’ Just because I’d been crapped on my entire life didn’t mean I was about to do the same to Charlie—anybody else, no sweat—but not him. I knew exactly how much it hurt when the people you cared about kept breaking their promise.
Charlie threw his arms around my legs in a bear hug worthy of his nickname. ‘You’re the best aunty ever.’ The light in his eyes returned to full beam as he grinned up at me and scuppered my last shred of my resistance. Along with my common sense.
‘Let’s set up base camp over there.’ I pointed to a patch of grass bathed in dappled sunlight cast by the monster tree. The mere thought of climbing it gave me palpitations. No matter how many times I looked away, my gaze kept getting drawn back to the tree. There had to be some kind of optical illusion at play because the damn thing looked even bigger when you weren’t stood directly beneath it.
Not good.
Charlie pottered around setting up the picnic blanket, but the wind caught it and blew it a few metres away. He giggled and chased after it, then dragged it back. This time I weighed it down with the rucksack, full of the food that I no longer had an appetite to eat, and left him to it. ‘All done!’ he declared proudly.
I tore my gaze off the gazillion branches to see that he’d laid out the plastic cups and plates. ‘Wow, that looks great.’
Charlie didn’t even respond. He just sat stiff-backed on the blanket with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap as though he didn’t dare give me any reason to change my mind. His lips formed a perfect line, not smiling but not sad either as he waited and watched me with big round eyes full of expectation.
No pressure then, Alice.
I turned around to examine the tree again from afar. Determined to climb the giant tree even if it was the last thing I ever did—which it very well could be, based on my previous tree-climbing form—I tried to pick out the best route…or any route at all so long as I survived without too many broken bones.
On that cheery thought I trotted over to my rucksack and casually slipped my phone into my bra just in case of an emergency—like getting stuck up a tree—then stalked across the grass to stand at the foot of the tree. Up close its trunk was so big I couldn’t even wrap my arms around it. Out of earshot and with my back to Charlie, I let out the shaky breath I’d been holding and wiped my clammy hands over my skirt.
Shit…
Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t set out to flash everybody I met. Definitely not old men out walking their dogs and prone to heart attacks when I had enough to worry about already. Admittedly, I wasn’t renowned for being modest since it was all part of my act but that was when I was in character. Christ, I didn’t even have my thick tights on. Anybody walking by would be able to see straight up and get an eyeful of my arse.
I darted a glance at Charlie but his expression told me it was too late to pull out now and disappointing him wasn’t an option. Resigned, I lifted my leg and planted my foot on a knot sticking out of the tree just above knee height then launched myself upwards to grab the lowest branch. Charlie giggled, unable to contain his glee.
Here goes then.
Another knot stuck out half way around the other side of the trunk that I could reach at a stretch to use as my next boost. Unfortunately, it left me spread-eagled against the rough bark like I was some fashionably-dressed tree hugger but with one hard push, I sprang upward and onto the first branch. It creaked ominously and sent a burst of adrenaline into my legs.
I scrambled up to the next level where I was able to stand with a foot on two separate, sturdier-looking, branches set at hip distance apart. So far so good but the next level proved trickier. Too far for me to step onto, I reached above my head to grab the over-hanging branch, then stretched and hoisted my leg over a different branch set at shoulder height. Memories of a similar position came alive inside my head and I had to stifle a giggle.
All those years of ballet lessons with my leg up on the bar had finally come in handy. What would the old battle-axe say if she could see me now? At last I could put my gymnastics skills to good use too. I combined the two and found I could jump and spring while maintaining my balance and posture. And there was me thinking the whole ballet and gymnastics thing had been nothing more than a ruse; a way for mum to get me out of the house for hours at a time so she could spend time wheedling her way into Derek’s life.
My progress may have been slow but it was steady. I risked a peek down to check on Charlie and he waved and grinned back at me, looking as delighted as I felt that I was actually doing it. When I looked back up again to plan my next move, my stomach lurched. A jogger had appeared on the path ahead, an older guy in his thirties maybe, and he was headed straight for us. The tree blocked my view but the sound of his footsteps grew louder.
I assessed the distance I’d have to jump to get back to ground to protect Charlie but it was too far. Before I could even remind Charlie about stranger-danger,
