Crush

Eighteen

"Do you think he'll go for it?" Lizzie asked as she and Will strode across the yard to the sheds.

"Not sure, but it's worth a try. Are you sure we shouldn't tell Tess what we're doing?"

"Positive," said Lizzie. "You heard her yesterday. She doesn't want the festival to change."

"But the fire last night might have made her change her mind."

"I don't think so. She's been moping all morning about it. I think we just talk to Pop and see what he says."

"Whatever you say," Will said. "But I think she's going to be pretty upset when she finds out we went behind her back."

"She'll only be upset for a little while. Especially if we pull it off. And don't worry. I'll take all of the blame."

"Whatever," Will said. "Hey, what do you think of Tess and Maddie? They seem to be hitting it off."

"Yeah, they seem to be," Lizzie agreed. "They looked pretty close in that photo you sent me on Monday."

Will shrugged. "That was pretty innocent. Tess was helping Maddie get up to the diving board because of her sore ankle."

"Right," Lizzie said. "So why did you send it through to me then?"

"I thought they looked cute together." Will laughed when Lizzie gave him a friendly shove.

"Is that why you've set them up on a date?" Lizzie asked.

Will put his hand to his chest. "Me? Set Tess up?"

"I know you Will Armstrong, and I know what you're up to."

Will shrugged. "It's pretty obvious they like each other, and after the fire last night, there's no way Tess was going to do anything about it. Besides, she needs to get out of the house and have some fun."

"Yeah, well I hope it doesn't backfire," Lizzie said.

As they rounded the corner of the shed, they could hear raised voices coming from inside. They slowed down to listen.

"If I find out you were behind it, there'll be hell to pay."

"Pop," Will mouthed to Lizzie and then turned his attention back to the shed.

"Now Jack, why on earth would I, or anyone else for that matter, deliberately burn your cane? The question is, what's going to happen to the festival now? That's what I want to know."

Lizzie dug Will in the ribs and when he turned around she whispered, "Barry Montgomery." Will nodded. Barry Montgomery was the Deputy Mayor and an all-round sleaze. As soon as he'd been elected to council a few years ago, he'd changed the planning laws to allow him to redevelop his farm and instead of people being angry with him, he just threw money at every organisation he could find so they couldn't say a bad word about it. Pop was one of the only people not to accept Barry's money, but the grants from the council he got every year helped pay some of the costs for the festival. If Barry took that away, who knew how they'd cover the extra costs.

"You're not getting it, that's for sure," Pop said. "The festival's a Copeland tradition, and as long as I'm alive, it's going to stay that way."

"Well, I don't think the council can keep supporting it. Especially considering it's not bringing in the tourists it used to."

"So you're not giving anything at all?"

"We can't. Budget's tight. You know that."

"Not tight enough to stop you and Mack Ferguson from going to China next year."