Crush

Twenty-Four

Tess was giving Bessie a brush over and consoling her on missing out on her big moment in the spotlight when Will came and leaned on the fence.

"How are you doing?" Will asked.

Tess shrugged. "Fine. Why?"

"I just thought... it doesn't matter," Will said.

"Just thought what?" Tess asked.

"Nothing," Will said. He kicked at the dirt.

"Did you hear back about that job?" Tess asked.

"Yeah. There was a death in the family or something," Will said. "They're holding over the interviews until January."

"So you still might be in with a chance?"

"Yeah," Will said. He scratched the back of his head. "They asked if I wanted to do some volunteer work over the holidays."

"That's great," Tess said. "Are you going to do it?"

Will shook his head. "I told them I had commitments up here."

"What commitments?"

"The festival," Will said.

"What festival?" Tess said. "It's cancelled, remember?"

"About that," Will said. "I spoke to Pop about the festival."

Tess moved around to Bessie's other side, gave her a scratch on her head and started brushing her chest and front legs.

When Tess didn't say anything, Will continued. "Lizzie's probably going to kill me for telling you this, but I think you should know."

"Know what?" Tess stopped brushing Bessie and looked up.

"I know you said you already spoke to Pop about turning the festival into a music festival and he said no, but Lizzie and I thought we could give it another shot."

"You went to him without talking to me?"

"I did talk to you, Tess, but you've been so distracted by Maddie-"

"I have not!"

"Yes. You have." Will eye-balled Tess and she eventually had to look away.

"Yeah, okay. So what? What's that got to do with the festival?" Tess asked.

"Nothing. Except you just didn't seem like you wanted to come up with a solution. That's all. And Lizzie and I talked about it and Lizzie said there wasn't a small music festival between Brisbane and Cairns, at least not like we want to do, so we were a prime place to have one."

"They take a lot of organising," Tess said. "That's why Pop said no last time I asked. And bands, good ones, want to be paid."

"See, that's the thing," Will said, walking through the gate and standing in front of Tess. He gave Bessie a scratch on her nose. "All the bands I asked are new ones trying to break into the scene. They all said they'd do this gig for free so they could put it on their website. Get a bit of cred."

When Tess didn't say anything, Will continued. "And the other thing is, when was the last time Gran and Pop, any of us really, were able to sit back and enjoy the festival? It seems like every year there's more stuff for us all to do to save money, so we're so busy doing stuff and working the stalls or on the gate, that we don't get a chance to sit back and just enjoy ourselves."

Tess knew Will was right. She'd actually felt like that last year if she was really honest with herself, but she'd never admit it to anyone else.

"How's a music festival going to let us enjoy ourselves?"

Will shrugged. "We dial back on the rides and stalls and stuff and concentrate on food vans and bands. Once we do all the setup, there's not much else to do except sit back and make sure it all just runs smoothly."

"So, how did you talk Pop into having it this year?"

"I just asked him to give me one year to prove my point and if it bombed, I'd never ask again."

"And if it works?"

"Then you and Lizzie and I are starting our own music festival." He smiled hopefully, but Tess shook her head.

"I just don't know," she said.

"Look," Will said. "Just see what happens, okay? See how it goes tomorrow and then on Sunday, we'll decide whether we want to do it all again next year."

Tess wished she could be as confident as Will was, but Pop had been right about crowd numbers dropping over the past few years. She had no idea how Will and Lizzie could have organised anything at such short notice but if she believed what Will was telling her, they'd managed it. She sighed. "Fine."

"Great." Will grinned. "But you have to act surprised tomorrow, or Lizzie's going to know I told you. And that could be dangerous for both of us."

"How am I going to act surprised when there are still people setting up?"

"You saw all that?"

"They're in the Big Yard, dope. How can I miss the chip van and the stage trucks?"

"Yeah. Good point," Will said. He rubbed the stubble on his chin and said, "Just pretend I told you that they wanted another night's free camping before they moved on."

Tess had to laugh. "Whatever."

Will gave Bessie a rub on the nose and said, "I should get back to the band. I'll see you in the morning."

Tess followed Will out of Bessie's pen and said, "I should go talk to Pop. I haven't spoken to him in nearly two days."

"Hey, don't let on you know," he said. "Pop thinks it's a surprise for you too."

"Fine," Tess said and headed to the sheds.