When the Bus Stopped

Chapter 1

Unlatching her glove box, Lucy Falkwell was ambushed by the contents: organic breath mints, a hair brush strangled by copious amounts of copper red hair (which was a souvenir of younger days), a packet of henna, nga chumba scented dreadlock shampoo, a stray bra, scrunched up dark chocolate wrappers and - finally - her trusty dog-eared road atlas.

She was fishing the atlas out of the pile when a crisp voice interrupted her.

"Hello?"

Not expecting anyone on that empty alpine road, Lucy sat up with a tiny scream of alarm. It was drowned out by the noise of her head contacting the bus's antiquated sun visor. Stars danced merrily across her vision, somewhere beyond the celestial bodies she could see him.

He was peering down his nose at life in general.

Through the blur, his perfectly shaped mouth moved wordlessly. Lucy drew a deep and calming breath, resisting the temptation to dive straight out of the bus and devour him.

Ugh, she shuddered. Her celibacy pact wasn't as simple as she'd hoped.

She should have seen it coming, when her ex-boyfriend Storm cut off his long mane of blonde curls and commanded her to start using his birth name of Bruce.

But, somehow she'd still been shocked when he headed off to university to study engineering.

He told her it wasn't her, it was him. He wanted two and a half kids and a white picket fence.

She'd been left absolutely heartbroken for a whole week, before promptly falling in and out of love with a new man every month (which wasn't hard when you moved from town to town as often as she did).

When she'd realized her bedpost would soon have so many notches on it from sexual conquests it would look like it had been gnawed on by a hungry crocodile, she'd invented a safe guard.

A code word that any potential mate had to say before she allowed them into her heart, or her bed.

She'd heard more than her fair share of promises and professions of love since (and the odd invitation to meet a mother), yet she still had not heard those magic words. Can I come with you? If they wanted her, Lucy knew they'd follow her... everything else was just noise.

"A-hem?"

"Sorry, what was that?"

The man ran a hand through his long brown curls in exasperation. "I was asking if you were with the clean-up crew." He didn't seek eye contact with her, as if he'd already deemed her unworthy of his consideration.

"I'm not really sure what you are talking about," Lucy admitted.

Where had he come from? This lone man... dressed in a suit whilst loosely clasping his briefcase. He looked like he'd just wandered out of a stray office building.

Hearing chatter, Lucy turned toward the road in front of her. Against a riotous backdrop of lupins, a large gang of men dressed in black were walking backwards juggling large cameras and a boom. In their midst a suggestive news reporter talked to the camera in an animated fashion. Lucy watched intently as the news reporter's hands flailed in the air.

"Was there a helicopter crash?" Lucy asked.

The man seemed suddenly on edge. "Oh, right. You aren't here to clean up at all. You must be looking for the Moonshine Manor."

Lucy wasn't listening. She gazed about, searching for helicopter debris. "If that newsgirl would like them, I have some extra buttons in the back of my bus. I've got a green one that would be perfect for that shirt."