The Rainbow Maker's Tale (29 page)

“What
are
you doing?”
she eventually asked, breaking what had become a heavy silence.

Curiosity coloured her words
and, with some relief, I was happy to note that she sounded
intrigued and not scared. It was a bit of a gamble, trusting her
with another of my secrets, but it felt natural all the same.

“Just…one…minute…” I replied,
my words popping out around the deep breaths I was taking. The last
few movements in the sequence flowed together, before I came to a
complete stop and was able to re-focus my attention on Cassie.

“What was that?” Cassie
repeated her question, prompting me to answer as I ambled across
the clearing to where she stood.

“An experiment.” I was
deliberately vague. Right now I didn’t want to talk about my
secrets; I was interested in hers. Rinsing my mouth with fresh
water, I stepped closer to her.

She swallowed thickly, her
breath appearing to catch in her throat. It was nice to see that I
could distract Cassie; it was normally the other way around.

“Am I making you
uncomfortable?” I hoped the answer was
yes
.

She looked away from me. “I’m
not nervous.”

I laughed at her very
unconvincing lie, before lowering my face and bringing us closer
together. “How about now?”

“Nope.”

Cassie’s breath wafted across
my lips as she spoke. All I could think about was putting my mouth
onto hers and tasting her. “And now?” I whispered.

“Not even a little bit.”

Cassie’s eyes were half-closed,
her breath shallow and soft. Everything told me that she wanted me
to kiss her.

“That’s good,” I murmured.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my lips onto hers.

I was so scared, but, happy at
the same time. When Cassie kissed me back, her mouth opening to
mine, all my fears vanished. There was nothing in my head – no
questions, no anger, no tension – nothing, but Cassie. Winding my
arm around her back, I pulled our bodies closer, and fell
completely in love…

It was hard to pull away, but I
had to let the poor girl breathe.
Or perhaps run!
I laughed
hollowly inside at my own joke. I really hoped she wouldn’t run.
The force around her was magnetic to me. Even now, when I wasn’t
touching her as much, the warmth of her breath on my lips
immediately drew me back. With some effort I stayed still, but kept
my arm locked around her.

Cassie’s eyes remained closed
and I watched her lips twitch minutely as though she was holding
off a smile.

“I’m still not nervous,” she
said unexpectedly. Her voice was more breath than words. Then she
opened her eyes, blinking up into my gaze.

“I’m glad!” I laughed, taking
the opportunity to lean back a little further. She was still too
distracting up close and personal. I stared at her now – even
though she watched me too – with a confidence I could feel growing
in every part of my body. My certainty stemmed from the realisation
that Cassie liked me too. A lot. The expression on her face told me
everything. I’d never seen her look so happy.

I couldn’t help it: I laughed
aloud at the sense of delight I felt. As if to confirm my thoughts,
Cassie smiled up at me, her expression content. She stood,
unmoving, between my arms.

Was this the right time for
Cassie’s present?

Probably…I just wouldn’t tell
her that I took the afternoon off to dig it out and make repairs,
in the hope of impressing her. I cleared my throat. “I almost
forgot…”
Yeah, right!
“I’ve brought something for you.”

My statement seemed to put
Cassie on edge. Her gaze lost the softness it had held a moment
earlier, and I could see that she was
really
looking at me
now.

“What is it?” Caution was
evident in the grim expression that now clouded her features.

“Don’t look so worried,” I
assured her. “I’m not going to subject you to invasive procedures
or anything. You should see your face!”

She didn’t seem to like that I
found her funny, and she pulled a face at me.

“Come on,” I encouraged, taking
her hand and coaxing her to where I’d put the Rainbow Maker
.
She noticed the large black crate immediately.

“What is it?” She looked from
the box, back to me, sounding less nervous now.

“It’s the Rainbow Maker.” I was
unable to hide my smile as Cassie recognised it. The expression on
her face was lovely. “I’ve repaired it – no more kinks – just for
you.”

“No!” She exclaimed, laughing
happily. “Really? You’ve fixed it for me?”

“Yes, for
you
,
Cassie.”

She’d moved in front of me to
get closer to the box, but at these words she turned around. Her
gaze weighed heavily on mine and I wondered – as usual – what she
was thinking. She looked serious, but pleased at the same time. It
was an unusual combination.

“Will you show me?” She
asked.

Something inside me did a
joyful little jump, as I heard the excitement in her voice. “I’d
love to.”

Stepping around Cassie I
hurriedly setup the various elements of the Rainbow Maker. It was
essentially a box with a water feed, a light point and a viewing
slot – not massively technical, but what did you want from a ten
year-old science project?

The original problem had been
the positioning of the light, which hadn’t been at the right angle.
I’d seen the fault immediately today when I’d pulled the model out.
When I glanced at Cassie and saw the excitement in her face, I
finally understood why I’d kept it all this time. Part of me must
have always hoped I would get the chance to show her this and I
almost felt ten years old again, proud that my skills my impress a
pretty girl.

It hadn’t taken me long to make
the adjustments, so that it would work properly. I added a
step
shape to the top of the box, so that the light source
was now recessed beneath and behind the viewing point, rather than
immediately beneath as it had been on my original model. When I had
set the water spray up and looked into it today, the rainbow was
clearer and the colours more vivid than they had ever been. Better
refraction. And perfect for Cassie.

After checking and
double-checking the basic components were all working I moved aside
to make space for Cassie.

“If you place your chin on
here,” I indicated the outside step above the newly positioned
light source. Cassie dutifully knelt down and leaned onto the box
where I’d pointed. “You’ll need to press your eyes close to the
viewing slot, so that no other light gets in. That’ll give you the
best results.”

“OK,” Cassie shuffled forwards.
“Is this right?” Her voice became muffled as she pressed her face
tight up to the viewer.

“That should be perfect. I’m
just going to get this bit started…” I leaned over and switched on
the small pump that would spray the water droplets into the air, at
a right angle to where Cassie was viewing. There was a low hiss as
it started to work. I let it run for a few seconds to ensure that
there was a good arc of water flowing inside the box.

“Are you ready?” I asked,
perhaps overdoing the drama a little.

“Um-huh,” came the reply.

Reaching beneath Cassie, I
switched the tiny lamp on, that was inside the box, and would
produce the rainbow.

“Oh!” She exclaimed a second or
so later. “I can see it!” She laughed.

“Is it clear?”

“Yes – really bright and clear.
The colours are so beautiful.” There was a definite smile in her
voice; I couldn’t see her face. Leaning against one of the nearby
rocks, I settled back and watched Cassie as she watched the
rainbows.

“It’s perfect,” she said.

Perfect
. Yes, I think it
is.

We were sitting on the grass,
our knees touching as we faced each other. The Rainbow Maker lay
over to one side, where we’d left it after the water in the pump
ran dry. At that moment, I found it funny just watching Cassie. Her
eyes were shining with an excited vitality I hadn’t really seen in
her before. She seemed so giddy, almost child-like.

“What?!” I asked, laughing.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I’m not staring.” She
disagreed immediately, but continued staring.

“Yes, you are.”

“OK, so maybe I am.” Cassie
smiled at me, before glancing down to her hands. “I just – no one –
I mean – ”

“What?” I asked, interrupting
her stuttering, placing my hand over hers.

Cassie took a deep breath and
let it out. “Thank you,” she smiled, looking me in the eye. “I was
just trying to say thank you. For doing this, for me.”

I felt the magnetic draw again,
pulling me closer to her. This time I knew what I was doing, and
didn’t stall. Cassie’s eyes closed slowly as my face drew into hers
and I found her lips. “You’re welcome,” I murmured.

Cassie lay beside me. We were
on the overhang, both flat on our backs. She had closed her eyes a
few minutes earlier, but I could tell she wasn’t snoozing. I waited
and let random thoughts float around my head, as I stared at the
whitey-blue ceiling-sky above us.

When we first dropped to the
ground after messing around
fighting
, Cassie’s breathing had
been loud and rapid. We’d certainly been going at it, pushing and
pulling one another, testing out what worked and what didn’t. When
I showed her, I had hoped she would understand why I wanted to know
how humans might have fought one another; I never expected her to
want to try it out.

Cassie may have learnt
something new today, but then, so had I. I’d never done this with a
real person before, and understanding what differences the weight
and movements of your opponents would make, was interesting.

Mirroring Cassie, I closed my
eyes, blocking out the bright daylight and generating funny white
shapes against the dark inside my eyelids. The shapes swirled and
rolled around in the blackness, never forming a clear picture or
anything sensible.

I sensed Cassie moving beside
me and opened my eyes, turning in her direction as I did so.

“Hey,” I was surprised to find
her face mere inches from mine. The noise had been her rolling
over.

“Hey,” she echoed softly.

I watched Cassie, watching me,
her eyes searching for mine. At first they didn’t find them,
because my eyes were busy, drinking in every aspect of her as she
lay tilted towards me. The residual pink in her cheeks from
exercise, made her green eyes even more vibrant than normal. She
was looking up at me through her eyelashes, as if they might hide
some of her intentions; but eyelashes were too thin a shield when
we were this close to one another. I realised then, that Cassie was
going to kiss me. My eyes found hers and something opened up
between us. It was as if I was seeing something deeper inside her,
than I ever had before. Without any words – forgetting what I knew
about our
vitamins
– I think what I was seeing in that
moment, was that Cassie loved me.

Slowly, Cassie’s face drew
closer. Tiny freckles on her nose, merged into a creamy blur before
my eyes as I waited, frozen in place. Slowly – so slow – the
suspense was electric. I knew what it felt like to kiss her, but
for Cassie to want me back, to be leaning into me now – that was
something else altogether.

Finally, we touched. Her nose
grazed along the side of mine, as our faces came together, and she
paused a moment before our lips touched. The sliver of air in that
tiny space prickled with static, before Cassie closed the gap and
brought her mouth onto mine. As first she moved gently, but as my
lips parted beneath hers, I felt her fingers winding into my hair
and she pulled me closer, our bodies pressing into one another.
Automatically, my arm circled around her hips, holding us together.
It was a long while before I let go.

* * *

Cassie and I were lying facing
one another. One of my arms still held her loosely, whilst the
other was angled beneath my head as a pillow. We’d broken apart a
few seconds before, and I was watching her face again – in super
close-up – seeing tiny details I’d never noticed before.

At the centre of her eyes, just
around the pupils, were tiny, yellow-gold flecks. Maybe you didn’t
see them normally, because it was dimmer inside the station
buildings and so her pupils were more dilated. Even her eyelashes
were different shades of brown, black and gold, when you saw them
at this distance. Such detail, in such a tiny thing.

Cassie’s lips looked soft and
rosy, fuller from their recent activity. I smiled at that, before
noticing that her cheeks had a different kind of warmth, from the
earlier pinkiness of exercise.

“You’re not bad at this.”

Cassie chuckled, but didn’t
move away. “That’s flattering, but a bit weird.”

I laughed myself, realising
what she meant, and that she had not been privy to the thought
process, inside my head, that had got me to that observation. “I
meant your fighting ability, not your kissing. Although, both are
good.”

Cassie tried to pull a face at
my corny compliment, but could only smile at me. She wasn’t quite
as cool as she like to pretend she was.

“Thanks. You’re not half-bad
yourself,” she said, then clarified a moment later. “I meant the
fighting thing, obviously.”

Obviously. Cassie rolled off my
chest and snuggled in, to lie beside me.

“It must have taken you a long
time to work these things out,” she said, once she was
re-settled.

“I suppose.” I turned onto my
side. Pulling Cassie’s hand into mine, I stroked the soft skin on
the side of her palm as I answered her unasked question. “I’ve
learnt more in the last few weeks since starting at The Clinic,
especially about strong parts of the body, that I would never have
thought of using before, and weak points to target.”