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approaching and with the break in the weather finally
indicating that spring was taking hold, Kat was out of the house training at
every opportunity.  She ran through the woods, cycled the hills and swam
in the sea, at some little cove with a shingle beach that she had found just
after moving in, almost every day.
    The
lack of Kat’s presence in Robyn’s life was a dull ache in her chest. 
Robyn knew that the triathlon had been only a pipe dream until they had fallen
out.  Something was missing, but Robyn couldn’t see how she could plug the
whole.  Not after all this time.
    The
day school broke up for half term, Robyn was sitting at the dining table
attempting to mark an end of unit test before heading to bed, when she heard
the door open.  Kat was returning from a long run.  It was after
ten.  She’d been doing a lot of late night running recently, but tonight
she seemed buoyant upon her return and instead of heading straight up the
stairs in her usual avoidance, she danced into the kitchen and headed to the
sink.
     “We
must be missing something in this town.  There’s a secret night life we
didn’t know about.”  She poured herself a glass of water and drank it
straight down.  She was out of breath and sweaty from her run, but she had
colour in her cheeks and a jubilance that Robyn hadn’t seen in days.
    Turning
slowly to face Kat as she stood by the sink pulling her hair out of its
ponytail, Robyn said nothing, aware that one wrong move could crumble this
tentative bridge between them.
    “I
swear.  I have just seen half the town out there.” Kat leaned on the
kitchen worktop while steadying her breathing and pointed to the front door.
    This
was the first conversation that they had had since the incident in the
staffroom.  “Doing what?”  Robyn kept it short, allowing Kat to guide
the discussion.
    “Queuing up outside the abattoir of all
places.  
That’s up that little side road on the hill.”
    “Why
would they be doing that?” Robyn’s tone was filled with her disbelief.
    “I
didn’t stop to ask.  I have to keep up the pace.  But, I came out of
the tree line to cross the car park there and go down the hill the other side,
it’s really steep and good practice, and that’s when I saw them, all lined up
waiting to go in.”
    Happy
that Kat was talking to her, Robyn didn’t question Kat’s story.  “Why does
that mean that we’re missing out?”
    “Well,”
Kat leaned one hip against the cupboards, “It’s Friday night and this town
can’t seriously be as boring as it appears.  My guess is that it was a
rave.” She looked earnest enough, but Robyn knew when she was being goaded.
    “Who
was there?”
    “It
looked like most of the town, the Head, that Jane Symonds, the guy from the
fruit and veg shop and that kid who was sick a couple of weeks ago, Darren
something.”
    “Pascoe,”
Robyn completed the name even as she rolled her eyes.  The image of the
Head Teacher at a rave was not a good one.  Well into his fifties, David
Rowe was a staunch professional who always dressed in impeccably well pressed
suits with matching ties with a shining gold tie bar.
    Kat
began to laugh and the sound was music to Robyn’s ears.
    This
was the opportunity she needed.  “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
    Kat
stood startled by the frank apology.  “I’m sorry I lost my temper
too.  I . . . I really liked him . . . more than I should.  He . . .
well, he resisted every one of my persuasions and I couldn’t understand
why.  When he helped you, I was jealous.”
    Robyn
finally began to understand why Andrew, of all the men that had been in and out
of Kat’s thoughts, had become so important.  He hadn’t fallen for her
charms.  In the six months she’d known her, Kat had never been turned
down.  She knew how to flirt, how to get just what she wanted, but Andrew
had resisted.  Robyn didn’t know why, but she was happy to hear that piece
of information even as she could hear