Page 4 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Eddie is the life and soul as always; his moves and gestures are pronounced and over the top – just like he is.
Mandy somehow manages to make Eddie’s choreography look feline and sexy as she moves her curvy figure around and bats her long black eyelashes.
And Claire – well, she’s just Claire. As always, trying her absolute best, but somehow always managing to scuttle around in the background like a little mouse.
‘Yes!’ Eddie claps his hands triumphantly when they complete the routine reasonably successfully without me. ‘That’s it – we’ve nearly got it!’
‘Have we, though?’ Mandy asks, throwing herself down on the sand beside me. She opens a can of Fanta and takes a long slurp. ‘It still seems pretty sloppy to me.’
Claire also sits down beside us. She too opens a can, but she sips delicately from it while she neatly arranges her legs underneath her.
‘It’s only sloppy when I’m involved,’ I reply, smiling. ‘Without me it’s ten times better.’
‘Oh, no!’ Eddie fiddles with the cassette player again, no doubt rewinding it ready to play yet another rendition of the Beach Boys’ ‘Surfin’ USA’. ‘You’re not getting out of it that easily, Frankie. You’ll pick it up eventually.’
I look desperately at the others for help while Eddie is turned away.
They just grin back at me.
‘If we have to do it, you do too!’ Mandy whispers. ‘What I wanna know is how Suzy managed to get out of it so easily.’
‘Claire?’ I whisper, and I clasp my hands together as though I’m praying. ‘Help me – you know I have two left feet when it comes to dancing.’
Claire thinks for a moment, then she nods. ‘You know, Eddie,’ she says suddenly, making us all jump. Claire is always quiet and rarely speaks up unless she has to. ‘I was wondering about something.’
‘Yep?’ Eddie is still trying to set up the track.
‘If we’re supposed to be dressed as mermaids on stage, then how are we actually going to be able to dance?’
‘What do you mean?’ Eddie asks, turning around.
‘Well . . . mermaids have tails, don’t they, not legs. How can we dance if our legs are hidden in a fishtail?’
Yes, Claire!I think euphorically.Brilliant!
Eddie’s face suggests he hasn’t considered this small, but important, fact.
Claire continues. ‘What about if we sat on a wall or something and just sort of swayed in time with the music – would that work? It would be a lot easier for all of us.’
I’m grateful she hasn’t said, ‘Easier for Frankie.’
‘Yeah, Eddie,’ Mandy joins in. She jumps up and goes over to him. ‘I mean, we all know you are the star of the show, aren’t you?’ She puts an arm around his shoulders and then gestures as though they can see a mock-up of the stage in front of them. ‘We’re just there to make up the numbers – and of course look totally and utterly lip-smackingly gorgeous! Couldn’t we be perched on some sort of rock or a shell or something?’ She encourages us to put this into practice now on the nearby rocks.
Claire and I hurry over to the nearest one and begin to arrange ourselves on top with our legs pressed together as though we have long mermaid tails.
‘I’m sure our budding Picasso over there could whip something up for the stage, couldn’t you?’ Mandy asks, looking at me.
‘Oh, yes, I could paint a large shell or a rock – whatever you like,’ I hurriedly say, suddenly envisioning a much less embarrassing time for myself on the stage.
Mandy lets go of Eddie and joins us on the rock, then we begin to make up some impromptu moves by swaying our hands to and fro like a hula dancer describing the sea.
Eddie watches us.
‘It might work, I suppose . . . ’ he says a little reluctantly. ‘I still get to be a surfer dude, though, don’t I?’
‘Of course,’ I tell him keenly. ‘You’re the main man, Eddie. You will be . . . ’ I try to think fast. ‘The Jason Donovan to our Kylie Min . . . No, wait, our Kylie Mer . . .maid.’ I thank my brain for coming up with this analogy so fast. One which I know Eddie will appreciate.
Eddie nods, clearly enjoying this thought. ‘All right, let’s try it with the music.’ He goes back to the cassette player to press play.
