get the complete book here! {Or here (US) -Erin}
 
 
*Chapter 9*

Stern Position

 
 
“So what do you think?” Hannah asked.

What to think? It had been hinted at when they spoke earlier in the year and to be truthful Garde was really his thing, the whole regimentation and individual anonymity of it all. No, given the choice if he was going to do any dance type thing cheering would be it, those couple of sessions with the Foresters back in Warsop were just so much fun.

“And I’d be head coach?”

“Uh huh, you’d have support of course, we aren’t going to drop everything in your lap.”

“I probably won’t be able to go to many competitions or other stuff.”

“We’ll work around that of course but you have some experience, you even cheered in America.”

“Not a lot,” I pointed out.

“You are the nearest we have to an expert, Gab.”

Look, I’m fifteen okay and Hannah knows how to manipulate us.

“I get to design the uniform?”

“The committee get last say.”

“We’ll need to hold tryouts as soon as.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“I’ll give it a go.”

 
 
“I said the ten past nine train,” Pia repeated as we pulled up in front of Schloss Bond.

“Er sorry, yeah ten past, we’ll be there.”

“I’ll text Con.” She supplied.

“Thanks for the lift Mr S.”

“No problem, Gaby.”

“Ten past,” I confirmed with his daughter before clambering out of the bus.

 
 
“That you, kiddo?” Dad enquired.

Well duh?

“Guess what?”

“It’s snowing.”

“Snow? Where? It wasn’t just now.”

Sometimes.

“You said to guess, so what is it?” Dad prompted.

“Oh right, Hannah wants me to coach the cheerleaders.”

“I didn’t know they had any.”

“Any of what?” Mum queried joining us in the lounge.

“Cheerleaders,” I filled, “they don’t that is not yet, we’re gonna start a team and I’m in charge.”

“What do you mean, you’re in charge?”

“I’m gonna be head coach like Fran.”

“Fran Cowlishaw?” Mum suggested.

“Yeah, she coaches the Foresters.”

“I remember, since when do you call her Fran? She is a teacher.”

“Not mine though, she told me to when I was Warsop the other week.”

Mum replied with a “hmm.”

“And just what does this ‘job’ entail?” Dad asked.

“It’s not a job.”

“I’d call it a job,” Mum put in.

“Whatever, well I get to pick the team and do the chorrie stuff and the training.”

“Sounds like a job to me,” Dad pointed out, “and you do all this on your own?”

“Well Han’ll be helping a bit.”

“And just when does all this happen, you’ve still got training and homework you know.” Mum pointed out.

“The hall’s free on Monday’s,” I offered.

“I’ll give Hannah a call tomorrow,” Dad stated.

“Da-ad,” I complained.

“She’s played you before kiddo, we’re not saying you can’t do it but I think we need to lay some limits down.”

“Mum?” I appealed.

“I’m with your Dad on this, Drew.”

“I’m going to bed!” I told them before stomping out.

“Drew? Luv?” Mum’s voice followed me but I ignored her and instead clambered quickly to my eyrie.

 
 
“Well that went well,” Jen mentioned to her hubby.

“She’ll get over it Jen, I don’t want Hannah taking advantage of her.”

“I know luv, I wasn’t disputing anything, I guess it’s the teenage thing.”

“I guess we’ve been quite lucky really, Jules wasn’t too bad and if Gab just throws a few tantrums we’ve done well.”

“Yeah, I think I was worse than either of ours,” Jenny admitted.

Why do they have to spoil everything? I peeled my dance stuff off and after a quick sniff decided a shower could wait till the morning. Every time I want to do something they have to stick an oar in, I’ll show ‘em! It wasn’t that late but I put my pj’s on and climbed into bed, yeah, I’ll show ‘em.

 
 
“Gab, come on, we’ll miss the train.”

“It’s these shoes.”

“Dunno why you’re wearing them,” Con noted.

“Because,” well to be honest it’s all I could think of to wind the rents up this morning – you’re not going out in those – I so am – change them now – ut uh!

I tottered across the road, the shoes are actually Jules’ but I have worn them before albeit only indoors. Maybe eighteen centimetre heels are a bit much for actually going anywhere in. We arrived on the platform seconds before the down train and the other girls; Anna is meeting us there for some reason.

“What’re you wearing those for, Gab?” Brid asked.

“Because she can,” Con supplied before I could answer myself.

I managed to get onto a seat before the swaying train toppled me already wishing I’d had the sense to grab my trainers on the way out.

 
 
The atmosphere in the car was to say the least icy as we cruised down the autobahn several hours later. It had nothing to do with Ron but I’d been a right bitch toward her since we picked her up at Remagen Hbf. So now Dad was humming to himself up front and Ron and me were sat as far as possible apart in the back seat.

Neither Mum nor Dad actually said anything about the shoes when I got back home, my feet were killing and I was spoiling for a fight but nothing. They had plenty to say on other matters, Gaby do this, Gaby do that. To be honest they were quite reasonable requests and I couldn’t really find it in me to argue the toss. Of the matter in hand though nothing.

Somewhere down the road I must have dropped off as the next thing I recall was a change in engine tone waking me up. I peered out of the window at the streets of a typical mid size German town, wide boulevards lined by an assortment of apartment blocks of varying age. Dad was following the sat nav, which guided us right into the centre, delivering us to the door of our night’s accommodation, the City Plaza Hotel.

 
 
“Come on you two, quicker we’re checked in the quicker we eat,” Dad chivvied.

“Whatever.”

“Drew Bond, if you don’t start acting a bit more civil we’ll be driving straight back to Dernau tonight.”

Did I want to push things that far? Ron was looking pretty narked and Dad looked serious. I took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” I allowed.
 
 

“The girl on reception said that most of the restaurants are the other side of the main street.” Dad told us as we followed the signs towards the Altstadt.

“Figures,” Ron observed.

“I’m starving,” I stated.

“Not the only one,” Ron agreed as we reached the central spine of the old town.

To our left was a tower thingy, to our right across that end of the street stood some sort of big church but the thing grabbing my attention was the collection of tables outside of several hostelries a short way up the street.

“Let’s see what’s on offer,” Dad suggested.

 
 
A couple of the places turned out to be ice cream parlours so they were quickly dismissed allowing us to narrow our options. Final choice was as much due to table availability, Zur Alten Munz* had a vacant set of seats which we claimed with not a little relief. The place was certainly busy, we waited impatiently for the Speisekarte enviously eyeing up other diners’ plates.

“Well the Pfalzer Leibgericht looks interesting.” Dad proposed.

The menu was fairly standard, schnitzel, pizza, steak, a couple of fish options and several ‘regional’ dishes. You can’t always be sure what you’ll actually get, the Leibgericht looked like some sort of mixed grill. Why not?

“I’m game,” I agreed.

“Think I’ll have the Wiener,” Ron decided.
 
 

I sipped at my Radler when it arrived.

“Right then, tomorrow,” Dad started, ”game plan.”

It’s actually on the Hockenheim Ring, the motor racing circuit, we do twenty laps of the four and a half kilometre circuit, ninety k’s and Dad reckons it’s flatter than Roskilde last week.

“So, Wiener?”

Our food arrived, Ron’s schnitzel and me and Dad’s Leibgericht that looked well interesting. Sausage, some sort of frikadel, a pork steak with a bit of salad and a decent load of Rösti. Conversation stopped as we all hungrily descended on the food, all equally hungry.

 
 
After a coffee we started back to the hotel, the long way. The church thing turns out to be the Dom and it’s bigger than it first looked, we walked up to it and after Dad consulted a town plan took a stroll through the Dom Gärten.

“What the heck is that?” Ron exclaimed.

“What?”

“Over there,” she pointed.

“Whoa!”

Across the parking area in front of us a Jumbo jet hovered in the air.

“That’ll be the technical museum, I didn’t realise it was so close to the centre,” Dad noted, “fancy taking a squint?

We both shrugged, why not, it’s not everyday you see a Jumbo hovering over a city, well I guess you do if you live in Speyer!

* The Old Mint

Maddy Bell © 15.09.2014