David walked up behind Angus and followed his angry gaze to the old building opposite, its dark, cracked exterior enlivened with rainbows and other fey motifs. Outside the shop, baskets lined the pavement like an old-fashioned greengrocers. He could almost catch the earthy whiff of organic grains and seeds from here. He sighed as his gaze shifted to the woman who was single-handedly painting a rainbow over the black paint, which they’d only just finished applying to eradicate her previous painting. Her red hair was as vivid as the rainbow.
Angus grabbed his phone and strode to the door. “I’m going to go and have it out with her! She’s a bloody menace. Her and the rest of them.”
“No!” said David. “I’ll do it.”
“You keep saying you have it in hand. But it doesn’t look like it to me.”
“Believe me. I do. It’ll be less messy, there will be less publicity, if we persuade her to stop. She’s the major shareholder in the co-operative. Get her on our side and the rest will follow. They’ll have no other choice.”
“And how exactly do you propose to do that? I suppose its using your legendary chick-magnet charm?” Angus groaned. “You do. You plan to seduce her, don’t you? Don’t you think she’ll be able to see through you?”
David shook his head. “No.” He looked at Amber.
“Why not? Surely any woman with their usual cynicism could see through you?”
“Not this woman,” said David, leaving the office.
“Why not? What makes this woman so different?” called his partner to the closed door.
Because, thought David, she isn’t just any woman, and, besides, she didn’t have a cynical bone in her body. Which only made it so much worse.
Amber pokedout her tongue as she concentrated on completing the arc of the rainbow. Other people signed their rainbows, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to own it, or claim it. As far as she was concerned, it was there to be enjoyed and owned by everybody.
She stepped back and smiled. A thing of beauty once again graced the black paint of the developers. She wished they’d stop, but this seemed to be the best, most beautiful, passive demonstration against their aims. She could keep it up. They’d lose interest before she did.
She suddenly realized how late it was and looked around anxiously. She began to clean her brushes and pack away her things. She wanted to be back in Akaroa by evening. She always hated being away from home, getting anxious and edgy the closer to night it got. With her car still in the garage, she was getting a lift home from one of the shop workers as far as Little River, from where Maddy had said she’d pick Amber up.
“Amber!”
She turned suddenly at the sound of her name. David was walking over to her from his car, parked in front of the building opposite.
“You’ll get a fine if you park there,” said Amber. “The owners of that building are always doing that.”
David raised an eyebrow and glanced around at his car. He turned back to her. “I’ll risk it. So,” he said, stepping over to her. “How are you?”
“I’m excellent, thank you!” She dropped the last of her paint brushes into her battered wooden box, which she then placed into her woven basket. “What a coincidence to see you here.”
David cleared his throat, then opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shook his head with a surprised huff.
“Is anything the matter?” she said, frowning, approaching him, searching his face. “You look—”
“I’m fine,” he interrupted, pushing his fingers through his hair in an uncharacteristically unsure movement. “I saw you here and thought I’d stop to say hello.”
“I’m glad you did. And great timing, too. I’ve just finished.” She indicated the rainbow. “What do you think?”
“It’s…” He shook his head. “Very”—he shrugged—“colorful.”
Her face dropped. “You don’t like it.”
“It’s lovely, but I’m not sure it’s in the right place.” He looked at her carefully.
“What do you mean? It’s in exactly the right place! EarthFoods is being intimidated by the owners of the building to move out! Do you know what they want to do?” She stepped closer, glaring at David, her heart and eyes ablaze with passion at the injustice of it all. She didn’t wait for him to reply, which was just as well as it didn’t look as if he was going to. “They want to demolish it.” Tears shone in her eyes. “They want to tear it down. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” She spread her fingers over the dark-painted stonework. “It was built in 1890, and generations of Christchurch people have lived and worked and shopped and prayed here. How can they do that? Ignore such a rich history of people?”
He shrugged but indicated a place in the brickwork where the masonry had had to be propped up. “Maybe that’s a clue?”
She looked from the brickwork back to him, enraged now. “It’s a clue as to the dereliction of their duties! That’s what it’s a clue to. Really, David, I can see you need educating! Have you been inside?”
“No, I haven’t.” And by his body language, it didn’t look as if he wanted to now, either.
