‘Wild garlic?’ said Dixie.
‘No, I’d recognize that.’
‘Wild thyme?’ said Renee.
‘That could be it. Subtle and earthy. It’s very good. Thanks, Renee,’ said Ned.
‘You’re welcome. I take it you two have sorted out your differences, then.’ She eyed them both over her full fork.
‘We have,’ said Dixie, realizing she felt so much happier now.
‘Then you’re stopping here?’ Renee raised an eyebrow.
‘No, I’m coming home. I think it’s time to draw this adventure to a close. And assuming you can get Elsie fixed, then I’ll be off today, but it won’t be forever.’
‘Hmm,’ said Renee, checking her watch. ‘That might not be possible today.’
Dixie didn’t always know when Renee was joking. She cleared everything away and Ned helped her wash up while Renee sat outside on the deckchair and threw nuts to Arnold.
‘Were you expecting Renee to fix the van?’ whispered Ned as he dried up a plate.
Dixie sat down on the edge of the seating; she was feeling a bit lightheaded. ‘She’s a dab hand with engines and she can weld. I’m not sure what’s happening now though.’ Dixie blinked. ‘Can you smell green?’ she asked.
‘Green what?’
‘Just green,’ said Dixie. Ned’s eyes widened.
35
Dixie was feeling calm and happy but Ned was giving her an odd look. At least she thought he was but he now looked partly like Ned and a lot like Ed Sheeran, which was weird because he’d not looked like Ed Sheeran before and she was fairly sure she would have noticed that. Ned waved a hand in front of her face but it was a giant hand and colours were flowing from his fingers. It was quite beautiful.
‘Wow,’ said Dixie, almost hypnotized by the varying shades spiralling around the inside of the campervan from his fingertips.
‘Isn’t it marvellous?’ called Renee from outside.
‘Marvellous is yellow,’ said Dixie.
Ned moved around Dixie to perch on the bed and talk to Renee. ‘What’s happening?’ he asked.
Renee waved a hand near him as if trying to pat him but missed. ‘Relax and let it take you somewhere incredible. I can see tiny purple elephants!’ She moved her hands as if conducting an orchestra in a jaunty beat.
‘Oh heavens, have we taken drugs?’ asked Ned, hishead turning from Renee to Dixie and back again quite quickly. ‘Was that what the weird flavour in the risotto was?’ He sounded panicky.
‘Nooo,’ said Dixie, fascinated by the sound of her own voice. Could she smell that word? ‘Renee wouldn’t spike our dinner.’
‘I did check you were both all right with the shrooms. It’s all organic. Nature’s charm. The Aztecs called them flesh of the gods. Magic mushrooms were what we called them in the sixties. You can’t beat them. So you have to join them,’ said Renee, starting to laugh. She got up and began dancing while still conducting an orchestra only she could hear. She beckoned the others to join her. Dixie stepped outside but it wasn’t the outside she remembered. This was like walking into a Disney film. Flowers shot up where she trod and each time she lifted up her foot, more pretty coloured petals appeared. ‘They smell like Tuesday,’ she said. She’d never been so happy. Renee took her hands and they danced in circles with the pineapples.
‘Wait! Stop!’ Ned waved his arms about, which was fascinating to Dixie because there were so many of them and every one a different colour. She and Renee stopped dancing to watch. ‘I thought when you said shroom you had a speech impediment,’ said Ned, frowning hard.
‘I thought it was just a cute way to say mushroom. Like when people say K instead of OK,’ said Dixie, starting to sway to the music she could hear.
‘They’re just lazy buggers,’ said Renee. ‘I thought everyone knew a shroom was a magic mushroom.’
Ned frowned at them both. And for a moment the music stopped and the colours faded. But then Ned started to laugh. Just a snort at first but then growing until he was belly laughing. Renee and Dixie joined in until all three were holding their sides. The colours came back and the music was switched back on. Arnold screeched at them and hopped inside the van to help herself to the nuts.
Lots of dancing followed until Renee announced that she and the tallest of the Bakewell tarts were going for a lie-down. Dixie and Ned both tried to flop into Renee’s vacated deckchair at the same time. The chair gave way and they landed in a heap on top of each other. They tried to get up but it was quite hard now that Dixie appeared to have flippers instead of feet. But they would be awfully handy the next time she went snorkelling in the Caribbean.
‘Shall we just stay here,’ said Dixie.
