Ghosts of Ulverston Past (standard:drama, 5994 words)
Author: Sue Simpson (Sooz)	Added: Feb 14 2003	Views/Reads: 3197/2264	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The second chapter of Keepers of the Quantum. Lizard's Leap Two.

“Aww go on Vick, come to the shop with me.” Mark had been wheedling
Vicki for half an hour. 

“I've told you no, now just leave me alone I'm trying to read.” 

In truth Vicki liked nothing better than to go to the newsagents on
Tudor Square that's where Dean Hargreaves worked, but going to the shop 
took an awful lot of preparation. First she had to soak in the bath for 
half an hour, then she had to dry and style her hair and if so much as 
one hair wouldn't do as it was told then the trip was off. She couldn't 
wear the same clothes twice and in truth didn't have that many really 
trendy outfits so she was having to be quite creative with accessories 
now to ensure she looked stunningly different on each occasion. But the 
hardest bit of all was getting past her mum after she'd put her make up 
on. Vicki was only allowed to wear it on very special occasions Her mum 
always used the same sad argument but Vicki darlin` you've got such 
pretty skin, don't ruin it by not letting it breathe. 

Pretty skin? Pretty skin, she thought. Couldn't her mum see the volcano
full of broiling gunk on her forehead that was just waiting for the 
most embarrassing moment possible to erupt? Actually as spots went this 
one was more of a pimple and wasn't full of anything...yet. It was of 
course waiting for the school disco on Friday night to fill and develop 
an identity all of its own. Luckily though five days had passed since 
they'd been to the Caribbean and most of the peeling skin had finished 
coming off. 

“Oh please Vicki. Go on it'll only take ten minutes.” 

“ No, and anyway why do I have to come with you? You can go on your
own.” 

“Because um,” Mark searched furiously for a valid reason that Vicki
couldn't refuse. “Because I've got something to tell you.” 

“Well tell me now.” Her voice had risen with irritation he was really
getting on her nerves now. 

“I can't it's a secret. It's, you know, personal. I don't want anyone
else to hear.” 

“Duh! There's no one else here stupid. So come on tell me.” She put her
book over the arm of the chair. Jaqueline Wilson was good but hearing a 
bit of personal trouble from Mark was better, it might be something she 
could use to her advantage at a later date. 

Now Mark's little plan was already set in motion by this point, Vicki to
all intents and purposes was a dead duck, but it was thoughts just like 
the last one that had caused this state of constant one-upmanship 
between the pair of them. It was a bother-sister thing as old as time 
itself and was written into the genealogy of every human family. It 
didn't matter one jot that they loved each other to bits and God help 
anyone else who caused the other one grief. So in a way it could be 
argued that Vicki had what was coming, coming to her. 

“Oh well,” continued Mark. “If you aren't interested I'll just have to
go and tell Jamie after I've been to the shop, he'll listen to me.” 

“Wait,” screamed Vicki falling over the arm of the chair in her haste to
get up. Luckily she'd had a bath and done her hair before she settled 
for a read. “Of course I'll listen to you if you need to talk. I'm your 
sister, and I'll give you my best advice free of charge. Just give me a 
minute to get changed. Er you might want to watch a program or 
something.” 

Mark knew there was little point in trying to hurry Vicki up. She was
like a stubborn donkey in that the more you pushed her, the slower she 
moved. Half an hour later she came downstairs wearing her best hipster 
jeans, the ones with the diamonte spider's web on the thigh and a 
little blue crop top that said ‘Flirt' to anyone who cared to read it. 
Her lips shone, her cheeks blushed and her eyes sparkled. She put on 
her denim jacket with the afghan fur trim and she was finally ready. 
With a bit of luck when they went in the shop she could hang back a bit 
and Dean might not even realise that she was with Mark. It just wasn't 
kewl to be seen out with your younger brother. She'd have to bribe Mark 


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