As cars joined the minibus, people began unpacking tables. Everyone was occupied. Charlotte took her phone out and found the flashlight app, not turning it on just yet. Not unless she needed to.
She reached the trees at the edge of the carpark and walked a short way in. Still no lights or signs of anyone. About to turn back, a noise drifted through the pines. A motor running.
I’ll look. That’s all. Just look.
Flashlight on, Charlotte wound through the trees, avoiding branches and watching her step. She wanted to be quiet.
The motor was louder and now there was some light. Headlights.
She glanced back but the carpark was out of her sight. Charlotte turned her flashlight off and inched forward. Two figures crossed back and forth between her and the headlights, dragging what looked like branches.
There was a wire fence. Charlotte stopped at the edge of a small clearing between the trees and fence. On the other side, the blue ute idled. Darro and Hank were tossing all the evidence over the fence. The broken parts of synthetic Christmas trees, and then the highchair, one of its legs breaking as it hit the ground.
“Hold it right there!”
Sid?
Darro and Hank froze, then burst into laughter. Hank picked up branches and threw them into the back of the ute.
“Hands behind your heads. I told you to hold it.” Sid’s shadow approached.
Charlotte struggled to see with the headlights in her direction, so she darted a few trees over. Sid stood near the front of the ute.
“Hey, Sid. Come to give us a hand, mate?” Darro leaned against the bonnet.
So, Sid was involved. Or complicit. Or just didn’t care. Charlotte’s heart sank. By the time she got back to the carpark for help, these three would be gone.
“You’re an idiot, Darro. Just like your idiot father.” Sid’s hands moved fast and Darro was face down on the bonnet. “You think I’m gonna let you ruin everything?” In an instant, he had handcuffs on Darro.
Hank was backing away.
“Freeze, Hank. Freeze.”
Sid raised his gun and Hank stopped, hands hovering in the air. But Darro slipped out of his grasp and sidled away in the other direction. Sid swung the gun from one to the other. “Dammit, you’re both under arrest. Do I have to shoot you both?”
They kept moving, mocking Sid with sneers.
Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment, feeling for the bracelet. In the bin in the alley.
Rosie wouldn’t be happy with her. Or Trev. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
“You shoot one, Senior Constable Morris, and I’ll take out the other.” Charlotte’s voice rang out.
“What the hell?” Sid glanced her way, then back at Darro. “Last warning, idiot.”
Hank had halted at Charlotte’s voice and one hand covered his crotch.
Still hurts?
“Better get down on the ground, Hank. Got you in my sights and I already told you, I don’t miss.” She yelled in her toughest tone.
If this didn’t work, she was going to have to run the fastest she’d ever run. And hope Sid didn’t shoot her accidentally. Sid rolled his eyes. It wasn’t going to work.
“Don’t shoot!” Hank dropped to his knees.
“Dude, she’s bluffing.” Darro tried to run and Sid kicked his legs from under him.
“She’s dangerous.” Hank threw himself on the ground, face down.
The expression on Sid’s face was priceless. If only she’d had her camera ready. It didn’t last as he cuffed Hank and dragged him to Darro, kicking his legs again for good measure.
“Show yourself, doctor.”
Damn. What does he think he knows?
Charlotte stepped into the clearing and waved. “Looks like you have everything under control, Sid. Good work.”
“Get over here. Hand me your weapon.”
“Can’t. Sorry. Only made a verbal threat and that’s a bit difficult to hand over. Anyway, got a party to attend.”
She spun the other way and sprinted.
“Oi. Get back here.”
As if.
“Merry Christmas!”
The carpark was quiet. Charlotte stopped at the edge of the trees, confused. The tables were full of Christmas fare, people stood around, and the minibus’s headlights beamed light over the area and toward the house.
Rosie appeared out of the darkness from the house and then Darcy. He held Abbie’s hand and she pulled back, so he stopped. Lachie grabbed his father’s other hand.
The family gazed around as though not understanding what was happening in their carpark. Abbie shook her head.
Charlotte stepped out from the trees, ready to go to them. Tell them they were wanted and cared for and very welcome. But how could she speak for the town?
“Good tidings we bring, to you and your kin,” Lewis sang loudly, perfectly, in a deep baritone, his arms outstretched to the Forests.
For a long moment, there was silence, then Rosie wheeled herself to Lewis. “Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!” The love in her voice reached across the distance to the family. Lachie jumped up and down, grinning.
Everyone sang. Charlotte sang, Doug and Esther, every person she saw. Except Abbie and Darcy. Their arms were wrapped tightly around each other in a hug and their shoulders shook. Abbie’s head was on Darcy’s shoulder and Lachie was patting them both in sympathy.
As the last notes of the chorus died down, Glenys planted herself halfway between the tables and the family.
“Please. I need to say something.”
Lachie hid behind Darcy, who looked up, tears on his cheeks. Abbie raised her head, her face wet. All three were expecting the worst. Silence fell.
Glenys shifted her weight from one foot to the other, leaning heavily on her walking cane. “I must apologise, and I can only ask you to forgive me. Darcy, Abbie, and you, little Lachie, you’ve all been subjected to some awful accusations. Some of this is my fault. I believed what people said.”
“What your friends did earlier was cruel, Glenys.” Darcy spoke without malice, just with truth. “It hurt my family.”
“I know. Tonight, I’ve discovered who the Christmas tree thief really is.” She gulped, faltering. Her shoulders went back, and she found her voice. “My
