Free Anything but Ordinary by Nicola Rhodes

began running and screaming, no need to set the bus on fire, it caught by itself.  The team backed away helplessly keeping their eyes on the now complete wall of fire that had been Tamar.  Time to end this, thought Tamar, she was sure she now had them all.
    From the point of view of the team, the flames suddenly vanished, and Tamar, black as a sweep, came screaming through the air from high above like a comet, hitting the ground hard enough to dig a deep trench along her path. 
    She sat up grinning, and allowed Ray and Slick to haul her out. ‘Not exactly what I had in mind,’ she told them dusting herself off. ‘But it pays to be flexible, I always find.’ she smiled at their stunned faces. She would never tell them, she decided, that she had not been at all certain that she would survive.  It would completely spoil what had been, by anyone’s standards an impressive début. 
    * * *
    What had possessed her to say such a stupid thing?  Cindy castigated herself. How was she ever to face him again after that ? It had been bad enough before, when he had only had a vague suspicion, now it would be impossible.  She must have lost her mind. 
    ‘Cindy?’ she jerked her head up in shock. It was Denny. Denny who always avoided her like the plague for at least a week after she so much as hinted at her feelings for him, who never wanted to know about it so that he could pretend it was not real, who skirted round the subject if it ever came close to coming up, to make sure it was never said.  It was not possible that he had actually sought her out after such a huge blunder as she had just made. Was it?
    ‘Cindy, are you in there?’  It was him. 
    ‘Er, come in.’ she said uncertainly, all embarrassment forgotten in surprise and curiosity. 
    He shuffled in awkwardly, and sat down gingerly on a pink satin chair and gazed past her ear out of the window. 
    ‘Not handsome at all,’ thought Cindy.  ‘He dresses like a scarecrow, he never shaves, and just look at him sitting on that chair for all the world as if he thought it was going to break.  There’s no way he could ever fit into my life.’
    He ran long, thin fingers through his hair nervously and let out a sigh. 
    ‘It’s nice,’ he said gesturing around the room.
    ‘He thinks it looks like a tart’s boudoir,’ thought Cindy. ‘And normally he would say so, what’s up with him?’
    ‘How’s our guest?’ she said.
    Denny looked relieved.  ‘Better, I think, it’s all been a bit of a shock for him. But he’ll be okay.’
    ‘Give him a day,’ said Cindy. ‘He should have sorted things out by then.’
    Denny nodded. ‘I wanted …’ he began. ‘I mean, I never said thanks for y’know, sorting him out.’ he stopped and looked almost plaintively at her.  Please, his expression seemed to say, can’t we just pretend it never happened, let’s just go back to how it was before, when I could pretend I didn’t know.
    Now she understood; she had gone too far this time. He had come to try to erase what she had said. He shifted awkwardly on the fancy chair and gestured unconsciously to his clothes, his hair, his three-day growth of stubble. 
    Look at me, he seemed to be saying, why would you want me anyway? I don’t fit in here.  It was what she had been thinking a moment ago.  But it was no good. She still wanted him.
    She took pity on him; didn’t he have enough on his mind at the moment?
    ‘Could you stand up a minute,’ she said grabbing a towel and placing it on the chair as he rose. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s silk.’ Denny grinned in relief; this was the Cindy he knew. 
    ‘Where’s Jack?’ he asked conversationally. ‘I haven’t seen him.’
    ‘Oh, didn’t he tell you? He has a new case on hand. He and Hecaté are looking into it. Some spontaneous human combustion cases I think he said.’
    ‘Oh, it’s probably Crettins,’ said Denny.
    ‘That’s what I thought,’ agreed Cindy.
    There was an awkward