She saw Zac’s look of shock, although it only lasted an instant before he gathered himself. He groaned. ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’
‘Great. Follow me.’ Lettie led the way.
‘I only have shorts on though,’ he said half to himself.
‘Just get in with those then,’ Lettie said over her shoulder. ‘Melody, you’d probably be best going to quickly change into a swimming costume though. I’ll help with the introductions and delay everything for a minute or so.’
Melody hadn’t thought about the mismatched underwear she was wearing. ‘Good idea.’ She ran into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom, quickly locating her cerise costume. She hurriedly stripped off her clothes, pulled on her costume, then pulled her shorts and T-shirt back over it. Grabbing two towels from the airing cupboard on the next floor just in case Lettie hadn’t thought to supply any, she slipped her feet into her trainers and ran to the smaller barn.
She caught Zac’s eye as he stood behind one of the barrels that looked as if they were made from PVC or nylon, both filled three-quarters of the way to the top with almost freezing water. Ice cubes floated in the water and she hoped she wouldn’t have to sit in it for any longer than was necessary.
She stood next to Zac and both listened as the woman spoke about the benefits of this therapy. ‘As well as helping reduce inflammation and stress, other benefits include helping with relaxation. It therefore has benefits for improving sleep. It also helps with mindfulness. Now, I’ll go through some breathingtechniques and then our two volunteers, Melody and Zac, will demonstrate for us.’
Having listened to instructions from the woman, Melody took a calming breath and stepped into the freezing water. What the hell? Her heart raced and her breathing sped up.
‘Get control of your breathing, lovey,’ a woman in the audience suggested. ‘It works.’
Melody gave her a disbelieving look, wondering how much time the clever clogs in the audience had spent time in one of these things.
The woman laughed. ‘It’s true,’ she insisted, somehow sensing what Melody had been thinking. ‘I had to do it when I was in labour with my three. Whenever I had my breathing under control the labour pains weren’t nearly so bad.’
Melody forced a smile in her direction, wishing the woman would be quiet and let her focus on trying to take her mind off the shock to her entire body.
She listened as the woman who ran the business moved to stand closer to her and Zac. ‘She is right, you know. If you can calm your breathing and do the exercises I told you about, this will be a far more pleasant experience.’
Closing her eyes to help her focus, Melody listened as the woman repeated the instructions. She lowered herself and although every part of her screamed to get out, she knew Lettie needed as many businesses as possible to succeed at the festival and was relying on her right now. She slowly began to get control of her breathing and although she doubted she would ever want to try something like this again, had to admit to herself that the sense of achievement it was giving her helped her to get a sense of why people might want to practise something like this.
Hearing movement next to her, she opened her eyes to see Zac wincing and stepping out of the tub. ‘I’m afraid that’senough for me for today,’ he said apologetically. The woman handed him a thick bathrobe Melody hadn’t noticed earlier.
She was about to get out too when someone laughed. ‘Haven’t I always said, Ginny, it’s the women who have the strength to deal with discomfort far more than these blokes.’ Melody realised it was the same woman who had told her about being in labour.
Unable to help smiling, Melody decided she had also had enough, and rose to her feet, grateful when Zac reached out his hand for her to take as she stepped out. Within seconds she had wrapped herself in a thick towelling robe and was drying her feet.
‘He might have got out before me,’ she said to the woman. ‘But only just.’
‘Thank you, Zac and Melody,’ the business owner said. ‘You’re both free to go if you want to dress now.’
They left the barn without speaking.
‘Thank heavens that’s over,’ Zac said. ‘I can’t see how doing that could calm anyone.’
Melody took his hand in hers and gave it a soothing pat. ‘I actually didn’t mind it all that much.’ He gave her a look of astonishment, making her laugh. ‘It’s true.’
‘Well done, you two,’ Lettie said, running to catch up with them. ‘You did well.’
‘Yes,’ Zac said. ‘But don’t expect me to do that again next year if you do decide to repeat this festival. Once is enough for me.’
Lettie seemed baffled. ‘You surf, Zac. Our sea isn’t exactly warm most of the year round.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t have ice floating around in it either. And I wear a wet suit most of the time.’
30
ZAC
Zac followed Brodie and Callum, each of them carrying the last of the trestle tables to the storeroom at the back of the large barn. It had been another long and exhausting day but at least it was over.
They still had to tally up the takings but from the number of people who had come through the festival and everything he had been told when he had stopped to speak to attendees, it appeared to have been a great success. He hoped so.
