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CHAPTER4
“Here we are,” said Dan as his car pulled up outside a brick bungalow with a dead patch of lawn in front, a broken mesh fence and a sorry looking array of wilted plants in pots. “And thereitis.”
Felicity’s eyes widened as she spotted the kombi van in the drive. Oh yes sir, it was bright all right. The panel facing her had a huge blue wave painted on it, and riding the wave was a figure, arms splayed, surfing a yellow board against the backdrop of a big orange sun.
When they got out and walked around it, she halted abruptly. Bubble letters were sprayed across the boot in orange to match the sun.
Felicity read out “The Shaggin’ Wagon” and promptly burst out laughing. “Oh my goodness, that’s kind of—an interesting name.”
“Yeah, bit of a bloke thing.” Dan looked sheepish and now she understood Carts’ comments and the horror written all over his face at the pub yesterday.
Well, it didn’t bother her. In fact, it was kind of fun.
“I have nothing against driving a Shaggin’ Wagon,” she said stoutly. “Though we’d probably call it a boink mobile in England.”
Dan gave her a relieved grin. “So it doesn’t put you off?”
“No, as long as none of the other campers get the wrong idea.”
“Guess you could always paint over it.”
“Oh no, that would spoil the vibe. The guy on the board, is that supposed to be Shocky?”
“He likes to think it is.”
“Did I hear my name?” A head popped around the other side of the van.
“Where are you off to?” Dan asked.
“Surf’s up, mate.” The guy tossed a strand of sun-streaked hair out of his eyes.
“I told you I was bringing Felicity over to look at the van.”
“Aw, sorry mate.” Shocky didn’t look sorry at all. “Make it quick then. I need to get to the beach before all the grommets crowd out the waves. Hi.” He grinned broadly at Felicity. “Don’t wanna sell. But the girlfriend says it’s her or the Shaggin’ Wagon.” He chuckled. “Tempted to take the van. Nah, joking. Love her. Must do otherwise I wouldn’t part with it. You’re the pommy girl, right?’
“I guess. Nice to meet you, Shocky.”
She was fast finding out that the term Aussies used for the English was “pom”. No-one seemed to have a clue what it meant, but it was clearly said with affection. What with Dan calling her a ranga, she was fast stockpiling a whole heap of novel new names.
Shocky stood scratching his head as he looked from her then back to the kombi. “You sure the Shaggin’ Wagon is what you’re looking for? It’s a bit rough round the edges.”
“I’m used to rough. I went all round Europe in a kombi. We called it The Mean Machine because it kept breaking down on us. And it wasn’t nearly as pretty as this.”
Shocky grinned. “The Shaggin’ Wagon gets mixed reactions. Take a quick squiz inside if you want, but I really can’t stick around for long.”
“Thanks.” Felicity nodded enthusiastically and climbed inside. It felt immediately familiar. All the memories of her trip with Evie came flooding back. The little markets they visited, the lunches they prepared of French cheese and crusty baguette. The cramped little work bench, the long narrow seat that turned into a bed, it was almost the same. It could do with some prettying up, but it was in perfectly good condition.
Shocky stood, hands on hips in the doorway with Dan.
“What’ d’ya reckon?” he asked.
“It’s perfect. How much do you want for it?”
“I was hoping ten grand, then I dropped it to eight… no-one’s biting. Think it might be the paint job. I dunno—maybe six grand?”
She did the conversion into pounds in her head. She’d been anticipating having to pay more. “Sounds good. When can I take it for a test drive?” she asked.
Shocky shuffled his feet. “I could bring it to you tomorrow arvo if you like. Where are you staying?”
