The Recruit(17)

Jaz felt a hand on her knee, warm, as it gave a gentle squeeze. She glanced at Taylor in surprise. He flashed his perfect row of teeth.

‘Are you nervous?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Jaz spluttered.

‘Then why are your legs jumping?’

Jaz realised he was right. How long had she been bouncing them on the spot like that? ‘Hmm, maybe just a little. I don’t do crowds that well.’

Taylor leant over towards her so she could hear him easily over the noise of the crowd. ‘You’ll be fine, Jaz. Just block it all out, and do what you do at training. You’ve got a good chance at winning.’

Oh, his words sounded so nice and his breath tickled her ear. ‘So have you,’ said Jaz finally finding her voice.

They watched the first few bouts. Greenwich lost his, so did Benson, and next was Taylor who won his in record speed. He was definitely the one to watch. His attacks were flawless.

Jaz was up next. Taylor tapped her on the shoulder and wished her luck as she walked over to the fencing strip and put on her mask. She saluted her adversary and the referee of the bout, with a wave of her sabre. Her body began to zing with nervous energy and she breathed deeply, clearing her mind. She sized up her opponent in a blink of an eye; she knew he would be slower. His weight was slightly off balance and his movements were jerky, not fluid. They stepped up to the en garde line. Jaz had fifteen hits to win to move through to the next round. She was determined to survive until the end. Bags called it her devil instincts. Like a Tasmanian devil, she would latch on and not let go until she had succeeded. Giving up was not an option in her book.

The bout started, Jaz lunged forward, saw her opponent attack and took a quick double step backwards, causing her opponent’s attack to fail, giving her the right of way and scoring a hit, or touché. In no time at all she clocked up the required hits. At the end of the bout, and another salute, she went and joined her cheering team and took her seat beside Taylor.

‘Well done Jasmine, made nice work of him,’ praised Coach Belmore.

Taylor nudged her shoulder and winked. It made her want to grin like a silly girl.

They watched on as the rest of the bouts continued. They had two fencing strips, or piste, so when her next bout was up, Taylor’s was on at the same time and she missed watching him win. She also won her bout and progressed onto the third round. Her third round competitor was shorter and she found it easier to target his head, and won convincingly. The beep of the electronic scorer echoed amongst the cheering crowd. Her parents weren’t here today, due to work, but it didn’t bother her. She didn’t want them to come and make a big deal out of it anyway. Her stepfather, Paul, wasn’t into sports of any sorts; he would have been just like Simon as a kid.

Taylor’s fourth bout was against a guy of similar build but with long neck like an ostrich. His white jacket had their team name, Excalibur, embroidered on the front in blue.

It was close, with both going hit for hit. Jaz’s legs had begun to jump again as she watched carefully. Taylor’s opposition matched him in speed, their hits fast, but she could almost pick ostrich boy’s next movement, his downfall being his inability to hide his intent. She wished Taylor would notice but she guessed it was easier for her as she had time to study the opposition where as Taylor was busy. The ostrich boy lunged forward in a super speed attack and Taylor stepped back but was slightly off balance and lost his footing, causing the ostrich to place a hit. After another touché the bout was over and Team Aramis’ chances of winning crumbled.

It was like the whole crowd in the gym breathed in at the same time, sucking in the walls. The state of the team rested on her shoulders against Ostrich Boy in the final. Crap!

She had no time to speak to Taylor, to put her hand on his shoulder and console him, which she was dying to do.

Coach Belmore wanted to talk to them in the break before the final showdown, the deciding bout. She’d never had the weight of a whole team depending on her before, and it was that thought that brought her back to the ground with a thud. It had always just been Jaz against the world. Now the expectant and hopeful faces of her team mates filled her with dread as much as it did determination. She felt duty-bound to save them all.

The team dispersed on Coach’s orders as he left Taylor, the team captain, to give the last bit of advice.

Jaz felt like every set of eyes in the gym were on them. But she found Taylor’s eager blue eyes drawing her in and filling her with a sense of strength. His voice was calm and instructional.

‘I think you can get him, Jaz. You are great at deceiving and I think that’s the only way to beat him. His body also gives his moves away; I just noticed it too late,’ he sighed.