The Fall of Chance Read Online Free PDF Page B

personal matters, everyone could devise their own odds. It wasn’t illegal to stack them like Bull had but it was frowned upon.
    Where Bull might have broken the law was if he set odds that encouraged criminal behaviour. If he took the booze without permission, which it seemed he had, or if they were caught drinking underage, then his actions fell into that category and that spelled possible trouble.
    Unt wasn’t really worried about any criminal charges. Theft would need Bull’s dad to press charges and as for drinking underage, well, they’d be adults tomorrow. There was, however, time for bad behaviour to influence the Fall and that made Unt nervous.
    Bull took a swig behind an unconvincing burp and passed the flask back. Doubting he could sell another cough, Unt made a show of scratching his ear and snatched at some more.
    “Hey, Unt.”
    The stereo interruption of girls’ voices made him turn his head and mouth open. Warm liquid dribbled down his chin as he turned to face Mélie and Olissa.
    “Hey,” he answered lamely, quickly trying to wipe away the evidence.
    “Ladies!” beamed Bull, putting on his grandest voice. Mélie smiled awkwardly but Olissa was less guarded and fixed him a withering glance.
    “You guys getting food?” asked Mélie.
    “Mind if we join you?” asked Olissa.
    “Sure,” shrugged Unt in his best attempt at a casual manner. Straight away, he worried he’d oversold it and just sounded bored.
    “The more the merrier!” Bull’s enthusiasm rescued him.
    So the girls shuffled into the queue, squeezing in with the boys. The people behind muttered angrily but Unt didn’t notice. Mélie was pressed so close he could feel the warmth of her body, the wool of her sweater brushed against his bare wrist, a downy, fuzzy sensation. Her hair was very straight and glossy, he noticed, oddly.
    She was so close that when she looked at him she looked up through her long, dark lashes. “So, do you know what you’re hoping for?” she asked him.
    “Well, there’s two Manager posts,” he stammered. “Farm Manager, that is. I’m after one of those, I guess.”
    “Oh,” said Mélie. “That sounds nice.”
    “What about you?” he asked.
    “Career? I’m not sure. I’d like to be an Educator, I guess.”
    Unt felt he should probably say something but couldn’t think what. The four of them had worked together closely for months but there was an awkwardness between them that seemed to kill conversation. Bull had his eyes on the food ahead of them and Olissa was standing sullenly. Unt willed the queue to shuffle them out of the silence.
    Mélie leaned in. “You’ve got something on your chin,” she whispered.
    Unt raised his hand to his face like it was news to him. “Oh, er, thanks,” he mumbled, trying to wipe the drink away as casually as he could.
    “You know, I wouldn’t mind a bit,” said Mélie quietly.
    Soft as her words were, they seemed to knock Unt’s tongue out of his mouth. It scrambled to get control over half a dozen witty responses but all that came out was “What?”
    Olissa rolled her eyes and flicked a curl from her face. She didn’t utter a sigh but it was there all the same. Unt felt girlish fingers close on his, then a flash of disappointment as they prised the flask out of his hand. Olissa made no effort to disguise the swig she took.
    “Hey, that’s mine!” said Bull, snatching it back. “I’m sorry girls but a man’s generosity is only as large as his hipflask.”
    “And that’s not all,” muttered Olissa. “Fine, suit yourself.”
    Mélie and Unt shared a glance as though to say “what can you do?” He wanted to dispel the dark cloud that had suddenly descended but no words would come. He just needed to say something trivial to fix the mood but his head had nothing to offer.
    There was something on his mind that was a definite conversation topic but there was no way that any of them would broach it. On the way over, Unt had snapped at Bull for even