Missing Martha

104

Martin and Zoe lay on the beach by the lake, soaking in the sun while the others swam and laughed around in the water.
Martin knew that the depression pills which he had needed yesterday morning had only kicked in now because in front of him he could see Martha playing in the sand, she was building some sort of castle, picking specific shells and decorating it, the sun glimmered onto her dirty blonde pink tails. He watched her skip towards him, her excited eyes blinking in the bold sunshine, she was always going to be with him. He couldn't stop that.
After his visions of her vanished, he looked on at the five students, laughing as they threw a ball at each other and dived into the fresh water. He looked over to Zoë and smiled at her, because of her soaked t shirt he could see how her abdomen had curved, after all, she was three months pregnant.
"Names?" She teased, narrowing her eyes at him as he placed his arms either side of her and kissed her stomach.
"Shh, the kids can see us." She giggled, putting her hands on his cheeks.
"theyre not looking." He denied, crawling over her till his mouth met her pulsing neck.
"If its a girl.." Zoe began, closing her eyes, "I was thinking Emily."
Martin faced her, running his hands through her hair and looking straight into her eyes.
"And if it's a boy..?" He asked,
"I don't know we'll just have to come up with something else won't we?" She said.
With his hands on her cheeks, he pressed his lips against her forehead.

After a long nap, Martin sat up and looked over at the van, which looked pretty stuck in the sand. He bit his lip, knowing it would take some effort to get it out.
The sun remained high in the sky, everyone else was lying on the sand.
Martin took to the leisure of getting dressed into a short sleeved shirt, which he unbuttoned because of the heat of the day and a pair of mid-length trousers. He roughly brushed his hair, before walking out again and seeing Zoë begin to wake up.
"Hello Miss Flynn." He greeted her, sitting down beside her, "Have you got sun cream on?"
"I haven't actually." She replied, sitting up and looking at him.
Martin squirted some of his suncream onto his hands and ran them up her bare legs.
"Oh look at you being all skin safe." Giggled Zoë, as he felt his way up her arms to her fingers.
"The stuff I could do to you.." he breathed, stroking Zoe's lips as they slowly parted, he moved his lips onto hers, gently feeling her leg brush against his before they both heard a murmur of voices and quickly pulled away from each other.
"Sir?!" Called Ollie, from in front of them where everyone else was lying.
"Yes?!" Martin replied, biting his lip with wide eyes at Zoe, hoping that their students hadn't caught them like that.
"Our van looks pretty stuck." Ollie laughed back.
Martin chuckled in response, "Yeah, I'm working on that." He replied,
"Really?! I thought you were just making out with my teacher." Commented Ollie, making the others cackle as Martin immediately removed his hands from Zoe's arms and stood up.
"That's you told!" Giggled Zoë, lying back down on the ground.
Martin got into the van and started the engine, trying to accelerate, but as he dreaded, the wheel just spun, and he didn't move.
"Shit.." he laughed, stepping out of the van and standing looking at it, his hands behind his head.
Ollie and Ryan walked over beside him, folding their arms.
"This is gonna be a job, isn't it?" Sighed Ryan, walking towards the back of the van, seeing that one of the wheels was about a quarter of the way deep in the sand.
"We'll need like a plank of wood or something." Suggested Martin, "this sand is too dry to dig."
"Have you tried reversing?" Asked Ollie, rolling up his sleeves as he walked around the van into the driver's seat.
"I'm worried that'll only make it worse." Martin replied, "try 1st gear going forward and I'll try lifting."
"Sir its a bloody bus, you're not lifting this." Ollie replied, sitting down and putting one hand on the handbrake and the other on the wheel, gradually moving one foot to the accelerator, making the wheel spin in the sand. Martin's arm muscles tensed as he and Ryan attempted to lift the wheel, but the pressure was too much, it was so hot, and the exhaust was fuming into their faces.
"Right, stop!" Called Martin so that Ollie could hear him. Ollie, in response, pulled up the handbrake and turned off the engine.
Martin and Ryan lay on the ground, sweating and catching their breath. "God I think I need another dip in the lake." Martin gasped, taking off his shirt.
Jemma walked over to them with a towel she had drenched in the cool lake.
"Jemma you're a star." Beckoned Martin, wrapping it around himself before passing it to Ryan who dabbed his forehead. Cloda came over with a plank of wood that she had found.
"Oh this is perfect!" Exclaimed Martin, quickly kissing Cloda's forehead and taking the plank of wood from her hands, placing it beside the wheel.
"Right, we're gonna lift the van up and one of us is gonna slip the plank under the wheel, Okay?" Arranged Martin as Lucy and Zoe joined.
"Zoe; you're pregnant, you can drive." He directed,
"Aye aye." She Replied, climbing into the driver's seat.
After much strain from all the pupils and Martin, and the quick work of Cloda slipping the wood under the wheel, Zoe managed to drive the car out of the sand and up the hill onto a grassy area.

They all walked up to the van and Zoe stepped out of the driver's seat.
"I'm going to allow you to drive, good luck finding a road." She laughed, patting Martin's shoulder.
"Thanks, love." He replied, sitting in the driver's seat, taking a huge gulp of water and leaning back, exhaling. "Good work, team!" He complimented, reaching around and giving everyone an individual high five, when he reached Zoë he kept hold of her, their fingers interweaving. He gave her a kiss on her hand before putting his hands on the wheel and setting off.