Ellie was in an ankle-length pale green chiffon dress. She'd caught her shoulder-length hair back with a marquisate clip, a simple style that enhanced the shape of her lovely face.

Francis was wearing the latest fashion in menswear: black polyester and cotton sports trousers with a red shirt and black tie. He had added the latest in pointed-toe shoes.

Young Francis was a very snappy dresser!

'Everyone ready?' he asked them.

'Yes, dear,' Emmie answered. 'Dave's all tucked up in bed with a good book.'

Dave had declined going to the dance this year. He wasn't feeling well enough. However, when Emmie had said she would stay home with him, he wouldn't hear of it. He had stubbornly insisted she go with the rest of the family.

'Well, your limousines await!' Francis said and led them out to the cars.

Karl and Digger lingered behind. 'I'm not all that at ease about goin' tonight, Dig.'

'Yeah, me either mate, but we can't let the women down. Wally's a good bloke; he'll keep an eye on things.'

'Hey Dad... Uncle Karl... c'mon...' the girls called. They were anxious to get to the dance and meet the friends who would be waiting for them.

Kathy was anxious to see Eddie!

Inside the hall, Eddie was leaning against the bar. He too was watching for one particular person. He'd made an effort to look snappy himself and ignored the looks cast his way by some of the locals.

Jeff and Dawn came in with Eileen. She spotted Eddie immediately. She was attracted to him, even though she tried to deny it. Eddie's rough, tough boy image intrigued her as it did most women. She gave him a shy smile as she went across to the table reserved for them.

Eddie then spotted Ellie and Francis as they made their way to the stage, ready for the entertainment.

Then he spotted her. 'She looks so lovely,' he thought. 'If only I could walk across the room and take her by the hand and lead her out to the middle of the floor. I'd hold her close and not give a s.h.i.t who sees us!'

His thoughts ended abruptly when three young local boys went up to them.

'That'd be right... Should'a known she'd have a date,' Eddie thought, feeling disappointed. 'I don't stand a chance anyway. Old man Miles wouldn't let me within ten feet of his daughter.' He turned and ordered another beer.

'Well, h.e.l.lo s.e.xy!' a voice purred behind him. He felt a warm body brush against him. 'I was hopin' you'd be here.'

He turned to see Dot McClaron behind him.

'G'day, Dot. How's things?' He knew he would be onto something here if he wanted it. Her invitation was plain to see as usual.

'I'm good. How about gettin' me a beer?' He bought her the beer and watched in wry amus.e.m.e.nt as she guzzled it down far too quickly. She was openly flirting with him and although he wasn't really interested, he played along with her. He had a few more beers himself, all the while keeping an eye on Kathy.

Kathy had spotted him the moment she arrived, noticing again how s.e.xy and ruggedly handsome he looked. Their eyes met across the room. She wanted to go and speak to him, but wasn't game; her father would be furious, not to mention it'd set all the local gossips' tongues wagging.

She sat watching Dot and Eddie as they danced together to a slow number. Ellie and Francis had chosen it for the first dance. She could see Dot rubbing her body seductively against Eddie's.

'What a tease!' she muttered to Tammi who was sitting next to her.

'They're good for each other,' Tammi replied.

Kathy didn't comment any further and allowed Greg Johnson, one of her friends from school, to take her out to the floor as well.

The hall was now full of local people. The talk that buzzed around was all about the firebug, but they were all determined to have a good time regardless. Bodies were moving to the rhythm of the music, others sat in groups at their tables. There was plenty of food catered for by the women and plenty of grog to wash it down.

'C'mon, love, have this dance with your handsome husband?' Digger held out his hand to Win.

Karl took Emmie onto the dance floor and, because she was such a respected lady, everyone cleared the floor and Karl waltzed his mother the full circle of the floor. Eileen was sitting looking sullenly at Eddie and Dot. 'She makes me sick!' she murmured to herself. 's.l.u.t!'

A young bloke from the valley pony club asked her to dance and she accepted disinterestedly.

Dawn saw her dancing and breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't escaped her notice when Eileen had seen Eddie. Dawn sensed he appealed to her daughter. She was happy to see her dancing with this young fellow; at least he was respectable.

After a couple of numbers, Emmie insisted Karl let her sit down, urging him to go and ask some of the women around and enjoy himself. He brought her a port and lemonade before approaching a striking redhead, asking her to dance.

Ellie and Francis upped the tempo with some great old rock and roll numbers. This gave Kathy and Tammi the opportunity to show off how well Francis had taught them to jive.

Then Francis really turned up the beat, belting out modern rock and roll tunes one after another. He had everyone in the hall up on their feet!

Jackets were tossed aside, ties were loosened or taken off altogether, high heels were kicked off. Everyone was in the party mood! The dance floor was packed. Party lights twinkled. Laughter and happy voices echoed from the hall out into the night.

Eddie and Dot were back at the bar again. She was drunk! She'd been knocking back beer like soft drink and was all over him, brushing her body against his and trying to kiss him. He grabbed her hand to stop her when she attempted to fondle his crotch.

'What the f.u.c.k d'ya think ya doin'?' he said in a low, angry voice. 'There's people all around us!'

'You like it, I know you do.' She giggled drunkenly. 'You're just as turned on as me! C'mon, Ed, it's hot in here. Let's go outside.'

Eddie didn't really want to go outside with her. In fact, he had been trying his best to avoid her lately. Ever since the afternoon he had spent with Kathy...lovely Kathy! Sighing, he gave in, and together they left the hall, Dot staggering slightly as they went.

'Hey Kath...' Tammi whispered. 'There goes our local bike, out for a good time!'

'Who cares, it's their business what they do!' Kathy had seen them leave and felt a pang of jealousy, causing her to snap at Tammi.

'Well, don't get b.i.t.c.hy! Good riddance to them, I say.' Tammi grabbed her partner, dragging him up to dance again.

Kathy noticed Eileen sitting alone and went over to talk to her.

'Hi Cuz... enjoying the dance?'

'Sort of. Did you see Dot and Eddie? She was all over him up at the bar, didn't care who saw either.'

'Yes, she's being her usual self.'

'She's disgusting!' Eileen replied heatedly. 'I was watching Eddie, and by the look on his face, I don't reckon he was too keen on going with her!'

'Really...' Kathy's interest roused now.

'Yeah, he looked a bit embarra.s.sed, pushed her away at one stage. She didn't get the hint though, just kept crawling all over him.'

'Well, she'll be doing more than crawling now she's got him outside!' Kathy didn't want to talk about them anymore, she preferred not to think about what was going on outside. 'Forget about them, come over and sit with us. You can't be having fun over here on your own.'

Ellie was showing how she could do the twist. Stan Jackson partnered her. He had admired Ellie since they were sixteen. His wife had died five years ago and he still admired her. She knew this and was careful not to encourage him, although tonight she was having fun fitting in a dance when she wasn't entertaining. They gave it everything they had, twisting all the way to the floor then up again, whirling around and shaking their booty all the while laughing at themselves.

Emmie was tiring. She was also concerned about Dave.

He did have Hazel and Ted on hand, and the Hansens were just across the road in case they were needed as well. Yet knowing this still didn't ease Emmie's mind; she wanted to be home with him.

She whispered to Karl and waved to Win and Digger who were out on the dance floor twisting to Twist and Shout that Francis was belting out on his sax. They acknowledged her with a wave, and Win blew her a kiss. Then she left on Karl's arm, proud and elegant as always.

As Emmie and Karl walked to the car, he noticed Eddie and Dot standing near Eddie's car. He knew what they were up to.

'Silly little fool,' Emmie said, noticing them as well. 'That girl is in for trouble. She needs a good talking to,' she added.

'Yeah well, I doubt that'll ever happen, Mum.' Karl helped her into the car, smiling at her. He knew she would certainly give young Dot a 'talking to' given half a chance.

Dot was eager. 'C'mon Ed, don't you want a little fun?' She reached down and fondled him, then slid his zipper down. Despite his lack of interest in her, he was hard!

She squatted in front of him and took his p.e.n.i.s in her mouth. Eddie groaned. He couldn't help himself.

Dot stood up and undid the b.u.t.tons of her blouse, exposing her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She wasn't wearing a bra. 'Like what you see?' she murmured seductively, moving up close to him. 'I reckon ya do, big boy,' she slurred.

Eddie reached out and cupped one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, ma.s.saging the nipple with his thumb, then he grabbed her and wrenched open the back door of his car, pushing her backwards onto the seat.

Dot grabbed his shoulders as he climbed on top of her.

'Now Ed... now.'

Inside, Robert had joined his cousins at their table. He was late arriving as he'd been working on the engine of his latest car, an old bomb of a thing he'd got from the wreckers.

Eileen was in the ladies room when Dot sauntered in.

'Have a good time?' she asked sarcastically.

'Yeah, Eddie's a real goer!' She hiccupped, plonking her shoulder bag on the vanity.

'I'll bet!' Eileen sneered.

Dot finished refreshing her lipstick and turned unsteadily to face Eileen.

'Bit jealous are we, Eileen snotty nose Mason?'

'Of you Dot...? You've gotta be kiddin'!'

'Come off it, Eileen. I know you've got the hots for Eddie. Hon, he's not interested in you. Eddie needs a real woman, believe me! Now p.i.s.s off and leave me alone.'

Eileen reddened and fought the desire to slap the smug look right off Dot's face. Instead, she turned and walked out as tears stung her eyes. 'Why the h.e.l.l do I let that tart upset me? Stupid b.i.t.c.h,' she thought, deciding to go back to the dance and have fun.

Checking that she was alone, Dot sat on the chair and allowed the tears she had been holding back to trickle down her face. She had expected Eddie to spend the rest of the night with her. Instead, after he'd screwed her, he'd told her he had things to do and sent her back inside, not mentioning a thing about seeing her again.

Francis was in need of a drink. He'd had the hall rocking for nearly an hour with his saxophone. He was well overdue for a break.

'What a great night!' Ellie said, handing her son a beer and taking a sip of her own.

Win and Dig were having a beer with Dawn and Jeff. Karl came up to them and let them know Emmie had settled in ok, that Dave was fine, and also that Walter reported that there was nothing to worry about. He had done the rounds and found nothing suspicious. He would do another round in about an hour.

Karl bought himself a beer and went off to find the redhead.

Arthur came over with Daisy, looking for Robert.

'Maybe he's outside. He came in late and was with the girls for a while but that's the last I saw of him. Des isn't around either. They might've gone outside together; neither of them like to dance and Des' more than likely havin' a smoke,' Digger suggested, then added, 'Look at Eric over there, will ya? He's speechless and with good reason too... ouch!' Win had kicked his ankle.

A blonde girl in an extremely low cut dress was chatting up Eric. He was red in the face and, from a distance, it looked like he was talking to her well-endowed chest rather than her face!

Poor Eric, he was so shy around women.

Jeff, Digger, Arthur and Sam, who had just joined the group, doubled over with laughter. Connie looked at Daisy, Win and Dawn and they too burst out laughing.

Eventually, Eric came across, still slightly flushed in the face. The blonde had gone off to talk to someone else. He also was looking for Des. As he asked where he was, he noticed him coming through the stage door so he went across to speak to him.

'Hey, Des, where've you been?'

'Went out for a smoke and fresh air... Got a little hot in here,' he replied absently.

'What's that on your trousers, mate?

Des looked down at his trouser legs. There was a smear of red dust down the side of one of his legs. 's.h.i.t, I must've got that off one of the cars in the car park.' He bent to brush the dust away. 'Night's gone really well, don't you reckon, mate?' he continued, changing the subject.

Ellie and Francis went back on stage and resumed playing slow, romantic waltzes this time, plus Win's favorite, Jimmy Little's Your Cheatin' Heart. She joined them on stage to sing. She then went on to sing a few more old favourites for the older ones and some Christmas carols. Everyone joined in and sang along.

They were halfway through the second verse of Silent Night when Nat Willis, who was at the back of the hall near the open doors, shouted he could hear sirens.

A hush fell over the crowd as the sound of sirens grew louder and the flashing lights of the fire engines reflected on the walls of the hall as the engines roared past.

Smelly Smart, a volunteer fireman came rushing in... (He was nicknamed Smelly because, while drunk a few years back at one of Nat's parties, he had somehow found himself in the pen with Nat's cranky old pig, Mavis. She was a nasty old sow and, highly offended by the intrusion, had chased poor Smelly, who tripped and landed head-first in the pig's trough. So the name was born, and stuck ever since!) 'Fire!' he bellowed. 'Fire at the Mason's... Dave Mason's! Where's Frank?' he shouted, pushing through the crowd of people, his eyes searching the hall for Frank.

'On me way mate. You can come with me in the ute.' Although he never missed the Christmas dance, Frank was never off duty. He was already out the door and running across the car park to his ute.

Sam grabbed Smelly's arm. 'What's on fire up there?'

'Dunno, the blokes slowed down outside and yelled for me to get Frank. Didn't say what it was, just said where.' He pulled free of Sam's grip and ran and jumped in Frank's ute as he pulled out onto Urana Road and sped off towards Centaur Road.