"Ya' really came through for us, lass," Brian said. "But we don't wanna put all this pressure on ya'."

"Yeah, remember," Malcolm said. "You're only a kid."

"I can do it," Mabel said. 

"No one's disagreein' with that," Malcolm smiled. It faded. "But it's not fair of any of us to expect you, a sixteen year old girl, to save our arses." Mabel refrained from answering by strumming her bass. "We're not dumpin' all this on your back so you can carry the tour."

Josie and Karen snored from the bed.

"We appreciate what you're doin' for us," Chris said. "More than you'll ever know. But in case things should get difficult-"

"I'll be fine."

"He's only sayin' we've called in a backup," Malcolm said. "After your mum scared me off we had to call our second best tryout. Should have done that in the first place."

"I understand," Mabel said. "Thank you."

"No need for that," Malcolm said. "Jus' want our guest comfortable, ya' know?"

"When does the tour start?"

"Tomorrow," Angus said. "We start in Australia an' move on to America. An' then when Cliff can come back, you're free to go home." Mabel looked down at the carpet.

Home. 

"Well...good thing I brought my passport then, huh?" The men were quiet for a second. 

"Shit, hadn't thought of that," Angus laughed. Brian and Chris laughed with him. 

"Good thinkin', lass," Brian said. Mabel smiled and continued strumming. Thinking of her mum back home. Thinking of Josie and Karen, whom she dragged into this mess. 

It would be worth it. She would make it worth it. 

**********

"You really are a fast learner." Mabel whirled around to see Angus smoking. The flickering lights from the motel sign illuminated the moths circling around. Mabel came out to think, not talk. "You really should get some sleep, hon."

"I can't," she said. "Too much going on."

"Worried?" Angus asked. "Nervous? Scared?"

"Try all of the above." She wheeled her chair around to face him. He was bundled up in a coat. 

"I understand," he said. "That's why we're lettin' ya' run."

"I'm not leaving if that's what you're thinking," Mabel snapped. 

"We know that, but it's always an option, ya' know? An' what about school?"

"What about it?" Angus shrugged.

"You're gonna miss an awful lot." It was Mabel's turn to shrug.

"School doesn't matter." Angus laughed.

"Not that I disagree," he said. "Look, kid, ya' got a bright future. None of us want ya' throwin' that away jus' for us."

"Turning this opportunity down would be throwing my bright future away." Someone got cut off in the distant traffic and honked their horn. 

"Get some sleep," Angus said. "I'll take the next watch. We'll talk in the mornin'."

"Get some sleep yourself, old man," Mabel teased. Angus scoffed.

"Old..." he muttered.

**********

"Are you ready, Mabel?" Karen asked. 

"You look like you're gonna puke," Josie grimaced. Mabel gripped her bass tight. 

"Yes," she answered. "And yes." The crowd was deafening. She wasn't even under the stage lights yet and Mabel was already sweating. After a long day of rehearsals and going over a couple songs she didn't know yet, the boys got ready for the show while Mabel tried to pull herself together. Angus and Malcolm spent most of their backstage time together, playing their guitars. Mabel wouldn't have minded their company but she didn't want to disturb them. 

"You can do this," Karen said. "They're doing lots of songs off the Back in Black album so you know what to play."

"And they adjusted the microphone so you can sing into it from your chair," Josie said. "That Abby's going to drop dead when she hears about this."

"Ya' ready, love?" Malcolm asked, patting Mabel on the shoulder. When she didn't answer he knelt down to her level. "Jus' take it easy, alright? We'll all be up there with ya'. The roadies have your mic set up so you can reach it an' ya' won't have to move your chair up an' down the stage."

"See?" Josie said.

"Look. If ya' ever get scared, watch what Angus is doin'," Malcolm said. "That's what I do."

"Well...what does Angus do then?" Mabel asked. "He can't watch himself."

"Oh, Ang jus' lets the guitar take over," Malcolm smiled. "Which is good advice too, ya' know?"

Mabel's hands shook. Goosebumps broke out everywhere and she wiped her palms on her knees. Either she could face the music or wheel into the toilets to be sick. It was now or never.

**********

Miss McIntosh couldn't concentrate on the television. She was too distraught over her missing daughter. Anybody would have felt the same. There was no way she had enough to live on. Josie and Karen were good company but they wouldn't last long either. Shortly after calling the police she phoned their parents' houses. Needless to say the parents were all in a blind panic. Enough time had gone by for a missing person report but Miss McIntosh hadn't given the matter a second thought. After all, her daughter had run away. She hadn't suddenly been taken. She'd have to ask the police to keep an eye out for her. Speak to the other kids at school to see if they knew anything. The commercial break ended and a new program began, one with crowds of screaming people. Max tilted his head at the sound. 

Guitars and drums sounded off and Miss McIntosh made a face. "Oh, of all the repugnant..." Before she could turn the tv off she caught a glimpse of something. "Oh my God..."

There onstage, singing into a microphone and playing a bass guitar, was her daughter Mabel.

**********

"You did it!" Josie yelled, grabbing a sweaty Mabel for a hug. Her backstage pass whipped around her neck. "You kicked the crowd's arse!"

"Why didn't you tell me the concert would be televised?" Mabel asked, Karen bringing her a bottle of water. Mabel chugged half of it down.

"We knew it would have made you nervous," Karen said. "We didn't want you to feel worse."

"Ya' did good, kid," Malcolm said. "Hell, more than good." Angus only gave her a thumbs up from behind his oxygen mask. "An' your singin' ain't bad either."

"I think we owe you an' awful lot," Chris chimed in. Brian nodded his assent. 

"Ya' pulled us out of a deep hole, ya' little angel," he said. "An' we really couldn't ask ya' for anythin' else." Mabel flushed more than she already was. 

"Brian's right," Malcolm said. "Ya' know ya' really don't have to carry on...if ya' don't want to that is. If it was way too much for ya' or if the crowds were overbearin'..."

"No, I had fun," Mabel smiled. "When's our next show?"

**********

"You know, I expected the after parties to be a little more lively and a little less....retirement home," Josie said, holding a can of warm root beer. The band sat around Malcolm and Angus' shared motel room for the time being, drinking and playing card games as they wound down from the show. Angus and Malcolm drank tea.

"Listen, as part of our lineup now, you're under our care," Malcolm said. "An' it's our responsibility to keep you girls out of trouble."

"Yeah, you're in enough already," Angus laughed. 

"Don't remind me," Mabel groaned. 

"Did you pack enough stuff to last you the whole tour, Mabel?" Karen asked, seeing her backpack sitting in the corner. "Looks awful small."

"More than you two packed," Mabel said. "I just threw whatever I could find in there. I was sort of in a hurry to leave."

"Join the crew, darlin', we wear the same shit every night," Malcolm said. "Angus packs the most, he has to pick which color suit he's feelin' that night."

"Yeah," Angus smiled. "An' this lot's always fightin' over the last pair of clean underwear."

**********

A sharp knocking woke the girls up. After spending time with the band in the other motel room Malcolm sent them off to bed like a father. Mabel thought sleep was the best idea ever. Karen thought running away from home meant no one telling her what to do. Josie thought they wanted to pull out the real fun stuff and didn't want the teenagers to see. She suggested they try to spy but was ultimately outvoted. Now they were being woken by a desperate beating on the door. Curly hair a mess, Josie stumbled to the door and opened it.

"That Malcolm, what the hell does he want..." she grumbled. 

"Josephine Lindon, you are in big trouble." Josie's eyes widened at the sight of Mabel's mother. Angry and menacing, Josie could swear there was smoke billowing out of those flaring nostrils. In a blind panic, Josie slammed the door in her face. 

"Mabel..." Josie squeaked. 

"What did Malcolm want?" Mabel muttered half asleep.

"It's not Malcolm, it's your mum!"

Mabel's eyes shot open.

**********

"It was very kind of you to join us, Miss McIntosh," Josie said, handing her a cup of tea in the finest motel dishware. "And it's really a shame you can't stay."

"Nice try, Josie," Miss McIntosh said. "I'm not budging an inch until I speak to those men."

"Mum, they didn't kidnap me or anything like that," Mabel said. 

"I know," her mother said. "I know perfectly well that you ran away and took your friends on a trip across the country." Mabel frowned. 

"You're not going to...sue them or anything?" Her mother scoffed. 

"Of course not, I'm not that delusional," she said. "It's not their fault my daughter is a sneak." The girls sighed in relief. "However that doesn't excuse them from any alcohol, drugs, or pornographic material they've exposed you to." Josie snickered. "Something funny, Josephine?"

"Ma'am, these men are practically old geezers," she said. "They've all got wives and kids of their own." 

"You think that matters to them?"

"Uh...yes?" Josie said. 

"Miss McIntosh, how did you even find us?" Karen asked. 

"I just so happened to be watching television when last night's concert came on." Mabel blanched. "Then I realized of course you were with this band so I did a little asking around to find out where they were. Drove all night to Melbourne, asked a ridiculous young man who flirted with me if he knew anything and he asked if I was with three girls."

"Shit," Karen muttered under her breath.

"I found the Mangrove Motel and demanded to know which room was yours."

"They gave us away just like that?" Josie asked. Miss McIntosh grinned evilly. 

"I can be very persuasive."

"Mum, please don't take us back, we've only just got here!" Mabel pleaded. "I had so much fun last night, more fun than I've ever had, please!"

"I'd like to speak with that band of yours first," her mother insisted. "There must be some adult figures around, right?"

**********

Mabel knocked on Malcolm and Angus' motel room door. Her mother stood next to her, checking her watch. After no answer, Miss McIntosh took it upon herself to pound on the door.

"Fuck! Jus' a second..." Mabel bemoaned at waking them up and at her mother's first impression of these men. Angus opened the door without a shirt and Miss McIntosh looked at her daughter in shock. "Mabel, what is it?"

Mabel only looked at her mother then Angus' brain woke up. "Are you in charge of this band?"

"Uh...Mal? Someone wants to see ya'."

**********

Angus set a cup of tea in front of Miss McIntosh. "Ya' know, it's a real shame ya' can't stay, ma'am," he said.

"I will stay as long as I please," she stated, taking the tea. "And thank you for putting on a shirt, might I add."

Angus wasn't bothered. "Huh. Takes me back to my first date," he said.

Malcolm drank his tea calmly. "So you're Mabel's mother?" he asked. "It's nice to meet ya'."

"Likewise," she smiled. Mabel, Karen, and Josie waited on the other side of the room, hoping and praying the meeting would go well. "I saw my daughter on the television last night."

"Did ya'?" Malcolm said. "She was great up there, wasn't she?"

"Indeed," her mother agreed. "She's been playing since she was a little girl."

"She's got rock 'n' roll in her blood," Malcolm said. Miss McIntosh hid her disdain behind a genuine smile. 

"She certainly does. So much like her father..." Mabel perked up. It wasn't often the subject of her father came up. Mabel had never even met the guy.

"Did her father play?" Malcolm asked. Miss McIntosh grew misty eyed with nostalgia. 

"He was in a band," she said. All three girls leaned forward to listen, not believing their ears. "He was a drummer."

"Oh my God," Karen breathed. Josie clapped Mabel on the shoulder. 

"Get out of town, how come you never told us?" she whispered. 

"I...I didn't know," Mabel said, gripping the arms of her wheelchair. Her knuckles were turning white.

"Ya' don't say," Malcolm mused. "Do we know him?"

"Probably not, I think his band broke up right as yours got going."

"Oh," Angus snickered to himself. "I was bettin' on it bein' Phil."

"Don't be absurd, I've never met any of you before," Miss McIntosh said. "But I did meet her father and his band back in my younger days." She fixed her blazer and adjusted her earring. "I guess you could say I was a bit of a...groupie."

Karen's jaw dropped and Josie clapped Mabel's shoulder again. "Bitch, get out of town!" she whisper yelled. Mabel was at a loss for words. Her own mother had been a groupie?

"So why all this disapproval?" Malcolm asked. "Ya' seem to know a fair bit of the life."

"That's just the point," Miss McIntosh said. "I've seen some things no young lady ever needs to see in my rock and roll days and I've had my heart broken a fair amount. I don't want my daughter going through what I went through." Her gaze drifted to Mabel who shrunk in her chair. "It's bad enough she's here with all of you alone and now she's sneaking out and lying to me."

"She's a teenager," Malcolm shrugged.

"No, no, it's more than that," her mother said. "In trying to protect my daughter I've only driven her away."

Mabel couldn't stand to see her mother cry. She wheeled over to her. "I'm not alone, I have Josie and Karen." The two girls waved. 

"I told their parents," Miss McIntosh said. "Told them after I saw you on tv." The girls' faces fell.

"There goes my new car," Karen moped. 

"There goes my current car," Josie muttered.

"These guys haven't done anything irresponsible with us," Mabel said. "They've treated us like their own kids."

"I guess that's more than I've done, huh?" her mother said. Mabel reached over to hug her.

"Don't say that," she said. "It's not true."

"You were right to go after us," Josie said. "It was reckless of us to run away to live the rock and roll lifestyle. You're a fantastic mum."

Miss McIntosh smiled. "Don't think flattery will get you out of trouble, Josephine," she said. 

"Yeah...Josephine," Karen teased. Josie grumbled.

"So...are you taking us home?" Mabel asked.

"Only Josie and Karen," she said. "For now."

"Why are you-"

"Their parents want them home as soon as possible," her mother explained. "I think it's only right they go home and face their own consequences."

"What about Mabel?" Karen asked.

"I think she can stay a bit longer." Mabel's expression exuded sunshine.

"You mean it?" she asked. "You're letting me stay?" She looked at Malcolm and Angus who stayed quiet the whole family discussion. Karen and Josie cheered, forgetting their own punishments for the time being. "What about school?"

"I explained everything to them. They've agreed to let you make up some assignments with extra credit when you get back. And other assignments will have to be sent to you while you're away. They're even looking into finding you a tutor while you're on the road."

"Gross," Josie muttered.

"Don't look at us," Angus said and he and Malcolm laughed. 

"After you two speak to your parents, maybe they'll let you come by for a visit," her mother continued. 

"But-why the sudden turnaround?" Mabel asked. 

"Yeah, when did you get so cool?" Josie asked. Miss McIntosh gave her a look. 

"After seeing you play your bass and seeing how happy you were...I realized you were right." Mabel could feel her own tears coming. "That doesn't mean you're off the hook, young lady, you're still in trouble for running away and scaring me to death."

"Fair enough," Mabel said sheepishly.

"This is great!" Josie squealed and all three girls rushed to hug Mabel's mother. "You're the best mum ever!"

"You better take great care of my daughter," Miss McIntosh said, pointing at Malcolm and Angus. "Every last one of you. This is a tour of Australia, not Babylon."

"An' America," Angus said. "Close enough, right?"

"We're not lettin' her out of our sight," Malcolm said. "She's one of our own now an' we take good care of our own."

"Right. Yeah, she's a Young now, ain't she?" Angus said. Mabel could have fainted right then and there. Josie and Karen were so suspiciously quiet Mabel almost thought they actually had. 

"But-I'll be gone for a couple of months," Mabel said. "I only packed a small backpack."

"I've got your suitcase in the boot of my car," her mother said. "Figured you'd need a lot more than what you scrambled off with." They shared a loving look. "Now if you'll all excuse me, I need to get back to Max. He goes positively bananas without a third breakfast."

"Give him a hug from me," Mabel said. "And Mum...? I love you."

"I love you too."