Episode 406

Extended Summary

Emma is lying down on the sofa when Ailsa arrives home. She says Carly told her about what happened and is worried about her. Emma tries to shrug it off but admits that she thought Adam liked her and Ailsa comforts her. Matt turns up at the flat to claim his $50 off Adam; Adam points out Emma agreed to a date with him but Matt counters that she didn’t turn up. Stacey overhears and is annoyed with them both for treating Emma like that; Adam says she wasn’t meant to find out but admits he didn’t think things through. Matt mentions Adam’s bet with Bobby over the race and tells Stacey that Adam is going to get Bobby to clean Morag’s house. Stacey thinks he should pull out of the bet since Bobby’s team is one down but Adam refuses.

Down near the water, Bobby is trying to gee up Carly and Viv but both of them want to pull out; they get that Bobby wants to win the bet but they can’t race with only three people. Stacey arrives and offers her services as a fourth crewmember. She takes them back to the flat, telling Adam to leave them alone so they can discuss strategy. Adam is still confident of victory. After he’s gone, Stacey says that the boys are stronger than them so they have to outwit them instead. She reminds the girls that Macklin’s was planning to build a marina over the lagoon at one point and Brett commissioned a full survey giving tidal details.

Pippa and Coral arrive home with Christopher, having been shopping. Coral complains about groceries costing $37 but Pippa says it’s about normal. Coral thinks she should go to Social Security to see if she can get more money for petrol since she needs to visit Tom in the city. She also suggests that, since the caravan park customers pay in cash, she should lie about the takings to get more money. Pippa is flabbergasted at the suggestion but Coral says she has a cleaning job three nights a week and hasn’t told Social Security about that.

Adam turns up at the Stewart house wanting to see Emma but she walks out of the room. He tells Ailsa he wants to apologise but she gives him short shrift and he leaves. Ailsa tells Emma that despite her experience with her stepfather not all men are bad and she shouldn’t let the experience with Adam put her off dating boys. Emma says Adam will be sorry. At the Diner, Ailsa complains to Don about Adam’s behaviour, saying it’s put Emma back to square one when she seemed to be improving. Matt is eating at a table nearby when Bobby and Carly approach him and wind him up about the race, insisting they’re going to win.

The teams gather by the water with Stacey drilling the girls in instructions based on numbers. Steven is loitering nearby and the girls tell him to leave. Adam, Matt and their two team mates are also nearby and the two teams exchange cocky remarks about their chances. At the store, Celia is trying to phone Morag but Alf tells her to leave it and points out if it had been a maniac at the house the previous night Celia would have come off worse; he thinks she should let Morag or the police handle it. Celia thinks one of them should go down there but Alf points out he’s at the regatta and she’s minding the store.

Down by the water, Alf uses a loud hailer to call the four rafts into position and then starts them off. The boys’ and girls’ rafts seem to take the lead but then the girls start paddling in an erratic direction, heading towards the left of the course. At the Diner, Ailsa and Emma have only a few customers and Ailsa tells Emma she can go and watch the race. Emma tells Ailsa to go instead, since she isn’t interested and Ailsa has a bet with Alf over it. Ailsa joins the others at the finishing line where the boys seem well out in front. However, with their tidal advantage, the girls have a sudden burst of speed. The boys’ raft starts sinking and ends up ground in the water just short of the finishing line, as the girls cruise past them, before capsizing completely, leaving the team in the water. Ailsa and some of the other women watching loudly celebrate while Alf and Steven look bewildered. The girls celebrate their victory as the boys stagger out of the water and Matt and Adam insist that the girls would never have passed them if they hadn’t sunk. They blame Steven and threaten to throw him in the water but Alf steps in and tells them to behave like sportsmen.

Pippa gets home and tells Coral she didn’t get much from the social and she felt guilty since there were people there who really need help. She says she’ll take the bus to see Tom from now on. Coral brings up lying about her income again but the conversation is cut short when Christopher starts crying upstairs. At the Diner, Matt and Adam are sitting on their own as the girls celebrate at another table. Adam insists they shouldn’t act embarrassed. Steven comes over and tells them he’s examined the raft and it was sabotaged, with holes drilled in the flotation drums. They look across at the girls’ table, having no doubt who’s responsible.

Celia tries to call Morag again and ends up calling Betty and asking her to look after the store, saying she’ll leave the key under the palm. She goes round to Morag’s place and is shocked to find the front room has been trashed…