Ghost Bird

by Lisa Fuller

  Two boulders loom ahead, and above them I can see the entrance to a cave. My instincts scream and I know I’ve found her. Climbing up isn’t that hard with this one, there are spots between the boulders like steps. They are far shorter than a normal human would need. I pause at the entry, switching on my torchlight and readjusting everything. Deep breath in and out, I grip the bat with both hands and raise it. Breath in and out. I step into the dark.

  The hair on my gunu-gunu is on end, goosebumps bloom everywhere on my skin, every warning instinct I have is screaming for me to run. A damp, musty smell fills my nose, reminding me of unwashed fur and earth. I force my breaths to stay slow as I move sideways, bat at the ready.

  I walk carefully like that for at least ten minutes, maybe more. The light behind me is no more, with all the twists and turns the cave takes. And always it slopes downwards. I can’t help marvelling at the smooth rock floor and walls. This isn’t natural, they’re honed by years of passage. I’m making sure to marvel so I can’t think what might have caused that.

  A scrape of sound behind me and I turn, swinging hard. A hand shoots out and catches the bat.

  My torchlight flickers over a sneering face and I’m shoved backwards. It forces me to let go of the bat as I land on my back, all the air leaving me in a rush. By some miracle the torch is still tied to my shirt. It shows Dan Potter standing above me, gloating while he taps my bat against his palm. The wind has been knocked out of me and I lie there, struggling to breathe.

  ‘Just couldn’t stay away, could ya?’ He squats down beside me, leering while the light casts crazy shapes all over his face. ‘I knew you’d come here for somethin’. Is this where you’ve been hidin’ that thievin’ sister, ay?’

  ‘How did you …’ I gasp.

  ‘Heard your car.’ He smirks. ‘Guess ya aren’t as smart as ya thought.’

  He reaches out and brushes my fringe off my forehead. The mirror to what Sam did, but where that made me feel safe, this just makes me sick. ‘Maybe if you ask real nice, I’ll let you go after I’m done.’

  I scramble away from him on my hands, scraping them over rocks, totally uncaring of the pain. He stays crouching, laughing like this is a fun game. He doesn’t have to chase me, the light tells him exactly where I am. As much as I don’t want to do it, I reach up to turn it off. I see him stand and take his first steps towards me before the light blinks out. It is pitch black now and I force myself to lie still. Waiting for my eyes to adjust.

  ‘Now, now, Stacey,’ he tuts. ‘Don’t you know I love to hunt?’

  A soft footfall tells me he’s moving forwards. If I stay where I am he’ll find me. If I move he’ll hear me. At least my breath is back now. My hands clench on rocks and I resist the urge to peg a heap in his direction. Instead I take just one and carefully slide it over the floor to my right.

  ‘Hah!’ He leaps in that direction and I slide more rocks harder to the right, picking that second to roll to the left. I’m pulled up short by a pair of legs.

  Frantic scraping in the dark to my right and a familiar smell tells me it isn’t Dan. I roll back the way I’ve come in a total panic.

  I hit Dan’s legs and manage to bring him down with me.

  ‘Fuckin’ bitch!’ He grabs at me and gets hold of some of my hair. I keep right on rolling, feeling it wrench from my head. It hurts but who cares. I’ve heard another voice in the dark. One I know.

  I keep moving, listening to Dan scramble along after me. ‘Get back here, you little slut!’

  He’s as blind as me. I can’t get up and run for fear of wiping out on the walls or a low-hanging stalactite. I hear the voice again and my heart leaps. So close!

  ‘Gotcha!’ A click and a stream of light cuts through the dark.

  Dan is only a few metres behind me with a pen-torch in his hand. One of those tiny LED things that still manages to be intense. I get up and run, but too late.

  Grabbing a bigger fistful of my hair he rips my head back, wrapping his other arm around my chest. I struggle against him but he’s a full-grown man who does physical labour for a living; I’m a scrawny, bookish teenager.

  He drags me down to the ground, forcing me under him till he’s straddling my hips, his knees trapping my arms at my sides. He leans in and brutally shoves his mouth on mine. Pushing till my teeth split my lip and blood pours into my mouth. He bites down on my bottom lip till I am forced to open my mouth so he can shove his vile tongue inside. I whimper and try to bite him, but he rips my head further back. He digs the torch into my jaw right at the hinge joint. The pain is unbearable.

  A groan in the dark makes him pull back. It draws both our eyes and Dan brings the light around to the source. A small ledge drops about a metre down from where he has me. There lies a thin figure, curled in a tight ball. Her hand covers her eyes and she groans again like it hurts.

  ‘Laney,’ I gasp.

  ‘Tace,’ she whispers, so quiet but I still hear her. ‘Run.’

  A soft growl comes from just beyond her. A shifting in the dark that is all too familiar, the horror inside me builds higher.

  ‘What the fuck is that?’ Dan swings the light to get a better look and the growls become enraged shrieks. He finally gets scared. Too late. He leans backwards, releasing my head and arms. I fumble in my bra and pull out the necklace. The chain is so long I slip it right over his head without a problem.

  ‘What the—’

  The shrieks turn to screams. Dan goes from crouching over me, staring at the necklace in shock, to flying through the air. His torchlight flickers crazily against the walls. I stay utterly still as I feel air rushing over me, shadows deeper than the dark. I catch glimpses of fast-moving images in the flickering torchlight as Dan strikes wildly around him, keeping the torch in his fist.

  Dan swinging at the dark. Light. Inhuman screams. Laney. Dan. Light. Screams. Laney.

  I’m up and moving, leaping down to the ledge. Pure adrenalin pouring. Pulling her up I try not to wince at how hard it is to lift her, she’s almost a dead weight. Her entire body is shaking and I can hear her breath coming fast and hard. It feels like she might be going into shock. This will be my only chance. Focus!

  Laney. Dan running, falling. Laney looking at me, dazed. Dan.

  ‘Run!’ she whispers.

  ‘That’s what I’m doin,’ I growl back.

  Lifting her enough to get her arm over my shoulder, I half lift, half drag her back up the ledge.

  Dan punching out at the black, his back against a wall. Deep scratches appearing over his exposed skin. Darkness flows down his skin, a deep red when the light moves over it.

  The movement of the torchlight is slowing, but I can see the way back. Laney locks her legs and tries to help me. It’s not much but it’ll have to be enough. I move as fast as I can, refusing to think about the screams behind us.

  ‘Help! Don’t leave me!’

  I’m not a killer, and there is no righteous justice here. I did this. I close my ears and focus on Laney. She is the bull in the paddock, my only goal. I’ll deal with what I’ve done later.

  The shrieks and scuffling are getting louder. Dan is still fighting.

  ‘Stacey! Help!’

  I’m crying and I don’t know why. He was going to rape me. God help me, the longer he fights, the better for us.

  We’ve made it past one of the many curves in the tunnel, blocking the horrible flashing light. The dark closes in. By some miracle Sam’s torch is still tied to my shirt. I have to pause to turn it on, fumbling the switch. The screams became wordless, pushing me faster. Laney’s quiet sobs force me to harden up. It will all be for nothing if I can’t get her out. His struggles bounce off the walls around us like an accusation.

  As far as we’ve come in that short while I can still hear the screams turn to gurgles. Hear the struggles lessen. Quieten. Stop.

  Soft tearing noise
s. Oh God, please tell me he isn’t feeling that. Sharp snapping in the dark.

  Another growl and a shuffle tells me we’re next.

  I turn while supporting most of Laney’s weight, aiming the torchlight down the cave. Our backwards progress is much slower and harder going, but the light is enough. It fills the cave wall to wall and floor to ceiling, keeping them back. I can only pray there is nothing between us and the cave’s entrance.

  It felt like such a short walk in, but I’m tiring fast. The bruises and pains of the last few days weigh me down, the new ones hurting worse because of it. Laney must’ve passed out because now I am flat out dragging her. I am failing. I know it and so do they. Their growls of fury became purrs as they follow, stalk, wait.

  ‘Tace!’

  I am so close to losing it I even hear Mum’s voice.

  ‘Tace! Keep coming!’ And Uncle’s?

  A spike of electricity leaps through me and I almost lose my grip on Laney. I don’t dare look; what if it isn’t real? What if I turn and move the light? Tears flood my sight and I blink them away, trying to keep my gaze fixed on the shifting dark. Sounds of pounding feet bounce off the cave walls.

  ‘We’re almost there, keep comin!’

  I stay on my feet, but only just. I’m shaking so hard. Strong arms reach under Laney’s arms and her weight lifts. Softer arms wrap around me from behind. I pick up the smell of Mum’s shampoo over the horrifying musty smell and shudder.

  She presses her lips to my ear and starts a litany of whispering strength. ‘Don’t turn around, baby. You got this. We’re almost out. I’m here. You can do this.’

  We stare at the pinpricks of red light. Their purrs turn back to growls. Furious shrieks. The baleful eyes follow us the whole way out to where the sunlight leaks through the cave entry. I still don’t turn. Refuse to give them my back till I am out in full sunlight. Even then I check my shadow won’t reach the cave entrance before I finally let myself turn away.

  Mum releases me long enough to grab me by the hand and make a run for it. Sunlight and steep terrain or not we have to get out of there. I see Uncle ahead of us, carrying an unconscious Laney over his shoulder. He’d waited to see we were out and then took off. Mum has to drag me through the bush. We keep stumbling, falling and tripping. The light hurts everything and I can’t see. She never pauses.

  Bundling into the back of Aunty’s car with Mum, I realise Uncle has Laney in there too, draped half over his lap, checking for injuries. Sam is at the wheel. I get a look at Aunty Mel and Rhi waving at me as they fly past in Uncle’s car. May is looking over the front passenger seat, grinning at me.

  ‘Good girl,’ is all she says before Sam hits the gas.

  Sam floors it out of there, past the Dodge parked to one side that makes everything in me crumple. I collapse into Mum’s arms sobbing.

  She hugs me close, wrapping me tight in one arm, while her other hand rubs Laney’s leg.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she whispers. ‘It’s okay.’

  But she doesn’t know. It will never be okay again.

  A Few Days Later

  Light-filled rooms with bright white walls stretch out around me. Sitting in the hall I rub at the stains on my hands. The door opens and a nurse steps out. She’s one of the white ones from around here, but a good one. There’s no judgement, she just smiles and motions me in.

  I go straight to Laney’s bed, climbing up beside her and cuddling close. Our faces on the same pillow, I lift my right hand and she lifts her left. Palm to palm, we weave our fingers together.

  Tucking our joined hands between us, I close my eyes.

  ‘I knew you could see me,’ she whispers.

  I crack one eye open and raise the accompanying eyebrow.

  She smiles. ‘I knew you were with me, those times when you were dreaming. I could feel ya beside me.’

  I open the other eye and frown at her, but she just laughs. ‘Mum told me.’

  I shake my head and close my eyes again.

  ‘You know it’s been a while now. Are you planning to never talk again?’

  I keep my eyes shut.

  The doctors want me to go to a trauma psychologist in Bundaberg. They say I’m punishing myself for something. I know what, but they won’t believe me so why bother? When they did a search of the place for ‘whoever’ took Laney, they found Dan’s car, and the real panic set in. They’re still searching those hills for him like they hadn’t for Laney, even went into the cave yesterday after Uncle agreed to show them where it was. They couldn’t beg, bribe or force any blackfullas into that cave though. When they did go into it there was no sign of Dan and the white people didn’t see nothing in there.

  ‘Nuthin they don’t want to see,’ is how Aunty Mel puts it.

  The cops decided Laney must’ve gotten trapped in the cave and I’d somehow found her. Some weird twin connection is what the lead detective said. They’d tried to question me for a while but gave up when all I did was cry. The first few times it was genuine panic and guilt, but now I’m at a point where I see a blue uniform and I start crying just to make them go away.

  Rumours flying around town are that I killed Dan. His parents came over to our place to scream abuse a few times. They can’t prove anything, but it’s all too convenient – a black girl is found and a white man goes missing. Not that anyone is drawing ‘untoward conclusions’ as I heard one of the detectives put it to the media. Course, now it’s a white man missing there are police, searchers and journos everywhere. Mum says they’ll clear out as soon as something else happens.

  Conspiracy theories and gossip are running wild. People have even asked me if Dan is the one who took Laney. Doesn’t matter what the rumour is, I’m the villain. They all figure if I’m innocent then I’d be talking. Couldn’t argue with them there. Hell, if they knew what I’d really done they’d lynch me. Laney told everyone she doesn’t remember much, but I’m pretty sure she’s lying. There’s something in her eyes when she looks at me now that wasn’t there before.

  We’re still sisters, still twins. She’s alive and that’s my only comfort.

  ‘Rhi’s been comin past too, told me all about what ya been up ta.’ She giggles. ‘Damn, Tace, I wish I’d been around to see ya rebel side come out.’

  I poke my tongue at her.

  ‘She also told me some ome truths about Troy. You were right, he is a dickhead.’

  Her attempt at a joke falls way flat and the hurt is there for anyone who knew how to listen. My free hand comes up to pat her cheek. I never want to be right if it hurts her.

  ‘Never mind, we’ve already started plannin my revenge. And now that my sister is a total bad-arse rule breaker, I expect ya to help.’

  I give one deep nod of approval and she laughs.

  ‘What about ya love life? Now that we’re sort of buryin the hatchet with the Millers, maybe you could ask Sam out?’

  I snort. Sam isn’t around. He’d called the house a few times, but let it go when I wouldn’t talk to him. We hadn’t exactly left things on good terms the last time I saw him.

  The Miller–Thomson truce is a brand-new shiny thing that could be tarnished with a few harsh words or one incident, I suspect. With Aunty May now officially the elder of their mob, rumours are that she and Pop are talking and that might be enough to rein in our two families. I’ll reserve judgement – grudges aren’t called that because they’re easy to give up, on either side.

  ‘Still not goin to talk, ay? Well, I’ve decided I’m good with it,’ Laney says.

  A suspicious eye cracks open.

  ‘I mean, if ya can’t talk, then ya can’t talk back right? No sarcastic comments. No bitchiness to deal with. My life just got that much more peaceful.’

  My middle finger comes up and I scratch my nose with it.

  ‘Ay, is this how we’ll communicate now?’

  The ot
her eye opens and I give her the foulest look until she throws up her hands.

  ‘I’m just warnin ya I intend to take full advantage when I get out tomorrow.’

  I roll my eyes. Reaching up I shut her eyes and close my own. I am sleeping a lot lately. Nobody has mentioned school yet and I’m not in a rush to go back to Cassie and her shit. I spend so much time in bed now they might have to change my name to Laney. The only good news is she’s coming home tomorrow. They’d kept her in here to assess her mental wellbeing as well as get her back to full health. Almost a week with a little water, and what was probably raw grubs and bugs to keep her breathing, and she was not in great shape.

  I’ll be glad to get her home, mostly for her, but also to get Mum off my back. She can hover all over Laney for a while. I thought she’d been over-protective before this; that was nothing compared to now.

  I am anticipating some intense fights between Mum and Laney very soon. You can’t cage a Thomson woman unless she wants you to.

  A gentle kiss on my forehead makes me sigh.

  ‘Love you,’ she whispers.

  I squeeze her hand and we lie together like that.

  The door creaks and I jump. Reminding myself again that I am in a brightly lit room during daylight hours. I look up to see Sam holding the door open for Aunty May. She’s out of her nighties and old jeans these days, replacing them with long skirts, bright blouses and a wide-brimmed hat set at a jaunty angle. Her eyes sparkle under that brim, alive and clear in a way that makes me glad to see her. I hop up to greet them.

  ‘Hello, niece,’ May exclaims, opening her arms so I can come in for a cuddle and kiss. ‘It’s good to see you.’

  ‘Niece?’ Laney chokes.

  ‘And here’s the famous sister.’ May pulls away and moves over to Laney, leaving me to face Sam.

  My guilt stops me from meeting most people’s eyes, but I try a hesitant nod, turning away before he can respond. I escape around the hospital bed, bringing the only chair in the room over so May can sit. She settles herself down and watches us both. Sam comes and stands beside her so I walk back around the bed. Now that Laney is safe I feel much more awkward around him. So weird.