The Boundary

by Nicole Watson

  Cars bearing the insignia of various community organisations travel up the dusty path. Miranda sees the logo of the Aboriginal Legal Service and embraces the familiar clench. Charlie would be proud. Is proud. She can feel him here. He’s the one pushing her feet forward. Dreadlocks sit beneath their shoulders like dead weights. Each holds a tin mug in his hand. They recognise her, nod in acknowledgment. She wants to cry, run away.

  A black Corolla hurtles along the path and pulls up next to the Aboriginal Legal Service car. Ian’s white business shirt looks like it’s wearing half a bottle of starch. Tegan is sitting in the back seat, squashed between the door and the enormous cooler. She hasn’t seen either of them since their last AA meeting.

  ‘We thought you guys might need some supplies,’ he calls out. ‘We’ve got a curry, lasagna and about five hundred sandwiches.’

  Tegan laughs and gestures to Ian. ‘He took the morning off work, just so he could find out the verdict on the lasagna.’ She offers a mocking grin. ‘Apparently, he’s an expert.’

  Tegan gives Miranda an enormous hug, the kind that makes you grateful for living, while struggling to breathe. Words are trapped beneath the lump in Miranda’s throat.

  As she walks alongside her friends, Miranda says a silent prayer.

  Dad, you were right. I really can find a reason for hope. Always could. Just had to open my eyes.

  She looks up and sees a bird stretch out his wings, admires his cloak of emerald and red as he soars into the heavens.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Mum, Dad, Chamsta, Scott and Russell. Thank you for your love and support. And thank you to Bruce Sims and Rebecca Roberts for great editorial advice.

  First published 2011 by University of Queensland Press

  PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

  www.uqp.com.au

  © 2011 Nicole Watson

  This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  The boundary / by Nicole Watson

  ISBN: 9780702238499 (pbk)

  9780702246593 (epub)

  9780702246609 (kindle)

  9780702246586 (pdf)

  This project has been assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australian Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

  Cover design by Blue Cork

  Cover photographs © Photolibrary and iStock

  Typeset in 11/14 pt Bembo by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

  Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

  University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.