Crooks and Straights
Page 33
A soft cheep-cheep of a bird nesting in the grass. The all-pervasive creaking of crimpers, such a constant sound that one almost stopped hearing it. Frogs peeped, and maanbesies sang their silvery sounds. Every now and then there was wavering whistle-cry of a mousekink.
Nico stood close against her, shivering slightly in the chill night air. She put an arm around him, drawing comfort from his warmth.
All three of them started at the alarm cry of a disturbed paddawagter some way up the bank. For a few minutes Gia stood tensely waiting, not sure what she expected to hear, but gradually, as nothing happened, she relaxed again.
So this is where she came. Every month.
She could almost see it. Her mother, still as a shadow, waiting on the bank below. The moon would be full, so the shadows would be sharp edged, distinct. Which direction would they come from, the swan sisters? Maybe they came drifting quietly along the river itself. Or they might glide in on wide wings to settle on the bank.
Graceful women, as dark-haired as her mother.
“Hey.”
Her father’s voice started her out of sleep. She’d been nodding where she stood, deep in her dream of swan wings and moonlight. Nico was sitting on the grass at her feet, leaning against her legs. She could hear by his breathing that he was asleep.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Have you been coming here every night?”
“Yes.”
“Since Mom left?”
“That’s right.”
She saw her father’s shoulders rise and fall in a sigh. “Well, we better get going, Gia. It’s getting late and you’ve got an early start.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, Gia?”
“You know I don’t want to go, right?”
“I know, Gia.”
He picked up the sleeping Nico, and they turned to go back to the car.
-oOo-
Gia woke to find Mandy bending over her with a cup of tea.
“Mandy?” She tried to see her alarm clock. “What time is it?”
“Don’t worry, you’re not late. I came in a bit earlier today. Can’t have you leaving without saying goodbye now, could I?”
Gia rubbed her face in an effort to wake, then took the tea from Mandy.
“Better get up,” said Mandy. “Your father’s getting breakfast ready.”
When she got down to the kitchen, she found her father busy at the stove.
“Pancakes!” he said. “Send you off in style.”
She put her suitcase down, and returned his smile. There was a dull ache in her stomach, and she was far from sure she’d be able to eat anything. “Thanks, Dad.”
Despite the nerves that knotted in her stomach, she managed to eat a few pancakes. At last, Mandy glanced at her watch. “Better go.”.
Gia put her plates in the sink. “Dad, I meant to ask you. Would it be possible— Could I—?”
“Spit it out, Gia.”
Gia took a breath. “I was wondering, if I might take Mom’s silver bracelets with?”
Karel did not react.
“I thought, you know, most of the other cadets are Purists. If I’m wearing bracelets they’ll assume I’m one too.”
He nodded. “Good idea. I’ll go get them.”
A moment later he was back. Gia made as if to open her suitcase.
“Better put them on,” said her father.
The bracelets were stiff, and at first she thought that they would not fit, but with some pressure they slid onto her arm. They felt strange. Cold, and heavier than she’d guessed they would be.
“Better get going,” said Mandy again.
“Nico still asleep?” asked Gia.
Mandy nodded.
“I’ll just look in on him.”
Nico was curled up with the blankets pulled up over his head, his skinny legs sticking out the bottom. Gia smiled down at him.
“Bye, Nico,” she whispered. “Look after Dad, will you?”
She waved a finger at Poepie, who peeped out from his cage.
Then it was Mandy, in the hallway. She put her suitcase down for the hug.
“You’re coming back soon, aren’t you?” said Mandy into her ear, then holding her at arm’s length. “When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know, Mandy. Maybe not for a while.”
Mandy pulled her in for another hug. “You be careful, girl.”
When she was free again, Gia said, “Will you say goodbye to Fatima and Ben and Sonella? I never got a chance to say proper goodbye to them.”
“Well, it’s not like you’re going to the other side of the world, is it?” said Mandy. “You’ll soon be seeing them yourself.”
A car hooted.
“Oh, that’s Dad. You’ll tell them?”
“I will. Off you go.”
Gia ran down the stairs and out onto the street, where her father was waiting for her.
Books by Masha:
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Wolf Logic is the second book in the "Crooked World" series.