“Do you think it’ll make it?” I asked Ben.
“It’s got a much better chance now.”
I turned to look at him, tears streaming down my face. I had been so scared I would kill the baby.
“Martha’s an excellent vet, Atty. Between your help and hers, I’m sure the joey has a great chance. Come here.” He reached out for me, and I clung to him and cried. I felt a little foolish being this upset over a kangaroo, but it had made me flash back so strongly to when Nana died. I hadn’t been able to save her.
Ben sat me on his lap on top of the truck bed as I cried for a long time. He just held me and waited. A while later Lynn came out of the reserve, smiling. Martha thought the joey would be all right. I looked up at Ben as he told her thanks for the news, then burst into a new wave of tears. Instead of sadness though, I felt astonishingly happy. I had been able to help this one poor creature. I was so happy I couldn’t contain it.
Once things calmed down Ben introduced me to Martha. She was the daughter of an old friend of the family. She was only in her 50s, though to a human she must have looked 25. It explained why I felt her so clearly. Ben trusted her enough to tell her about me. He said her family was very loyal to his father, and he knew she wouldn’t divulge what I could do.
She asked if I could help at the reserve sometimes. She said that there were many times when she wished she could have given a patient just a bit more energy to sustain it until its surgery was done. I agreed hesitantly, mostly because Ben seemed to very much like the idea.
As we were getting ready to leave for the house, something occurred to me. I hadn’t spoken to Lizzie since I’d arrived. Then I’d called just to let her know I was safely at the Sydney airport. I’d sent emails too, but I really wanted to talk to her. It seemed it would be expensive to make a phone call, but if I used one of the reserve’s computers then I wouldn’t have to worry about that. I figured it must be late enough for Lizzie to be home from work, so I asked Ben if I could borrow it to talk to her. “Sure, why don’t you use the one in the office? We’ll be out here when you’re done.”
The computer in the office had a webcam, so I turned it on and clicked to connect to Lizzie. It took a few moments for her to answer. For a second there I thought she might not and that made me anxious. I really wanted to talk to her; I hadn’t realized how much until right then. I had so many things to tell her.
“Atty!” Lizzie’s voice shouted ahead of her image on the computer.
“Yay! Lizzie, you’re there!”
“Of course I’m here! Where are you?”
“At a wildlife reserve Ben’s family runs. It’s got Internet.”
“His family runs a wildlife reserve?” she asked, the expression of surprise settling on her image a few milliseconds after she said it.
“Yes. Sorry I haven’t called, I felt weird charging that on Ben’s house phone.”
“Plus, you’ve been busy,” she said. She knew me well, and I was just like her. We would both forget to call when we were really busy, but when something important happened, we were always there for each other.
“You can’t imagine. We just helped save a baby kangaroo!”
“What?”
“Yeah, its mother got hit by a car while it was still in the pouch. It has a broken leg and some other injuries, but the vet here thinks it’s going to be OK.”
“That’s awesome, Atty! I bet that felt awesome. Helping it.”
“It did. It was amazing!” I wished I could tell her how exactly I’d helped but that was definitely not a good idea, especially not there, talking on the computer while everyone was outside the office door.
“Sounds like you’re doing well over there.”
“I am. I love it.”
“So have you gone anywhere other than the reserve?”
“Of course, we’ve been all over lately.”
“Like where?”
I told her about our tours through the Blue Mountains and about Sydney and the Opera House.
“Now that sounds romantic.”
“It was. It was wonderful.” I felt myself blush as I said it. I had flashed back to that night as I told her and now she could see it all over my face.
“Wonderful, huh?” she snickered. “I bet. You’ll have to give me more details next time we talk in person.”
I blushed more deeply and nodded, wondering how long she’d see that picture of me on her screen. I deflected by asking what she was up to. I listened intently. I’d missed talking to her. A few minutes later, Ben knocked on the office window and motioned at his watch.
“I have to get going, Liz. We have to head back to the house soon. It was awesome talking to you.”
“It was awesome talking to you, too. Send me a note next time you’re by a computer. If I’m here, I’ll call you.”
“Will do.”
I shut down and walked back to the main room where Martha and Ben were talking.
“Sorry to interrupt your talk with Lizzie, Atty, but my brothers haven’t stopped calling. They need to talk about work and want me to head to the house.”
“No problem. I’ll call her next time I’m here.”
Chapter 23
When we got to the house a while later Ben disappeared into a room which I thought was his father’s office. I hadn’t seen much of his father since that first day. We would run into each other at the house and make polite conversation, but for the most part he was always in his office or wandering the grounds. Ben’s brothers had been busy too it seemed, the older ones with work and Matt with whatever he did. I figured he was probably practicing with his band because sometimes I’d run into him carrying his guitar out the door. I had also seen him with his bike gear a few times. Mostly I only saw him from far away; he tended not to be where Ben and I were.
Today, Matt was in the kitchen staring into the refrigerator when I walked in. He jumped when I said hi.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you. Didn’t you feel me come in?”
He laughed and said, “I was too focused on my hunger to realize, sorry. My father would probably be annoyed. He’s always warning me to be aware of energy changing around me. He thinks someone might try to kidnap me or something.”
“It’s not just you. He worries about the same for Ben. That’s why Ben was cautious with me at first. He wasn’t sure if I might be out to get him.”
“You got him, all right.” he said, smiling mischievously.
I smiled back, not wanting him to think I was embarrassed. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Hey, Matt! Hey, Atty!” Javed walked into the kitchen. I jumped right along with Matt this time.
“You guys suck walking around without a trace of energy flashing! You’re going to give me a heart attack one day!” Matt griped.
Javed laughed for several seconds before saying, “I’m not worried about you dying of a heart attack, Matt. But if you were doing something that made you feel guilty enough to jump ’cause I caught you with Atty here, then I’d worry that Ben might kill you some other way.”
“We were just talking,” Matt and I said at the same time.
“Uh-huh. That was too coordinated to be innocent,” he said, raising an eyebrow and laughing again. I could tell he was just messing with us. I walked over and playfully slapped his arm.
“You’re not as funny as you think you are, Javed,” I told him.
Ben walked into the kitchen and eyed all three of us. “What’s up?”
“Matt’s been flirting with your girl,” Javed said.
Ben turned to frown at Matt. Matt put his hands up as if he’d been caught robbing a bank and said, “We were just talking.” He blushed when he said it.
“You’re such an ass, Javed. You’re going to freak Matt out!” I accused with a giggle, amused at how comfortable I was talking to him. I walked over to Ben and kissed him on the cheek, then put my arm around his waist as he did the same to mine. “Ben isn’t the type to hurt
guys just talking to his girlfriend.” I felt him relax under my hand, but I was slightly worried. I hoped he hadn’t actually believed Javed. Ben had joked before about being jealous, but I didn’t think this situation was worthy of a possessive response.
“Actually,” Ben said, in a serious tone, “I am the type who hurts guys for talking to his girlfriend.” Matt looked nervous for a moment until Ben laughed. “But you don’t have to worry about that, Matt. Javed loves using my craziness to mess with people. Just remind him you’re our brother and exempt from all of our obnoxious behavior.”
Matt relaxed then but not entirely. Ben turned to me and said, “Atty, I have to go take care of some things with Javed and Julian. You going to be all right hanging around here?”
“Sure.” I wasn’t sure what I would do, but I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t be left alone for a second.
“Matt, can you stay with Atty for a while?”
I could tell Matt hadn’t been expecting Ben to ask that after the conversation we’d been having. “Of course,” he replied. Then he smiled and with a wink in my direction he said, “I’ll take care of her for you.”
Javed burst out laughing. “There you go, Matt. Now you’re learning to talk like one of us.”
Ben didn’t look nearly as amused, but he smiled and thanked his brother as he and Javed left.
“We can go get something to eat. I’m starving, and there hasn’t been anything worth eating here since you left for Sydney,” Matt said.
“Sure.”
“Matt!” Julian was entering the kitchen and again Matt and I jumped. Julian motioned for Matt to follow him.
“I swear they’re going to give me a heart attack,” Matt grumbled as he went to see what his brother needed. They disappeared for a few minutes and then Matt came back to the kitchen.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Everything OK, or do they need you to go with them now?” I asked.
“No, Julian just wanted to remind me of something. We’re good.”
We ended up at a diner that Matt apparently frequented. We sat in a booth next to the long window that ran along the front of the restaurant. A waitress came over quickly and already knew what Matt wanted to drink—something that looked like lemon soda. I asked for water and perused the menu.
“So, anything you recommend?” I asked.
“I’m partial to the vegemite,” he said with a smile.
“You’re kidding.”
“I am.”
“Guess I’ll pick something on my own.”
I decided on a hamburger because it seemed safest but noted that the meat pie looked good. Maybe I’d try that next time.
“The burgers here are good,” Matt commented.
“I hope so,” I said jokingly.
“The food here isn’t always like what we’re used to in the States, but I like trying different things.” The smile he gave me when he said it made me wonder if he wasn’t just talking about the food.
“So how long have you been playing with Josh and Andrew?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Eight months, maybe. I met them a few weeks after moving here.”
“You guys sound good together.”
“I certainly hope so,” he replied.
“How often do you practice?”
“Several nights a week. Sometimes in the afternoon but only when Josh’s not working.”
“That’s a lot of practice.”
“Yeah, but none of us have anything better to do at night.”
“No girlfriends to entertain?” I teased.
“Nope.”
“Huh. I wouldn’t have guessed that, considering the attention you guys got the other night.”
“Well, I didn’t say we practiced every night.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered, flashing him an understanding look. They didn’t have girlfriends, just a lot of girls who wanted to be friendly.
Just then, Josh passed right in front of the diner window. Matt waved, and Josh made a motion as if he were playing his drums then hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
“What?” Matt mouthed at him through the window. Josh put his hands in front of him, motioning us to wait. He disappeared from view and came in through the diner door.
“Do you want to go practice a bit?”
“Now?”
“Yes,” he responded automatically, but then seemed to think more about it and added, “After you’re done eating. I was just going to call you.”
“Ask Atty.”
“Oh, hi, Atty. Do you mind hanging out while we practice?”
I looked at Matt, and he winked at me for the second time today, but this time I knew he was just giving me the chance to lie and be polite. He hadn’t asked me himself. I appreciated the gesture, but it hadn’t been necessary this time. I thought it would be fun to hear them practice.
We finished our lunch, then followed Josh to his house. They had called Andrew, and he was already waiting outside. “I guess this is why you called, huh, Josh? No one home for us to bother?”
“Nope. My mum’s gone on a shopping trip, so I have the house to myself. Saw Matt was around, so I figured what the heck. He left his guitar here last night anyway.”
“You leave your guitar?” I asked, thinking that was strange.
“I was worried I might hurt it,” he said, and I looked at him oddly enough that he kept explaining.
“I wasn’t in a good mood, annoyed about the end of a song I can’t get, and I didn’t want to take it out on the guitar.” Andrew and Josh laughed at him and started setting up.
“All righty, then,” was all I could think of to say in response.
I sat down, and the guys started playing. We were in what seemed like a man cave: big room, couches, really big TV. I wondered if it was Josh’s or his dad’s.
I listened to them practice, stopping halfway through songs, tweaking them. I realized that Matt was a perfectionist when it came to his music. He wasn’t rude about it, just encouraging, but he never let them get away with picking up where they had messed up. If one of them missed a note, they started again from the beginning. After about an hour, Josh said he was going to go get a drink and Andrew followed him.
“You’re tough! But I can see why you guys are so good.”
“Thank you, at least for that second part. But, yeah, I can be a bit of a drill sergeant sometimes. I used to drive my mother insane when I couldn’t get a song right. She’d have to hear it over and over.”
I hadn’t expected him to mention his mother. I hadn’t wanted to ask about her. “I’m sure she was very proud of the way you played. Most moms pay for lessons and then their kids never practice.”
“Oh, I practiced. I think I gave her a headache more often than not.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
He was quiet for a moment. He had the same expression Nana used to get when she talked about her husband. I wondered if I got the same expression when I talked about her. I was beginning to wonder what I should say next when Josh and Andrew walked back in. They started practicing the next song, and I went back to being a quiet audience member.
Ben came by and picked me up a little while later. Matt had let him know where I was. As soon as we were in his car, he pulled me toward him and kissed me. “I missed you this afternoon.”
“I missed you too,” I replied.
“You need me to stop for anything or just home?”
“Just home.” I smiled, and he took hold of my hand as we drove. It started to tingle as he let his guard down. I hadn’t realized I didn’t feel him when he first picked me up. It made me wonder whether he had been doing something requiring the guard or if he just put it up automatically when he wasn’t around me.
“Were you able to get your work done today?” I asked.
“Part of it.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Not really. Just trying to get something for my brothers.”
“Trying?”
“Yeah, going to have to try some more.”
“Are you close at least?”
“Yeah, but I’m going to have to go with them to get it. Actually, I need to talk to you about it. Helping them would mean I’d have to leave for a few days. I would take you with me, but I think you’d be bored out of your mind.”
“I don’t mind being bored.”
He smiled and turned to look at me. “I know, and I’d love to just keep you with me, but this deal could get complicated and I’d rather not worry about leaving you alone in a city you don’t know. I think it would be better if you stay here with my father and Matt.”
Again I worried that he might be doing something dangerous, but then I told myself I was being crazy. He was right. What was I going to do hanging out by myself while he went searching for stuff for a clinic? “If you think so, then I will stay. Maybe I can go help out at the reserve or something.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll ask Matt if he can drive you.”
“I wouldn’t want to bother him like that. The reserve is kind of far.”
“Then I’ll hire someone if you like.”
“Actually, I was thinking I could drive myself. You’re not taking all the cars, are you?”
“No, we’ll probably be driving to the airport in Julian’s car. But, Atty, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to wander around on your own. I know it’s pretty isolated around here, but you’re special. I’d feel better knowing you’re not alone.”
I couldn’t tell from his inflection whether he meant special to him or just special, different. Could he be worried about my safety because of what I could do? The idea made me a little nervous.
I didn’t respond, and he turned to look at me again. I could tell he noticed my expression because he backtracked a bit. “It’s not that you’re in any danger, Atty, not really. Remember that my father raised me to be paranoid. I can’t help thinking of all the possibilities. Please don’t worry.”
“How long are you going to be gone?”
“Probably three days. It won’t be long.”
“OK, I guess I can handle being chauffeured for three days.”
He smiled and said, “I’ll have someone here before I leave tomorrow.”
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