The Big Split

by Rowan McAuley

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Copyright Page

  Holly sat on the floor of her bedroom with her ear pressed against the door. Nothing – the house was quiet. She sighed and scratched her nose and picked at an itchy bite on her leg.

  Her homework was lying open on her desk, but there was no way she felt like finishing it now.

  Just five minutes ago – five! – her mum and dad had sat down with her and her big sister, Faith, and told them they were splitting up.

  Holly hadn’t believed them, but her dad said it was true. He and her mum had talked on and on, trying to explain things, but Holly hadn’t paid attention.

  She didn’t really want to hear why they were splitting up. Right now she was just trying to understand that they were splitting up. She felt so shocked she thought maybe her brain wasn’t working properly.

  And now here she was, back in her room by herself, not sure what to do next. She knew it was a bad thing that her dad was leaving, but she felt too shocked to cry.

  Holly hadn’t had her dinner yet, but she felt too weird to eat.

  She was bursting with questions, but didn’t want to talk to her parents yet.

  Holly thought about all the kids she knew whose parents had split up. What did they do, the first night they found out?

  Billy’s mum and dad split up before he was even in kindergarten, so Holly didn’t suppose he thought all that much about it now. Olivia’s dad had never lived with them in the first place, so that didn’t really count. Then she remembered Cassie from tennis camp – her dad moved out just last year.

  Holly wondered if she should call Cassie and find out what was supposed to happen next. It would be good to be prepared so her mum and dad couldn’t surprise her again like tonight …

  She went to get her diary to dial Cassie’s number, but then saw the clock beside her bed. It was far too late to call anyone now. Not even her best friend Lily would be allowed to get a phone call at this time on a school night.

  Maybe it’s just as well, she thought. I haven’t spoken to Cassie in ages, and I wouldn’t know what to say to Lily.

  But of course, there was one person Holly could talk to. Someone who would know exactly how Holly was feeling, and who wouldn’t ask lots of hard questions Holly couldn’t answer.

  She carefully opened her door and peered down the corridor. Good – the house was still quiet.

  It was time to go and visit her big sister.

  Faith would know what to do.

  Holly wanted to talk to Faith, but for some reason she didn’t want her mum or dad to know. She wanted to be private.

  Being as sneaky and quiet as she could, she quickly tiptoed to Faith’s room and tapped on the door.

  ‘Faith,’ she whispered. ‘It’s me.’

  Without waiting for a reply, she opened the door and slipped inside. She expected Faith to be lying in bed, trying to sleep or sitting around biting her nails just like Holly had been.

  To her surprise, though, Faith was doing neither of those things. Faith was packing a suitcase.

  ‘Faith! What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m going with Dad,’ said Faith, pulling her underwear drawer right out of the wardrobe and tipping it into her bag.

  She dropped the empty drawer beside her bed, and went to pull out the next drawer. This one was all T-shirts and shorts. She dumped it on top of the undies and socks already piled in her bag.

  ‘You’re going with Dad?’ Holly repeated, stunned. ‘How come? And why did he ask you? What about me? Nobody asked me.’

  ‘Nobody asked me, either,’ said Faith. ‘I decided by myself.’

  ‘And Dad said yes? And Mum agreed?’

  ‘I haven’t asked them,’ said Faith, now heaping her jeans and skirts into the bag. ‘I’m just going. Dad can’t say no, can he?’

  Holly said nothing. She didn’t want Faith to leave.

  ‘You could come too, I suppose,’ said Faith.

  Holly thought about it, then shook her head. ‘No. It wouldn’t be fair on Mum. She’d be all alone, and that’s not right.’

  ‘Right?’ snorted Faith. ‘Fair? As if any of this is fair!’

  They both jumped as someone knocked on the door.

  ‘Girls?’

  The door opened. It was their dad, looking tired and sad. He had his suitcase beside him and the car keys in his hand.

  ‘It’s time for me to say goodnight, and well – Faith! What’s this?’

  ‘I’m coming too,’ said Faith, trying to force the lid of her suitcase down over her mound of clothing.

  ‘Oh, Faith,’ said her dad. ‘I can’t take you with me now, but I promise –’

  ‘Forget it,’ said Faith, turning away. She started pulling clothes out of her bag and throwing them angrily across the room.

  ‘But, darling –’

  ‘Forget it, I said! Just go! Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine, won’t we, Holly?’

  Holly looked at them both.

  Her dad looked sad – sadder than she had ever seen him. Faith looked sad too, but mostly she looked furious. She had her arms crossed and her back to their dad, and her face was bright red.

  ‘Holly?’ said her dad.

  He reached his hands out to her, and she gave him the biggest hug she could.

  There were lots of things she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how. She hoped her dad would understand all the things she was feeling from the way she hugged him.

  ‘There’s my good girl,’ he said, just like he had when she was much younger. He kissed her on the top of her head.

  ‘Faith?’

  Faith gave in. Mad as she was, she couldn’t ignore him. They hugged and kissed, but then, all too soon, their dad said, ‘I have to go now, but I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll make plans for the weekend. Be good to your mum.’

  And then he was gone.

  The next morning, as Holly got dressed for school, Faith slid into her room. She was still in her pyjamas and had a certain look in her eye that Holly knew well.

  ‘Hey, Holly,’ she said in a hushed voice. ‘Don’t you think we should get a day off?’

  ‘Off what?’ asked Holly.

  ‘School, silly. Don’tyouthinkwe deserve a holiday?’

  A holiday sounded good to Holly. ‘Have you asked Mum?’

  ‘What? No, of course not. I asked her if she was going to work, and she said yes, so that means she thinks we should go to school too, right? You know what she’s like.’

  It was true. Their mum was always going on about how important school was. She always made them go to school, even the time Holly got so sunburnt she could hardly sit down.

  ‘Well, if we don’t ask, then what?’ asked Holly.

  ‘We wag.’

  ‘What!’

  ‘Holly! Faith! Are you two ready for breakfast?’ their mum called out from the kitchen.

  ‘Nearly!’ Faith called back, cheerfully. Then she hissed to Holly, ‘We’ll talk later. Just make sure you eat heaps of brekkie.’

  Holly had never wagged school in her life. She had to admit, though, she really didn’t want to go to school.

  She had lain in bed last night, trying to imagine what she would say to her best friend, Lily. How could she explain that her parents had suddenly split up?

  Lily’s mum and dad were still together. Whenever Holly went to play at Lily’s on the weekends, she saw them laughing and joking around t
ogether. It was as if they were best friends, like Holly and Lily, and not just parents.

  Holly thought they were perfect, like a family on TV.

  No, she decided. Lily wouldn’t understand. And if Lily didn’t understand, then why would anyone else?

  That made Holly’s mind up.

  She sneaked up to Faith, who was finally getting dressed, and whispered, ‘OK, I’ll do it – let’s wag!’

  Holly’s mum was a vet, and her clinic was in the middle of the shops that ran along the main road. Each morning, she drove to work, and Holly and Faith got out at the bakery and then walked an extra block to the bus stop.

  That morning, Faith stopped outside the bakery, and waited until their mum drove on. Then she said to Holly, ‘OK, I’ve worked it out. The first thing is, how much money do you have? I’ve only got about $3.00.’

  Holly felt in her bag for her wallet.

  ‘I’ve got $6.50.’

  ‘That’s heaps! Right, so here’s what we should do. We go into the bakery and buy ourselves some extra lunch. After that, we just do whatever we like until school finishes and then we meet Mum back at the clinic.’

  ‘But what will we do?’ asked Holly.

  ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to go where no-one can see us, though. Otherwise they might tell the school or phone Mum.’

  ‘Hey, we could sneak down the back of the park and go for a bush walk,’ said Holly.

  ‘Yes! That’s perfect. We could go to that big rock by the water and hang out there until it’s home time.’

  Holly couldn’t quite believe they were really going to go through with it. She was actually starting to feel a bit excited.

  Could they really skip a whole day of school? It would be by far the naughtiest thing they had ever done …

  ‘Come on,’ said Faith, walking into the bakery. ‘I want a lamington for lunch. Maybe two!’

  Holly followed her sister.

  In the bakery, Holly stood nervously near the door. Other people were already lined up to be served, and she didn’t want any of them to notice her. She pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head.

  A business woman ordered a birthday cake, a postman bought a sausage roll, and the lady from the paper shop was waiting for some bread.

  Holly fidgeted. What if one of the parents from school came in and saw them? Or worse, one of the teachers? Or worst of all, what if their mum dropped by to buy her lunch before she started work?

  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

  It didn’t matter how awful it would be at school, having to explain about her mum and dad. It had to be better than this sick, guilty feeling growing in Holly’s tummy.

  Faith didn’t seem to think so, though. She just looked happy and excited.

  ‘Look!’ she said to Holly. ‘We have enough money for a cheese-and-bacon roll each, and a lamington, and we’ll still have enough money left over for icy poles later.’

  ‘Faith, maybe we should –’

  ‘No way,’ said Faith, before she could finish. ‘I don’t care what you’re about to say. I’m going. You can catch the bus to school if you want, but I’ve made up my mind.’

  What could Holly do?

  It was hard to argue with Faith. And if Holly went to school by herself, someone might ask her where Faith was, and then what would she say?

  ‘OK,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Faith.

  They tucked their lunch into their school bags and started walking to the park. Holly kept looking over her shoulder.

  ‘Act natural!’ hissed Faith. ‘No-one will even notice us, as long as you stop looking so guilty and suspicious!’

  Holly tried. But every step of the way, she expected someone to grab her by the shoulder and say, ‘Now then, young lady. What are you up to?’

  But no-one did.

  They walked through the park and down to the beginning of the path into the bush. Holly had one last quick look to see if anyone was watching, and then they were in among the trees.

  ‘We made it!’ she said.

  ‘I told you so,’ said Faith. ‘But come on – I want to get to the big rock.’

  They clomped along the path. It was weird to be doing a bushwalk in their school shoes and carrying their school bags. Normally they did this walk on weekends with their dad. Holly didn’t want to think about that right now.

  The big rock seemed extra quiet and lonely today. On weekends, they often saw other people bushwalking or paddling a canoe along the river.

  Today, the bush felt completely empty. It was just Holly and Faith, the trees and a couple of buzzing flies.

  ‘Brilliant!’ said Faith, sitting down and taking her shoes and socks off.

  She wriggled her bare toes in the sun.

  Holly heard a noise behind her and spun around to see who was there. It was only a lizard rustling through the leaves.

  ‘Relax,’ said Faith. ‘No-one’s going to find us.’

  ‘All right,’ said Holly, sitting down too. ‘I suppose I could do my maths homework. I didn’t get a chance last night with all the … well, you know.’

  Faith snorted. ‘You’re hopeless – you don’t even know how to wag properly. You’re not meant to do your homework!’

  But Holly ignored her. It was good to have something to do. Otherwise she might start thinking about her mum and dad.

  Spending the whole day in the bush alone with Faith was harder than Holly had imagined. For a start, they had to stay hidden, so when they realised they didn’t have any water with them, there was nothing to do but be thirsty. And Holly needed to go to the toilet.

  ‘I could sneak back to the park and find a tap,’ said Holly. ‘I know there’s a toilet near the swings.’

  ‘No,’ said Faith. ‘We can’t risk getting caught now. We’ll just have to wait until school’s out.’

  But neither of them had a watch, and it was hard to tell how much longer they had to go. It felt like hours since they had eaten their cheese-and-bacon rolls and lamingtons – plus the ordinary lunch their mum had packed them that morning – and Holly’s stomach was rumbling loudly.

  ‘Can’t you be quiet?’ grouched Faith.

  ‘I can’t help it!’

  ‘Urgh, this is boring.’

  Once Holly had finished her homework, they had started a competition to see who could throw a stick far enough to land in the river. They had played the game for so long, there wasn’t a single stick left on the big rock.

  Now that even that game was over, there was really nothing to do.

  ‘When do you think we can go back? It must be home time soon.’

  ‘I think we should wait a bit longer,’ said Faith. ‘It’s better to be a bit late than too early.’

  ‘But I’m busting! And starving! And thirsty!’

  ‘Oh, you’re such a sook!’

  ‘I am not!’

  ‘Fine. Whatever. Let’s go,’ said Faith, starting to put her shoes back on. ‘Even if we do get caught, at least I won’t have to listen to you whinge any more!’

  Holly bit her lip. It was no use talking to Faith when she was cranky. And the truth was, she was getting a bit bored of Faith, too.

  They trudged back through the bush to the park. Of course, it was all uphill this way, and the sun was hotter now than it had been that morning. By the time they got to the public toilets, they were thirstier and crankier than ever.

  Holly ran the last little bit and locked herself into the toilet cubicle with a sigh of relief. After she had washed her hands at the sink, she and Faith stood for ages at the bubbler, taking turn after turn to drink down the lovely, cool water. Then they started walking back up to the shops.

  ‘Do you think school’s out yet?’ asked Holly. ‘Everything looks a bit quiet.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ said Faith, being a bit friendlier now that she wasn’t so thirsty. ‘Maybe we should try to hide out a bit more until –’

  ‘YOU! Faith! Holly!’
>
  Holly stopped dead in the middle of the footpath.

  Uh-oh, she thought. She knew exactly who it was shouting, but she really, really didn’t want to turn around and see.

  ‘I’m talking to you! Don’t pretend you can’t hear me!’

  Reluctantly, Holly turned around.

  There, marching towards them with a terrible look on her face, was their mum. She looked furious. In fact, Holly hadn’t seen her so mad since that time she and Faith had decided to make their own indoor water slide on the kitchen floor with a whole bottle of strawberry bubble-bath and two litres of milk.

  ‘Erm … hello, Mum,’ said Holly, weakly.

  ‘Hello?’ yelled her mum. ‘Hello? What sort of thing to say is that? Do you know how worried I’ve been? The school called this morning to find out where you both were, and I didn’t know, because I thought youwereatschool. Whathappened? Where were you? Where have you been?’

  Holly was used to her mum getting cross sometimes, but this was different. This time, her mum looked really upset, too. Holly had been feeling a bit guilty about wagging, but now she saw how worried and sad her mum was, she felt ashamed.

  ‘Sorry, Mum,’ she whispered, staring at her feet.

  She expected her mum to yell some more, but instead she heard a sniffing noise. She looked up and saw her mum quickly wiping away a tear.

  ‘I was so worried,’ she said in a softer voice. ‘Everything’s been so mixed up and crazy at home, and then I thought I’d lost you two as well …’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Holly said again. She wished they’d never wagged. It wasn’t even that much fun at the time and it certainly wasn’t worth it now.

  ‘So where were you?’ asked her mum.

  ‘We went down to the bush,’ said Faith. ‘We didn’t want to go to school. We wanted a day off.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say so?’ asked their mum. ‘We could all have taken a day off together, if only you’d asked.’

  ‘We didn’t want to bother you,’ said Holly.

  ‘We thought you’d say no,’ said Faith.