Page 44 of The Island

She let the flies land on her. She was too exhausted to fight them now. They crawled up and down her arm.

Dad had killed that woman.

But it was Heather’s fault.

He was driving fast to impress her.

Heather was easily impressed. She wasn’t very smart. She hadn’t even graduated high school. Olivia’s mom, her real mom, had a PhD. Her real mom was a biologist.

Olivia managed to put two fingers between the ropes and her throat. It made breathing a little easier.

They had put ropes around her neck like they were going to hang her. They probably were going to hang her. They were probably going to kill all of them. Eye for an eye—all that stuff from Sunday school.

The ropes were scratchy and it hurt to move. The ropes around Owen’s neck were over his hoodie. He’d been smart to do it that way. They weren’t scratching his neck. He was just sitting there like he was dead. He wasn’t even crying. She was crying. And no one was helping. No one was going to help. Her mom was dead, her dad—

“Hello,” a voice said.

A voice right next to her.

Olivia turned, startled. A little face was staring at her through a gap in the planking. A seven- or eight-year-old girl with blond hair and big dark eyes.

“Hello,” Olivia said. “What’s your name?”

“Niamh,” the girl said. “What’s your name?”

“Olivia.”

“Is that your brother?” Niamh asked.

“Yes. He’s called Owen.”

“Hello, Owen,” the little girl said.

Owen said nothing.

“He’s not much of a talker,” Olivia explained.

“You shouldn’t be in there,” Niamh said. “This is for sheep. The sheep use it as a dunny sometimes. It’s not a place to live.”

“A dunny is a bathroom, right?” Olivia asked.

“A dunny is a dunny!” Niamh said, amazed by this question. “Where are you from?”

“We’re from America,” Olivia said.

“I know America. It’s somewhere near Sydney, I think. Me da went to Sydney. Are you sad?”

“Sad? Yes, I suppose so. I want to go home.”

“Are you sad about your dad?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sad that he’s dead?”

“He’s not dead,” Olivia said, a jolt of terror hitting her.

“He is dead. What do you think happens when you die? The schoolie says we go to heaven and become angels but me da says there’s no such place. Me da says when we die, we don’t do anything.”

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