Page 1 of Akarnae

One

“Honey, if there was anyother way, your mother and I would take you with us in a heartbeat.”

Alexandra Jennings stared out the car window into the dense forest and sighed deeply into her phone. “I know, Dad. But it still sucks.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” came her father’s reply. “But the International Exchange Academy is one of the best schools in the country. They’ll take good care of you.”

Alex only just managed to hold back the words that tried to leap from her tongue straight down the phone line.

Take me with you!she wanted to scream.Don’t abandon me!

That was exactly what it felt like her parents were doing, even if it wasn’t their fault. They’d been offered the opportunity to study under a famous archaeologist—a once in a lifetime invitation—but there was a catch. They couldn’t take anyone with them, which meant Alex was being shipped off to a boarding school for the rest of the school year—eight whole months.

And it got worse. Not only were they leaving her behind, they were also headed to some middle-of-nowhere dig-site in Siberia—as in,Russia—which was in a complete communication dead-zone. No phone coverage. No Wi-Fi signal. Not even apostman. Alex literally wouldn’t be hearing from them again until they returned at the beginning of June for the summer holidays.

“I just hate that I won’t be able to contact you,” Alex said, not for the first time. “What if I get bitten by a tick and end up with Lyme disease?” Her eyes scanned the thick woodland. “It’s a definite possibility. And don’t even get me started on how many wild animalsWikipediasays are in the forest up here. What if I get eaten by a bear? Or a cougar? I won’t be able to call you and tell you what happened!”

Her father’s amusement rang clearly through the connection. “In the unlikely event that you’re mauled to death by the wildlife, you won’t be able to callanyone.”

“True,” Alex acknowledged. “But no one else will be able to call you on my behalf, either. That means you’ll miss my funeral and you’ll never get any closure about my death. You’ll always wonder if it was a wolf or a bobcat that enjoyedAlexandra à la carte.”

Her father chuckled. “I’m going to miss your sense of humour.”

“Dad, I’m being completely serious here. Carnivorous animals are no laughing matter.”

He wisely ignored her and instead said, “Your mother’s making weird hand gestures at me. I’m guessing the Valium have finally kicked in. I made her take a double dose—you know how much she hates flying—so I think the peacock-bobbing and flapping arms mean she wants to talk to you. I better put her on before she takes someone’s eye out.”

Alex smiled into the phone. “Probably a good idea.”

“I love you, sweetheart. The time will pass quicker than you realise.”

Before she could respond, a crinkling noise sounded through the earpiece as he handed the phone over.

“Alex?” came her mother’s somewhat slurred voice. Another ten minutes and she’d be out cold—which was for the best, since shereallydidn’t do well on planes.

“I’m here.”

“I don’t have long, they’ve just started boarding our—hic!—flight,” she said. “But I wanted to say—hic!—goodbye, again.”

Alex frowned at the back of the seat in front of her. “Are you all right?”

“Fine, fine,” her mother said, hiccupping again. “I just had a little drink to help wash down the sedative.Hic!”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to mix alcohol with those drugs, Mum,” Alex said, failing to keep the humour from her voice. “And you know, statistically speaking, you’re more likely to get kicked in the head by a mule than to die in a plane crash. You’re going to be fine.”

“Of course I will be.” Her mother’s words became even more slurred as the medication continued taking effect. “And you will be, too. I know you wanted to come with us, but this is really for the best.Hic!You’ve been stuck following us around the globe for your entire life—it’s time you settled in one place and had a chance to make some friends your own age.”

Her mother had a point. Moving countries every few months while her parents chased the next big archaeological discovery hadn’t helped Alex’s social development. She didn’t have any friends—she wasn’t even sure how tomakefriends. High school politics were beyond her understanding; she had no idea what to expect from her new school. It wasn’t like she could just go and sit beside someone in the sandpit, eat dirt with them, and declare a state of ‘besties forever’. She was too old for that now. People would just look at her strangely.

“You’re right,” Alex said, mustering up as much optimism as she could. “I’m sure everything is going to work out great.”

“That’s the—hic!—spirit,” her mother replied. “Now, I better go before the purple monkey eats my last banana.Hic!”

Alex pulled her phone from her ear and looked at it quizzically before returning it once more. “What did you say?”

“I said—”

She was interrupted by Alex’s father in the background. “Time to board, Rach.Say ‘goodbye’.”

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