Page 104 of Kiwi Gold
“This is …” She was shaking, and I thought,Oh, bloody hell, she’s crying,before I realized that she wasn’t. She waslaughing.“This is so …bad,”she got out. “And I wanted to impress you tonight.”
“Mm.” I got an arm over her and moved closer. She sighed, and I felt her relaxing, so that was all right. “Never mind. I may have realized tonight that I didn’t do nearly as much for my sisters as I’ve always thought. I can remember a fair few times when they were all ill, just like this. Liana would catch it first, usually, and then they’d all have it. Babies. Toddlers. Kids. I never woke up at night with them, which means my mum must have done it by herself. Four of them. Humbling.”
She was quiet a minute, and I thought she’d fallen asleep, but she said, “It’s a lot, kids. Even if you only have one.”
“Yeh,” I said, and then shedidfall asleep, and so did I. For what felt like a minute and was probably more like forty-five, because it was light outside when I heard a little voice saying, “Mummy.Mummy.I need to get in your bed.”
“Oh.” That voice was Laila. “Do you need to be sick?”
“No,” Yasmin, because it was clearly Yasmin, said, “but Monk is tired, because we had to wake up too many times, and my head feels funny.”
Laila didn’t say anything, just shifted back against me, and I shifted myself and, I’ll admit, fell asleep again instantly. To be woken by another little voice, seconds or hours later, and a hand on my arm.
“Mummy,” this one said, “why is Lachlan sleeping in your bed?”
Laila sounded even more sleep-furred this time. “Because he was … very tired.” She sighed and didn’t sit up. “Are you sick?”
“No,” Amira said. “I’m lonesome. The only one in our room is Long John, but now he’s here. Can I sleep with you?”
A jingle of tags, and then a softthudas something landed on my feet. Something, in fact, like a dog who’d just arrived on the foot of the bed.
Laila said, “Long John. Get down.” She didn’t sound too convincing, though.
Amira said in my ear, “I don’t want to sleep by you. I want to sleep by Mummy.”
I said, “I’ll get up, Laila.”
“No,” she said. “Don’t. You’re tired. Come sleep by your sister, Amira.”
Amira said, “I want to sleep byyou.”
“By Yasmin,” Laila said, “or in your own bed.”
I didn’t say anything. I just scooted over some more, all the way to the edge of the bed. I had to drag my feet out from under Long John to do it, of course.
Some rustling noises, more scooting back by Laila, either to make room for Amira or, possibly, to get some cuddling herself, and there my arm was again, over her, and thereshewas, pressing herself against me. Which felt pretty bloody wonderful, and was absolutely incongruous under the circumstances.
ShouldI get up? Was this wrong? I couldn’t tell. It didn’t feel wrong, though.
“Can you tell a story, Mummy?” Amira asked, just as I was falling asleep again, and I jerked awake and thought,Now what?
“I’m very tired,” Laila said.
“We want a story, though,” Yasmin said, because, yes, she was still awake, too. “Because my head is hurting, and so is my tummy, so they need a story. Tell about your mum and dad. Tell about the note.”
“No,” Amira said. “Tell about the doves that flew home every time.”
I could practically feel Laila’s fatigue, and somehow, I was saying, “I’ll tell a story. A good long story. It’s a Maori story that my mum used to tell my sisters, because it’s all about a mum and sisters.” I hoped it would do, because it was the only long story I knew.
Laila said, “Good. Tell that.” I could practically hear her saying, “because I’m at the end of my tether here.”
I said, “This is a story about the stars in the sky. About a group of them you can see only in the winter, and only in the very early morning, because every year, when winter arrives, Matariki and her daughters journey across the sky to visit their grandmother.”
“Except we don’t have a grandmother,” Amira said. “Only in Kuwait, and I’ve never seen that grandmother.”
“That may be true,” I said, “but these girls do have a grandmother, and she’s Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother. When the granddaughters visit, starting on the day when autumn turns to winter, each of the star daughters helps Papatuanuku prepare for the year to come. The oldest daughter is Tupu-a-nuku, and she spends her time with her grandmother learning how to tend to the plants, making sure they have all they need to grow big and strong, to make food for the animals and the people. When we see her shining, we remember that we need to spend time growing our knowledge, so we can help other people.”
“Like I keep learning to read better,” Yasmin said. “But Amira doesn’t.”
