Page 18 of The Vanishing Place
“It’s not some random case,” said Effie as she turned back to look at Blair. “Not some random child.”
Her friend frowned.
“Lewis said that the kid looks just like me.”
Confusion, then shock, spread through Blair’s features. “Wait, how old did you say she was?”
“Around eight,” said Effie, smiling slightly. “Don’t worry, she’s not mine.”
“Right.” Blair let out a breath. “Okay.”
“Although I think we might be related somehow. And Lewis thinks that she’s come from the hut.”
“Shit.” Blair looked suddenly serious. “And she was covered in blood?”
Effie nodded. Then she squeezed her mug, needing something to occupy her fingers. “Blair, there’s something that I—”
“You and Lewis,” interrupted Blair, “why didn’t you keep in contact?”
Effie glanced back at the window. “We couldn’t.”
She didn’t say anything else, and Blair didn’t push it. She simply reached forward and lifted her mug from the table. And for a few quiet seconds, they just sat like that.
“Shit,” said Blair eventually.
“Yes.” Effie managed a small smile. “Shit, indeed.” She took a breath before continuing. “And Lewis thinks my dad might be involved with whatever horrible thing happened to her.”
“Jesus.” Blair puffed out her cheeks, her eyes wide, then she exhaled loudly. “Right.”
“I need to go back,” said Effie. “I need to find out what happened to my family.”
There was a beat of silence.
“And you’ll need someone to watch Rimu.”
“And I’ll need someone to watch Rimu.”
November 2001
The sound thatstopped her was impossible.
Effie spun on the deck, Tia already at her side, and grabbed her sister’s hand.
“Listen,” she demanded.
Tia’s face was a wet snotty mess, her eyes red and puffy, and strands of dark hair caught in the corners of her mouth. She wiped her face and put on her bravest voice. “The cicadas?”
“No. No.” Effie closed her eyes, making her ears work better. The bush bugs ticked and thrummed, shrieking between her ears. “The other sound. Listen.”
A tiny noise poked through the loud buzz of cicadas, like acorns shaken in a tin can. Effie stared at the ground, at the upturned basket of pikopiko ferns.
“Where is it?”
“What?” Tia sniffed.
The noise stopped, leaving nothing but the loud cicada hum. Then it started again, the rattle of acorns.
“Aiden’s rainmaker,” said Effie. “It’s not there.”
