Page 45 of The Vanishing Place
Please be alive.
As Effie moved forward, her eyes were drawn to a smudge of color, a ball of limbs curled on the ground.
Oh god.
TheFrozennightdress. The child was there. Huddled on the ground. Effie cleared her eyes. Anya’s head was buried between her knees, the bones of her shoulders poking through the drenched cotton. She would be freezing—probably hypothermic. She needed warmth, dry clothing, a doctor and a kind voice.Now.
Except not this kid.Fuck. Mim’s scratches were proof of that. Effie closed her eyes, swearing and grinding her teeth, and when she opened them again, Anya was staring straight at her.Wild.An animal backed into a cage. Effie exhaled and stepped forward, making the girl flinch.
Small steps. No words. No talking.
Effie covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head.
No talking.
Anya stared back, unmoving. The moment stretched into eternity, then she nodded once, and Effie took another step forward. Then another. Inching closer. The bridge hummed, the wind passing through the railings in a high-pitched whistle. Effie stopped when she was a few meters away. Close enough to see the hollow expression on Anya’s face.
Effie reached an arm out slowly, and the words slipped from her. “Anya, I just want to…”
Fuck.
Before Effie could stop her, Anya lunged at the railing and climbed over. Onto the wrong side.
No.
Effie threw a hand to her mouth, not letting any sound leak out, and peered over the side. The fall probably wouldn’t kill her; the child wouldn’t reach enough speed to break bone. But twenty meters was a solid jump, and there was no guarantee that Anya could swim. Effie flicked her eyes back in the direction of the girl, and Anya thrust a hand out, fingers splayed.Don’t come any closer. Effie held her hands up in surrender. Anya was faced inward, with nothing but air beneath her heels. She was trembling, but she was holding on, her knuckles and fingers white from the effort. A good sign. A will to live. Effie reached out and held the barrier next to her.
Don’t jump. Don’t jump.
There was a calm area of water beneath the girl—the spot where she would likely land—an eddy where nothing moved, dead and black, waiting for her. It was low enough that it would hurt.A lot. Ten meters higher and she would die on impact. But this height,if she got it wrong, would feel like hitting concrete. She would feel everything.
The elements whipped around them, but the girl stayed perfectly still, her eyes fixed on the river. Suddenly, the distant blast of a car horn tore through the mist and they both turned. Then Effie saw him—materializing through a gap in the clearing sky.
No.
Lewis stood next to his car. He was already out of his shoes and jacket. Ready to run. Ready to jump.
Effie gave a desperate shake of her head. Immediately, Lewis stopped and retreated.
She turned back to Anya, pleading with her eyes, gluing her to the railing.
He’s not coming. I promise. He’s not coming.
Anya seemed to consider her, to wait, and Effie used the moment to slip her hands behind her neck and unclip her pounamu necklace. Anya watched as Effie held her arm over the railing, letting the dark green stone dangle above the river. The silver chain slipped through her fingers toward the water, and Effie caught it at the last moment.
Anya gasped. “No.”
Effie looked across at her. “I won’t drop it,” she said. “But I need you to come back over the barrier.”
The girl nodded, as if the greenstone heart had some power over her. Then she started to shake violently as the cold cut into her nervous system and her arms trembled with the effort of holding on. Effie pocketed the necklace quickly and extended her arm.
A vacant expression washed across Anya’s face as she swayed on the edge, her heels bobbing in nothingness, and her left hand came away from the railing.
No!
Her exhausted body lurched backward, her free arm flailing in the gray void, then she collapsed. Forward, not downward—nottumbling into air. The child fell against the barrier and slipped into Effie’s grasp. As Effie pulled her over the railing, the air stilled. No rain. No noise. It was as if the world had skipped a beat, before reality seeped in and the two of them spilled onto the ground, their bodies tangled in a heap.
“Are you…” Effie began.
