Page 46 of The Vanishing Place
But at the sound of her voice, the girl stiffened and a fury glazed her eyes.
No talking. Got it.
Effie covered her mouth and started to push herself up. But Anya was already wriggling and kicking, tearing herself free. Then she was on her feet, running across the bridge. Across the river. Toward the line of bush and trees.
The bush.
Blood pounded in Effie’s head.
The bush. Of course.
She scrambled to stand. Anya wanted to go back to the bush. She wasn’t running away; she was running back. But she was going the wrong way; she needed to cross the river much farther up.
“The hut,” Effie screamed. Louder than the river. Louder than the wind.
Anya turned and stared, her long auburn hair whipping around her face.
“I can take you there,” Effie shouted. She pointed across the bridge toward Koraha. “But we have to go that way.”
Time slowed. Second after second, pulse after pulse, and neither of them moved.
Then the girl held out her arm.
Come.
March 2002
Effie lay inthe double bed with Aiden clinging to her like a leech.
They’d been in June’s house in Koraha for five days. The walk out with the baby had taken forever. And Aiden had gone mental whenever Effie tried to carry him. He’d collapse to the ground howling, and start to eat the grass. Which was gross—animals peed in the grass. But June said it was normal, just big emotions in a small body.
It had been stupid going such a long mixed-up way, but Dad didn’t want June knowing the route back. Which made no sense. Unless maybe Dad didn’t want June coming back by herself, in case she got her foot stuck in a hole and the sandflies ate her alive.
Aiden kicked out, still asleep, and Effie groaned. His top half was sticky with sweat, but his feet were like ice blocks. In the hut, Effie liked sharing with Aiden and Tia, but in Koraha, they wriggled too much and took up too much space. Effie lifted Aiden’s limp arm from her chest and plonked it back next to him. Maybe it was because there was more of her now that she was nine. None of her shoes fit. Shoes were a thing in Koraha. June had bought them all a new pair. Even Four. And Four couldn’t even roll over.
Effie slipped out of the bed and threw on shorts and a cozy jumper. A few streets over in his nan’s caravan, Lewis would be doing the same thing, waiting for the sun to finally appear. Effie gathered her red hair into a ponytail, not bothering with a brush. Then she unlatched the window—just like she’d done the last four mornings—and started to clamber out.
“I want to come.”
Effie stopped and turned back. “Go back to bed, Tia.”
Tia frowned, her eyes still sleepy, and crossed her arms. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business.” Effie hauled herself over the windowsill. “Go back to bed.”
“I’ll tell Dad.”
“Fine.”
Effie slipped down and started to run across the garden, the early morning grass damp beneath her feet.Shit. She’d forgotten her shoes. She looked back at the house. Tia was pressed up against the window with her nose flat to the glass. Effie gave a small wave. She would sneak one of the candies from the jar in June’s kitchen and give it to Tia later. Unless, of course, Tia told Dad about her running off. Then Effie would rub dirt in her sister’s hair.
Effie ran along the grass next to the pavement, avoiding the pointy stones that jabbed her toes. She swore as the dog at number 22 went berserk. It jumped at the fence like a deranged wallaby, and Effie’s heart pumped so fast that it threatened to pop out of her. She sped up. But no matter how fast she ran, Lewis was always there first. His nan didn’t seem to care where he was. Lewis didn’t have parents. He’d had them once, obviously, before the “nasty business” with the log lorry when he was seven. But he didn’t talk about his mum and stepdad.
By the time she made it to the end of the road, her ponytail had come out and she had to wipe the hair from her face. Shespotted Lewis from across the road. It was hard to miss him with his ridiculous red Crusaders cap. The best super rugby team ever, Lewis said. Effie had no idea what super rugby was, or what made it so super, but Lewis never shut up about it. Crusaders this, Crusaders that.Yawn. It was more like stupid rugby. She might have told him how boring it was, but then Lewis always smiled when he talked about it. And Effie had never had a boy smile like that around her.
Lewis was lying on his back on the slide, throwing a rugby ball into the air. When Effie got closer, he turned and grinned.
“Cripes. Did you run through a bush or something?”
