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.C’mon, Rosie.What do you think? What’s the point? What’s it all about, hey?’I thought hard for a decent comeback.‘Oblivion.’Randy pulled into the drive and yanked the handbrake.He undid his seat-belt and pivoted around to face me.‘You mean, just being? Not thinking about the past or the future?’‘Yeah, I s’pose.’ I got out of the car.‘Thanks for the lift.’‘No problem, Rosie.Hey, let’s talk about this more later, OK?’While Randy parked my car in the garage, I went inside.Mum was in the kitchen licking cake mixture out of the bowl.She rushed over and hugged me.I stood stiff in her embrace, annoyed that she’d set Randy up to brainwash me.‘Are you alright? How are you feeling? Do you want something to eat? How ’bout a nice cup of tea or some Christmas crackle?’ She was being way too nice.‘I want to go to bed.’‘OK,’ she said.‘Why don’t you go lie down in my bedroom with the air-con on? It’ll be quieter in there.’I spent the rest of the afternoon dozing on Mum’s floral spread, despite the muffled sound of drilling coming from the courtyard.Around six, Mum came in and woke me in a flap.The cops had dropped by to ask a few questions.I went out in Mum’s chenille to find them drinking tea in the courtyard.Mum hovered about offering them Christmas cake and smiling her head off.For once, Randy stayed out of it.They’d read my hospital records so it was easy to act like I didn’t remember anything.They asked me about Danny – how long we’d been friends, when I’d last seen him, if he’d mentioned anything about Bomber.I lied, saying I couldn’t remember when I’d last seen him.They asked me if I had any idea where Danny might be hiding and I shook my head and said, ‘Sorry, I haven’t the slightest.’After they left, I went back to bed in my own room.I got thinking about Bomber’s threat again.There was no use telling Hollie.With Mr Bailey back at the ranch and the cops no doubt tracking her every move, she’d have no way of getting to him.More than that, I didn’t want to frighten her because she’d probably just lose it.She’d been acting so bizarre lately.I had to warn Danny myself, but I’d do it later, in the middle of the night when all the burbans were dead to the world.I set the alarm for midnight and tried to get some shut-eye.I snapped on the lamp and slipped out of bed.One minute past midnight on Christmas Day.I chucked on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and tied my hair back in a ponytail.After so much snoozing, I felt fresh and sparky.I crept through the darkened house.As I passed Mum’s new fibre-optic Christmas tree, glowing red to purple to orange in the dark, I didn’t even stop to check out my presents.Outside, the air was thick and muggy, not a murmur of a breeze through the tree-tops.It was like the earth had stopped breathing to listen for life on other planets.I ducked across the lawn and in through the side door of the garage.Not wanting to wake Mum and Randy with the car, I grabbed a torch off the shelf and my old kid’s bike and wheeled it out onto the drive.I hopped on and pedalled away through the moon-washed streets to Hollie’s place.As I rocketed down Fleming, I threw my head back to the sky, which was deep and black as old blood.My T-shirt billowed out behind me and my hair lashed about my face.I was flying – the wicked witch on her broomstick.On my way up the last hill, sweating and pumping at the pedals, I looked across at the ascending row of slumbering houses which lined Hollie’s street.In each front window was a plastic Christmas tree, multi-coloured lights blinking on and off, out of sync with each other.The only real tree was Hollie’s.I could just see it, tall and erect in the front casement window at the very end of the street.It was decorated with nothing but fairy lights which didn’t foxtrot or do the rumba, but shone cold and bright as stars.A car was parked outside Hollie’s house.From its shape and size, it wasn’t Mr Bailey’s Lexus.My spine tingled as I dismounted and dropped down into a ditch hidden from the road.I dumped the bike and scurried along the eroded trench.To my right, the bush throbbed and pulsed.When I was abreast with the parked car, I popped my head up over the verge.Inside, the cabin was in darkness but I could just make out a silhouette.I clambered up the incline and hauled myself onto the bitumen.With my heart thumping like crazy, I cut across the corner of the cul-de-sac and hid behind a lantana bush.From this position, I could see there were two men inside the car.The cabin light came on and they bent their heads over something.They had to be the cops, on the prowl for Danny.I turned and scrambled up the track, under a cover of thick scrub, towards the cave.Above the tree-line, the red lights from the TV towers blinked like a warning to go home, but I pelted up the steep incline, fumbling through the dark, until I reached the cave.I stepped up to the entrance, rubbing my hands against the rough surface of the rock, feeling my way.Quiet as a bug, I dropped to my knees and crawled inside.It was so black I couldn’t see my hands in front of me, but I could feel the earth cool and smooth between my fingers as I headed deeper into the cave.At the egg rock, I sat up and switched on the torch.A pair of eyes, red and glistening, swooped down upon me.I screamed.There was a flurry of wings beating about my ears, hissing and flapping.I folded my arms around my head and crouched into a ball, burying myself small and hard as a stone, digging my toes into the earth [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]