Part 19 (1/2)

I turned to look over my shoulder. Mojo charged towards us, pink tongue hanging out. The gate hadn't snibbed. I had to stop her.

*Stay, Mojo!' I screamed but a supermarket truck swallowed my voice.

*I'll try to grab her,' said Khaden.

*No!' I clutched his T-s.h.i.+rt. *She'll just run to you.' I yelled, *Sit. Stay. Stop.'

She slowed on the nature strip and I released Khaden's T-s.h.i.+rt.

*Good girl, Mojo,' called Sas.

Mojo had always figured *good girl' meant *do what you like.' She tilted her head and galloped onto the road, tail wagging.

A Kia blasted its horn. Mojo picked up speed. Somehow, she ran between the front and back tyres of a truck carrying sheets of gla.s.s. One lane to go. There was a gap between a Toyota and Magna. Every muscle tensed. Should I call her so she'd run faster? Or did I bellow *sit'?

*Come on Moj!' I yelled. *Faster!'

Mojo sped up; her eyes alight, as though we were playing a game.

But the Magna increased speed too.

Its wheel barreled into Mojo's shoulder.

Her high-pitched yelp tore at my heart. I screamed. Khaden and Sas held me to stop me running onto the road to her.

Still yelping, eyes now wide with terror, Mojo staggered forward and collapsed at my feet. Her body shook.

I knelt and reached out a shaky hand to touch her.

A dual cab, the back filled with ladders and pipes, pulled up beside us. A guy in a blue s.h.i.+rt hung out the open window. *That your dog?' he asked.

*What's it to you?' asked Sas, stepping between him and Mojo.

*Is it okay?' asked the guy.

*I don't think so.' I stroked Mojo's back.

A tram bell sounded.

*Ruby. Tram,' said Khaden, his voice urgent. He scooped up Mojo, who yelped and whimpered.

*There's a vet back that way. Jump in, I'll give you a lift.'

I shook my head. *No, we'll...'

*Thanks.' Sas flung open the door. *Come on, Ruby.'

Sas lay her beach towel across my lap. Khaden placed Mojo on it and ran around to the pa.s.senger seat. As the guy eased the ute forward, I noticed the blood streaming from Mojo's nostrils and mouth and her fast, rattly breathing. Fear wrapped around my chest and squeezed.

*Want me to come in with you?' asked the guy, pulling up outside the vet clinic.

*You've done enough, thanks.' Khaden shook the guy's hand.

*Yeah, really, thanks.' Sas came around to my door and opened it. Mojo whimpered as I eased out of the car.

*Hey,' I said looking over my shoulder to the driver. *Thank you. Very much.'

He tapped the door of the ute. *Hope your dog's okay.'

Everything from then on was a blur.

Concerned faces. Mojo being taken from me and carried down a corridor. Waiting on hard seats. A dog yapping and straining on its lead. A ferret biting cage wire. The vet nurse, Michael, leading us to an examination room. A tall woman, the vet, drawing fluid into a syringe. Khaden speaking for me. Sas holding my hand.

Words- internal bleeding, serious, operate, parents.

Wondering why Michael gave me directions to a bathroom, then seeing my reflection in a gla.s.s door. Blood on my arms, smeared across my face and T-s.h.i.+rt. Sas helping me wash it off.

When Sas and I returned to the waiting room, everything came into sharp focus. Mum was there, talking to Khaden. I braced for an attack, but instead she held out her arms and hugged me. I broke free, my chin quivering.

While we waited, Sas scooted toy cars around the carpet with a blond kid whose Dad took their puppy for injections. Khaden leant back in his seat, eyes shut, and Mum flicked through a magazine, foot tapping. I stared at the carpet.

The clinic doors opened and the air became colder. Without looking up, I knew Dad had arrived.

*What the h.e.l.l is going on?' he asked, standing over Mum and me.

*It's not the time or the place, Stuart,' said Mum, moving her bag from the seat beside her and motioning for him to sit. *Mojo is in surgery.'

Dad didn't move. *What are you doing here, Ruby? You're grounded.'

*Guess you didn't snib the gate either,' I said, my voice flat.

Sas froze. Mum's fingers bit into my knee.

*I have better things to do than chase my out-of-control daughter,' snarled Dad.

*Yeah, like what? Lunch?'

Dad's eyes widened, then narrowed. Behind his anger, I saw a glimmer of fear.

*Ruby?'

Michael, now wearing one of those blue pyjama things that TV doctors wear, stood in the middle of the corridor. He motioned for me to follow him.

I didn't move.

Mum placed her hand on my shoulder. *Come on.'

*But...'

Sas and Khaden stood either side of me. Together we followed Michael. With each step, my heart sank further into the pit of my stomach. We crowded into a small examination room.