Part 7 (1/2)

I nodded. Even though I wasn't really sure. The wetness was beginning to feel familiar, but I still did not know what to do about it.

'Whoa. Okay, that's pretty late for a first period. But I guess everyone's different. Okay, no sick bay for you. Let's skedaddle to the ladies'. By an absolutely fabulous coincidence, I too am surfing the crimson wave, so I can be of a.s.sistance in the cleaning up department. What, don't look at me like that! Yuck! I mean that I have tampons. You're saved. Let's get out of here.'

Just when I thought I was finally beginning to understand this new life I found myself in!

Periods.

Crimson waves.

Tampons.

So many words I did not know.

But I trusted Rhiannah, so I said, 'Yes, please, let's go.'

Later, in our room, Rhiannah showed me the 'stockpile' of 'tampons' and 'pads' in her top drawer. Before we'd gone back to cla.s.s, she'd pressed another one in my hand and instructed me to, 'Put it in your pocket. Change it in a couple of hours, okay? It's important. You'll get sick if you don't. And later we'll get you some more.'

Now, she gestured to the boxes and parcels and said, 'Feel free to just help yourself any time. I've always got a whole heap, just in case.'

'Thank you,' I replied, hoping she understood that I meant 'thank you' for more than just the items that filled her drawer.

Rhiannah had been a real friend to me, Connolly. She took me to the girls' toilets, and she sat outside while I negotiated my way with my very first tampon. It was difficult, and it hurt at first, and I found myself yelping from the pain and from embarra.s.sment.

But Rhiannah never got embarra.s.sed. Rhiannah knew just what to say, and she stayed with me until I got it right.

'It gets easier,' she said. 'In a couple of days, you won't even have to think about it.'

She never once made me feel strange or abnormal for never having done it before, or even for not knowing knowing about it. It was as if she understood that the reasons were complex, and that I would tell her when I was ready. about it. It was as if she understood that the reasons were complex, and that I would tell her when I was ready.

And I knew I would would tell her. I knew she was the right person to tell my secrets to. tell her. I knew she was the right person to tell my secrets to.

Rhiannah was a real friend.

It was very nice being in our room with her, too. We did our homework together. I helped her with English, and she filled in the blanks that were in my mind in mathematics, science and history. If I didn't know something something that might be obvious to someone who had not lost their memory she patiently explained it to me.

When we had finished our tasks, we sat on Rhiannah's bed talking.

Well, Rhiannah talked. And I listened. And it was nice.

She told me about how her family were descended from the indigenous people of Tasmania, and how her mother and father were both environmental activists. She told me that she had grown up on the north-west coast of Tasmania, in a place called Wynyard, but now her family lived in a small house in a country town called Ranelagh, just south of Hobart. They grew vegetables to earn money, and they sold them at the weekend markets.

'I miss them heaps when I'm at school,' she said. 'But, you know, it's important that I'm here.' She didn't tell me why.

She did tell me that she had a brother who went to Valley Grammar. She said he could be a 'pain in the a.r.s.e', but she was glad he was in Hobart with her.

When she mentioned his name, 'Perrin', I felt my cheeks burn. I remembered the dark-haired boy at the school gates. Deep in my pelvis, something pulsed. Angrily, I willed it away and tried to concentrate on Rhiannah's story.

As I listened, and Rhiannah's life opened up to me like a flower, I thought again of your daughter.

Rhiannah told me how she loved to bushwalk, because it was something her family used to do a lot back when she lived in Wynyard, in a very special forest called the Tarkine. She said going on bushwalks down here was different it was a different kind of bush but it still made her feel close to home. When she was in the bush it was the only time she felt truly herself.

It seemed like the right time to ask. 'Rhiannah?' I began, when she paused to take a sip from her water gla.s.s.

'I was wondering ... Connolly, the policewoman who found me after my accident. She had a daughter ...'

'Cat,' said Rhiannah, nodding.

'You knew her?' I asked.

Rhiannah sighed and rubbed at her temples. 'I was wondering when this would come up. I kind of fobbed you off yesterday, when you asked about my other roommate. I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to say and I didn't really know if I could, well, trust you.'

'Was Cat your roommate?' I asked, already knowing the answer.

Rhiannah nodded, and her dark eyes began to glimmer with tears. She cleared her throat. 'Yes,' she said. 'And my friend. I don't know what you've been told about her, Tess, but she wasn't really bad. All the stories about being a big rebel ... I think it was just a front. An insecurity thing. She was funny and sweet, and she'd make up silly dances to cheer me up, and we'd have mini midnight parties in here, with chips and salsa, which always got all over the doonas and got us into strife with the cleaners.' She laughed, her eyes looking upwards as she recalled the happy memory. 'I didn't spend enough time with her. I wish I had. We had the best time. I really miss her.'

'Do you know what happened to her?' I asked. 'I mean, how she went missing?'

Rhiannah shook her head. 'No, not really. I mean, I have my theories, but n.o.body really knows. She just disappeared. I'm trying to figure it out, though.'

'Me, too,' I replied. 'I promised Connolly I would.'

Rhiannah nodded, her eyebrows furrowing. 'Okay.'

'Maybe we can do it together,' I suggested.

'I don't know if we can,' she said, shaking her head. 'I'm not sure if it's something ... I just don't know, Tessa. It could be dangerous.'

'How?' I asked. 'Do you mean that the bush is dangerous? Because, I don't know for sure sure, but I was found in the bush, so I'm guessing I've bushwalked before.'

Rhiannah looked at me curiously, and I could tell she wanted to ask, 'How can you not 'How can you not know know if you've bushwalked before?' if you've bushwalked before?'

But she didn't. Again, she gave me s.p.a.ce and time. I knew I should give her time in return. But I promised you, Connolly, and I intended to keep that promise. Finding Cat was my purpose. I had to make progress on it, even if it meant being a bit forceful forceful with Rhiannah. with Rhiannah.

'Please let me come?' I pushed.

'Okay,' she said, slowly. 'I mean, maybe maybe.'

'When are you going next?'

'Tomorrow night.' And then her voice turned hard and adamant. 'But tomorrow night is not the night for you to come. It's going to be a difficult walk. When you come with me, it should be on an easier walk just so we can a.s.sess your skills and probably during the daytime. A night-time walk is definitely not the right kind of walk for you to start on.'

'Okay,' I said. 'Not tomorrow, then. I won't come tomorrow.'

And at the time, I meant it.