Part 8 (1/2)

'And Inga and Kelly and Claudia all had to pull her out, and they asked Jenna and Bridget to help them, but Bridget said ”Eew, no way am I going anywhere near that”, and Amy didn't speak to her for a week? It was pretty funny,' said Sara.

Rhiannah nodded and smiled, but it was obvious she wasn't thinking about Charlotte's silly friends. 'n.o.body saw her wander off,' she said quietly. 'And it was a pretty safe area. The path we take for the night walks isn't far from there just up the mountain a bit so Cat had done that just the week before. She knew the terrain.' Rhiannah shook her head. 'But it just goes to show that even experienced bushwalkers can get into trouble, on pretty simple hikes. Tess, we'll go together one day soon. Maybe at the weekend, if you're not going off campus? I'm staying here this weekend, so that might be a good time for us to go?'

I nodded. 'Yes, thank you, Rhiannah. That sounds good.'

And I meant it. I thought it would be fun to go walking with Rhiannah at the weekend.

But I was also thinking of ways I could secretly go on the walk that night. Cat had been lost in that bush. It was possible that she may have moved on from there, but I had no other trail to follow. I did not care if I was disobeying Rhiannah's wishes. I had to go.

Just as I knew, instinctively, that Cat was alive, I also knew now that going with Rhiannah and the girls out into the bush was my best chance of finding her.

I was worried that Rhiannah would notice my blanket.

Since I usually slept beneath just the sheet, I was worried that she would notice that the blanket was pulled right up to my chin.

But she didn't.

She raced around the room like a possum, grabbing this and that boots and backpack and coat and funny woollen hat and black electronic box that crackled and hummed and squealed and made her even sound sound like a possum (a like a possum (a two-way two-way, my brain reminded me. The black box is a two-way two-way) and muttering to herself about 'Strickland Falls' and 'the Rivulet Track'.

Finally, when she had all of her equipment together, she turned and smiled and said breathlessly, 'Night, Tess. Sorry to run out on you. Feel free to use the CD player or whatever. I've mainly got Xavier Rudd and The Cat Empire, but you might like them.'

I didn't bother telling Rhiannah that I didn't know what a CD player was, or a Cat Empire, and I had never heard of a man called Xavier Rudd.

I wouldn't be needing any of that tonight. Tonight, I was going on a bushwalk.

Now, please don't be mad at me, Connolly. I know you told me to be mindful, and to look after myself, but you also told me to be brave.

I was being brave.

As soon as I heard Rhiannah's footsteps padding down the hallway and the sound of Harriet's loud voice calling, 'Hey, Rin? You ready? We're running late', I threw off my blanket and breathed a sigh of relief at the relative coolness.

It's very hot beneath a blanket when you're wearing a coat and pants and boots.

I eased myself quietly up and out of bed.

My clothing rubbed uncomfortably on my back as I moved my scars were still raised and painful, even more painful tonight but I ignored it.

I reached below the bed for my own equipment: a torch that I'd found in the science lab and managed to sneakily borrow (borrow, not steal), an apple (for sustenance), and Laurel's woollen hat.

She had looked at me curiously when I asked her for it.

I saw her walking along after cla.s.s, flipping it over and over in her hand. I remembered enough from my life before to know that it is very important to keep your head warm when you are out in the elements.

So I took a big, deep breath, and told myself to be brave. 'Laurel?' I asked.

Laurel froze and turned around, her eyes wide and fearful, the breath caught in her throat. When she saw me, she breathed out heavily and her muscles relaxed. 'Tessa!' she said, smiling. 'You scared the c.r.a.p out of me. I didn't recognise your voice at first, and I thought you were a teacher.' She leaned in close to my ear and whispered, 'And usually when a teacher is calling my name, it is not not a good thing!' a good thing!'

She leaned back out. 'Anyway,' she said. 'What can I do you for?'

I made up a story about not feeling well and my head being cold, and asked to borrow her hat.

She hesitated for a moment, and narrowed her eyes at me, biting her lip. Then she shrugged and said, 'Sure, why not. But don't lose it. It's one of my favourites. It used to belong to my nanna, and anyway, it's ace for when the red devil isn't behaving itself.' She pointed to the curly red bonfire crackling away on her head. 'Just give it back when you're better, 'kay?'

I pulled the hat out now and pushed it roughly onto my head, then strode towards the door. My hand was on the doork.n.o.b, just about to turn, before I remembered.

I cursed under my breath and turned back around.

I sprinted, feet light on the carpet, to Rhiannah's top drawer, pulled it silently open, and grabbed a handful of tampons and pads. The last thing I wanted was to be alone in the wilderness and feel that wetness between my legs again.

Just as I was shutting the drawer, I noticed it.

Glinting and glimmering in the corner.

It was Rhiannah's copper bangle.

I knew I shouldn't. It was Rhiannah's private thing, in Rhiannah's private drawer, and she had asked me not to touch it, but I couldn't help it. Just as before, my fingers were drawn to it. Just as before, I imagined footprints dancing over its glinting surface. I reached further into the drawer and brushed it, just lightly, with my fingertips.

The jolt was so strong and so sudden and so sharp, I cried out with shock and pain and fell to the floor. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was like a million needles sticking into my fingers, like scalding water being poured over my whole hand. It hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

I looked down at my hand and was shocked to see there was no mark. No bruise. No blood. No burn.

My eyes were tingling with tears and my head was thudding.

What had just happened? What had caused that jolt, that pain?

It couldn't possibly have been Rhiannah's bangle, could it?

I didn't even bother to close the drawer. I was too scared. I just scrabbled my way to my feet and ran from the room.

It didn't take long to catch up with Rhiannah and Sara and Harriet. They were still within the school's grounds, standing in a triangle and dressed in identical black clothes and woollen hats. They weren't talking yet, but seemed to be organising their equipment: looking at maps, preparing.

Though it was dark, my eyes could make out their faces and their bodies quite clearly. It was as if I had created by some magic a daytime within the night, but only for me. I put the torch back in my bag. I did not think I would be needing it.

Though I knew it was improbable that their eyes could see as well as mine, I shrank back and sidled behind a gum tree by the entrance to the building. From there I could watch them and they would not see me.

Over the tang of eucalyptus, I could smell smell them, too. They smelled of sweet vanilla perfume and sweat and ... them, too. They smelled of sweet vanilla perfume and sweat and ... fear fear. And I could hear, loudly as if my ear was pressed against their chests, the beating of their hearts; rapid like the hearts of small animals.

And it wasn't only Rhiannah and the others that I could smell, or see, or hear. I could smell each flower in the garden separately and distinctly. I could see far away to the walls of Cascade Falls; to the cracks and ridges in the stone and the sheen of the metal spikes that sat on top like enemy soldiers, bayonets in hand. I could hear every cricket singing in the gra.s.s, and every small animal scrabbling in the bushes.

And, when Harriet and Sara and Rhiannah began to talk, each word carried to me crisp and clear. For once I was grateful for my heightened senses. I knew that Charlotte and her friends would find my powers ”freakish”, but they were nowhere around. I enjoyed my new senses. They were useful.

'I can't wait 'til we can dump all of this c.r.a.p,' Harriet said. 'Why do we have to go through this show of bringing all this stuff every time? It's not like we need need boots or walkie-talkies.' boots or walkie-talkies.'

'Harriet, you know Ms Hindmarsh would never let us out without all this stuff,' said Rhiannah. 'Remember when I forgot my boots the other night? I was petrified she'd catch us coming back and see my bare feet and have a go at me about, you know, the stuff she always has a go at me about. Safety and the reputation of the school and blah blah blah. It's okay. We can dump it soon.'