Cold Skin (15 page)

‘I’ll just be a minute with the wife.’

I watch him walk away,

the words of Mr Carter, last night,

echoing in my head.

If you don’t look at what’s in front of you,

you get overrun from behind.

Larry

When I get home early

Mum is in the kitchen, crying.

I stand at the door

like a prize dill

wondering what to do next.

Mum gets up and puts the kettle on.

‘We spent years waiting for your father.’

She leans against the bench,

her eyes wide and unblinking,

her shoulders bowed.

‘And now we’re going do it all again!’

She reaches for the cups,

her hands shaking.

I rush to her side

and take them from her,

placing them on the table.

‘Steady on, Mum.

We’ve only got one set of crockery, you know.’

When I’m forced to write an essay,

it’s easy enough to fill a page

with some bullshit story.

And, unlike my brother,

I used homework as an excuse

for getting out of just about everything–

the washing up,

the wood-splitting,

fishing for dinner.

That can’t keep happening.

Not if the old man gets put away.

Bloody hell.

He deserves a medal,

not jail.

I make the tea for Mum

and we sit together for a while,

not saying much,

listening to the silence

without the old bastard around.

And that’s when it hits me.

Dad’s at the police station

and I should be there too.

Eddie

Larry and me sit on the fence

outside the police station.

Dad walks out beside Sergeant Grainger.

He wraps his big muscly arms

around me and squeezes.

‘I’m not proud, Eddie.

There’s nothing decent in what I did.

But I couldn’t stand by, useless.

Not this time.’

There’ll be lots of time to tell him

I’ve left school.

I’m heading down the mine.

It’s good enough for Mr O’Connor

and all the other blokes in town.

Maybe Dad wanted to protect us,

but it’s him that was scared, not me.

It’s the same underground as above.

There’s people you trust,

and others you don’t.

Someone in the family has to work

while he’s in prison.

Dad looks at Larry and offers his hand.

‘Don’t drink as much as me, son.’

Larry shakes his head and says,

‘Maybe I’ll get a trade, Dad.

Something useful. Like a builder.’

Larry winks at me,

‘We’ll need an extra room on the old dump.

The way Eddie’s going,

you might have grandkids soon.’

Dad smiles,

‘Let’s hope they don’t turn out like you then.’

He turns and walks back inside.

Sergeant Grainger closes the door behind him.

Eddie

Sally and me walk

the long way back to her house.

Her parents let her stay out late,

just for tonight.

We walk down Main Street,

past
The Guardian

where Mr Carter is sitting outside

sipping his tea.

‘I’m just admiring the quiet of this street

when it rains softly.’

He smiles as he sees us holding hands.

‘Just imagine I’m not even here.

And Eddie, tomorrow,

if you have time,

I owe you a milkshake.’

I nod in answer as he wishes us a goodnight.

We stop at the end of Sally’s street

so we can kiss longer,

sure her parents are still awake,

waiting for her.

I reach into my pocket

and pull out the necklace.

It shines in the streetlight

as Sally clasps it around her neck.

‘I found it ages ago,

in a field beside the tracks.’

She touches the locket quickly,

then puts her hands on her hips,

‘It’s second-hand?

Someone’s cast-off!’

She pretends to pull it off

and throw it over her shoulder.

‘Is this what you think of me?’

I stammer, ‘Sally?’

She puts her arms around my neck and laughs.

‘I’m joking, you boofhead.

It’s beautiful.

And now it’s mine.’

We walk down her street

and kiss again at her gate.

Tomorrow is my first day down the mine,

but I can’t go home yet.

So I walk to Taylors Bend

and sit in the grass

with the light rain brushing my skin.

This is the place where Colleen sat

the day I dive-bombed the beach.

That’s how I’m going to remember her,

laughing and waving

at big old Eddie

acting the fool.

Also by Steven Herrick

By the river

Life for Harry means swimming in Pearce Swamp, eating
chunks of watermelon with his brother and his dad, surviving
schoolyard battles, and racing through butterflies in Cowpers
Paddock. In his town there’s Linda, who brings him the
sweetest-ever orange cake, and Johnny, whose lightning fists
draw blood in a blur, and there’s a mystery that Harry needs to
solve before he can find a way out . . .

By the river
is an intense story about feeling the undercurrents,
finding solid ground and knowing when to jump.

Honour Book, 2005 Children’s Book Council of Australia
Book of the Year awards for older readers
Winner, 2005 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards,
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature

Lonesome Howl

Jake’s dad saw the wolf, before Jake was born. They say
wolves don’t live in this country, yet in the night
Jake hears it howling, long and lonely.
When Jake and Lucy hike to Sheldon Mountain in
search of the wolf, Jake is out to prove his father right
or wrong; Lucy is escaping her father’s cruelty. Both are
tested – physically, emotionally, spiritually – but what they
find on that dangerous, dark mountain surprises them both.

Lonesome Howl
is a taut and tender thriller; a gripping blend
of physical adventure, family drama, love story and
journey of self-discovery.

Notable Book in the 2007 CBCA Book of the Year awards