November (16 page)

Authors: Gabrielle Lord

BOOK: November

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The koala mascot suit was huge on me. I collapsed my knees and hung my head limply, so that the costume looked lifeless and empty again.

Then I froze.

Maybe, just maybe, I could fool them. In the position I was in, I could just see out with one eye, through a mesh section in the head.

I held my breath when I heard a voice. If I could have, I would have stopped my heart beating just for those few moments. To me it sounded like it was almost thumping louder than the roars of the crowds outside.

‘Another change room,’ a voice called. ‘I’ll check it.’

Footsteps approached. I saw part of the guy’s uniform. I was like a statue as he walked past me, not daring to breathe.

The footsteps moved away.

‘Check the showers!’ a woman shouted out.

I heard the swing of the shower doors, as the cubicles were checked.

‘Shower area clear. No-one here’.

I almost slumped further with relief as the officer left the room.

‘Hey, check out that koala mascot,’ called the woman who had shouted out orders earlier. ‘I always wanted to wear one of those things!’

‘Grow up!’ the guy said, mockingly. ‘Have you secured the rest of the corridor?’

‘No, seriously,’ she persisted. ‘I’m going to try it on. Send someone else in and I’ll give them a fright!’

My body was shaking uncontrollably now. I shut my eyes tight, trying to decide what to do. Should I jump up and scare them? Take advantage of their surprise to gain a few seconds?

‘You’re not serious,’ said the other cop. ‘C’mon. Grow up. The boss won’t be impressed.’

Please
, I willed her,
listen to him!

All I could see was the dark blue fabric of the woman’s police overalls blocking what little vision I had. Any minute now, she’d grab the headpiece. I readied myself to move suddenly and swiftly. Her arms reached out to lift it.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ spat a stern voice. ‘You’re supposed to be searching for a dangerous psychopath, not playing dress-ups!’

My heart stopped.

‘Yes, Sergeant!’

The policewoman swiftly left the room and rejoined her partner. The voices slowly receded. The last remark I could hear was, ‘I told you so.’

At those words, I slumped with relief, still shaking.

The voices had faded and the thumping boots moved away. I’d been
saved
by the cop in charge.

Or so I thought.

Footsteps approached once more.

Again, I turned to stone. Surely my luck had run out.

‘Nothing in here,’ called a voice. ‘Apart from a koala bear.’

‘Koalas aren’t
bears
,’ someone corrected him.

‘So what are they? Sure looks like a bear to me.’

Please, take your stupid argument elsewhere
, I silently begged.

Finally, they left and everything was quiet. I was sweating, drenched inside the koala suit. A long time passed before I dared to move.

I lifted off the koala head, and sucked in some fresh air.

The rumble from the crowd started returning, like they’d decided to carry on with the game, in spite of the disruption—me. That meant I had until half-time to get out of here.

I climbed out of the suit and grabbed my backpack off the wall. I hoped the visiting team didn’t mind me pinching a jersey, scarf and beanie, but I had to do whatever I could to get out.

With the beanie jammed down over my ears, and the scarf swinging over my jersey, I shoved my hands in my pockets and ambled past the security guards who were supposed to be guarding the change room wings. It was surprisingly easy to do, because they were both glued to the television monitor, on the wall, broadcasting the game.

On my right, a group of cops were huddled round a couple of guys about my age, demanding identification. On my left were two cops, watching the entrance. I spotted half a hotdog in a rubbish bin nearby, and quickly picked it up. I took a big, convincing bite out of it as I strolled past them.

As soon as I made it out of the stadium and saw that I was in the clear, I spat out the gross, cold mouthful of hotdog, and grinned.

I’d made it out.

30 NOVEMBER

32 days to go …

I went to check my messages and missed calls, but was interrupted by an incoming call from Boges.

‘Cal, I only have a second to talk, but I just wanted to tell you that your uncle really wants to speak to you. Can you call him?’

‘What about?’

‘I have to go, sorry.’

‘Didn’t you see me on the news last night? I was at the big game,’ I joked.

‘Dude, you’re always on TV.’ I could hear the school buzzer going off in the background. ‘I’ll call you later,’ said Boges, before abruptly hanging up.

That was weird, I thought to myself, but Boges was probably just busy and being cautious about contacting me after his run-in with the cops.

I wasn’t sure about speaking to Rafe, but I figured I had nothing to lose by ringing him. Seeing the newspaper clipping of his bizarre interview after the abduction had turned him into even more of a mystery to me.

‘Hello, Rafe speaking,’ he answered on the third ring.

‘It’s Cal.’

‘I was hoping you’d call,’ he said, sounding sincerely pleased. ‘Thank you.’

‘What did you want to talk about?’

‘This is long overdue, I think. I—’ Rafe sounded nervous. He had never been much of a talker, so I knew this wasn’t going to be easy for him. Whatever it was. ‘I saw you stop the sniper at the chapel,’ he said. ‘I know you saved me from a bullet. The cops might think otherwise, but I know what I saw, and I saw my nephew coming to my rescue.’

‘Have you told the cops that?’

‘Of course. However, they were unconvinced. So many of the guests claimed that you were the one with the weapon. Too many. They denied seeing another armed man. I was the only witness who claimed otherwise.’

‘What about Mum? Or Gabbi?’

‘They didn’t see anything, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘So, thank you, Cal.’

‘I’ve only ever wanted to protect my family,’ I said, for what felt like the billionth time.

‘I also wanted to speak to you about … my behaviour, earlier this year. I seem to have lost touch with people as I’ve grown older. Especially with young people. I don’t want you to make any mistakes about me. Or where I’m coming from.’

‘I’m listening.’

He took a deep breath and I waited for him to continue.

‘I felt very responsible, Cal, after your dad was … was no longer with us. I felt it was my responsibility to look after my brother’s family. You guys. I wanted to take it all on myself—not just the matters relating to the estate, but everything. I didn’t want any of you suffering any more. Especially your mother. She’s experienced far too much tragedy for one person.’

Automatically I started reading into his words. He didn’t want us suffering any more? Did he mean after the abduction?

‘I realise now that I was foolish to think I could handle it alone. I should have included you more—after all, you turned sixteen this year. We should have been allies.’

‘What about the package—’ I began to say, but he continued.

‘I intercepted that package because I didn’t
want you worrying about those drawings. Tom told me about his discovery in Ireland … and how dangerous it was. The more I learned about it, the more I realised the extent of the danger you were in.’

‘I don’t understand,’ I said. I was shocked. Rafe knew about everything? ‘Are you serious? You’ve known about this all along? Why haven’t you helped me? I’ve been out on my own for eleven months! I’ve been fighting for my life, my freedom, my sanity! And you could have helped me! Why did you tell the police I shot you? Why did you tell them I attacked my sister? Why would you do that?’

‘Take it easy, Cal. Just hear me out. I didn’t lie about the attack in Richmond. At the time I believed you shot me.’

‘At the time? Does that mean you don’t think that any more?’

‘I don’t know. I was never one hundred percent certain, but then the police found your
fingerprints
on my gun.’

‘Haven’t we been over this before? I touched the gun at your house when I was looking for the drawings. What did you have the gun for anyway?’

‘Because I wanted to protect you. I knew danger was brewing.’

‘But you did the opposite. You turned your back on me. And why would I want to shoot my uncle? What reason did you tell yourself?’

‘Look, Cal, I understand you now know about Samuel.’

‘What does he have to do with it?’

‘The abduction damaged the family in ways you cannot imagine. We were so lucky to find you again, but no-one really knew what had happened to you. Or what the kidnappers had put you through. Hours had passed between the time you went missing and the time you were found. I guess we were always hoping you’d turn out OK, but we feared there’d be scars that would surface later in life.’

‘And that one day I’d go on a shooting rampage and try to kill my family?’

‘Cal,’ he said, like he was shaking his head. ‘One can never predict how the mind will cope with trauma.’

‘So you figured I’d flipped out, from being abandoned as a child, then you go ahead and let history repeat itself.’

‘Can’t you see that you’ve been safer on the run? I know it hasn’t been easy, but if you were here with us, you’d be like a sitting duck. The people we are up against are implacable—they will stop at nothing. You are the heir to the
Ormond Singularity. You’re safest in hiding, or behind bars, believe me.’

As much as I hated what he was saying, his words made sense to me. The bad guys had tracked me down easily when I was at home. They’d tracked me down when I was with my other family members, like Great-uncle Bartholomew and Great-aunt Millicent.

‘So is it true?’ Rafe asked.

‘Is what true?’

‘Samuel? He’s alive? Please don’t say so unless you’ve seen him in the flesh for yourself. Have you?’

‘He’s alive. I have seen him.’

Rafe let out a strange gulping sound, like he was trying to hold back tears.

‘Every day,’ he said, ‘I have prayed it would happen.’

‘Does Mum know anything about Dad’s discovery?’ I asked, quickly.

‘She’s so fragile, Cal,’ said Rafe, slowly. ‘I’ve done everything possible to keep it from her. It’d be far too risky if she got involved. But in another month, the danger will be over. Then I can explain everything to her. Then you can come home and together we’ll clear your name and get our lives back. I promise.’

I was still feeling dazed from my conversation with my uncle when my phone started beeping again—reminding me I had voicemail messages to check. I also had four text messages from Winter, from last night and this morning.

I stretched my legs out on the bench, and began reading.

cal! call me back!