“Come on in, then. No need to freeze if you don’t have to.”
I followed him in. “Esmeralda wants me to try and track down where the old man comes from.”
“How, exactly?”
“With magic.”
“Okay,” Danny said, as if he understood, which, of course, he didn’t. “What kind of magic?”
“I can smell him. She wants me to follow his trail.”
His phone rang. He shrugged in half apology, pulled it out. “This friend I better answer,” he said to me before putting the phone to his ear. “Hi, Sondra. Uh-huh. Oh, sure, me, too.” He went into his room and shut the door.
I wondered what it was like for your friends and family to be able to get in touch with you whenever they wanted. What it was like to have so many friends that your phone rang several times a day. Strange to think of. Did Danny carry his phone with him wherever he went? Into the dunny even? Did everyone with mobile phones do that? Out bush some people had mobiles, but they hardly ever worked. You had to be in one of the big towns before there was any signal.
Fifteen minutes later Danny came back out with a large piece of paper in his hand. He didn’t say anything about the phone call. I wondered who Sondra was. How many friends did Danny have? “Okay, you’ll need clothes. Not to mention shoes.”
“Oh, yeah.” I felt like a der-brain for not having thought of it.
He put the paper on the floor and knelt beside it, holding it in place. “Put your foot on this.” I did and he pushed the pen around my left foot, his hand brushing past my ankle. “Next foot.” I switched feet. The ghost sensation of his skin on mine lingered. He traced around my right foot, his inner wrist touching the arch of my foot, my ankle. I fought to keep my blush down. “Now,” he said, looking at me, completely unaffected. “What else are you going to need?”
“Um,” I said, trying to focus my brain on something other than his hands against my feet. “Socks. I’ll need socks.”
He nodded. “Socks, shoes, winter coat, a hat, gloves. Shirts, jeans.” He wrote them down beside the outline of my feet, then held his hand out palm first. “Put your hand against mine.”
I did. His hands were warm and dry. Smooth. I felt my cheeks grow hot again. My hand was only a little bigger than his palm.
“Okay. Itty-bitty hands. I’ll get you a scarf, too.” He wrote it down. “That should be enough.”
“Um, I’ll need knickers, too,” I said, embarrassed. Sarafina would not think much of my embarrassment. She didn’t approve of people being embarrassed by everyday things like knickers or menstruation or anything, really. You should only be embarrassed by your own bad behaviour, like lying. Yet she had lied to me about magic. I was going to die young because of her lies.
“What?” Danny asked, looking confused.
“Undies.”
“Undies?”
“You know? I’ll need a bra and—”
“Panties. Oh, yeah. I gotcha. Sorry.”
I told him my sizes. He had no idea if they would translate or not.
“What’s your favourite colour?”
Red, I thought, the browny-red of the ground up north. Then I realised that I was in New York City, so it wasn’t north at all. Dizzying.
I thought about Jay-Tee. Red-brown was the colour of the rust throughout her, the colour of the smell and taste that meant she didn’t have long to live. Neither of us did.
“Blue,” I said. “Deep blue.”
11
Fading
“It’s not moving,” Mere said. Jay-Tee hadn’t heard her
coming into the kitchen, but she managed not to jump. Unsurprisingly, Tom almost leapt halfway across the room. At least he managed not to knock anything over. Mere put the box she was carrying down on the counter.
“No,” Tom said, trying to sound calm. “It stopped about . . .”
He looked at the stove clock. “Ten minutes ago.”
“Thirteen,” Jay-Tee said, glancing down at the pad. She’d
been sitting on the kitchen floor, staring at the door ever since
Reason’d hung up, noting down changes, almost—but
I followed him in. “Esmeralda wants me to try and track down where the old man comes from.”
“How, exactly?”
“With magic.”
“Okay,” Danny said, as if he understood, which, of course, he didn’t. “What kind of magic?”
“I can smell him. She wants me to follow his trail.”
His phone rang. He shrugged in half apology, pulled it out. “This friend I better answer,” he said to me before putting the phone to his ear. “Hi, Sondra. Uh-huh. Oh, sure, me, too.” He went into his room and shut the door.
I wondered what it was like for your friends and family to be able to get in touch with you whenever they wanted. What it was like to have so many friends that your phone rang several times a day. Strange to think of. Did Danny carry his phone with him wherever he went? Into the dunny even? Did everyone with mobile phones do that? Out bush some people had mobiles, but they hardly ever worked. You had to be in one of the big towns before there was any signal.
Fifteen minutes later Danny came back out with a large piece of paper in his hand. He didn’t say anything about the phone call. I wondered who Sondra was. How many friends did Danny have? “Okay, you’ll need clothes. Not to mention shoes.”
“Oh, yeah.” I felt like a der-brain for not having thought of it.
He put the paper on the floor and knelt beside it, holding it in place. “Put your foot on this.” I did and he pushed the pen around my left foot, his hand brushing past my ankle. “Next foot.” I switched feet. The ghost sensation of his skin on mine lingered. He traced around my right foot, his inner wrist touching the arch of my foot, my ankle. I fought to keep my blush down. “Now,” he said, looking at me, completely unaffected. “What else are you going to need?”
“Um,” I said, trying to focus my brain on something other than his hands against my feet. “Socks. I’ll need socks.”
He nodded. “Socks, shoes, winter coat, a hat, gloves. Shirts, jeans.” He wrote them down beside the outline of my feet, then held his hand out palm first. “Put your hand against mine.”
I did. His hands were warm and dry. Smooth. I felt my cheeks grow hot again. My hand was only a little bigger than his palm.
“Okay. Itty-bitty hands. I’ll get you a scarf, too.” He wrote it down. “That should be enough.”
“Um, I’ll need knickers, too,” I said, embarrassed. Sarafina would not think much of my embarrassment. She didn’t approve of people being embarrassed by everyday things like knickers or menstruation or anything, really. You should only be embarrassed by your own bad behaviour, like lying. Yet she had lied to me about magic. I was going to die young because of her lies.
“What?” Danny asked, looking confused.
“Undies.”
“Undies?”
“You know? I’ll need a bra and—”
“Panties. Oh, yeah. I gotcha. Sorry.”
I told him my sizes. He had no idea if they would translate or not.
“What’s your favourite colour?”
Red, I thought, the browny-red of the ground up north. Then I realised that I was in New York City, so it wasn’t north at all. Dizzying.
I thought about Jay-Tee. Red-brown was the colour of the rust throughout her, the colour of the smell and taste that meant she didn’t have long to live. Neither of us did.
“Blue,” I said. “Deep blue.”
11
Fading
“It’s not moving,” Mere said. Jay-Tee hadn’t heard her
coming into the kitchen, but she managed not to jump. Unsurprisingly, Tom almost leapt halfway across the room. At least he managed not to knock anything over. Mere put the box she was carrying down on the counter.
“No,” Tom said, trying to sound calm. “It stopped about . . .”
He looked at the stove clock. “Ten minutes ago.”
“Thirteen,” Jay-Tee said, glancing down at the pad. She’d
been sitting on the kitchen floor, staring at the door ever since
Reason’d hung up, noting down changes, almost—but
Similar Books
