tell him –’
‘No!’ I shrill. ‘Don’t go.’
Not now, in the day when everyone can see you . Not that I know how I’m going to make Dennis disappear, even in the prelight. It’s just, I’m sure that if he doesn’t stay hidden until I work it out then everyone’s going to find out how predotly I am.
‘Nah, I think I better …’
I go to the bed and let the fruit spill out of my pockets all over the red-streaked sheets.
‘Look, I brought you stuff to eat.’
Dennis’s hand is on the doorknob but he’s sort of interested, I can tell.
‘What?’
‘Come and look.’
When he comes over to the bed I say, ‘See? Plenty. Raspberries, peaches, mangos, everything.
‘Is fruit all you’ve got? No toast, or Froothoops?’
Froothoops . I hear the word and straightaway think of Julius, without even knowing why.
‘If you don’t want this, I can bring you other food. There’s tamarillos. There’s rambutans.’
‘No thanks,’ says Dennis, turning for the door. ‘Yuck.’
‘Stay.’
My arm swings out to grab him. I have him circled in creation’s most awkward hug. If he wanted to, Dennis could bust out of it. But he doesn’t. He lets me keep talking.
‘You have to. Just until prelight.’
Dennis doesn’t seem to know what I mean by this, so I tell him, ‘Until night.’
Dennis steps away from me. His hand goes to the doorknob again.
‘Why should I?’
No-one can see you , I want to yell. Don’t you get that?
But instead I say, ‘There are animals out there, you know.’
Dennis looks sideways at me. ‘Like cats and dogs?’
‘Like lions and tigers. Bears as well.’
Dot’s animal creations are as gentle and kind as Dot herself, it says so in the Books. But Dennis doesn’t know that. And something tells me he wouldn’t like meeting a bear. I’m not sure how I know that. I just do. It’s the same way Julius would feel, I find myself thinking.
‘If you wait, I’ll take you to the fringe myself,’ I say quickly. ‘You’ll be fine.’
Dennis thinks about this. ‘Only as far as the trees?’
I look away then. I guess he wants me to say I’ll take him to the gate. But there’s a whole lot of problems with that. One, we’re not meant to go into the fringe. Two – and this is the big one – there should be no such thing as a gate in the first place.
So I decide to stall. I tell Dennis, ‘We’ll see.’
A gate should not exist. But then, neither should Dennis. And if Dot can create a real boy to test me, there’s no reason she couldn’t also create a gate. That’s absolutely, totally believable, right? As far as going into the fringe goes, I’m going to have to think that one through.
Dennis looks around the hut. Finally he says, ‘Okay. I guess I’ll stay.’
I smile.
A smile flickers to life on his face too.
‘But you can’t tell Nathe I was scared of bears.’
‘No way,’ I tell him. ‘Promise.’
14
W HEN F ERN FINDS me, it’s practically prelight again and I’m on the path outside our huts. Heat rises up from and the stone and there’s all these ants turning busy circles at my feet.
‘ There you are,’ she says. ‘You weren’t at the lagoon.’
Or the newfruit grove, or anywhere at the same time as everyone else. After I left Dennis’s hut the second time, I filled my picking bag in the newfruit grove. Early, before too many other people arrived.
The rest of the day, I kind of hung around the empty huts without going in or anything. Sometimes I walked to the orchard, other times just up and down the path. Going too far away from Dennis made me feel all precalm. I mean, what if he suddenly decided he didn’t care about bears anymore?
Behind Fern, the path is all lit up with torches rammed into the soil. The light from the flames turns Fern’s hair into these long, pale, gold wires. She’s switched on, charged up, the same way the actual air around us seems to be.
‘Everyone’s over at Gil’s,’ Fern comes right up close, her
‘No!’ I shrill. ‘Don’t go.’
Not now, in the day when everyone can see you . Not that I know how I’m going to make Dennis disappear, even in the prelight. It’s just, I’m sure that if he doesn’t stay hidden until I work it out then everyone’s going to find out how predotly I am.
‘Nah, I think I better …’
I go to the bed and let the fruit spill out of my pockets all over the red-streaked sheets.
‘Look, I brought you stuff to eat.’
Dennis’s hand is on the doorknob but he’s sort of interested, I can tell.
‘What?’
‘Come and look.’
When he comes over to the bed I say, ‘See? Plenty. Raspberries, peaches, mangos, everything.
‘Is fruit all you’ve got? No toast, or Froothoops?’
Froothoops . I hear the word and straightaway think of Julius, without even knowing why.
‘If you don’t want this, I can bring you other food. There’s tamarillos. There’s rambutans.’
‘No thanks,’ says Dennis, turning for the door. ‘Yuck.’
‘Stay.’
My arm swings out to grab him. I have him circled in creation’s most awkward hug. If he wanted to, Dennis could bust out of it. But he doesn’t. He lets me keep talking.
‘You have to. Just until prelight.’
Dennis doesn’t seem to know what I mean by this, so I tell him, ‘Until night.’
Dennis steps away from me. His hand goes to the doorknob again.
‘Why should I?’
No-one can see you , I want to yell. Don’t you get that?
But instead I say, ‘There are animals out there, you know.’
Dennis looks sideways at me. ‘Like cats and dogs?’
‘Like lions and tigers. Bears as well.’
Dot’s animal creations are as gentle and kind as Dot herself, it says so in the Books. But Dennis doesn’t know that. And something tells me he wouldn’t like meeting a bear. I’m not sure how I know that. I just do. It’s the same way Julius would feel, I find myself thinking.
‘If you wait, I’ll take you to the fringe myself,’ I say quickly. ‘You’ll be fine.’
Dennis thinks about this. ‘Only as far as the trees?’
I look away then. I guess he wants me to say I’ll take him to the gate. But there’s a whole lot of problems with that. One, we’re not meant to go into the fringe. Two – and this is the big one – there should be no such thing as a gate in the first place.
So I decide to stall. I tell Dennis, ‘We’ll see.’
A gate should not exist. But then, neither should Dennis. And if Dot can create a real boy to test me, there’s no reason she couldn’t also create a gate. That’s absolutely, totally believable, right? As far as going into the fringe goes, I’m going to have to think that one through.
Dennis looks around the hut. Finally he says, ‘Okay. I guess I’ll stay.’
I smile.
A smile flickers to life on his face too.
‘But you can’t tell Nathe I was scared of bears.’
‘No way,’ I tell him. ‘Promise.’
14
W HEN F ERN FINDS me, it’s practically prelight again and I’m on the path outside our huts. Heat rises up from and the stone and there’s all these ants turning busy circles at my feet.
‘ There you are,’ she says. ‘You weren’t at the lagoon.’
Or the newfruit grove, or anywhere at the same time as everyone else. After I left Dennis’s hut the second time, I filled my picking bag in the newfruit grove. Early, before too many other people arrived.
The rest of the day, I kind of hung around the empty huts without going in or anything. Sometimes I walked to the orchard, other times just up and down the path. Going too far away from Dennis made me feel all precalm. I mean, what if he suddenly decided he didn’t care about bears anymore?
Behind Fern, the path is all lit up with torches rammed into the soil. The light from the flames turns Fern’s hair into these long, pale, gold wires. She’s switched on, charged up, the same way the actual air around us seems to be.
‘Everyone’s over at Gil’s,’ Fern comes right up close, her
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