almost
merged with the thick bushland beyond them. There was nothing except the long driveway
she was standing on to connect them with the rest of the world.
In this case, the rest of the world meant a tiny beach town called Forgotten Bay.
‘Well.’ Mum put her hands on her hips. ‘We’ve certainly got our work cut out for
us.’
‘Right,’ said James, sarcastic as ever. ‘Home, sweet home. How do we get in?’
‘Um,’ said Dad. ‘I thought the caretaker was going to be here to meet us …’
‘The caretaker ?’ said James. ‘This place has a caretaker ?’ He looked around at the
missing floorboards in the wide veranda that circled the hotel. He looked at the
possum poo lying all over the old swing seat, and made a face of fake admiration.
‘Wow. Lucky us. Imagine what a dump this place would be without someone taking care of it.’
Amelia wished he’d shut up. But he was right. The hotel was a mess. Nothing like
the neat, friendly flat they’d had to sell back in the city.
Dad pulled out his mobile and grinned as though he hadn’t heard James at all. ‘I’ll
call Tom now. Let him know we’re here.’
James kicked at the gravel, and Amelia watched him, biting her lip.
It had been like this for a couple of months now: James being all rude and angry,
and even more sarcastic than usual, and Dad just letting it glide past him without
saying a word. Sometimes Amelia caught Dad shooting a look at Mum, and once she heard
Mum say, ‘That’s enough, James,’ in a voice so quiet and cool that she knew Mum was
furious. But apart from those clues … what had gone on at James’s school? No-one
would tell her. She had figured out that James wasn’t expelled, and wasn’t in trouble
with the police, and you would have thought that was a good thing.
You would have also thought that if James had just escaped trouble, he would have
been a bit less keen to keep looking for it, but no – ever since Whatever It Was
happened, James had been acting like he wanted to start a fight with the whole world.
‘You OK, cookie?’ Mum put an arm around her.
Amelia really wasn’t. She felt empty and miserable, but there wasn’t much point saying
so. She just nodded, and let Mum wrap her up in a hug.
‘No reception!’ Dad said, shaking his mobile and finally sounding less than a thousand
per cent excited.
‘Ha!’ a voice barked out so suddenly, and so close behind them, that Amelia jumped.
‘You won’t get any reception around here!’
An old man in a tatty, checked shirt was limping across the grass towards them. A
black patch covered one of his eyes, and an ancient black cap with the words ‘Forgotten
Bay’ embroidered on the front was pulled low on his forehead.
‘There’s a natural cave system that runs under the whole headland here,’ he went
on, grinning at them all so widely, Amelia saw gold teeth glinting at the back. ‘Don’t
really understand why, but something down there in the caves messes with electronics.
You’ll have a hard time tuning a radio, far less a TV, and you can forget about using
a mobile.’
‘Brilliant,’ said James. ‘No wonder it’s called Forgotten Bay.’
Amelia almost felt sorry for her brother. He was taking a university-level unit in
electronic engineering at school, and whenever he wasn’t chatting online to his friends
or rewriting the operating system on their computer, he was working on his engineering
course project. With no electronics here, James would have nothing.
Then Amelia realised it wasn’t James she should feel sorry for – if he couldn’t have
his gadgets, computers and constant superfast broadband, James wouldn’t suffer alone.
He’d make sure everyone else suffered along with him.
Tom turned to Dad. ‘Sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. I had some … business that
kept me.’
‘No worries!’ Dad bounced right back to cheerful again. ‘We’ve only been here long
enough to stretch our legs.’ He reached over to Tom and held
merged with the thick bushland beyond them. There was nothing except the long driveway
she was standing on to connect them with the rest of the world.
In this case, the rest of the world meant a tiny beach town called Forgotten Bay.
‘Well.’ Mum put her hands on her hips. ‘We’ve certainly got our work cut out for
us.’
‘Right,’ said James, sarcastic as ever. ‘Home, sweet home. How do we get in?’
‘Um,’ said Dad. ‘I thought the caretaker was going to be here to meet us …’
‘The caretaker ?’ said James. ‘This place has a caretaker ?’ He looked around at the
missing floorboards in the wide veranda that circled the hotel. He looked at the
possum poo lying all over the old swing seat, and made a face of fake admiration.
‘Wow. Lucky us. Imagine what a dump this place would be without someone taking care of it.’
Amelia wished he’d shut up. But he was right. The hotel was a mess. Nothing like
the neat, friendly flat they’d had to sell back in the city.
Dad pulled out his mobile and grinned as though he hadn’t heard James at all. ‘I’ll
call Tom now. Let him know we’re here.’
James kicked at the gravel, and Amelia watched him, biting her lip.
It had been like this for a couple of months now: James being all rude and angry,
and even more sarcastic than usual, and Dad just letting it glide past him without
saying a word. Sometimes Amelia caught Dad shooting a look at Mum, and once she heard
Mum say, ‘That’s enough, James,’ in a voice so quiet and cool that she knew Mum was
furious. But apart from those clues … what had gone on at James’s school? No-one
would tell her. She had figured out that James wasn’t expelled, and wasn’t in trouble
with the police, and you would have thought that was a good thing.
You would have also thought that if James had just escaped trouble, he would have
been a bit less keen to keep looking for it, but no – ever since Whatever It Was
happened, James had been acting like he wanted to start a fight with the whole world.
‘You OK, cookie?’ Mum put an arm around her.
Amelia really wasn’t. She felt empty and miserable, but there wasn’t much point saying
so. She just nodded, and let Mum wrap her up in a hug.
‘No reception!’ Dad said, shaking his mobile and finally sounding less than a thousand
per cent excited.
‘Ha!’ a voice barked out so suddenly, and so close behind them, that Amelia jumped.
‘You won’t get any reception around here!’
An old man in a tatty, checked shirt was limping across the grass towards them. A
black patch covered one of his eyes, and an ancient black cap with the words ‘Forgotten
Bay’ embroidered on the front was pulled low on his forehead.
‘There’s a natural cave system that runs under the whole headland here,’ he went
on, grinning at them all so widely, Amelia saw gold teeth glinting at the back. ‘Don’t
really understand why, but something down there in the caves messes with electronics.
You’ll have a hard time tuning a radio, far less a TV, and you can forget about using
a mobile.’
‘Brilliant,’ said James. ‘No wonder it’s called Forgotten Bay.’
Amelia almost felt sorry for her brother. He was taking a university-level unit in
electronic engineering at school, and whenever he wasn’t chatting online to his friends
or rewriting the operating system on their computer, he was working on his engineering
course project. With no electronics here, James would have nothing.
Then Amelia realised it wasn’t James she should feel sorry for – if he couldn’t have
his gadgets, computers and constant superfast broadband, James wouldn’t suffer alone.
He’d make sure everyone else suffered along with him.
Tom turned to Dad. ‘Sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. I had some … business that
kept me.’
‘No worries!’ Dad bounced right back to cheerful again. ‘We’ve only been here long
enough to stretch our legs.’ He reached over to Tom and held
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