The trees grew close to the walkway, and she was amazed at their height. There was a stillness in them that spoke to her, a timelessness that hinted at endurance and longevity. Her lifetime made up only a few centimetres of their girth, and they would remain long after she died. There was something reassuring about that.
Leon paused to point out a flowering sassafras tree almost within reach. Miki could smell the white bellflowers, like daphne or jasmine, surprisingly sweet. She followed Leon along the walkway as it traversed layers of forest. Ahead, she could see flashes of silver between trees, hints of light reflecting from the river. Slowly, she gained enough confidence to lean over the edge and peer down to the forest floor, so far below, and then up the straight trunks into the canopy, so much closer now but still unattainable.
The final elevated viewing platform swayed as Miki stepped onto it. The movement was only slight but the way it bounced took her breath away, and made her pause and grasp the handrail, trying to block out the dizzying height. They were now walking towards the dark river that swept in a wide arc below. Further away, she could see where two rivers joined to form this broad torrent.
She stood at the end of everything, suspended over nothing but air, looking out across the landscape to smudges of cloud sliding along contours. Even way up here she could hear the roar of the water. It felt like she was on the edge of something much larger than herself. The river brought movement and scale. She could see into its black depths. She wanted to know what was higher up, where the landscape had collected all of this water. What was up in those misty hills? What would it be like to walk there, to struggle through the undergrowth, then climb and climb through the present and the past, to understand what the river and the world were made of?
In some ways, standing on the cantilevered platform was like standing in the shop looking out, because what she could see was only the beginning of things. But here she felt excited and free, full of sky and air and river and hope.
‘Have you been up there?’ she asked Leon, pointing to the mountains beyond the river.
‘No, but people do go. You drive deeper into the forest, and from there you can walk into the mountains. It’s wild and exposed and windy and dangerous, but I’ve heard it’s also amazingly beautiful. I’d like to do it one day.’
Miki stood in the air above the river and forest and realised how much she liked the water and trees together. She thought of the forest, steady and patient. And the river passing through, strong and deep, carrying secrets beneath its dark skin. River and forest belonged together, needed each other, and were one. Even at this grand scale, everything was interconnected.
She smiled. The key and her deception had been discovered, but she was still out here, connected with trees and sky, reaching for life. This was the way of the world.
PART IV
Understorey
33
Some days you have energy for dealing with other people’s problems, and some days you don’t. This is what Leon thought as he pulled up at home after work and saw Max sitting on his front doorstep with Bonnie sprawled in his lap. The issue wasn’t the fact the boy was there—it was the look on his face that made Leon feel weary: that particular lopsided, fragile look kids get when they’re about to cry.
Leon had had a long day. He’d left for the park early that morning to meet a minibus-load of volunteers, then spent seven hours organising them into jobs and making sure they enjoyed their work and felt useful. It had been a tough call because of their varying ages and fitness. A few had been young and able uni students on holidays, wanting to do something worthwhile, but the rest had been either overweight or old and arthritic, and one was so ancient that Grandpa might have been more efficient. Leon had given the young people spades and barrows while designating lighter tasks to the oldies. They were all supposed to have brought their own food, but he knew from experience that volunteers came with different levels of preparation. Luckily he’d dropped in at Miki’s this morning and stocked up on lollies and chocolate. And they’d been fortunate with the weather today. Up in the mountains, even in spring, wind could whisk in a cold front in minutes. Bad weather had been forecast, but the rain held off most of the day, and the views had been excellent—to the east, the lowlands on the coast and the steely blue sea; to the west, the rumpled blanket of mountains. In the end they’d completed a reasonable amount of work before the weather came in: big purple clouds rising up from the ocean and marching over the mountains.
Now Leon was tired and hanging out for a shower, and he didn’t feel up to dealing with Max. But there was no dodging it. The kid looked upset. Leon remembered the discussion he’d had with Miki last week. Maybe Max had been caught stealing.
‘You okay?’ Leon asked, approaching the boy and the dog. He hoped Bonnie had been working her magic. Dogs were good at mood-reading; they seemed to know when you needed company.
Max’s voice wobbled. ‘Yeah, fine.’
Obviously not fine but trying hard to be brave. ‘Do you want to come in?’ Leon glanced at the ominous clouds; it could rain any time.
Max shook his head.
‘How about I bring some food out then?’
‘Nah. I’ve had afternoon tea.’
‘Want to kick a footy?’ They hadn’t kicked balls in a while.
‘Yeah, okay.’
Leon grabbed a footy from the laundry, and they knocked it around out the back. Bonnie kept trying to run off with it, and Leon tried to distract her with her own mangled ball, firing kicks at Max in between. It wasn’t much fun. Max was quiet, even when Leon asked questions.
‘How was your day?’
‘Good.’
‘Anything interesting?’
‘Nah.’
‘Any problems at school?’
‘Nup.’
Something was bothering the kid, but he wasn’t ready to talk. Leon tried to remember how his mum had wrangled things out of him when he was young. Or maybe she hadn’t; maybe, like Max, he’d kept everything tied up inside. Leon tried biscuits and hot chocolate, hoping to draw the boy out, but Max ate in silence. In the end, Leon decided simply to wait. If the volcano was rumbling, eventually it would erupt.
They sat on the back doorstep, and Bonnie snuggled up beside Max. The boy’s hand rested on the dog’s head as he stared up towards the bush beyond the fence where the trees were tossing wildly in the wind. He looked hollow and gaunt.
Leon was worried. ‘Are you sure everything’s okay? You won’t get in trouble if you tell me. I’m here to help.’
Max said nothing.
Leon could hear wind scooping under the eaves. A door banging somewhere. Shane’s shed rattling. ‘Is anyone hassling you?’ he probed. ‘Anyone hurting you? Is it a friend?’
Max shook his head.
‘I saw Miki the other day,’ Leon continued carefully. ‘She said someone’s been taking stuff from the shop.’
Their eyes clashed and Max’s face blanched. He glanced away and his shoulders slumped as he murmured something.
‘What did you say?’ Leon asked.
‘Jaden made me do it.’
‘That big boy who hangs out with you sometimes?’
‘Yeah, him. He’s not my friend. I hate him.’
They were getting somewhere at last. ‘What’s been going on? Has he been hitting you?’
A small nod.
‘Has he been making you take things from the shop?’
Max’s eyes, large with fear, flew to Leon’s face. He looked as if he might jump up and run.
‘Don’t panic.’ Leon said. ‘Miki and I want to help. It’s not like you to steal. You’re a good kid.’
But the boy was still cowering.
‘How long has it been going on?’ Leon asked. ‘This stuff with Jaden.’
‘A while.’ Max kept his eyes averted. He seemed so small, so closed in on himself.
‘Did something happen today?’ Leon asked gently. ‘Can you tell me?’
A long pause, then a
nother incoherent mumble.
‘What was that?’
‘I took some beer to school.’
‘For Jaden?’
A nod.
‘Did he drink it?’
‘He said he was going to save it till he got home,’ Max blurted. ‘He said he was going to tell his mum I made him do it.’
Leon put a hand on the boy’s skinny shoulder. ‘His mum won’t believe that. As if a small kid like you could make a big kid drink beer!’
Max started crying. ‘But I got it for him.’
Leon didn’t have to ask where Max had got the beer—Shane was rarely without one in his hand. ‘Okay,’ Leon said. ‘What’s Jaden been doing to you? Tell me everything.’
It all came out then, the boy clinging to Bonnie while he talked. Smoking. Stealing. Bullying. The dog helped him. He stroked her head as she lay draped over his lap in her favourite position.
It was all starting to make sense to Leon. Max taking things from the shop. Not wanting to go to the footy. Jaden letting Bonnie out after the semifinal. The bullying must have been going on for weeks, and Leon felt terrible—why hadn’t he noticed? It appalled him that Miki was the only one who’d suspected. From the small world of her shop, she had been far more aware than he, who was the boy’s next-door neighbour and supposedly his friend. Leon had been so caught up in his own troubles, he hadn’t actually been looking. He’d let the kid down. It was pitiful.
In a show of support, he patted the boy’s leg, but Max winced. Why was he so sore? ‘Can you show me?’ Leon asked.
Reluctantly Max tugged up the leg of his trousers. Purple bruises on his shins.
‘Jaden did this to you?’
Max cast down his eyes and nodded.
‘Okay.’ Leon stood up. ‘We have to do something about this. We have to tell your mum.’
Max grabbed Leon’s arm and shook his head violently. ‘No, don’t. She’ll kill me.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll do the talking. Jaden shouldn’t be doing this to you.’
‘Please don’t tell her,’ Max begged.
‘You should come with me. Mums are good with this stuff. She’ll be on your side.’
Max just kept patting the dog’s head, soothing himself.
‘We have to tell her,’ Leon said. ‘It’s the only way to make things better. And schools have bullying policies—they’ll stop all this crap with Jaden.’
Max curled around the dog and shut down. Clearly, he was too terrified to tell his mum. That was why he’d come to Leon.
‘Wait here then while I go,’ Leon said. ‘You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.’
Max didn’t look up. He had gone into a cocoon.
‘Promise me you’ll stay put. You can go inside if you want. Watch some TV. I won’t be long, then this will be over. Everything will be fine. Bonnie will look after you.’ That was a dog’s job: to be with whoever needed them.
Leon hurried next door. It probably wasn’t a good time—he could hear Suzie shouting somewhere inside the house. But this wouldn’t wait. He knocked.
Wendy came out looking hassled, Suzie at her heels, still yelling.
‘Sorry,’ Leon said over the din. ‘We have to talk about Max. He’s just told me some things you should know.’
Wendy frowned and stared at him for a moment, then turned to Suzie and told her to shut up. Surprisingly, Suzie went quiet—she must have sensed something weighty in her mum’s voice. ‘Come in,’ Wendy said to Leon. ‘Don’t look at the mess.’
Leon followed her down the hallway, which was wall-to-wall junk. The kitchen was a shambles: dirty dishes, overflowing bin, filthy windows, used pots on the stove.
‘We had a hard weekend,’ Wendy said. ‘Shane went on a bender.’ As if this explained everything. ‘He’s not home yet. He’s got a long way to drive. The new logging site is miles away.’
She put the kettle on and gave Suzie a bag of chips while Leon talked. He recounted everything Max had told him: the stealing, the cigarettes, the bruises, the escaped dog and the beer. Wendy listened, pale-faced and tense. Her lips compressed when he mentioned Jaden. ‘That explains a lot,’ she said. ‘Where’s Max now?’
‘At my place. He’s waiting for us.’
‘Let’s go then.’ She grabbed Suzie’s hand and led the way out the front door.
But Max wasn’t in the yard; the back doorstep was empty. Leon checked inside the house, but Max wasn’t there.
Wendy’s face was haggard when Leon told her the boy was gone. ‘I’ll phone some friends and find out if anyone’s seen him,’ she said. ‘Then we’ll call the police.’
The irony wasn’t lost on Leon. The policeman’s son was the bully.
34
Miki was wiping the counter when she saw Max run past. He was puffing and red-faced, possibly crying. Was someone chasing him?
She hurried to the door and leaned out into the street. There he was, dashing down past the visitor centre, veering left at the bottom of the hill.
‘What are you doing?’ Kurt barked from the back of the shop.
‘Max just ran past and he looked upset. I’m going to see if I can catch him.’
‘No, you won’t. Stay here.’
For the first time, Miki ignored his command and took off down the hill. At the T-intersection beyond the last shops, she peered anxiously along the road towards the forest. No sign of Max. Maybe he’d taken a side street.
Then she saw him: a small figure stumbling along the verge. Where was he going? It was wild out here and he needed to be home. Since mid-afternoon the weather had been building, clouds muscling against the horizon, the sky darkening.
She hastened back to the shop where Kurt was waiting in the doorway, steel-faced, arms folded. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘Max is in trouble. I should let his family know that I’ve seen him.’
Kurt scowled. ‘It’s none of our business. Let them sort it themselves.’
But Miki knew it wasn’t right to do nothing, and she felt a wave of strength rising: the courage to stand up to Kurt. ‘He’s a nice boy,’ she said. ‘I’ll run up and tell his mother, then I’ll be back.’
Kurt’s frown was as threatening as the approaching storm. ‘No, you won’t. You’ll stay here.’ He reached out a paw to grab her, but Miki dodged it, heart thudding.
‘Please, Kurt, it won’t take long.’
‘Don’t you go,’ he growled.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’
The heat of his glare stabbed her skin as she raced across the road and up the footpath. Glancing back, she saw his thunderhead frown, then ahead the thunderhead clouds over the mountains.
At the highway, she paused to let cars pass. Then she crossed the road and ran along a side street, turning the corner and puffing uphill past Robbo’s log truck to Max’s house, next door to Leon’s. She knew where to go from her night-time walks.
Everyone was on the doorstep: Wendy and Shane, Leon, Suzie hanging on to her doll. Miki felt their eyes on her, full of questions. Wendy’s face was riven with angst, and Miki was sorry for her—she had a look of smallness about her.
‘I saw Max go along the road to the forest,’ Miki puffed. ‘He ran past the shop and I followed but I couldn’t catch him.’
Wendy turned to Shane, who already had his car keys out. Miki saw her put a hand on her husband’s arm. ‘Don’t be angry when you find him, Shane. Just bring him back home.’
Shane frowned and nodded gently at his wife. It was the first time Miki had seen softness between them. ‘It’s okay, love. I’ll leave the telling off to you. But I’ll tan Jaden’s arse when I see him, and I’ll give Fergus a piece of my mind. Bloody copper’s kid, bullying my son. We’ll see about that.’
‘I can come too,’ Leon said. ‘Two sets of eyes are better than one.’
Miki could tell by the tussle that worked on Shane’s face that this offer was unexpected. He tightened, then relaxed and exhaled. ‘Sure, mate. I could use a hand.
We’ll need torches and wet-weather gear. There’s a storm coming.’
Wendy rushed inside and came out with packets of chips and chocolate, a bag of spare clothes. ‘In case he gets wet,’ she said, thrusting everything at her husband.
Shane shoved the food into the bag then held Wendy’s gaze for a moment before leaning in to kiss her cheek. ‘No worries, love. We’ll make sure he stays dry.’
The wind tore at the men as they strode to Shane’s ute—Miki saw the way it pressed their trousers to their legs and flung their hair about. They took off in a cloud of diesel fumes, the engine roaring while Shane revved down the street. When they were gone, the hollow sound of the wind seemed to intensify, butting against the house and moaning under the eaves. Wendy had sagged a little. She lit a cigarette then laid an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and stroked the child’s hair, a look of immense devotion on her face. Miki couldn’t remember snuggling with her mother like that. There had never been much physical affection at home; love had been reserved for God. It was sad. This kind of intimacy looked so comfortable.
‘I’d better call the police and let them know you’ve seen Max,’ Wendy said. ‘I rang them just before to say he was missing.’
‘I’m sure you’ll find him now,’ Miki reassured. She imagined the men overtaking Max on the road, Leon jumping out and jogging back to him, leading the boy to the car.
Wendy took a drag on her cigarette, cheeks hollowing as she sucked in the smoke. There was something desperate about it, as if she needed the nicotine to help stop the shaking of her hands and maybe also her heart. Her free hand kept stroking Suzie’s mop of dark hair. ‘Thanks for coming.’ Her eyes connected meaningfully with Miki’s. ‘That can’t have been easy with Kurt.’
Miki thought of her brother in the shop. ‘I have to get back.’
Wendy shook her head. ‘He’s like Jaden, love … only bigger. Just you watch out. If you ever need help, you know where to find me.’
As Miki passed Robbo’s log truck on her way down the hill, she wished she could climb into the cab and drive away. A whole world of roads was waiting out there, a universe of choices and decisions. But the only way to go right now was back.
The Orchardist's Daughter Page 27
