Cold Skin

by Steven Herrick

  Not if the old man gets put away.

  Bloody hell.

  He deserves a medal,

  not jail.

  I make the tea for Mum

  and we sit together for a while,

  not saying much,

  listening to the silence

  without the old bastard around.

  And that’s when it hits me.

  Dad’s at the police station

  and I should be there too.

  Eddie

  Larry and me sit on the fence

  outside the police station.

  Dad walks out beside Sergeant Grainger.

  He wraps his big muscly arms

  around me and squeezes.

  ‘I’m not proud, Eddie.

  There’s nothing decent in what I did.

  But I couldn’t stand by, useless.

  Not this time.’

  There’ll be lots of time to tell him

  I’ve left school.

  I’m heading down the mine.

  It’s good enough for Mr O’Connor

  and all the other blokes in town.

  Maybe Dad wanted to protect us,

  but it’s him that was scared, not me.

  It’s the same underground as above.

  There’s people you trust,

  and others you don’t.

  Someone in the family has to work

  while he’s in prison.

  Dad looks at Larry and offers his hand.

  ‘Don’t drink as much as me, son.’

  Larry shakes his head and says,

  ‘Maybe I’ll get a trade, Dad.

  Something useful. Like a builder.’

  Larry winks at me,

  ‘We’ll need an extra room on the old dump.

  The way Eddie’s going,

  you might have grandkids soon.’

  Dad smiles,

  ‘Let’s hope they don’t turn out like you then.’

  He turns and walks back inside.

  Sergeant Grainger closes the door behind him.

  Eddie

  Sally and me walk

  the long way back to her house.

  Her parents let her stay out late,

  just for tonight.

  We walk down Main Street,

  past The Guardian

  where Mr Carter is sitting outside

  sipping his tea.

  ‘I’m just admiring the quiet of this street

  when it rains softly.’

  He smiles as he sees us holding hands.

  ‘Just imagine I’m not even here.

  And Eddie, tomorrow,

  if you have time,

  I owe you a milkshake.’

  I nod in answer as he wishes us a goodnight.

  We stop at the end of Sally’s street

  so we can kiss longer,

  sure her parents are still awake,

  waiting for her.

  I reach into my pocket

  and pull out the necklace.

  It shines in the streetlight

  as Sally clasps it around her neck.

  ‘I found it ages ago,

  in a field beside the tracks.’

  She touches the locket quickly,

  then puts her hands on her hips,

  ‘It’s second-hand?

  Someone’s cast-off!’

  She pretends to pull it off

  and throw it over her shoulder.

  ‘Is this what you think of me?’

  I stammer, ‘Sally?’

  She puts her arms around my neck and laughs.

  ‘I’m joking, you boofhead.

  It’s beautiful.

  And now it’s mine.’

  We walk down her street

  and kiss again at her gate.

  Tomorrow is my first day down the mine,

  but I can’t go home yet.

  So I walk to Taylors Bend

  and sit in the grass

  with the light rain brushing my skin.

  This is the place where Colleen sat

  the day I dive-bombed the beach.

  That’s how I’m going to remember her,

  laughing and waving

  at big old Eddie

  acting the fool.

  Also by Steven Herrick

  By the river

  Life for Harry means swimming in Pearce Swamp, eating

  chunks of watermelon with his brother and his dad, surviving

  schoolyard battles, and racing through butterflies in Cowpers

  Paddock. In his town there’s Linda, who brings him the

  sweetest-ever orange cake, and Johnny, whose lightning fists

  draw blood in a blur, and there’s a mystery that Harry needs to

  solve before he can find a way out . . .

  By the river is an intense story about feeling the undercurrents,

  finding solid ground and knowing when to jump.

  Honour Book, 2005 Children’s Book Council of Australia

  Book of the Year awards for older readers

  Winner, 2005 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards,

  Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature

  Lonesome Howl

  Jake’s dad saw the wolf, before Jake was born. They say

  wolves don’t live in this country, yet in the night

  Jake hears it howling, long and lonely.

  When Jake and Lucy hike to Sheldon Mountain in

  search of the wolf, Jake is out to prove his father right

  or wrong; Lucy is escaping her father’s cruelty. Both are

  tested – physically, emotionally, spiritually – but what they

  find on that dangerous, dark mountain surprises them both.

  Lonesome Howl is a taut and tender thriller; a gripping blend

  of physical adventure, family drama, love story and

  journey of self-discovery.

  Notable Book in the 2007 CBCA Book of the Year awards