Too Many Secrets

by Adele Broadbent

They hadn’t. The sun had disappeared behind the trees and Mark got straight to work on the pump. We had instant noodles and sandwiches for tea (it took ages to light the oven fire and boil water, let alone cook anything), while Mark swore out the back.

  It was nearly dark when he came in. ‘All systems go,’ he said, pulling off his gloves.

  ‘I’d kill for a shower,’ I said.

  ‘Sorry, Becs,’ said Mark. ‘No can do yet. But I’ve cleaned up the long drop. It was a bit nasty.’

  A bit? Try a lot. When I went out there again I checked it out with a torch before getting too close. It was use either that or the bush, and the bush was freaky enough in the daytime. If another bird leapt out at me at night, I’d die of fright. I gave in and pulled open the tin door, but kept my eyes shut as much as possible.

  I crawled into bed after the longest, most horrible day of my entire life, which is saying something after twelve and a half years. Nick was sound asleep already. I pulled a face. If she snored, I’d chuck something at her. I lay there and pretended I was at home in the city. The bird calls soon stopped that. I groaned, wrapping my ears with my pillow. I thought birds went to sleep at night? With no street lights outside, the room was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. The birds finally stopped squawking but the black silence was worse. With nothing to listen to but Nick’s breathing, my imagination went crazy. I slid down under my blankets, picturing giant mutant bugs crawling on the rafters above me and spiders hanging on long threads in the air. I heard something creak outside our window and held my breath. Was the person who trashed our stuff still out there?

  Chapter 10—Becs

  Becs. Becs.’ I was at the mall, giggling with my mates. A boy had walked past three times and Lexi really liked him. But someone was calling.

  ‘Becs!’

  I woke up to see Nick grinning at me. ‘Aw no,’ I groaned. ‘I was dreaming.’ And I’m awake in a nightmare, I thought. My mouth felt like I’d eaten a spoonful of dust and I was about to disappear back under the covers when the smell of pancakes wafted into the room. My stomach kicked, reminding me how little I’d eaten over the last twenty-four hours.

  Nick leapt out of bed. ‘Yum! Pancakes.’ For a change I agreed with her and with superhuman effort got out of bed.

  ‘So you think it might have been this Oscar?’ came Mum’s voice from the kitchen. Nick put her finger to her lips and stood outside the doorway. I leaned next to her, still trying to wake up.

  ‘I can’t say for certain,’ replied Mark. ‘But he is our closest neighbour.’

  ‘Mind you,’ said Mum, ‘Jeff did say everyone in the area knew we were coming. It could’ve been anyone.’

  ‘Until we know for sure, the girls shouldn’t wander off.’

  Nick rolled her eyes next to me and I couldn’t help smiling. She jumped through the doorway. ‘Morning!’

  ‘Pancakes, everyone?’ said Mum. ‘I’ve been trying out my wood stove.’

  They weren’t Mum’s best but they were pretty good. A lake of maple syrup in my plate helped disguise the burnt bits and I could see the birds out the back were enjoying Mum’s first ‘practice’ batch.

  After breakfast, Mark called me outside. Bright blue tarps hung from poles around the bath to make a tiny private room.

  ‘I used the tent poles I had,’ said Mark with a grin. ‘What do you think?’

  I pushed one tarp aside to see the bath full, steaming and filled with bubbles.

  ‘Oh wow! Thanks, Mark!’ I raced inside to get my toilet bag. For half a millisecond I forgave him for dragging us all out here—maybe a whole millisecond.

  Mum told me afterwards how many buckets she’d had to heat for the bath. What a pain. I was glad I made the most of it before Nick was ordered in after me.

  The rest of the morning was spent unpacking, sweeping, cleaning windows and trying to make the shack more livable. Trying was the main word.

  ‘Where on earth did they put nine kids?’ said Mum.

  ‘They can’t have had much stuff,’ I said. The shack had cluttered up quickly as we unpacked more boxes.

  ‘Just unpack what we need right now,’ said Mum. ‘The rest will have to wait until we’re in Herrick House.’

  ‘When can we see it?’ I asked. The sooner we got started, the sooner we went home.

  Mark didn’t need asking twice. After lunch he spread a dozen photos on the table. ‘I’ll take you down to the house soon. Have another look at these.’

  This time I had a proper look. Some of the photos were faded brown but I could see how grand Herrick House had been. Other photos were crystal clear. My stomach dropped. ‘When was this taken?’

  Mark leaned closer. ‘I took that a couple of months ago—when I first came to check it out.’

  ‘But it’s…awful.’ Half the windows were broken. The paint was peeling off and boards were missing from the walls.

  ‘It’s a grand old lady that needs sprucing up.’

  ‘But it’s huge!’

  ‘Yep,’ said Mark with a grin. ‘Eight bedrooms, three lounges, two bathrooms. She was quite a stunner in her day. And she will be again when we’ve finished.’

  I stared at the photos. Before Mum met Mark, we had repainted our bedrooms and lounge and it had taken ages. Herrick House would take us forever.

  I was right. It was all part of their plan. We would be stuck together in the bush until I died. I gritted my teeth. ‘How long do you think it will take?’ Mark was so engrossed in the photos he didn’t notice I was about to explode.

  ‘If we work hard and get help with the wiring and plumbing? About six to eight months.’

  ‘Eight months?! You told me two months. I can’t be here for eight months. I’ve got to get back for Ascot. My friends are waiting. I’ll miss the entry exams, I can’t—’

  ‘Rebecca Harris! That is enough!’ Mum stood in the back doorway. ‘We have put up with your drama queen act for months. We’ve explained all this over and over. I’ve tried giving you leeway with this but you just explode whenever you feel like it. Ascot High School will be there when we get back. If your friends are true friends, they will be there when we get back. Not everything is about you. For once in your life, you can stop being so damned selfish!’

  I stood there with my mouth hanging open. She’d never ever spoken to me like that. Was this my mother?

  ‘Apologize to Mark—right now!’

  I looked from one to the other. Mark looked as surprised as me. ‘Sorry,’ I mumbled, pushing past him. Mum stepped aside as I bolted out the back door.

  Chapter 11—Becs

  How could she do this to me? How could she say those things? All I wanted was to go to Ascot. Was that so bad? Selfish? Me? I ran down the main path into the bush. When I reached the long drop, I kicked the door. ‘Ow!’ I knelt and rubbed my foot.

  ‘That was dumb.’ Nick skipped up the path behind me.

  ‘Go away, Nick.’

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘You are!’ I yelled. ‘You and Mark. I wouldn’t be out here if you and Mark had left us alone. Mum wouldn’t be yelling at me and I wouldn’t be missing my friends and not going to Ascot next term.’

  ‘Ascot, Ascot, Ascot! All you ever talk about is your dumb friends and dumb Ascot! I hate you!’ She burst into tears, spun around and tripped over a branch. She hit the ground—hard.

  ‘Nick!’ She’d scrambled to her feet by the time I reached her, and sprinted off down the path.

  ‘Nick! Come back!’ I raced after her. When she realized I was following she veered off the path into the bush, weaving between the trees. After my stroll in the bush the day before, I knew how easy it was to get lost. Leaving the tracks would be worse. I had to catch her before we went too far.

  I quickly gained on her. ‘Nick. Stop!’ She looked over her shoulder and I could see she was still crying. ‘Watch where you’re going,’ I warned, looking ahead of her as I ran.

  Rusty brown teeth gaped through the leaves o
n the ground. ‘Nick! Stop!’

  Chapter 12—Becs

  I know what they mean when people say it was like watching something in slow motion. It’s just as awful as they say. Like everything is going slow but so are you—so you can’t stop what’s about to happen.

  Nick turned, skidding in the leaves and twigs underfoot. Certain she was going to hit the trap, I yelled again. Just at the last moment she veered to the left. Snap! She’d hit it! ‘Nick!’

  Nick’s scream felt like a knife in my head. I reached her in seconds, scared of what I was going to see. She sat gaping at the sprung trap, nothing but leaves and twigs caught in its teeth.

  She looked up at me with huge eyes. Her foot was only centimetres from the steel jaws.

  ‘Nick! Becs!’ came Mark’s voice. ‘Where are you? What’s happened?’ He came crashing through the bush like a mad bull. When he saw the trap, he snatched Nick up off the ground like a doll. Searching the ground around us, he held my arm. ‘Don’t move.’

  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He’d come raging through the bush to help us and the same thing could’ve happened to him—and he tells us not to move.

  ‘Right. Follow me, Becs. Right behind me.’ He didn’t let go of Nick.

  Mum cried. She squished us together in a hug and then Mark too when she heard about his crazy sprint through the bush. She went on and on about how isolated we were and how unprepared we were in an emergency, and is it all worth it, blah, blah, blah. After the bollocking she’d given me earlier, I thought that was a bit unfair. Isn’t that what I’d been saying? Well, sort of. I thought I’d be helpful and offered to start packing, but their answer was a joint black look. I quickly decided there was something I needed to do in my bedroom. Nick followed.

  We were there for ages but I suppose it wasn’t that bad. We lay on our beds—Nick drawing and me writing a letter home. I left out how big Herrick House looked in the photos and how long it might take before I got back. I left out how we were living in a shack with no electricity or hot running water. I didn’t want to be the hot gossip topic at school. Too embarrassing. I kept to the interesting stuff like the amazing tree house I’d found and the story of the boy who’d disappeared. Just as I sealed the envelope, Nick looked up from her drawing and I realized she’d been quiet the whole time.

  ‘Do you really hate us?’ she whispered.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You said—’

  ‘Yeah, sorry. Ignore what I said. I was in shock about the house.’

  ‘OK,’ she mumbled, going back to her picture. I watched her frown as she sketched. To tell the truth, I was still in awe at how she hadn’t freaked out about the trap. Sure she’d screamed when it snapped. Who wouldn’t? But afterwards she seemed the least worried out of all of us. She was staunch for a kid.

  Later at dinner, we were given new instructions.

  ‘I’ve searched the surrounding bush and haven’t found any more traps,’ said Mark. ‘It must have been left by the Herricks. Jeff said they lived off the land. That’s how they must’ve caught their food. Damn crazy with nine kids running around.’

  ‘Illegal too. Monstrous things, gin traps.’ Mum frowned. ‘So despite all your hopes, Becs, we’re staying.’ Nick giggled when I groaned and fainted theatrically over the table. ‘And Becs, what I said this afternoon still applies,’ Mum added. Oh, great.

  ‘Nick, you are not to go into the bush alone. Ever,’ added Mark.

  ‘Aww, Dad, I’m not a baby. I’m nearly ten.’

  ‘And we want you to make eleven,’ he said before turning to me. ‘Becs, there’s no school until we can sort out correspondence work, so can you please look after your sister?’

  ‘Yes!’ said Nick, beaming at me like an idiot.

  Oh yay. Not. At least he said please. ‘You said you’ve checked everywhere. Can’t she just stay near the shack?’

  ‘What did the trap look like, Becs?’ asked Mum.

  She hit the right spot. Remembering the sound of the snapping trap and Nick’s scream shut me up. ‘OK,’ I said, adding a groan just to make sure they knew how I felt.

  That night I lay under my covers listening to a bird calling into the darkness. Mark had told me it was a morepork. Funny name for a bird, but that’s exactly what it sounded like. Morepork! Morepork!

  Besides the drama with the trap, nothing else had happened. Mark reckoned local teenagers had tipped our boxes out the day before. Just to be funny. Yeah, real funny, I thought, remembering my wrecked skirt.

  Nick mumbled in her sleep and her bed creaked as she rolled over. After Mark’s instructions, she’d gone to bed jabbering about how we could do everything together. No way. I was pleased I’d kept the tree house secret. Sharing a room and having her for my shadow, I would definitely need my own space. I had to find a way to sneak away without her.

  The next day, Nick stuck to me like chewing gum on carpet. But as soon as she went out to the long drop, I was gone.

  Chapter 13—Becs

  It was easier to find than I thought. I stared up at the tree house. That’s strange. The orange blanket was gone from the window. Had I moved it? I couldn’t remember. I must’ve. I still wasn’t taking any chances with the homemade ladder, and climbed it slowly. I opened the trap door and stuck my head through. I nearly fell off the ladder.

  Dark eyes, wide in surprise, stared back at me. Greasy, black, shoulder-length hair hung around the long, grubby face that peered out from under the orange blanket. I knew in an instant who he was.

  ‘Oh my God. It’s you, isn’t it? The runaway? You didn’t go with your family at all,’ I whispered.

  ‘Who are you talking to?’ I gasped when I peered down to see Nick climbing the ladder behind me. ‘Go away, Nick!’ I cried, kicking out in panic. ‘I found this place. Go away!’

  ‘I want to see. Who are you talking to?’

  I looked up to see the boy standing at the back window of the tree house. His clothes were frayed and torn and he was barefoot. He looked at the trap door, then back at me. He shook his head, his eyes huge and pleading. I tried a smile and put my finger to my lips. If he stayed quiet, I’d try to get rid of Nick.

  I glanced down at her. ‘Don’t be stupid. There’s no-one here. It’s just an old tree house.’

  ‘I want to see. Move so I can come up.’

  The boy snatched up a rucksack and a tattered jersey from the corner of the hut before swinging his leg over the windowsill.

  Chapter 14—The boy

  I escaped into the cover of bush, branches pulling at my hair and clothes. How could I be so careless? I should have known she would come back to the tree house. Why didn’t I move my things? I stopped on one of the tracks and looked back.

  How did she know who I was? I shook my head. It didn’t matter. She had found my tree house, and seen me. There was no going back. I ran and ran, and without thinking ended up at Oscar’s.

  I hesitated at the edge of the bush. It was a habit after a few months alone. Oscar rarely got visitors but I still had to be careful. He was the only one who knew I was still in the bush, and I needed it to stay that way.

  Would the red girl tell? Had her little brother seen me too? I knew the way of little brothers. Even when they tried not to, they always told. Should I stay? Or should I run? Oscar would know what to do.

  I found the house closed up so I knew he was out hunting. I hoped he got a pig this time. I had not caught anything for two days and since the strangers had taken my trap, I was hungry.

  A pile of logs lay in Oscar’s yard ready for splitting. I fetched the axe and got to work while I waited, hoping it would be payment for dinner.

  The more I swung the axe, the angrier I got, silently cursing the red girl’s family with each blow. Things were working out fine before they came. My secret was safe. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment as Mother’s face came to me. I missed her so. But she’d asked me to choose. Going with Papa wasn’t possible—not without more trouble.

 
Living without my family had been strange, but I had grown used to being in our home alone. I didn’t mind the tree house either. Now that wasn’t safe. ‘Stupid girl!’ I cursed aloud.

  ‘What girl?’

  ‘Oscar! I thought you were off on a hunt?’

  ‘Was. Dropped me a stag.’

  I couldn’t help smiling.

  ‘Want some, do you?’ he grumbled, shrugging off his pack. ‘What girl?’ he repeated. He stood, arms folded, while I told him about the new people in my home and the escape from my tree house.

  ‘Told you they were coming, didn’t I? You should’ve been more careful.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Oscar.’ I stared at the ground.

  ‘They’ll be into town like a shot, telling the cops and everyone else about you.’

  ‘I don’t think she will tell,’ I said, looking up. ‘She tried to hide me from her brother. She didn’t let him see while I climbed out the window.’ I hoped I was right. I didn’t want any trouble for Oscar.

  ‘Still,’ said Oscar. ‘Doesn’t mean she’ll keep quiet. Can’t trust a townie.’

  ‘A townie?’

  ‘They’re from the city. They’ve bought the big house. I knew it would happen one day.’ Oscar stopped scowling, which was as close to a smile as he ever got. ‘Don’t worry, boy. A couple of weeks out here and they’ll go back to where they came from.’ He whistled for his dogs and went to put them in their run.

  I nodded, but was unsure. I didn’t want to argue. The townies didn’t leave when I dismantled the pump and threw their belongings into the bush. They didn’t leave when the boy nearly put his foot in the trap. I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I thought they would pack up again. Maybe Oscar was right. Papa always said the big house was a bad place. Maybe it would make the red girl and her family leave? Just as it made mine.

  Chapter 15—Becs