The smell was awful. I grabbed my nose and stared at the skins that hung on one wall and were stretched out across a bench. ‘I don’t even want to know what they are—were. This is gross! How do you sleep in here?’
Isaiah shrugged. He pushed aside a drop sheet hanging from the ceiling then pointed at a bag on a camp stretcher tossed with blankets. ‘I was ready to go if anyone came for me. I cannot leave the bush. I will not live with Papa again.’
‘Now you’re all packed to find a new place to sleep,’ I said with a grin. ‘Please, Isaiah. Just come and take a look. It’s got to be better than this.’ I waved my hand at the skins, avoiding looking at them.
Another strange look, then he nodded. ‘I will come and look, but will leave my things here for now. But only at the sheds. Not the house.’
After a quick explanation that I’d sneaked away and would have to meet him there after tea, I raced off down the path back to the shack. On the way I realized how close he was to running away again. And this time I would’ve been to blame—not his papa.
About halfway back, I got stitch. I slowed down, rubbing the pain in my side.
Nick stepped out from behind a giant fern. ‘Where have you been?’
Chapter 40—Becs
Were you following me again?’ My mind raced. What had Nick seen? How far had she been?
‘I knew you weren’t sick,’ Nick said. ‘Where did you go?’
‘Why don’t you just leave me alone?’ I yelled in her face. ‘I haven’t been anywhere. It’s not like there’s anywhere to go!’
She burst into tears and took off.
‘Nick! I’m sorry!’ I didn’t mean to make her cry. I was just in a panic. I groaned and jogged after her. Could things get any worse? At least she didn’t know where I’d been. If she’d followed me all the way to Oscar’s, it would’ve been a real mess.
Mum was waiting for me outside the shack. ‘So are you feeling better after your stroll? Nick just told me where she found you.’
‘Can you please get her to stop following me? I just wanted some space and she’s always right behind me.’ My diversion tactics didn’t work.
‘Don’t even go there, Becs. This has nothing to do with Nick. You keep slacking off when the rest of us are working. Maybe we should reconsider our deal?’
‘I wasn’t slacking off,’ I said. ‘I was…’ What could I say? I was visiting a friend who had been hiding in the bush for months?
‘Being selfish as usual,’ answered Mum. ‘Nick was worried about you and that’s how you treat her. All this time here together and you haven’t changed a bit, have you?’
It was murder not having an answer, but I knew she was wrong.
‘Since you don’t have much to say about it, I think you probably need more time to think. You’re grounded.’
‘What?’
‘It might seem stupid out here but for the next few days you are to be supervised here or working at the house. No more wandering off by yourself.’
‘But—?’ I couldn’t believe it. Mum had never grounded me. We’d always discuss whatever I’d done and then she’d let me off.
‘That’s it, Becs. I don’t want your spiel on human rights and privacy and whatever else you can come up with. I’ve heard it all before. Inside, please.’
I stood with my mouth hanging open. Even Nick looked stunned. I shut my mouth and stormed past both of them into the shack. I would’ve slammed the door on our room but I didn’t have one. I threw a book instead.
Never in a million years did I think I’d be grounded—even if I was caught. I shook my head and gritted my teeth, stopping myself from yelling at the top of my lungs how unfair it all was. Mum had seriously lost it. Now what? I’d promised to meet Isaiah after tea. He was already so suspicious. If I didn’t turn up, he’d never trust me again.
Chapter 41—Isaiah
The big house loomed over me. Even after knowing why Papa acted like he did, I could hear his warnings in my mind. I shook my head to shut them out. It is just a house. Nothing happened to Becs and her family. It is just a house.
I could see the progress Becs and her family had made. The front of the house was clear of scrub, showing off the proud veranda and large windows. I had never seen it like that. For the first time, I wondered what it was like inside. Despite knowing better, I shuddered. I clenched my fists. Joshua Herrick was long gone but Papa was still in my head.
The sheds were around the back so when I was certain there was no-one around, I moved further out from the safety of the bush, fighting my childhood fears. I waited in the shed where Becs and I had hidden from her sister all that time ago.
I was used to waiting for my traps, so I was not troubled by time passing. But when the sun had long settled behind the trees and the morepork began its call, I did not want to wait any longer.
Why did she not come? At first I was angry, but I remembered her last words to me about defying her parents to come and find me at Oscar’s. Had she been caught? I didn’t want her punished because of me.
It was my turn to find her.
Chapter 42—Becs
When I heard the morepork, I knew I’d blown it with Isaiah. I’d begged and pleaded for Mum to un-ground me. (Totally not me to grovel.) I promised I’d do twice as much work the next day to make up for it. Didn’t work. In the end I resorted to my usual hissy fit. Still didn’t work. I thought about sneaking out when they weren’t looking, but it would’ve been impossible with Mum and Mark sitting talking in the kitchen until late. I sat silently in my room staring out at the dark, listening to Nick making little noises in her sleep. We hadn’t spoken for hours. I blamed her for being grounded, which wasn’t fair, I suppose. My lantern flickered, wavering shadows over my walls. I wondered whether Isaiah would ever speak to me again either.
Mum finally came in to say goodnight. I’d given up on any plans of escape or rendezvous with Isaiah by then. I grumbled a goodnight as she left my room and I sat staring out the window for ages. I had just been trying to help and it had all backfired.
A face appeared. I clamped my hand over my mouth stifling a squeal. Isaiah grinned in at me. After checking everyone had really gone to bed, I rushed back to my window. Isaiah held up his hands in question.
I snatched up a pen and paper and scribbled a note. Got sprung. Mum caught me. I couldn’t come. See you at the sheds tomorrow?
I held it up so he could read it. He frowned. I scribbled two more words. I PROMISE!
With a nod he was gone.
Chapter 43—Becs
Can you believe it? I lived my whole life in the city and never sneaked out once. I move into the bush and I’m sneaking off all the time.
I worked hard in the house kitchen all the next morning, sanding, sweeping and holding boards while Mum replaced them. When she looked at me weird when I said I was going to the loo, I gave her a drama queen sigh. ‘Can’t I even go to the toilet by myself?’
She turned back to her work and I was gone. Isaiah was waiting. ‘Told you I’d come,’ I said, puffing. ‘I have to be quick.’
‘I have chosen a shed if it is all right with you,’ he said.
It wasn’t what I had in mind, but it made the most sense. It was the furthest from the house, and still surrounded by scrub. Mark wasn’t going to be getting to it any time soon. At least it was better than the gross shed at Oscar’s.
‘I wanted to help, but Mum is watching everything I do,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you here in a few days when she has chilled out a bit, OK?’
Isaiah frowned for a moment, then smiled. ‘Yes. Thank you, Becs.’
‘No worries.’ I sprinted back to the house.
The next few days, I worked hard with Mum in the kitchen. When she saw me getting bored (there’s only so much sanding a girl can do), she’d find me something else to do. I was becoming the all-round regular ‘handy girl’. I could sand, mask, grout and paint. And when it got really hot and stuffy inside, we’d go out and help Mark and Nick on the outsi
de. I couldn’t help glancing over towards the back of the house every now and then—wondering if Isaiah was there watching us from the cover of the bush. Mark saw me looking one day. ‘What’s so interesting over there, Becs? You’ve been peering over there all morning.’
‘Oh nothing,’ I said, my mind galloping for an answer. ‘I saw a gorgeous bird over there before.’ Phew!
‘Was it rusty brown with a tail about so long and about as high as your knee?’ asked Mark, measuring space between his hands.
I nodded quickly.
‘It’ll be a pheasant. The male ones are the colourful ones. I’m surprised you’ve seen one. I’m glad our hunter neighbour hasn’t eaten them all.’
I made sure I didn’t look over there again, in case he decided to go looking for the ‘phantom’ pheasant. He was probably right about Oscar, though. Apart from the big brown bird I nearly tripped over on the first day (which Isaiah told me was a female pheasant), I hadn’t seen any more.
I pulled a face remembering Isaiah’s pukeko sandwiches. Oscar and Isaiah’s family had probably eaten all the pheasants too. Even though Isaiah stuck up for Oscar, I still thought the old guy was a bit of a caveman. He’d ranted and raved like a madman about our fire, let Isaiah sleep in that disgusting shed, and only fed him when Isaiah couldn’t catch anything himself. But then I remembered the neat porch at Oscar’s house. Cavemen weren’t that neat. Nobody was that neat. I couldn’t figure the man out.
Chapter 44—Becs
Since I’d invited Isaiah to stay at our house (well, in a shed out the back), I figured it would be good manners to feed him as well. Me talking about good manners—that’s a laugh. I sneaked out bananas, a couple of muesli bars, a chunk of chocolate out of Nick’s drawer and some apples. Nick went nuts looking for the chocolate and blamed me, of course. I denied everything and Mum and Mark told her she must have eaten it. I felt a bit stink afterwards because Nick got really hysterical.
The next day at lunchtime, I nipped off to Isaiah’s shed with the bag of food. I made especially sure that Nick hadn’t spied where I was going. Having Isaiah so close was good for me, but maybe not so good in trying to keep him a secret. I’d have to be even more careful.
Isaiah wasn’t there. But I could see he’d moved in. He’d made up a bed on the floor, and the same orange blanket that I’d spotted hanging out the tree house window weeks ago was sprawled over the top.
A dozen books were lined along a plank in the corner. When I sat down on his mattress to take a closer look at the books, I was surprised how soft it was. I poked at a hole in the side and saw it was stuffed with leaves and moss.
I took one of the books off the shelf and couldn’t help smiling. Isaiah hid in the bush barefoot and half wild, eating possum stew and pukeko pie, but had Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain on his bookshelf.
Inside the book cover, Oscar’s name had been crossed out and Isaiah’s written in. Had he given Isaiah the books? They were so alike. Both a bit strange. Both devoted to the bush. I looked at the name again. ‘Oscar’. No surname. I tried to think what it was. But everyone had always just called him Oscar. Weird.
Chapter 45—Becs
I chilled out a lot knowing Isaiah was sorted. Anybody would think he was my best mate or something. When Nick finally decided which room she wanted for her bedroom at Herrick House (right next to mine), I offered to help her clean it up. The windowsill was rotten and the wallpaper was falling off in strips but it was all fixable. Listen to me. Like I’m an expert.
I scored serious brownie points with Mum and Mark and soon I was back to wandering off by myself when we got a break. I didn’t wander far, but they didn’t know that.
This time Isaiah was lying on his mattress, reading one of his classics.
‘You’ve got some fancy titles there,’ I said.
He looked up. ‘Hello. Thank you for the food. I have not had chocolate for a long time.’ He smiled when I told him I could get more.
‘So, is this better than Oscar’s shed?’ I asked, expecting another smile. His face dropped like I’d told him there was no chocolate left on the planet.
‘What’s the matter? Has something happened?’
‘I have argued with Oscar,’ he mumbled. ‘He saw me moving my bedding and wanted to know where I was going.’ He hung his head. ‘When I told him his shed was a little small, he was very cross. He looked just like Papa.’
I knelt next to him. ‘It’s OK, Isaiah. Forget it. It’s not your fault. It’s no different to you sleeping in the tree house. Did you tell him exactly where you were going?’
‘No, but he knew it had something to do with you. He told me to stay away from him altogether if I wanted.’ He quickly wiped his eyes. ‘Papa said the same thing when we argued. I do not want to fall out with Oscar too. He is…’ He turned away.
‘You won’t fall out,’ I said. ‘Just carry on doing the stuff you do for him and he’ll chill out.’
Spending time with him must’ve rubbed off because he finally knew what I meant. When I left, he looked a bit happier but I couldn’t help thinking about what he’d said. Oscar knew his moving was something to do with me. I was no fan of Oscar’s but didn’t want them arguing because of me. I knew what Isaiah was going to say before he went quiet. Oscar was all he had.
What would happen when I went home to the city?
Chapter 46—Becs
Over the next couple of weeks things went back to ‘normal’—whatever normal is living out in the sticks. Isaiah went back to talking about his favourite subject—the bush, and I got back to mine—the city.
Just when I thought I had him fascinated in something about the city, he’d stop me to listen to a bird singing. I had to admit he’d taught me to tell the difference by their song. I could recognize the sound of a tui in flight or a fat green wood pigeon. I helped Mum in her vege garden with what he’d shown me in Oscar’s. I told her I’d learnt about it at school.
I took him more food after I went into town with Mum to stock up on everything. I figured she wouldn’t notice a few things missing if our shelves were full. When I saw he was using a rolled-up sack for a pillow, I took him one of mine. I didn’t need three anyway.
He hadn’t mentioned Oscar at all and after our last conversation about him, I wasn’t going to either. Things were cruising along nicely. Or so I thought.
Chapter 47—Isaiah
I was glad I kept one of my traps; especially since falling out with Oscar. It was awkward after I moved my bedding. I tried to cut his firewood and do my other chores but he told me he’d do it himself. ‘You don’t need my help and I’ll do without yours’ was the last thing he said to me.
Becs kept telling me he’d ‘get over it’ and things would go back to normal. ‘Look at my family,’ she’d said. ‘We’re always fighting and we always sort it out. You and Oscar will be the same. Just wait and see.’
Oscar was like family. I hoped she was right.
I swung the trap up over my shoulder and made my way through the bush. A bellbird sung above me, which usually lifted my spirits. But not this time.
Maybe I should never have troubled Oscar when I stayed in the bush. Maybe I should have kept away right from the start.
When I heard the trickle of the stream I was heading for, I dropped to a crouch in case I startled the pukekos that nested there. Two birds strutted along the bank, their thin red legs making high steps through the grass.
The sun streamed down on their backs and their glossy black and blue feathers gave me an idea. I would trap a few pukekos. I would use the feathers to make a gift for Becs, and leave the plucked birds for Oscar. Yes. That would be a start.
Chapter 48—Becs
I heard him before I saw him. Mark stormed out of the bush into the shack’s clearing, yelling, ‘He asks me what I’m playing at. He might’ve been here longer than everyone else around here, but he doesn’t own the entire bush!’
Nick and I followed Mum out of the kitchen t
o see Mark swinging a trap in front of him. ‘Look!’ he shouted. ‘Look what I found down by a stream around the back of the house.’
Mum gasped. ‘I thought we’d found them all.’ Nick kept her distance, staring at the trap.
What was Mark doing around the back of the house? What else did he find? Was Isaiah OK? I quickly realized Mark would be yelling about Isaiah if he’d found him—not just the trap.
‘Nick, no wandering around,’ he ordered. ‘Oscar’s obviously setting more traps.’
Nick nodded, keeping her eyes on the trap. She was more scared of them than I thought.
‘What are you going to do?’ Mum asked, which is exactly what I wanted to know. Was it Oscar’s trap? Or was it Isaiah’s?
‘I’m going over there right now,’ raged Mark. ‘And when I get there…’ He stalked over to the ute.
‘Wait!’ I said. ‘I’m coming too.’
‘I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,’ said Mum. ‘You stirring things up isn’t going to help.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m not going to stir things up, Mum. Mark shouldn’t go by himself. I can be a witness to anything.’ I nodded to stress my point. ‘Just in case things get messy.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Mum looking from me to Mark.
‘Besides,’ I added quickly, ‘I know a track that leads to Oscar’s. I found it by accident one day when I was walking.’ Mum still looked unsure, but Mark was champing like a pig dog on a scent. ‘Come on then, Becs. Lead the way.’
With a final glance at Mum, I scooted off into the bush in the direction of Oscar’s before she could say no.
Last time I jogged half the way because I’d sneaked off and had to hurry back. This time I had to jog to keep up with Mark. He marched through the bush, ready for a fight. I’d never seen him like that. ‘If either of you girls were hurt, I don’t know what I’d do,’ he mumbled. I glanced over at him. He’d said ‘you girls’. Not just Nick.
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