Maggie nodded. There was a photo of that dog on the pinboard. It was a black-and-white one called Beckie.
‘Well,’ said Leo, ‘one day Beckie had pups in her kennel and we said, Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have one of those pups to live with us? So I went down and looked at them and there was one little one, with dark-brown hair and dark-brown eyes, looking up at me, with a mischievous glint in its eye.’ He touched the end of her nose with the tip of his finger. ‘What colour eyes have you got, Maggie?’
‘Dark brown,’ she said.
‘What colour hair?’
‘Dark brown,’ she said.
He leaned down and whispered. ‘Nothing’s changed since the days when you were a puppy.’
She opened her eyes wide. ‘I used to be a puppy?’
He nodded. ‘You were a beautiful puppy. But you’re an even more beautiful little girl. Now, what would you like for dinner? A nice dog biscuit to chew on?’
She screwed up her nose and poked out her tongue and her grandfather did exactly the same back.
Maggie waited to see if they would talk about anything else, but he went back to his work at the bench and stayed quiet. She sat on the little chair he had put there for her, swinging her legs.
Tadpole was writing, lots of numbers in rows. She copied him sometimes, in the notebook he had given her, sitting beside him here in his shed, writing down all the numbers she knew. Not as many as Tadpole, but she had filled four pages of her notebook. She leaned across to the shelf beside her, picked up the little row of test tubes and hit them gently with her fingernail, the way Tadpole had taught her. She counted them as she hit the glass, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Clink, clink, clink, in different notes. A scientist’s xylophone, Tadpole called it. Maggie knew what a real xylophone was. She’d been given one for Christmas. She couldn’t play a proper tune yet, but she liked it when Clementine played ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’.
Tadpole had said Maggie could move into her own room if she wanted. Miranda’s and Juliet’s rooms were empty now. Maggie thought about it and then told Clementine that she would rather stay in her room with her, if that was okay.
‘You can come and sleep in my room sometimes with me if you like, Maggie,’ Sadie said, but Maggie didn’t want to. That was Eliza’s bed.
If her mum was at university when it was time for Maggie to come home from school, Sadie would pick her up instead. They still had lots of fun together, like they used to do before she went to school. She liked being with Sadie. They played skipping or singing games and sometimes they would hold hands and climb up the hill to their house pretending it was really steep.
One night Clementine had to work back late at the university. Sadie read Maggie a story and put her to bed, saying goodnight and leaving on the night light like Clementine did. Maggie couldn’t get to sleep, though. She lay there holding Red Monkey, rubbing her bare feet against the warmth of the flannelette sheet. She reached under the pillow and found the tiny photo frame she kept there. It was a picture of her mother. Maggie had cut it out and put it into the frame herself. It had been her mum’s idea, when she’d found out that she’d have to go away to that island to study her birds.
Sometimes she thought she could hear her mother’s voice come out of the photo. She tried it the night Clementine was away. She was midway through telling her mother what had happened at school that day when she heard someone at the door.
‘Are you okay, Maggie?’ It was Sadie. ‘Are you having a nightmare?’
‘I’m talking to my mum,’ Maggie said.
‘Oh, poor Maggie. Are you lonely?’
Maggie shook her head. ‘I’m just talking to my mum.’
‘I’m here. You can talk to me if you like, about anything. You know that, don’t you?’
‘No, I can’t.’
Sadie sat on the bed and said, ‘Of course you can. Is something wrong?’
Maggie shook her head.
‘When your mum’s away, Maggie, I can be your mother, okay? So if there is ever anything you want to tell her and you can’t because she’s away somewhere else, then tell me, okay?’
Sadie stroked Maggie’s head, the way her mum did when she was saying goodnight. It didn’t feel as nice, though. Sadie’s hand felt a bit cold and she was doing the stroking in the wrong direction. Maggie was too tired to say anything, but she was secretly glad when Sadie stopped, leaned down and kissed her forehead, told her she loved her – Maggie whispered back ‘I love you too’ – then switched off the light.
She did love Sadie. She loved all her aunts, and Tadpole.
She loved secrets and surprises too. She and Sadie had a good secret going at the moment. It had happened one day when just the two of them were home alone. She was sure that Sadie had gone into the garden but she couldn’t see her. She must be playing hide-and-seek. Maggie went outside and checked in the usual places, behind the water tank and in a corner of the verandah, but Sadie wasn’t there. She was about to go back inside when she heard a sniff, and then another. From inside Tadpole’s shed.
She went to the door. It was open. She knocked anyway. Sadie did a jump and looked cross. ‘Maggie, I told you to wait inside.’
‘I wanted to see what you were doing.’ Maggie saw a blue notebook in her aunt’s hand. Then she saw something else. ‘Are you crying?’
‘No.’
‘Yes, you are. What’s the matter, Sadie? Are you sad?’
Sadie shook her head, stood up, and pushed the notebook into her pocket. ‘Let’s go back into the kitchen, Maggie.’
‘Okay.’ She looked around at the shed first. ‘Tadpole said we can’t come in here if he’s not here.’
‘I know. But this is different.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m doing a surprise for Tadpole.’
‘A surprise? What kind of surprise? About that book you have in your pocket?’
Sadie got down on her knees and pulled Maggie close to her. ‘It’s a really big secret, Maggie, so you have to promise not to tell, okay?’
Maggie nodded.
‘Do you remember the scrapbook I did for you, for your fifth birthday?’
Maggie nodded. She loved that scrapbook. She looked at it nearly every day.
‘Well, I’m doing another scrapbook, just for Tadpole. Full of all the things he loves. But it’s a big, big secret so you’re not to tell anyone that you saw me in here, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Promise, Maggie?’
‘I promise.’ Maggie made a sign on her chest. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’
‘Good girl,’ Sadie said.
From then on when Maggie and Sadie were home together, Sadie would often go into Tadpole’s shed.
‘It’s going to be a great surprise,’ Maggie said when Sadie came back inside one afternoon.
‘What is?’ Sadie said.
‘Tadpole’s scrapbook.’
‘Oh. Yes,’ Sadie said.
Maggie thought that was strange. It was as if Sadie had forgotten all about it.
The night before Maggie was due to go and stay with Miranda she heard the phone ring. She heard her mother say, ‘Oh no. That’s terrible. No, of course I understand. We’ll sort something out, don’t worry. I know you had, yes, she was too. Let me talk to Eliza. Maybe she can do it. Honestly, don’t worry.’
She heard her mother make another phone call. ‘Eliza, it’s me. Miranda’s got a crisis at work, some sort of flu epidemic, half the crew down. All non-urgent leave has been cancelled. Exactly. No, I can’t. I leave for Maria Island tomorrow. Is there any way you can —? Of course you can’t. Sorry, I forgot all about that conference. Look, don’t worry, I’ll think of something. I know, she’s been really excited. We’ll let you know. See you.’
Maggie wondered what that was all about. She turned over in her bed again and started thinking of all the things she and Miranda were going to do in Melbourne together. Miranda had been sending over lists in the post each week
. The last list had fifteen things on it, one for every day she’d be in Melbourne and one spare. They were all counting things. Maggie couldn’t wait to go to the zoo and see fifteen animals. They were also going to go to a place called St Kilda and count as many palm trees as they could.
Miranda had also sent a photo of the room she had ready for Maggie. She had moved to a flat of her own on the tenth floor of a big building on St Kilda Road. From her window she could see all of Melbourne, as far as the sea. Maggie’s room was usually the ironing room but Miranda was turning it into Maggie’s Palace, she told her. It had red curtains, a blue bedspread and a yellow rug on the floor. ‘Bring your favourite toys, but I’ll have you so busy you won’t get a chance to look at them.’
In turn, at Miranda’s request, Maggie had sent a list of her favourite foods and the things she didn’t like eating. Clementine had helped her to write it.
I like:
1 Fish fingers
2 Ice-cream
3 Beans
4 Lollies
5 Vegemite sandwiches
I don’t like:
1 Cabbage
2 Peas
3 Toast with bits in it
4 Eggs
5 Sultanas
Bits of what? Miranda had written back on a postcard.
Maggie had forgotten what she’d written by then.
As she turned over in bed again, she heard the front door shut. She knew from the thump of the bag on the floor a few seconds later that it was Sadie.
‘Sadie?’ That was her mum’s voice. ‘Can you come here?’
The kitchen door shut. Maggie thought about getting up and pressing her ear to the door the way she sometimes did, but it was warmer in bed. Clementine would come and tell her in a little while anyway.
They talked all the time about everything. Once Maggie told her about a fight she had, when one of the kids called her a basket.
‘A basket?’ her mum had said. ‘Are you sure that’s what they said?’
Maggie was fairly sure. ‘They said I’m a basket because I don’t live with my dad.’
Clementine got mad and told Maggie that if anyone ever called her that again she’d come and sort it out. Then she asked her about her dad and if Maggie wanted to see him more. Maggie didn’t mind. He was nice when she saw him, but she didn’t have to have a dad all the time.
‘All your friends have dads.’
‘They don’t have you and lots of aunts or Tadpole, though,’ she said.
Maggie was nearly asleep when she heard the doorknob turn. She opened her eyes wide, as wide as they would go, so she would look really awake. Clementine came over and knelt beside the bed.
‘Maggie, are you awake? Sadie and I have got some great news for you.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Maggie woke up the next morning with a feeling of excitement in her stomach. Today was the day she was going to Melbourne. Even better, Sadie was coming with her now, on the plane and then staying in Miranda’s apartment for the whole time.
‘We’ll have lots of fun, Maggie, I promise,’ Sadie had said.
Maggie had woken up in the middle of the night. She called across to her mum a couple of times but Clementine wouldn’t wake up. Maggie wanted to talk to her about Melbourne. She called out again. Clementine just rolled over and kept sleeping.
Maggie hopped out of bed. She’d go and get a glass of water. She went into the kitchen, pulled a chair across to the sink and had a drink. She looked out the window and got a surprise. There was a light on in Tadpole’s shed. She’d just decided she would go down and say hello to him when the door to the shed opened and Sadie came out. Maggie quickly put down her glass, hopped off the chair, ran back into her room and jumped into bed. She shut her eyes tight and pretended to be asleep, just in case Sadie happened to look in.
Leo had to go into work early the next morning, so he told Maggie he was going to say his farewells. He picked her up and gave her such a tight squeeze she made a squeaking sound, which made them both laugh. ‘Have a wonderful time and come back as quickly as you can. It won’t be the same without you here. I’ll miss you every day.’
She gave him an extra hug. ‘I’ll miss you too, Tadpole.’
Leo grabbed his overcoat and headed for the door. He was halfway out when Sadie spoke. ‘I’m going too, Dad.’
Leo turned. ‘Sadie, I’m sorry, of course you are.’ He came back in, leaned and kissed the top of her head. ‘You have a great time too.’
At the airport, Maggie danced back and forth between her mother and her aunt. She had a little backpack on her shoulders, with a bottle of water, the two bread rolls that Clementine had made for their lunch, one with her name on it and one with Sadie’s name on it, a book, her teddy and the picture frame with Clementine’s face in it.
They were sitting in a café waiting to get on the plane. Maggie kept kicking her legs she was so excited. Clementine asked her three times to stop it, as she was making their coffee spill. She took out the book from her backpack.
‘Are you okay, Sadie?’ she heard her mother ask.
‘Fine, thanks.’
‘You seem a bit preoccupied. Are you sure you’re okay to do this?’
‘I’m fine, I said.’
‘Okay.’
Maggie turned over a few pages. Her mother and her aunt didn’t say anything for a little while.
‘You’ll ring and let me know you’ve got there safely, won’t you?’
‘As soon as we get there.’
‘And let me know how you’re getting on?’
‘How can I? You’ll be out in the wild, won’t you?’
‘We’ll be out in the camp for the first week, but they’ll be able to get a message to me if anything happens.’
‘We’ll be fine.’
‘Sadie, are you sure you’re okay?’
‘I’m not,’ Maggie said. ‘I can’t wait.’
She gave her mum a big hug at the farewell gate. She got a bit sad when she saw her mum was crying but she didn’t feel like crying herself. She was too excited.
‘I love you very, very, very, very, very much, Maggie,’ Clementine said.
A very for every one of her years. Maggie started to say twenty-two verys for every one of Clementine’s years but Sadie stopped her and said they had to get on the plane.
Maggie kept looking back at her mum as they walked across the concrete and up the twelve metal steps onto the plane.
‘I’m excited, Sadie,’ she said as they found their seats, numbers 10A and 10B.
Sadie was staring out the window. Maggie tugged at her sleeve.
‘Sadie, are you excited too?’
Sadie nodded.
‘You don’t look it,’ Maggie said.
‘Sorry, Maggie.’ Sadie smiled. ‘Is that better?’
‘Much better.’
They rang Clementine from a phone box as soon as they landed in Melbourne. Maggie almost couldn’t speak. ‘We were high in the sky and I could see clouds and water and we had an orange juice and an apple on the plane. Sadie bit her roll and there was something in it, a purple bottle of – What? What, Sadie?’ Maggie stopped. ‘Sadie said I’m not allowed to tell you about that. Is it still the same day in Hobart?’ She listened for a little while. ‘I’ll put her on.’
Sadie took the phone. ‘Hi. Yes, she was great. No, not scared at all.’ She listened for a long time. ‘You think I don’t know that? I’d better go. This is costing a fortune.’
They went on a long bus trip and then did a walk to Miranda’s house. Maggie couldn’t believe it. It was really high up and she could see for miles and miles through the windows. Miranda had put a sign saying Maggie’s Palace on her bedroom door. She’d left a basket filled with her favourite things in the fridge – fish fingers, beans, ice-cream, lollies and Vegemite sandwiches. There was a note next to them. Sadie read it aloud.
‘“Welcome to my humble abode, Miss Maggie and Sadie. Please feel free to make yourself at home, Maggie. What’
s mine is yours. Sadie, please make yourself at home too, but what’s mine isn’t yours, okay? Will ring as soon as I can. Have fun! Love, Miranda xx”’
Dear Mum, Maggie wrote after her first three days in Melbourne. It took her a long time, with Sadie showing her how to do each of the letters first. We are having great fun. We go on the tram every day.
‘Good girl. Your writing is lovely. Now we take it to the postbox,’ Sadie said.
They took the lift all the way down, out into the street and walked down the busy road until they got to a postbox. They passed ten trees on the way. Maggie counted each of them. Sadie lifted her up so she could reach the slot in the postbox.
‘Pop it in. Good girl. Now what?’
‘I’m hungry.’
They did something good every day. Maggie showed Sadie the list Miranda had sent to her.
‘Is this what you want to do?’
Maggie nodded.
‘In that case, we’ll do it.’
They went to the museum and to the art gallery. They rang home every day. Clementine wasn’t there. She’d gone to the island, but sometimes Tadpole answered and they told him what they’d been doing. Sometimes when they rang he wasn’t there either, so they left their voices on the answering machine. Maggie liked doing that.
‘This is Maggie. We’re having great fun. Bye.’
One time Maggie went out into the lounge room and Sadie was crying. She went over and gave her a big hug. ‘Don’t be sad, Sadie.’
Sadie gave her a big hug. ‘Thanks, Maggie.’
‘Are you missing Tadpole?’
‘No, it’s not that. It’s a long story.’
‘Do you want me to read to you?’ Miranda had left lots of books in her room. Maggie ran and got one now. It was about five ducks. She didn’t know all the words but she read it as best she could. At the end, when all the ducklings were with their mother again, she looked up. Sadie was crying and smiling at the same time.
‘Thanks, Maggie.’
Maggie pointed at the ducks on the page. ‘That one can be Miranda, that one is Juliet, that one is Eliza, that one is Clementine and that one is you.’
Those Faraday Girls Page 19
