by Cristy Burne
So maybe he was just tired, but he didn’t feel ecstatic. He thought about the carvings he’d made on the cuttlefish. He thought about Mum, alone in her bed. Trusting him to be tucked in bed too. He thought about Emmy.
‘I don’t think I can do it,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘I can’t lie to my mum. Not again.’
‘Then why’d you lie in the first place?’ Emmy asked.
Isaac looked to the cracked pavement. Dare you to tell the truth, he thought.
‘I wanted you to like me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want you to think I was being bossed around by my mum the whole time.’
There. She probably thought he was a joke.
She regarded him, expressionless.
Then she said, ‘Me too. I wanted you to like me. I wanted you to think Dad liked me too.’ Her voice cracked. ‘I didn’t want you to realise he just didn’t care.’
Isaac stopped walking. ‘Of course he cares. Why do you think he grounded you?’
Emmy shrugged. ‘Because he’s mean.’
‘No, you meathead.’ Isaac grinned. ‘It’s because he’s worried about you.’
Emmy scowled. ‘Well he sure chooses a strange way to show it.’
Isaac stared at his surly friend. ‘So do you.’
She was quiet then, and they walked some more in silence. Emmy’s hair was knotted and full of twigs. Her bike was wrecked. One of her legs was wrapped in his shirt and stained with black-red blood.
‘I dare us to confess,’ he said.
They’d both be grounded for life, but at least he wouldn’t have to lie to Mum any more.
Emmy stared at him, then shook her head. Isaac’s heart dropped.
‘You can’t dare us,’ she said. ‘Because it’s not your turn. You’ve already had two in a row.’ Then she grinned madly. ‘So I dare us to confess,’ she said. ‘At the cafe. Fifteen minutes. You bring your mum. I’ll bring Dad. And Oscar. And Ajay.’
‘And not a word till then,’ Isaac said.
She nodded. ‘Not a word.’
When Isaac woke Mum up and insisted she come with him to the cafe, she wasn’t happy. She demanded answers.
‘Sorry Mum. I’ll explain everything, only we’ve got to get to the cafe.’
Emmy and her family arrived late, but that was to be expected. Oscar was crying for breakfast, and Ajay was still in his pyjamas. Emmy’s dad looked more tired than cross.
‘What’s all this about?’ he asked, sliding into the seat opposite Mum.
‘I have the same question,’ said Mum. She smiled at little Oscar. ‘But first some breakfast. And maybe some coffee for us?’
Emmy’s dad gave a grateful nod. He organised Ajay, and Mum organised eggs and toast and hash browns and coffees. Mum pulled the first-aid kit from her bag and fixed Emmy’s knee while they waited for breakfast, and then both parents turned to business.
‘What’s going on?’ Mum asked.
‘And the truth this time,’ said Emmy’s dad.
Emmy nodded. Isaac took a deep breath. And they told the whole story, right from the very first dare. When they got to the bit about jumping off the jetty, Isaac’s mum gasped and Emmy’s dad smiled. When they told the part about sneaking out to the salt lakes in the middle of the night, Isaac’s mum shook her head. Emmy’s dad closed both his eyes.
‘You could have been killed,’ Mum said.
‘We nearly were,’ said Isaac. And he kept telling, about the quokka and the crash. About the bleeding knee and skinned shoulder. About predators in the night.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Isaac’s mum.
‘Far out,’ said Emmy’s dad.
And finally, they told how they’d made it to the settlement, all the way safely back. And how they’d decided to tell the truth.
‘Sensible decision,’ said Emmy’s dad.
‘Super-sensible,’ agreed Isaac’s mum, and she smiled at Emmy’s dad.
‘Well,’ said Emmy’s dad, sitting back in his chair. ‘I don’t know what to say, I’m just so pleased you’re back safe. You kids did a good job to stick together, you did well to make it back.’ He had a catch in his voice.
Emmy did too. ‘Thanks Dad,’ she said. She stared at her lap and there was an awkward silence, then she looked up. ‘Sorry I keep running away.’
Emmy’s dad looked surprised but happy, and even happier when they had a hug. While they were hugging, Mum looked at Isaac.
‘Next time you plan something crazy like this, you need to let me know,’ she said.
Next time?
‘And we need to get you a phone,’ Mum continued. ‘So you can call if you need me. Anytime, you can call me and I’ll come. Okay?’
‘Okay Mum,’ Isaac said.
Thank you, thank you, Isaac thought.
And then he said it out loud. ‘Thanks Mum.’
She kissed him on the head, and he kissed her on the cheek.
‘But you, young lady, are still grounded,’ said Emmy’s dad, pulling out of their hug at last. ‘I need you to stay close to the house for the rest of today. You’ve been up all night and your knee needs rest. I’ll do my best to keep the kids quiet so you can sleep.’
‘Thanks Dad,’ she said. ‘But I’ll help too. I know they’re a handful.’
Isaac looked at his mum. She looked at him and nodded.
‘Maybe I can help too,’ Isaac said. ‘If that’s okay?’ He looked to Emmy’s dad, suddenly nervous, but the big man just smiled. Emmy whooped out loud.
‘That’d be awesome!’
‘Do you like hide-and-seek?’ Isaac asked Oscar.
Oscar took a break from his toast and nodded.
‘Me too,’ said Isaac. ‘Me too.’
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cristy Burne grew up climbing trees, jumping drains, chasing cows and inventing stories. She is a children’s author and science writer with degrees in biotechnology and science communication. She has also worked as a science circus performer, garbage analyst, and atom-smashing reporter.
For more about Cristy go to cristyburne.com.
First published in 2017 by FREMANTLE PRESS
25 Quarry Street, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160
www.fremantlepress.com.au
Copyright text © Cristy Burne, 2017
Copyright illustrations © Amanda Burnett, 2017
The moral rights of the creators have been asserted.
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
The acknowledgment on page 2 is adapted with permission from the Rottnest Island Authority website, www.rottnestisland.com
Cover design by traceygibbs.com.au
Printed by McPherson Printing, Australia.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
To the lighthouse / Cristy Burne.
ISBN: 9781925164619 (paperback)
For primary school age.
Adventure stories. Lighthouses—Juvenile fiction. Rottnest Island (W.A.)—Juvenile fiction.
Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts.
