Benworden by Neal Davies Read Free Book Online

I’d ever seen. Her mother was a make-up artist and her father was a special effects coordinator at a major Hollywood movie studio before they died.
    Originally from Melbourne, Carla’s mother had made a name for herself in the Australian film industry as one of the best make-up artists in the country, so she decided she would like to pursue her career further and left for the States. It wasn’t long before her talents were recognised and she was soon snapped up by one of the major studios. Carla’s parents fell in love after meeting on the set of a film. Her father was born in the US and rarely spoke about his family, except to say that his father had wanted him to go to college and become a surgeon like him, but when he chose to pursue a career in special effects his father disowned him. Carla’s mother took her to the studio at every chance she could get so she could learn all about her trade. At the same time Carla would get to meet some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Even now many of them had remained in touch with her and sent her gifts for Christmas and birthdays; they would constantly ask if she would like to go over and stay in their holiday homes in Malibu, California or even Hawaii.
    After her parents’ death Carla withdrew into herself and no matter what her grandmother did to cheer her up it had very little effect. She then came up with the idea that if Carla was with people her own age it might help bring her out of hershell. Her grandmother was a very wise woman and once Carla had become a member of our club and made a connection with Greg her whole persona began to change. We became like a second family to her.
    It wasn’t because we felt sorry for Carla that we made her a member – we could have just as easily made her feel part of a family at the boarding house. Carla had some amazing skills that she had learnt from her mother which initially brought her to our attention. Carla, like her mother, had a natural flair for applying make-up, and not just in the sense of helping someone look more beautiful: she could actually change the appearance of one person to look like another. I remember one day when Sparky and she decided to have a bit of fun with the rest of us. She had made a face mould of Mr Gowdy from a photo we had on the computer and placed it on Greg. Greg then took some clothes from our make-up and wardrobe room that matched the type worn by Mr Gowdy and marched into a club meeting and said, “Hello, what’s going on here then?” Everyone turned their heads in astonishment and totally froze. I can tell you there were a few of us that had to change our clothes that day, especially Harry our computer whiz. Even with his very pale skin he looked as though someone had dipped him in a bucket of bleach.

7
    H ARRY, B ONNIE AND THE S NOOP

    Harry “Healer” Chan was in year 10, yet the school had advanced him to year 11 maths and computer studies. Harry’s real name was Delong, but like most Chinese students he changed his name to fit in and to save the issues around pronunciation. Harry was a great guy and was always the first to join in with anything going.
    â€œWant to play footy, Harry?”
    â€œYes, why not?” he’d reply.
    You never felt lonely while he was around. Harry had many talents: he was exceptional at maths, and was continually astounding us with his herbal remedies – not that we ever wanted to know what he put in them! – but most of all he had a talent for photography, shooting videos and editing film.
    Harry came from the coastal province of Fu Jian, an area very famous for its tea which his family exported. His family, however, had a not-so-happy history with Australia after his great, great, great grandfather Fei Chan came here when gold was found in Ballarat in 1851. Fei and his family were very poor, so when he heard of the discovery and how many of his Chinese comrades had become quite wealthy while