Crow Country by Kate Constable Read Free Book Online Page A

you do know, Clarry, the War’s over. It’s been over for a good few years. We’re not in the trenches now.’
    â€˜Thank God,’ said Dad.
    Mr Mortlock wagged his finger at him. ‘Now, I backed you over the Memorial, Clarry, because it was the right thing to do. He fought with the best of us, and I’ve never denied that. You know I’ve done what I could for him. He’s a good man, a good worker, always said that. But I’ve always known where to draw the line, Clarry. Unlike some.’
    He stared across the table at Dad, and Dad gazed back. There was a silence.
    At last Mum said, ‘Was there anything particular you wanted, Gerald?’
    Mr Mortlock smiled. ‘As a matter of fact,’ he drawled. ‘I need a box of matches.’
    Mum pressed her lips together. Then she hurried from the kitchen through into the closed, darkened shop at the front of the building. A moment later she was back, a matchbox on her outstretched palm.
    â€˜Thank you very much,’ said Mr Mortlock, and he rose and set his hat on his head. He touched the brim to Mum. ‘Lovely as ever, Jean. You’re a lucky man, Clarry Hazzard.’
    â€˜I know it,’ said Dad. His knuckles were white where he gripped the back of his chair.
    â€˜Hooroo,’ said Mr Mortlock, and the door banged shut behind him.
    Dad let out a long breath and sank into his chair.
    Mum stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. ‘He didn’t pay for the matches. I’ll put it on the Invergarry account.’
    â€˜No,’ said Dad. ‘Leave it.’
    â€˜But—’
    â€˜No!’ said Dad. ‘Leave it be.’ He laid his hand on Mum’s. ‘We were all mates together, over there,’ he said, in a slow, heavy voice. ‘The three of us. When did it change, Jean? Why did it have to change?’
    â€˜That’s the way the world is,’ said Mum.
    â€˜We made a promise in France, the three of us. We promised if we made it out of there alive, we’d look after each other.’
    â€˜I know,’ Mum whispered. She kissed his grey hair, and rested her chin on the top of his head. For a long while they stayed there without moving.
    Then Mum seemed to shake herself awake. ‘Sadie? Are you still there?’ She looked directly across at Sadie. ‘Are you feeling better, pet?’
    Sadie stirred in the big chair, the first time she’d moved for hours, or so it seemed. She opened her mouth to say that she felt fine, that she was going to bed.
    But before the words could leave her lips, the world darkened around her, and she felt a rush of wind. A sudden blinding light exploded around her. Sadie cried out and squeezed her eyes tight shut against the glare.
    Sadie pressed her hands to her eyes, then cautiously let herself blink through her fingers.
    It was broad day. She was sitting on the mud of the lake bed, her jeans and parka smeared with muck. The grey sky was drawn over the dried lake like a blanket tucked over a bed.
    Sadie moaned. Her head was spinning.
    A dead tree poked from the silt. A long scoop of bark was missing from its trunk, leaving a deep scar shaped like a vertical eye. A crow – the same crow? – perched on one empty branch, its head tilted down to Sadie.
    She was staring at the scarred tree when the crow dived, a silent missile, straight for her head. Sadie ducked, flinging up her arms, and with a rush of feathers the crow spread its wings and swooped up and away, flapping steadily into the sky. Only the croaking echo of its laughter floated back to where Sadie sprawled on the yellow mud.
    Your story!
    Wah-wah-waaaaah!

S adie stumbled home, grubby and chilled.
    Ellie’s mouth dropped open. ‘Where the hell have you been? I was worried sick! We’re going to the footy, it starts at two-thirty. Are you all right?’
    Sadie stood dumbly, not knowing whether to nod or shake her head. Ellie grabbed her,