Watery Graves by Kelli Bradicich Read Free Book Online

the thoughts, “You were right in the first place, Em. They’ll work out what’s wrong and give her some treatment or something.”
    “That’s right. Doctors know a lot.”
    “Yes, they do.” Ingrid shook her head. “But I think today, they could tell just by looking at her that doing tests were a waste of time. They know what it is. They know how sick she is.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Emmy scrambled up the hill. At the fence, she turned back, spotting Kristian and Sebastian herding the goats, Duchess, Daisy and Deeny, to new pasture. The goats weren’t just good for milk and cheese. They kept the grass down especially in the wet season when it grew thicker than a shag pile carpet. But it’d been a long time since the rain. In the dry times, Kristian and Sebastian kept the goats on the move so the paddocks didn’t turn to dust. She felt a stab of guilt for not getting up early enough to milk them again that morning.
    “Kristian!” she yelled.
    Both he and Sebastian looked up.
    “I’m going to Libby’s.”
    Kristian tapped his watch, and shouted, “One hour.”
    Emmy nodded and ducked under the wire fence into the Bexleys’ back paddock.
    *
    Emmy bounced up the stained wooden stairs of the Bexleys’ log cabin. It was the place she always went to when she needed a change, a break from Sebastian, or someone different to talk to. But with Maya sick, it became a place to forget things. The door was open. She knocked on the frame and poked her head in.
    “Em , come in.”
    She stepped in. Her smile barely tweaked at the corners of her mouth.
    Libby’s older twin sisters were in the family room. Matilda was on the couch sketching. Cassidy was listening to a strange instrumental CD, and sat with an iPad. Emmy could never get used to seeing them in their school uniform. She eyed them off, each dressed the same. The only signs of individuality were in their socks and hair bands. It made her conscious of her loose fitting red velvet tunic, a hand me down from someone in town. Emmy hoped the girls hadn’t seen anyone in the outfit before.
    “Hey buddy ,” Cassidy greeted Emmy, then turned to call out, “Libby!”
    Libby stepped out from behind the wall dividing the kitchen from the lounge, holding two bowls of cake. “I’m just here, Doofus. Hey Em. Want some cake?” She placed a bowl down beside each of her sisters.
    Emmy nodded.
    “Come in here, Em,” Mrs Bexley called. “You saved me from the wrath of my daughters.”
    “What wrath Mum?” Cassidy quipped. “There’s no wrath.”
    Emmy let Libby drag her into the kitchen.
    “What’s wrath?” Emmy whispered.
    “Never you mind, Emmy,” Mrs Bexley said. “If you want I can send you home with some of this gorgeous cake, and I’ll make you a round of Vegemite sandwiches.”
    Emmy eyed the chocolate cake, but craved the sandwiches. She could never work out if it was the way Mrs Bexley made them or the store bought bread and butter that made them taste so good. Sandwiches made at home were never like the ones at the Bexleys ’.
    “I’d love the sandwiches.”
    “I knew you would.” Mrs Bexley smiled.
    “Coon Can 500?” Libby said, clearing a pile of ironing off the dining table.
    They sat together. Emmy shuffled the pack of cards and dealt the first hand, the way Mr Bexley had taught them when they were five.
    “So what , now that Emmy’s here the subject is dropped?” Cassidy asked, incredulous.
    “Don’t worry about it Cass,” Matilda said. “Mum will cave.”
    Mrs Bexley lifted her head out of the fridge. “I will not cave.”
    “I can go home if you all need to talk. I don’t mean to interrupt.”
    Libby shook her head and shuffled the cards in her hand. “Don’t go anywhere. This is just getting interesting.”
    Emmy didn’t know if she meant the card game or the discussion.
    “We have lived our whole lives for an eighteenth. And we want a party in that paddock with a band,” Cassidy stated.
    “And alcohol,” Matilda