nodded. ‘Mind if I go and look?’
‘No, sure. I’ll be over there in a minute.’
Harry hauled out the old netting from the back of the shed and considered it. Dad had rolled it up properly so it wasn’t tangled, and it still looked in fairly good shape. Good enough for another chook run at least.
Harry dragged it over to the chookhouse, narrowly avoiding Magic Mary, who was hopping from one foot to another in front of the shed.
‘You want to go in and lay your egg under the truck again do you?’ asked Harry. ‘Okay, off you go. I’m finished in there now. But I’m still going to collect it this afternoon, no matter where you lay it.’
Magic Mary ignored him. She disappeared under the truck.
Harry left the roll of wire outside the chookhouse and peered in.
‘See anything?’ he asked.
Angie shook her head. ‘Just a kookaburra. It’s sitting right up on top of the big red gum across the creek. And another bird flew right past the hole—it was too close to see what it was.’
Angie looked back through the hole again. ‘The creek looked nice back then, didn’t it? Sort of peaceful.’
Harry nodded. ‘Call me if you see anything,’ he said. ‘I’m going to start digging a couple of post holes so it looks like I’ve done something.’
Angie nodded. ‘Need a hand?’
‘No, I’m right.’
It was hot digging holes. Harry finished the fourth one and stuck his head back in the chookhouse.
‘I’m going down for a swim,’ he said. ‘Want to come?’
‘Didn’t bring my bathers.’
‘Doesn’t matter. Wear your T-shirt. It’ll dry soon enough.’
Angie hesitated. ‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘I don’t suppose anything’ll happen while we’re gone.’
‘We can’t watch it all the time,’ said Harry. ‘Not when we’re at school or at night. It’s just luck really that I’ve seen all I have.’
Angie nodded. She blinked as she came out into the sunlight. ‘Wow. You don’t realise how dark it is in there. Don’t the chooks mind?’
‘Nah, they like it that way. They like to lay someplace dim. Like Magic Mary. She always lays under the truck. And Moonlight’s got a nest in the lavender.’
‘That’s a pretty name,’ said Angie.
‘Mum chose it,’ said Harry. ‘When Moonlight was a chick she was sort of pale yellow—a real moonlight colour. She’s pure white now though. She’s the only Leghorn we’ve got—I got her egg up at the Show. It was laid by the Champion Hardfeather Fowl. There she was sitting with an egg at the side of the cage, so I asked if I could have it. The bloke said yes, so I put it under a bantam when I got home.’
‘The same one who’s sitting now?’
‘Nah. That’s Sunset. She’s a really good mother. I’ve got her on a dozen eggs, even though she’s so small. She hatched ten last time. They were all bigger than she was after a couple of months—she looked really silly, as if she’d adopted a mob of baby emus and was trying to teach them how to scratch.’
The rocks around the creek were splashed with sunlight and lichen. The water looked cold. Harry supposed it was cold in Cissie’s day, too.
He dived in quickly to get his body used to the chill, then surfaced and floated through the ripples where the creek fell in a smooth cascade into the swimming hole. You could slide down the cascade for hours when the water was a bit deeper, till your legs were red and your bum ached with the cold.
Harry breathed in the scent of water and rotting casuarina needles, of ribwort and watercress and stonewort. One of his earliest memories was of the creek. Mum brought him down here when he was still toddling to splash in the shallows and try to chase the dragonflies at the edges of the water. It hurt to imagine the creek still flowing here, the ripples of water and sunlight, while he was away at school …
‘Harry?’
‘Mmmm?’
‘What were Cissie’s parents like?’
Harry hesitated. ‘Nice, I think. I only saw them all together once.
‘No, sure. I’ll be over there in a minute.’
Harry hauled out the old netting from the back of the shed and considered it. Dad had rolled it up properly so it wasn’t tangled, and it still looked in fairly good shape. Good enough for another chook run at least.
Harry dragged it over to the chookhouse, narrowly avoiding Magic Mary, who was hopping from one foot to another in front of the shed.
‘You want to go in and lay your egg under the truck again do you?’ asked Harry. ‘Okay, off you go. I’m finished in there now. But I’m still going to collect it this afternoon, no matter where you lay it.’
Magic Mary ignored him. She disappeared under the truck.
Harry left the roll of wire outside the chookhouse and peered in.
‘See anything?’ he asked.
Angie shook her head. ‘Just a kookaburra. It’s sitting right up on top of the big red gum across the creek. And another bird flew right past the hole—it was too close to see what it was.’
Angie looked back through the hole again. ‘The creek looked nice back then, didn’t it? Sort of peaceful.’
Harry nodded. ‘Call me if you see anything,’ he said. ‘I’m going to start digging a couple of post holes so it looks like I’ve done something.’
Angie nodded. ‘Need a hand?’
‘No, I’m right.’
It was hot digging holes. Harry finished the fourth one and stuck his head back in the chookhouse.
‘I’m going down for a swim,’ he said. ‘Want to come?’
‘Didn’t bring my bathers.’
‘Doesn’t matter. Wear your T-shirt. It’ll dry soon enough.’
Angie hesitated. ‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘I don’t suppose anything’ll happen while we’re gone.’
‘We can’t watch it all the time,’ said Harry. ‘Not when we’re at school or at night. It’s just luck really that I’ve seen all I have.’
Angie nodded. She blinked as she came out into the sunlight. ‘Wow. You don’t realise how dark it is in there. Don’t the chooks mind?’
‘Nah, they like it that way. They like to lay someplace dim. Like Magic Mary. She always lays under the truck. And Moonlight’s got a nest in the lavender.’
‘That’s a pretty name,’ said Angie.
‘Mum chose it,’ said Harry. ‘When Moonlight was a chick she was sort of pale yellow—a real moonlight colour. She’s pure white now though. She’s the only Leghorn we’ve got—I got her egg up at the Show. It was laid by the Champion Hardfeather Fowl. There she was sitting with an egg at the side of the cage, so I asked if I could have it. The bloke said yes, so I put it under a bantam when I got home.’
‘The same one who’s sitting now?’
‘Nah. That’s Sunset. She’s a really good mother. I’ve got her on a dozen eggs, even though she’s so small. She hatched ten last time. They were all bigger than she was after a couple of months—she looked really silly, as if she’d adopted a mob of baby emus and was trying to teach them how to scratch.’
The rocks around the creek were splashed with sunlight and lichen. The water looked cold. Harry supposed it was cold in Cissie’s day, too.
He dived in quickly to get his body used to the chill, then surfaced and floated through the ripples where the creek fell in a smooth cascade into the swimming hole. You could slide down the cascade for hours when the water was a bit deeper, till your legs were red and your bum ached with the cold.
Harry breathed in the scent of water and rotting casuarina needles, of ribwort and watercress and stonewort. One of his earliest memories was of the creek. Mum brought him down here when he was still toddling to splash in the shallows and try to chase the dragonflies at the edges of the water. It hurt to imagine the creek still flowing here, the ripples of water and sunlight, while he was away at school …
‘Harry?’
‘Mmmm?’
‘What were Cissie’s parents like?’
Harry hesitated. ‘Nice, I think. I only saw them all together once.
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