Magenta McPhee by Catherine Bateson Page A

under the bit of the pillow I squash up. I wanted to keep it warm all night.
    The next morning, before I’d even had breakfast, I emailed Polly about the egg and the bracelet and then I thought I’d better check Dad’s Hotmail account in case Spooky had emailed him. I didn’t think she would have. After all, you’re supposed to move slowly into these things, but she was obviously the storming type. There wasn’t just one email from her, there were two.

    Dear Greenman (that was Polly’s idea, not mine!)

    Wow! I hadn’t expected a reply so soon. Or such a long email. I mean most guys think that three lines is a lot of effort. I’ll try to answer your questions and then I’ll throw some of mine into the ring, shall I?

    My son is fourteen. It’s a difficult age. He’s a great kid who’s had to deal with a lot of stuff and I’m very proud of him. He’s not a standard-issue kind of boy. He’s pretty quiet, maybe even a bit nerdy, but he’s been a fabulous support for me over the years. He’s got a lot of interests including computer games and he reads a lot. He could do with a male mentor, though. I’m afraid my ex isn’t very helpful in that regard as he doesn’t see Cal very often.
    I do a few things. I’m involved in some community groups and help out a friend who has a café from time to time. I’ve been basically in recovery from some unpleasant relationship issues for a while. But I can feel myself becoming whole again. Didn’t someone once say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger?
    I’m thinking of studying to become a masseuse. I like the idea of earning money doing something that heals others.
    I do envy your vegie garden. Unfortunately, the house we’re renting has this really vertical kind of garden. I think you could terrace it or something, but not when you’re renting.
    And how wonderful to go camping with your daughter. See, I think that’s the kind of thing Cal needs – just to give him some other outlets. He needs to really witness nature, not just the inside of his bedroom. But camping’s not the kind of thing I’d feel confident doing by myself. Being a single woman cuts off a lot of things that I’d normally love doing.
    How about you? Do you love travelling? What kind of music do you listen to? Are you into meditation?
    Let’s keep talking,
    Lianna

    Then the second email said:

    Dear Greenman,

    Sorry, just realised how much I’d written. I hope you don’t find it boring. It’s so easy to run on in an email, isn’t it? You just sit down in front of the keyboard and finding yourself saying things you probably wouldn’t say in person. I’d be intimidated. Or think they sounded weird. Hope you don’t mind these long emails. I’ll try to keep them shorter in future.

    Lianna

    I printed them out and took them to school. We were in way over our heads, I thought.
    Polly disagreed. ‘She sounds okay,’ she said, ‘a bit whacky, but not totally off the planet.’
    â€˜She talks about healing too much, and issues,’ I said.
    â€˜Yeah, but she’s opening up. We’d better make your dad open up, too.’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜You know, show his vulnerable side.’
    â€˜Which is?’
    â€˜I dunno. It’s too early to say he’s unemployed, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Dad always says self-employed when he applies for a job.’ Polly was the only person I could tell this kind of stuff to.
    â€˜Yeah, good thinking. Do you want me to, you know, try casting a get-a-job spell for him?’
    I practically swivelled my head so I could stare Polly right in the face. She stared back, unflinchingly. ‘You reckon you can do that?’
    â€˜I just need a bit of his hair.’
    â€˜A bit of his hair?’
    â€˜To do the spell.’
    â€˜Okay, well, I’ll see what I can do. I