overlapped except for a thin
yellowish edge on one side and a bluish edge on the other.
Two suns.
Until now, she had the
distant hope that the plane had crashed in a hidden valley. That
there was a big lake whose existence had slipped her mind. That the
men had been poachers. That somehow she would come across a road or
a farm and find that nothing strange had happened at all.
Not any
more.
Grey clouds,
sunlight and white water mixed in a haze of tears. She let her
backpack slide from her shoulders.
What was the
point of going on? She might as well lie down and never wake up.
The killers were not poachers, but some kind of alien with
unintelligible motives. She remembered the small size of the
figures and their dreadlocks, and their scent.
They might as
well catch up with her; it made no bloody difference. She was alone
and she would never get back home, where she could lie on her bed
reading while a fly buzzed at the window. Where the breeze brought
a scent of gum trees and magpies yodelled on the roof.
In her mind,
her mother said, “As long as they haven’t found the wreckage, there
is hope.”
No, there
wasn’t. By now, her parents would be mourning her, her mother’s
eyes rimmed with red while stroking her picture on the mantelpiece.
The school would have a memorial service. Mei Ling, Jacqui, her
other friends, dressed in formal school blazers, clutching bunches
of flowers and crying on each other’s shoulders.
Kreeeek,
kreeeeek.
What the hell
was that?
On the sand
between two bushes sat an animal about the size of her forearm. It
looked like a large lizard, with popping black eyes and orange
slitted pupils. Its head was pointy like a snake’s, but the skin
shone with sparkling gold and looked wet like a frog’s.
She stared at
it and the animal stared back at her. Then, as it came to her that
if she could catch it, she could probably eat it, it turned around
and ran off in a gallop-like gait, most unlizard-like, with an
arched back, tail held high. Jessica jumped forward and crashed
through the bushes after the creature, grabbing its tail with both
hands.
A
frightened squeal, Kreeeeek!
She swung the
animal above her head, intending to smash it down on the sand, but
somehow, it had managed to pull itself up and clamped a pair of
jaws over her thumb. “Ow!” She let go of the tail. The lizard fell
to the sand and scuttled away, across the beach, into the
water.
Jessica stared
after it, panting, her head throbbing with pain.
She
rubbed her thumb where the lizard had bitten. A v-shaped red mark
had appeared, but the teeth hadn’t even broken the skin. Coward
that she was. Anyone else would have clubbed it over the head.
Anyone else who didn’t spend a lot of time fixing up animals.
Shooting rabbits was easy. You did it from a distance. Bang, bang, bang. Rabbits were introduced pests
anyway. But to kill an animal by wringing its neck with her bare
hands . . .
She kicked up
a spray of sand in her anger. Having thought of food had made her
stomach pains worse. If she was to survive, she had to slow down,
find things to eat. But she couldn’t even kill a lizard to save
herself.
The ghost of a
breeze touched her sweaty face, bringing the smell of wet mud and
the clattering noise from the reeds. There was also another sound.
Rustling, swishing and a whistle . . .
Jessica peered
over the bushes. Something moved in the reed bed to her left.
The
killers.
Chapter
7
J ESSICA
RETREATED into the shrubbery at the bottom of the cliff.
First one and
then another figure came out of the reeds. Against the glare of
sunlight, they were nothing more than black shapes. Small, dressed
in rags, with mops of untidy hair like reggae singers. Five of
them.
How could they
have come down that cliff so quickly?
They stopped
on the beach, talking and gesticulating. Any minute now and they
would see her footprints and then they only needed to follow the
trail.
Jessica broke
a branch off a shrub and pushed
yellowish edge on one side and a bluish edge on the other.
Two suns.
Until now, she had the
distant hope that the plane had crashed in a hidden valley. That
there was a big lake whose existence had slipped her mind. That the
men had been poachers. That somehow she would come across a road or
a farm and find that nothing strange had happened at all.
Not any
more.
Grey clouds,
sunlight and white water mixed in a haze of tears. She let her
backpack slide from her shoulders.
What was the
point of going on? She might as well lie down and never wake up.
The killers were not poachers, but some kind of alien with
unintelligible motives. She remembered the small size of the
figures and their dreadlocks, and their scent.
They might as
well catch up with her; it made no bloody difference. She was alone
and she would never get back home, where she could lie on her bed
reading while a fly buzzed at the window. Where the breeze brought
a scent of gum trees and magpies yodelled on the roof.
In her mind,
her mother said, “As long as they haven’t found the wreckage, there
is hope.”
No, there
wasn’t. By now, her parents would be mourning her, her mother’s
eyes rimmed with red while stroking her picture on the mantelpiece.
The school would have a memorial service. Mei Ling, Jacqui, her
other friends, dressed in formal school blazers, clutching bunches
of flowers and crying on each other’s shoulders.
Kreeeek,
kreeeeek.
What the hell
was that?
On the sand
between two bushes sat an animal about the size of her forearm. It
looked like a large lizard, with popping black eyes and orange
slitted pupils. Its head was pointy like a snake’s, but the skin
shone with sparkling gold and looked wet like a frog’s.
She stared at
it and the animal stared back at her. Then, as it came to her that
if she could catch it, she could probably eat it, it turned around
and ran off in a gallop-like gait, most unlizard-like, with an
arched back, tail held high. Jessica jumped forward and crashed
through the bushes after the creature, grabbing its tail with both
hands.
A
frightened squeal, Kreeeeek!
She swung the
animal above her head, intending to smash it down on the sand, but
somehow, it had managed to pull itself up and clamped a pair of
jaws over her thumb. “Ow!” She let go of the tail. The lizard fell
to the sand and scuttled away, across the beach, into the
water.
Jessica stared
after it, panting, her head throbbing with pain.
She
rubbed her thumb where the lizard had bitten. A v-shaped red mark
had appeared, but the teeth hadn’t even broken the skin. Coward
that she was. Anyone else would have clubbed it over the head.
Anyone else who didn’t spend a lot of time fixing up animals.
Shooting rabbits was easy. You did it from a distance. Bang, bang, bang. Rabbits were introduced pests
anyway. But to kill an animal by wringing its neck with her bare
hands . . .
She kicked up
a spray of sand in her anger. Having thought of food had made her
stomach pains worse. If she was to survive, she had to slow down,
find things to eat. But she couldn’t even kill a lizard to save
herself.
The ghost of a
breeze touched her sweaty face, bringing the smell of wet mud and
the clattering noise from the reeds. There was also another sound.
Rustling, swishing and a whistle . . .
Jessica peered
over the bushes. Something moved in the reed bed to her left.
The
killers.
Chapter
7
J ESSICA
RETREATED into the shrubbery at the bottom of the cliff.
First one and
then another figure came out of the reeds. Against the glare of
sunlight, they were nothing more than black shapes. Small, dressed
in rags, with mops of untidy hair like reggae singers. Five of
them.
How could they
have come down that cliff so quickly?
They stopped
on the beach, talking and gesticulating. Any minute now and they
would see her footprints and then they only needed to follow the
trail.
Jessica broke
a branch off a shrub and pushed
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