Angel Creek (12 page)

Jelly waded into the water with the angel in her arms. The creek was much higher than it had been the night they found the angel. It pushed and pulled her deeper. When she reached the place where the rock was, now deep under the swirling water, she unwrapped the blanket. It was wrenched away from her and floated downstream.

‘Go,' she whispered to the angel. ‘Go!' The angel clung to her as it unfurled its enormous wings. They gleamed in the shadows. It beat them twice. Two slow beats and Jelly felt herself lifting upwards. Then her heart sank as it occurred to her that she was wrong. The bad thing was there. Right there in the tunnel, in the darkness, in the creek. The water reared up. A blinding light filled the tunnel and her head filled with pain. She felt her arms empty, her head grow light, then she sank into black.

At that moment Jelly knew for certain.

The angel had not come for her nonna.

The angel had come for her.

17

the dark, the light

Jelly woke. She opened her eyes. She was lying in the mud of the creek bank in the dark of the tunnel. She didn't know how or why but she had been saved. She was safe. The rain had stopped and the creek rushed past her feet, lapping at her shoes. But she was still there. Her body was hollow but her heart was full. In the distance she heard footsteps running towards her. She turned her head slowly and in the entrance she saw two figures silhouetted against the bright light of the day. Her dad rushed towards her, scooped her up into his arms. His face was wet. ‘Oh, my baby,' he buried his head against her neck. ‘Oh, my baby girl. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you.'

He swung her up into his arms just like when she was a child and held her, her head against his neck. Jelly felt his chest heave. Then he turned back towards the entrance of the tunnel. ‘Where is he? Where's that boy?'

But he was gone.

I owe you three times now, she thought.

18

the power of wishes

Jelly's dad changed her out of her wet clothes and tucked her into bed. Maureen brought her a hot chocolate and Gino and Pik hung about in the doorway.

‘She needs to rest now,' her dad said. ‘You boys can see her later.' He sat on Jelly's bed.

‘Does Mum know?' she whispered.

Dad nodded. ‘I called her.'

‘I—I slipped…' It was the only thing she could think of to say.

‘It's okay,' he said. ‘For now all I care about is that you're safe.' He stroked her forehead. She closed her eyes. When she opened them again his eyes were shiny with tears.

Dad stood up to close her blinds and she lay on her bed in the dark. He left the room and she heard him on the upstairs phone to Mum. She thought she heard him crying. She had only heard her dad cry like that once before. Eight years ago. When his father had died. She closed her eyes and prayed that Nonna was all right.

She wished everyone would just come home.

Jelly drifted in and out of sleep. Sometimes she woke and her dad was sitting next to her in the dark. She heard her mum come home. She came quietly into Jelly's room and kissed her forehead. She heard Gino and Pik get into their beds on the floor.

She was there but also not.

Soon the house was quiet.

She fell into a dream-filled sleep.

The baby angel was sitting at the end of her bed. It crouched there, knees tucked under its chin, peeling grapes and popping them into its mouth. When it realised Jelly was watching, the angel smiled and passed Jelly a grape. Jelly looked down at the smooth grape in her open palm. As she watched, the grape began to grow. Its translucent sides split open and hundreds of tiny silver angels, each one no bigger than a firefly, spun into the air. As they reached the open window they drifted up into the night sky where they spread out across the darkness, glittering like stars.

The next morning, Jelly woke with the birds. They were singing loud and bright around her window and the sun crept through the slats of her blinds. She lay awake and listened to Pik and Gino sleeping.

‘Gino,' she hissed. She leaned over and shook him gently till he stirred.

‘Hmm?'

‘Shh, don't wake Pik.'

‘What is it? Are you okay?'

‘Yeah, I'm fine.' Jelly smiled. ‘What happened in the shed yesterday? With Budgie and Jack?'

Gino sat up, rubbing his eyes. He grinned, his whole face lighting up. ‘The angel scared those guys to bits. You should've seen it. It was more like a devil than an angel. I had been trying to get it to come to me when they came in, and when it saw them it just freaked. It was flapping everywhere like crazy. Lucky I got it in the blanket before they realised what it was.'

‘What were you doing in there, anyway? Why were you trying to catch it?'

Gino was silent a moment. Then he took a deep breath and looked down. ‘I saw it too. That thing in the lightning. It was the same as the thing in the water, wasn't it? Looking for our angel. I'd already begun to think that all the bad things happening weren't just a coincidence. Guess I just didn't want to believe it at first.' His voice became soft. ‘I guess I was hoping I could get it to do stuff for me like it was doing for you.'

Jelly frowned. ‘What are you talking about?'

‘You really didn't notice? Your wishes. Every time you wished for something you got it. Sophia getting sick. I bet you wished for something that made the branch fall on Dad's car.'

‘Why would I want Sophia to get sick? Are you crazy?'

‘Well, you didn't wish for it exactly. But the angel made them happen that way. You wanted to keep the pram, remember? So you said you wished Sophia wasn't around. You see?'

Jelly felt a wave of nausea rush through her. It was me? she thought. It was me making all those bad things happen? Then she remembered. Nonna. She had made Nonna sick. She knew that now. When she wished for Gino to stay. All the bad thoughts she'd been having. She couldn't believe it. What other careless wishes had she made?

She looked up at Gino and he seemed to understand what was going through Jelly's mind. ‘It's not your fault. You didn't know. I guessed what was happening but I didn't tell you because I wanted to get it to do stuff for me. But it wouldn't. Not even one wish. It wouldn't even let me touch it.'

Jelly remembered an old Italian saying her nonno had told her when she was young. She didn't know why she hadn't remembered it before. To see an angel meant someone would die. The angel
had
come for her. It really was her angel. That was why it wouldn't let Gino or Pik get close to it. But why hadn't it taken her away with it? Why had she been saved? Her mind spun with questions she knew she would never find an answer to.

‘It was a good thing we took it back to the creek. Imagine if you'd got hold of it, Gino.' She smiled. ‘What would you have wished for? Super powers? All the money in the world? No, I know. You would have wished for that motorbike that your dad won't let you have. That Ducati Monster, or whatever it's called, right?' She giggled.

Gino looked away.

‘Sorry,' Jelly said. ‘Tell me. I think I know anyway. You would've wished your dad wasn't so angry all the time, right?'

Gino shrugged and Jelly squeezed his hand.

‘Or that I'd stop bossing you around?' she said quietly.

‘Nah,' said Gino, punching her in the shoulder. ‘That's your job. Chief Pain in the Arse!'

‘You can talk.' She punched Gino back and they both burst out laughing.

Pik sat up. ‘What's so funny?'

‘You, Pik,' Gino said. ‘Your head's on backwards. Look!'

Pik frowned and patted his head and Gino and Jelly snorted with laughter.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. ‘You kids awake?' Jelly's dad called out.

‘Yeah.'

‘Come downstairs then. We've got a surprise for you.'

The door swung open and light streamed into the bedroom. Both Jelly and Gino's parents were in the doorway, grinning. Zia Pia had baby Sophia on her hip. Sophia's cheeks were covered in crusty sores but she was back to her cranky self again, frowning and pulling at Zia's hair.