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‘Oh, I’m just beaut. Tripped over and fell in this hole, that’s all,
darl. What good luck you’ve come by!’

‘Terrific luck, Grandpa,’ she croaked. Uncle James was now on the ground beside her, and he too pushed himself forward so he could see over the edge of the pit.

‘Hello, laddie!’ Alex cried. He sounded delighted. ‘Wonderful! Can you and these other boys give me a hand out, do you reckon?’

‘Not a problem, Dad,’ said James. He heard Mark ask Uncle Col, ‘You ever seen a shaft with a platform like this before?’

‘Yep, seen three of ’em,’ said Uncle Col. ‘But them other ones, the timbers rotted out. They just go straight down.’

CHAPTER 29

With the help of the rope, they had Alex out of the shaft in just a couple of minutes. He had gravel rash and a few cuts on his hands. His trousers were torn at the knee and his kneecaps were grazed and scuffed. Sandy used the disinfectant in the first-aid kit to clean up his scrapes. He was hungry, but they hadn’t brought any food with them, only water. The older cop dug in his pocket and found a packet of Maltesers, which Alex enthusiastically accepted, crunching them up one after another till the packet was empty. Uncle Col offered tobacco but Alex had never been a smoker.

They walked back through the bush, phoning ahead to the policeman waiting at the house that the missing person had been found and was in good condition. Despite this, an ambulance crew came hurrying to meet them. They insisted on carrying Alex the rest of the way on their stretcher, and to Olivia’s surprise he didn’t object. ‘My knees are giving me a bit of gyp,’ he confessed, though he’d been keeping up without a word of complaint.

He did object to going into the hospital to be examined, however, and only consented once the ambulance crew agreed – reluctantly,
and after an exchange of phone calls with the hospital – that given the circumstances and his apparent lack of injury he could have a meal first. Uncle Col and Silver joined him in a cup of tea at the kitchen table as he ate, while James gave a statement to the police and Olivia packed up her things and Grandpa’s bag and put them in Uncle James’s car, along with her bike. Then they locked up the house, and the cars peeled out of the front yard one after the other. James followed the ambulance in to Castlemaine.

By the time they got through all the admission procedures it was late afternoon, and the hospital staff insisted Alex stay in overnight for observation. By now he looked absolutely bushed and was happy to settle into the bed with its crisp white sheets and piled-up pillows, in a bright little four-bed ward. His neighbour in the next bed, a man about his own age, leaned towards him.

‘They treat ya like a king here, mate,’ he said confidingly. ‘You’ll never wanna go home.’

James, Silver and Olivia booked into a nearby motel. It was just getting dark when they sat down for an early dinner in the dining room. James urged Olivia to order whatever she felt like; Silver ordered a glass of wine and asked Olivia if she’d like one, too. Olivia didn’t, but she thought it was very cool of Silver to offer.

Any minute now, she expected, they would start grilling her about what had happened. Pretty soon one of them would tell her (as if she didn’t know already) what a dumb thing she’d done. But instead they asked about Inverness, and what Grandpa had said about being there. They were friendly and polite and didn’t accuse her of anything. Olivia, still wary, was impressed.

At last James said, ‘I think I know why you took off like that, Ol. You overheard your mum having that fight with Uncle Robert on the phone, right?’

‘Yes. How’d you know?’

‘Robert actually rang me that night, after it happened. I spoke to your mum the next day and she was still spitting chips.’

‘She was saying she was going to put Grandpa in a home, like,
immediately
.’

‘I know. Everyone got pretty steamed up, Ol; I know. But it wasn’t till this morning that Meredith realised Dad was missing, and about the same time your school rang Deb… ’

I bet Fleur covered for me yesterday
, Olivia thought.
I hope she isn’t in trouble.
Now that Grandpa was safe, there was room in Olivia’s mind to anticipate the trouble she would soon be in. She had freaked out so many people.

‘But how did you know to come to Inverness?’

James frowned, trying to recall. ‘I’m not sure,’ he shrugged. ‘A hunch, I guess.’

‘Oh, you were pretty darn sure,’ Silver put in.

‘Yeah, I s’pose I was, wasn’t I? I just… put two and two together after your mum called me.’ He paused, did a little double take. ‘God, was that really just this morning? Seems like last week! But at first she thought you’d gone over to your friend’s house.’

‘Fleur, right?’ asked Silver.

‘Yeah. Yeah,’ Olivia said, but she was no longer really taking part in the conversation. She had withdrawn from them to some other, unhappy place.

‘I think there was something more that upset you,’ said Silver, watching her.

James said gently, ‘Deborah told me that your dad’s moved out.’

‘Yeah, that’s bad, too,’ said Olivia, nodding dolefully. Then she told them about Congo, about her parents conspiring to have him put down.

‘But… but, Ollie,’ said James, looking confused, ‘I think he really
has
gone to live on a farm.’

‘No. That’s all bullshit.’

‘How do you know?’

‘These kids at school told me. It’s just a thing parents say when they want to get rid of a pet. Like Father Christmas in reverse.’

‘Father Christmas?’ asked Silver, lost.

‘Just… you know, a bullshit thing for kids. But bad instead of good.’

James stood up. ‘I’m going to call Deborah,’ he said decisively. ‘I’m going to call her right now and sort this out!’

He walked away from the table, pulling his mobile phone out of his pocket. They could see him through the glass doors that led from the dining room to the motel foyer. He was walking round and round, talking intently. They saw him go over to the reception desk and borrow a paper and pen. He was writing something down.

He came back to the table, walking quickly, holding this piece of paper up in front of him triumphantly.

‘Congo
is
on a farm,’ he said before he’d even sat down again, handing the paper to Olivia. ‘And this is the name and phone number of the farmer! Deborah says she rang just this afternoon to check that he’s all right, and he is. He really is!’

Olivia stared at the note, dumbfounded.
Janine Endicott
, it said, and there were two numbers, a home phone and a mobile.

‘Why don’t you call now?’ suggested Silver.

‘Now?’ Olivia gaped.

‘Yes, why not? Find out for yourself.’

Uncle James handed her his mobile. She keyed in the first number.

‘Janine Endicott,’ a woman’s firm voice answered.

‘H-hello,’ faltered Olivia. ‘I – I… Do you have a basenji?’

‘I have three basenjis, actually,’ the woman said crisply. ‘No pups though. Possibly in about a year’s time.’

‘No no, not puppies. Do you… Have you got Congo?’

There was a little silence. ‘Ah,’ the woman said. ‘You’ll be the daughter. I spoke to your mother a few hours ago. She said you’d be calling me some time.’

They talked. Janine explained that she had two female basenjis. ‘Used to have another male, fantastic animal. Snakebite, damn it. We
all missed him dreadfully, but now Congo’s here the two girls are full of beans again. They’re bossing him round something shocking, but doesn’t he love it!’

‘My other two dogs are females. He’s used to two females bossing him round,’ Olivia told her.

‘Well, that makes perfect sense then,’ Janine said. ‘So they helped you train him, eh?’

‘They did most of the work, really,’ said Olivia. ‘Especially my border collie.’

‘Oh, a border! No wonder! But really – what’s your name again? Olivia, right. I’m Janine. But you know that. Anyway – Olivia, I have to say to you, you’ve done a fantastic job with this dog. Congo is one of the best-natured and best-behaved basenjis I’ve ever known. We’re off to a flying start here.’

Olivia laughed incredulously. ‘Thank you!’ she said. ‘Wow!’

‘Yep, I mean it. And if you want to come and visit him, you just call me, okay? You’re welcome any time.’

There was just one more thing Olivia wanted to know. ‘Janine,’ she asked, ‘what sort of farm have you got? I mean, what other animals are there?’

‘Aquaculture,’ said Janine. ‘Three big dams: yabbies and freshwater crayfish.’ She gave a triumphant sort of chuckle. ‘Have you noticed? Basenjis hate the water!’

Olivia said goodbye and ended the call. Her head felt kind of airy, like it was floating way above her body. The ordinary hotel dining room looked gorgeous, like the Moulin Rouge or something. Everyone there looked beautiful.

‘Thank you!’ she said to James and Silver. ‘Thank you so much!’

They smiled. They looked really pleased with themselves, and Olivia felt they had every right to. For once, adult smugness was justified. For a moment.

And then James had to go and say, ‘But you know, Ol, maybe you should’ve trusted your parents a bit more. I mean, Deborah can be
narky I know, but she’d never lie to you. Especially about something as important as that.’

Olivia scowled. ‘That’s what you think. Mum lies about stuff. Mum’s lied to
you
about important stuff.’

James sat back. ‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, she’s never told you about the letters, has she?’

‘Letters?’ James and Silver shot each other a startled look. ‘What letters, Ol?’

She told them about the box she’d discovered in the linen cupboard, the box chock-a-block full of letters from Deborah to her mother. Secret letters, never sent.

‘But there were no letters back the other way, were there?’ James asked urgently. ‘No letters from Rose to Deborah?’

‘But there
had
been!’ Olivia declared vehemently. ‘I could tell from the stuff Mum wrote, especially when she was younger, like, a teenager – there were heaps of references to things her mum had written. So I knew she’d got letters from her, but she never told
you
that, did she?’ She paused, and Uncle James’s silence was profoundly confirming. ‘So you see?’ said Olivia triumphantly. ‘
She lied!
’

CHAPTER 30

Alex was discharged from the hospital the next morning. The story of his rescue had gone around the hospital overnight, and it seemed like every single person there – nurses, doctors, several patients – was under some sort of compulsion to approach the family to tell them how lucky they were. Olivia started to feel really annoyed. Did they imagine it hadn’t occurred to her, to Uncle James and Silver, even to Grandpa himself, just how incredibly lucky they’d been? The fifth or sixth time it happened she was tempted to put on an innocent face and ask ‘Oh, do you really think so?’ But she didn’t, she just nodded demurely, thinking to herself,
How come they’re so clueless?
Adults, she meant. Then she felt mean, and disloyal. Uncle James and Silver were adults, and look how they’d figured out about Inverness. And been really nice. Everyone who’d helped find Grandpa, the cops, Uncle Col – then again, Uncle Col was a dog person, so of course he
would
be sensible.

They drove straight back to Melbourne, listening to the radio and chatting in a desultory fashion. Alex said a couple of times that he’d be glad to get home, but he seemed well and cheerful. James and
Silver hadn’t said another word about the letters, but Olivia knew something was bound to blow. She was sorry she’d said anything now. She’d had all the excitement she could handle, and she wished it would just stop. But she knew it wouldn’t.

When they arrived at Alex’s house Meredith was waiting, waving cheerily as they pulled into the driveway.

‘Hello, Daddy!’ she said, opening his car door. ‘I hear you’ve been having adventures!’

‘I have, darling, I have,’ he agreed, climbing out and giving her a hug. ‘Little visit to the old place, very nice. Marvellous people there. You’d have liked them.’

‘You’ll have to tell me all about it,’ Meredith suggested.

‘I will, I will. Just as soon as I’m sitting down with a decent cup of tea. It’s true what they say, you know: you can never get a cup of tea as good as the one brewed in your own pot.’

‘That is so true, Daddy,’ she agreed. She hugged the others one by one as they got out of the car. Olivia heard her telling James in a fervent undertone, ‘You
brilliant
brother, you! I didn’t even have time to freak out before you had everything sorted.’

Then James and Silver took Olivia home. To her surprise Angus was waiting for her, too. This was almost alarming: were her parents about to gang up and yell at her? And if they started fighting with each other again she didn’t think she could bear it, not just now. She greeted them both cautiously; the kitchen felt crowded and uncomfortably small. Mintie and Fly-by started whining in the backyard, just by the window; they must’ve heard her voice. One of them gave a short urgent bark and Olivia muttered something to the adults and went outside to their frantic doggie greeting. The dogs were beside themselves with joy. But no Congo. That still made her feel weird.

‘They’re not the only ones who are happy to see you, Ollie,’ her Dad said quietly. He must’ve followed her out. Olivia looked up. Behind him, through the kitchen window, she could see her mum standing talking to James and Silver. Everyone looked calm – so far.
‘Can we take these girls down to the park, Dad? They really need it. I can go to school straight after lunch.’

‘Sweetheart, I think you can have the rest of the day off, you know!’

Suddenly her father stepped closer and put his arms around her, hugging her fiercely. ‘My darling girl,’ he said, low and full of feeling. ‘I’ve been so afraid of losing you, Ollie. Because of everything I’ve done. I’ve been so afraid you won’t respect me any more, or… love me…’ His voice wobbled. Olivia felt pretty wobbly, too. She hugged him back hard.

‘No, Dad. No,’ she said into his shoulder. ‘That would
never
happen.’