Sister Heart (6 page)

Mum would want me to help

Little kids find trouble easy

Little kids get lost easy

I nod

Janey smiles

You got tough feet?

She drops to the ground

Grabs my bare foot

I nearly fall over

Yeah, your feet are tough

No stone bruises for you

Come on!

The bush nearby smells damp

fresh

alive

Birds swoop

call out

make nests

sing

Other kids yell

Hey Janey, over here!

Janey dodges them

Gotta find Tim

Make sure he's okay

We walk deeper into the bush

lots of trees

lots of bushes

lots of hiding places

It's good to be outside

Good to be away from school

Good to stretch my legs

Janey babbles

Guess what Tim did once, Annie?

Picked up a baby snake!

Thought it was a stick

Guess what else?

Climbed a tree

Fell down

broke his leg!

I said

Why were you so high?

He said

I was bein' a mudlark!

Tim's game for anythin'

that's why I have to find him

Big sisters look after little brothers, huh?

Tim isn't lost

and he hasn't found trouble

He is crouched behind a bush

watching birds

He looks like Janey

Same sun-bright hair

same fair skin

Does Tim talk a lot too?

You can tell we brother and sister

Only Tim's got more freckles

Janey presses fingers to her cheeks

See, I got the same spots!

Tim whispers

Ssh Janey

I'm watchin' a mudlark!

My little sister likes

to watch the animals

In the early morning

I take little sister to the creek

We lie on a flat rock

Watch kangaroos drink early

Big sisters look after little sisters

Janey pats my arm

Aw — you sad, Annie?

I didn't want to cry

but I am

You cryin' for your mummy and daddy?

Your brothers and sisters?

Your aunties and uncles?

Your cousins?

Your grannies?

Tim hisses

Be quiet you girls!

Janey says

You got a little brother, Annie?

I shake my head

You got a baby sister?

I nod

You missin' her bad, huh?

I cried when I came here

They sent my cousins someplace else

Thought I was alone

till I saw Tim

Knew he was my lost brother

just knew it!

Tim was a sick baby

Mum took him to the hospital

went back to get him

He was gone!

Where is he?

Mum kept cryin'

Where's my boy?

She was still cryin' for Tim

when they grabbed me

Reckon she's cryin'

for both of us now

Tim scowls at Janey

Shifts further away

Tim was a fat baby

bein' sick shrunk him

He looks like a little fella

but he's only two years younger

Janey pokes out her tongue at Tim

Hey, you lucky to have me

watchin' out for you!

Tim pulls a face

New kids come every month, Annie

Your little sister might come

or your cousins

Then you won't be lonely

I don't want little sister to come here

I want Mum to come

and take me home

The mudlark

Tim was watching

flaps its wings

and takes to the air

Tim leaps up

Look what ya done, Janey

with all your talkin'

Sorry, Tim

but Annie's cryin' for her family

Can't ya see?

Tim is mad at Janey

but he looks sorry for me

Maybe school made her cry

That why you cryin', Annie?

I shake my head

The good teacher left

She talked nice

smelled nice

and she didn't shame kids

but now we stuck with Knife-face

she always

tap, tap, tapping and

whack, whack, whacking

with her ruler

'cept when Janey stole it …

That's a secret, Tim!

Anyway, that's not why Annie's cryin'

Tim shrugs

Janey buried Teacher's ruler

She won't find it!

Janey sighs

Don't matter

she got a new one already!

Badder one

says Tim

If she hits real hard

the edge cuts

Janey grabs my arm

Listen, Annie

Tim and me have a trick

Sometimes we laugh

when we're sad

Haa – haa – haa!

laugh Janey and Tim

I don't smile

but my tears stop

Tim grabs a small stone

from the ground

looks at it closely

Yep, it's a good one

He pushes the stone

into my hand

It's a laughing stone, Annie

If ya feel sad

squeeze the stone

and laugh

Only don't laugh in school!

I was havin' a sad day

Pulled out me stone

laughed

Teacher said

Are you laughing at me, Timothy?

Are you a rude, stupid boy?

Whacked me hard!

Me and Tim

got a crying tree, too

Janey grabs my arm

Come on

I'll show you

Don't come back

Tim tells us

You scare the birds

Look, Annie

magpies!

They swoop

if their nests got babies

Janey halts

Hey – there's a kookaburra!

I love their laugh

Haa – haa – haa – haa!

she sings out loudly

Haa – haa – haa!

Kookaburras make me happy!

Janey picks up a stick

makes marks in the sand

A snake track

She hands me the stick

Your turn, Annie

I make marks in the sand

Janey looks at them

Bet that's a goanna!

I nod

Come on

I'll show you more things

See those birds?

Honeyeaters

They hang upside down

to get sweetness from the blossoms

Maybe we'll see a bobtail goanna

They got blue tongues

Their babies are born alive

You know that?

Watch out for redback spiders

swingin' from their webs!

Red spot on their back

means stay away!

Give you a bad bite

make you real sick

Could kill a baby

Careful where you walkin'

Plenty of snakes here

Dugites grow long as a man

if you stretch 'em out

Tiger snakes in the marsh

got stripes

Tigers are short and fat

I reckon they meaner than dugites

Once

I dropped

down from a tree

landed on a snake

Lucky it was dead!

Dugites and tigers can kill you

This time of the year

they full of poison!

Does Janey ever stop talking?

Janey stoops down

picks up bendy twigs

Wanna surprise, Annie?

She finds a sunlit patch

Sits down

I run my fingers through the sand

dirt is dark

bush is thick

air is cold

No melting heat here

no days so hot

you can taste the dust

This place is not like home

I could get lost here

Janey's fingers work fast

She twists the twigs

into a little person with arms

and legs and everything

Janey holds it up

See, Annie

a stick doll

I've seen a real doll

Visitors came to the station

with a girl who carried a doll

She carried it

like I used to carry little sister

when she was a new baby

Doll had clothes and shoes

and staring eyes

Janey's bush doll has no eyes

but she feels smiley

My fingers stroke

the doll's twiggy face

Put her in your pocket, Annie

Pretend she's your little sister

Ridin' like a joey

in her mummy's pouch

You wanna see the cryin' tree now?