Yellowcake
M
ARGO
L
ANAGAN
is an internationally acclaimed writer of novels and short stories. Her collections of short stories have won or been shortlisted for many awards.
Black Juice
was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, won two World Fantasy Awards and the Victorian Premier’s Award for Young Adult Fiction.
Red Spikes
won the CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers, was a
Publisher’s Weekly
Best Book of the Year, a
Horn Book
Fanfare title, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.
Margo’s novel
Tender Morsels
won the 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, and her novella
Sea-Hearts
won the 2010 World Fantasy award for Best Novella.
Margo lives in Sydney. She maintains a blog at
www.amongamidwhile.blogspot.com
and can be found on Twitter as @margolanagan
Also by Margo Lanagan
FOR TEENAGERS AND ADULTS
Short Story Collections
Red Spikes
Black Juice
White Time
Novels
Tender Morsels
Touching Earth Lightly
The Best Thing
FOR YOUNGER READERS
Walking Through Albert
The Tankerman
Wildgame
m
ARGO
LANA
g
AN
yellowcake
This collection first published in 2011
Copyright © Margo Lanagan 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The
Australian Copyright Act 1968
(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: [email protected]
Web:
www.allenandunwin.com
Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available from the National Library of
Australia
www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 74237 478 9
Teachers’ notes available from
www.allenandunwin.com
Design by Zoë Sadokierski
Set in 11pt Cochin by Zoë Sadokierski
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
For Finn Lanagan-Jonas,
owner and namer of the original Pumfter
Billy flew into the kitchen.
The screen door clapped closed after him.
‘You’re back,’ said Nance.
Corin looked up from the dishes, to the world reflected in the window. The boy was wild and clammy-looking from running, his clothes every which way and filthy, his chest going with his panting. Nance admired him as he passed.
‘Just for a minute,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to fetch some stuff.’
‘What stuff? For what?’ barked Corin automatically.
‘Just stuff. Any old thing. Three things.’ This last was tossed back from halfway down the hall.
The boy rummaged in his room, and rattled. Then he was back in the doorway.
‘You need a haircut,’ said Corin to the boy’s reflection.
‘What are you wild lads up to?’ said Nance.
‘Shai’s brother’s got psychic powers. We’re doing experiments.’
‘Psychic powers! Well, well,’ said Nance.
‘Maybe he can tell you where you dropped that shed key,’ said Corin.
‘Not that kind of power,’ said Billy scornfully.
‘Of course, not anything
useful
.’
There was a skilful summoning whistle outside.
‘I’ve got to go,’ said Billy, starting for the door.
‘Kiss!’ Nance commanded.
He darted back, kissed her cheek quickly and was gone.
Corin was up to his elbows in suds. Nance, at the table in her glasses, went slowly on through the newspaper. She would suck up all the news, but she would never speak to him about it, as if he didn’t have ears or something. As if he didn’t have a brain to hear with. As if he might not
like
to hear, because reading it himself was such a labour.
‘What’s the boy got there?’ said Corin, putting his forehead to the window. He brought sudsy hands up to block out the other reflections.
‘He’s got...’ Nance looked up and dredged the picture of Billy out of her memory. ‘He’s got Pumfter von Schnitzel, and that ashtray. The one on a stick.’
Ah yes, from the old days, when Corin had pleased himself where he smoked. ‘And he’s pinched one of those blessed roses on the way out,’ Corin said. ‘The Zephyr ones. Or whatever silly name they’ve got.’
Nance licked her fingertip and caught up a corner of the paper. ‘Hmm,’ she said, reading.
Corin looked over his shoulder at her. ‘You’re not bothered?’
‘Bothered by the rose? He can have a rose. As long as he’s not tearing the petals off every bloom.’
‘By any of those things. What if he loses that dog thing?’
She looked up at him, dragging her mind back from wherever to hear him. ‘He doesn’t need it as much as he used to.’
‘You said you’d never find another with quite such a look on its face. You said in the whole basket there were no others with that look. It’s an accident, the way his eyes were sewn on.’
‘What a memory. That was years ago.’ Nance looked properly at him now. ‘You just don’t want him playing with those Traveller kids.’