Ice Phoenix Read Free Page A

pointing to the beach.
    "Urrrgh fine! I'm going then! How could you tell it was lunch time?"
    They swam towards the shore, but this time bypassing the little reef that Terrana had swum through. It was good exercise for her as she worked on her freestyle, her arms and legs propelling her forwards with the gentle waves that rolled into the lagoon.
    She raced the last hundred metres underwater with Puddy, losing as usual, and emerged from the sea. As always, the dolphin turned and left, performing his signature flip before disappearing into the distance. Terrana walked back to where she left her clothes and slipped them on. Then she headed home.
    Her feet swept the sandy footpath dotted with lime-washed rocks and withered rose bushes, past the large frangipani tree on the right and finally stood before the weathered, wooden door of her yellow rectangular house. The smell of frying fish, sausages and boiled cassava filled her nostrils and she inhaled it appreciatively. Turning the cheap plastic doorknob, she sauntered into the house.
    The sound of her brother 's whining greeted her first.
    " Oilei ! Where were you, man? Mum's been looking for you to scrape the coconuts!"
    Archie was sprawled out on the sofa watching a video. Three years older than Terrana, he was the bane of her life. Like his sister he was lean, but his eyes were green and his shoulder-length hair was brown and wavy. He possessed a devilish smile that made all the girls on the island laugh strangely.
    A natural star in school, he excelled in schoolwork, sports , and dancing — a fact he never failed to rub in. But one day it had all changed; Terrana had thrashed him in swimming and tree climbing, and, ever since, everything had become competition between the two.
    Terrana rolled her eyes and huffed. "Why couldn't you do it?"
    " Uh uh, I'm not allowed to." He grinned. "I'm learning to play the piano."
    " What! Since when?" Terrana was pretty sure that Archie had the musical sense of a farting monkey with bananas for fingers. Crabs were more musically gifted than he was.
    " Master Manoa offered to teach me and Mum agreed, but first I have to take it easy on my hands. He said I had too much crescendo !"
    A sly smile came over her face. "You mean Father Manoa. The only free time he has is on Saturdays so there goes your weekends. Because it's Mum agreeing to it, there goes your Sundays too coz she'll expect you to play in church."
    She watched with satisfaction as Archie 's face changed from smugness to horror. She nodded sympathetically. "Yep, Mum finally got you," she said in a way that was not at all sincere. "Don't know how you didn't see that one coming."
    Archie screamed. " Muum ! You didn't tell me that Master Manoa was a priest !"
    The sound of softly padded footsteps entered the living room. The plump form of their mother appeared, complete with her pink slip-on dress that fell just above her knees, curly dark hair, dark eyes and ruby red lips. She loved lipstick.
    "Oh, didn't I tell you?" she said innocently. "He's just come down from the next island and will be serving God here for a year."
    " Eeh? God doesn't live on this island, Mum! He's on the other island with all the ulukaus . You tricked me!"
    Terrana sniggered. Ulukaus was Fijian slang for village idiots. It resulted in a slap on the head from her mother. "Oouu — what did I do?" she said, rubbing her sore head.
    " Go scrape the coconuts. I need some lolo for the fish and bele ." Lolo was coconut milk and bele was a leafy green vegetable rich in iron, two of the most common ingredients for cooking on their island. She looked at Terrana and her eyes twinkled. Terrana had inherited her brown eyes and black hair from her mother, whereas Archie had his father's colouring.
    " All right," she grumbled, turning to leave. "Guess I'll be stuck scraping coconuts for the rest of my life now that Archie's playing the piano. I'm a young girl with dreams you know." She gave her mum a pointed look. "I plan to