September Read Free Page A

for days.’ She rubbed her eyes and looked around at the four of us. ‘Who had a knife? How come I can’t stay with you?’ Her pale face scrunched up and I could see she was trying hard not to cry. She looked from Boges to me, and back to Boges again. She squinted hard at him and reached for the short, brown fuzz on top of his head. ‘Where did all your hair go?’

    I knew when Gabbi was trying to be brave and right this minute she was doing it as hard as she could. I tightened my arm around her, trying to work out how to begin to explain everything to her.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Winter beckon to Sharkey and Boges, calling them away from us so we could have some quiet time together—just Gabbi and me. The three of them wandered off and stood in a circle a few metres away, chatting softly.
    ‘Tell me what you remember, Gab,’ I said. ‘Start with what happened tonight, if you can. What do you remember about being in the river?’
    ‘Well,’ she began, ‘I was in the water and it was freezing. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t know how I got there—I was just suddenly … in the water.’
    ‘It’s OK,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t need to make sense. Anything you say is OK.’
    ‘I thought I was dreaming that I was being carried out on a rip in Treachery Bay. I was so scared. I felt trapped in something. I didn’t know what was happening. Everything was mushy in my mind. But then I realised it was night and I wasn’t at a beach. And it wasn’t a dream—it was real. The water really was rushing me along!’
    ‘It’s OK, Gab, you’re safe now. Keep going.’
    ‘I was stuck in something, a sleeping-bag? I couldn’t breathe. Somehow I wriggled out of it and then I collided with this log that was sticking out over the water. After a few seconds of scrambling to get my head above water, I used the branches to pull myself up and onto the bank. I was really scared. It was dark and I was wet and I didn’t know where I was. I was crying out but no-one could hear me. I saw some lights in the distance, so I just started heading that way. I started walking back along the riverbank but it was really weird—I kept falling over like my legs had gone to sleep. They were shaky and tingly like I had pins and needles, but it wasn’t that. My legs just wouldn’t work properly. I kept stumbling and falling over like a little baby. But then one time I fell over and that’s when I found you!’
    Gabbi had reached the limit of her bravery. I felt her small body heaving as she started crying, and I squeezed her tight.
    She looked up again, her face streaked with tears. ‘I thought you were dead, Cal,’ she wailed. ‘You were just lying there. You were so cold. I was trying to wake you up but you wouldn’t answer me!’
    ‘It’s OK, I’m here now.’
    I decided on trying to tell her the truth of the situation, even though it was horrible. After what she’d been through, Gabbi deserved that.
    ‘Gab, what do you remember happening before you fell into the river? I know you don’t know how you fell in the river, but do you remember anything happening before that? Like, at home or at school?’
    The puzzled look on her face deepened. ‘What do you mean? I remember everything! I’m about to start Year 3 with Miss McCormack. Dad died. Last year. Why are you asking me that?’
    I wondered how I was going to break the news about the months she’d lost in a coma.
    ‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘Just keep telling me anything you remember. What you remember happening before you ended up in the river. Then I’ll explain what I can to you. OK?’
    ‘I don’t know! I don’t know what else to tell you!’
    ‘Just take a moment and think about it. Maybe something will come back.’
    Gabbi took a deep breath.
    She looked agitated and afraid as flickers of memories seemed to come back to her.
    ‘I remember!’ she said before speaking really quickly. ‘I was upstairs in my room, texting Ashley on