Solace & Grief Read Free Page A

her size, she'd gone straight to the school principal to tell him Jerome was bleeding, but that he deserved it for being a tool. Whenever she changed the clocks, she adamantly told Mrs Plumber that it needed to be done or the monsters could get in, and not to fuss so much. Honesty was her one constant compulsion, no matter how crazy it made her sound. It now suggested her innocence.
    Annamaria was off the list, too – she'd been out all night and in any case, cutting up shirts was hardly her favoured means of getting attention. Which left Leonie; but Leonie, as both adults and Solace knew full well, would never voluntarily touch a pair of scissors, let alone under cover of darkness. So who had cut the shirt? From the corner of her eye, Solace saw that Miss Daisy was having similarly troubled thoughts, although Luci remained oblivious, munching happily through her carbohydrates and fruit preserve.
    ‘Miss Daisy,’ Solace found herself asking, ‘what did the words say?’
    Her house-mother closed the fridge before answering.
    ‘“You don't belong here”,’ she said, unscrewing the milk. ‘Cut right across the back. My favourite shirt.’ She sighed, shaking her head. ‘I'll have to ask Sarah if she heard anything. I was out like a light last night.’
    Somehow Solace managed to nod, but her stomach had turned to glue. Numbly, she swallowed the rest of her water, smiled at Luci and left the room, staggering only a little.
    You don't belong here .

    All day, Luci's chatter rarely strayed far from the Mystery of Miss Daisy's Shirt, as Annamaria had gleefully dubbed it. The girl was inordinately amused by the whole incident, having been removed from the list of suspects after Mrs Plumber found her going-out clothes wadded up in the laundry and reeking of cigarettes. Trying to question Leonie had been a drama in itself: as gentle as Miss Daisy had been, the mute girl had shrieked at the very mention of scissors and spent the next two hours curled up in the linen cupboard, whimpering softly.
    Neither woman asked Solace. They didn't need to.
    Denial or not, it was clear that Mrs Plumber still suspected Luci, keeping an even closer eye on the girl than usual. Nonetheless, the day played out like so many others, unremarkable except for the manner in which it had begun. Eventually, Leonie emerged from her hiding place and made a large plate of plain cheese sandwiches for all and sundry. Annamaria argued with Miss Daisy, flung a mug at the wall and stormed out to spend the afternoon with Blake, her thoroughly-disreputable-but-not-as-bad-as-the-lastone boyfriend. Luci watched cartoons, played with her toy horses and, despite Mrs Plumber's eagle eye, set fire to several old magazines in the bathtub.
    Solace, for her part, re-read a couple of favourite books, transitioning from lounge to bedroom depending on which was the quietest. It wasn't until late afternoon that she sat up, stretched, and asked permission to go for a short walk. Miss Daisy waved her on, casting a knowing eye heavenwards. In addition to bleaching her skin, exposure to too much sunlight made Solace dizzy and weak, as though she'd just stepped out of a really hot shower. Being innately contrary, however, she made a point of going outside each day, usually after twelve.
    Stepping through the kitchen door, she smiled to feel the cool change on her skin. The wind had dropped, leaving behind the sharp, prickling atmosphere of rain to come. The sun was low in the sky, staining the streaked clouds sherbet orange, cat-tongue pink and bruise purple, all clashing with the dark, distant jags of the Sydney skyline.
    As soon as she began to walk, Solace felt muscles relax she hadn't known were clenched. Why should the words disturb her? Truly, she didn't belong at the group home, and never had. The sudden obviousness of the thought struck her like a poorly swung tennis racquet. Why hadn't she seen it before now, really seen it? Her anger at Kelly had been one thing, her