Water Read Free

both my parents war with since they’d split.
    “Nothing is going to happen to me,” I told him, hugging him a little awkwardly.
    He’d kissed the top of my head and held my face in his hands for a few moments, worry still pulling his shaggy eyebrows together.
    “I love you,” he’d told me seriously.
    “Love you too, Dad.”
    He’d pulled me into another brief hug before getting into his truck and driving away in a plume of moonlit dust and exhaust fumes.
    I refocused on the mountains, confusion at Dad’s odd behaviour still tugging at me and wondered if Luke knew anything about the story I felt sure was lurking in the folds of Injisuthi.
    He’d been busy with Matt and helping Allan out on the farm for most of the week, but I was sure I’d be able to corner him after breakfast.
    Matt was leaving for Hockey camp this morning, and Allan and Maryka had planned to take him there at about ten o clock, leaving Luke and me alone for the day. A quick glance at my clock had me rushing to the bathroom in an attempt to get ready before Matt and his parents left.
    Feigning nonchalance that belied the last twenty minutes of frantic grooming, I was sitting at the large oak dining-room table eating breakfast in the sun-drenched kitchen, listening to Matt and Maryka chatting, when Luke came in.
    He flopped into the chair next to me, pouring some cereal into a bowl and joining in the conversation.
    I loved the way Luke’s family got on. So different to the strained formality I’d become used to before my parents split. This family’s interaction was as natural as breathing, their affection and easy conversation a balm to my warped perception of “normal” family life.
    I concentrated on my cereal, trying to blend into the background as best as I could, my favourite place to be.
    “So, Alex.” Luke grinned a naughty grin, the grin I remembered from the carefree days of our childhood. “What were you doing in my bedroom last night?”
    I froze, my spoon halfway to my mouth, in horror.
    “What do you mean?” I scowled.
    “I woke up to find you staring at me in the middle of the night. So what was your plan? Did you want to snuggle?”
    Matt giggled and Maryka chided him for asking me awkward questions.
    His teasing tone held a hint of something else, and while he continued to grin, his eyes were wary.
    “Of course not,” I snapped, recovering slightly from the shock. “I got lost on the way to the bathroom.”
    He smiled easily and dropped the subject.
    Did he believe me? I watched him surreptitiously as I finished my breakfast. The problem was, I didn’t know what I’d been doing in his bedroom, because I didn’t remember walking into it.
    I silently cursed my sleepwalking as an irritating and telling blush crawled up my neck.
    It bothered me a lot, not just that I’d made a complete fool out of myself by walking into Luke’s room, but because I’d never had the nightmare and gone sleepwalking on the same night before.
    Thankfully Allan rushed in shortly afterwards to hurry Matt and Maryka out to Matt’s Hockey camp. The kitchen was suddenly empty, the only sound the scraping of our spoons in the bottom of our bowls.
    “What you want to do today?” Luke asked, his eyes flashing briefly to mine.
    “Well…” I paused, feeling a little silly. “I was wondering if you knew anything more about the adventure in the Injisuthi that our parents were talking about last night?”
    He continued scraping his spoon in the bottom of the bowl, shrugging his shoulders.
    “They don’t talk about it very much. I’ve only heard them mention it once or twice before.”
    I slumped a little at his caginess as I stared into the milk and remaining soggy bits of oats. I’d been so sure there was something more interesting to their adventure, and even more sure that Luke was curious about it too.
    “But I have often wondered why Mom always looks so sad, and Dad gets so protective every time they mention it.”
    I looked up