Strange Sally Diamond(62)

‘Why don’t you jump? I’ll catch you,’ said Dad.

‘I’m afraid,’ she repeated, tears in her voice.

‘Okay, we’ll have to leave you up there, then,’ said Dad and moved as if to walk away.

She began to sob.

‘Dad, we can’t leave her.’

‘I suppose not,’ he said. ‘Where are your family?’ he called up to her.

‘They’re on the other side of the lake. Mum told me to get lost until six o’clock.’

‘Well, that doesn’t sound fair. How about I come up and get you?’

Dad was surprisingly agile as he scaled the tree; a little unsure of his footing at times, but he reached her without any problems. He took her by the hand and led her from branch to branch, like I would have done if I could. The possum never woke up.

Eventually, she jumped a few feet to the ground, landing directly in front of me.

‘This is my son, Steve. What’s your name, petal?’ Dad asked her.

‘Lindy Weston. Hi, Steve.’ She was shy and her face was dirty with tears, which she wiped away with her forearm.

‘My name is Mr Armstrong, but you can call me James if you like.’

‘Hi, Lindy,’ I said.

‘Where you from?’ she asked.

‘From Dunedin originally but I lived in Ireland for years.’ This was our story.

Dad walked ahead while I chatted to Lindy. I was nervous, though I had no reason to be, not then.

‘My neighbour is from Ireland, don’t ask me where. She talks like you.’

I couldn’t think of anything to say.

‘Do you live around here now or are you on holiday?’

‘No, we’re not on holiday, we live in Rotorua.’

‘You don’t go to my school?’

‘No, I don’t go to any school. I’m homeschooled but I think I’m nearly finished. I’ve done all the schoolbooks up to Form Seven in every subject, but Dad lets me study what I want now.’

‘You study when you don’t have to?’

‘He sure does,’ said Dad, dropping back to join us. ‘He’s studying botany now and market gardening, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes, I want to grow vegetables and sell them. The soil on our land is good.’

‘Probably because of the rain here,’ she said. ‘It rains all the time.’

‘It rains a lot in Ireland too,’ said Dad.

‘Have you got brothers and sisters? I got two brothers, they’re always fighting. They’re seventeen and eighteen.’

‘No, I’m an only child. What age are you?’ I asked.

‘Fourteen.’

‘Are you really?’ asked Dad, and I saw a shadow cross his face. ‘I thought you were younger.’

‘Nope, fourteen. What age are you?’ she asked me.

‘Fifteen,’ I said and she looked at me.

‘I like your hair. My mum doesn’t let my brothers grow their hair long.’

I felt myself blushing.

‘Poor Steve has a rare medical condition,’ Dad interrupted. ‘He can’t touch other humans, unless they’re blood relatives.’

I knew straight away that Dad was warning Lindy not to attempt to touch me. It didn’t occur to me until he said it. She inclined her head towards Dad as if he had a screw loose.

‘Really? I never heard of that.’ She turned back to face me. ‘What about if you wanted a girlfriend?’

‘I guess I can’t have one.’

‘Seriously? Ever?’

‘No, he can’t,’ said Dad firmly.

‘That’s freaky. I never heard of such a thing.’

‘Most people haven’t. It’s rare.’

‘What’s it called, this disease? I’m going to ask my dad, he’s a doctor.’

‘Necrotic hominoid contagion,’ said Dad. ‘I’m sure your dad will know plenty about it, but I’ll bet he’s never seen a case. Only one in six million people get it. I was only able to get some info about it from German medical journals and translate it.’

‘Wow, that’s grim. And yet, you can walk around, looking totally normal. What about pets? Can you have a dog or a cat?’

‘I wouldn’t like to take the risk with Stevie. He’s a precious boy.’

‘That’s the saddest thing I ever heard.’

Hearing that from this strange girl made me feel sad too. I had never thought of what other people might think of me. Maybe Rangi had felt sorry for me too?

We had walked deep into the forest now, following Dad’s trail map.

‘Gosh, I better get back to the olds, I’m going to be late.’ She checked her watch.

‘Well, this trail leads us right back to where we’ve parked the car – we can give you a lift to the other side of the lake if you like? It’s around this corner.’

‘That would be great, thanks so much, Mr Armst– James. You know, my mum doesn’t like it when I call adults by their first names. Why do you think that is?’

‘Maybe she’s a bit old-fashioned?’

‘I’m going to tell her you said that.’

We all laughed. Lindy was a breath of fresh air.