Everything We Keep by Di Walker (good story books to read txt) 📗

find the right bus to take her to Katherine. She wished she knew the number of the bus she had seen down by the bay.

She would have to keep her eyes glued to the road. When the bus did arrive, she didn’t want the driver to think no one was waiting and miss stopping altogether. Across the road, busy with drivers desperate to get home, a bus pulled up, waited, then turned the corner and was soon out of sight. Three times a bus pulled up and three times it turned the corner, away from the station.

No bus pulled up in front of her. As the panic began to rise within her, she tried to remember that day with Katherine. This was the right station, except on that day Katherine had driven to the station. She couldn’t picture in her mind how to get from here to the safety of Katherine’s home.

Approaching headlights flashed directly onto the shelter, making Agatha put her hand up to block it. It wasn’t a bus. Agatha’s heart leapt. Katherine? How did she know?

‘Agatha! Why are you still here?’

Tully.

The car door opened, and Tully sprang out and, in a few bounds, she was standing in front of Agatha.

‘Hasn’t your aunty arrived?’

Agatha didn’t know what to say. Tully didn’t wait. ‘Mum and I are just coming back from the supermarket. I looked over and saw your orange suitcase. So, we turned around.’ Tully looked back at the car and raised her hands up, as if to say she wasn’t sure what was happening.

The car engine was turned off, as were the lights and the driver door opened. They were soon joined by her mum, a taller replica of Tully. She held out her hand to Agatha. ‘I’m Tully’s mum, Celeste. Tully said she met you on the train.’ Her hand was not met by Agatha’s, so she slowly lowered it.

‘Agatha’s aunty was meant to be here. Maybe she got held up in the storm. Have you called her?’

‘I don’t have a phone.’

‘Well, that’s easy,’ Celeste said, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her coat. ‘What’s her number? I’ll put it on speaker.’

The three listened as the phone rang and rang, finally going to message bank.

‘Let’s try again,’ said Celeste. ‘If she’s anything like me I don’t always hear it on the first ring.’ She redialled and again they all listened. No answer.

Celeste looked around the car park, and then to her daughter. ‘Why don’t you come with us Agatha. Do you know her street? We can drive you there.’

‘It’s 23 Falcon Drive,’ Agatha offered.

‘Okay, well that’s not far, let’s go.’ Celeste headed to the car and Tully helped Agatha put her suitcase in the boot.

Agatha had broken all the rules her mother had ever taught her about strangers. Don’t talk to them. Don’t look at them. Don’t follow them anywhere and most of all, never, never get in a car with them.

But Tully wasn’t a stranger, not to Agatha. She was the first friend she’d had in a long time.

9

Falcon Drive seemed further from the train station in Tully’s car than it did when Katherine had driven her, thought Agatha. When they turned into Falcon Drive Agatha leaned forward in her seat. ‘It’s just up here. On the left.’

Celeste slowed down and came to a stop in front of the dark house. ‘There’s no lights on, Agatha. Are you sure this is it?’

Agatha was sure. She was puzzled. Thursday is yoga. The class would have finished hours ago. ‘I’ll go and knock,’ she said.

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Tully.

As they walked up the driveway Agatha turned to Tully, ‘We should hear Chief bark any minute now. He always knows when someone is coming.’

When they reached the front porch, the automatic light went on but there was no barking. Agatha pressed the doorbell and knocked on the door. Nothing. Tully pressed the doorbell too. She looked at Agatha. ‘I don’t think she’s here. Are you sure she knew you were coming?’

‘Sort of.’

Tully looked back towards the car then leaned in closer to Agatha. ‘Have you run away?’

Agatha shrugged.

‘You can trust me,’ Tully’s faced had flooded with concern.

‘Please don’t tell anyone.’

‘Come on.’ Tully gently took Agatha’s arm and lead her off the porch and back to the car. ‘There’s no one home, Mum. What will we do?’ Tully had opened the passenger door and was leaning in, Agatha stood silently behind her.

‘Why don’t you both jump in. Let’s get home and we can sort something out.’

‘I can wait. She’ll be home soon. She’s probably still at yoga,’ Agatha offered.

‘There’s no way we’re leaving you here alone, Agatha. Jump in,’ Celeste insisted. ‘I’m hungry and I’m sure you girls are too. You can have dinner with us, and we will try her phone later.’

‘Come on,’ said Tully encouragingly. ‘It’s pasta night.’

Agatha looked back at the house. She desperately wanted to be inside, in her room, with Chief jumping around her and Katherine talking about the next project she wanted to get done in the garden.

‘Really, Agatha, we’ll work it out.’ Tully had opened the back door of the car and was motioning for her to get in.

Agatha agreed and got into the back seat. ‘We’ll call later?’

‘Yes. Promise.’ The car slowly turned around and headed away into the night.

Agatha hoped that Tully’s house wasn’t far. She tried to focus on each turn, right, straight ahead, a sharp bend to the left, but it wasn’t long until she realised, she wouldn’t be able to remember her way back. The darkness made it harder to recognise any landmarks, or particular houses.

Just like at Katherine’s house, as they drove into the driveway the garage door went up and they drove straight in. Before anyone of them had a chance to get out of the car, the door that connected the garage to the house swung open and a small boy almost fell through with it.

‘Did you get it? The bicarb?’

Tully turned to Agatha. ‘That’s my brother, Ike, he