Oracle in the Mist. Linda Maree Malcolm
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on the Brewsters’ property. It really is the most amazing tree and I guess it caught my attention because I also have a personal interest in it. My grandfather had a funny story to tell about that tree and I often go and just look at it. I have to tell you it really is the most remarkable and beautiful tree I have ever seen. You could live your whole life under it, sleep under it, work under it, celebrate under it and still not tire of it. That is how marvellous it is. It’s been a tourist attraction for some years now …”
“Really,” Bobby heard herself say and was relieved to have her voice back. She wondered at this boy’s ability to talk so fast without even taking a breath. Was this the real him or was he just showing off?
He drew a deep breath and then started again. “Oh yes,” he continued, “people come from all over Australia and all over the world in fact, just to look at it and sit under it. It’s a very special tree with a special kind of energy and it seems to want to tell you a story although I don’t know that anyone has ever actually heard it talk.” He paused to look at her. “Of course …” and he would have continued had she not spoken quite loudly over the top of him.
“Well, that sounds fascinating,” she said, glad that her confidence had returned and trying not to sound too sarcastic. She looked at the boy straight in the eye.
“Thank you for that information. And now I’m going that way,” she said, pointing toward the Teenager section. Would he take the hint on hearing her fake politeness? It was becoming clear to her that she would have to bring this conversation to an end or he would just keep babbling on until they turned grey or to stone or whatever came first.
“It’s not just the tree but the events that took place around the tree that I find most interesting,” he said and took a step in front of her to block her exit. How dare he do that, she thought to herself. Who did he think he was? She didn’t want to get to know him more and she certainly didn’t want to be sharing information with him about the tree or anything else for that matter. And he couldn’t force her either. She’d never met anyone so … so … boyish; yes that’s what it was. Her girlfriends would never behave this way. He stared into her eyes as if that would somehow hypnotise her but it only made her more determined to get away from him. Every time she took a step to the right or the left he would take the same step to block her. All the while she was fiddling with the article in her pocket. Clearly he was hoping to get some information from her. Her logic told her it would be silly to share her secret with someone she had just met but there was something about his eyes that seemed almost familiar, somehow. Still, she wasn’t used to anyone being in her personal space like this and she found it very annoying. They stood looking at one another.
“What do you want?” she finally asked.
The strange boy replied, “I’d like to get to know you more, if that’s okay. After all, isn’t that what homeschool group is about — meeting new people, making new friends? There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”
Bobby thought he sounded sincere enough but his eyes gave him away. He kept glancing at the jeans pocket that held the newspaper article that she was fiddling with.
“No, but I’ve got somewhere else I need to be,” Bobby lied and she hoped he wouldn’t ask where because she hadn’t made anything up yet. It wasn’t really a lie though, she thought to herself, there were lots of other things she could be doing right now, especially things that would help her to uncover the truth about her grandmother.
“Oh, I see,” he answered and Bobby was surprised to see that he looked quite crushed. This perplexed her even more. Why was he so determined to get to know her anyway? It was more than just wanting information from her, this she was sure of. She had never really known a boy before. She was an only child and all of her friends were girls. He certainly did seem a complex character. He looked away from her then and he had a distant kind of look on his face that she just couldn’t understand.
He turned away from her and slowly began to walk off. Something about his way of walking made her feel so utterly sorry for him. She suddenly felt awful for being so rude to someone who was just trying to make a new friend, for whatever reason.
“Would you like to read some newspaper articles I found in my grandmother’s attic that are over 50 years old?” she heard herself saying rather loudly. He turned to look at her and she noticed herself waving them about in the air and attracting the attention of the other people in the library. She stuffed them back into her pocket and walked to the ‘quiet reading’ section. David sat next to her on the couch and seemed very happy again.
Bobby was relieved for him but it did seem so strange to have a boy right next to her like this. She wondered what her mother and friends would make of it. Well, all of her friends were a long way away now in her old home town that they had just moved from. Bobby looked over to where the mothers were sitting. Daphne was there making quiet conversation with another mother. And then there was another woman, also with thick, curly black hair sitting by herself, knitting and presumably David’s mother. There were also some smaller children sitting and playing with blocks and Leggo. They all seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Bobby and David were sitting together.
“I was just about to tell you,” he said excitedly, “about a group of children that disappeared the same week of the alien craft sighting.”
“Yes, I already know about that actually,” Bobby said and pulled the newspaper article from her pocket. “I hope I’m not going to regret sharing this with you,” she said and hesitated before she offered it to him.
“Scouts’ honour and on my mother’s grave,” he made the scout’s hand sign and then crossed his heart, “when she dies that is. Obviously she’s not dead yet.” He pointed to her. “I promise not to tell a living soul,” he said earnestly. He took the newspaper and started to read.
“I don’t believe it!” he said surprised. “Where on earth did you get these? They must be about 80 years old, and yes look, they are!” He was looking at the date. “And just look at this … here’s all of the missing children. There’s old Henry Brewster and Ina Fairweather and well … I don’t recognise the others but they were all local children … and it was all completely hushed up afterwards; that’s the thing that baffles me. You know, this must be the only picture ever taken of those children. Noone ever talks about this. Apparently the whole town decided to just forget it ever happened so as not to upset the children any further. They all just wanted to get on with their lives, which you can understand I suppose …” Bobby could see that David’s mind was ticking over at a million miles an hour, as he read parts out and turned the articles over again and again.
“Yes, I know because Ina Fairweather is my grandmother. Her full name is Robina and her married name is Planks. She’s my mum’s mum and this has never been mentioned in our family.”
“Right. So where did you say you got this,” David suddenly remembered his earlier question, “if you don’t mind me asking, that is?”
“No, not at all. We now live in the house that Ina lived in virtually all her adult life. I was looking through some of her things to try and find some clue to her life and I found this … in the attic.” She only just stopped herself from spilling out the rest of the details … probably best not to talk of crystal balls and everything else just yet.
“Gosh and look at this!” Bobby was glad he had stopped her. “This is an article about my father’s sudden appearance as a newborn baby on the doorstep of the Brewsters’ house.” He went quiet for a moment, his eyes popping from his head.
“My brothers and I have talked about this for years,” he went on excitedly, “we know the Games adopted our father but we have always wanted to know where he came from. It’s impossible for us to really know about our heritage because of this one missing link.” He sat back on the couch with a thoughtful stare, ruffling the black curls on the top of his head quite roughly.
“If we could just find out how all of this is connected,” he said, almost as if to himself. “There’s got to be a connection between the tree, the missing children and the found baby … but