* * *
As you can see, the cubby under the lilly-pilly, where Neville had found Ava reclining in the arms of Afsoon Rahimi instead of being available to chase a stick, was virtually at the centre of Neville’s world. When we left them there, Afsoon, who was (after Ava) Neville’s closest and most understanding friend, was saying, “Ava, you must poop in Shoomba Territory every day! I will join you. And Neville will join you also. Just don’t let Terrible Bill catch us or he’ll scratch our bums to pieces.”
Ava, who knew a great deal about pooping in yards, only stretched and yawned and, in the middle of the yawn, murmured confidently, “I don’ sink so.” Then she put her head back down on Afsoon’s lap and huffed out a great breath, fluttering and moving the leaves beneath her nose, revealing a lurking brown skink which spun in startlement to look first at Neville then at Afsoon and finally at Ava before dashing and losing itself once more amongst the leaves and debris.
Yet another hidden world.
2. A Journey
Two Nevilles
Flying Fox time. I remember you used to call it that. If you have a torch you can see their red eyes looking back at you from the bottlebrush, but I don’t like to because it looks like inside their head is on fire. So I keep the torch off and they stay invisible. Still, you always know they’re there - that rug-shake noise their wings make. And their squawky arguments! My tree! My tree! Move along! Shut up! No, you shut up!
At first I thought it must be them that woke me up. But then I heard Ava doing that squeaky, back-in-her-throat talk like she does, and so I started to wonder if maybe she woke me up. I was all ready to ask her if everything was okay but, before I could, she said, “I don’ sink so!”
If you were noticing stuff (which I know you’re too busy to do right now) I bet that’s something you’d notice about Ava. That sometimes lately she knows what you’re going to think even before you think it. I don’t know; maybe ‘Soon’s been teaching her that channelling stuff. Not that I care. I been thinking I might ask her to teach me though, ‘cause if I could go inside people’s heads like that, then I wouldn’t have to wonder about things so much. And you know what else? I could maybe . . . come to visit you . . . in your jungle! And we could do stuff. And if you wanted, maybe I could even help you come back to Home Country! If you wanted to come back, that is.
Yeah, I think I’ll ask her about that. But anyhow, when Ava said she didn’t think everything was okay, I said, “Why not, Av?” and straight away, like she wanted to show me, she stood up on the bed and jumped her paws up onto the window sill. And what do you think? There was something there! Right against the glass! Just real quick - tap-tap-tapping and then gone!
I wasn’t scared ‘cause the window was closed tight and the bug screen was across so I got up beside her for a look, but it was so dark! The bottlebrush trees, you know - sometimes it’s like they’re a whole roof of their own, hiding the stars. All there was to see was the lights shining through the bullet holes at Boogerville. Oh and the little light in Hayley’s bus flicked on. But then it went straight out again.
So I said to Ava, “Maybe it’s bullets! Maybe Mister and Missus are home and they’re shooting up Boogerville again!”
But then, ‘Tap-tap’! Just this close, right on the other side of the glass! So quick it made us both jump! But this time I noticed there weren’t any shooting sounds so I knew it wasn’t bullets. Bet it’s a Flying Fox, I thought then. Maybe tried to land on the window ledge to peep in at us and slipped and now it’s hanging there by one of its wingy hooks and reaching up to tap with the other! So I slid open the bug screen and gave the window a big shove and said, ‘Push off, Foxy! We don’t want you peeking in at us!’
There was no wing sound. The ones in the trees stopped arguing, but no wing sounds at all! Then just one teeny little voice, all creepy and squally like bat voices are.
“Pass Ava down to me.” That’s what it squeaked.
Yeah, it was very tricky alright. But you know, even if I believed it, I wouldn’t ever pass Ava out to a Flying Fox! Not when they can scratch you and make you so sick!
“’Soon?” I said. “I know that’s you! Why’re you out so late? And talking like a Flying Fox?”
And me and Ava both leaned way out to try to look down and see her in the dark but you know what she did? She whacked me on the noggin with a stick! That’s what she’d been using to tap the window with, see?
“Keep quiet!” she said, in her own voice this time. “You’ve got them listening to us now!”
See the mark on my forehead? That’s where she got me!
* * *
Neville the Less pulled his hair back to show the mark to the Quiet Man but the Quiet Man didn’t look. His eyes were open; not wide, just a bit. But they didn’t turn to see Afsoon’s stick mark. They didn’t turn to see the hurt in Neville’s face or the confirmation in Ava’s. Neville sighed, patted the red welt tenderly and put his hand back in his lap where Ava stroked sympathy onto it with her warm, damp tongue.