Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll by Rosanne Hawke

Author:Rosanne Hawke
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Published: 2014-04-08T16:00:00+00:00

Kelsey finished wiping the breakfast dishes.

‘You never liked doing the dishes at home, Kels,’ Mum said.

Kelsey thought of Shakila helping at her house and Zebi cooking and washing clothes in the tent. ‘It’s okay.’ She picked up her backpack. This time she put her favourite book in it.

‘See you later, Mum.’

Kelsey ran down to the river where Izaak kept the boat. Dad was waiting and helped her in. As soon as she was seated, Izaak started the motor.

Weeks had gone by since they had first arrived and the water had receded a little. She could see the tops of bushes she hadn’t seen before and roofs of houses. The spiders were still spinning webs in the trees.

‘Shukriya,’ Dad said to Izaak as they jumped out of the boat. Kelsey walked straight to Shakila’s school tent. It was early and the girls were just getting settled. Kelsey showed her book to Miss Parveen. It was about a snow leopard.

‘Accha, good,’ Miss Parveen said. ‘Why don’t you read it to the girls?’

This time, Kelsey remembered to say the words slowly. She showed the pictures too and even the older girls said, ‘Ooh’.

When she had finished, Miss Parveen said, ‘Please tell more of the doll’s story, Kelsey.’

Kelsey told them about Zebi, Batool and the monkey and, when she had finished, the girls clapped.

At the end of the morning, Kelsey told Miss Parveen she could keep her book in the school. She hadn’t seen one storybook in the tent or exercise books. The girls wrote on slates.

‘That is very kind, shukriya.’

A bigger girl pushed past Kelsey as she left. ‘You’re just pretending you care,’ the girl said. ‘You’ll go back home to your nice life and forget about us. Leave us alone.’

Tears pricked Kelsey’s eyes.

‘Don’t cry,’ Shakila said. ‘Fozia is not angry with you. She is not well and she is sad because her little sister drowned. Many people have lost someone in the flood.’

Shakila led Kelsey back to her house. As they walked Kelsey kept thinking how sad Fozia must feel, like Zebi, and of the stinging way she said the words. It was true she would go home and true she didn’t care in the beginning. When she was back in Chantelle’s pool would she forget the flood and the children walking through the water with ropes? Would she forget the peacock’s cry which Kelsey thought sounded as sad as the flood? She glanced at Shakila. How could she forget about Shakila, her new friend, and the tent school?

Shakila took Kelsey to her room to show what she had made for the Barbie.

‘A shalwar qameez.’ Kelsey looked doubtfully at Barbie’s new blue trousers and long top. ‘She looks different. She has a plait now, like you.’ Kelsey didn’t think she looked like a Barbie anymore. She couldn’t see her long legs.

Shakila said gently, ‘She’s mine now. She doesn’t have to be the same.’ Then she said, ‘Your country is rich.’

Kelsey had never thought this before. ‘We’re not rich.’

‘Do you have another doll at home? Books? Pencils?’

Kelsey was silent.

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