Queenie in Seven Moves by Zanni Louise

Author:Zanni Louise [Louise, Zanni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760655761
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2023-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Every kid in the school makes a tunnel with their hands for us Year Sixers as we leave the primary school gates for the very last time. I am practically on my knees trying to crawl under the cute kindy kids’ arms. They touch each other’s fingertips and grin at us.

“Bye!”

“Bye!”

“Good luck!” they chant.

Daisy’s waiting out the front, her back against the gate and one Doc Marten resting against her calf.

“Queenie! Your mum texted,” says Daisy. “She says something’s come up and she’ll be late home. She asked me to give you a lift. Is that cool?”

“Totally cool,” I say. “Did Mum say what came up?” Mum always meets me at the bus stop or the school gates. It’s one of the perks of having worked at Diamonds for so long. They let her off early to come meet me. Missing the last primary school pick up ever is a bit weird.

“Nah,” says Daisy. “Just says she’ll be back after dinner.”

When we’re back at Shoestring Creek, Daisy lets me hang out with her in her room. I sit on Daisy’s bed with my guitar. Daisy’s nursing her ukulele. Other than playing to Dory two nights ago, I don’t usually play in front of other people. But Daisy swears Billie is also her favourite musician and I can’t resist jamming with her.

“How are you feeling about primary school being over?” asks Daisy between tunes.

“It’s fine,” I say. “Just feels like another day.”

High school is this big black unknown in my peripheral vision. I know it’s there. I know it’s probably scary. But it’s out of touch and out of reach.

Right now, all I want is Daisy and our music. I can’t think high school.

The only other person on the property right now is Tara. She is on the floor, beading a necklace out of dried seedpods.

“How was school today?” I ask Tara, when Daisy gets enough of ukelele and starts painting her nails turquoise.

“I don’t go to school,” she says. “School restricts the imagination.”

I hold back my smile. Tara sounds like she’s seventy, not seven. This must be something her mum says.

Speaking of which, I still haven’t met Xen. I am starting to think she might not exist. Could Tara be a wild forest child, born of the trees and the eagles? It feels like she could be.

“Does your mum teach you at home?” I ask.

“No,” says Tara.

“Xen believes in unlearning,” says Daisy. She swipes a layer of varnish on her big toenail. “It’s where you let the child follow their interests and passions. You don’t actually teach kids, as such.”

I’ve never heard of unlearning. But it sounds kind of fun. If I’d been unlearned, I would have studied guitar riffs on YouTube. I could have been a concert guitarist by now – a real Andrés Segovia – if school wasn’t holding me back.

But I wouldn’t have met Daisy.

I fall into a new made-up rhythm, and sing my song softly under my breath. Daisy looks up, smiling. She hums a harmony.

Tara grins between us.

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