The Fragments by Toni Jordan

Author:Toni Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2018-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

15

Brisbane, Queensland, 1986

Caddie can think of nothing else. The possibilities. Jamie feels the same, she knows. It’s almost 2 a.m. when they leave Bulimba and he drives the empty streets in silence, through South Brisbane and over the Grey Street bridge, opening his mouth and looking at her now and then as though about to speak before thinking better of it.

‘Marty Fisher is an extraordinary man,’ he says, finally.

She agrees. She wonders how many people that brave and that honest are wondering around unbeknown to her. If she’s passed them on the street, never guessing she was inches from someone who was truly special. They—these special people—are easy to identify when they’re faced with something dramatic. But how do you spot them in normal everyday life? The clues that reveal character, she thinks, can be easily obscured by a little wishful thinking.

They park in front of her house.

‘No one’s thought of this before?’ she asks him. She keeps her voice low on account of the neighbours, and Terese and Pretty in the front room. ‘Inga and the Bund? Are you sure?’

He’s focusing on extracting her bike from the back seat of his car.

‘I reviewed everything before my lecture,’ he says. ‘There was nothing about the Bund when I was studying Inga and there’s nothing now.’

‘How can that be?’

The wheel catches in the doorhandle; he wriggles it back and forth to free it. He must be very tired but there’s a patience to his actions that belies the hour. ‘By the time Inga scholarship took off in the fifties, America was focused on the evil commies. And no one’s questioned Charles being the typesetter until now. Until you did. And no one’s spoken to Marty Fischer before. Good research is like that—creative, not formulaic. A spark of inspiration that combines two things no one’s ever considered before.’

The bike, extracted, sits on the footpath between them.

‘Thanks for the lift,’ she says.

‘Good night.’

She feels a little drunk; heady from surprise and possibility and knowing something no one else does. With both hands on the bike she rolls forward onto her toes, reaches up and across and kisses him on the cheek. Her smooth face lingers against his. She feels iron-filing prickles and a rough heat. She feels his cheek pressing back against hers.

When she rocks back to her feet, the look on his face. She laughs.

‘Sorry.’ She’s giggling now.

His eyes are wide and blinking. ‘God, don’t be sorry. I just. I don’t. Wasn’t expecting that. Surprised. Extremely good surprise, wonderful surprise. You’re absolutely.’ He bites his top lip. ‘This has been quite a night.’

His hands find hers on the frame of the bike. They’re smoother than she’d imagined, and stronger. He intertwines his fingers with hers.

‘Well, goodnight,’ she says.

She leans up to kiss him again, and this time he’s ready. He bends his head lower. They breathe together, in the same space. It’s a tentative kiss. Slow, gentle. She moves her fingers to rest on his chest. It’s been a long time since Caddie’s been kissed.

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