The Quiet Spectacular by Laurence Fearnley

Author:Laurence Fearnley [Fearnley, Laurence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781743487242
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

‘YOU WANT WHAT?’ ASKED RIVA, even though she was pretty certain she had heard the first time.

‘A dead animal,’ repeated Chance, her ears burning as she thought about how stupid she must sound.

‘Why?’ asked Riva. ‘Tell me again.’

Chance cleared her throat and began the long explanation again.

Riva laughed. ‘Why don’t you ask me what book you should read. It would save a load of trouble.’

Chance looked up, her eyes widening, ‘Really? You’d tell me what to read?’

Riva rubbed the side of her nose, running her finger over a long red scratch that extended to her lower lid. She breathed out, her breath whistling between her teeth, and then beamed at Chance. ‘Nah. Skin something. It will do you good.’

Chance could barely conceal her disappointment. ‘But I don’t know how to skin any animals.’

‘Time you learnt then, isn’t it?’

Chance shook her head. Even she had to laugh at how out of control things were becoming. For an instant she felt sorry that Ms Reed hadn’t caught her in the sewing section of the library. But it could have been worse. What if she’d been pretending to read a book about juggling or space rockets — or both? Could you even juggle in outer space?

‘Okay,’ said Riva, shouldering her bag. ‘You come with me and we’ll see what’s on offer.’

As they walked, Chance began chatting about her attempt, the previous evening, to find a skin. ‘It was like something out of Hansel and Gretel. I was in a little forest and it was like I suddenly felt kind of peaceful and it was all quiet, and the trees were black against the sky, and I lay down on the ground looking up, and I think I might have fallen asleep for a bit.’

‘Sounds like you were bewitched.’

‘Yeah, but then, when I woke up, I did a bit of exploring and noticed a weird shape, like a mound, made of branches. I thought it might be a pile of fallen trees or a mai-mai or something, but it turned out to be a kind of a den, with all kinds of stuff in it, like a table and a little bed. And the funniest thing …’ She paused, rejigged the straps of her school bag and went on, ‘The funny thing was …’

Riva didn’t appear to be listening. She suddenly stopped by a strip of pink plastic tied to a branch and pointed towards the ground. ‘There you go, take a look inside,’ she said. Poking out of a tussock in front of them was a wooden trap.

Chance stood back, unwilling to bend down and take a look inside. Suddenly, the whole idea of skinning an animal grossed her out. It was one thing to think about it, but another to do it.

Sensing her unease, Riva asked, ‘Do you want me to look?’

Chance nodded, ‘Yes, please.’

‘Not much of a wild woman, are you? You townie!’

She was teasing, but it was enough for Chance to feel embarrassed about her squeamishness. ‘I haven’t done it before, that’s all,’ she explained.

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