A Strange Companion by Lisa Manterfield

Author:Lisa Manterfield [Manterfield, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998696904
Publisher: Steel Rose Press

* * *

In the garden, the party was in full swing, but I had no desire to stay.

“When will you come to see us again?” said Angela.

“Soon. I promise.” But even as I spoke the words I wondered if they would prove to be true. I’d hoped to find answers by opening the door to Gabe’s family. Instead, I’d gained nothing. Nonna was firmly stuck in the past, spending her days with the ghosts of the people she’d loved. She would never let Gabe go, as long as she could conjure his spirit. Meanwhile, real life went on all around her. The rest of Gabe’s family was living that life. They hadn’t forgotten him—would never forget him—but they were moving on gathering for celebrations and preparing to launch the next generation into the future. As for me, I was stuck somewhere between the two, going through the motions of living my life, while grasping for tenuous connections to the time I’d had with Gabe—loose rocks that crumbled beneath me, hindering my progress, and threatening to send me plummeting down. Whatever the connection was between Mai and me, it extended no further. Maybe it was all in my imagination or maybe it was real, but now it was hard to justify that it was anything more than something I wanted.

Mai wriggled down and tottered off across the patch of lawn. She was getting restless and I needed to get back before Jon and Alex started to suspect anything. I left Angela and followed behind Mai, calling to her to come to me.

In the next instant, a brown form bounded up the garden, and Frida, Gabe’s dog, hurtled towards me. I had a flash of the first time she’d done this and how terrified I’d been that she was going to attack me, and for a second, I was afraid she hadn’t recognized me and was going to pounce again.

Then I realized she wasn’t aiming for me. She was running for Mai.

My instinct to protect Mai kicked in and I threw myself between her and the dog. Frida dropped to the ground, her tail thumping against my leg, her wet, raspy tongue trying to find a way past me to connect with Mai’s little face. There was a flurry of people as Gabe’s family leapt from the table and into the fray. Frida was reprimanded and hauled away to a pen at the bottom of the garden, whimpering all the way. I gathered Mai into my arms, checking to make sure she hadn’t been hurt, and knowing I’d have a lot of explaining to do if I took her home with even the slightest mark. I was sure she’d start crying, but instead she craned her neck towards Frida, trying to see where she’d gone.

“Is she okay?” said Angela, rushing up beside me and stroking Mai’s arm.

“I think so.”

Behind me, a general grumbling about Frida’s bad behavior erupted, with Gabe’s father putting the blame firmly on Luke and his lack of control of his dog.

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