How to Grow a Family Tree by Eliza Henry-Jones

Author:Eliza Henry-Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

***

After Richard and I have knocked on the door of every home in Fairyland, I walk to the pavilion, thinking about Dad. There’s an exercise book open on one of the plastic tables. I flip through it. Some of it’s scribbled notes on all the jobs he’s heard back from – people and numbers and dates and when he thinks he can follow up. The other pages are just rows and rows of dollar amounts and I can’t tell if it’s what he’s lost or won or a mix of both. Maybe neither, just a hopeless attempt at projecting something he thinks he can control.

I grit my teeth and shut the notebook. Compartmentalise. Compartmentalise.

‘Stell?’

I startle. It’s Dad.

‘How’s Jube?’ I ask.

‘He’s got to stay in there for a bit, but he’s okay. We got him there in time.’

I nod. I pass him the notebook and sit down on a chair, wondering if he’ll sit down next to me and try to explain what he’s written. Or what he’s feeling. Or anything. He slowly turns around and heads out into the damp dusk. I watch as he walks across Fairyland, pausing for a bit too long before he goes into our home.

I sit there for a little while longer, trying to work out what I’m feeling. Then I hear grunting and banging coming from around the back of the building and I warily peer out the door.

It’s Matthew, ripping at the long grass with his bare hands. There’s a sort of furious energy about him that makes me catch my breath.

‘Matt?’ I say.

He pauses and takes a deep breath. After a moment he wipes his nose and sits down, his chest heaving.

‘What if you get bitten, too?’ I ask. ‘Get out of there.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Come inside.’

He stands up. He’s soaked through his grass-covered t-shirt, but it’s hard to tell whether it’s from sweat or rain.

‘You alright?’

We sit with our backs against the wall of the pavilion.

‘It’s my fault he got bitten.’ He swallows. ‘He was in so much pain. He screamed the whole way to the vet.’

‘He’s going to be fine. Dad just told me.’

‘But he was in agony.’ Matthew closes his eyes. ‘I was going to do the grass yesterday, but I didn’t. I was lazy and Jube copped it because of me.’

‘It’s just one of those things. It’s not your fault.’

‘It is. It’s my responsibility and I blew it.’

‘You’re a kid! It’s your dad’s responsibility, not yours.’ I want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him so badly that I sit on my hands. ‘It’s not on you.’

‘It is.’

‘It’s not!’ I roll my eyes. ‘It’s egocentric to think that it’s your fault. You don’t want to be egocentric, do you?’

‘Ego what?’

My phone buzzes and I look down at it. Clem, asking how the dog is. I put it away without replying and poke Matthew in the leg. ‘He’s going to live because you guys got him to the vet. And Muriel was telling me how you make sure he’s vaccinated and flea-ed and wormed and everything.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.