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Always and Forever


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Me *gasps* Oh NOOOOO!!! Scotty is so evil.......................................... Kane needs to fight back, and Scott should get the blame once in a while!!

Kane WILL fight back in a later chapter - but there's a price to pay... :P

CHAPTER 11

The mysterious large flat parcel that Kirsty had been carrying when she and her Grandad had returned from the Summer Bay shops turned out to be drawing paper and drawing materials and the caravan table was strewn with coloured pencils, paper and paints.

Dani was busy sketching a fairytale castle, Jade was engrossed in painting two red dots on Abby’s cheeks, while Kane was colouring a ship and Kirsty drawing people surfing through the water alongside it. Kane had his doubts.

"They're in the middle of the ocean and heaps too near the ship, Kirst," he said.

"They're very, very brave," Kirsty answered, continuing her drawing. "They go surfing with sharks and don't care."

"Do the sharks have surfboards too?" Jade asked in delight, imagining a friendly shark skimming the waves with a group of fellow surfers while a crowd of onlookers clapped and cheered from the shore.

She smiled like she'd meant it as a joke, but she couldn't understand what everyone found so funny.

*****

"G'day, Suzy!" Bill called. The Sutherlands were outside the caravan, busy packing tomorrow's luggage in the car, while the kids were out of the way, occupied inside. "Enjoyed your holiday?"

Suzy Palmer slowed down. Jamie had exhausted himself playing on the beach and was fast asleep in his buggy.

"It’s been lovely,” she replied. "Shame this has to be my last time."

Mary nodded sympathetically. The fire had done more damage than burn down a shop. It had ripped out the caravan site’s heart. Some holidaymakers had gone home early, worried about safety, and a couple of families, those whose vans had been close to the blaze and had suffered smoke damage, were already pushing for compo. The site owners planned to drastically reduce the size of the park to help pay for it all and the family caravans would be the first to go.

"At least the kids have enjoyed themselves," Mary said. "They had a marvellous time at the theme park, though Kirsty and Kane were disappointed to learn they need to grow much taller to go on white knuckle rides - thank goodness, you should have seen some of the rides they wanted to go on! Kane's inside, by the way, drawing pictures with the girls."

"Oh, right! Well, must rush, see you later," Suzy said, hurrying away before she got the complete history again. The Sutherlands' obsession with telling her all about little Kane was baffling.

"She never wants to talk about her son," Bill remarked.

"And never a thank you for looking after him." Mary said.

She'd thought Bill was being over dramatic when he'd first mentioned his suspicions, but there was definitely something very strange going on with Kane and Suzy Palmer.

*****

"Well, you know Kane, Dad..."

"Too bloody right I know Kane, ya drongo! He's my bloody son - unfortunately!"

Richie Phillips stumbled slightly again and tried to focus. His favourite footie team had lost. A guy who owed him money and was meant to meet him at the game didn't show. And now he'd come home to find his newest shirt and jeans covered in oil.

Scotty had had plenty of time to clean himself up and change his clothes, but he still needed to work on keeping Richie sweet. And, like his Dad, Scotty knew how and when to switch on the charm.

"I'll make ya a nice cup of coffee, Dad. Black and strong, just how ya like it. Oh, and your paper got delivered. It's on the table."

Richie sank into his favourite chair and picked up the evening newspaper. Every single day Kane tried his patience but he'd gone way too far this time. Climbed on the wooden crate and in through the kitchen window like always, Scott had said, then opened the door from the inside to wheel in the bike. Scott had been shocked when he got home later and saw the oil and Kane had done a runner, hoping Scott would get the blame.

“I tried to clean it up, Dad, but I didn't know which stuff was best to use," Scott sighed sympathetically. "But Mum said when she gets home..."

"Your Ma's been in touch?"

"Yeh, said she's missin' ya heaps and she'll ring again later." Scott congratulated himself on saving this piece of news till last. The anger was leaving Dad's voice more and more.

But from the way his face changed every time he looked at the oil-spotted new clobber, Scotty wouldn't be in Kane's shoes tonight for thousands of dollars.

*****

Jade was painting Abby's lips a garish shade of red when the idea suddenly came to her.

"If I'm crook we can't go home!"

Dani, Kane and Kirsty immediately looked up with great interest.

"We'd have to stay on holiday longer if Abby and me got measles." For the benefit of her audience, Jade experimentally blotted three clumsy red dots on the doll and four more on her own face.

"Cool!" Kirsty said approvingly. Anything that kept Kane with her longer was worth a try.

"Yeh, but if you had measles we'd all have measles," Dani pointed out.

"Abby's got them," Jade argued.

"She doesn't count because she's not real."

"Don't you DARE say things like that in front of her!" Jade grabbed the doll to comfort her, accidentally knocking over the plastic beaker of water that they'd been dipping paintbrushes into, soaking Kane and Kirsty's painting and blurring the colours.

"Jade, look what you done!" Kirsty yelled.

Jade cuddled Abby fiercely and stared defiantly like she didn't care though two large tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Nah, it's cool," Kane said, laughing. "Reckon it sank, hey, Jade? Jade the Torpedo!"

"But it was so good!" Kirsty said. It took a lot, an awful lot, to make her do her block with her twin, but Kane's eyes had been so different while he'd been painting the ship. Like he forgot to be sad.

Kane shrugged. He never kept anything. Scotty would only ruin it. Last time he'd taken paintings home from school Scott had torn them up, announced It's snowing! and fluttered tiny pieces of paper from an upstairs window while Kane was walking underneath.

Jade began to sob. "Everybody's being mean to me, even Kirsty! And I'm not a torpedo! I'm a Jade!"

"I wasn't being mean to you!" Kirsty began crying herself, stricken with guilt.

"Hey, it's okay!" Dani reached across the table to reassuringly squeeze Jade and Kirsty's hands. "I reckon we should all have measles - Abby too - and Kane can paint them on cos he's best at drawing."

"No worries!" Kane readily agreed, enthusiastically dipping a thick paintbrush into the brightest red of the paintbox. "Who wants to be spotted first?"

When she went back inside the caravan to see why the kids were so suspiciously quiet, Mary Sutherland didn't even bother trying to figure out why her three granddaughters were patiently sitting like statues while Kane, deep in concentration, was carefully painting red dots on each. She sighed in bewildered amusement and switched on the caravan immersion heater for some hot water to wash it all off again.

*****

Diane Phillips glanced at her watch as she threw the last item into the suitcase. She hadn't planned to go back, but she missed the excitement of her fights with Richie. And she missed her two whinging kids too. At least, she missed Scott.

Scott was pretty much old enough to take care of himself, but Kane...! Jeez, she never knew a kid for getting in the way, for playing stupid kids' games, for always wanting to jabber on about what he did in school till a well aimed smack silenced him. Richie said he needed toughening up and he was right. Diane had been far too soft with her youngest son for far too long...

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no I take it back...go away again!

Measles and torpedoes...nobody writes kids quite the way you do ILM.

Another fantastic chapter.xx

Aw, thanks, I'd really love to write mainly for kids and teenagers. :P

CHAPTER 12

It was strange, Kirsty thought, as she locked her hand in Kane's, how a sudden breeze stole in from the sea the moment Grandad opened the caravan door. The wind whipped up her hair and their pictures swept across the table. Except for Kane's spoilt painting.

The corners flapped and it slid a little, but Dani, standing nearby, slammed down her fist and caught it. Just in time.

Jade, who was still sitting at the table drawing, tried to stop the rest from falling, no mean feat while holding a doll, but only succeeded in helping them on their way, and she sank down in hot pursuit.

"Kane's going now, kids!" Bill called.

A small white hand fluttered above the table. "Bye, Kane! Oh, wow, I found ten cents and Abby's lost sock!" announced the hand’s owner.

"Jade, you just got washed!" Dani chided good-humouredly, her hands on her hips, wondering just where she got her patience for the bubs from.

"There's other stuff here!” Replied the disembodied voice. "A footie card! And a toy dog!"

Kirsty gasped at Kane and both quickly disappeared under the table. The footie card was almost certainly the one that had been missing from their footie album for ages and how the hell had Boot, Kirsty's toy dog, got down there?

"I give up! I really do!" Dani sighed amusedly at her grandparents as three ghostly voices floated up at them.

"That's Boot! That's my dog!"

"I got money...aw, no, it's a button!"

"I found three coloured pencils - no, four!"

"Oww, I banged my head! I'm all squashed and you’re in my way!"

"I was here first!"

"You were not, Jade Sutherland, I was born six and a half minutes before you!"

Bill Sutherland rapped on the table. "Does anyone there want chockie? Come out for yes, knock twice for no!"

Jade came out first, smiling, her hair still smelling of apple shampoo, but now full of wood chippings too. She was debating whether, as finder, to claim Boot for her cuddly toy collection; he had a sad face and looked in need of love. But somehow she'd known from the moment she found him that he belonged to Kirsty.

Kane helped Kirsty out, anxiously making sure she didn't bang her head again. Unlike Dani and Jade, Kirsty wasn't washed and changed for bed yet because she and Grandad always walked Kane back, and she was still covered in paint and the dust and dirt of the day, while Kane, as usual, looked like he'd just tumbled out of bed and grabbed the nearest clothes.

They looked like two derros, Mary thought, a lump in her throat for the little boy as she chose the largest cartoon character chocolate lollipop for him, she was sure the girls wouldn't mind. Mary and Bill were convinced now that Suzy Palmer was ill-treating her son, but they had to tread very, very carefully when they spoke to Suzy. The last thing they wanted was to make things worse for Kane.

Mary always carried an old photo of her own two sons, Rhys and Peter, of when they were kids, and she barely noticed, as she opened her bag for the chockie lollies, that she smiled at it again. But Kane did.

It made him feel good inside, like it made him feel good inside that Dani, listening to her personal stereo, turned her farewell wave to him into a dance, that Jade was cuddling Abby, that Kirsty's Grandad, like he always did before he went anywhere, checked the old-fashioned pocket watch that he always wore.

And Kirsty, tucking Boot in her pocket and taking Kane's hand, noticed again how blue were those eyes and how cheeky was that grin.

*****

Frank Rimmer hastily tried to backtrack. He wasn't very bright, hadn't even got his HSC, but he was never one to stand back if he thought a kid had been hurt.

"No, no, Rich, I just mean you know boys, you know brothers, they fight, Scott's much bigger..."

Richie's eyes narrowed. "So you reckon I'm not doing a very good job of bringing up my own kids, hey, Frank?"

Every time Frank tried to explain he dug the hole bigger. Richie seemed to change his words before he'd even said them. He began to wish he'd never stopped to knock on the Phillips' door when he'd seen the bike he'd given Kane, its front wheel now buckled, dumped in the front garden, but he was worried the kid had been in an accident. Now he'd ended up telling Richie his suspicions, that Scott was beating up on Kane, and Richie was scowling darkly. Frank wondered what he could find to say next that wouldn't land him in it even deeper.

And then Richie unexpectedly roared with laughter. "Just havin' a lend of ya, mate! Yeh, Kane, had a bit of a tumble off the bike, ain't tall enough to ride it proper yet, but he's apples, the bike came off worst. He's at that age for fallin' over, bumpin' into things, climbin', fightin' - but don'tcha worry, I soon wade in if I think Scott's givin' him a hard time!"

Frank exhaled. "No hard feelings, Rich?" He held out his hand.

"Nah, nah, I'll even shout ya a beer some time, mate."

Frank's wife Marie had always said someone as good looking as Richie had to be one of the good guys and she was right, thought Frank, Richie "Gus" Phillips was a bonzer bloke alright. Frank'd never take him up on the offer of a beer though. Thanks to hard yakka - soon as he got home from the factory Marie left for her hospital shift - the Rimmers had a deposit down on a new place in a better area. Still, Frank left the Phillips', feeling more reassured about little Kane than he had in a long, long time.

Richie controlled his temper with an effort. Frank was built like a bloody house and, tough though he was, Richie didn't take on anyone built like a bloody house. He looked at the tell-tale bike, still lying where he'd thrown it in fury when he'd arrived home. The two cups of black coffee had started to kick in and his brain was less clouded though, Jeez, he was gonna have another beer soon as he went back inside. So stickybeak neighbours were noticing Kane's injuries. Well, he'd have to be real careful from now on.

Real careful to make sure the bruises didn't show.

*****

"Kane. Tell Grandad."

"What?" Kirsty's words startled him. He'd been watching his feet slow down as time drew him nearer the reality of home and he hadn't realised his grip on Kirsty's hand had tightened.

"I don't know what. Tell Grandad."

They were near Suzy Palmer's now and the sea breeze was fresh on their faces. The rose bushes swayed in rhythm to its haunting melody that echoed above the usual nightime noises of crickets, someone's television, a car door slamming in the distance.

Kane looked back. The old guy had difficulty walking uphill and he was wheezing as he took the slope that led to the final row of caravans.

"Grandad will make everything alright,” Kirsty said.

But Kirsty never saw what Kane saw, never lived for a second afraid to sleep, afraid to wake, creeping through shadows, trusting no one. Dad could crush her Grandad as easily as if he were made of paper and Kirsty's Gran would crumple without him. Kirsty just didn't know.

And suddenly she kissed him. She wasn't sure why, all her mates were boys and the idea of kissing any of them was gross. But she kissed Kane before she had time to stop and think and without knowing why. It was meant to be on the cheek, but at that moment he sighed heavily and looked down at the ground and her mouth hit his eye and the top of his nose.

Kane looked up, grinning, though his left eye was watering where her lips had caught him, and he kissed her quickly, so quickly, back, her very first kiss from a boy, tasting of chocolate and sending happy little shivers down her spine.

Kirsty's kiss tasted of chocolate too, from the chockie lolly, and of salt, from the single tear that rolled unbidden down her face for a bestest mate who was so sad and couldn't tell anyone why.

*****

Betty Thomas froze and shook her head in disgust. The glow of one of the many thin ornamental lamposts that lit up the caravan park shone down on the two children she'd just finished telling her sister about - in fact, she'd hung up the receiver in the payphone area feeling a huge sense of relief that she had Joan to confide in.

Now the anger and fear returned as she watched them and lthe ittle girl's grandfather talking together. If she'd had one of those new mobile phone things that were lately creeping into the market she'd have tapped in her sister's number immediately. After the torching of her shop Betty wasn't going to let the Phillips' family get away with any more than they already had. She was glad she'd accidentally bumped into Suzy Palmer on her way to the phones. Suzy Palmer knew the truth about Kane Phillips now. Bill Sutherland didn't yet. But he would, he would, oh by morning he would.

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Many thanks for everyone's lovely reviews. :D Um...this chapter might make you cry...

CHAPTER 13

"Now it's very, very important you know what to do, mate," Bill Sutherland said.

Kane nodded. He was sure he'd remember even if Kirsty's Grandad hadn't got him to say it back to him three times to make sure.

The Sutherlands' caravan would be left unlocked. Kane was to let himself in and wait for them there at nine o'clock tomorrow. Yeh, 'course he could tell the time! They did that in school ages ago and he got first once and second twice when they did tests on it. He didn't know why he suddenly gave Kirsty's Grandad that information. He'd stopped telling Mum and Dad when he did well in school and he'd never told Scotty.

"First once and second twice? Good on yer, mate!" Bill repeated, smiling, and Kirsty smiled too, though she'd been listening very seriously when Grandad had told Kane about tomorrow.

Kirsty's smile was special. It hid when the wind blew her long hair across her face and danced back more beautiful than ever when she pushed her hair back with both hands. The caravan site was close to the beach so it often picked up the cool of the sea by evening and Kirsty's Tigger T-shirt was rippling in the breeze as she shivered.

"Ya cold?" Kane asked in concern.

"A bit," she replied. So he put his arm round her shoulders to warm her. Kirsty was tall for her age and Kane was small for his age and their heights blended them together perfectly, a miniature yin and yang.

"We better head back," Bill said, as usual checking the pocket watch he always wore. "Worth a fortune, this watch," he added jokingly, to lighten the kids’ sombre mood.

The Sutherlands had decided that Bill would speak with Suzy tomorrow, exchange addresses, try and persuade her to talk with Shelley. Suzy Palmer didn't seem like a deliberately cruel person; there was never a mark on Jamie and he was a happy little kid. But Shelley had explained in their phone conversations how sometimes one kid in a family could be singled out and ill-treated. They wanted to make sure Kane was safe in their own caravan when they brought up the delicate subject about Suzy having difficulty coping.

In the meantime, they would carry on as usual so that Suzy didn’t become suspicious and so that the kids, especially timid Jade, didn’t become frightened and tomorrow they would take the girls to the swimming pool for their last swim as originally planned. Their daughter-in-law occasionally counselled abused kids, but Bill and Mary had never had to deal with it themselves and they were desperate to handle things right.

"Is it, Grandad?" Kirsty asked curiously, abruptly bringing him back to the present.

"What d'you reckon?" Bill said, winking. "Belonged to my own Grandad, Kirst, and I heard he had to sell every single thing he owned, even his house, to pay for it."

This time, although he'd never done before, believing Kane's story that his older brother would tease him about it, Bill waited until Kane had actually gone inside the caravan. But not before Kirsty said Boot had a secret to tell him.

She pressed the toy dog against Kane's face. "Love you!" she whispered, her warm breath and Boot tickling his ear, then she fell back again, giggling.

*****

To Kane's amazement the door opened instantly and he closed it softly behind him. He'd been wondering what tale he could invent for not going inside; claiming to see a UFO would have seemed a bit lame.

Suzy Palmer was talking to Jamie in the back, playing some game or other, but he had to wait a while before he could chance leaving in case Kirsty and her Grandad saw him. He crept over to the window and pressed his face against the glass. They were walking down the slope, Kirsty's Grandad holding her hand, his grey head bent, listening to what Kirsty was telling him.

Kane breathed on the window and wrote two large simple Ks with his finger, then the artist in him took over and he lost himself decorating them with loops and flourishes and curves, before he suddenly realised he should have left ages ago and jumped up - but it was too late!

"Kane!" Suzy Palmer seemed unusually edgy tonight. "How did you get in?"

“Door was open," he shrugged, grinning at Jamie.

Suzy nodded uneasily. It wasn't like her to leave the key in the lock but Betty Thomas's words had unnerved her and her young son had distracted her as they returned. "Where's your brother?"

It was a funny question, Kane thought, glancing up from kicking a soft ball back to Jamie to follow her gaze and realise that Suzy Palmer was looking towards the small black purse placed on top of the television set.

There wasn't much in it; this holiday had cost far more than she'd intended. But it was a lot to a single Mum, enough to buy snacks on the way home and to buy small thank you gifts for her parents, with whom she still lived and who were so good about looking after her little boy when she needed a night out. That was what this vacation was all about really, giving the olds a break, though she'd made out it was for her own and Jamie's benefit. Like on her previous two "holidays" - a couple of long weekends - Suzy had gone to bed exhausted every night. But two weeks had nearly killed her. And cost a fortune.

"I wasn't gonna take nothin'!" Kane yelled angrily, slamming the door as he left, which made him feel bad because he liked Suzy Palmer, and Jamie, who could nearly say Kane now, was shouting 'Tane! Tane, come back!' and crying.

The wind had calmed but it was still cold by the sea and he still didn't want to go home. The gates to the kids' playground were locked but that was no problem to someone small enough to slide under the considerable gap dug out over many years by thousands of small feet passing through.

Nobody was expected to visit the playground by night and the only light was above a bronze plaque commemorating some distant ancestor of Alf Stewart's. Kane sat on the swing opposite and wondered about the long-dead guy who'd apparently provided the first recreation area, whatever that was, for the children of Summer Bay. Much, much later, the plaque said, the property developers had come along and the swings, slide and monkey ladder were added here. Kane wondered why the plaque didn’t tell anyone what became of the recreation area. He'd liked to have known.

He twirled the swing round and spun himself back till he was dizzy, thinking Kirsty's words over and over.

Tell Grandad, tell Grandad, tell Grandad...

But the grown-ups always, always let you down in the end, always, always left you all alone when Dad came at you again, and Kirsty's Grandad could be crushed like paper...

A round bright moon suddenly broke free from a cloud and cast dozens of shadows and a solitary breeze wailed through the waves lapping against the shore. Scotty had told him the time of the full moon was when you had to watch out for sea monsters because that was when they sucked a kid's blood all out before they ate them - very, very slowly so you felt their sharp fangs digging in with every bite as you died in agony.

The giant shadow that Kane had thought was the slide could be a sea monster slithering towards him and the wail that he'd thought was the wind could be a sea monster's hungry cry. He jumped hastily off the swing and began the long run home.

*****

Kirsty began to wish she hadn't agreed to swap bunk beds with Jade for the last night, but a promise was a promise. Jade's upside-down face swung yet again from above like some avenging angel.

"How do you KNOW Boot can breathe in the pillow-slip?"

"'Cos he snores," Kirsty replied, busy trying to do gymnastics that had been much easier to do on the top bunk. "He snores so loud I think it's a train!"

Jade looked at her twin doubtfully. She believed dolls and cuddly toys were real, but she was well aware Kirsty and Dani didn't. "Doesn't!" she said at last.

"Omigod, Jade!" Kirsty did another forward roll. "Have you never HEARD him?"

The avenging angel nodded uncertainly and, to Kirsty's relief, disappeared above. She hadn't wanted to share Boot with anyone except Kane, but since the toy dog had mysteriously got lost under the table she'd had to tell Jade too. It wasn't so much that she minded Jade knowing, it was just Jade was behaving exactly as Kirsty knew she would. She wouldn't be able to rest until Boot had been checked out by herself. She couldn't trust someone who didn't know he was real to look after him properly.

The upside-down face appeared again. "Abby said she doesn't believe you."

"Ja-ade!"

"I didn’t say it, Abby did!" Jade said indignantly.

"Oh, here, catch!" Kirsty had other things on her mind tonight and Boot abruptly found himself airborne before he made a daring crash landing.

Jade screamed. "You'll kill him, Kirsty, you'll kill him!"

"It's okay, I'll get him!"

The dog had landed on the floor, so close by that Kirsty needed only to stretch her arm very slightly to reach him. So she swung herself sideways, which made Boot completely out of her range of vision, and attempted the much more difficult manoeuvre of lifting him with her feet. "No...can't...make it..."

"Nearly, nearly..." said Jade encouragingly, kneeling on the top bunk, the thought not occurring to her either that there was a much easier way. "Left a bit, back a bit..."

"Guys! Gran and Grandad said we can wrap the prezzies before we read the stor...Kirsty, sweetie, what ARE you doing?"

Dani picked up Boot, sighing. She'd told Mum on the phone last night that having two bubs to look after was such hard work and if she hadn't known better she'd have sworn Shelley was laughing.

Kirsty sighed too. "Jade's gonna mind Boot. Just for tonight."

"Can I?" Jade's face lit up.

"Yeh, I guess, but you better take REAL good care of him." her twin smiled back.

*****

Somehow he didn't want to chance knocking on the door. The wooden crate was under the wide open kitchen window. Kane dragged it nearer and tumbled inside the darkened room. There was the sound of breathing, a shuffling movement in the corner. The moonlight caught a flash of silver and he realised in terror his father was sitting there.

"Been waitin' for ya, son," Richie said in a slow, menacing voice. "See, I owe ya for gettin' oil on me new clobber."

"I didn't, I didn't!" Kane struggled to make sense of the accusation, backing away.

Richie clicked on the light. He had some kind of metal chain, the flash of silver, folded round his knuckles. "Jeez, son, ain'cha ya got oil all over ya?"

Kane looked down in confusion at his hands and clothes stained by the black paint from colouring in the ship and the brown rust from spinning on the swing.

"Dad, I didn't!"

Dad's expression didn't change. And he was drunk. Running was always the only option. He made for the door. Then the sharpness cut into his back and warm, sticky blood seeped through his shirt.

*****

The Sleeping Beauty giftwrap that Dani and Jade had chosen, and the Jungle Book giftwrap that Kirsty and Kane had chosen, were mixed up on the table with the holiday prezzies of trinkets, lollies and chocolates. Dani and Gran were laughing because Jade had managed to sellotape a prezzie to her elbow.

"You know, Jade, if you put the dog down for a minute, you'd be able to wrap better," Gran said.

"I can't, 'cos Boot's still upset 'bout his fall." Jade looked guiltily at Abby, whom she'd had to abandon beside her for a while to console Boot.

It was like the magic of Xmas and normally Kirsty loved Xmas. But she slid herself out of her seat to where Grandad was unzipping a small travel bag in the hunt for Uncle Pete's missing gift.

"Grandad, will Kane be okay?" She whispered the words. Kane was so sad about something. Kirsty had an idea that Gran and Grandad understood what it was, but for some reason none of them could tell Dani or Jade.

"No worries, pet." Bill bent down and hugged his little granddaughter tight.

He could only hope he would be or that it would turn out Kane was simply accident prone like Kirsty was. Try and gain his trust, Shelley had advised when they'd spoken last night, and, whatever you do, get Suzy Palmer's address.

Kane had clammed up when they'd asked him about his home life. But it was good he was telling them little bits about school. Good that he was opening up to Kirsty. Who clung to her Grandad's hug, remembering Kane's chocolate kiss.

*****

Dad had gone at last. Kane slowly made his way to the old-fashioned enamel kitchen sink and chucked up a milky pool of vomit. Through the open window came the soothing rippling of the sea and gentle sighs of the wind. Down by the bay, couples strolled hand in hand in the moonlight or stopped to gaze romantically up at the hushed starlit sky.

It was a beautiful night, so beautiful, so calm, so perfect, a night, as one small boy turned on the tap and put his mouth to the running cold water with tears streaming down his face.

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CHAPTER 14

[

In the distance the blue sea sparkled in the sunlight while a ship sailed leisurely across the water. Nearer inland the surfers would be riding the waves, taking advantage of the wind that was frantically rustling the garden trees, but the myriad of buildings and streets inbetween blocked an actual view of the beach from the Phillips’ dismal house.

Kane dropped the dusty bedroom curtain. His luck was holding and Scotty was still fast asleep, giving out neat, rhythmic snores, the duvet pulled almost completely over his head. He hadn’t even stirred when his younger brother had nearly toppled the dresser while experimentally seeing if the bottom drawer would still take his weight if he stood on it.

Kane sighed again at the wash-basket. Getting washed had been difficult and the soap had stung the cuts. Clothes were another problem. Nobody was doing any laundry since Mum left and, though he'd discovered some long forgotten shorts caught at the back of the dresser drawer, he couldn't find any more clean-ish shirts from among the pile of worn stuff he and Scott had been flinging on the floor beside the overflowing basket. Looking out of the window hadn't made everything wash and fold itself. Yesterday's T-shirt was still blood-stained.

He shivered as he remembered creeping up the stairs to bed, crying with pain as he peeled off the shirt and Scotty throwing a shoe at him because he'd woken him up.

Scott yelled at him he'd really have something to whinge about tomorrow because Mum was coming home then and, so Scott somehow reckoned, all the dirty washing was Kane's. Kane had mixed feelings about Mum's return. She didn't beat up on him all the time like Dad and Scott did, and occasionally she even did stuff like make his lunch for school or put cream on his sunburnt neck. But when she slapped him she slapped him hard and he knew she didn't like him very much.

He stole another wary glance at his brother. Scotty hadn’t moved so Kane looked through the wash-basket some more, finally settling on a T-shirt that was more ripped than stained, and pulling it over his head. This was it. After last night, he was never coming back.

Kirsty said her Grandad would make everything alright and Kane had never trusted anyone like he trusted Kirsty.

Sixteen steps down the threadbare carpet with its faded squiggly patterns, his heart beating so loud he was convinced it would wake Dad, who was still downstairs sleeping off the grog. He skipped the third-from-top stair, the one that always creaked, and froze and held his breath for a while when he imagined he heard a movement. If Dad knew he was gonna tell someone he'd kill him for sure!

But all was quiet and so he moved on.

Richie Phillips never remembered to lock the front door properly when he was drunk. Kane stretched to unsnip the safety catch, clenching his teeth because his back still hurt, and closed the door soundlessly behind him. He was free!

Kane must think he had come down in the last shower! Scott, who’d been wide awake for a while, jumped out of bed, fully clothed, thinking he deserved a Logie for his convincing snores. Kane would learn never to stuff up again. Bike or no bike, it was payback day.

*****

"Okay, Jade, wave! Cheese!"

Bill positioned the camera, his voice echoing around the almost empty swimming pool. It was the final day of the season, when the caravan site closed down while major cleaning and essential maintenance work was done, and most people were packing for home.

Jade kept both hands firmly on the large fish-shaped float and looked at him worriedly. "But I haven't got any cheese, Grandad!"

"You don't need any cheese, sweetie," Dani said in lofty amusement.

"But Grandad said to wave cheese!"

"No, he said wave, please!" Kirsty came up from the blurry, sound distorted world of swimming underwater to catch her breath, unaware she was constantly startling the lifeguard, who'd never before known a kid so young so fearless in the water.

Jade was even more baffled. "But I'm not going back yet - am I?"

Dani smiled patiently. "Jade, Grandad didn't say 'wave, please', he said..."

"Dani, you don't know everything!" Kirsty argued, and appealed to a higher authority for proof. "Grandad, what did you say?"

"Oh, Jeez!" Bill couldn't say anything else for laughing.

"Told you! Cheese!" Jade announced triumphantly.

"Bill!" Mary frowned reprovingly, catching Bill's remark as she emerged from the changing rooms, having got the girls ready first. She hated her grandkids to hear even the mildest of swear words and she was forever having to tick off Kane about his swearing.

"So-orry," Bill grinned, and having his second coughing fit of the day though this one had more to do with amusement than his asthma. The heat was affecting his breathing badly today, which was why he'd decided not to go in the pool. He reached into his pocket for a hanky to wipe away the tears of laughter - and the camera slipped from his fingers and fell into the water with a gentle, mocking splash.

Mary sighed. Her husband was really trying her patience today, behaving like one of the kids. "Well, at least we still have the first roll of film!" She commented drily.

"Or we wouldn't have any pictures of Kane," Kirsty added. "Grandad, is it time to go and see if Kane's okay yet?"

Bill automatically went to check the old-fashioned pocket-watch before remembering he'd left it in the caravan in case it got dropped in the pool. And now, in an ironic twist, the camera was ruined instead.

"Soon," he answered. "And I'm sure he will be, Kirst."

*****

Forty years. Forty years of happiness running the Summer Bay caravan park’s general store. Then the Phillips family came along and destroyed it all in seconds.

Betty Thomas wandered around the caravan site, an anonymous figure among the noise and bustle of people leaving for home. But that was the way she wanted it, the reason she'd worn the sunnies and pulled the sunhat down over her face.

She choked back tears as she gazed at the burnt-out shell of the shop that she and Tom had so loved. They had come to the Bay from New Zealand as newlyweds and sadly had never become parents like they'd always hoped, but the little shop had blossomed under their tender care and grown up to do them proud and become larger premises, and every child that ever came inside for lollies or just to say g'day they loved like their own. Until the Phillips kids.

The family, the father and mother both heavy drinkers, had moved into a rough area on the very edge of Summer Bay, a place called Summerhill, when their eldest son was about six. Days later Scott had strolled into the store and helped himself.

Remonstrating with his parents proved useless. Anyone who ever crossed the Phillips or got the police involved was beaten up or had their property trashed.

By the time the youngest son was attempting to walk off with more bars of chocolate than he could even carry, the elderly couple were resigned to the mouthfuls of abuse and even Scott's kicking and punching when he was caught. Kane never seemed quite as cold as Scott, but even so Kane had been the one to lift the stealing to a more serious level when he took the money. That was when Betty finally decided enough was enough and reported the crime. The fire had been the result. The police had charged two men with arson and attempted robbery but Betty knew Richie Phillips was behind it all.

Forty years and on her last day here she was creeping round like a common crim. But it had to be this way. She would warn the Sutherlands, like she'd warned Suzy Palmer, and then she would leave, telling no one her forwarding address. Richie Phillips would never be able to trace her and take his revenge.

She took a final heartbroken look at the shop where she had spent so many happy years then turned towards the Sutherlands caravan.

*****

Kane was early. Half an hour early, he realised, catching sight of the time on Bill Sutherland's pocket watch that was ticking loudly away on a shelf. The pool opened at eight and Kirsty’s Grandad had said they'd be there about an hour.

But somehow it was like they were already here.

The pocket watch, ticking away as though it was trying to tell Kane all about Kirsty’s Grandad. Abby, sitting importantly at the table, a plastic cup from Jade's toy tea-set filled with milk and placed before her. Dani's personal stereo and a couple of music tapes slung nearby as if she'd just been listening to some songs. Kirsty's Gran's handbag, crammed with old photos (she’d told Kane she always carried them with her because her own parents lost all their precious photos in a bushfire many years ago). Kane couldn't see Boot anywhere, but he knew that was only because he would be safely tucked up in Kirsty's pillow-slip like he was every day.

Lollies, potato chips and cartons of soft drinks were on the table ready for the homeward journey. Some dollar bills lay next to the watch (no one was ever dill enough to leave money on show in Kane's house, but Kirsty's Gran and Grandad did lots of strange things like never hitting the kids and talking to each other without ever shouting).

He looked at the prezzies, wrapped in Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty gift-wrapping paper, which were packed in a bag on the floor, trying to remember what they'd bought, picking some up to shake and see if he could guess what each package was.

Then the door opened and he turned with a ready grin for Kirsty. But it wasn’t Kirsty.

"G'day, Kane!" Scott said.

*****

"Kirsty, pet, slow down!"

Bill was mopping his brow and fighting for every breath as he hurried to keep up with his granddaughter. He had just had to apologise when Kirsty crashed into someone and sent the poor woman’s luggage flying.

"But it's Kane, Grandad!"

Kirsty didn't care how many people she crashed into. They could fall like skittles if it meant she got to her bestest mate sooner. Gran, Jade and Dani had been unbearably slow about getting out of the water and, in the end, Grandad had agreed to go on ahead with Kirsty. Her hair was still wet and her top was on back-to-front, but it was Kane! She broke into a run.

*****

They'd stolen from caravans before. It was easy. People were in and out with luggage on the last day of the season, forgetting things, running round after their kids, collecting deposits, ringing home. All you had to do was try for unlocked doors and, if the van wasn't empty after all, you put on the little-kid-lost act. The last day of the season was always profitable; any caravan would do. But not this one.

Kane had pleaded but his brother wouldn't listen and he kept his arm round his neck so that he couldn't run. And Scott wanted more...

Something crunched underfoot as Scott tipped the contents of Mary Sutherland's handbag on to the table. He glanced down. Nothing important. Just a roll of film that had fallen out. He scattered the cosmetics and old photos, pocketing the loose change and a couple of dollar bills.

"I'm not askin' ya, ya drongo. I'm tellin' ya." The day of his first cigarette Scott had pictured riding away on the bike, looking back at the blaze, the satisfaction of knowing Kane's new best buddies would have nothing more to do with him once Kane had torched their stuff "'cos he spat the dummy cos they were goin’ back home" as Scott would tell the cops. And all he'd had to do in the last couple of weeks was get Kane scared enough to do what he wanted and Kane was looking real scared right now. "You know what'll happen if ya don't."

There was no bike like in the original plan, but in the original plan he hadn't figured out how they were going get into the caravan either. Things had worked out even better than he'd hoped!

Dad had bashed Kane last night so Kane hadn't been moving too fast when Scotty easily followed him down to the site and the unlocked, obviously deserted van. And he wouldn't need the bike after all - all the nearby caravans had already emptied so there were no witnesses, no one to question Scott's version of events, that Kane had wanted to smoke, which was why they’d been there with the matches and Dad's half-full packet of fags.

Scotty had the same cold, hard stare of Richie "Gus" Phillips as he rattled the box of matches. And he wanted so much to be like his Dad, to have people afraid of him like Mrs Thomas had been afraid.

"You know it's this or The Dark. And if you don't do this, then I will, but you'll still get the blame and you get to cop a bashing as well as The Dark."

Except for when Dad locked him in the cupboard under the stairs, Kane had never been so scared in his life. Even Dad hitting him with the broken bike chain or throwing him downstairs wasn't as terrifying as The Dark. Nothing in the world was.

And it was The Dark...Or Boot. Or Abby. Or Dani’'s music. Kirsty's Grandad's watch and Kirsty's Gran's photos...

It was everything that each of them loved and treasured more than anything else in the world . Or it was The Dark. The terrifying Dark. There was no other way out.

"Okay," he agreed at last.

Scott let him go, grinning. "See? Easy deal."

There was only one thing he could do. And he was so scared of The Dark. Kane dejectedly took the matches

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Kat, this story has a major twist... :P

CHAPTER 15

Jeez, what did the drongo think he was doing? He had Buckley's of getting away when he could hardly even walk, let alone run, after Dad's bashing!

Scott had been caught totally off guard when Kane opened the door and fled, but he had no intention of leaving the caravan empty-handed. He quickly swept everything he could into the bag with the prezzies - his hand was on the personal stereo when he looked up again and realised, despite the obvious pain, Kane was determinedly picking up speed. Oh, was he sure gonna pay and pay good for this! Scott would drag him back, make him light the fire and then he was gonna ******* kill him!

*****

He was remembering Kirsty as he ran...

They were fooling on the low wall that surrounded the little shop garden when they were chased away by a grown-up who’d reminded them they shouldn't be playing somewhere dangerous and then, when Kane swore at him (to Kirsty's delight) angrily asked what the hell did they think the safety barriers had been put there for in the first place?

That was when they'd run, thrilling to the buzz of danger, the freedom of the wind in their hair, the sun on their backs, laughter shared, hands joined, fingers locked. Together they were one.

When they finally stopped, Kirsty leaned on his shoulder to kick off her shoe.

"Ya hurt yourself?"

"I banged my foot," she replied, rubbing her heel.

Kane looked down. "It's cut bad."

"Yeh, well, I'm not gonna cry!"

"You should put it in cold water. It'll stop the bleeding."

"Yeh, like where? If we go back to the caravan now, Gran and Grandad might say it’s time for you to go back."

"You could wash it in the puddle in the garden."

"Cool!" Kirsty said, her face lighting up.

The site gardener had dug a hole in the shop garden ready to plant something, but then there'd been the fire, and water from the fire engine hosepipes and later the rain had flowed into its sheltered spot behind the garden wall. They'd been floating ice popsicle sticks there earlier, pretending the sticks were ships racing on the ocean,. Returning meant danger and the added thrill of risking running into the guy who'd told them off.

"Ahhh!" Kirsty said, putting her foot in the puddle as she held on to Kane for balance, shocked to find the water unexpectedly icy cold. "Kane, what if that guy comes back? I won't be able to run fast!"

"No worries. I'll throw stones at a window or something, make him follow me while ya get away."

She looked at him, smiling her magic smile. "Are you never scared?"

Jeez, where to start? Of his Dad, of Scotty bashing him, of Mum when she she acted like a fruitcake, of official people visiting the house, of everything being ten times worse after they'd gone, of being locked outside, of being thrown downstairs, of Dad's fist smashing into his face...

But all that was home. That was a world so horrific he constantly blocked it from his mind. "Nah, 'course not!"

"Me neither!" Then her words ran into each other, like always when Kirsty had something on her mind. "Though I get scared when Jade or Dani are scared or sad, or any of my family or my friends, 'cos I don't know what to do so it makes me cry, like I'm scared 'cos I don't know why you're sad and I cry."

"Don't cry for me, Kirst."

"But I don't know why you're scared."

He shrugged. Kirsty was too special to see the terrible nightmares that haunted his eyes night after night. "I'm REAL scared of The Dark."

...the sun scorching down, Scotty, who'd been almost up to him for a while now, nearly close enough to touch him, reaching, cursing, his fingertips brushing his wrist, a fraction of a second too late, as Kane leaned over the wall and tipped the contents of the matchbox into the puddle where they’d sailed the ice popsicle sticks, watching with satisfaction as matchsticks trickled down the water and trapped themselves in mud, the empty box slung defiantly after them.

Now Scott couldn't burn anything! Kirsty would still have Boot. Jade would still have Abby. Dani would keep her music, Kirsy's Gran her photos, Kirsty's Grandad his watch. Each of them kept what they loved most in the world. But there was a heavy price to pay...

Scott swung him fiercely round. Breathlessly, he looked up in terror at the anger in his brother's eyes and felt the weight of his fist in his jaw.

*****

"Kirsty, we have to go see Kane's Mum first!"

Kirsty pretended she couldn't hear and Bill had no choice but to follow her down to their own caravan. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. He could make sure Kane had got there safely and, from subtle questioning, gage what mood Suzy was in.

The caravans had to be vacated by ten but Suzy Palmer's bus wasn't leaving until much later so, unaware of their plans, she'd been pleased when the Sutherlands suggested they meet in the coffee bar. Bill had intended to call round, to tell her Kane was with the girls and he'd give a hand carrying her luggage down, and that Mary would follow on later.

Then he would carefully lead the conversation round to how difficult kids could be at times, how Shelley could help. The plan would have to be altered slightly now Kirsty would be with him, but at the coffee bar he could send her for an OJ and if...

He broke off from his chain of thought, startled by what was happening at the caravan.

The door to 179 had been left wide open and several items were strewn nearby. Kirsty was running up and down the steps, in and out, as if upset about something, or someone, perhaps the plump woman in the sunhat who stood there.

Bill walked more quickly, each breath more strained, the heat draining him. When he finally reached them, the woman's words didn't make sense. None of it made any sense. As if in a dream, he picked up a gift wrapped in torn Jungle Book paper - the Summer Bay calender that they'd bought for the girls' other grandparents - and retrieved the gold pocket watch that lay next to the steps, glinting in the sunlight.

"I thought they'd probably been stealing again," Betty Thomas sighed, shaking her head, "when I saw them both running away together."

*****

"Scott! Scotty! Ya there?"

"Shut it!" Scott growled, looking through a gap in the brickwork of the condemned shop, wishing he could see 179. Funny, he'd never seen any of those guys close up but that was all to the good. He'd never recognise any of them again but that meant they'd never recognise him again either and Scotty didn't want to be recognised.

He glanced at the bag. He didn't want to get caught with the stolen stuff either, which meant he'd have to hang round here ages. Pity. It'd serve Kane right if he left him to sweat inside the locked storeroom, especially since chasing after him had caused Scott to drop several things, including the expensive-looking watch. But he'd fool him into pretending he'd gone.

"Scott, I can't see!" Kane spat out a couple of teeth that had been knocked loose by the punch, accidentally swallowing blood, as the terrifying darkness closed in around him.

"Tough! Learn to ******* survive! I had to!" Scott replied, turning the rusty storeroom key round in his palm. "I gotta go now. I might come back. I might not."

"Scotty!" Kane yelled, hurling himself against the strong wooden door. "Scotty, you come back! You gotta come back!"

Scott sat silently, screwing up his eyes to try and make out what was going on outside, totally ignoring the racket. He could sit like this for hours if he had to. He'd done it dozens of times before, hiding and listening to Mum and Dad throwing furniture and punches at each other, without anyone even suspecting he was in the house.

The nearest caravan, where one of the last homeward bound cars was pulling out, was a hell of a distance away. There was no reason for anyone to come by the shop. Nothing to do but wait and listen to Kane, who was sounding more and more scared every minute.

*****

"I can't believe I was stupid enough to come back to this!" Diane Phillips looked round in disgust at the filthy kitchen. Dirty dishes were everywhere, the cooker and floor were smeared with grease and there was a nauseating smell of rotting food.

Richie dodged the plate that flew towards him and it rattled to the floor where it smashed into four large pieces.

"One less to wash," he observed.

"I don't think it's ******* funny!"

A fork followed the plate, this time hitting his palm as he raised a hand to stop it.

"C'mon, Di, you know ya came back because ya love me." Richie caught her wrist as she lifted another fork, smiling the smile that the Sheilas always found irresistible. Diane paused, laughing, and kissed him.

He'd been too soft for too long, that was the trouble, Richie thought. In a man's home his word should be law. Yet look what happened here. His wife took his money and shot through. Kane splashed oil on his new clothes. Scott just did what the hell he liked.

There were gonna be changes. Big changes He would keep Di sweet for now, he needed someone to cook, clean, do the laundry. But he was sick of her whinging. He would grind her down. Gradually, over time, so that she would never dare leave again. And it would be as it should be in a man's home. With the strongest at the top and the weakest at the bottom.

*****

"Help!" Kane roared, his fists flailing against the door. But the only sound was the blood rushing through his ears like the sound of the sea.

And The Dark was swallowing him so he couldn't breathe and all he could see was the blackness and all he could feel was a red hot pain down the side of his face where Scott had punched him. His arms couldn't fight any more and fell uselessly to his side. Then The Dark washed over him and plunged him into its terrifying nothingness.

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CHAPTER 16

"No, Grandad!" Kirsty said emphatically.

Bill wished he didn't believe it either but the facts were staring him in the face. The watch that he'd jokingly told Kane was worth a fortune had been dropped by the thieves. Inside the caravan, left with an unlocked door for Kane, cash was gone, Dani's personal stereo had been left on the edge of the table with the earphones hanging down from the trailing wire, Mary's handbag turned upside-down with the precious photographs thrown on the floor. It had to be kids. Only kids would have bothered to take inexpensive holiday trinkets and lollies, potato chips and drinks meant for the long drive home.

"Kane and Scott had a bag with them when they ran past me." Betty Thomas spoke quietly, bitterly, her voice catching with emotion. "Those boys, they'll end up just like their father. Already they lie, they fight, they cheat, they steal. I've seen Kane leading your granddaughter astray, both of them causing trouble, deliberately breaking the water sprinklers, swearing, giving cheek."

"No, Grandad!" Kirsty said again, her hand tightly gripping the caravan steps as if for support. It wasn't like Mrs Thomas said. It was something far, far deeper, something in Kane's eyes, but Kirsty just didn't know how to explain it.

The heat had exhausted Bill and his breath was laboured. He sat on the steps and pulled Kirsty reassuringly towards him.

"But Kane seems to get hurt a lot," he said. "If his Mum's lashing out..."

Betty snorted. "I don't know what lies he's been telling you, but he'll have been in yet another fight! Kane and Scott often beat up on the other boys. That is, when they're not too busy trashing property or stealing! They were always stealing from my shop. Tom and I, we tried to stop it but their father would only come round making his threats. Tom's heart was weak. It gave out in the end."

She swallowed a sob and had to draw a breath before she spoke again. "That family destroys everything and everyone. This is my last day here and thanks to Kane and Scott my last memories of the caravan park will be unhappy ones. Thanks to them, the shop no longer..."

Betty turned abruptly, tears filling her eyes. She had nearly told Bill Sutherland it was Richie Phillips who arranged for the shop to be burnt down and she must never tell that to anyone, not even her sister. So much as a whisper and sooner or later Richie would discover where she was, perhaps even kill her. There was a rumour he'd once killed a man in a drunken fight but had walked free from court because no one dared testify. No, she had done what she had set out to do. Betty couldn't trust herself to say any more. She walked away quickly, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead, though her vision was blurred by tears.

*****

"Omigod, what happened?"

Suzy Palmer abruptly snapped out of her daydream. Suzy was on her way back from handing in the buggy she'd hired for Jamie and she'd told him they had plenty of time to kill so they would take the long way back, but now she wondered if her small son was having a lend of her. He walked at a snail's pace, constantly stopped to stare at passing planes, birds and people, studied an army of ants marching through the grass with the interest of a professor of entomology, climbed the steps of caravans, and staged two lone sit-down protests about not being carried. At this rate they'd be lucky of they made it back to their own caravan by this time next week.

But then Suzy herself had stopped and stared on the last occasion and it was this that caused her to be so deep in thought. Betty Thomas had been throwing some last bits of luggage in her car and Suzy had spoken to her. Three times. The old lady had deliberately ignored her. Suzy was still trying to figure out what she'd done.

Kirsty ran to her. She looked like she'd been crying. Maybe she was upset about her grandad who was breathing into an inhaler.

"Where's Kane?" she demanded.

"I don't know, Kirst. Why?" Suzy spoke gently though she was slightly irritated. What was it with the Sutherlands and Kane?

Bill spoke slowly as the air came back into his asthmatic lungs. "Suzy, I'm afraid Betty Thomas had some pretty harsh things to say about your son."

"My son...?" Suzy protectively lifted Jamie into her arms though he was in the middle of pushing his way past Bill to climb the caravan steps.

"No, not Jamie. Your other son. Well, both your other kids. Kane and Scott."

"Kane and Scott? They're not my kids! Whatever made you think that?"

Jamie was wriggling and yelling "Tirsty, help!" and Suzy ruffled his hair and set him down again. "I've no idea who Kane's folks are. I guess the only one who can tell us that is Mrs Thomas and when I passed her just now I got the impression she was leaving for good."

*****

"...and Abby had better drunk her milk or she'll be crook. Gran, I can nearly swim now! I'm getting heaps good at dancing and heaps good at swimming." Jade hadn't stopped talking, mostly about Abby, since the swimming pool, and she breathlessly continued the conversation while she and Dani danced their way back, ignoring the people who had had scatter to make way for them. But it was their turn to scatter when someone suddenly hurtled towards them.

“Kirsty!" Dani called in bewilderment.

Without a word, Jade stopped in mid dance step, did an abrupt U-turn and ran after her twin.

*****

Kirsty knew exactly where Mrs Thomas's caravan was. She remembered seeing her face at the window the day she and Kane had had the screaming contest. Sure enough, the old lady's dark blue car, gleaming in the sunlight, was pulling away from the caravan onto the narrow strip of road that led to the exit.

"Stop!" Kirsty yelled urgently. "You've got to stop!"

Betty saw the little girl through the wing mirror, but she pressed her foot down, sweeping smoothly towards the park exit. It was for the best. She had warned the Sutherlands and Suzy Palmer about Kane and she had done it without once mentioning the name Phillips. When, and if, they ever found out who Kane was she would be safely on the plane to New Zealand, the car picked up from the airport by the garage owner she had agreed a price with, her luggage gone on ahead. Richie Phillips would never trace her. Provided she got away from this wild child tearing down the coast road after her, screaming for her to stop.

At the picturesque bend that took the traffic out of Summer Bay, the dark blue car disappeared forever into the distance.

With tears streaming down her face, Kirsty looked down the quiet, sand-dusted coast road towards the timeless sea that stretched endlessly across the horizon. Now she would never know what became of her bestest mate. All because of a mean old woman who didn't see what Kirsty saw in those sparkling blue eyes, who didn't care about the strange aching round Kirsty's heart.

"I hate you," she said, over and over to the sea. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you..."

Even when Suzy, who'd left Jamie with the Sutherlands, finally caught up with her, followed by Dani and Jade, she couldn't stop the tears or the chant or the aching.

"Sweetie," Dani said, putting her hand on Kirsty's shoulder like she thought Shelley would do.

"Hey, c'mon, Kirst," Suzy said uncertainly.

"We need Abby! We need Boot!" Jade made it sound like a request for the SES as she turned to Suzy with two large tears of sympathy spilling down her cheeks.

*****

"Kane was good with Jamie," Suzy said, rattling her empty cup back into its saucer and tenderly stroking Jamie's forehead. No one would dream a demon lurked behind the angel fast asleep on her lap. "He said he had two younger brothers, Jordan and Luke, but Betty Thomas told me that wasn't true, there was just him and Scott. He seemed a nice kid. I didn't believe Betty when she said they stole from the caravans, not until I caught him sneaking round my own, and then, when they took what they did from yours..." she shook her head. It was still hard to take in how she'd been duped.

Few holidaymakers were left in the coffee bar now, just those who, like Suzy, were waiting for the bus to pick them up from the park. Of course, they'd asked about Kane, but nobody knew any more than they did. Apart from the man who was still angry he was sworn at when he'd told the kids not to play by the condemned shop and a couple who'd seen Kane and Scott running away just before they discovered money missing from their van.

It looked like Kane and his family had long left for home. Kirsty had finally cried herself inconsollably to sleep leaning against her Grandad's chest.

Bill sighed heavily. "For such a little guy, Kane could tell a lot of tall stories."

"Grandad! We forgot Abby so the man in the funny shirt with the spare key's going to take us and Gran back!" Dani ran suddenly up to him and made the announcement.

"Sssh!" Bill indicated the two sleeping kids and Dani nodded.

"OKAY, GRANDAD!" she said in what she fondly imagined was a whisper, making Jamie and several other people jump.

Ernie Hopkins, aka the man in the funny shirt with the spare key, aka the odd job man, looked at Dani impassively. His wife hadn't liked the bright, bold-patterned shirt either, not even when he'd bought it back in the Seventies, but Ernie did and it still fitted so he was still going to wear it.

He'd got the shock of his life when the kid called Jade had burst into Reception screaming they'd left the baby behind. All credit to the kid though. The rest of the family might look concerned about forgetting something as important as a bub, but she was genuinely distressed.

So it was Jade he tried to reassure as they, the grandmother and the kid who didn't like the shirt jumped into the truck.

"Abby will be so scared on her own," Jade said in a tight, choked voice, sniffling back tears. "And she'll be hungry."

Ernie's heart lurched. "I'm sure your Gran'll make her a nice fresh bottle. You just help make sure Abby drinks it. You got me worried with what you said about Abby not drinking her milk."

Jade nodded, stoked to have finally met somebody else who realised Abby was a real person. Ernie tried to keep her spirits up talking about Abby as Jade sat in the front seat beside him, Mary and Dani at the back. He couldn't understand why the kids' Gran insisted it wasn't an emergency and Abby would be fine.

As soon as they reached the caravan, Ernie heroically jumped out of the truck, quickly unlocked the door, sped inside and thankfully snatched up the tiny bundle that was tightly wrapped in a white woollen shawl.

"She's okay, guys!" he cried triumphantly.

"You saved her! You saved her!" Jade was dancing with delight and swinging Abby round.

Realisation suddenly dawned on Ernie. "It's...a...doll..."

"Um...I tried to tell you," Mary said.

Dani was still staring at the shirt.

*****

It was Ernie Hopkins, in the bright, bold-patterned shirt, who watched the last of the holidaymakers leave, the little family group who waved off the pretty girl and small boy boarding the bus before getting into their own car.

The elderly man checked the time on a gold pocket watch. His wife in the passenger seat had her handbag in her lap and was sorting out some old photos. The kid with the rescued doll was jabbering happily away to the older girl who couldn't hear because she was singing along to her music headphones. But it was the other kid who caught Ernie's attention. She looked back time and time again and each time the sadness in her face dipped a little further. Finally she climbed reluctantly into the car.

She held what looked like a small toy dog to her tear-stained face.

*****

Kane got slowly to his feet, still feeling dizzy, the blood still rushing through his ears like the sound of the sea. He'd passed out. It sometimes happened when Dad or Scott punched him real hard. The Dark surrounded him like floating black water. But he wasn't afraid anymore.

He had done this for the kid with the magic smile and he would do anything for the kid with the magic smile. Climb mountains. Run around the world. Fetch her the moon and stars if she asked for them. But he didn't know how long he'd been locked inside the storeroom or how long it would be before he got out. All he knew was alone now and he had to learn to fight alone. When hours later Scotty opened the door he never knew what hit him.

*****

Night fell and silent stars shone down over the city. Kirsty gazed through the window at the stars with tears glistening on her cheeks. Kane was somewhere out there under that vast starlit sky.

Remembering her own first crush, Shelley put her arm round her little daughter's shoulders. "It'll be okay, sweetie," she whispered.

There was a deep sigh from behind.

"Jade! I can't read you a bedtime story when you're sleeping on the floor!"

"But, Dani, I've got to sleep on the floor!" Jade wailed. "There's no room in my bed!"

"If you take out your three dolls and eleven cuddly toys, there might be," Rhys suggested, trying not to laugh.

Home was warm and safe.

*****

Night fell and silent stars shone down over Summer Bay. Kane gazed up at the stars with tears glistening on his cheeks. Kirsty was somewhere out there under that vast starlit sky.

But the kid with the magic smile had gone from his life now, like the woman cop who'd seemed okay, like his neighbour Frank Rimmer, like Kirsty's Gran and Grandad, like everybody he’d ever reached to. For a long time afterwards he would wonder about Kirsty. Till the reality of his life intruded, the beatings, neglect, and loneliness, and the memories of a bestest mate began to crumble and die.

The last tears he would ever cry for his childhood were wiped away on the sleeve of thin pyjamas. He would never tell anyone his dream of captaining his own ship or of the pictures made from stars or of Summer Bay rain spreading to the oceans. Surviving meant he couldn't be a sook anymore.

Back in through the kitchen window then, quickly, quietly, listening to Mum and Dad cursing and punching each other, looking warily about in case Scotty was around to dob him in, staying one step ahead, trusting no one.

Home was cold and bleak.

*****

And so they grew.

And with the years the memories melted like chocolate kisses.

Dani, Kirsty and Jade were teenagers and Rhys' parents had long since died when the Sutherlands took over the running of the caravan park. It had changed greatly. There were far fewer caravans and none of the large family caravans remained. Families nowadays went to the popular Yabbie Creek holiday camps and hotels and it was mainly younger people, come for the Bay's water sports, who booked the caravans. The swimming pool, coffee bar and shop had all been demolished, and while the swings still stood, they were no more than a small area on the edge of the park.

The Sutherland girls knew that their grandparents had brought them to Summer Bay when they were very small, but there were no photos to remind them - the camera had fallen into water and another reel of film had been trodden on - and none of them remembered very much about it.

Dani had a vague recollection of the car sweeping into the bend by the caravan park and of playing dancing on the beach with the twins. Jade thought she remembered going back for a doll - though her Gran had told the story so often Jade couldn't be sure if it was her own memory or not. Oh, but Kirsty!

The dream came back so many times. It was always the same. She would be standing looking out towards the timeless turquoise sea, every fibre of her being filled with hatred because Kane was torn away from her forever.

Then she would wake, still screaming I hate you, with fresh tears on her face and with a fresh aching in her heart. But gradually the dreams too faded.

One day Boot was put somewhere and somehow never picked up again, night turned to day and then to night again, and the years passed by and took all their secrets with them.

*****

"Help!" Kane roared, his fists flailing against the waves.

But the only sound was the sound of the sea. And The Dark was swallowing him so he couldn't breathe and all he could see was the blackness and all could feel was a red hot pain down the side of his face where he'd banged himself as the Mirigini went down.

His arms couldn't fight anymore and fell uselessly to his side and The Dark washed over him and plunged him into its terrifying nothingness.

But he'd had to fight alone ever since he was a kid and, despite the injury, he had to fight now. His head bobbed back down into the sea and he swallowed more water, but there was a figure out there on the land, his only hope. He pushed himself again and the sea fought back again, yet the figure didn't move. Maybe it was his imagination. Maybe this was what it was like to die.

With the sound of the sea and a feeling that there had once been another time when he had been trapped in The Dark and he had loved someone with a love that ran so deep, deeper than any ocean.

Kirsty watched with sea spray on her face. At least, she thought it was sea spray. It felt like tears. But it couldn’t have been. Why would she cry for Kane Phillips?

He was far away, too far away to reach, but why should she care? He had destroyed the whole family, especially Dani, and Kirsty hated him so much for what he'd done to Dani.

She found herself saying it over and over as she stared out towards the sea, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you..."

The words lost themselves in the sound of the sea and a long ago dream suddenly came back to her...

...A time when she'd looked out towards the endless sea and a feeling that she had hated someone with a hatred that ran so deep, deeper than any ocean.

Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe all her life had been leading to this moment.

The moment she watched Kane Phillips drown.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ll post the final chapter of this fic tomorrow. :D

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CHAPTER 17

Kirsty took a tentative step towards the sea. White foamy surf ran over her feet. It was insanity. Plunge herself into the water and she put herself in danger too. What was the point of both of them dying?

Walk away, walk away quickly, and she would be safe and Kane Phillips gone forever. Out of their lives. It was his own fault if he drowned. What kind of dill grew up in Oz, especially in a seaside town, and never learnt to be a strong swimmer? Sea spray, it WAS sea spray stinging her eyes, she could tell because it tasted of salt when it ran down her face, hatred burning through her, it WAS hatred, she could tell because it was a tugging pain all round her heart, she whisped Walk away, Kirsty Sutherland, walk away, even as her shoulders touched the cold turquoise waters.

Why, why, why was she doing this? Why was she swimming towards the boy she despised?

*****

Her first day at Summer Bay High. Shafts of bright of sunlight stream in through the window, catching out the dust on the rickety old desk left outside the caretaker's door, spinning intricate patterns on to the white walls.

The bell's tinny echo still rings in her ears and, not yet part of this frantic pace of life, she marvels that crowds of students have dispersed so quickly. The small group of boys gathered by the window have ignored the bell. The boy in the centre is half sitting, half leaning on the narrow window ledge, guffawing loudly about something.

Nicole Ross, the tall, skinny, serious girl who's been asked to take the twins to see the school secretary, hesitates and nervously pushes her dark hair behind her ears.

"What's wrong?" Jade whispers, puzzled.

"That lot," Nicole answers, frowning. "I don't know why they even bother coming to school."

The boy on the window ledge looks up with a smirk on hearing her voice but the sarcastic comment somehow never breathes air. He looks instead at Kirsty. For a fleeting second, and in a heartbeat it's gone, it’s as though she remembers someone else behind the sparkling blue eyes.

Don Fisher, the principal, stops by the group. He speaks authoritatively, refusing to be intimidated, but he IS afraid, especially of the boy with the sparkling blue eyes, the boy who crashes down the lid of the rickety old desk as they move away, making Fisher jump involuntarily, the boy who smiles sneeringly and deliberately slows down when Fisher angrily tells him to hurry.

"Drongo!" Nicole mutters scornfully, and Jade nods agreement.

But he glances back for a moment and looks again at Kirsty.

"Who was that?" she asks.

“Kane Phillips," Nicole says. "The biggest dropkick in the whole school.”

*****

But there had been again that look in his eyes when he glanced back. As if they once knew each other though that was impossible...And the reason she was stupidly, stupidly, stupidly reaching for him now, when the world would be a better place, oh, so much a better place, if Kane Phillips died ...

He was vaguely aware it was Kirsty Sutherland swimming towards him. The pretty chick who had looked at him like she could see right through him that day sitting against the window-ledge. Something had made him glance back and it was there again. Like she saw he wasn't so tough.

It had thrown him. He hadn't let his guard slip once since he was a little kid. No one knew he sometimes walked alone along the wharf by night, just to listen to the whispering of the sea and make pictures from the stars and dream still the childhood dreams of sailing away on one of the boats that bobbed on the moonlit water.

He didn't know where else to go to escape for just a little while. He'd even gone there to cry when Mum had died because Dad and Scott said tears were for the weak. Cirrhosis of the liver, they wrote on the death certificate. It was more than that, but what would they know? Her beatings had ended. His still went on. Even after Dad died, falling down drunk and fatally banging his head in some cheap, crowded late night bar, the beatings went on because Scott got angry if he didn't do as he wanted.

Large ugly scars were streaked across his back, the reason he rarely went swimming, a permanent shameful reminder of how he hadn't fought back hard enough. It was only now he was finally getting his life together, seeing Scott jailed, moving to Yabbie Creek to live with his aunt, getting the job on board the Mirigini. But along the way he'd done something so horrific it haunted his dreams as often as the nightmares of the childhood beatings.

He had sworn he'd never hurt anyone the way he'd been hurt, yet on that black day he'd hurt Dani. Didn't matter that at the time he really believed Dani liked him. When he looked back, in a clearer light after the mediation, he realised it was all about power. He could have stopped and he hadn't. His Dad could have stopped and he hadn't. Maybe his Dad would always be inside him no matter how hard he tried to turn himself inside out.

The Sutherlands could never hate him as much as he hated himself.

Yet it had been Kirsty Sutherland, Dani's sister, who saved him from drowning, who helped him to shore and pulled him from the water. Then, as if immediately regretting what she'd done, she ran wordlessly into the bush.

*****

Coughing and exhausted, Kane took a while to recover his breath. He looked around at the empty green landsape. The sun was burning down relentlessly and a handful of gossamer clouds floated lazily through the perfect azure sky. All was silent except for the occasional scurrying of some small creature busy in its own secluded world. Kirsty should have stayed with him and by the water where they could follow the river's path. Together they stood a chance of being rescued.

He got shakily to his feet. At school they'd been poles apart and kept their distance. But now they had to stay together if they were to survive. He had to find her.

*****

Rhys emptied the contents of the cardboard box on to the table, choking back tears. There was still no news. The rescue helicopters returned empty each night and each day what little hope was left faded a little more.

Dani curiously picked up a pink plastic flower bracelet that had fallen near her.

Rhys smiled at her expression. "You wore it every day when you were four or five. Till we got you the silver bracelet for your birthday."

"Boot!" Jade cried, seeing a sorry-looking toy dog. "Kirsty used to put him in her pillow-slip every night!"

Dani sifted through the mixture of pictures and cards they’d made with such pride at kindy school, Jade’s old Barbi, dolls clothes, a music tape in a cracked case, three sets of baby shoes, well-thumbed kids' books filled with childish scribble. "You and Mum kept some funny stuff, Dad."

"We meant to throw most of it out when we moved from the city, but we couldn't bring ourselves to," Rhys said. "The doll's clothes, Jade, they were from your favourite doll. You passed her on to a friend's little sister. And this was one of your music tapes, Dan. You were always singing along to your tapes - not always in tune, I might add. One night we heard you yelling in agony and Shelley ran up to see why. You were playing this tape and singing in your sleep!"

"As if!" Dani slapped his arm, feeling able to laugh for the first time since Mum and Kirsty had been missing. Dad had been right. It was therapeutic, looking through the "Memory Box", made Mum and Kirsty feel closer. Took their minds off the long hours sitting by the phone, waiting.

"This was Grandad's, wasn't it?" Jade said about the gold pocket watch. "Does it still work?"

Rhys shook the timepiece against his ear and it ticked for a few moments, making him smile. The steady tick-tock reminded him so much of his father. As if Bill Sutherland was telling him Shelley and Kirsty would be rescued, reassuring him the last two people from the shipwreck would be found safe and well.

Well, there were three but scum like Kane Phillips didn't count.

*****

"Kane," Kirsty said gently. "It's okay. We're on our way to hospital."

He was in and out of consciousness but the paramedics said he could probably still hear. She didn't want him to be scared anymore like he'd been scared of his Dad when he was just a little kid. Kirsty was shocked that anyone could have been through so much. They had bonded, out here in the bush, told each other so much about their lives.

Kane's eyes flickered open briefly. Kirsty wiped away her tears. He couldn't die. This was the guy who had saved her Mum's life, saved Kirsty, been there for her through these lonely days and nights.

She wanted to be with him forever. So much would happen in the next few years but nothing would change that. They were soulmates, destined to be together for all time.

*****

Kirsty leaned her head back against Kane's chest as they sat watching the sea.

"I can't believe it!" Kane said again, his face shining. "Me...us!"

"I guess we have to be responsible adults now." Kirsty tried to be serious, the way she thought responsible adults should be, but Kane looked so ridiculously happy that she couldn't help giggling.

It was so different to the last time she'd told him she was pregnant. The time when it had been a stupid lie from an immature bride desperately trying to keep everyone happy.

They had married again, officially, the following year, and had been married three years now. The whole Sutherland family had been at this wedding, even Dani, though it hadn't been easy for her. It would never be easy for anyone. Like Dani said, just as the physical and emotional scars from Kane's childhood would never leave him, what had happened would never go away. What they could both do was try coming to terms with the past.

Kane's only relative at the wedding had been his Aunt Rose, still in a wheelchair after her stroke, and he had fussed round her all day. There were friends of course, Flynn, Sally, Irene, Tasha, Jesse...but it wasn't the same as family.

Kane looked so proud to have someone that Kirsty's heart ached for him. No one mentioned Scott Phillips, who was doing a long stretch in jail, or said they were sorry Kane's parents hadn't lived to see his wedding day. There was no one there to recall what he'd been like as a kid.

Kirsty herself felt like she was tripping up over distant rellies all day, uncles and aunts and cousins and second cousins, faces in photos from other special family gatherings like christenings and anniversaries, each one seeming to want to outdo the other with tales of what little Kirsty had said or done, sometimes making her blush. She wouldn't have been without any of them though. Even four-year-old Emma - her cousin Rachel's youngest - piping up 'When are they going to sell the ice-creams?' when they were about to take their marriage vows only made the day more special. She and Kane had looked at each other, trying so hard not to laugh, and only making each other worse. It was the one of the most perfect days of her life. Like today.

She felt so snug and safe in his arms as she closed her eyes and listened to the gentle rhythm of the sea.

Kane had known for a whole twenty-four hours now that he was going to be a Dad. They had visited the nursing home to tell Kane's Aunt Rose this morning and had told Kirsty's family this afternoon. Dani had hugged Kirsty and told Kane congratulations, though her voice was shaky. Her smile had been genuine though.

The years Dani and Kane had spent in counselling had not been wasted, and they were able to talk to each other now, but emotional scars run deep and they still had to take everything one step at a time.

Jade had just been Jade, screaming with delight, crying tears of happiness, suggesting the most unlikely movie star style baby names that she happened to like, ringing all her friends to tell them she was going to be an auntie.

Rhys and Shelley had been more serious, but they had been pleased for them. They knew all that Kane and Kirsty had been through together and that it had made their love stronger. There was never a more wanted baby. A kid who would know a childhood so unlike Kane's own.

"A little Kirsty..." Kane said dreamily, wrapping his arms around his wife, kissing the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"Or a little Kane..." Kirsty said contentedly, the soft warmth of his breath on her head sending tingles of happiness down her spine. "Imagine..."

***EPILOGUE***

The summer day is long gone now, the footprints washed away by the tide, the voices lost on the wind. It is a time before the shipwreck, a time before Dani, a time before so many things.

The sun is not too hot nor the breeze too cold, the warm sand has never been more golden, the sea never looked so blue before. It is a day when happiness touches even the world-weary and puts the light of a smile in their eyes.

So it was with the beachcomber, digging dirty nails into the sand, muttering a curse when nothing of value is yielded to throw into the bucket.

"Can I help you, kid?" he snarls at last, tossing his long matted hair out of his eyes, his thick eyebrows knitting together as he scowls.

Jade, who's been staring at him for ten minutes or more, doesn't bat an eyelid. She sighs at the plastic bucket and spade that her grandparents have bought for her from the beach shop . "I wish I could have a tin bucket!"

The derro looks down in surprise at the unremarkable shiny new tin bucket, complete with its shiny new lid, meant for household cleaning or garbo. It had cost nothing from the large Yabbie Creek store because he'd picked it up from its outside display while passing by.

Abruptly he smiles, showing yellow, uneven teeth. "Yeh. Yeh, why not? It's yours."

"Cool!" Jade delightedly offers the plastic bucket and spade in return but he shakes his head.

"Nah. Keep both, kid. I was feeling kinda weighed down today anyways." He waves at Bill and Mary Sutherland, who are sitting close by, and goes on his way, feeling suddenly free.

Bill shrugs to his wife as Jade drags the tin bucket across the sand towards Dani, who's busy scooping up shells with a plastic spade.

"They're hatching something," Mary laughs. "And I'd love to know what those two kindred spirits are talking about as well!" She smiles down towards the water's edge at Kirsty and Kane.

*****

The breeze is cooler close to the water, whipping up their hair and stealing their breath. Kirsty had wanted to go swimming, but Gran and Grandad said she was still too young for the sea.

"But when I grow up I will," Kirsty declares, digging her heels into the soft wet sand. "And I'm gonna do that as well!" she adds, enviously watching the clearer part of the sea where the surfers dot the water.

"Listen, Kirst!" Kane says. "You can hear the sea."

"Yeh, I know." Kirsty looks at him, puzzled.

He'd never told, never would dream, of telling anyone else, but Kirsty is different. "No, I mean listen properly. You hear something. Like it's whispering words."

"What's it saying?" Kirsty looks out at the water and back at Kane, suspecting the sea and her bestest mate of being deep in conversation.

"Just words," Kane says. "You have to listen."

Kirsty grows more and more intrigued. "Ask it if I can have a treasure chest from a pirate ship. And tell it I need a skull and crossbones flag and a sword! Ask it does it mind sharks or does it like them? Ask it what..."

Kane laughs. "It doesn't say all that!"

"What does it say then?" Kirsty demands curiously.

He shrugs. "Different things. Sometimes it sounds like my name. Sometimes it sounds like Summer Bay or Kirsty or Sailing. You have to listen carefully."

So Kirsty closes her eyes tight, screwing up her little face in concentration, listening intently to the rush of the waves, the cries of the gulls, the shouts of the surfers. Listening for the secret sound of the sea.

*****

“Grandad, can you help?"

Bill has been half dozing while Mary reads her book, both of them glancing up now and again to check on the kids. Jade and Dani had been very industrious with their plastic spades, no doubt building sandcastles. "Sure, pet, no worries."

"Okay, you carry that please," Jade says, indicating the lid-covered tin bucket; "and I'll carry Abby."

Wondering idly what kids' game he's just been roped into, Bill picks up the bucket and nearly topples over with its weight. He quickly set it down again. "Jade! What the blazes is in this bucket?"

"Sand," Jade says calmly.

"Sand...?"

"Yeh, we need it carrying to the car. We're taking it home to make a beach in Dani's bedroom."

Dani, who stands nearby, swinging two plastic buckets of coloured shells, sighs patiently. "Don't be silly, sweetie. I TOLD you we can't carry the bucket of sand and shells all the way home to make a beach in the bedroom."

"Dani's right, Jade," Mary adds, pleasantly surprised that one of the grandkids is beginning to think more logically. "You should always listen to your big sister."

"Yeh," Dani says. "We're taking the bucket of sand and shells home to make a beach in the kitchen."

*****

For Kirsty the whispering of the sea is calm, flowing easily, sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight, lapping gently, rhythmically, against the shore. Her serious little face breaks suddenly into a smile and her eyes flash open.

"I heard it, Kane, I heard it! It's saying always!"

Kane listens too, closing his eyes in concentration, which makes Kirsty giggle.

He hears a harsher sound, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, struggling to break free, filled with sea monsters and terror.

"I think it's saying river," he decides at last.

"No, no! Listen again,” Kirsty says.

"Ssshhh! I am."

She touches his arm lightly, dancing her fingers up to his shoulder. "Don't move, Kane, you got a spider on you!"

"Ssshhh!" he says again, his lips twitching.

She delicately crawls her fingers up his arm towards his neck.

He grins but keeps his eyes closed, concentrating. "Nah, wait, it's not river. It's a longer word. It's ...uh...yeh, it is...it's saying forever!"

"No way! It's saying always! Always, always, always!" she smiles her magic smile as he opens his eyes. They are blue, blue as the sea that crashes on the distant rocks till a quieter whisper comes to calm the waves, in this time before the shipwreck, this time before Dani, this time before so many things.

"It's saying always," she says, too young yet to know how prophetic her words will become one day. "Always, always, always...

...AND forever!"

***THE END***

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