The Shadow House(37)

No one said anything for several seconds.

Renee’s cheeks burned. Then she forced her lips back and bared her teeth in a smile. ‘Come on, everyone,’ she said. ‘Dig in before it gets cold.’





ALEX





15


Steadying the board on the water, I clambered on and pushed off from the shore, paddling on my knees to get my balance. Then I put my hands down, positioned my feet and stood up.

Sunlight refracted beneath me; above, the sky blazed blue. The stillness was unreal. All I could hear was the water, the wind, the frogs and the birds. No one was clinging to me, no one needed me. I felt light, as though I were made of gossamer and the air could pass straight through my body. I dipped my paddle, pushing the board forward, and my reluctant abdominals engaged with the movement.

Somewhere behind me, Kit was catching up. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw his rapid approach, his movements fluid and comfortable, his muscles rippling under boardshorts and a rashie. In contrast, I felt out of place and awkward. At nearly nine months post-partum, my body was still not my body. I was unfit and, even though I’d worn my most sensible black one-piece instead of – god forbid – a bikini, I was unused to displaying so much skin outside of my own bathroom. I both wanted and did not want him to see me; the situation was at once thrilling and horrifying. I pushed harder, propelling myself over the water.

‘Does yours have a motor or something?’ he said, eventually drawing level with me. ‘If I’d known this was going to be such a workout, I might not have asked you along.’

I smiled and dug in my paddle, slowing down and subtly changing direction. Don’t get too close. ‘So, what’s a summer solstice party, then?’

Kit shrugged a little self-consciously. ‘Ah, it’s just a thing we do every year. Silly but fun. We do the whole snow and ice thing at Christmas, Santa’s sleigh, the reindeer, all that good wintery stuff. But three or four days before that, when the solstice hits, we celebrate summer.’

The tail ends of our boards bumped together, and I stiffened as my board rocked beneath me.

‘We set up dinner outside, string up some lights, play some music. Maggie does a theme, like costumes or decorations or gifts. She organises most of it, actually.’

‘Really? Maggie doesn’t strike me as much of a party girl.’ The nose of my board veered away from his and the strip of water between us widened.

‘Oh, yeah, she loves it. Celebrations are her thing. Kirtan, Agnihotra, bunya pine festivals, Beltane, she does it all.’

‘I literally have no idea what any of those words mean,’ I said, paddling frantically to correct my path.

Kit laughed. ‘I didn’t either before I met Maggie. Okay, let me see if I can get this right … so, Kirtan is Indian call-and-response storytelling. Agnihotra is an Ayurvedic purifying rite, and Beltane is the Gaelic May Day celebration. Boom. How’s that for general knowledge?’

‘You’d be handy in a pub quiz.’

‘Some might say unbeatable.’

‘And the pine festival thing?’

‘An Indigenous tradition based on the harvesting of nuts from the bunya pines. You see those tall trees over there?’ He pointed across the dam to our left, where dark green points rose from the canopy like drops of icing on a cake. ‘Their cones are the size of soccer balls.’

‘Wow.’

‘Uh-huh, yep.’ He puffed out his chest and raised one eyebrow in a cartoonish smoulder. ‘Pretty impressive, right?’

‘If you like facts about balls.’

‘And do you?’

‘Not so much.’

‘Ah, rats. Thought for sure that would’ve won you over.’

We laughed, and the tension dissipated.

‘Anyway, it’s all a good excuse for a party. And Maggie’s nice enough when you get to know her.’

‘Hmm.’ I dipped my paddle into the water again and pulled up a string of green weed. ‘I’ll take your word for it.’

Kit laughed again. ‘Alright, fine, she can be hard work. But, to be fair, it’s not just her. Some residents are hell-bent on cutting themselves off. Close the village, disconnect the wi-fi, really go off-grid. And I get it, I do. The world is scary right now, there are some truly awful people in it.’ He paused and, fleetingly, his expression became pained. ‘I understand the impetus to hide, much more than they think. But it’s not practical; it’s not reasonable.’ Another big smile. ‘It’s fine, they’ll all come around eventually.’

We lapsed into an easy quiet, drifting in parallel, our paddles rising and falling with a natural rhythm. I focused on my balance, hyper-aware of Kit’s presence beside me. The air between us felt charged, like an atmosphere that might burn me if I crossed it.

I cleared my throat. ‘So you grew up overseas, huh? That must’ve been interesting.’

‘Nah, not really. More fun for my parents than for me. But you, you’ve been everywhere. Your travels sound infinitely more exciting than mine.’

‘Oh, I don’t know about that. I definitely haven’t been everywhere. And I haven’t been anywhere exciting for a long time. Just the Sydney school run. Midwife clinics. Supermarkets, afternoon tea.’

‘Right.’ Kit was quiet for a moment. ‘So about that … what’s your deal at the moment?’