Nowhere Boys (9 page)

Felix shut his book guardedly. ‘Maybe it will be a bestseller one day.’

Jake laughed bitterly. ‘Yeah, a real feel-good read. The story of four boys who don’t exist.’

Sam ducked his head under the water. He didn’t want to hear anymore that he didn’t exist. He
did
exist. He knew that. He swam away from the others.

The river water was a dull brown. Sam flicked his eyes open underwater but he couldn’t see anything. He swam slowly. He could hold his breath for almost a minute. Being dunked by his brothers had some advantages. If you just concentrated your mind, you could trick your body into thinking it didn’t need to breathe. He felt his diaphragm expand, wanting oxygen. He let it contract and subside. See? He’d tricked his body. He didn’t need to breathe.

Maybe that’s all this was. Some kind of trick. Maybe all they needed to do was pull aside the magician’s curtain, see what was really going on. Anything can appear to be a certain way when it really isn’t.

He burst to the surface. He’d swum the width of the river. He could see Jake and Andy playing chasey in the water. Funny, from this far away, they almost looked like they liked each other.

He was about to swim back when he saw a flash of blue in the trees. He swam down towards it and pulled himself up onto the bank. There, covered haphazardly with a few branches, was an old upside-down rowboat.

Sam stared at it. He knew that boat. He and Mia had come here often last summer and rowed along the river. They’d shared their first kiss in that boat. He’d been so nervous that once they’d started kissing, he’d made the boat rock so hard she’d fallen in the water. How sketchy was that?

Man, if he could have her back, he sure as hell wouldn’t do anything that dumb. He would hold onto her so tight. There was no way she would be going overboard.

He shook his head and was about to dive back into the murky river when a thought occurred to him.

He turned back to the boat.

He and Mia had pledged their love for each other in that boat. He stared at it. Did he dare turn it over? Would knowing that he absolutely didn’t exist be too awful to deal with?

He hesitated but then, in one swift move, he overturned the boat.

And there it was, carved into the side: a love heart with the initials
MG 4 SC
.

He stared at it, too shocked to react. Then, slowly, a grin spread over his face.

This was it. This was what they’d been looking for. They
did
exist. This was
proof
.

Sam dived back into the water and swam quickly back to the others. ‘Hey!’ He called as soon as they were in earshot. ‘I’ve got proof we exist. In the boat.’ He crawled up onto the bank, breathless.

Jake looked at him like he was crazy. ‘Are you okay, dude? Did you eat some of Andy’s dandelions? Because … you know?’

‘I’m not crazy.’ Sam grinned. ‘Mia and I did a carving last year and it’s still there. My initials. So I
have
to exist.’

The others looked at him doubtfully.

‘Come on, this is good news, right?’

‘Yeah, but you spoke to Mia and she didn’t have a clue who you were, remember?’ said Andy.

‘Well, maybe this will trigger her memory.’

Andy nodded. ‘That’s true. And it could trigger a chain reaction, causing everbody’s memories to return.’

Felix eyed him cynically. ‘I thought you’d given up on your amnesia theory.’

Andy shrugged. ‘It’s worth a shot.’

‘I have to show it to her,’ said Sam.

Jake shook his head. ‘Dude, there’s no way you’re gonna get her to come here with you.’

Sam’s grin faded. ‘Yeah, true.’ But a moment later, he brightened up. ‘So we take it to her.’

The other three stared at him.

‘You want us to carry a boat through Bremin to your girlfriend’s house?’ Felix said slowly.

‘Why not? If it proves we exist.’

‘You can take it to her another way,’ suggested Andy.

‘How?’

‘Take a photo of it.’

Sam looked at Andy, impressed. ‘Finally, Bear Grylls has a decent idea.’

‘Yeah, except all our phones are out of battery,’ said Jake.

Sam thought for a second. ‘I’ll get my mum’s digital camera,’ he said, refusing to be deterred. ‘My key still works. Come on.’

Sam was buoyant as he led the others up the path to his house.

They passed an open garage. Felix put his head in and saw it was full of sporting and camping gear. ‘Do you think while we’re here we could get some other stuff?’

Sam shrugged. ‘Sure.’ The boys looked around the garage. ‘My dad’s an outdoors freak. All the old stuff’s over there. He won’t notice if you take it.’

Jake picked up a Thomas the Tank Engine sleeping bag. ‘Perfect for you, Felix.’

‘Knock yourselves out, guys.’ Sam left the others in the garage. He stepped up onto the porch. The sliding door was open and he could hear the monotonous sound of the Xbox from inside. Good. Once Vince and Pete were in front of that thing, nothing would distract them.

He dropped down low and scuttled across the floor to the kitchen. The tinny jingle of victory came from the TV and Vince stood up. Sam quickly hid himself behind the bench.

‘All hail King Vince! Poor Petey. Must be hard coming second your whole life.’

In response, Pete lifted a butt cheek and let rip with some serious chemical weaponry.

Vince collapsed against the wall, coughing. ‘Oh man, that is seriously rank.’

Sam seized the moment and reached across to open the second drawer. Yes! There it was. He grabbed the camera and put it in his pocket.

He was about to dart back to the door when Vince took a few steps towards the kitchen.

Pete called from the couch, ‘While you’re there, can you make me a baked-bean jaffle?’

‘No way, man. D’you think I’ve got a death wish?’

Sam held his breath. Vince’s feet were an arm’s length from where he was squatting. His brother would see him for sure. How the hell was he going to explain being caught red-handed with a camera?

They’d call the police. He’d be locked up … and given three meals a day, a bed to sleep in. Sounded pretty good actually, except then he’d never see Mia.

Vince’s feet moved closer – but then the sound of a new game started up on the Xbox. ‘Hey, unfair advantage, loser!’ Vince called, walking back into the lounge room.

Sam made a dash for the door, grabbing a bunch of bananas from the fruit bowl as he went. He hurtled down the steps to the garage.

Sam left the others at the shack ‘making house’ and headed back to the boat, eating a banana. He walked upstream to where the water was shallow, then took off his shoes and socks, and waded across. Even to his nose, his socks stank. He gave them a quick rinse and slung them over his shoulders to dry. No point approaching Mia if he smelt like a derro.

He clambered barefoot onto the opposite bank and made his way back downstream towards the boat. God, he hoped he hadn’t imagined it. But no. There it was – as clear as day:
MG 4 SC
.

He pulled out the camera and lined up the shot.

Snap.

Perfect.

He took a few more, just to be sure. He let the camera fall to his side.

Okay, he’d done it. He had proof.

The wind picked up and trees by the river swayed. Sam turned around quickly. He had the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching him.

‘Hello?’

Maybe one of the others had followed him.

But there was no answer. Just the quiet creak of branches moving with the wind.

Sam shivered; this place totally gave him the creeps. Grabbing his shoes, he hightailed it out of there.

Mia was at the skate park with Ellen. Damn. Ellen’s looks had totally improved, but her personality was exactly the same: annoying as hell.

As Sam approached, Mia looked up. Then she turned quickly to Ellen and whispered something.

‘We’re in the middle of a meeting,’ Ellen said officiously.

‘I just need to show Mia something.’

‘Well, we’re busy, okay?’ Ellen snapped.

Ignoring her, Sam sat down next to Mia and pulled out the camera. He put the picture of the carving in front of her.

‘There, see. The blue boat. Last summer. Remember?’

Mia looked at him. ‘Of course I remember.’

Sam grinned. ‘You do? That’s great!’

‘I did that carving with my boyfriend.’

Sam thumped the bench. ‘Exactly! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.’

Ellen stifled a laugh with her hand.

Mia spoke slowly and carefully. ‘But you’re not my boyfriend.’ She gestured to a scowling dark-haired guy who had suddenly appeared at her side. ‘
This
is my boyfriend. Sammy.’

Sam stared at the boy. This was Mia’s boyfriend? This wet-looking gimp?

‘What’s your deal, dude?’ snarled Sammy.

‘What’s
my
deal?’

Sammy was staring at his board. ‘Hey, that’s my board. It got stolen from my house yesterday.’

‘
Your
house?’

‘Yeah.’ Sammy reached out to grab the board and Sam saw a friendship bracelet, identical to his, on his wrist.

Sam flinched. A horrible thought had hit him. He quickly flipped his board and skated away.

‘Hey, give me my board back, hack!’

Sam kept going. That kid.
Sammy
. What was he talking about?
His
house?
His
girlfriend? It wasn’t possible.

Sam skated as fast as he could back to his house. He bounded up the steps to the porch. This time he didn’t care who saw him. It didn’t matter anymore. The screen door was locked. Sam pulled out his key, shoved it in the lock, and slid open the door.

Dumping his skateboard, he ran to the bookshelves. He ripped out a photo album and opened it. A photograph of
Sammy
smiled out at him from behind his tenth-birthday cake, his mum and dad in the background.
Sam’s
mum and dad.

Sam felt sick. He didn’t want to turn the page, but his fingers did it anyway. There was Sammy in his skate gear, holding a trophy after winning a skate comp, flanked by his proud older brothers – Pete and Vince.
Sam
’s brothers. He flicked again. Sammy as a toddler, Sammy’s first day at school, Sammy at Little Athletics, Sammy learning to surf.

Sam couldn’t look anymore. He slammed the album shut. He couldn’t breathe. It was like being underwater but with no possibility of hitting the surface. His diaphragm was contracting but no air was getting in.

He looked up. There on the wall was a studio portrait of his family: Mum, Dad, Pete, Vince and, dead in the centre, a smug, grinning Sammy.

Sam sucked air deep into his lungs and his throat opened up, releasing a desperate, ragged-sounding cry. He slumped down on the floor, trying to breathe.

Outside, there was the sound of a car door slamming.

Sam got up and went to the window. His mum was in the driveway. His beautiful mum. He watched her getting her easel and paints out of the boot. He’d got his love of drawing from her. She’d taught him how to make a situation better by looking at it a different way: by painting it or drawing it. She’d shown him how drawing could change things. She always understood everything. He had to talk to her, make her see.