Shimmer (6 page)

David smirked at her. ‘Cuddles really likes you, doesn't he?'

She narrowed her eyes at him. She hated his stupid, sarcastic comments. She folded her arms across her chest and waited.

‘Clean up in here.'

She pursed her lips and thought about not doing what he asked. After all, he hadn't really wished for her to do it, but the command was in his voice and she felt her bands tighten. Sighing loudly, she gave in and did what he wanted. In less time than it took for David to blink, the kitchen was spotless.

‘In fact,' he said, ‘you might as well do the whole house. You can clean the bathrooms, make the beds, do the dusting and vacuum the carpets.' He looked around, frowning. Then he came up with a few more things. ‘And clean the windows, mop the floor and put the rubbish out.'

Her anger stirred again but she said nothing. She flicked her hand and did as he had ordered.

David turned and marched outside. Kora stood her ground for as long as she could, but it was only moments before she felt herself being tugged. Not wanting to be dragged out unceremoniously, she followed him outside, cringing as a tidal wave of heat rolled over her. How could it be so hot this early in the day? David was already at the far end of the back yard, slumped on an old garden bench in the shade. With as much dignity as she could muster Kora strode over and stood before him. ‘You require something else, master?'

He nodded, one hand swatting at the little swarm of flies that buzzed around his face. He tossed his head, trying to flick back his heavy, long fringe but it just flopped forward again over his eyes. ‘I wish for a chocolate milkshake. Double malt and icy cold.'

A tall, silver cup filled with frothy milk appeared on the ground beside him. In seconds, the outside of the cup was covered in glistening drops of condensation that ran down his hand and dripped onto the dry ground. Kora tilted her head to one side and watched him drink, ice cubes clinking against the sides of the cup as he gulped.

It seemed strange to her that a boy like David would just spend each day at home alone. Surely he would need to be educated, or perhaps go out to work? She arched an eyebrow at him. ‘Do not Earth children your age have to go to school?'

He shrugged. ‘School's out for the summer,' he said. ‘Yesterday was the first day of school holidays. That's why my report arrived.' He screwed up his face. ‘Boy, I sure wish I had remembered that was coming!' He shook his head in dismay. ‘I could have wished for all the Fs to become As before Mum saw it.'

Kora's lip curled. ‘Humans are so pathetic,' she said. ‘They never want to take responsibility for their actions.'

He glared up at her. Sweat was running down his face and into his eyes, and he wiped it from his brow with the back of his hand. ‘You need to get to work,' he said, ‘so I can go back inside.'

Kora was cool. A tiny but constant trickle of power around her body shielded her from the heat. But she too wanted to return to the sanctuary of her globe and Amurru. ‘Shall we get on with it, then?'

He waved his hand at the mound of firewood. ‘Chop that wood into small pieces.'

She nodded and the mound of wood simply vanished, reappearing in small pieces neatly stacked to one side. ‘What does your mother want with all this?' she asked. ‘No one could need a fire in this disgusting heat!'

‘She likes it all to be dried out and ready for winter.' He squinted up at the clear, blue sky. ‘It's hard to believe now, but when it gets cold here, it gets cold quickly.'

He turned then and waved towards the chook yard behind him. It seemed even the chickens were feeling the heat. They were clustered up one end of the chook yard where there was a tiny patch of shade, scratching halfheartedly at the barren, dusty ground. ‘Clean that out, including their water bowl. And fill up their feed bin.'

She nodded again and the job was done.

He stood and walked over to the back fence where one of the posts had collapsed sideways onto the ground. ‘Fix this.' He was standing in the full sun now and fresh beads of sweat sprang out on his face and dripped down his arms.

Kora flicked her fingers at the fence post and it sprang back into place, the dirt compacting around the base of the pole to hold it up.

She folded her arms across her chest and regarded him with her dark eyes. ‘Anything else, master?'

‘Well, no more chores, at least,' he replied, meeting her gaze. His blue eyes bored into hers for a long moment, making her restless. She knew his slow human brain was coming up with some idiotic idea. Apprehension snaked through her. All she wanted was to return to her globe. She waited for him to speak.

Finally he did. ‘Mum will think I spent all day getting those jobs done,' he said, a wide grin spreading across his face. ‘And now I've got the rest of the day to do whatever I want.'

She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘But surely it is too hot for you to be outside?'

‘It might be too hot here,' he said, ‘but I know somewhere we can go that's really cool.'

Kora wriggled her toes and sighed with pleasure. She was sitting on a flat, grey rock in the shade of a sprawling weeping willow tree, her bare feet dangling into the clear water of a bubbling creek. She wondered how the water gushing down the tiny creek could be so cold when everything else here was so hot.

She sucked in a long breath and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. She was getting used to the myriad of Earthly smells. At least the damp odour of the rocks and the mouldy leaves that had piled up under the trees was a welcome relief from breathing in the parched air.

‘Why don't you join me, Kora?' David's voice was muffled by the sound of the water cascading around him.

‘No, thank you,' she replied, gazing across the creek to where he reclined under a little waterfall. The water crashed down onto the top of his head and streamed down his bare chest and shoulders. Kora tipped her head sideways to study him. He certainly had broad shoulders. His arms were tanned a dark, golden brown, but the pale white skin on his chest in the shape of his T-shirt made her smile. Humans were truly strange creatures.

He had been in the water for nearly an hour now and she could see goose bumps appearing along his arms. She supposed having to chop wood and mend fences without magic would give someone muscles that rippled like David's did. He pushed his dripping hair back out of his eyes and she saw that the skin on his hands had wrinkled from being in the water too long.

Abruptly she realised that David was watching her watching him and she dropped her eyes back to the water. ‘How far from Panda Rock are we?' she asked.

‘Not far,' he said, waving vaguely off to his left. ‘It's about a kilometre that way.'

‘You know, I still have not seen the panda-shaped mountain.'

He pushed himself up out of the creek. ‘We can go see it now if you like,' he said, picking up his dry T-shirt and pulling it on over his head. ‘We only need to walk a little way.' He shook his head vigorously like a dog and droplets of water flew in every direction, splattering her.

She leaned away from the flying droplets and David grinned. ‘We can get a great view of Panda Rock from down there,' he said, pointing down the hill through the trees. ‘The angle's just right and you can see the entire outline of the bear.'

‘I would like that.' She followed David, ducking under branches and weaving between the trees. As they emerged from the shade into the bright sunlight the familiar wall of heat greeted them. Kora immediately channelled a tiny trickle of magic to protect herself. But it seemed only seconds before David's wet hair and shorts had dried and droplets of sweat were dripping down his face.

They trudged down to the base of the slope. Kora turned and gazed up at the strangely shaped hill. It looked as though the rocks had tumbled down out of the sky, piling awkwardly up one on top of the other, to form the unlikely shape of a panda.

‘It is beautiful, David.'

The rocks rounded out from the base to form the panda's rotund belly, skimmed back in on themselves to form a much thinner neck, and then curved smoothly out again to create the shape of a panda's chubby, cute face.

‘And see,' said David, pointing up towards the panda's head. ‘It's smiling.'

‘So it is,' Kora replied, smiling herself. The deep fissures in the rocks curved around the base of the panda's face creating the illusion of a serene smile. ‘I did not expect it to look quite so much like a real panda.'

When she finally glanced back at David, she found him eyeing her thoughtfully. ‘How come you're not sweating?' he asked. His own hair was clumped in sweaty strands down the sides of his face. His eyes narrowed at her. ‘Are you using magic to keep cool?'

‘Yes.' She smiled smugly. ‘But for a weather shield to work it must attach to a person, and you know I cannot use magic on a human.'

David's brow furrowed. She waited, one eyebrow raised. She could see he was trying to think of a way to get what he wanted. Then his eyes lit up, his face triumphant.

He looked convinced that he had somehow beaten her at her own game. ‘Kora,' he ordered, his voice smug. ‘I wish for a fresh, cool breeze to blow on me.'

A twist of fear shot through her. ‘No, David!' But the command had been clear and specific. Her bands glowed as she resisted the order. ‘Unwish it, David,' she pleaded. ‘It's dangerous.'

The power grew steadily in her chest and her bands tightened. ‘David, please,' she begged. ‘Quickly.' But he didn't speak. He just stared dumbly at her as she battled against the wish. She couldn't hold out much longer against it. Her power rumbled, mingling with the fear twisting through her. Her body arched with the pain of resisting.

‘David!' she screamed. She was vaguely aware of him standing frozen, gaping at her. Stupid, slow-reacting humans! She could no longer contain the power and it surged from her chest in a torrent. At once the nearby trees bent over in the wind and the leaves and dust stirred off the ground and swirled around their feet.

The breeze was cool and strong and David's long hair lifted off his face as it flowed over him. Perhaps it was this burst of fresh, cold air that finally brought him to his senses. ‘I wish for the wind to stop,' he blurted quickly. And as suddenly as it began, it vanished. Immediately the heavy, oppressive heat pressed down on them once more.

Exhausted from the battle against her own magic, Kora could barely stand. She bent over at the waist, resting her hands on her knees, and blew out a long, unsteady breath.

David tipped his head to one side as he contemplated her.

She remained hunched over, panting with the pain and effort of resisting his command.

She didn't look up but she could feel his penetrating blue gaze as he studied her.

‘Kora?'

She lifted her dark eyes wearily. ‘What?'

He dragged a shaky hand through his hair. ‘What just happened?'

The heat was overwhelming. Without the use of her magic, sweat ran freely down her back and dripped across her forehead.

‘Can't I have just one wish?' David called back to her.

‘No, no magic,' she panted. ‘Just run!'

David's long legs carried him much faster than hers possibly could. Her heart thumped in her chest and she could feel her pulse pounding in her ears. She twisted her head around to scan behind them and tripped, landing face first in the scorching hot dirt.

She heard his footsteps make their way back to her.

‘Here,' he was breathing hard. ‘Take my hand.'

She pushed the long dark hair that stuck to her face away to glare at him. This was all his stupid fault. But she accepted his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He kept hold of her hand. Half-running, half-dragging her along with him, she tried her best to keep up. It felt like they had been running for hours, not minutes. Her knees were cut from the fall and a thin trickle of blood oozed down her leg.

‘Are we safe yet?' David asked raggedly.

‘No!' Kora yanked her hand from his and stopped for a moment. She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. Breathing hard, she wondered if she was actually going to be sick.

David's eyes searched the landscape. ‘Can we hide somewhere here?'

She shook her head but soon stopped as the ground spun dizzily. ‘Not far enough away yet.'

He grasped her hand tightly. ‘Come on, then.'

He set a gruelling pace. Her legs scrambled numbly after him. She had never relied on her physical body this way before. She had never needed to and it made her feel vulnerable. Weak. Her mouth was dry and her lungs ached. They had come a long way but she knew it was still not far enough.

She could feel herself getting humiliatingly slower. David was dragging her more than she was running. Her arm no longer felt as if it belonged to her and she wondered if he had pulled it from its socket.

‘I can see the house.' David's speed increased despite the fact that they were now headed uphill. Her legs gave way from under her and she fell again to the ground. Her sweaty hand slipped out of David's grasp and she rolled until she landed shoulder first against a hard sharp rock. Pain pierced through her.

‘Kora?' David was bending over her. ‘Are you all right?'

She couldn't speak at first. ‘My shoulder,' she finally croaked.

‘Can we use your magic now?'

‘Not yet.' She bit down on her lip and tried to push herself up, but before she knew it David's hands were under her and she was swung up onto his back.

‘What are you doing?'

‘What does it look like I'm doing?' He wound his arms so that his hands gripped tightly to her legs, holding her in place on his back. ‘I'm giving you a piggyback. Try to hang on.'

She pushed against him but that just made the shooting pain in her shoulder worse. ‘Put me down.'