Thyla (14 page)

‘I saw them,’ I said, as you put the book down on your lap.

‘What do you mean, Tess?’ you asked, your voice quiet and thin as tissue.

‘I saw the creatures,’ I repeated. ‘Thomas Walter was not mad. I saw them too, and I have a feeling – a really strong feeling – that they have something to do with Cat disappearing.’

I only knew this to be true as I said it.

I had a flash, even as my mouth was opening, of a girl, tall and freckled just like you, running through the bushland, her face white and twisted with fear. I heard her heavy shoes crunching through the leaves and twigs. I heard her laboured breathing. And then I heard more footsteps, racing behind her, gaining on her more and more with every step. Almost reaching her, almost catching her …

And then the memory faded.

‘Do you remember, Tess?’ you asked. ‘Do you remember Cat?’

‘I think so,’ I said.

You nodded slowly. ‘And you say you’ve seen these … oh, Tess, look, I’m trying hard to stay calm but what you’re telling me is … What
are
you telling me, exactly?’

‘I think that Tessa Geeves – I don’t know how to explain this, Connolly, but I
know
Tessa Geeves is me. When I woke up after my accident, I knew my name was Tessa. I didn’t know how, but I
knew
. Now, in the same way, I know my name is Tessa
Geeves
, and that the girl in this book is me. I know it seems impossible, but –’

‘It
is
impossible,’ you interrupted. ‘But you really do believe it, don’t you?’

‘I do. I also believe these creatures are real. Because I’ve seen them. And I’ve seen Cat.’

‘Do you remember … did she seem safe?’ you asked, and I saw veins begin to press hard against the thin skin on your temples.

I remembered again: the running, the fear.

I shook my head. ‘No, Connolly. I’m sorry. I don’t think she was safe.’

Tears sprang up in your eyes. ‘Do you think – with your memories – we can find her?’

‘I can try,’ I said and then, thinking of Rhiannah and her bushwalks, ‘I think I know where to start.’

Your eyes drifted to the clock on Rhiannah’s bedside table. ‘Oh, no,’ you whispered. You turned to me. ‘I have to go now,’ you said, getting up unsteadily. ‘I have to get back to the office. Vinnie is, well, you know what he’s like, but he’s in an especially bad mood at the moment. I don’t think he’s sleeping and so everything I do seems to be wrong. I can’t be late back. But you’ll call me, won’t you, Tess? You’ll let me know if you remember anything more about Cat. Anything at all.’

‘I’ll call you,’ I said. I stood up too, and wrapped my arms around you. ‘I’m going to figure this out,’ I said.

‘Thank you,’ you replied, kissing me on the cheek.

‘Thank you,’ I whispered. ‘For believing me.’

‘I trust you, Tess,’ you said. ‘So I believe you, even though it’s
really
hard.’

As you walked out of my bedroom door, you turned around and asked me one last thing, ‘Tess, will you call yourself Tessa Geeves now?’

I shook my head. ‘No, Connolly,’ I replied. ‘I want to stay being Tessa Connolly, if that’s okay with you.’

You smiled. ‘I’m so glad.’

You hugged me once more, and then you walked away, leaving me alone and wondering what to do next. Something was wrong with me. Something magical. Something terrible. I had been a girl in 1851, and I was a girl now. And I had stripes.

I thought of Rhiannah and Harriet and Sara and what I had seen. I
knew
now they had jumped that wall. I sensed now that something big and wondrous was happening and it involved all of us. But my instincts told me that Rhiannah and Harriet and Sara were a different kind of being from what I was. They
didn’t
have stripes like mine, and their scent was … wrong. Bad. Were they the enemy?

Where were they going on those bushwalks? Did it have something to do with Cat? Had
they
been involved in what happened to her? Even though Rhiannah was her friend? Had Rhiannah betrayed her?

I couldn’t think about it. The idea filled me with a terror so huge that my entire body seemed crammed with it, pushing all other thoughts and feelings aside.

But I
needed
to think. I needed to remember. I needed to decide what to do next.

And I needed help.

I couldn’t go to Rhiannah or Harriet or Sara.

I needed to go to the one person here at Cascade Falls that you said I could trust; the one person you said would look out for me; the person who had been your friend and confidante for so many years.

I needed to go to Ms Hindmarsh.

I arrived outside Ms Hindmarsh’s office with my head buzzing and swarming with words and sentences and ways to make her believe me; ways to make her
help
me. I held a curled hand up, ready to knock, when the door was wrenched open, and Mr Beagle launched himself out so quickly he nearly collided with my fist.

When he saw me, he jerked backwards and uttered a little yelp, his hand flying to his chest. I couldn’t help smiling. Mr Beagle had seemed quite fierce, that first day when I met him on the school steps and he gave Laurel and Erin a dressing down for their naughty behaviour. Now, I liked him. He was still a bit grumpy – he always seemed like he hadn’t had enough sleep – but he was a good teacher. He was smart and interesting, and passionate about history, and we got along very well. He did make a funny noise when he was startled, though.

‘Ah! Tessa! You frightened me!’ he said, smiling and looking nervously past me down the hallway.

‘Sorry, Mr Beagle,’ I said. ‘I just came to see Ms Hindmarsh.’

‘She’s not here,’ he said quickly. I heard his heart accelerate. I noticed tiny pearls of sweat on his forehead.

I noticed also that the grey circles beneath his eyes – the ones that seemed almost permanently stamped on his biscuit-coloured skin – were even more pronounced today. He looked as though he hadn’t slept for a year.

‘Oh, okay,’ I replied. I was about to turn around and walk away, when something struck me. ‘If she’s not here, then what are you doing in her office?’ I asked, feeling a rush of boldness. And suspicion. Maybe it was his anxious, guilty face, or the loyalty I felt to Ms Hindmarsh for being your friend, but I suddenly felt something was not quite right here.

‘Well, I really don’t think that’s any of your concern, do you, Tessa?’ he said, and I noticed for the first time that he held a book in his hand. I just made out the words ‘Van Diemen Industries’ on its spine before he tucked it hastily under his arm.

‘Sorry, Mr Beagle,’ I replied, because it seemed like the only thing I
could
say without getting into trouble. I couldn’t afford to get into trouble and end up in detention. I had too much to do.

Mr Beagle sighed. ‘That’s okay, Tessa,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry for snapping. I’m just tired, I suppose. Ms Hindmarsh had to go out unexpectedly to visit Mr Lord and she asked me to get some files for her. That’s all.’

I didn’t even bother to ask where the files were. He had none in his hand when he left the office – just the book. He was lying.

‘Ms Hindmarsh will be back this evening,’ Mr Beagle continued. ‘Don’t forget it’s the full moon tonight. Mrs Bush is very keen that you all get a chance to observe it through our new telescope.’

I nodded, ignoring the way my scars began to throb every time the full moon was mentioned. ‘I’ll be there,’ I said, returning his lie.

Of course, I wouldn’t be there. If the whole school was in one spot, observing the moon, there seemed no better time for me to escape and begin my investigations. No better time for me to go on a bushwalk.

‘Glad to hear it, Miss Connolly,’ he said. ‘I’m glad to hear you’re not foolish and rebellious. The world out there is scary, Tessa. It’s best to be sensible, if you’re a young girl. Now, if you’ll excuse me …’

And with that, Mr Beagle was gone.

I didn’t have time to linger, though my meeting with Mr Beagle had given me many more things to think about, and an intensified sense of unease. I could reflect about it later. Ms Hindmarsh was not in her office, and so my plans had changed.

Rhiannah had gone for her bushwalk hours earlier. And I wanted to catch up.

It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to catch up with Rhiannah.

As I walked towards room 36, I heard raised voices. I crept closer and saw that the door to our bedroom was not properly shut. I crouched down and listened. For a moment the voices were silent, and I worried that I had been caught. But then they spoke again.

It was Rhiannah, and she was with Perrin. I could tell from the scent. I was distracted, briefly, by the memory of his face; the feeling of his hand in mine … but then I heard the tone of Rhiannah’s voice, and it brought my thoughts sharply back into focus. Her voice wasn’t jovial and joking, or kind and friendly. It was harsh and angry and, when I heard what the voice was talking
about
, it became terrifying. ‘She has the stripes. If what the book says is true – if she is immortal – then that can only mean one thing. She’s a Thyla. She’s a Thyla who has been
sleeping in my bedroom
for the past week. Do you know how that makes me feel?’

She was talking about me. Rhiannah was talking about me. And she called me
Thyla.

‘And I believed her! Seriously, can you even believe how dumb I was? I bought her whole act of being human, of being a
friend
. I thought she’d lost her memory in the accident. Geez, Perrin, I thought she needed protecting! I thought: here was this new girl, this innocent human, just like Cat was. And, you know, Charlotte didn’t like Cat either. She made her life hell. I couldn’t let that happen again. Can you believe it? I should have killed her in her sleep!’

My breath caught in my throat. Did Rhiannah just say what I thought she said? That she should have
killed
me? A cold sweat began to prickle on my forehead.

‘Rin, I know you don’t mean that,’ said Perrin. ‘She’s your friend.’

‘She’s a
Thyla
!’ Rhiannah exclaimed. ‘You know, the race that’s been trying to wipe us out for millennia? Remember them?’

‘If she’d been human, would that have been any better?’ Perrin asked, his voice calm. ‘Humans don’t have the best track record with their treatment of our kind. Humans have sided with the Diemens in the past, and helped them become stronger. And you know, the Diemens are pretty damn strong now, Rhiannah. If what Rha says is to be believed, we may just
need
the Thylas on our side.’

‘You really believe that?’ asked Rhiannah, laughing bitterly.

‘I believe what Rha says,’ Perrin said, firmly. ‘I believe there is something in this treaty idea.’

‘You always believe what Rha says,’ Rhiannah spat, and I pictured her rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. ‘You worship him. It’s pathetic.’

‘What he says makes sense!’ Perrin exclaimed, his voice getting louder. There was a pause, and when he continued his voice was soft again; measured. ‘You’re just scared. We’re all scared. But we don’t need to be scared of Tessa. Trust me on that, Rin.’

Rhiannah’s voice was soft now, too. ‘I know. I never would have given her the book otherwise. It just kind of threw me for six, you know? I never expected to bump into a Thyla
inside
Cascade Falls.’

‘And I’m sure she never expected she’d be rooming with a Sarco either.’

Rhiannah sighed. ‘Perrin, she barely knows about
Thylas
, let alone Sarcos. I think she’s lost her memory. She keeps saying she doesn’t know if she’s done things before or eaten things before or whatever. Plus, she doesn’t have a cuff, so she
can’t
know who she is. No Sarco or Thyla in their right mind would go around among humans without a cuff, especially approaching a full moon. We may be able to switch in and out of this at will at other times of the month, but at a full moon? No, she really
must
have lost her memory. Oh, geez! Poor Tessa! I don’t know why I said that before. I was just angry. And hurt. And … and scared.’

‘If she’s lost her memory, then we don’t need to be scared of her. We need to look out for her. It’s not just
approaching
a full moon, Rhiannah. It’s a full moon
tonight
.’

‘I know. I don’t know what to do about that.’

‘We do the only thing we can do. We go to the forest. We protect ourselves the best we can. And we wait to see what happens.’

‘But what about Tessa?’ Rhiannah’s voice was anxious now, and small. She sounded like a scared child.

‘I don’t know. I really don’t. I want to protect her, but it’s not like
we
can be inside Cascade Falls when it’s a full moon. It’s too risky. And we can’t take her with us either. Can you imagine taking a Thyla into Wellington Park with us on a full moon? One who doesn’t know or has
forgotten
how to control her powers? One without a cuff to
help
her? It would be a catastrophe. I’m just going to have to ask you to suggest she stays in your room tonight. Will you do that? For me?’

‘But what if someone finds her?’ said Rhiannah. ‘One of the humans?’

‘If a human finds her on a full moon, pity that person, not Tessa.’

‘We must have fought against her,’ Rhiannah said, her voice sounding as though she was concentrating hard; straining to remember. ‘That’s the hardest thing. She would have been on the other side so many times, when I only knew her as a Thyla, not as a human, so I never recognised her. I keep telling myself I’m stupid, that I should have known.’

‘You’re not stupid, Rin. You couldn’t have known. You never expected to find yourself sleeping with the enemy.’

‘Very funny,’ Rhiannah growled. ‘And anyway, I thought you said she wasn’t the enemy. I thought you said we should trust her. Why exactly do you think that, anyway? Is there something you’re not telling me?’

‘Don’t worry, Rin. There’s nothing you need to know,’ Perrin said, firmly. ‘Look, I gotta go, sis. Gotta get back to school. I’ll catch you soon, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Rhiannah said, softly. ‘You would tell me, though, wouldn’t you? If there
was
something I needed to know?’

‘There’s not,’ said Perrin, quickly. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

I heard Perrin’s heavy boots clomping towards the door. Although I wanted to stay; although I was
desperate
to hear more, I did the only thing I could do.

I ran, with the lightest of feet, down the hallway and away.