Mum and Dad were over by the back door. I could just see them between the heads and shoulders of everyone else. Dad’s face was buried in Mum’s neck, her arms wrapped round him.

Great. Them just standing there getting all hugged up while Maggie middler does all the work.

I squeezed over to the worktop and dumped the plates down. Heaved in another breath.

“Oh!”

Trig bashed into me and sloshed raspberryade all down my leg.

“Trig!”

“Sorry, Maggie, it wasn’t my fault; someone pushed me. I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry.” He peered into his glass and puffed his cheeks out. “And now all my drink’s gone on the floor.”

I took the glass off him. “C’mon.”

We made our way over to the jugs and I poured him another raspberryade. He gulped it down.

“Wanna go outside, Trig? I can’t breathe in here any more.”

We squished between bodies, into the hall and out the front door. The air was still thick and heavy but it was better than inside. There were people spilling on to the street and down the road. A bunch of littlests dodged in between our legs.

“Let’s find Jed,” I said.

We found him in next door’s garden. Lindi was walking along the dividing wall, heel to toe, heel to toe. She had a half-eaten slice of Dad’s beetroot cake in one hand and no headscarf on. Her hair bounced past her shoulders in shiny coils and her black eyes had gone from purple to yellow.

“Hi, Jed! Hi, Lindi!”

Me and Trig climbed on to the wall and dangled our feet over the side.

Jed was frowning up at Lindi. “I’m just saying, are you really sure you should be up there after what happened on Monday?” he said. “What if you fall off?”

“I can do whatever I like, Jed Cruise.” Heel to toe, heel to toe. “I’m an eldest, in case you hadn’t noticed. Just like you. And we can do whatever the heck we want.”

“I know, I know, I was just thinking that—”

“Well, you can stop thinking. You can stop thinking right now and come over here and kiss me.” Lindi swayed a little, like grass in a breeze. “Well? What are you waiting for? Come on.” She jumped down and put the cake on the wall.

Jed looked at me. I bit my lips between my teeth.

“We should have kissed ages ago. We’ve wasted so much time.” She stepped closer to Jed.

“Do you like the beetroot cake, Lindi?” Trig hopped down and pushed himself between the two of them. “Dad says it’s his best ever. Aren’t you going to eat that bit? Can I have it if you don’t want it?”

“Get out of the way, Trig. I’m trying to kiss your brother.” She shoved Trig to the side.