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Back The Orchardist's Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. PRAISE
  3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  4. DEDICATION
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART I SEEDS
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. PART II GERMINATION
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. PART III GROWTH
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. PART IV UNDERSTOREY
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. EPILOGUE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A new rattling sound in the rubbish announced the arrival of the male devil. He was making a grand entry, like most of the men Miki knew. He hissed loudly when he saw Miki, but quickly grew bold and moved in on the other devils, grumbling and complaining. The female tucked in her head and shrieked at him, like the mothers in the shop telling off their husbands. But the male devil yelled back, startling the little ones. He was like Father and Kurt. Bossy and overbearing. My way or the highway.

The female devil took off with her young towards the rear of the tip while the male sniffed around in the torchlight. Miki saw scratches on his face and ears, a small sore on his lip—devils were always fighting. After a while he loped away, and soon she heard more screeching as he caught up with the others in the rubble. It sounded like a family argument, and Miki couldn’t help smiling. Maybe that was the way of all animals.

4

4

When Leon opened his door Sunday morning, Max was on the doorstep with a football under his arm. Leon was still busy cleaning, so it was a bit inconvenient. And from the slumped way the kid was standing, Max didn’t seem keen either—Wendy must have pushed him into coming over. But now Max was here, there was no dodging the fact that a ball must be kicked, and Leon had better make it fun—he was the one who’d invited the boy.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Front yard or back?’

Max shrugged. ‘Somewhere Dad can’t see.’

The slope of the block was a problem, but Leon figured the front yard was best because it was less visible from Shane’s shed. If he took the downhill side, he could stop the ball from bouncing onto the road. Not that much traffic came along here; after Leon’s place, the road turned to dirt.

They found a suitable spot to one side of the woodpile that the delivery truck had dumped on the driveway yesterday. Leon was lining up his first kick when his phone rang. He dropped the footy to the ground, mouthed sorry to the kid and tugged the phone from his pocket. It was his mum.

‘Hi, Mum,’ he said. ‘Everything okay at home?’

She gave a small laugh. ‘Same, same.’

‘Great.’

A pause. ‘Actually, do you know if we have any rat baits? I heard rats in the roof last night, so I’ll have to put some baits in the ceiling.’

Leon felt bad. This was a job he usually did for her. ‘There’s a box of baits in the cupboard out in the garage. Any chance Dad could help you?’

‘He’s not strong enough to get out of bed.’

‘Sorry I can’t do it for you.’

‘Don’t worry, Leon. I can manage. I’m not completely incapable, you know.’

Leon smiled. ‘Anything else?’