Thyla - Kate Gordon [8]
‘I will,’ I said. ‘And thank you for … for your name. Thank you.’
I had no last name. None that I could remember, anyway, and so you had lent me yours, just until I remembered – or discovered – my own.
‘Tessa Connolly,’ you said. ‘It has a nice ring to it.’
Then you held me close and whispered in my ear, ‘Be brave, Tess. But please, be conscious, too. Be mindful. Look after yourself. And write in your book, okay?’
I promised I would. ‘Every day.’
‘Good girl,’ you said, and patted my hair.
As you turned to get back in the car, I saw the sun sparkle on the tears in your eyes. It made you look as if you were lit from within. Like your soul was glowing.
I waved at you as your car went backwards out onto the road. You really are so clever to make your car work. It does look very complicated.
I wondered, suddenly, if I would ever drive a car. I supposed I would but, right then, the thought terrified me.
‘First things first,’ I said to myself as I walked towards the high metal gate that cut through the wall of Cascade Falls.
I took a deep breath, and pushed.
‘It’s okay, Tess. You weren’t to know about the intercom,’ said Ms Hindmarsh as we walked towards the big building that hid behind the gate.
I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even look up from the ground.
Intercom.
Another word I did not know the meaning of only five minutes ago. Five minutes ago, when the heavy gate would not budge no matter how hard I pushed, and I rattled on its bars and yelled at the top of my voice, ‘Hello? Cynthia? Ms Hindmarsh? It’s me, Tessa. I’m here!’
I really wished I had known the word ‘intercom’ when, a couple of minutes later, Ms Hindmarsh appeared at the gate with a burly man in green overalls, who was saying to her, ‘There she is, Cynthia. I told you she was a loony! You want me to call the cops?’
‘Actually, Bernard, I think it might have been the police who brought her here. Well, one particular police officer anyway. Am I right, Tessa?’
I nodded. ‘I didn’t know how to get in,’ I mumbled, feeling embarrassed already. Why had that man said I was a loony? I only wanted to get inside. That didn’t make me a loony!
‘Why didn’t you just press the button?’ asked Bernard.
‘I didn’t see a …’
I glanced to one side and saw a big black box with a green button in its middle and the words ‘Push to talk’.
‘That button?’ I asked. ‘But I already was talking. I was yelling! I didn’t need a button for talking. I needed one for getting inside the wall.’
Bernard snorted, his face turning pink. ‘Is she serious?’ he asked.
‘Bernard, thank you,’ said Ms Hindmarsh. ‘You can go now. I’ll take it from here.’
Apparently the button is something like a ‘two-way’. If you press it, it lets you talk to Ms Hindmarsh’s secretary, Miss Bloom, even though she is miles away inside the walls of Cascade Falls. If she decides that you should be allowed to enter, she presses a button on her side, and the gate magically opens.
I really don’t remember seeing anything like an intercom button before. I felt, not for the first time, as though I had woken up in an HG Wells novel.
Ms Hindmarsh was very nice about it, but I felt silly anyway.
It took me a good couple of minutes before I felt my embarrassment fade just enough that I could look up at Ms Hindmarsh. She was very pretty and young and had curly blonde hair and a very small nose with freckles on it. Not as many freckles as you have, Connolly, and they are smaller. Kind of like a fine sprinkling of dark pollen across her nose. Her face was happy and kind, and I immediately felt I might like her, especially because I knew she was your friend.
And then, after I looked at her and she smiled, I looked up at my new school.
What I saw made me stop very still and catch my breath.
It really was lovely.
You were right, Connolly. Cascade Falls is very pretty indeed!
There are trees and there is grass, which made me glad. And the building itself was not