Thyla - Kate Gordon [9]
It is not a very large building. More medium-sized. It is a bit bigger than the Church of St David’s that you showed me in the city, but smaller than the art gallery.
Its roof is pointed in three places, and in each of the points there is a lovely stained glass panel, with pictures of angels and birds and animals. Tasmanian animals. I saw a possum and a wallaby and on the largest panel – the centre one – there was a Tasmanian devil and a Tasmanian tiger. I was proud to remember all of the names of the animals, and I thought the last ones – the devil and tiger – were especially captivating. I looked at the sun gleaming on the glass, and I felt my belly ache with longing.
I did not know what it was, but I longed for something just outside of memory and the dull pain of it vibrated around my body.
I shook my head. I willed tears away. I do not cry.
‘Do you like our stained glass?’ asked Ms Hindmarsh.
‘It’s lovely,’ I replied.
‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling. ‘My husband’s great-great-great-grandfather started it, way back in the 1830s, and my husband finished it a few years ago.’
Ms Hindmarsh suddenly looked as though she was in pain. I remembered what you had told me about Ms Hindmarsh’s husband being ‘gone’. I tried to make her feel better.
‘He was very talented,’ I said.
‘Yes, he is,’ said Ms Hindmarsh. I opened my mouth to say something about what you had told me – about Raphael being gone. Why had Ms Hindmarsh said ‘is’, as though he was still alive? But Ms Hindmarsh looked so sad, Connolly. I knew it would be wrong of me to ask. Perhaps it hurt her too much to think of him as gone.
‘I only hope you like the rest of Cascade Falls just as much as you like this,’ she went on, wrenching her eyes away from the stained glass. Her voice was brighter now. ‘Has Rachel told you much about the school?’
‘Rachel?’ For a moment, the name was foreign to me, and then I remembered. ‘Connolly?’
‘She’s always Rachel to me,’ Ms Hindmarsh said, smiling. ‘Occasionally, she’s even “Rachie”, but don’t tell her I told you that. She hates that name! We’ve known each other for a long time, Tessa. We went to school together up in Campbell Town, and to university together down here. The first day I met her, I called her Rachie and she told me if I ever called her that name again she’d punch me in the face. She was a bit more, well, unruly back then. But we all were. Comes from being in a small town, I think. The boredom was crushing. Well, I thought it was. Raphael liked the bush …’
Ms Hindmarsh trailed off, her face growing serious. ‘Oh, listen to me, Tess,’ she said, squeezing my arm. ‘I’ve gone all nostalgic and sentimental! I promise you, I am a very competent and capable principal as well as being a complete sook!’
I returned her smile. I did like Ms Hindmarsh. Not as much as I like you, Connolly, but she seemed very nice, and I felt myself relaxing immediately. My breathing calmed down. My heartbeat slowed. I felt safe.
‘Now, Tess, I think Rachel told you I’ve lined up a peer mentor for you to show you the ropes – how to get to your classes, where the bathrooms are, that sort of thing?’
I nodded. ‘It’s the daughter of one of Vinnie’s friends?’
‘Yes. She’s the daughter of Edward Lord, one of the school’s major benefactors. Her name is Charlotte. She is one of the prefects here at Cascade Falls. She is a really dedicated student, and very popular. I’m sure she will make an excellent guide for you. Ah, here she is!’
We finished our walk at the high, polished-wood entrance to the Cascade Falls building. Standing in front of it was a tall, slender girl with pale blonde hair pulled back in a neat, tight bun. Her face was very comely and I immediately felt inferior. She was how I imagined a lady would look; so refined and delicately pretty. Her cheekbones were very high and sharply angled, and every feature on her face seemed in exactly the right proportions – not too big or too