That night, Leo rolled two pillows in a blanket. Mum and Dad were in front of the television, so he and Ralph crept down the hallway, away from the lounge room. As he reached for the back door, the television went quiet.
‘Where are you going, buddy?’
Ralph held his breath.
Leo had his hand on the doorknob. ‘Outside. To look at stars.’
There was a beat of silence. ‘By yourself?’
Before Leo could answer, he heard Mum whisper to Dad, ‘He’s okay. Just let him go. We need to stop worrying.’
Leo and Ralph ran down the steps. They lay on the blanket, propped up with pillows. Thousands of stars twinkled for their attention.
‘Let’s make up a new planet,’ said Leo. They hadn’t played Other Worlds for a while. He didn’t know if Ralph would want to.
‘Okay.’ Ralph stretched his sock feet as far as they could go. ‘How about a planet where trees could walk around and live wherever they wanted?’
Leo folded his hands behind his head. ‘They could follow the sun when it’s cold.’
‘Hide behind mountains when it’s hot.’
‘And the branches would be full of animals who’d go along for the ride.’
They laughed, then lay silent for a while. Leaves rustled and something flapped out of a tree. Leo wanted to talk more, about Gus, or the telescope, or the tower near the lagoon. He opened his mouth, but another voice cut through the night.
‘Who are you talking to?’
He sat up. Peg was standing over him, a skinny silhouette in the dark.
‘No one.’ He felt a kick-drum in his chest.
She sat on the blanket. ‘Why do you have two pillows?’
The drum hit harder. ‘Because I like two pillows.’
She shrugged, lay back and rested her laced fingers on her belly. ‘I was just watching TV with Mum and Dad. It was a show about animals that play tricks. Did you know cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests?’
‘I think so.’
‘Did you know there’s an octopus that changes colour to hide from predators?’
‘Really?’
‘And did you know that when we were at Gus’s place today, your little finger was sticking out the whole time?’
The kick-drum blew apart in his chest. He waited for the sky to crack and the stars to fall down. Ralph froze next to him and blushed a murky purple.
She rolled over. Her face was close to his. ‘Is Ralph back?’
Leo took a slow breath. He’d been hiding things for so long. Secret promises, balloon chases, his furry best friend. He was tired of bottling everything up inside, so he told her the truth. ‘Yes.’
‘Leo!’ She grabbed a pillow and swung it at his head. Thwack! ‘You were supposed to say goodbye!’
‘I did but—’
Thwack!
‘What happened to making real friends?’
‘It’s not that easy.’
Thwack!
‘But what about Gus?’
He held his hands in front of his face, waiting for the next hit. When it didn’t come, he lowered his arms. ‘I don’t know. I guess he’s a friend but …’ He waited as Ralph scurried back up the stairs and into the house.
They both caught their breath and then Leo went on. ‘When I have fun with Gus, Ralph goes somewhere else. Not far, but he leaves us alone. And he’s been doing some weird things.’
‘Like what?’
‘He told me to kick a ball when he knows I can’t. And he was busting to see Gus’s telescope but when we got there, he didn’t even look at it.’
Peg hugged the pillow. ‘What’s he doing now?’
He nodded towards the house. ‘He ran inside.’
Ralph was probably staring at the little clay tower again. Ever since he’d brought it home, Ralph kept looking at it, flapping his golden ears.
Peg shook her head like she was trying to rattle something loose. ‘I don’t get any of it! You made him up when you were in Prep. Now you’re in Year 4. How long is he going to be around? Is he going to stay forever?’
Everything burned inside Leo. Too many thoughts backflipped in his head. He got up and walked around the yard. The dry grass crinkled under his feet and he shooed a fly, still buzzing after dark. Then he came back to the blanket.
‘When I met Ralph, he said he’d stay as long as I needed him.’
She pulled a face. ‘So? That’s just something you made up. Make up another rule.’
‘But I think it’s true. I don’t know why. I just do.’
Why was he spilling it all out? The idea of Ralph had never made sense to Peg. He waited for her to tell him the whole thing was stupid. Or hit him with a pillow.
But she didn’t. Instead, she stood up and crossed her arms. ‘Do you still need him?’
He heard the question, but he couldn’t answer, couldn’t even let it in. He imagined it drifting past him like a thread of smoke, curling away into the starry night.
Peg started for the house and then turned back. ‘All I know is Gus is really nice and I think you should be friends with him.’
She went inside and Leo was alone on the blanket. He leant back and watched the moon crawl through the sky. He wondered if Gus was watching it too, and it gave him an idea for the pool.