The phone rang when Harper and Lolly were having breakfast on Tuesday morning, graduation day. Harper sat opposite Lolly, listening to her talking to Liz.

‘You had enough of room service yet, Lizzie?… Yep…Uh-huh…Yep…’ Lolly was smiling the whole time. Perhaps Lolly had not only got closer to Angus but also to her own daughter. Funny to think that the thing that brought them closer was distance. And maybe Harper helped too, a little bit.

When it was Harper’s turn on the phone, Lolly went to do the washing up.

‘Harpsicle,’ said Larry, ‘we just can’t wait to see you.’

‘We really can’t,’ said Liz. Harper could picture them both with an ear on the phone.

‘Me too. But I can’t talk now. I’ve got to get to school. There are things I need to finish in the library.’

‘Harper, it’s only seven o’clock. You can’t leave yet,’ said Liz.

Larry added, ‘Anyway, there’s someone at the door.’

‘Oh, did you get room service?’ Harper asked. ‘What did you order?’

She could hear them laughing.

‘I ordered toast and an amazing daughter,’ said Larry.

Harper noticed Annie and Murph’s faces change and their ears prick up a few seconds before Lolly opened the back door.

It happened so quickly. One minute Liz and Larry were standing in the doorway and the next Harper was sandwiched between them. There were tears and laughter and her mum cradling her head and saying, ‘My beautiful girl’. Then Liz held out her arm and said, ‘Mum, get in here will you?’ And it was the most awkward, lovely four-person hug for their not-really-huggers family.

‘Okay, I actually need to get to school now,’ said Harper, squirming free.

‘Just a few more minutes!’ said Larry.

‘Later, Dad!’ she said. ‘It’s really important.’

‘Absolutely. Do what you need to do,’ said Liz. ‘We will hug the life out of you this afternoon and after that we’re never letting you go again, so make the most of it.’

Harper reached the back gates of Riverlark just before eight o’clock and put her bike in the rack. She wasn’t the earliest. There were kids from her year scattered around the school. Two boys were carrying a table between them. She spotted Ro in the distance with Greg the IT technician, who was in charge of the slideshow for the graduation assembly. Cleo shouted to Harper from the doorway of the art room and waved before disappearing inside.

Harper used the keys to open the library door. There was one more thing she needed to write for the project. Angus had found the only record of Riverlark’s time as a Spanish-flu hospital in a place called the Public Record Office: it was a list of names, ages, dates and symptoms of its patients. There was a final column of single words like Recovering, Discharged or Deceased. At the bottom, a familiar name.

Mae Thomas (volunteer nurse). Age: 17. Fever. Aches. Deceased.

And now that Harper had read Francis Lamb’s schoolbook, she knew the whole story.

Things got lost, even in families. The library was more than a room of books, it kept people’s stories safe for when they needed to be told again.

She was halfway through the writing when Misha came in. They didn’t have time to chat, they were both so determined to get everything finished.

Outside they could hear the rest of their year level getting ready for the Day of Last Things. The graduation assembly was at two.

‘I hope the library is the best thing out of everything,’ said Misha. ‘I know I said I don’t care what anyone thinks but I want everyone to love it.’

Everything was laid out in a timeline from 1877 to 2020. There were tables of artefacts that the kids were allowed to touch, each with a card that had some details of its use and the rough dates. There were some other artefacts on the tops of the shelves, out of the reach of little hands. The walls were covered in smart black paper displaying photographs, schoolwork, art and memorabilia. There was a display of badges on a black cloth, including the two cadet badges. And underneath the portrait of William Park were his glasses, inside their open case.

‘Ready?’ said Harper, when the bell for recess rang.

Whatever happened now, and whatever anyone else thought, Harper would never forget making this with Misha. She’d never forget her goodbye year at Riverlark.

They took down the paper from the windows and let the light in.

THE STORY OF MAE LAMB, 1901–1918

Joseph and Verity Lamb, of Abbotsford, Melbourne, had four children: Tobias, Edward, Molly and Mae. Molly and Mae were twins. They started at Riverlark School in 1906 and for most of their time here they were known as The Ems.

The Ems were known for being kind, outgoing, intrepid and sometimes naughty. They didn’t always follow the rules. Some say they were always the first to jump into the river on a hot day. Their best friends were William Park and Vincent Lyons.

Riverlark School trained boy students for the army. When Mae was twelve, she badly wanted to join the cadets with her friends, but girls were not allowed. And even though Mae was tough, strong and determined, they would not make an exception. Mae did not give up.

William Park and Vincent Lyons became two of the youngest ANZAC soldiers. Vincent survived the war and was awarded a medal for bravery. William died of tuberculosis soon after arriving on Gallipoli in 1915. He was fourteen.

Mae Lamb tried again and again to be part of the war. The bravest time was when she tried to sneak onto a ship. She cut her hair off and dressed in as much uniform as she could find. She wanted to fight alongside all the kids she’d grown up with. But someone spotted that her boots were not army boots, and when they questioned her, it was discovered that she was a girl.

Mae tried two more times to do the exact same thing, but she was always found out.

When Spanish flu swept around the world, in 1918, Mae trained as a nurse. Riverlark School was turned into a hospital and she worked here. Mae took it very seriously and was devoted to her patients. She wouldn’t leave their bedsides when they were dying, even though she knew the risk to her own health was high.

Some people didn’t think Spanish flu was serious. They tried to convince Mae that she should still live her life the way she always had, to have fun and see her friends and get away from the hospital. This included some of Mae’s family. But Mae refused. She wanted everyone to see how bad it was, and her letters (see below) show that she was angry and frustrated that some people did not listen to the experts, and that as a result lots more people were dying.

Molly Lamb fell gravely ill with Spanish flu and was brought to Riverlark, where Mae nursed her. As soon as Molly died, Mae also became ill. She died a few days after getting a fever. They were seventeen.

The Lamb family never recovered from the loss of Molly and Mae. The brothers Edward and Tobias argued after the twins’ death and never spoke again.

The story of Mae Thomas was kept safe in the Riverlark library for over a hundred years.

I will never forget her.

By Harper Moss, library captain, 2020