Prologue

A blond haired cherub of a girl sat, ears perked, listening for her hunter. Hands stifling small sounds that escaped unbidden, she covered her mouth. She moved duck-like backward, further into her hidey-hole. The perfect place to play and hide, the banyan tree had formed an alcove so deep and so well disguised by overhanging branches and leaves that she’d only found it by accident. Light shone feebly through the foliage, the further back she went the darker it got. Now if only she could stay quiet long enough and not let the fear of the darkness push her back out, he’d never find her.

Leaves crackled as her hunter tracked her, passed her hiding place and moved on.

Heart beating fast in her chest, fear easing slightly as he moved away, she moved forward an inch or two, into shafts of sunlight that filtered weakly through the roots that formed wooden, jail cell bars. Peering out, left and right, she saw nothing bar more banyan giants, dried leaves and dirt pathways. A smile slowly crossed her chubby face. She was safe.

“Raah!”

An avalanche of leaves, sticks, and stones cascaded between the banyan roots as a brown haired grenade, cannon-balled into a nest of leaves with a bloodcurdling yell, right in front of her hidey-hole.

“I found you! I found you! Your turn to hide, Holly!”

If she could have, in the small space, Holly would have stamped her foot in frustration. She frowned at the freckled faced boy who lay laughing in the leaves and did the next best thing. She sat with a plop in the dirt and crossed her arms, lips pouting disagreeably.

“You cheated, Jack.”

He grinned a crooked grin, eyes twinkling with mischief at his best friend and shook his head, peering in at his foe through the banyan roots. “You shouldn’t have moved dummy. I saw your yellow hair.”

She put her nose in the air with a sniff and turned her face from him, lips turning down in the corners of her mouth with consternation. “Whatever. I know you cheated somehow.”

He was such a know-it-all. Just because he was older than she was didn’t mean he knew everything. He was so frustrating—and quiet. What was he doing? She snuck a look and burst into uncontrollable giggles. He’d pressed his face into a gap between the roots and was crossing his eyes and poking out his tongue, stretching the skin of his face into a grotesque mask, index finger pushing up the tip of his nose.

He jigged with repressed laughter as he snorted at her. “Hey, piggy, piggy—come out of your cage,” he chanted.

“Better stop that. My mummy says, if the wind changes you’ll stay like that,” she said with a giggle.

Across the valley angry voices echoed into the gully of banyans—a woman’s voice, shrill and accusing, a male’s, thick with rage.

Jack looked toward the sound, mouth open, eyes wide, frozen in place. Holly watched his stricken face carefully, glad they were hidden from sight, glad she could not make out the muffled words. That meant he couldn’t either.

She tipped her head to one side. He looked like he’d never heard adults yell like that. These voices were familiar to her. Too familiar—they were her parents. They yelled like that all the time, but, they were getting louder, and that meant other things would happen.

If only Mummy would just come outside, run away, come hide in the banyan with her. He couldn’t yell at her if she wasn’t there—couldn’t find her.

Jack glanced sidelong at her. Then did a double-take. “Are you scared? It’s okay, they’re not yelling at you.”

She closed her eyes against that look. He had that same sad face that Mummy had after Daddy growled at her. Holly almost wished he was pulling a silly face again, she hated that sad face. It meant that someone was hurting, usually tears followed. Her Mummy was always crying.

Holly folded into herself, curling up her legs and clamping her arms around her knees. She began to rock as the voices grew louder and more strident. This one was really bad. They were normally a little more discreet about their arguments, it wasn’t good to let the neighbors overhear.

“Is that your mum and dad?” he whispered. It wasn’t a question really. Holly knew he already knew the answer.

Her blue eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she nodded mutely. They were always fighting. They didn’t even see her anymore. They used to go outside and yell at each other, as if they thought she couldn’t hear them through the thin clapboard walls. Now they just yelled whether she was there or not.

She hadn’t told Jack. She’d wanted to, but she had not known how to say the words. He was the only one she dared even thinking about talking to. She knew that complaining to grown-ups wouldn’t help; they’d never listen to someone as little as her.

* * * *

Jack squeezed into the alcove and sat next to the quiet girl as the tears began to drip unchecked down her cheeks. Putting his arm around her he pulled her into his skinny frame as she began to tremble. He swayed in time with her unconscious movement.

“We’ll just stay here for a while huh?” he asked. Holly’s mute fear infecting him by osmosis.

The woman’s voice got louder and more high-pitched as she screeched accusations and recriminations. He couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but she was royally pissed about something. Jack winced as the man let a string of swear words fly. He certainly got that loud and clear. A door slammed, the voices became louder, easier to understand. He wished they’d stayed inside as his mouth dropped open. Vicious words made the girl clap her hands over her ears, and sent chills down the boy’s spine.

A sudden silence descended over the thicket of trees and the boy relaxed a little. Maybe they’d gone back inside.

He’d heard his own parents discussing the girl’s mum and dad once. He’d been on his way to the bathroom one night and passed their bedroom door while they were lying in bed talking. He’d overheard Holly’s name and had stopped in his tracks to listen, full bladder complaining.

Pressing up against the wall in the darkened hallway, he’d listened, not understanding most of what they said, but knowing they felt pity for his friend’s situation. He wondered, with annoyance for his friend, if they were worried why they didn’t do something about it?

He was startled out of his reverie as the quiet was broken with a sharp cry from the woman. The female’s voice sounded like the woman was right outside their hiding place and Jack scooted backward into the dark, dragging the girl in deeper with him. Holly began to tremble violently under his tight embrace. He pulled her in even tighter in his embrace, unsure if he was trying to comfort himself, or her. The cries from the woman became frantic, panic filled. One word repeated over and over. “No! I’m not! Sammy! No!”

A gunshot, birds flew out of the branches above and around them in panic, the air filled with the noise of wings beating, and the sudden howling cry of the girl in his arms, rigid with terror. A male’s agonized wail competed with Holly’s screams, standing the hairs on Jack’s arm up in horror.

Another gunshot rang out. A final sharp retort, and then silence.