‘Come on, let’s get a good spot,’ Curtis said as he hurried down the gangplank, dragging Kensy and Max along in his wake. The boy swung into a window seat with Kensy beside him. Van Chalmers was already sitting behind them and Max slid in next to him, having briefly introduced himself in class the day before. Ellery was across the aisle on her own.

‘Oh no,’ Curtis groaned, slapping his palm against his forehead. He leaned forward and unzipped his backpack, feeling around for something inside.

Kensy wondered what the boy was going to whip out this time. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked.

Curtis sat back. ‘I forgot to take my tablet this morning and I haven’t got any with me.’

‘What’s it for?’ Kensy asked, hoping it wasn’t anything serious.

‘Seasickness,’ Curtis replied.

Kensy snorted, unsure if the lad was having her on. ‘Why do you catch the ferry every day if you get seasick?’

‘It beats getting a bus and a train, and I get to be with my friends,’ Curtis said.

Kensy glanced across at Ellery. She’d only spoken a few words to the girl yesterday, but Ellery had already made it patently clear that she wasn’t Curtis’s friend and Van didn’t seem to be all that keen either.

‘Oh, okay,’ Kensy said. She nudged the boy’s arm. ‘You’re not going to be sick on me, are you?’

Curtis shook his head. ‘There’s hardly any swell today and I have some special bags, just in case.’

‘Don’t believe a word he says,’ a voice piped up behind her.

Kensy spun around. ‘What did you say?’

‘Never mind. I’m Van,’ the boy said with a winning smile.

‘Kensy,’ she replied, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

‘You know I’m her big brother,’ Max said, barely keeping a straight face. Kensy narrowed her eyes and shot him her best death stare. He knew he’d pay for that later, but it was fun being the older twin for a change.

‘I saw you yesterday in the quadrangle,’ Van said.

Kensy squirmed in her seat. She wondered if the air-conditioning was on the fritz. ‘Oh, okay,’ she said, and hastily turned back to face the front. Kensy folded her arms and wriggled down in her seat.

‘Sisters, huh?’ Max remarked, shaking his head.

Van grinned.

‘Wow,’ Curtis breathed. His blue eyes were huge. ‘You know, he was staring at you the whole time on the wharf before.’

‘No, he wasn’t,’ Kensy hissed. ‘You were the one staring at him, and you should really stop that.’

Curtis wiggled his eyebrows. ‘What are you – a spy or something?’

‘Seriously?’ Kensy eyeballed the boy.

Max had been adding mental notes to his brief assessment of Donovan and Ellery Chalmers while they waited on the wharf. The boy was about average height with a lean physique. His light brown hair was styled and held in place with some sort of product, so he clearly cared about his appearance. Ellery was pretty with a dimple in her left cheek. She had dark hair that fell over her shoulders in two braids, each tied at the end with a perfect white bow. They both had an air of confidence about them. He wondered where they got that from.

‘Is it always so busy at school?’ Max asked. ‘The homework is a killer.’

‘Get used to it,’ Van said. ‘Wentworth Grammar is renowned for being hard work. Where did you go before?’

Remembering to keep it vague, Max told the boy they’d recently moved from the country. Fortunately, Van didn’t seem especially interested. ‘Our dad just got a job at the school teaching PE,’ Max added. He thought he’d better drop that in or else Van might think it weird when he worked it out.

‘What sports do you play?’ Max asked.

‘Cricket in summer and rugby in winter, although Mum would prefer I played soccer. She says rugby is way too dangerous, but I’m a winger, so I usually manage to stay out of the really rough stuff.’

‘Is your mother a little overprotective?’ Max asked.

Van sighed. ‘Aren’t they all?’

Max shrugged and gave a small nod. That wasn’t a subject he wanted to get into, but he did need to spend as much time with Van today as possible, given the latest message in the Beacon this morning revealed that Van and Ellery’s mother was poised to make her move. He and Kensy had discovered it while poring over the death notices at breakfast. This time the deceased was the aptly named Spencer McMahon.

A horn blasted and everyone on board turned to look. The cruise ship that had docked yesterday was leaving the wharf. The ferry surged forward to get out of its path.

Max’s eyes widened as the two vessels barely made it past one another. ‘Close call.’

‘Happens all the time,’ Van said as the ferry pulled into Circular Quay.

They stood up and queued to disembark, finding Kensy and Curtis waiting on the dock. Ellery walked past and Curtis said hello, but the girl ignored him again. Van, on the other hand, couldn’t have been friendlier – to Kensy, at least. He and his sister walked off together, leaving Kensy, Max and Curtis behind. The threesome were swept along with the crowd to the promenade, where Curtis directed them to turn left.

‘Van must really like you,’ Curtis said, once they were on their way

Kensy rolled her eyes. ‘As if.’

‘You don’t understand,’ Curtis said with earnest. ‘Every girl in Year Six and probably half of Year Five has a crush on him. He’s the most popular boy in school and he’s good at everything, and I mean everything – sport, academia, even singing – though he’s not a soloist in the choir. Until now I’ve never noticed him show interest in a girl and, believe me, I notice a lot of things.’

Max suppressed a smile. It reminded him of the time a boy in Jindabyne was infatuated with Kensy and never left her alone. In fact, he nearly drove her mad, so Max could only presume how thrilled Kensy would be if Van made her the object of his attention.

‘Stop talking, Curtis, and hurry up. We’ve got choir practice in five minutes and I don’t imagine Mr Thacker takes kindly to tardiness,’ Kensy said, picking up the pace. She could feel the perspiration dripping down her back and her armpits were wet too. It was lucky she’d started using deodorant recently or she would have been stinky as well as sweaty.

‘You’re right about that,’ Curtis said, breaking into a trot. ‘Thacker’s been known to keep rehearsals going right through until recess and there was one time we didn’t finish until lunch!’