I’m in the woods. It’s dark. I’m running – running and falling and I feel so scared.

Find a place to hide, Ziggy, hurry, hurry is the rhythm my feet make on the muddy path. I hear heavy footsteps behind me, thud, thud thud and then lighter ones, trot, trot, trot. I try to think of a place to hide but I don’t recognise these woods. Where am I? The trees open out in front of me and there’s a ravine. I run to the edge. Down below is the sound of running water and a gushing river . . .

Then an eerie cry rises out of the trees above me.

‘Ka . . . li . . . la! Ka . . . li . . . la!’

Someone pulls my arm and the cry changes to Ziggy! Ziggy! It is Petal’s voice. But it sounds so far away, as if I’m under water and she’s on the other side of the lake.

With a huge effort, I open my eyes.

The last thing I remember was Miss Cubby talking about a maths test, and her voice growing more and more distant, like I was being carried away.

‘Freak,’ I hear Harry Arnold say in my ear. He’s sitting at his desk two rows away on the other side of the room and doing his ventriloquist trick. It’s creepy when he does it. I brush my ear as if I feel his spittle spray.

‘Are you all right, Ziggy?’ Miss Cubby is squatting down beside me, her hand on my arm, her face full of concern.

‘I . . . I think so,’ I say, not really sure if I am.

Petal rushes over with a glass of water and a wet face cloth to put on my forehead while Big Bobby rubs my back.

‘All right, class. Everyone back to their desks,’ Miss Cubby says. ‘Let Ziggy get some air.’

‘Can I go outside, Miss Cubby?’ I say, feeling breathless, like the walls are pressing in on me.

‘Of course. Petal and Big Bobby can go with you while the others finish the test.’

We get our snacks from our bags and go outside. The cool wind in my face revives me.

‘You scared us,’ says Petal. ‘You’ve never fainted before!’

Big Bobby Little links his arm in mine and squeezes it. We walk across the grass, eating our snacks.

‘What d’you think of the new boy?’ asks Petal.

Big Bobby smiles and nods approvingly.

‘But you like everyone,’ I say.

He nods again. Big Bobby is the kindest, sweetest kid I know. He never says a bad thing about anyone.

‘His soccer move was pretty amazing,’ Petal says.

‘Like a cat, the way he sprang at the ball,’ I murmur.

And he’s good at maths. I watched him. He’d already finished the test before you woke up. He’s even faster than you, Petal, Big Bobby writes on his notepad and smiles.

Petal jabs him in the ribs with her elbow, pretending to be upset. As they fool around, I try to remember the last couple of minutes before I fainted.

I remember getting a cold feathery feeling down my back when Raffi sat down behind me. It was the same weird feeling I got when I saw him the night of the dance.

The bell for recess rings.

In the distance, Harry Arnold is walking beside the new boy. Chris and Macka are four paces behind them. Harry keeps turning his head and grinning, making stupid faces behind Raffi’s back.

The new boy is taller than the others and his eyes are like those of a wild animal. It’s as if he’s on alert, waiting for danger.

‘They are so pathetic,’ Petal says. ‘I don’t know why Miss Cubby picked Harry Arnold, of all people, to show a new kid around. And a foreigner too.’

‘She’s trying to teach him to be generous,’ I say.

‘Doesn’t Miss Cubby know Harry Arnold is a lost cause? She should have chosen us,’ says Petal.

Big Bobby nods.

I stay silent. I’m thinking how glad I am that she didn’t. There’s something about Raffi that scares me.

Harry takes the soccer ball from Chris and drops it on the ground, inviting Raffi to play. The three of them –Harry, Chris and Macka – are the best soccer players in the school and they keep the ball away by kicking it to each other, nimbly moving around the ball, using their bodies to block Raffi.

‘You’re not like us, kiddo. We don’t want you around here, understand?’ Harry says loudly so everyone can hear.

It happens so fast and I don’t even know how he did it, but suddenly Raffi has the ball and he’s dribbling it in and out of the other boys’ legs, playing with it like a leopard with its prey.

Big Bobby Little shakes with silent laughter.

‘He’s giving them a taste of their own medicine,’ says Petal with glee.

Raffi steps on the ball to stop it. Then he kicks it long and high, so high that it sails through the air and hits the fence on the other side of the playing field.

Harry’s mouth falls open and Raffi walks off.

Then Harry shouts, ‘You don’t belong in Dell Hollow! You hear me? You understand English, foreigner? Go home!’ By the red flush in his cheeks, I can see that Harry’s embarrassed.

Macka and Chris don’t say anything.

The rest of the morning we’re allowed free reading time. I’m doing the maths test I missed when I fainted. I can’t concentrate though. I feel Raffi’s eyes on the back of my neck constantly. I stand up to use the electric pencil sharpener, just so I can spy on him. He glances out the window towards the woods as if he’s waiting for something. A shiver passes through me.

At lunchtime the school canteen delivers our pizzas to the classroom wrapped in brown paper bags. Petal, Big Bobby Little and I go to our usual spot under a clump of sugar maples to eat. It’s quiet and shaded and we can see the whole school oval from here.

Raffi is standing at the edge of the woods. He looks at me, then turns, shielding his eyes from the sun. At that moment, as if he’s summoned it, a huge shadow swoops out of the trees and flies straight for us.

Petal screams and Big Bobby pushes us to the ground. I cover my head with my hands. The bird’s wings are almost bigger than me, and their beat is like the whirr of helicopter blades. I feel a wing brushing my hair and then a sudden sharp pain on my cheek. I lie very still, hardly daring to breathe.

Finally, I sit up. The bird is gone. So is Raffi.

We sit there, stunned. Then Big Bobby points at my face.

‘What?’ I say, touching my cheek. When I pull my fingers away, there’s blood on the tips.

‘That thing scratched you! You’re bleeding!’ Petal says in a panic. ‘Birds carry diseases. I’m taking you to sick bay.’

I dab the scratch with my sleeve. ‘It’s fine,’ I say.

Big Bobby scribbles frantically on his pad. That was a golden eagle. I’ve never seen one around here before!

‘And they don’t normally attack humans,’ Petal adds.

‘That’s another thing for my list of strange happenings,’ I say.

She looks at me questioningly. But I know there’s no point trying to explain.