CHAPTER 25

The next morning, Evie awakes as confused as she was upon falling asleep. The wind howls around the chimneys of Lunar House, but she can still hear wrens tittering in the eaves outside her window.

She pats the sleeping forms of Claudette and Florette and, as always, their purring is a comfort to her. She stares at the watermark on the ceiling above. Another tile must have blown off during the night and the roof has leaked. She’ll have to push her bed to the other side of the room and she makes a mental reminder to tell Grandpa about it.

Even though Evie knows The Birds of Australia by heart, last night she decided to read it again from the very beginning to the end. Upon finishing each chapter, she cross-referenced it with Grandpa’s published academic papers. Up until chapter five, all was going along swimmingly. But when she arrived at the spotted pardalote, her world fell apart. Evie rubbed her eyes and re-read the description of the bird three times. Each time, the text was exactly the same as Grandpa’s. Word for word.

It was as she suspected. Grandpa was betrayed by a friend. His friend, Douglas Henley, published Grandpa’s work as his own.

This is the reason why Grandpa’s always had mixed feelings about The Birds of Australia. It’s her favorite book and she pushes it in his face all of the time. Evie cringes. How hard this must have been for him? Poor Grandpa.

Then it dawns on her that this would also be the reason why Grandpa didn’t want to put his name on the telegrams when he was reporting the shipwreck.

Mr Douglas Henley is a despicable man. But what sort of a person does this make George? Is the son like the father? He doesn’t seem to be, but can we trust him to take care of Rhino?

Evie wishes she could test George somehow, to find out what sort of person he truly is.

She eases out from under the quilt so as not to disturb Claudette and Florette. Albine nestles on a chair in the corner and as Evie kneels to stroke her comb, she coos and sways in her sleep.

Evie needs time to think about everything she has discovered about this secret. She isn’t sure about anyone or anything anymore, but she is sure about one thing – she doesn’t trust Mr Douglas Henley.