Agatha walked without looking back, straight past the bus stop. That’ll be the first place they’ll look, she thought to herself, then almost as quickly, Who am I kidding? She walked on, past the next stop and then the next. Finally, the empty shelter of the fourth stop gave her shade from the evening sun, but not a reprieve from the heat. The summer seemed like it would never end.

She lifted the suitcase onto the seat, unlocking and unzipping it. Looking around her, checking that no one was approaching, she lifted the corners of her clothes until she reached the jeans. Sliding them out, she dug out the purse, opened it and looked at the contents. Four ten-dollar notes, a bus card and a piece of paper with instructions, which Agatha had already memorised. She took out the bus card, snapped shut the clasp of the purse and returned it to the jean’s pocket.

Her haste had disturbed the neat formation of the piles within the case, but she didn’t have time to fix them now. She zipped it up and sat beside it, aware of a growing knot of irritation inside herself.

She held the bus card close to her chest and closed her eyes. She pictured Katherine preparing dinner and Chief sitting near her, waiting for any little morsel she might spare. Knowing Katherine, Agatha knew Chief would not be waiting long.

The blast of a car horn startled her. She looked around. Cars were rushing past, drivers keen to get home at the end of a long sweltering day.

She hadn’t seen or used a bus card before, until Katherine had suggested, one day in mid-January, that it would be fun to catch the train into the city. A day out, she had called it. She had given Agatha her own card for the train and let her do it herself. Katherine had told her to always be polite, and if she was on a bus to sit near the driver.

As she waited for the bus that would take her to the train station, Agatha wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed she was gone. Her parents wouldn’t realise – they rarely checked on her. They would be out the back, still in their chairs. Even if her mother did go into her room, it wouldn’t be to find her. If her mother opened her drawers and saw her things were gone, she wouldn’t wonder where they had disappeared to, all she would see was an empty space that needed to be filled.

It would be Nell who would realise, but not until tomorrow. She had said she would come again at 9:00 am. Agatha started to relax. No one would know she was gone until tomorrow. By tonight, she would be safely at Katherine’s and she was sure Katherine would know what to do.

Two people arrived at the bus stop. Neither sat down near Agatha, neither really looked at her. They both had earphones in, their heads moving slightly to whatever music they were listening to. Agatha felt her body tense. Katherine had told her, if she could, if there was an opportunity, to ask someone to use their phone, to call her and let her know she was on her way. Agatha didn’t see an opportunity here. She lifted her suitcase and slipped it between her knees, holding the handle tightly. The determination she had felt when she left home was beginning to fade. Maybe she had made a mistake? Maybe she should go back?

Right on cue, the bus arrived. The other two moved towards the edge of the bus stop. Agatha stood up. Decision time. She looked back down the street where she had walked and then looked at the bus. She stepped forward, closer to the door.

‘Are you getting on?’ The voice of the bus driver floated down to her. She nodded and stepped up. Manoeuvring the suitcase was trickier than expected but she managed, swiping her card and finding a seat, two back from the driver. The bus jerked out onto the busy road, making Agatha half fall into the empty seat, her suitcase nudging into her.

She knew from the instructions that this bus, number thirty-four, would take her to the train station. The trip had three parts and this was the first. Bus, train, train. Katherine’s note had said to call her and she would come and get her, at any part of the trip. But Agatha was determined to do this herself. She wanted to prove to everyone that she could look after herself. She would call Katherine along the way and get her to meet her at Sandy Vale station.

As they got closer to the train station, the bus gathered a few more passengers at each stop. People looked exhausted after the hot day. Behind her, a woman was telling another passenger about the summer storm that was on the horizon. ‘Just what we need to cool off the city,’ she said. ‘It’s going to pour down, apparently. Hopefully I’ll be home before it does.’

‘It’s that time of year,’ said the other woman. ‘Hot one minute and pouring with rain the next.’

‘That’s Melbourne.’ They both chuckled.

Agatha looked out the window and up at the sky. The edge of large grey clouds had begun to creep over the tops of the buildings. The pinkish evening sky was slowly being pushed away.

The bus lurched to the side as the driver steered it around a tight corner and into the train station driveway. People quickly stood up and headed for the door. Agatha waited. When the woman behind her paused and motioned her hand to indicate that Agatha could go before her, Agatha took the opportunity to scramble out of her seat with her suitcase. ‘Now that’s the brightest suitcase I’ve ever seen,’ the woman said, with a smile. ‘We won’t be losing sight of you, love, not with that suitcase.’

Agatha stepped off the bus and took a few steps forward. She had never been to this station before and her hesitation showed it.

‘Do you know where you’re going, love?’ The woman was right beside her. ‘Come over here, away from the buses and I’ll help you out.’ She was pointing to the footpath near the entrance to the station. People were coming and going, like busy ants before the storm. It seemed to Agatha she was the only one who was out of step.

Katherine’s voice popped into her head. Just be polite. People will always help a polite child.

‘I need to catch a train into the city. My ... ’ Agatha hesitated. ‘My ... aunty is meeting me at the station there, but I don’t have a phone to tell her I’m late.’

‘Well, they’re two easy problems to fix, love.’ The woman took out her phone from her pocket. ‘Do you know her number?’ Agatha said the numbers. The woman held her phone to her ear and waited. Agatha waited too. As the phone continued to ring, Agatha could see the woman’s expectant face fade to that sorry expression she had seen so many times.

‘No answer, love. Sorry.’

Agatha’s eyes widened. This wasn’t part of the plan. Not answering the phone was not part of the plan at all.

‘Don’t worry, love. Maybe she’s driving or something and can’t answer. Now, trains to the city always leave from platform three.You have to go in through the doors there, turn to the right and go to the tunnel. Just wave your bus card when you get to the platform – they work on trains too. There’s signs everywhere. I would take you, but my next bus will arrive here any minute now, and it looks like rain.’

‘Thanks,’ said Agatha. ‘I’ll be fine.’ She picked up her suitcase and headed to the doors as instructed. Just before entering, she turned back and waved to the woman, who responded with a wave and a concerned smile.

Inside the station, Agatha did as she had been told and went to the tunnel that would take her to platform three. She wasn’t the only one heading to the city. The platform was filling with people and hardly anyone looked at her, which suited her fine. She couldn’t work out why Katherine hadn’t answered her phone. The station clock said it was just after 6:30 pm and Agatha knew Katherine would be home from yoga.

When the train arrived, everyone waiting moved towards the places on the platform where the doors would be when the train came to a complete stop. Agatha stayed back. The doors opened, people got off, people got on and the doors closed. The train left the platform, heading for the city. But Agatha remained on the platform, suddenly frozen with uncertainty.