Millie and the Night Heron (11 page)

‘Thanks, Millie. Bed now, okay? I'll set the alarm for a bit early tomorrow morning and we can do the photographs then. You won't be able to see straight if you stay up any longer.'

I yawned a yawn wide enough to swallow a cat. ‘Nup, you're right. Okay. See you in the morning.'

Before I went to sleep though I made a curse against Brendan Trotter. It's not that I believe in them, necessarily, but it felt good to do it for Sheri. I put it in my journal. I didn't call on the Spirit of everything Fair and Just this time, just whatever spirits were out there listening. Here's what I wrote:

And then, just to even things up, I put in a good wish for Sheri, because either one could work, then.

Ms O'Grady was in a fluster the next day at school.

‘Projects,' she said, ‘projects everyone. Come on, we've got very important visitors today. I want all the projects displayed. It's politician time.'

She cracked the whip all first period. We begged more map pins and display boards from other classrooms, we laid unmountable projects on desks and begged a laptop from the computer lab so Erin's power point could be displayed to full effect.

The politician came through at the end of second period. We had to chorus out ‘Good morning, Ms Connors', and listen while she gave
a short talk about why she became a politician and what she cared about. Then we had to go and stand next to our projects while she walked around the room with the principal and asked us questions about them.

‘This is excellent work,' she said peering at mine. ‘Did you really take the photographs?'

‘Yes,' I said, ‘and I developed them myself with my mother's boyfriend. He's a photographer, you see.'

‘Fantastic, and such a good message too. Well done ... Millie, is it?'

Then she passed on, leaving a sniff of lovely perfume behind her. I was pleased she'd picked me out. She didn't stop at everyone's projects. I suppose she didn't have time to do that.

‘Well done, everyone,' Ms O'Grady said, after the principal and the politician had left. ‘You were terrific. Ms Connors was impressed. In fact she was so impressed with the projects that she's donated a couple of prizes for the best students. Ms Farn will present them tomorrow at assembly, but I'm going to tell you now who got the prizes so you can make sure you're wearing assembly-appropriate uniforms and so you can invite your parents, if they're free. Millie Childes, Sarah Reed and Nate Redfern, congratulations!'

Sarah squealed and hugged me, as though we'd
just won an Olympic medal or something.

‘What do we get Ms?' Nate asked, when the class had stopped clapping. ‘What's the prize?'

‘I don't know. Probably a book or something like that,' Ms O'Grady said. ‘But Nate, it's the honour, not the prize.'

After that we all toured around the room looking at each other's projects. I paid attention to Rowan's sport and the environment project. It was sloppy. His smile didn't seem to make my knees tremble any more, and he kept combing his gelled hair with his fingers as though the little spiked bits would flop over if he didn't check them all the time. His skin wasn't too hot, either. I know I shouldn't talk (Miss Pimple Queen of the Universe), but I didn't have them clustered on my forehead in little crusty clumps.

I was over Rowan. He wasn't my type.

Funny how you can decide that kind of thing and the other person just have no idea.

Helen-Sarah-Rachel-and-I were sitting around at lunchtime when Rowan came up.

‘Hey, Millie,' he said, ‘those photographs were awesome. What happened to you at basketball? I looked everywhere but you'd just disappeared. Would you like to come again on Saturday? And bring your camera? It'd be great to get some shots of the game.'

I could hear Helen-Sarah-and-Rachel hold their breaths. I looked at Rowan and smiled.

‘How was Tayla's new pool table?' I asked him sweetly.

‘Pretty good. Her dad bought us Maccas for lunch. It was cool. But Millie, I could take you to Maccas next Saturday. I've got some pocket money.'

‘I'm sorry, Rowan, I'm just not into action photography. I prefer landscape and portrait shots. They've got more depth, you know. They're more of a challenge, really. Action shots are kind of point and hope. So thanks but no thanks, if you know what I mean.'

His face was interesting. First he looked confused, then he looked stunned and finally he looked sulky.

‘Tayla's right,' he said. ‘You are stuck up.' And he walked away.

‘You dumped him,' Rachel said. ‘I don't believe it, Millie Childes. You dumped Rowan!'

‘I didn't dump him exactly.' My stomach was all weird but at the same time I felt I could breathe more easily. I sat up straighter. ‘I just don't want to waste my Saturdays photographing some dumb basketball game. Anyway, I don't really have a camera. I used one of Tom's.'

‘Doesn't matter,' Helen said. ‘You really did
dump him. That was the coolest thing I've heard.'

It was all round the school by the end of the day.

Tom was at home when I got home and I told him the whole story, starting with the politician and ending with the accidental dumping.

‘So you'll have to come to assembly tomorrow morning. Can you, Tom? Because Mum won't be there and Nate said his mum will definitely go and both Sarah's parents are probably going to be there because they're on late shifts this week. Could you come, please?'

‘Well, well,' Tom said, ‘this is unexpected. Yes, I suppose I could. I don't teach until tomorrow afternoon. I could be there. You don't think the school will think it a bit ... you know ... unusual?'

‘Of course not. This is the twenty-first century, Tom, not the Dark Ages.'

‘Right. It's a date, Millie. Here, I got something for you, too – my part of our deal.' He handed me a largish square box and then stepped back to watch me unwrap it.

Inside was a camera case and inside the camera case was a 35mm camera. The same one I had already used.

‘It's really a spare,' Tom said quickly. ‘It isn't new or anything. I hope you don't mind, but it is a good one and you can get extra lenses for it. There's a zoom lens in the case for you already, but
you might eventually like to get a wide-angle or a portrait lens, depending on how interested you become. I thought about a digital camera but I think that could wait. They're obviously the way of the future and there are some fine photographers having lots of fun with them and producing some wonderful stuff, but really with me with a darkroom and, you did seem to enjoy the enlarging process ... This way, I thought, you could find out about it all the old way, which does give you the best grounding ... and, Millie, I hope you like it. Is it okay?'

‘Oh Tom,' I said, ‘it's just the best present ever. Thank you so much, thank you.' I wanted to hug him but it wasn't Christmas so I didn't feel I could. ‘Honestly, it's just ... magic.' And I hoped he knew that I would have given him a hug if it had been Christmas or even my birthday.

Tom made that little chuckly sound. ‘Well, well,' he said, ‘it will be good, eh? There's a local camera club you might like to join too. Of course, most of the members would be a bit older than you, but I know a couple of kids who are keen, too. They turn up with their parents and do their own thing.'

That night Mum rang and I was able to tell her everything, from Sheri to the project. Then I gave Tom the phone and I went into my bedroom to
look at my camera again and to give him some privacy. He was on the phone for ages, but it must have been okay, because he was all smiley and happy when he came out.

‘I told your mum I'd pick her up at the airport,' he said. ‘She gets in on Thursday at about three o'clock. She said you'd be fine on your own after school.'

‘Can't I come?' I asked. ‘I love airports.'

‘You'll be at school.'

‘I could miss it for a day,' I said. ‘I'm doing okay and Thursday we have sport anyway, practically all day.'

‘I don't know, Millie, missing school is missing school. I'll have to ask your mother.'

‘If you didn't ask her, it would be a surprise. That would be pretty good, don't you think?'

‘I'll have to think about this, Millie.'

The assembly was nerve-wracking. I didn't expect to be nervous. At my old school we had to go up all the time in assembly and get awards – student of the week, best help with the preppies, neatest work for the week – but there weren't as many people watching you and there wasn't a stage either.

Sarah, Nate and I had to wait until all the announcements were made and then Ms Farn called us forward.

‘We were lucky enough to have a visit yesterday from our local member of parliament, Ms Connor, who was so impressed with the projects done by Ms O'Grady's Grade 7.1 that she personally selected three of the students to receive awards for their work.

Grade 7.1 did projects on “My Environment” and Ms Connor said of the work of these three students that it was—and I'm quoting from an email she sent this morning—“original, inspiring and thoughtful”. Congratulations to Millie Childes, Sarah Reed and Nate Redfern. Please step forward, students, to receive your generous book vouchers donated by Ms Connor herself.'

We had to file on to the stage, one by one, shake Ms Farn's hand, get an envelope and then go off the stage again. My knees were shaking but it was good, too.

‘Twenty-five dollars!' Nate said, ripping open his envelope. ‘Gee, that's more than I got for my birthday. Pretty good prize, eh?'

I looked at Nate. It was interesting that a boy was so excited by a book voucher.

‘What will you get, Millie?' he asked.

‘A book on photography,' I said. ‘That's what I'll get. Tom gave me a camera last night, a camera of my very own. A Pentax 35mm.'

‘How come you got that?'

‘For answering a question about a bird,' I said.

‘But I think I really got it because I'm interested in photography.'

‘You're into birds, too, aren't you?'

‘I like them. What are you into?'

‘Bashing around the bush. I do that a bit. Mum and I belong to a bushwalking club. I do a bit of fishing, too, sometimes. Mum and I like that. You have to be very quiet, but. We go camping, too. We read a lot.'

‘Sounds like the kind of thing my mum and I do,' I said, ‘except we aren't bushwalkers.'

‘Well, we're not particularly serious bushwalkers. We don't do overnight hikes. Although Mum reckons we could if we wanted. I like to get out, look around. You know.'

I did know what he meant. It sounded like it could be fun. You could certainly take a camera on a bushwalk. I thought I might mention it to Tom.

‘Can anyone...' I started to say, just as Nate said, ‘Maybe you'd like...' and we both apologised.

Then Tom came up and the moment got lost. But that was okay, too, because Nate wasn't the kind of boy, I didn't think, to let a moment go forever or become distracted by a mobile phone game. Someone who fished couldn't afford to get easily distracted.

That night I enlarged a photograph of Tom to
give to Mum as a present. Then we picked a couple and made them sepia-coloured, rather than black and white, which made them look old.

‘What are you giving Mum?' I asked Tom.

‘Do you think I should get her something?'

‘No,' I said, ‘she won't expect it or anything. I'm just giving her the photo because ... well, it's really the first time she's been away by herself for simply ages. And I want to surprise her. That's all.'

‘I'd like to, too. What do you reckon she'd like?'

‘Flowers are always good.'

‘No, if I'm going to get a present, I want a proper Kate present.'

‘Earrings, then. She loves earrings.'

‘Gee, I don't know, Millie. Earrings are kind of difficult.'

‘You wanted a Kate-present.'

‘I did, but I didn't expect earrings to be the answer.'

‘Well, she wears them all the time,' I told him. ‘She loves them, and Patrick has been the only other man to ever give them to her.'

Tom looked at me and rolled his eyes. ‘That's supposed to inspire me with confidence?'

I shrugged. ‘Patrick's a scientist,' I said, ‘and you're a photographer. I would have thought earrings would have been more a photographer
thing than a scientist thing, but Patrick managed.'

‘Okay, here's the deal—you come shopping with me for Kate's earrings tomorrow morning and you can come to the airport with me. What do you say?'

‘You're on! And can we get a photography book with my voucher, too?'

In the end I needed Tom's help more than he needed mine. He found Kate-earrings really easily. I had a hard job deciding between the photographic books but Tom found the one he recommended to his students so I used the voucher to put it on lay-by. It was the first time I'd put anything on lay-by and I was a bit worried I might lose the docket, but the woman behind the counter said it would be fine even if I did, because they had their own record.

‘I'm taking my camera to the airport,' I told Tom. ‘I want to get a photo of Mum when she sees us.'

‘That's a good idea. I take a camera almost everywhere, Millie. You never know what you might see.'

I think people at the airport thought Mum was some kind of celebrity. Tom and I both took photos of her as she came through the gate. I took more while she and Tom kissed, which they did for so
long I had time to focus properly. I would have felt really embarrassed by them hugging and kissing without my camera. The camera made me think of things other than
Oh-my-god-that's-my-mum- kissing-The-Boyfriend-at-the- airport-with-everyone-watching- them-I-could-just-die.
The camera made me think,
Wow! I like it that I can't really see their faces. Then they become just two people at the airport, rather than Mum and Tom.
And,
Ooh, now I can see a bit of Mum's face over his shoulder and I like the way her hand is on his back like that.

We had a snack at the airport, which turned out to be a good thing. When we got home the first thing we saw was a rainbow-coloured Kombi van parked outside our house. There was a bright wreath of plastic flowers hanging on the tow bar and the number plate read ‘So funky', which was also painted on the side.

‘Oh my god!' Mum practically shouted, ‘it's Sheri!'

There they were, Sheri and Mitchell, sitting on our front doorstep.