Read Online The Lost Tohunga by David Hair - Free Book Online Page A

came up and nuzzled the boy affectionately. She stared. ‘Hey, is that your dog?’
    â€˜Yeah, this is God,’ the boy told her, ruffling his fur.
    â€˜God?’ Definitely a Mormon!
    He grinned. ‘It’s short for Godfrey. He’s a friend of mine.’
    She felt herself unbend a little. ‘He’s everyone’s friend, kid. He was all over me yesterday.’
    â€˜So, aren’t you going to introduce us, Godfrey?’
    She smiled at him suddenly, feeling an unexpected liking. He’s just an ordinary kid. He was respecting her, and didn’t have a dirty mind. How long since I met someone nice? She had to look away again, to compose herself. Then she stared. Oh, shit!
    Evan was striding across the grass towards her, with Brutal and Ronnie at his heels. She leapt to her feet and hissed ‘Run, kid! Run now!’
    But the boy didn’t run. He set his jaw and stepped forward instead.
    Heads turned towards them and then the crowd on the foreshore seemed to melt into a circle of bystanders, not wanting to get involved — or miss a moment. Hine felt that ‘aquaplaning-towards-a-power-pole’ sensation she got when trouble was inevitable.
    Brutal was snarling something, but Evan didn’t say a word. His face looked like a gestating murder. He towered over Mat, his tattooed shoulders muscled like the flanks of a racehorse and his chest straining his tank top. He bared histeeth, cradling his right fist in his left hand.
    Ronnie dragged Hine aside. ‘What are you doing, Hine? Evan hates you talkin’ to other guys.’ His pudgy face was torn between concern for her and eagerness to help Evan.
    â€˜We were just talking,’ she told him, straining at his grip. She yelled at Evan. ‘We were just talking!’
    Evan didn’t listen, just eyeballed Mat, who stood his ground, his face pale but not overly scared. Brutal was circling on the far side, his teeth bared. He looked about to thump his chest like a gorilla. Ronnie gripped her shoulders. ‘Go home, Hine. This is between him and us now.’
    Evan said something in a low voice, and Mat answered him back in similar tones, his face calm despite his pallor. A tall blond man yelled ‘What is happening?’ in a foreign accent, and pushed through the circle of onlookers. He tried to brush past Brutal, who shoved him back and squared up.
    Evan put his left hand on Mat’s chest and snarled something, a knuckle-duster gleaming on his right fist. He spat in Mat’s face, then pushed him. Mat staggered, and visibly restrained himself, as though he was doing Evan a favour by not hitting him. Hine marvelled at his stupidity, and was suddenly terrified he would get knifed for his bravado. She pulled out of Ronnie’s grip. ‘Evan, he didn’t touch me! We were just talking! Let him be!’ She lurched towards him, off balance. ‘Evan!’
    The air turned to water, and she was swimming through it in slo-mo as Evan’s right hand swung up, back-handed, and his fist connected. ‘Shut up, bitch,’ he said, without even looking at her. Light exploded inside her head. She fell backwards, arms flailing, until her skull smacked the hard ground, andshe lay dazed as everything unfolded about her.
    The blond man tried to push past Brutal, who punched him in the head. Mat tried to step towards her, his eyes leaving Evan for a crucial second, but Evan’s left hand snagged his collar, and his right fist bunched, knuckle-duster glinting. Mat’s shirt tore as he twisted under the blow, kicking out at Evan’s knee in the same motion. He might as well have tried to kick a telephone pole. Evan grunted, and then launched a kick of his own into Mat’s ribs as he tried to pull away. It connected and Mat doubled over.
    Ronnie loomed over her. ‘Hine, you okay?’ he asked, blinking stupidly. She felt a hot sting on her torn cheek and tasted blood in her mouth. She