Read Online Touching Earth Lightly by Margo Lanagan - Free Book Online

do. I already talk to her. Bette, her name is, with an E, like Bette Midler. She’s on her own, too. Maybe
she
can’t form lasting relationships either. No, that’s not true. Thirty-five years she was married to, what’s his name? Stan. Stan,’ she added with a false-toothed whistle. ‘Bless him. He’s with the angels now.’
    ‘Oh no, like that, is she?’
    ‘No. I’m just being silly. God, look at that salad.’ She pulled the bowl towards her and beamed at Chloe.
    Chloe watched her eat, feeling severe, like her Personal Nutrition Monitor. ‘So, will Bass come back tonight, you think?’
    ‘Probably. Can I not-be-home at your place?’
    ‘Sure. Long as you leave my brothers alone.’
    ‘How about your gorgeous dad? He’s so kissable with his grizzly little beard, so cute! And he’s so happy all the time.’ She sighed at the mystery of it.
    ‘Janey.’
    ‘It’s okay. I’ll be good.’
    ‘Promise
now
. This is the rule, to keep you in line later, when you stop thinking.’
    ‘Okay. I promise. I won’t touch. I won’t even flirt. I’m not really—you know—anyway. Wrong time of the month. It was only because they were there, last night.’
    ‘Good. We’ll watch a video and have hot milk and wear flannelette pyjamas.’
    ‘Cor, you guys really know how to live.’

    ‘So have you been home since?’ said Dane, efficiently stirring the coals and putting the poker back on its hook.
    ‘Nope. I shouldn’t need to. I’ve had everything changed, Social Security and that.’ Janey and Chloe sat at the table eating slabs of a cake they’d just made. ‘I’m eighteen now; there’s no need for them to know where I am.’
    ‘They might still try to find out.’ Dane sat down with them and took a gulp of coffee.
    ‘Oh yeah, well … They won’t go to the cops, anyway.’ Janey took another enormous bite of cake.
    ‘I can see Nathan getting it into his head to hunt for you and follow you home,’ said Chloe.
    ‘Nah, he hardly steps outside the house—oops.’ A spray of crumbs had hit the table. She started to pick them up with a licked fingertip. ‘I mean, he goes to work, but apart from that he just stays in his room with his
Penthouse,
or watches television. Oh, he’s started going to a gym, too.’ Chloe made a face. ‘Anyway, I thought about that, I told you.’ Janey winked at her.
    Chloe grinned. ‘Janey’s thinking of changing her appearance,’ she told her father.
    ‘Look at him!’ Janey laughed. ‘He’s thinking, “Well, she couldn’t make herself look any
worse
!” Aren’t you, Dane?—it’s written all over your face! You can’t get out of it!’
    Dane put on a blisteringly innocent look, then said, ‘Change I can imagine. What I
can’t
imagine is Janey looking inconspicuous.’
    ‘Like, normal?’ Janey kept on laughing.
    ‘Well, I can’t imagine walking past you and not noticing you.’
    ‘Ah, it’s just this hair, and all the make-up.’
    ‘Um, and sometimes the clothes,’ Chloe reminded her. ‘Like, the vinyls.’
    ‘Yeah, I guess. Anyone else want more cake?’ She picked up her plate and went into the kitchen.
    Isaac came down from Nick’s room, gave his expressionless nod to Chloe and Dane and left a pile of books on the table. He took two mugs out to the kitchen. He and Janey said hi, and Janey came back. Without looking at it she picked upthe top book in her sticky fingers. She started leafing through it automatically. Chloe watched her switch from vague to sighted.
    ‘Well, you know, I can just not wear the vinyls,’ she said doubtfully, and was gone into the book, scowling.
    Chloe peered across. ‘What is it?’
    Janey’s head joggled. ‘Leaves, walls, piles of rocks. They’re—who is this guy?’ She checked the cover. ‘Some kind of artist.’ She gave a little disbelieving hoot of laughter and leafed more slowly, and leafed back, and began reading captions, one by one, and searching the black and white photographs.
    ‘Ja-ney!’ Chloe