Free Heart of Danger by Fleur Beale

a boyfriend, so I held my tongue even though I wanted to talk about him, tell her how wonderful it was to have somebody love me. I wondered if she and Oban would suit each other. He was different from Ivor – more serious perhaps. Back on Taris I’d always imagined that Oban would be like the man we’d seen in a documentary who rode to victory on a motorbike in a race through wild country. He’d had to overcome danger and face death. I’d thought it was romantic, but Marba said, after the fourth time we’d seen it, ‘I just don’t get why somebody would want to do that. It isn’t logical to risk your life for a taste of excitement.’ I could still recall how wistful Oban sounded as he said, ‘I totally get it.’ He might suit Ginevra very well. I would arrange a meeting between them. It would be easy enough while he was staying with us.
    As the afternoon wore on, Ginevra worked more and more slowly, caught up in my stories of Taris. At last she said, ‘Thank you, Juno. This is the best time I’ve had since my mother died.’
    ‘Please do come over and meet my family.’ I tugged her to her feet.
    ‘I promise, but I won’t come while you’re all so worried about Hera.’
    We walked back to return our kneelers, and I was ashamed of my matchmaking thoughts. Her mother had only been gone a short time, probably about as long as Grif. It was much too soon to be thinking about boyfriends.
    Before I left school I found Willem to ask him if the police had called back. They had, but only to say they’d found no trace of the girl. It was what I’d expected. These people would be experts in the art of hiding.
    I ran home without Ivor beside me, aware that Jethro had been right to separate us. If we’d been together, I’d have kept right on worrying about Hera and wanting to be home. Talking to Ginevra had taken my thoughts away from the useless worrying. I would have to remember that we weren’t the only ones dealing with difficult matters.
    Mother, Danyat and Hera were busy in the garden when I got home. All appeared calm. But as soon as Mother saw me, she ran over to hug me. ‘Tell us everything, Juno.’
    I had to repeat the news later when Oban arrived in a dead heat with Ivor. My eyes filled with tears at the sight of the boy I loved. He put his arms around me. ‘Everything will be okay, babe. Don’t stress.’
    It was nice of him to say so, to try to comfort me, but the danger I felt around us didn’t diminish.
    Oban was frowning. ‘I hope you’re right, Ivor, but we need to do all we can to make sure that things will be okay.’
    Ivor shook his head and let out a bark of laughter. ‘Lighten up, man!’ He looked around at the four of us. ‘Listen, aren’t you all over-reacting? So what if a girl turns up and gets the thumbs-down from the little kids?’ He shrugged. ‘It’s happened enough times before, and it’ll happen again.’
    Oban’s voice was cold as he said, ‘And how many others have spoken of searching for …?’ He stopped, his eyes on Hera. ‘And spoken of a sacrifice?’
    Mother stood up. ‘Ivor, we can’t ignore it. We mustn’t. But we will not speak of it now. Please – stay and eat with us.’
    Ivor made it easy for us not to speak of it by keeping us entranced with stories of life in Aotearoa and Fairlands School. I would not have thought it possible that my family and Oban would spend the evening laughing, but we did and it was good.
    Ivor hadn’t left by the time I excused myself to log on for my learning stratum meeting just before nine. He frowned at me with a fierce, exaggerated scowl. ‘I’m the one here on the spot.’ He tapped his chest. ‘Talk to me. How can they help you? I don’t like to be the one to break it to you, but they’re miles away. All of them.’
    I knew he was joking so I didn’t try to explain. ‘Go away.’ I pushed him towards the door. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
    Oban closed the front door behind him. ‘Be careful, Juno. He