Free Vulture's Gate by Kirsty Murray Page B

All winged creatures are horrible,’ she said. ‘They make a fluttering noise and it fills your head until you feel mad and tortured. Wings make my flesh creep.’
    Callum left the corpse and lay back down beside her without speaking. Bo clung grimly to her pistol but when another nightbird wheeled overhead, she didn’t fire. He didn’t know what to say to her. She seemed foreign again but also forlorn. He turned and put his face against hers so they were almost touching. Then he blinked slowly, his long eyelashes brushing against her cheek.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ she asked.
    â€˜Giving you a butterfly kiss.’
    â€˜What is a butterfly?’
    â€˜It’s a tiny insect with soft wings. That was meant to feel like the brush of its wings.’
    Bo put a hand to her cheek. ‘Why did you do that?’
    â€˜Not everything with wings is horrible.’
    At dawn, the salt lake was coppery pink. For the first time since they had met, Callum woke before Bo. He sat up and scanned the lake. There was something moving across its surface, as if walking or gliding on the water. He blinked and realised it was Mr Pinkwhistle. What was he doing up before Bo? He never went anywhere before she activated him for the day. Then Callum realised the roboraptor had something in his jaws and was shaking it, as if trying to snap it in two. Suddenly, Ruff and Rusty’s voices drifted across the lake.
    â€˜Peggy!’ shouted Callum. ‘He’s killing Peggy!’
    Bo was beside him in an instant, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She whistled for the roboraptor and he came skittering across the pink lake, sending thousands of flecks of silvery water into the air.
    â€˜Bad!’ she shouted as he skidded to a stop in front of them. ‘Bad food!’
    In his mouth were the mangled remains of Peggy the iPenguin. Fragments of Ruff and Rusty’s voices squeaked out of her interface and then they stopped altogether.
    â€˜Drop!’ said Bo. But it was too late. One of Peggy’s glass eyes dangled from its socket and a long, thick wad of stuffing fell from her body. The interface in her belly was completely shattered. Callum stared down in horror at the tangled mess. Mr Pinkwhistle’s long tail swished back and forth, as if he was pleased with himself.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ said Bo.
    Callum couldn’t tell her it was all right because it wasn’t. Peggy was the last token of his lost childhood and now she was gone. He turned away and trudged back to the campsite. He didn’t want Bo to see him cry.
    He barely noticed when Bo came up behind him and touched his shoulder. She didn’t say anything but she stood close to him. Gently, she took his head in her hands. When their faces were almost touching, she brushed his cheek with her eyelashes, a butterfly kiss that swept away the last of his tears.

13
    THE HIDDEN VALLEY
    Callum kept a close eye on the Daisy-May’s sensors, and while Bo focused on the road he watched to make sure they were safe. When the monitors indicated another vehicle approaching, he tapped Bo on her thigh. She steered the bike off-road so they could wait in sheltering scrub for the strangers to pass. It slowed their progress and the days slipped into weeks but they didn’t want to risk making contact with anyone. Red sand was replaced by sandy yellow soil. Occasional gum trees began to pepper the roadside. Finally the country turned from desert scrub to forest.
    One warm afternoon after a long day of travel, they found a sheltered dry riverbed in which to camp. Bo lifted Mr Pinkwhistle out of the pannier and set him on a rock to soak up the last of the day’s sunlight before sending him out to hunt. Callum was anxious that they start scouring the surrounding country for succulents to feed the Daisy-May’s still and was glad to see the roboraptor disappear into the scrub.
    They returned to camp as darkness fell with only a small string