Free Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett Page B

grew back. It was missing bits. There was no moss or ferns or dark hardwood trees.
     Just tall scrappy gum trees and grasses and shrubs.
    They climbed a small hill and from the top Harry could see the bigger blue hills in the distance. A sea of blue forest going
     on forever. But below, in the valley, the layout of the land was clear. There were paddocks, old wooden stump posts, old sheds.
     Andas they got closer, Harry could see the blackened stone foundations of a building. A house. The brick chimney still standing
     but slightly crumpled on one side where bricks had fallen loose.
    George put his backpack down, got out some hessian sacks and handed one to Harry. And Harry could smell them, the red apples
     sweet and bubbling, ripe to bursting. It didn’t take long before his sack was heavy with them. He could only reach the low
     branches, but the old orchard was so overgrown, the trees weighted and full. Rotten fruit was thick on the ground. He’d better
     watch out for snakes because there would be rats around – he’d heard some scurrying before, and Jake was barking and running
     like mad. Chasing rats and taking bites of fallen apples. He had one in his mouth now and he brought it over. It was slimy
     and half rotten, but Harry took it anyway. He chucked it as far as he could and Jake leapt after it.
    Harry looked up at George.
    ‘Is this your place?’ he asked suddenly.
    George let his full sack rest down against the earth. He looked at Harry. ‘Yes,’ he said.
    ‘Where you grew up?’
    He nodded. He picked up the sack again.
    It was time for lunch.

    Harry had taken his jumper off while they were picking and he’d enjoyed the winter sun on his bare arms, but now that he was
     sitting down he was cold again. George lit a fire, poured some water from his flask into the billy. He got out some bread
     and, using a large rock as a cutting board, cut a few rough slices. Jake got up from where he was lying and moved closer to
     the food. There was butter and some smoked orange fish that looked sticky. It glistened like it had been varnished. Harry
     didn’t like smoked fish but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to be rude.
    He watched George put some butter on the bread then a thick slice of fish. Then he took an apple out of his pocket, cut some
     thin slices and laid them on top of the fish. Harry took the bread in his hands. He could smell the fish but he was hungry,
     so he closed his eyes and took a bite. It was salty but sweet, too, and with the apple and the butter it tasted good.
    The water in the billy started bubbling. George added loose tea and took the billy off the fire using a stick. When the metal
     handle had cooled down a bit, he grabbed it in his hand and swung the billy from side to side with quick, sharp movements.
     He poured the black tea into the two white, chipped tinmugs and there was no loose tea in them. Not even one leaf.
    There was no milk, but Harry didn’t mind. The warm mug in his hand and the fire were making him feel good. Good and warm and
     tired. He looked around at the old farm. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask George, like why don’t you live here
     instead of in a marshy paddock? And how did the fire start that burned down the house? But he only asked one question.
    ‘Do you remember your mum and dad?’
    George nodded his head slowly. He put his cup down and rolled up his sleeves. Harry saw for the first time that George’s scars
     weren’t just on his hands and face. The bubbled white and pink shiny skin went all the way up both arms.
    ‘Sometimes I don’t remember,’ Harry said. ‘Sometimes I can’t remember Mum.’
    He caught glimpses of her in his head, just a flash every now and then and he tried hard to hold onto them. But he wasn’t
     sure he knew the lady in the photographs at home. He wasn’t sure he knew her.
    ‘Dad doesn’t like me very much,’ he said.
    George finished his tea in one big gulp and put his cup down again next