Free Sing Fox to Me by Sarak Kanake Page B

pink, blue, yellow, purple and green, making new but sometimes greyish colours where they overlapped. Frozen together in a single moment, slithering over the mountain and town and island. Lifting up parts of the ground and pushing down others.
    â€˜I like the Snake better than the Big Bang,’ said Samson. ‘Or God.’
    â€˜Me too, mate,’ said Murray.
    Samson pointed to Murray’s shoulder. ‘Is that your bird?’
    â€˜He’s not mine. We’re more like brothers.’ He didn’t ask Samson if he wanted a pat, like he had with Jonah the night before.
    â€˜Better watch the Rainbow Snake doesn’t get him,’ said Samson.
    Murray smiled. ‘Old King? He’ll be fine.’
    â€˜How do you know about the Rainbow Snake?’
    â€˜From here and there.’ Murray glanced away, as though his answer wasn’t the entire answer.
    Samson wondered if he’d asked the wrong question. ‘Did your mum and dad tell you?’
    â€˜I don’t think they knew too much about that story,’ said Murray. ‘My dad’s parents died when he was young, and my mum was taken from hers. They both lived with lots of different families. Those families had stories of their own.’
    â€˜My dad said he knew you when he was my age?’
    Murray nodded. ‘And long before.’
    â€˜Was he your friend?’
    â€˜Not really. We spent too much time together to be friends.’
    Samson nodded, though he didn’t understand. ‘My dad’s gone,’ he said. The sign for gone was a hand brushing something away as if it didn’t matter.
    Murray wound in the line, this time using a reel instead of his hand. He tugged the rubber lure from around the hook and dropped it into the tackle box at his feet. The lure looked like jelly. Murray bent down, and King stepped around his shoulders. He closed the lid, clipped the latch and picked up the box by its handle.
    â€˜Can I come with you?’ asked Samson.
    Murray shook his head. ‘Sorry, mate, I’m heading home to have some tucker.’
    A dark, empty space opened at the bottom of Samson’s stomach. He hadn’t had his brekkie yet. The space growled.
    â€˜You’d better do the same, I reckon.’
    Samson patted his stomach like it was an animal he could calm down.
    Murray switched his tackle box from one hand to the other. ‘Be careful walking around here,’ he said. ‘Maybe you should head back … Go have a muck around with your brother.’
    â€˜Jonah doesn’t like playing.’
    â€˜Your dad didn’t either,’ said Murray slowly, almost like he wasn’t talking to Samson anymore. ‘Reckon you’ve got a bit more of her in you.’
    Samson wondered who ‘her’ was, but his chromosome was heavy, and Murray was gone before he thought to ask.
    Clancy sat at the kitchen table with four plates of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him, staring at the shadow of the hidden tiger. He waited for the boys until the breakfast was cold and tried not to think about the empty couch or his son’s missing bags. David had shot through, he was sure of it.
    The air felt thick with silence. Nothing moved until his panting dog walked into the kitchen and crawled under the table. Once there, she dropped her head onto his foot. It was his good leg – Queenie knew better than to try his crook one. Clancy gave her ears a scratch and wondered how the twins were coping with finding David gone.
    The twins were Clancy’s problem now, even though he wasn’t equipped to look after teenage boys on his own. He’d had a go with David, and look how that’d turned out. ‘We got ours, didn’t we, girl?’ he said quietly.
    Queenie sniffed loudly but didn’t move from his foot.
    Clancy wanted to go out and find the boys. He wanted to teach them to fish and build, chop wood and walk through the bush without disturbing the