Bones of Contention Read Online Free PDF Page B

them, blocking the sun. Dinah began to feel claustrophobic, as if she were being swallowed down the gullet of some strange animal. The trees, the colors, the smells—everything seemed alien and forbidding. Maybe that’s why Cleon had brought the paintings with him. Maybe they reminded him of home. In any case, the paintings were his. If they soothed him or took some of the sting out of dying, who was she to criticize?
    On the other hand, she felt amply justified in criticizing Lucien. “What was so all-fired important that Lucien couldn’t trouble himself to meet me, Eddie? I mean, I know he said not to come. I know he doesn’t want me emoting all over the place, but Cleon’s been good to me. I owe him. Lucien should respect that.”
    “There was a small mishap the day after we arrived here from Sydney.” He slowed down and his voice went flat. “Now don’t freak out on me, okay? It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
    A queasy sensation roiled her insides. “What haven’t you told me?”
    “Lucien was bitten by a death adder, Dinah. He’s laid up with a catheter in his leg.”

Chapter Five
    Crow Hill Lodge loomed at the end of the track like a Wild West fort, a dark, near windowless box of rough-hewn logs seemingly carved out of the forest by somebody in a hurry. A few stumps scattered about the clearing added to the sense of frontier expediency. The only thing that looked modern was the white metal roof, agleam in the late afternoon sun.
    Eddie pulled the Charade up close behind a line of other dusty cars and cut the engine. Dinah tore at the door handle.
    “There’s no need to be frantic. Lucien’s going to be fine. He got the antivenin in time. I wouldn’t have left his side for an instant if he were in danger.”
    “I know you wouldn’t, Eddie. But I have to see him with my own eyes. Right now.” She got out and started for the front door.
    A gangling boy of about fourteen with rebellious eyes and an unruly mop of brown hair rounded the corner of the house. He’d grown a foot since she last saw him, but it was unmistakably Thad, the male half of Cleon’s twins with Neesha.
    “They’re here,” he called over his shoulder and chucked a rock at a cawing crow. The terrorized bird broke across the housetop and Dinah remembered why she’d never liked Thad.
    “Hi, Thad. Long time no see.”
    “I’m cool with that.”
    Twerp, she thought as she bounded up the steps and onto the small covered porch.
    Thad’s sister, a smug-faced nymphet with long straight hair parted in the middle and an air of congenital entitlement, opened the door. As she did, a ball of yipping white fluff streaked out of the house and hurled itself against Dinah’s legs.
    “Cantoo, leave it!”
    It crossed Dinah’s mind that she’d been unwashed and uncombed for so many hours that she might actually be mistaken for an “it.” She pushed on through the door with the yipping, sniffing dog riding on her shoe tops.
    “Kate deBeau, you’ve shot up like a weed.”
    “That’s such a cliché. Can’t you think of anything else that’s tall?”
    Noxious weed, thought Dinah, reminded why she didn’t like this one either.
    “Mother thinks I should become a model, but I intend to be a famous writer and I’d prefer you call me K.D.”
    “Catchy.” Dinah didn’t anticipate enough social back-and-forth with the twit to call her anything. “Where’s Lucien?”
    “Upstairs.” K.D. called out to her twin. “It’s your turn to take Cantoo for a walk, Thad. Do be mature and accept responsibility.”
    “Eat snot,” he shouted back and scuffed off down the lane.
    Eduardo bustled through the door carrying her suitcase in one hand and his Ned Kelly in the other. He dropped the suitcase, yoo-hooed for somebody named Mackenzie, and took Dinah by the hand. “Allons, cherie.”
    He led her through a dusky foyer and up a flight of narrow wooden stairs. There was a dank, fungal smell suggestive of a long wet season, the other extreme of