Cassie Read Online Free PDF

arrive, anyway.’
    â€˜Make sure you order the chicken with cashew nuts. With fried rice.’
    â€˜Chicken for my chicken? No problem.’
    Holly thought she was too tired to sleep, but she closed her eyes anyway. In seconds she had fallen into a dream where Demi was handing out sleepover invitations to every girl in the school assembly. She was going down the lines, smiling and pressing gold-engraved cards into each hand. When she reached Holly she walked straight past. Didn’t even glance at her. Holly’s face flushed and she looked down into her lap at a plate of chicken and cashew nuts. The food was writhing with maggots. She yelled, threw it away and scrambled to her feet. Raph McDonald was standing directly in front of her, his designer jeans covered in white grubs and globs of fried rice. When he lifted his gaze and met Holly’s eyes, his were filled with hatred. He shouted her name over and over. ‘Holly, Holly, Holly.’ Then the whole assembly took up the chant, contempt dripping from each syllable. The Principal stood on the stage, clapping his hands and leading the whole school. ‘Holly, Holly, Holly.’
    â€˜Holly, Holly! They’re here. Come on, chicken. Shake a leg.’
    She sat straight up in bed, her heart hammering. For a second or two she had difficulty disentangling the dream from her mother’s voice. Then the world shifted into focus. She swung her legs off the bed. Her new bedroom was dark, but the smell seemed stronger. Holly fumbled her way to the door. A patch of light at the end of the corridor helped her make the shadow-choked journey to the kitchen. When she got there, it was empty. She walked the few steps to the open front door, rubbing sleep from her eyes. An unfamiliar car was parked at the kerb. The driver’s door hung open. A street lamp about twenty metres down the road cast a pale glow. Holly’s mother reached out and touched her sister’s face, then gathered her in, wrapped her up in a warm and welcoming hug.
    Holly took a deep breath and started down the front path.
    Holly
    My name is Holly Holley and I have no idea what to expect.
    I mean, Mum told me about Cassie and her cerebral palsy, but that’s not the same as experiencing it face to face. And my memory of the last time I saw Cassie is buried deeply in the shadows of childhood. I can’t resurrect more than vague images. I am nervous as I walk down the path.
    Mum and Aunty Fern are so locked together it’s like they have merged into one person. And they are both sobbing. Even when they break apart for a moment, they just look at each other, burst into sobs again and get straight back to the hugging. I hover, aware of a stupid smile on my face, and wonder if I need to get a crowbar from the garage.
    My eyes keep drifting towards the car, though. Adults hugging is not a great spectator sport at the best of times, but particularly under these circumstances. Even though the car’s interior light is on I can’t see much, because the lumpy beast that is my mum and Fern keeps shifting into my line of sight. There is a shape in the passenger seat, slumped with her head turned from me. It’s difficult to make out details and I don’t want to stare. When the hug fest finally finishes, Mum puts her hands on Aunty Fern’s shoulders and takes a step back to see her properly.
    â€˜You look fantastic, Fern,’ she says.
    â€˜Oh yeah,’ says Aunty Fern. ‘I’ve driven nine hundred kilometres today. I’m tired, dirty and it’s a good bet I look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. You need your eyes tested, sis.’ She glances in my direction and smiles. She does look tired. ‘And look at you, Holly,’ she adds. ‘My goodness, you’ve grown.’
    It must be eight years since I’ve seen her, so that isn’t altogether surprising. I don’t say that, though. Nor do I say that I might