Red Queen Read Online Free PDF

a uni thing; not serious. I’m not much of a singer – as you’ve probably heard.’
    I lowered the lid of the box and looked at her. ‘How many times did you come inside?’
    ‘I liked listening to you play, Shannon. I’d sit up the top of the bluff at night and just listen to you. I don’t think I would have tried to approach if it hadn’t been for your guitar. It was something from before. So strange out there. You know?’
    I did know. But I didn’t know about her angled head, her calm expression, the way she used our names. Had I forgotten how close people stood, or was she one step within the circle?
    ‘What do you think will happen?’ I asked.
    She looked away, past my shoulder. ‘I think it won’t ever be the same. I’m afraid it won’t ever be the same.’
    ‘So am I.’

    While I made dinner she sat at the bench.
    She followed my movements in the kitchen as if I was an impoverished Jamie Oliver and she was entitled to analyse my cooking methods.
    ‘How old is Rohan?’ she asked.
    ‘Um … thirty-eight.’
    ‘Did he lose children?’
    ‘He wasn’t married. We lost Mum and Dad though.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’
    ‘They built this place,’ I said. ‘They should be here. Dad had a different end-of-the-world theory every week. I swear he was almost pleased at the first serious outbreak.’
    ‘They probably built it more for the both of you, for their children.’
    ‘Yeah.’
    She grew quiet. I turned and looked at her.
    ‘Do you need to lie down?’ I asked.
    ‘No, I’m all right. Pretty hungry.’ She held up her hands to show how much they were shaking. ‘The smell doesn’t help.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘Food, hey.’
    ‘I know.’
    ‘It’s all you think about. I’ll never forget the smell of this place when I found it – cooked meat, like you’d had a BBQ. God.’
    ‘When was that?’
    Her eyes moved past me and her answer petered off. ‘Just a few weeks …’
    Rohan walked in from the lounge room.
    ‘Spent that time making sure we weren’t psychopaths?’ he demanded, ‘doing your own little character studies? Not the sort of people to follow you with guns and get you working in the yard. Refuse to let you leave? Not like that?’
    I shot a dark look at Rohan.
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘might as well be honest about the situation. It might be all smiles over the fried-up vegies but if you don’t understand the importance of the boundaries, it won’t be so friendly. In fact I’ll be perfectly clear, so no-one can use the excuse of ignorance. Denny,’ he said, looking at her. ‘If you leave and try to come back again, or put us under any risk whatsoever of contamination, I’ll shoot you.’
    ‘There’s no need to say that!’ I said.
    ‘I think there is.’
    ‘We all understand.’
    ‘Do we?’
    ‘Denny’s been out there – more than we have. She knows, for Christ’s sake.’
    Rohan’s mouth curled. ‘You speak for her now? That was quick.’
    I looked at Denny. Her gaze was fixed to one side, away from me. Rohan moved and I watched her eyes swing to follow him. I breathed and it wouldn’t fill me. But just as I gritted my teeth, seeing now how it would be, Denny lifted her gaze to me. With Rohan down the hall, away from us, she smiled.
    And I settled with the sight of it – stupidly, like a pup, I softened in an instant because of the approval of her smile. She brought a finger to her lips.
    While Rohan washed in the bathroom, Denny and I held eye contact. The message wasn’t clear, but when we heard Rohan coming, and broke our connected stare, I felt time had skipped forward and back for us, and we had instant history. Denny and I had fast-tracked to a place way beyond Rohan. And he’d never catch up. I was very confident of this.

THE U NDERSTANDING
    1
    THE SUN WAS low and the three of us were standing on the veranda. I leant on the rail, my mind out there with the sheep while my body tuned unconsciously to Denny’s presence. She stood behind me.
    I knew