She didn’t answer.
‘She … she’s my mother. And today’s the first day we’ve really talked for nearly fifteen years.’
‘I know.’ Anna’s reply was soft.
Justin spun to face her. ‘How?’ He immediately realised the answer. ‘She told you.’
Anna nodded. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m sad for you. For both of you.’
Sad? Justin turned to look at Anna. ‘I’m not sure it’s sad. It’s … well … the way our family is. Broken.’
‘And that’s not sad?’
He shrugged. He wasn’t feeling sad. Watching his mother sorting food for the injured animals had brought back memories he’d long tried to forget. Sitting in the car with his brother, waiting for their mother to collect food for the animals. Not getting his homework done because the twins were too young to be left home alone and there was a wombat somewhere in need of rescue. Listening to people praise their mother’s good work, while his stomach rumbled because they hadn’t had dinner yet. They were not sad memories. They were angry ones.
‘I’m sorry,’ Anna said. ‘It’s none of my business.’
‘That’s fine. It was just such a surprise to see her again after all these years.’
The silence between them was not exactly comfortable, but not uncomfortable either.
‘Well, I suppose I’d better see to my patients,’ Anna said.
‘Want some company? If it’s all right?’ Justin didn’t say that really he was the one who wanted some company. He didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. He didn’t want to start anticipating what he might say to Ben, because despite Ben’s distancing himself, the conversation with their mother would come up. And he didn’t want to face his brother until he had given himself some space.
‘Sure.’ The smile on Anna’s face was a genuine invitation, and Justin felt his mood lifting already.
Inside the tiny clinic, Anna stepped over the low enclosure to the large tree trunk and the koala he’d seen a few minutes ago. The creature was eating the leaves Carol had given it.
‘Carol brought him in last night,’ Anna said.
‘She told me he’d been mauled by a dog.’ That sounded so normal, as if he had conversations with his mother every day.
‘Yeah. It caught him on the ground.’ Anna gently picked the koala up and carried him to an examination table. Justin saw the wounds on the animal’s hind quarters. They were neatly stitched and covered in what he assumed was an antibacterial cream. The animal blinked, but didn’t struggle as Anna examined the wounds and applied more cream before putting the creature back in the fork of the trunk. ‘You’re going to be fine,’ she told the koala. ‘But you’re going to stay here until those stitches are ready to come out.’
For half a second, Justin almost expected the animal to reply. It didn’t, of course. It reached out with one paw and pulled some leaves close enough to munch.
‘You’d see a lot of injured animals in your job,’ Anna said as she pulled on a set of thick leather gloves.
‘Some. Usually we’re so busy we don’t have time until it’s too late. But we do what we can.’
‘We all do.’ Anna reached into a large wire cage and pulled out a huge white bird with one wing strapped tightly to its body. The cockatoo squawked its objection.
Justin understood the leather gloves as the bird grabbed at Anna’s hands with a powerful beak.
‘Oh, shush you. Mind your manners.’
The bird turned its head on one side to look up at her. The squawk this time was more of a squeak.
‘I should think so, too.’
As Anna checked the bird, Justin watched with fascination. Her hands were so sure. And kind.
The bird seemed to respond. It squawked again. ‘Pretty,’ it said.
Justin had to agree. Anna was pretty, despite the scar. He wanted to ask her what had happened, but he couldn’t. She had given him the privacy he needed with regard to his mother; could he show her any less courtesy?
‘Where did it learn to talk?’
