Riley hugs him.
‘Ow,’ he says. ‘Too tight.’
‘Sorry.’ Riley lets him go. She presses the heel of her hand quickly into each eye to stop the tears. ‘Let’s keep going, Oliver Olive.’
There are fireflies high in the ruined ceiling of the house and Oliver shouts and points at them. It’s wonderful that he still feels like that every time he sees a firefly.
When they reach the sunken garden she turns his head away from the bloodstained chair. ‘We just got to get down there, ok?’ She lowers him gently by the arms then hands him the flashlight. She tries to let herself down slowly but her fingers go weak and lose their grip. Riley falls hard to the earth.
‘Riley? Riley?’ Oliver’s face is shadowed and worried as he trains the flashlight on her.
‘It’s ok,’ she says, recovering her breath. ‘We just get up again, right?’
‘Right,’ he says. ‘This place is fun. And it smells nice.’
‘It sure does,’ Riley says after a moment. She pushes herself upright with a grunt. ‘Give me the flashlight and hold my hand. Don’t let go, ok?’
Oliver nods. Together they push through the lilac and into the tunnel. The walls are rough, carved through limestone. Mica glitters in some places on the walls. It’s probably the course of a long-gone river. Riley sees a pile of deer droppings on the rock floor and feels another wash of relief. Whatever this passage is, living things use it.
Oliver and Riley walk for a time, hand in hand. It’s good just to be together. The torchlight moves in a ball of yellow on the path ahead.
‘Riley,’ Oliver says, eventually. ‘I didn’t mean to—’
‘Oliver Olive,’ she says. ‘You didn’t want to lie and that’s a good thing. Promise me that you’ll never worry about that again. You didn’t do anything wrong. Ok?’
‘Ok.’ He holds her hand even tighter.
‘I want to tell you some things,’ Riley says. ‘They’re really important. Are you ready?’
She feels him nod.
‘Firstly,’ Riley says, ‘I should have taken you to a doctor, to look at your leg. It’s still not good. I can smell it. So the first thing you have to do is go to a doctor. Ok?’
‘Ok,’ he says. ‘Yeah, it does kind of hurt.’
‘You’ve been really brave.’ She swallows. ‘Secondly, Mom loved you very much, and it wasn’t her fault, all the stuff that happened at the end. She was sick. All she had for you was love. As for me, I love you so much that it takes up my whole body. Ok?’
‘Ok.’
‘Sometimes, in your life, people will tell you that they can save you. They can’t. They just want something.’
‘Ok ok ok!’ He kicks a pebble.
‘Stop that. And never,’ says Riley, ‘never ever smoke. Ok? Never.’
‘I won’t!’ Oliver says, wounded.
Riley swipes her eyes again. ‘And never buy anything from the top shelf of those small non-chain grocery stores. The top shelf is always out-of-date stuff. You’ll be able to tell from the dust. Always buy at eye level. That’s the stuff they replace. Ok?’ She is shaking now. She can smell fresh air ahead, the woods. They are nearly there.
‘Riley,’ Oliver whispers, ‘is it going to be ok?’
‘Of course,’ she says. ‘Let’s get out of here. You want to look at some stars?’
The tunnel entrance is lined with rough briar and tree roots. ‘Hold tight,’ Riley says. ‘Up we go.’ She boosts Oliver up and haulsherself up after. She thinks for a moment she won’t make it, but she does, just.
Above, through the rustling canopy, the stars are spilled burning across the sky. Riley feels lighter and lighter, like she’s about to float. Or fly.
‘We can take some time,’ she says. ‘Let’s wait ’til dawn.’ It’s not far off, she can feel it in the air. She sits on a boulder. ‘Shall we tell stories?’
