‘Sure. I’ve got Lily here with me, actually.’
‘How’s she getting on?’
‘She’s just met Cindy.’
I hear a low-throated chuckle and Ben purses his lips, trying to keep a straight face.
‘Can you bring her back to the staffroom for lunch?’
‘Will do.’
‘Thanks, mate.’
One last crackle and the line goes dead.
‘You don’t have to look after me,’ I say quickly.
‘Come on,’ he replies, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners.
‘Where are we going?’
‘To get the devil food.’ I start to follow him along a path lined with low dense shrubs and grasses. ‘And you’re going to tell me how your mum and Michael’s date went last night,’ he adds.
‘Ha! Well, they seemed happy enough this morning.’
‘Sleep in the same room?’
‘That’s a bit nosy, isn’t it?’
He laughs. ‘That’s a yes, then.’
I tut at him before saying, ‘Come on then, your turn: who came first, the koala or my mum?’
‘What makes you think their names aren’t a coincidence?’
‘I don’t believe in coincidences.’
‘Alright then, Michael hooked up with her the week before Cindy was brought in.’
‘So you named the koala after my mum? I reckon she’d be flattered. Feel a bit sorry for the koala though. What happened to her? The koala, I mean.’
‘Her mother was hit by a car. Cindy got thrown off her back and the driver brought her in.’
The smile drops from my face. ‘The mother died?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘That’s terrible!’
He gives a little shrug. ‘It happens.’
We arrive at a small single-storey brick building with a green corrugated-iron roof. Ben unlocks the door and goes through, holding it back for me and simultaneously switching on the lights. A long row of fluorescents flicker into life, revealing a large room filled with bags of what I assume is animal feed. The air smells musty, but not unpleasant. Ben walks determinedly towards a fridge and pulls it open. He hands me a silver bowl from a nearby shelf.
‘Hold this, would you?’
‘What’s it for?’
‘Devil food.’ He pulls some furry yellow objects out of the fridge and puts them in the bowl. It takes a moment for it to register that the objects are dead chicks.
