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‘I guess I’m just tired from the trip home. Maybe I didn’t get over that bug as quickly as I thought.’

She noticed Cy looking at her as she ate only half her sandwich and left the rest on the plate. He’d eaten both of his and finished the glass of Coke.

‘It’s nearly eight o’clock. It’s probably not too early to go to bed,’ he suggested.

‘That sounds good. I’ll have a quick shower, then go to bed. I’ll get up early tomorrow and start work.’ Tarni stood and took Cy’s plate, and reached for his glass, but her hand was shaking too much, and she pulled it back.

‘I’ll bring the glasses in, and then leave you in peace,’ Cy said.

Tarni put the plates in the sink; she didn’t even have the energy to open the dishwasher. Her head was really pounding, and she was feeling quite nauseous. ‘Okay, I’ll see you in the morning. Thanks again for the weekend.’ She could barely get the words out.

Cy walked to the door. ‘Sleep well.’

As soon as the front door closed, Tarni bolted down the hall. She only just made it to the toilet before she vomited violently. When there was nothing left to bring up, she went to the bathroom and laid her hand on the sink, looking at her pale face, tears streaming from her eyes. If there was one thing she hated, it was vomiting, and she gagged as the nausea rose to her throat again.

Half an hour later, after being sick a dozen times, Tarni managed to wash her face and hands and put clean pyjamas on. She climbed into bed, feeling strange and a wave of dizziness hit her as she put her head on the pillow.

Chapter 35

McLaren Mango Farm - Sunday night

Tarni.

Some time through the night, Tarni’s legs jerked and cramped, and she woke with a start. It was pitch dark in her room, and the blinds were down. She’d put them up to let the moonlight in before she went to sleep.

Her mouth was dry, and she reached for the glass of water and drained it. Suddenly, strange red lights flickered around the wall of her room, and she looked at the window. The blind was up again; had a car come into the driveway?

She must’ve got out of bed and opened it when she woke up a minute ago.

Tarni lay there, her head aching; the ache went down her neck and into her back and down around her kidneys, and she knew she had to go to the bathroom soon.

She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep again, and then woke a short while later. There were noises in her room and banging in the hall. Buzzing noises came from outside the door, there was somebody out there.

Maybe it was Cy.

She really needed to go to the toilet. She sat up and pushed her hand on the side of the bed as she swung her legs over, and it was her sore hand; excruciating pain shot up her arm, and for a moment, she wondered if it was infected.

She felt along the wall for the light switch, but it wouldn’t come on when her fingers pushed it. Feeling her way around the room with her uninjured hand, she tried to find the door to the ensuite, but it had gone. There was no door in the wall now. Tears rolled down her face, and she slid to the floor. Crawling across the room, the door to the ensuite appeared in front of her. The pain in her kidneys was getting worse, and anxiety filled her chest as she wondered if she was going to die tonight.

Poor Cy. She couldn’t die, his father died this week.

Tarni pulled herself up onto the toilet and sat there, her feet cool on the bare tiles. Had she taken more painkillers? She couldn’t remember. Her eyelids started to droop, and she pushed herself up and flushed the toilet. She walked across to the basin but couldn’t find the taps, so she stumbled back to bed. She fell across it, and the world went black.

***

Cy

Cy was up at dawn; he’d had a restless night but forced himself to get up as soon as it was light. There were trenches to be dug. He glanced across at the house, half-expecting to see a light on in the kitchen, but it was in darkness. For a moment he considered going up there but he shook his head. He'd let Tarni sleep. She hadn’t looked well again last night. As much as he’d wanted to stay in the house, he’d done the gentlemanly thing last night and moved back to the shed. And it had been the right choice, Tarni had seemed keen for him to leave.

After three hours of digging, his muscles ached and he drove back up the shed, surprised to see it locked. Tarni must have gone up for morning tea. He glanced at his watch; it was almost ten.

Maybe she was sitting on the veranda upstairs. He checked that his keys were still in his pocket and hurried up the steps to the screen door, it was locked. He knocked, but there was no answer. Taking out his keys, he unlocked both doors, stepped inside, and called out.

‘Tarni? Are you there?’ He looked through the kitchen window to the veranda where they had tea last night, but it was empty.

He stood in the hall and listened. There was no sound of a shower running, and there was no movement. He walked quietly down the hall. He had left his door open, but Tarni’s bedroom door was still shut. He tapped on it gently. ‘Tarni, are you in there?’

There was no response, and his concern kicked in. He turned the door handle quietly and opened the door a fraction, just enough to put his head in and look around. The room was in darkness. The blind was down, but a small glimmer of sunlight illuminated the room enough for him to see that Tarni was still in bed.