Читать книгу Of Things Gone Astray - Janina Matthewson - Страница 23

CASSIE HAD ALMOST STOPPED SEEING her surroundings. Her eyelids drooped and flickered, and although her gaze was still fixed on the arrivals gate, she was having trouble differentiating between the people who walked through it.

She was just becoming aware of an ache in her neck when a woman walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

‘Cass?’

Cassie gave a start and blinked a couple of times.

‘Oh, Mum. You didn’t have to come all the way out here.’

‘You stopped answering your phone. I was worried.’

‘No, I’m fine. I’m just waiting. I’ll wait here.’

‘Cass, I think you should come home.’

Cassie was so tired. Too tired to argue really, but she didn’t want to give in. She bit her lip and stared stubbornly at the gate.

‘It’s going to get late, love. You’ve been here for hours. Come home and we’ll figure out what’s happened. Maybe she’s going to come tomorrow. You can come back tomorrow. I’ll come with you.’

Cassie swallowed.

‘You must be hungry, Cass. There’s dinner at home. I did a crumble.’

Cassie breathed in deeply and closed her eyes.

‘Come on. We’ll sort it out in the morning.’

Cassie sighed and took her mother’s arm. ‘I can’t move,’ she said. ‘I can’t move my feet.’

They both looked down at Cassie’s feet. The brown leather of her sandals had become rough as bark. Her skin had merged with them and her toes had put forth roots into the floor. She was growing into the ground.