The Crocodile Bird Read Online Free Page A

“About her killing someone.”
    “It was yesterday, after I came back from meeting you in the wood. Or I think so. I mean I didn’t actually see it, but I know she killed him.”
    “Come on, love.” An awkward grin. “I don’t believe you.”
    It left her helpless, she had no idea how to respond to this. She drank a few mouthfuls out of the open triangle in the top of the can. Eve had once told her that when a cat is in doubt how to act, it waves the tip of its tail. She felt like a cat but with no tail to wave. He must make the next move, for she couldn’t.
    He got up and took a few steps away. The caravan was too small for more than a few steps to be taken. She drank some more of her Coke, watching him.
    “Why did you say that,” he said, “about her killing somebody? Was you kidding? Was you trying to be funny?”
    “It’s true.”
    “It can’t be.”
    “Look, Sean, I didn’t make it up. It’s why I came away. I didn’t want them to take me and shut me up, make me live somewhere. I knew they’d come this time. This time they’d find out and it wouldn’t take long. I was expecting them all night.”
    His naturally pale face had gone whiter. She noticed and wondered why. “You mean she killed someone by accident, don’t you?”
    “I don’t understand what that means.” It was a sentence she was often obliged to utter since she had been with him.
    “She was shooting birds and she shot someone by mistake, is that it? You told me she wouldn’t never kill birds or rabbits, you told me that when we first met.”
    Only the last four words really registered with her. They made her smile, remembering. She slithered down the bed, jumped off, and put her arms around him. “Wasn’t it lovely that I met you and you met me? It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
    This time it was he who pulled away from the embrace. “Yes, love, okay, it was great. But you’ve got to tell me. About this killing, this is serious, right? What happened? Was it some guy poaching?”
    “No,” she said, “no, you don’t understand.”
    “Too bloody right I don’t and I won’t if you don’t tell me.”
    “I’ll try.” She sat down and he sat down and she held his hand. “She murdered him, Sean. People do do that, you know.” It seemed a wild and curious statement for her to be making. “She murdered him because she wanted to be rid of him. She wanted him out of the way, it doesn’t matter why, it’s not important now.”
    This time he didn’t say he disbelieved her but, “I can’t credit it.”
    What had Eve said? “Then you must just accept.”
    “Who did she murder?”
    She could tell from his tone that he still thought she was lying. That made her impatient.
    “It doesn’t matter. A man. No one you know. Sean, it’s the truth, you have to believe me.” She was learning truths of her own. “I can’t be with someone who thinks I’m telling him lies.” From delighted laughter, she was near to tears. She sought for a way out. “I can’t prove it. What can I do to make you believe it?”
    He said in a low voice, “I sort of do believe you—now.”
    “I’ll tell you all about it.” She was eager. She took hold of his shoulders and brought her face close up to his. “I’ll tell you everything, if you like, from when I was small, from when I can first remember.”
    He kissed her. When her face was as close to his as that, he couldn’t resist kissing her. His tongue tasted of the caramel sweetness of Coke as she supposed hers must. They were on the bed, that was where you sat in the caravan, and her body grew soft, sliding backward, sinking into the mattress, she was wanting him as much as she had when she first arrived that morning. He pulled her up, grasping her hands.
    “I want you to tell me, Liza. I want to know everything about you. But not now. Now tell me what your mum did.”
    Being frustrated made her sulky. “What’s the good? You won’t believe it.”
    “I will,