The Golden Day Read Online Free Page A

did the Dreamtime.’ She counted them off with her fingers.
    ‘I hate myths,’ said Martine.
    ‘Ah, but you don’t really know about the Dreamtime,’ said Morgan, pulling a cigarette from his top pocket, ‘if you haven’t seen these caves.’
    ‘Are you an Aborigine?’ asked Cynthia.
    An Aborigine! The little girls had never met an Aborigine. But no. Morgan tapped the cigarette on the back of his hand. No, he said, no he wasn’t, but as a child he had spent time with a tribe and they had taught him many things.
    ‘Where did the tribe live?’ asked Icara.
    ‘In the outback,’ said Morgan.
    ‘Where in the outback?’ persisted Icara.
    Miss Renshaw was annoyed.
    ‘Don’t interrupt, Icara,’ she said sharply. ‘Allow Morgan to finish what he was telling you.’
    Don’t interrupt, don’t interrupt, listen to Morgan. Morgan is a special person, you girls are lucky to know him.
    ‘You are extremely lucky, today,’ said Miss Renshaw, not allowing Morgan to finish what he was saying, ‘because Morgan is going to take us to one of these hidden caves.’
    The little girls stared.
    ‘They are in a very secret place, but he will lead us there.
    A secret place. We will be privileged to see some ancient sacred paintings, from the Dreamtime.’
    They sat silent as snails.
    ‘I think I can trust you, each one of you.’ Miss Renshaw paused. ‘I hope you understand.’
    It’s our little secret, isn’t it, girls?
    ‘Now?’ asked Bethany, her eyes large, large, larger.
    ‘Right now,’ said Morgan, standing up in his big work boots and his straw hat. He put the cigarette in his mouth and took out a lighter from his pocket.
    ‘Come along, girls,’ said Miss Renshaw, crisp and eager, getting up, brushing the grass from the skirt of her dress. ‘On your feet.’
    ‘I don’t want to go, Miss Renshaw,’ said Bethany.
    Miss Renshaw paid no attention. After all, Bethany never wanted to go anywhere.
    ‘I’m scared of caves,’ pleaded Bethany. ‘Please can I stay behind?’
    ‘Don’t be silly, Bethany,’ Miss Renshaw replied. ‘Nobody is staying behind. Come on, on your feet and follow Morgan.’
    ‘Are you a hippie, Morgan?’ the tallest Elizabeth asked him as she stood up, shaking her legs to get rid of the pins and needles.
    ‘Hippies are only in America,’ said Cynthia.
    ‘No they’re not,’ retorted Elizabeth. ‘Remember, we saw some in Hyde Park.’
    It was true, they had seen hippies in Hyde Park when Miss Renshaw took them into town to the Australian Museum. A group of people were lying on blankets, with hair as long as Rapunzel’s and dresses down to their feet, even the men, and they had no shoes, and played guitars and tambourines, and they were selling strings of multicoloured beads and necklaces made out of watermelon seeds.
    But Morgan had not heard the question. Already he was striding ahead towards the water, like the cat with the seven-league boots.
    ‘Come along, quickly now, girls,’ cried Miss Renshaw. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.’
    The sky which had seemed so vastly blue a moment before now had mysteriously clouded over and the air had a purple light, like dying lavender on a hot, hot day. Even the air seemed to smell of lavender to Cubby, like the very old ladies that sat in the back of the church with their walking sticks and their black velvet bags.
    She looked over at Bethany, at her little face, pale and creased. And quite suddenly, Cubby did feel afraid.

FIVE

Schoolgirl and Shadow
    I T WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO SAY NO , in any case. We must all work together for the common good, said Miss Renshaw. So the eleven little girls, half-reluctant and half-eager, including Bethany, followed Morgan along the pathway towards the shore, beyond the edges of the Ena Thompson Memorial Gardens.
    ‘I hope this isn’t going to take hours,’ said Georgina. ‘We’d better be back in time for playlunch.’
    They all knew what she meant. Every playlunch Georgina