Six (21 page)

After the service there was tea and cake. I tried to talk to Poppy a few times then, but she was so upset that I knew it was too soon.

THAT SUMMER, OUR last summer of school holidays, was the best summer of my life. And though time could not stand still and took us to a place that we would never have imagined, it’s a time I will think of fondly.

Some nights I go to Poppy’s house and wait for her to come and open the side door. I go inside and listen as she speaks to her beloved pet, Hootie, or cries softly into her pillow.

It seems Poppy has had the last laugh on me. Her and her talk of auras and the spirit world and seeing into the future. She’d been ill on the night of the accident. Up in my room, she’d had a headache and I’d dismissed it as too much alcohol. Maybe she really did have a premonition. Maybe her body had been warning her, but she’d failed to see the warning signs. As I had too, always the non-believer.

I miss talking to Poppy and sometimes I try, but she is still not ready to hear me. At the moment I am a shadow on her peripheral vision, just out of reach.

Acknowledgements:

An author is only one part of a team responsible for creating that tangible thing called a ‘book’. I really want to take the time to thank everyone.

At bdb

To AK, who was there are at the beginning, who showed me a street directory and pointed me in the right direction.

To MAB, whose editorial suggestions made sense of things and added a final polish.

To designer Regine Abos for such a glossy duco.

To Sophie Splatt who added an extra layer of polish to the cover.

To Coco Watanabe’s last-minute research that kept me on track.

To Gitsi, for driving sales.

To Jessica Tran who keeps the wheels turning and Kevin who makes sure I have enough petrol money.

To Barb Burton for the fine tuning and the team at Murdoch for taking
Six
for a test drive out into the world.

But, most of all, to my navigator, Misch, who cleaned out the rubbish, added some oil and polished the windscreen — couldn’t have done it without you.

At home

Thanks to my readers — Bernie, Dee, Joy, Caity and Bryce (a first) — for their comments and enthusiasm.

Thanks to my author community — Ananda, Bernadette, Carole, Corinne and Sue — who help make sense of this crazy thing called ‘writing’.

Thanks to my children, as always, a constant source of inspiration.

And, of course, to Chris, my rock.

For my sister
who has been there, done that
—K.T
.

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