Page 17 of The Missing Sister

‘Chrissie, please don’t go out too far!’ she shouted. ‘I don’t want you getting into trouble, ’cos I’m not strong enough to save you.’

As usual, Chrissie took no notice of her, and eventually, CeCe swam back to shore and lay down on the sand to dry off.

‘Your mate’s quite a swimmer, isn’t she?’ said Tony, who had also come out of the water and sat down next to her. ‘What happened to her leg?’

CeCe told him how Chrissie had lost her leg when she was fifteen, due to complications with meningitis, which had led to septicaemia.

‘Before that,’ CeCe sighed, ‘she was the best swimmer in all of Western Australia. She was about to try out for the Olympic team.’

‘Life’s a bitch sometimes, isn’t it? It’s good ta see she’s still at it, though, eh?’

‘Yeah, but I’m shit-scared she’s gonna disappear under those waves and never come up again.’

‘I doubt it, look at her go,’ smiled Tony. ‘Well, we should be off if ya need ta catch that plane.’

CeCe stood up and waved her arms above her head to summon Chrissie back to shore. Once they were dressed, Tony drove them the few minutes to the airport.

‘If we’re lucky, Bridge might come through before you’re called for your flight,’ he said as he parked his truck in front of the terminal. They heard the thrum of a plane coming in to land.

‘How do you fancy a trip here when we’re back from Europe, Chrissie?’ said CeCe as they followed Tony to the terminal building. ‘I love this island.’

‘Okay, but let’s do Europe first, eh, Cee? I can’t tell you how stoked I am to see it.’

‘Oh, it’s very boring compared to this. Chock-full of people and old monuments.’

‘Hey, I’ll see it for myself and then decide what I think,’ Chrissie smiled. ‘Look, the plane has landed.’

‘We’ll go to the veranda in the viewing area, eh?’ said Tony. ‘At least ya might get ta say hello.’

‘Okay, great,’ said CeCe. The doors of the tiny plane had just opened and the first passengers were disembarking.

‘Look, there she is! Bridge, I’m over here!’ he shouted at a loudly dressed, buxom woman with red hair, who was clutching a number of shopping bags as she descended the steps from the plane. Tony received a smile and a wave back. ‘Come on, let’s go say hi.’

CeCe’s heart thumped in her chest as the woman approached the fence that separated the arriving passengers yet to clear customs from people waiting to greet them. Bridget came to a halt in front of them and perched her huge sunglasses on top of her head.

‘How are ya, doll? Missed ya.’ He kissed her over the fence. ‘Listen, I’ve had two young ladies visit me whilst you were away. They came because they thought Merry was still on the island. Bridge, this is CeCe and Chrissie.’

Perhaps it’s just me being oversensitive, CeCe thought,but her whole expression has changed since Tony said who we are, and she doesn’t look happy.

‘Hello there,’ Bridget said as she forced a smile.

‘They wanted ta know whether Merry was wearing an emerald ring when she was staying with us?’ Tony continued. ‘I said she was. Was I right for a change?’

‘I can’t be remembering details like that, love,’ she said, lowering her sunglasses back down over her eyes.

‘I thought I heard the two of youse chatting about having similar rings?’

‘I think you’d been dreaming or had a skinful that night, Tony, ’cos I’m not remembering any talk of rings.’

‘But—’

‘Now, I’d better be getting myself through customs. They’ll probably stop me, what with all the shopping I’ve done in Sydney. ’Twas nice to meet the two of you,’ Bridget said. ‘I’ll see you on the other side,’ she said pointedly to Tony.

As she disappeared inside the terminal, Tony turned to the girls.

‘We’d better be getting ourselves inside too, because they’ll be calling f’youse ta board any second.’

The flight call was already up on the display board and Sydney passengers were beginning to queue for security.