S. J. Morgan - Heaven Sent

HEAVEN SENT

First published 2018 by MidnightSun Publishing Pty Ltd

PO Box 3647, Rundle Mall, SA 5000, Australia.

www.midnightsunpublishing.com

Copyright S.J. Morgan 2018

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers (including, but not restricted to, Google and Amazon), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of MidnightSun Publishing.

Cover design by Kim Lock

Internal design by Zena Shapter

Typeset in Cochin, American Typewriter and Garamond.

Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press. The papers used by MidnightSun in the manufacture of this book are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable plantation forests.

For R,

I u whi kotoa, kei reira hoki ahau

Prologue

Then

It was Dad who first told me about the soldier crabs.

On those warm-before-sun-up days, Id throw back the sheets and tiptoe into the kitchen. But, no matter how early it was, Dad always seemed to be there before me, as if whatever had stirred me had been in to shake him awake too. Hed nod towards the door and the two of us would go down to the beach and watch the morning sky unfurl. Then wed run to the seas edge, let the wet sand squidge between our toes and watch the waves suck it out again and leave our feet squeaky-clean.

The soldier crabs moved in armies. The first time, Dad made me sit still on the sand and told me to wait and watch. I couldnt see anything just grey ripples and salty pools. But then, as we sat there, the ground began to move. Battalions of tiny blue crabs started marching in unison; fast, focussed, each one, on the same single mission. They surrounded us. But as soon as Dad thumped the ground they all disappeared and it was still and empty again, as if theyd never been there.

Magic, isnt it? said Dad.

And really, it was.

I never tired of watching those crabs.

Even as the removal truck arrived to pluck us from our home that day, it was the little soldier crabs who kept my mind on something other than the messy dismantling of our steady lives.

Chapter 1

Now

One minute there was deep, limitless sleep.

The next, pandemonium.

In a single movement, I was upright and gripping my doona while around me, my world seemed to shift and tilt as scraping metal and engine-squeal boxed my ears.

I could just pick out the gaping wound that, moments before, had been my bedroom wall. And in the space where the window frame had stood, a car fender stared back at me, its headlights burning. Smoke and dust scuttled in a ribbon of light, and I could recognise the shapes of my belongings flung into strange surroundings. My noticeboard remained on the wall but it was askew, its magnets huddled into a corner as if theyd run for cover. And at the far side of the room, a pair of wooden planks swung like puppet arms from a single nail.

In the new silence, a car door opened and I watched the vehicles frame lift, as if breathing a sigh of relief. A silhouette moved in front of the headlamp.

Youre all right? The driver stepped over rubble, steadying himself on my tallboy.

I clutched the bedcovers to my throat as he moved closer.

His unscathed face gazed down, scrutinising me. He looked older than me perhaps eighteen, nineteen. His expression was serene, even beautiful, and his skin shone pearly-white.

Im Gabe.

It was such a simple statement, and he looked so clean amongst the chaos.

My voice stayed crouched inside me and I could only blink back at him as his pale eyes held me. No one had ever looked at me with such humbling, overwhelming concern.

The bedroom door flew open. Oh my God! Oh my God! Mum grabbed my shoulders. Evie? Are you all right? Are you hurt?

I flinched from the alcohol on her breath. So much for that new leaf of hers. Im fine, I said.

Seb stumbled through the door behind her, bare-chested, rubbing the back of his head. What the...?

Shes all right, Mum told him. Shes all right.

Like hedve cared. He stared, slack-jawed, at the newly-installed entrance to my bedroom, then his gaze slid to our visitor.

Taking a step forward, Seb clamped his hand around that pale throat, his fingers covering the drivers silver neck chain. He shoved him, hard, against the wall.

Mums arm flailed. Seb, no!

See what you did, you little punk? Seb yelled, gesturing at the shattered wall. Youre gonna pay for this. You hear? Youre gonna pay.

But the stranger only smiled. Not a callous sort of smile, but an open, honest one. Im afraid, he said, pulling Sebs wrist from his neck, you might find the debt is yours.

No one responded. We all looked at him, waiting for an explanation, a punch-line. But he said nothing else he just held Sebs stare and aimed it right back at him.

I had no idea what he meant. None of us did. But somehow, as the dust silently settled around us, I had the feeling wed come to understand.

Chapter 2

Shift your arse, princess.

A blast of cool morning air whipped across my legs as the doona was yanked from me, leaving me barely enough time to pull down my pyjama top.

I squinted at my alarm clock which squinted quarter past seven back at me.

Come on. Out of that pit.

I heard the crisp-bag crackle of tarpaulin, placed hurriedly over the damaged wall after the car was shifted. It was a strange relief to find it hadnt all been a dream. Or rather, that Gabe hadnt.

Made a right friggin mess of the place, Seb said, turning full circle. Tossers like him should be taken off the streets.

You really ought to report him.

I kept a straight face as I said it, but I knew Seb wouldnt want the boys in blue sniffing around and finding the cannabis plants in the shed or those knocked-off appliances on the porch. And that was just the stuff I knew about: what he really got up to probably stretched a lot further than my imagination.

Seb had been Mums live-in lover (live-in loafer) for the past eighteen months and although Mum liked to joke that Seb was after her body, he was clearly more attracted to her wages than her womanhood. Even so, Mum was pretty happy to have landed him: he mightnt have had the best prospects but plenty of women seemed to think he was (as Muriel next door put it) a bit of all right. Even Cass and Mikayla in Paiges home group had the hots for him.

Problem was, Sebs presence meant there were three distinct generations in our household: Mum who, at forty-five, was staring down the barrel of being well over the hill. Seb, thirty, was nearly twice as old as me but closer mentally to the boys at school. Then yours-truly at almost sixteen: exactly equal to the yawning gap between Mum and Seb.

He was still standing over me with his arms folded. Chop-chop, sleeping beauty. You got school to go to.

Im not getting changed in front of you, I said, reaching for the doona.

You got nothing I aint seen before, darlin, he said, finally heading towards the door. Apart from the ol plastic armour, of course.

Nice! I yelled as the door slammed. Seb never missed a chance to body shame.

I got out of bed, slipped my dressing gown over my back brace and wandered into the kitchen.