Knowledge, at Uncle’s feet, cries out in his sleep. Hope stirs and reaches her arm around him, and they both fall back to their dreaming.

‘Who will help these Children?’ Uncle asks Girl, but he does not wait for an answer. ‘It is you and me. It is up to us. We must do this thing.’

Girl nods.

 ‘Now go!’ says Uncle. ‘Please! Tell your stories! Do not give up! The time is coming soon to move Grandpa from the Table so the truth can be told, and all the People honoured. The Bones too must have their say.’”

Rudd closes his eyes. He blocks out the room and the wind, hearing only Tonderai whose voice is that of Uncle one moment, and of Girl the next.

“Girl hopes that Uncle is right, but she does not feel strong. I am only a Girl, she thinks.

Uncle knows that this is what troubles Girl, so he gets to his broken feet, and holds out his hands so that he may help her to stand too. He pulls her up beside him. ‘Remember,’ he says, ‘you are a Girl, a brave, clever Girl. And you do this for all of us, but especially for Hope so that she may belong, and so that Knowledge may know her power.’”

Rudd, eyes still closed, hears the gumboot splash of Tonderai coming back around the table. He opens his eyes and watches as he steps into view. As he comes closer the wind begins again, clattering the door against the stove, and lifting away the linger of smoke. Outside debris scuttles in each fresh gust. Tonderai, standing still now, begins again.

“Girl lowers her eyes and nods to Uncle. Then she takes a deep breath, and walks back slowly to where she should be. As she walks she tries to push the Bones away, to think of her next story, but it is hard to do this. Her legs are still weak, and the Bones still rattle in her head. She feels dizzy, and thinks that she would like to sit down to rest, but just as she is about to do so, she suddenly sees something in the air above her head.”

Tonderai raises an arm, and points a finger through the dark towards the roof.

“There! What is that? See,” he says, and around the room glinting eyes follow his arm. “There. A small paper plane. It drifts high in the air above Girl, and then it lands at her feet.” Tonderai bends down as though to catch a fallen paper. He opens it with both hands and holds it up to read. “Girl opens the paper out, and sees there is writing on the inside. Then she looks up.” Tonderai circles slowly on his heels, eyes scanning upwards. “There! Girl sees a hand wave at her from the window. She folds the note quickly and puts it in her pocket. Now another paper plane lands at her feet, and then another. The air is full of them. She tries to catch a few and to read the messages, but she has to be quick for the Children run around her now. They too try to catch the little aeroplanes.”

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023