Read Online Lost & Found by Brooke Davis - Free Book Online

of the window, right in the eyes. She’d put a suitcase in the boot of her car and her eyes said something to Agatha, something like an apology, something like screaming, something like pleading, something like this:
How do you get old without letting sadness become everything?
    And Agatha’s body had vibrated a little.
    Agatha hadn’t understood what was happening, but she could tell something was happening.
Something’s happening here! Something’s awry!
she yelled, standing up and pressing the side of her face against the glass, watching the mum and thelittle girl drive off down the street. Agatha could feel it. There was something happening.
    11:37: Agatha tries to forget all about the little girl’s return. She tries to forget the mother’s face and the fact that there is no car in the driveway. She tries to focus on all the houses that she can see except for the one opposite.
Lawn is patchy!
she yells.
I can see a weed just there! Your dog’s ugly! Too many kids! They’re ugly too!
    But then the door across the road opens. The little girl appears. Agatha watches her cross the road, open Agatha’s gate, and walk up her driveway.
What?
Agatha yells. The little girl knocks on Agatha’s front door. She’s holding a piece of paper.
No, thanks!
Agatha yells through the window.
I’ve got enough!
The little girl disappears and then returns brandishing a plastic crate. She maneuvers it in front of Agatha’s window and stands on it so she is face-to-face with Agatha through the glass.
    The little girl holds up the piece of paper.
What’s this?
she asks.
    Agatha squints at it.
If I tell you, will you go away?
    The little girl nods.
    It’s a travel itinerary.
    What’s that?
    It’s a piece of paper that says where someone’s going. Is that your mother’s name?
    The little girl nods again.
    She went to Melbourne. Two days ago.
Agatha pauses.
Andshe’s going to the United States in six days.
They stare at each other through the glass.
Now, go away.
the next day
    7 :43: The little girl stands at the window of the house across the road, watching Agatha. They stare at each other. The little girl’s eyes say something like:
How do you get old?
    8:07: Agatha hangs a pillowcase over the window so she can’t see through the hole in the ivy.
    9:13: There’s a knock on the window. Agatha jumps.
I’m hungry
, a small voice says. Agatha turns the volume up full bore on the television.
Kssshhhh
.
    12:15: Agatha removes the pillowcase. The little girl is still watching her from the window across the road, but now she sits in a chair.
    3:27: Agatha tries to write complaint letters, but all she can think of to write is,
Dear Little Girl’s Mum, Who do you think you are?
    4:16: The child is still looking at her through the window. Agatha can’t concentrate. All she can think about is the mother’s face, the carless driveway. Before she knows what she’s doing, she has waded through the letters and opened the door. She’s holding some Anzacs and a cup of tea. The air is so fresh on her face, on her whole body. She hasn’t felt fresh air on herwhole body like this, since . . . since. She can feel it blowing on her legs, feel it through her stockings. Her skin prickles. Her breath catches.
This is different!
    The weeds around her front door are at head height, and they greet her like a group of malnourished people.
You’re not getting anything from me!
she yells, swinging her elbows at them as she storms past. She stands at her front gate and faces the street.
Too many cracks in the footpath!
she yells.
I’m crossing the road now! Hedge is too fancy! Look out, car, I’m not stopping for you! This is not that hard at all! It’s just walking, after all! I’ve done it a million times! As long as I have legs that can walk, I should probably use them!
    Agatha walks up the pathway to the little girl’s house and knocks on the door. The little girl answers it.
    Hello
, the little girl says.
    Agatha hands her the plate of