Read Moonstone Promise for Free Online Page B

stopped. She must have realised it was something bad.
    â€˜I’m taking off for a bit.’
    â€˜Where?’ she asked. Her voice got squeaky. ‘Where are you going? Are you coming back?’
    He shrugged. ‘Dunno.’
    â€˜Luke?’
    â€˜I don’t know, Jessy.’ It was all he could say. He wanted to sit there and pour it all out, offload it, but he didn’t even know where to begin. ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’
    â€˜Tell me what’s happened.’
    â€˜I’m not going to let them send me to another foster home.’
    â€˜What do you mean? This is your home. Harry’s . . .’
    Her voice faded to momentary silence as reality hit home. ‘Oh, Luke . . .’
    He stood up and arranged his pack on his shoulders. ‘Just wanted to say bye.’
    â€˜Luke, no. Lawson wouldn’t let that happen.’
    Oh, yes he would. Now he would. I’ve stuffed up everything.
    Jess’s eyes ran over his face. ‘Oh my God, did Lawson do that to you?’
    â€˜I told you, I did it to myself. I hit him first.’
    There was a stunned silence.
    â€˜I’ve got to go, Jessy. I just wanted to come and say goodbye.’
    She stood up and faced him. ‘Shouldn’t you sleep it off and decide in the morning, when you’re not so upset?’
    â€˜Sleep?’ He couldn’t help laughing. ‘I’m not good at sleeping.’
    â€˜I don’t want you to go.’
    Luke started walking. He felt a tremendous pulling in his gut. He had to get out of there before she convinced him to stay.
    â€˜Luke!’
    He spun around. ‘ What? ’
    She untied something from around her neck and held it out to him. ‘Take my moonstone.’ She shrugged. ‘They’re supposed to give you beautiful dreams. So Mum reckons, anyway. Never know, might help you sleep better.’
    It was a pale oval-shaped stone, hung on a thin leather strap. He moved it around in his fingers and felt its smoothness.
    â€˜Promise me you’ll come back,’ she whispered.
    He could hear the tears in her words, but he didn’t answer. How could he promise her that?
    â€˜Luke?’
    â€˜I’ll see you again, Jess,’ he said. ‘Promise.’

7
    LUKE WALKED QUICKLY , cutting through the river flats and across private paddocks, trying not to think of Jess. He wanted to get to the highway before sun-up. Hunger pulled at his belly and he realised he’d barely eaten the previous day.
    The sun was just beginning to show on the horizon as he made it onto the highway, and walked another kilometre or so to the truck stop. There, he bought a roadmap of Queensland, two burgers with the lot and a drink.
    He sat down, unwrapped a burger and flipped the roadmap open while he crammed as much as he could into his gob.
    Townsville . . . Paluma . . .
    He’d heard about brumby-culling in a place called Paluma. Paluma: he’d googled it once and seen nothing but rugged dark-green mountains.
    There had been a lot of slaughtering going on up that way, too, thousands of brumbies shot from a helicopter. Looking at the terrain, Luke reckoned there’d have to be plenty still hiding. He ran his finger in a circle around the town as he bit into the second burger.
    A friendly but solemn voice spoke behind him. ‘That country full of yarramin .’
    It was a voice Luke had heard before, somewhere. He looked around in surprise. A man with a dark face, neatly trimmed beard and short curly hair was staring over his shoulder at the map. He wore an orange checked shirt with short sleeves, tucked into baggy jeans that were held up with a rodeo buckle. On his head was a big black hat, beaten out of shape and scarred by harsh weather, dirt and diesel. It was the kind of hat that could tell stories of station life.
    Luke realised that he had met the man before, at campdrafts. He was Lawson’s mate, and often worked the yards. ‘Bob,