colours bled as she looked out into the night, and sounds thickened into lumps that she wanted to chew and crunch.
‘Grave. Yeah, I heard about that place from a boy at the re-birth. He was a kinda cute red-head. Sounds kinda weird there. He said you aren’t allowed to talk to others in groups in case you get outta control. You can’t dance or play music. Some places there are even worse than that apparently – they barely talk at all.’
Retra nodded, not wanting to admit she was from one of them.
‘Anyway, there are only women in Stra’ha. It’s a woman’s town. The men don’t do so well with the altitude. It makes their spermies go sterile. The women have to go to the low towns to breed but they always come back to Stra’ha. They need to protect the men from the raiders who come across the ranges in summer or our people would die out.’
‘The women protect the men?’
Suki looked at her. ‘Of course! Is it different for you?’
‘My father makes all the decisions in our house.’
‘In Stra’ha we only need the men for their spermies, otherwise … pffft.’
Retra’s face burned at the thought. ‘Why did you come here then?’
‘Like I said … it was boring. And Liam … the boy I blooded with … he was coming here. We said we’d meet.’
‘Did he come? Have you seen him?’
‘He’ll be here. You can’t lie to a person when you’ve crossed with echo blood.’ But Suki looked uncertain for a moment.
They sat in silence for a while and Retra’s mind was caught up marvelling at a band of vivid golden spirals dancing across the walls of the kar. She wanted to ask Suki if she saw them too, but was afraid she would sound crazy.
Then the kar arrived at a station, groaning as it slowed.
A group wearing white bandanas crowded through the open doors and Suki put her feet down to make room. They were laughing and singing and Retra wanted to rake her fingers through their words and lick them. She felt sure they would be juicy, tender in her mouth.
A girl tumbled onto the seat in front of them. Hair redder than Rollo’s spilled out of her bandana, and she wore purple eye shadow up to the top of her eyebrows. Others went to sit next to her, then hesitated and moved on.
As the tram doors began to close, a boy with spiky hair half-hidden underneath a white bandana sprang onto the bottom step. He slid his muscular arm between the doors, and the sensors froze them, halting the kar.
He took his time climbing the remaining steps, looking around, checking out who was on board.
A few of the other boys called to him and he saluted them. His movements were slow and deliberate, demanding attention; his hair shone as slick as the seaweed that washed up on Grave’s rocky beaches.
Retra had kept some seaweed from her last trip to the beach, years ago, back when Joel wasn’t much taller than her and her mother still smiled.
The boy dropped heavily into the seat in front of them, next to the red-headed girl.
‘Some entrance. He must practise it,’ said Suki too loudly.
The boy swivelled round and stared at them. A quiet descended on the kar.
‘What’s ya name?’ he asked.
‘Suki.’
‘You gotta mouth, Suki. You wanna watch yourself.’
Suki bristled. ‘You should do the same.’
Retra was suddenly stuck by a premonition. She had to intervene. Prevent the rift. ‘Suki’s from Stra’ha,’ she said, suddenly. ‘She’s used to … telling males what to do.’
The boy’s gaze shifted to her. His eyes showed intelligence and a lot of pride. ‘Who’re you?’
‘Retra.’ She held out her hand. ‘I’m from Seal South. But you can’t catch it.’
‘It?’
‘Being a Seal.’
He stared at her a moment longer and then he laughed. He didn’t take her hand but he turned back and slouched down in his seat.
Everyone around them fell to talking again and Suki’s shoulders relaxed.
Retra’s premonition slipped away.
The red-headed girl with the heavy eye make-up climbed up on her knees and leaned over the back of her seat. She pointed sideways at the guy. ‘He’s Kero. He runs the White Wings,’ she said. ‘I’m Krista-belle. I’m with him.’ She sounded proud about that.
‘What’re White Wings?’ asked Suki.
‘Our gang. There are others too. White Wings, Ghosts and Freeks. We’re named after bats, but only the ones that suck blood.’ Her eyes glittered. ‘You’ll learn about ’em soon enough. Whites are the best though. We look after our own.