to the contours of the road like palm trees in a strong wind.
The bus reached a summit. In the distance, much larger, snow-capped Himalayas rose to touch the sky. Mattie glimpsed the mountains, in awe of their proportions. Even as she smiled and said hello to Tiffany and Blake, her eyes wandered back to the peaks, and she wondered if her mother might be up there, atop one of them. Did her mother know that she was making new friends? That she would soon climb high so that they might sense each other?
Mattie hoped her mother knew the answer to such questions. She wanted her mother to see her, especially now, when she was trying to be brave, when so many parts of her were scared, when, despite the presence of her father and the three friendly women, she felt so alone.
IAN LAY IN THE DARKNESS, EYEING THE small room they had rented. The day’s first light crept into this space, illuminating stone walls that had been painted white. A faded poster of orange-robed monks studying a bronze Buddha was taped to the far wall. A frayed ornamental rug covered the cement floor. The room was otherwise unadorned.
Turning to his right, he faced the same direction as Mattie, who was about a foot away. He’d zipped together two sleeping bags that they had bought in Kathmandu, creating an oversized bag that they could share. For months Ian had wondered if they should still be sleeping in the same bed. He was sure that most people would say she was too old to share a bed with her father. But most people hadn’t seen their little girl lose her mother, and if sleeping with him kept Mattie from crying at night, from being scared, well, then he would gladly sleep with her. And, if truth be told, he enjoyed their nights together. He often read to her in bed, or made up a story. And when she rested her head on his chest and fell asleep, his sorrows were momentarily pushed away.
Mattie mumbled, still half asleep, instinctively reaching for him. “Sssh,” he whispered, easing closer to her, putting his arm over her shoulder. He thought she would go back to her dreams, but instead she turned to him, opening her eyes. For a few heartbeats she looked around the room, clearly confused. “No worries, luv,” he said, stroking her brow with his thumb. “We’re in Nepal, remember?”
She nodded, looking so young, far too innocent to have seen so much. He kissed a freckle on her nose. “Daddy,” she said, “your breath stinks.”
“Oh, sorry about that. Shall we get up and have a go at our teeth? Mine need a bath.”
“One of mine’s a teeny bit loose.”
“Really? Reckon the tooth fairy could find you up here?”
Mattie scratched at her scalp. “She couldn’t find me up here because she isn’t real. I’ve known that for two years.”
“For two years? No, not that long. A year, tops.”
“For that long, Daddy. For at least that long.”
He stretched his legs, enjoying the cool fabric of the sleeping bags. “Well, anyway, I disagree. About her being real, that is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mum and I always slipped you a dollar, putting it under your pillow and taking your tooth. Just because we didn’t have wings doesn’t mean that we weren’t fairies. A few times your mum even sprinkled a bit of glitter on the floor, leaving her magical dust. So if she wasn’t the tooth fairy, I reckon I don’t know who could be.”
Mattie smiled. “Do you think Leslie is awake? Let’s go have breakfast with her.”
“You fancy that lass, don’t you?”
“She’s nice. And I like her hair.”
He twisted Mattie’s locks around his finger. “You want hair like that?”
“Would you let me?”
Sitting up, he pulled the sleeping bag down from his chest. “Well, dreadlocks aren’t exactly my bowl of rice, but I want you to be whoever you want to be. Whoever makes you happy. You know, my mum and dad weren’t too keen on me leaving Australia. And we fought about that. Fought like three cats in a sack. They’re still quite vexed about it, actually. So I’m not going to tell you how to walk in your own shoes.”
“But you don’t like her hair?”
Ian smiled. “I think she’s a beaut of a person, Roo. And because of that, yeah, I fancy her hair.” He reached for his toothbrush. “Now, how about cleaning up, and getting a bit of chow so that we can start looking