Chapter 32
Nina burst in the door at Red Gums. Jinx, unsettled by the storm, whined in greeting. A c***k of thunder sent him hurtling down the hall to his favourite hidey-hole beneath her bed. The drumming of rain on the iron roof grew to a deafening roar. A tap came at the window, like a pebble tossed against the glass. Then tapping everywhere, a rapid staccato, growing in speed and ferocity. Hail hammered the roof and walls and windows. Jinx howled from the bedroom and Nina shut the door to keep him safe. Then she went outside, her delight in the storm outweighed by her sorrow at the fact and manner of Guddhu’s passing.
Surreal to think that the ancient cod, Freeman’s spiritual guardian of the river, had died at Ric’s hand. Incomprehensible. But then so much of Ric’s behaviour was in
