Audrey left them to the to-ing and fro-ing of domestic interchange. Her father’s depression was not going to be so easily fixed, she knew, and her mother’s predisposition for anxiety would not be cured, but it was a start and as she set out to meet her best friend, Audrey could feel pieces of herself aligning once more in fundamental ways.
There was no missing the jet-black hair and red streak from the forehead to crown above the open pages of the newspaper. Audrey paused to take in the startling effect, musing on the thought of her friend as one of Australia’s deadliest spiders. Oh, she’d come out fighting, alright, to protect those she loved. Though Audrey had never been subjected to it herself, she knew that below Poppy’s laissez-faire demeanour was a venemous bite—she’d seen her in ac
