Crush

Three

One minute Tess was riding along the boundary line on the farm bike, heading out to where Pop, Lonny and Pete were finishing the harvesting, the next a streak of white shot out from the long grass in front of her. She clamped down on the brakes, locking up the wheels and sliding into the grass on Fitzy's side of the boundary. She dropped the bike and ran back to where the girl was lying, dazed, on the track.

"Bloody hell. I didn't see you. You alright?" Tess asked, crouching down to help the girl up. She was caked in red dirt and no amount of her trying to dust it off was going to change the fact that her white tracksuit was ruined. She was definitely not from around here dressed like that.

"I think so," the girl said. She tried to stand, but stumbled sideways. Tess threw out her arms to catch her before she fell back down. The girl winced. "I think I hurt my ankle."

Tess helped her over to the side of the track and lowered her down so she was sitting on the grass. A pool of red was slowly forming on her right knee. "Looks like you've got a graze as well," Tess said.

The girl pulled up the leg of her pants and prodded at her knee, sucking in a breath as little red droplets of blood oozed from the patch of raw skin. "Great. That's just fantastic," she said, pushing a strand of white-blond hair behind her ears.

"It doesn't look too bad," Tess offered. "It's just a couple of layers of skin. Paw paw ointment will clear that up in no time."

The girl looked up, shaded her face and said, "A paw paw will fix my graze."

Tess smiled. "No. It's an ointment. I have no idea if it's made from actual paw paws, but that's what it's called. And yes, it will fix your graze. Slather it on, cover it up and in a day or so, no more scab."

"You're talking from experience," the girl replied, pulling her pants leg back down.

"When you ride bikes and spend your holidays on a farm, you get a lot of grazes."

The girl smiled. "You're from around here then?"

"I live in town. I stay out here with my grandparents on the holidays."

The girl nodded. There was an awkward silence, so Tess asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm staying in the house up the road for a few weeks."

"Holidays?"

"Sort of."

It had been ages since the last time any of the holidayers staying at the McGregor's had been Tess's age. It would be fun having someone to hang out with while Lizzie and Will were away. "Well, since we'll be neighbours for a few weeks, I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Tess." Tess stuck out her hand.

The girl dusted her hand off on her pants, took Tess's hand, gave it a shake and said, "Maddie."

"Why are you running in a tracksuit in the middle of the day?" Tess asked, sitting down beside Maddie.

"It burns more calories," Maddie replied.

Burning calories had never been something Tess had ever really thought about. "Well, if you're going to run during the day, you should probably stick to Fitzy's farm. He doesn't work the side closest to the McGregor house anymore."

"So no run-ins with reckless motorbike riders on that side?"

Her nose crinkled when she smiled, Tess noticed. "Highly unlikely," Tess replied. "Though in this weather, you should probably watch out for snakes."

"Really?" Maddie shifted forward a little, away from the long grass.

"It's summer," Tess shrugged. "They'll be out everywhere and Fitzy's is so overgrown, I wouldn't be surprised if he has a whole country full of them over there."