ALONE TOGETHER I OWEN GRADY

The Past Is Present

The Past Is Present

"How big is the island?" Gray asked Zach, running across the deck to keep up with him.

"Big," Zach flung over his shoulder, not really listening.

"How many pounds?" Gray pressed, squeezing past a particularly plump passenger.

"That doesn't make any sense," Zach frowned, finally slowing down so Gray could catch up.

"Boys!" Cassandra snapped, grabbing Morgan's hand for the umpteenth time, ignoring her daughter's protests as she tried to pull herself free again. "We happen to be getting off the ferry now, just in case you haven't noticed, so that means actually concentrating on actually getting off the actual ferry."

The boys just ignored her, continuing to bicker as they went down the gangplank, the swell of the crowd propelling them on, Cassandra having to haul Morgan along, the little girl straining away from her, crashing into the legs of strangers as she did.

"Morgan, stop it!" Cassandra said through gritted teeth, the sweat now dripping down her face, almost blinding her.

"Why don't you stop it!" Morgan flung back, pulling away again, only to hit her head off somebody's knee. "Ow!" she protested, only to immediately do it again, making Cassandra reel her in like a fish for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Cass, did you know when this place first opened, they only had eight species!?" Gray said, galloping up to her, people parting to let him through. "Now they have fourteen herbivores and six carnivores!"

"How thrilling," Cassandra snapped, only to instantly regret it as his face fell. "God, I'm sorry, Gray," she said, hating herself. "I didn't mean that." But he just turned away from her, shoulders hunching.

"Hey, where's Aunt Claire?" Zach called over, his face anxious above the crowd. "I don't see her anywhere."

"She was supposed to be meeting us off the boat," Cassandra called back, cursing under her breath as somebody knocked into her from behind, making her stagger. But as she recovered her balance, Morgan suddenly broke free from her, her dark head disappearing out of sight amidst the throng in front. "Morgan!" she screamed, completely losing her head. "Morgan!"

"Cassandra Dearing?"

Cassandra whirled around on reflex, only to lose her balance again, the weight of her backpack causing her to keel over.

"Steady there"-

A hand gripped her arm, hauling her upright, the world suddenly the right way round again. Then the hand let go, Cassandra too distracted to notice, only to nearly collapse again with relief at seeing Zach striding towards her, carrying Morgan under his arm like a carpet, Gray trailing at his heels.

"Cassandra Dearing, right?"

Cassandra turned around again, only to find herself almost nose to nose with what appeared to be a pair of floating sunglasses. "Sorry, what?" she said dazedly, wiping her blurred eyes with the back of her hand. "Do – do I know you?"

The pair of floating sunglasses gave way to the striking face of a young dark-haired woman. "I asked if you were Cassandra Dearing," she repeated in a cut-glass English accent, holding up a wooden plaque of some kind.

"Y-e-s," Cassandra frowned, squinting at the words engraved on the wooden plaque. "What of it?"

The woman whipped off her sunglasses, revealing impatient indigo eyes. "I'm here to meet a Cassandra Dearing, Morgan Dearing, Zach Mitchell and Gray Mitchell," she reeled off. "I assume this is they?" she finished as Zach and the others drew level, faces confused.