Taking Off

Chapter 21

After a satisfying lunch in a little restaurant on the corner of a quiet little street, they visited the Old Melbourne Gaol, a prison which hadn't been used for a long time now but was, once upon a time, home to the notorious Ned Kelly.

Listening to the tour guide telling them Kelly's life story really made Tia think. The outlaw's actions weren't entirely black and white and, though he did some deplorable things, were they justifiable by his reasonings? Did his reasons outweigh the bad that he did? And was he all bad? Or was he just misunderstood?

Was a person only the bad things they did, or could they also be kind, and compassionate, and thoughtful? Were all the people in the history books also funny, or sweet, or loving? Could one action define them?

As she thought, she glanced over at Elijah, who was contributing to the discussion, saying something about how messed up the justice systems of the world were. He'd done something terrible - albeit nothing like what some people in history did. Sure, he said some horrible things about her but... was he really that bad? Had she ever seen him treat anyone else like that? Were her ideas about him all wrong? They'd been living together for less than a week and already these ideas were being flipped and warped. She hated him with the strength of a thousand suns one moment, and then he'd say something funny, or act like a dork, or be - shock horror - kind of nice, and her brain couldn't decide how she felt about him. But he didn't remember the incident, which meant he didn't care, which meant he couldn't really be all that nice, after all.

For some reason, that idea cast a dark cloud over her heart.

"Are you okay?" she heard someone say. Shaking her head, she realised Elijah was staring at her.

Tia licked her lips, swallowed once, and nodded. "Fine." Elijah didn't look convinced, so she forced brightness into her eyes, smiled, and turned back to the tour guide.

Elijah didn't press her, but he did keep glancing back at her. When he'd turned and saw that she was looking right at him, with a disheartened look on her face, he was confused. When she shook her head, he realised she'd been daydreaming. But about what? About him? Impossible. Wasn't it?

-

Elijah and Tia said goodbye to Aladdin and Vanessa at their door later that night, and made their way to their own room. Figg had told them they had a really long day planned tomorrow, so they should go straight to sleep. Tia wasn't going to argue. She yawned, as Elijah unlocked their door.

"Tired?"

Tia yawned again. "Always. Aren't you?"

"Not really," Elijah said. "I'm still full of adrenaline because of the spiders."

She made a non-committal sound, and headed to her bedroom door, when she was stopped by her phone ringing in her pocket. Elijah walked around her, as she stopped in the middle of the room, pulling her phone our of her pocket. "Mum?" she whispered, confusion growing.

Elijah spared one more glance at her, then slipped out, onto the balcony. He wasn't kidding. There was adrenaline still humming in his veins. Cool night air was just what he needed. He leaned against the railing, breathing in, then out.

Inside, Tia stayed standing in the middle of the room and answered her phone.

"Mum?"

"Tia? At last! I reckon I called you three times!"

Tia rubbed her eyes. "What do you mean? This is the first call I've gotten. Must be my service. Different country and all. What's up?"

"What are you talking about? Do you know where my book of carpet samples is? I'm pulling my hair out. Can't find it anywhere."