Leo and Ralph, page 11
‘Where will you go after this?’
Ralph wiggled a horn. ‘Back to Ralphora.’
‘Will you help someone else one day?’
‘Of course. That’s what Ralphs do.’
Leo held Ralph in his eyes. He didn’t want to let go. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘I’ll miss you too.’ Ralph took Leo’s hand in his paw. ‘But just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it’s not there.’
It happened quickly in the end. It was better that way. The two friends hugged on the roof. Ralph’s fur was as soft as ever and it glittered in the starlight. They held on for a minute before Leo finally let go. The spaceship eased down and hovered over the tower. It was the size of a small building, and it hardly made a sound – just a quiet hum, like a fridge at night.
From the bottom of the ship, a hatch opened and out floated a white balloon. It drifted straight down until its ribbon dangled next to Ralph. He flapped his ears and twitched his nose, then flung himself into Leo’s arms one last time. He broke off, blinked his sparkly eyes and grabbed the ribbon. He gave a final wave, and the balloon lifted him into the ship. The last thing Leo saw was Ralph’s furry foot before the hatch closed. It was the colour of a golden sunrise.
Leo was alone. He stared at the shrinking spaceship until it was a speck. The moon and stars moved further on their course, then he lay on the balcony and closed his eyes. He thought of Ralph and his sunshine fur, his gravelly voice and watery eyes. At that moment, he didn’t miss his friend. He had stayed as long as he needed to stay and helped as much as he could. Leo had needed a friend and Ralph had opened his eyes to Gus.
He would miss Ralph, but he didn’t feel sad. He was happy to have imagined him at all.
A breeze feathered his face, waking a cold thought in his head. The last time he had seen Gus – or anyone else – was back at school, at Dundle After Dark. He had run away from the whole thing and now they’d all be looking for him. Mum, Dad and Peg. Maybe Ms Pengari and the other kids. They’d be searching the school, or calling the police, and no one would know he was on top of the tower.
He’d be in trouble when they found him. The whole world would start worrying again. He could climb down now and find them first, or stay at the top, hiding.
His head started to itch. His heart beat faster. The jellyfish threatened to wake in his belly. Then he heard something. Footsteps, coming up the tower. They were soft at first, just one pair of feet. He waited, huddled, as the footsteps grew louder. Then someone appeared. A big kid with a soccer ball under his arm.
‘Leo? Are you okay?’
Leo stood up. ‘Hey. I’m, look, sorry I—’
There was the sound of more feet, clunking up the timber steps, louder and louder, nearing the top. They burst onto the balcony. Mum first, then Dad and Peg.
‘Leo!’ cried Mum.
They rushed and threw their arms around him.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘We didn’t know where you were,’ she said. ‘But – oh, wow.’
She leant on the railing, taking in the view. The others joined her, quiet, in slow motion. The sky was like a star-spattered sheet above them, the land a midnight sea.
‘Look.’ Gus nodded towards the town. ‘You can see school from here.’
Leo traced the path of house lights all the way to the school. The cars were still there. It was too far to see them but all those people, that hundred-voice choir, were still talking and laughing and pointing at the sky, all because of him.
He pushed his voice into the dark. ‘How did you know where I was?’
The family shared a look. ‘None of us had a clue,’ said Dad. ‘It was Gus who thought you might have come here.’ He patted Gus on the back. ‘You’ve got a great friend here, Leo. He knows you better than any of us.’
Gus grinned and tossed the ball from hand to hand.
Mum and Dad didn’t ask many questions. They said they’d save it for home.
‘This is incredible,’ said Mum. ‘Like we’re halfway between the Earth and space.’
Dad spun round. ‘It’s a staircase to the stars.’
Peg shot a finger in the air. ‘I know why Leo came here – it’s a lookout – for UFOs!’
To Leo, it was all those things but, more than that, it was a place to say goodbye.
On the way down, Peg whispered to Leo. ‘What happened tonight? Was it something with Ralph?’
He cupped his answer behind his hand. ‘He’s gone.’
She kinked her eyebrows. ‘You don’t need him anymore?’
‘Nope.’
She hugged him again.
At the bottom of the tower, he waited for Gus and they climbed back over the fence.
He picked up his bike. ‘Sorry I left Dundle After Dark.’
‘It’s still going, you know. No one wants to go home.’
‘Good – I want to look through the telescope again.’
Gus bounced the ball. Leo wheeled his bike.
‘And thanks,’ said Leo. ‘For finding me.’
He was talking about much more than tonight, and he could tell Gus knew what he meant. Mum and Dad let them walk back in the dark. Leo pushed his bike and Gus twirled his ball. On the way, Leo told him all about his last moments with Ralph. The white balloon, his shimmery fur and the soccer ball sailing away.
Days later, Mum tapped on Leo’s bedroom door.
‘Hey, love.’
‘Hi.’
Leo was at his desk, reading a book from the school library. It was called Stargazing in the Southern Sky. He was learning more constellations to spot with Gus’s telescope.
Mum sat on the bed. ‘Tell me something from the book.’
He dragged his finger along a page. ‘This is one of my favourites – it’s called a Jewel Box cluster.’
‘That sounds pretty.’
‘Yeah, it is.’ He read from the book. ‘It looks like a few bright stars, but through a telescope, there’s about a hundred. All red and blue.’
‘I’d love to see that.’ She held her hands together. ‘You going okay?’
He bookmarked the page and closed the book. Then turned to her. ‘Yeah.’ He swung his legs. ‘I don’t need him back, but I still miss him.’
She smiled. ‘I’m proud of you. Moving here. Making friends with Gus. Saying goodbye to Ralph – again.’
Leo spun a circle in his chair. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘What is it?’
‘Leo!’ Peg yelled from somewhere in the house. ‘Gus is here!’
He stopped spinning and looked at the hallway, then back at Mum. ‘I was wondering – why did you call him Ralph?’
She blinked a few times. ‘Me? What do you mean?’
‘You were the one who named him Ralph. Where did you get the name?’
She faced the window. The sunlight coloured her face. ‘I just always liked it. I had a friend called Ralph.’
‘Really?’
‘When I was a kid. I was bit like you, you know.’
Leo jumped from his chair to the bed. ‘Wait a minute – what kind of friend?’
‘Leo!’ It was Peg again. ‘Gus is waiting!’
Mum smiled at him and held the side of his face in her hand. ‘A story for another day. You’d better go and say hi to Gus.’
He backed off the bed. Stared at her until he got to the hallway. Then he ran out to meet Gus, who was waiting at the front door with his ball. They said a quick hi, then stomped down the steps and jumped the fence into the high school. For the rest of the afternoon, they played on the patchy soccer field. They practised their passes, shot for goal and sent the ball flying through the sky.
Leo and Gus walked through the gates with towels over their shoulders. It was a steamy Saturday morning and half the town was at the pool, like a flock of birds crowding a dam.
‘This is it!’ Gus opened his arms wide. ‘That’s the main pool there. Deep end is that way and this is the shallow end here. The kiddies’ pool is over there – there’s a plastic slide, but I’m too big for it. I’m gonna jump in the deep end. What do you want to do?’
Leo scanned the pool. The shallow end was packed with kids, splashing and jumping and tumbling round. Someone waved from the crowd.
‘Is that Nicola?’
Gus squinted. ‘Yeah. And Rafi. And Mia.’
The boys ran to the pool.
Nicola tumble-turned under the water, then lifted herself onto the edge. ‘Hey!’
‘Hi.’ Drops of water landed on Leo’s feet. He couldn’t wait to jump in. ‘We’re going to the deep end.’
‘Okay!’ She climbed out, followed them, then turned and called to Rafi and Mia. ‘Come on – deep end!’
They lined up behind a diving block, but Leo hung back. He pulled his polaroid camera from his backpack. It still worked after all this time.
‘Dive in and I’ll take your picture.’
Rafi went first, a perfect dolphin dive, like a sword piercing the surface. Leo snapped a photo and the camera printed it out. Mia was next – a star-jump crash – and he took another photo. Then Nicola’s pencil dive, straight and thin. And finally Gus, who sprang off the block, hugged his knees, and plummeted into the pool like a boulder thrown from the sky.
Leo piled the photos together and tucked them in a pocket of his bag.
Gus called from the edge. ‘What are you gonna do with the pictures?’
‘I’ve got an album at home,’ he said. ‘I’ll stick them in.’
He kicked off his shoes, lumped them together with his towel and stood on the diving block. The blazing sun hit his back for a few more seconds, then he leapt in. The water cooled his bones and cleaned him of the prickly heat. He swam along the bottom, under the lane ropes, until he reached the other side. When he popped up through the surface, Gus was right there beside him.
‘This is so good,’ Leo said.
‘I know!’ Gus dived under and held a handstand.
Leo floated on his back, squinting at the sky. It had been spotless blue since the day he arrived, but now it was changing colour. The blue gave way to a whitish haze. Dark grey leaked at the edges. Children stopped swimming and looked up, as a carpet of clouds spread over the town. The first drops stuttered, light and unsure, then the rain rushed down in sheets. Children squealed, the grown-ups cheered, and it felt like Dundle could breathe again.
Leo kept floating on the surface of the pool. The rain hit his face, his arms and his chest. He closed his eyes and thought of the world above the rain, beyond the clouds, further than he could see. Somewhere out there, the moon Ralphora followed its course, performing an endless loop. And on the moon would be Ralph, dipping his head in the lemonade river or trotting around with the other Ralphs. Maybe he’d already left his home and had found a new friend who needed his help.
They swam in the rain until their fingers were wrinkled and soft. When the pool finally closed for the day, Leo and Gus said goodbye to the others and started riding home. The rain fell lightly, and steam rose from the wet bitumen. The brown yards were soaked. Stormwater drains gurgled. The whole town seemed to sparkle.
The boys didn’t talk as they rode, not until they reached the turn where Gus went one way and Leo went the other.
As they pedalled away from each other, Gus called over his shoulder. ‘Tomorrow you see.’
Leo waved. ‘Tomorrow you see.’
Then he rode home in the rain and nothing could wash the smile from his face.
I love writing stories, but I always find it hard. As I wrote this book, some generous and talented people encouraged, supported and challenged me to make Leo and Ralph shine brighter than I thought possible. It was still hard, but they made it much easier. Thank you to the following:
Clair Hume, for helping me find the story in the idea.
Cathy Vallance, for sharpening the text and illustrations on every level.
Mark Macleod, for an edit that strengthened the story and taught me so much, again.
Thanks also to Jo Hunt for a sparkling cover design, and Kate Garaty for making the internals shine.
To the whole UQP team, thank you for working together to launch another book into the world for me.
Thank you to all the bookshops, libraries, teachers, librarians and parents who put books in the hands of children.
Finally, thanks to my family, especially Bron, Sophie and Willow (my unofficial story supervisor) for being there for me, as I sat in the corner of the house, dreaming all of this up.
Peter Carnavas writes and illustrates books for children. His books have been published widely across the world and have won many awards, including a Queensland Literary Award and the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Peter lives on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, with his wife, two daughters, a dog and a cat.
www.petercarnavas.com
First published 2024 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
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Copyright © Peter Carnavas 2024
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Cover and internal illustrations by Peter Carnavas
Cover design by Jo Hunt
Typeset in 13/19pt Adobe Garamond Pro by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane
University of Queensland Press is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
University of Queensland Press is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.
ISBN 978 0 7022 6621 8 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 6798 7 (epdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 6799 4 (epub)
Peter Carnavas, Leo and Ralph
