She tugged hard on his hand, stared up at him and pointed at the climbing frame and slippery slide.

He closed his fist, moved it up and down, then made her stay focused on his mouth. "Yes. You can go play, but you have to ask."

She yanked her hand. He didn't let go; instead, he shook his fist from side to side and signed as he said, "Say the words."

"Nor..." She tried to peel his fingers from her wrist, wrenched against his grasp and screamed.

Joshua Kant knelt in front of his daughter and held her chin in his palm to make her look at him. "Uh, uh," he said, shaking his head. "Luca. Calm down. You can play, but you have to use your words." He wiped tears from her cheek with his thumb.

She snuffed in gulps of air.

He signed. "Can I play, please?" Then touched her mouth.

"Nan..." she paused.

He smiled and nodded in encouragement.

"Or... ay... ease..."

"Good girl," he said and signed. "Try it again in one sentence."

"Nan Or ay ease."

"Well done." He smiled, put her hand to his throat so she could feel the vibrations, signed, and said, "Use your words, and you'll get better." He slid his finger along the scar on her cheek, nodded, looked at his watch and signed as he said, "Go play. We have forty-five minutes before we chat with your teacher."

She beamed, ran across the grass to the circle of sand, where the slide and swing set were.

Joshua sat on the bench seat to watch her interact with the other children. The phone call from her teacher unsettled him. Luca wasn't coping, often threw tantrums, and had hit more than one child. Parents had complained.

When she reached the slide, she stood back, then climbed the ladder. Once at the top, she sat, her hands gripping the bar and stared down the slope.

Another child climbed the ladder and stood on the rung behind her. The boy spoke, but she didn't respond. He shoved her on the back. She almost toppled, clung tight and screamed. The boy pushed her again. She swung an arm behind her, just missing his face.

Joshua bolted to the slide, put his hand on Luca to steady her and said, "Back off, mate and give her a chance."

"She tried to hit me. She's mental," the boy said.

"Well," Joshua said. "I'm sure she thinks you're mental, too, for trying to push her off the slide."

"I'm not," the boy spat. "She's a retard."

"And you're a brainless, spoiled little brat. You could have killed her if she'd fallen." Heat boiled in Joshua's chest. "Now back off and let her be."

"Mum..." the kid screamed. "This man called me names."

"Wow, kid," Joshua laughed. "You can give, but you can't take."

"Why are you bullying my son?" An overweight redheaded woman, dressed in a skin-tight yellow miniskirt, bowled towards them. She hit the sand, tripped, regained her balance, finished the trek and stood with her hands on her ample hips. "What did you say to my son?"

"I said he was a brainless, spoiled little brat and to back off so my daughter can build the courage to go down the slide."

"How dare yo..."

"Uh, uh." Joshua held up his hand. "Before you continued to make a fool of yourself, ask your son why a stranger would say this to him." He looked up at the boy. "Okay, mate. Tell your mother the full story."

"I...I... didn't do nothin'."

"Firstly," Joshua said. "It's nothing. The word is nothing." Joshua felt like a petulant elitist prat, but he was so sick to death of impatient, self-centred people.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the woman spat.

Joshua loomed over her and said, "I'm that little deaf girl's father. The little deaf girl that your son tried to push off the slide. And before you come back at me with more brainless shit, was it you who taught him the word retard?"

"Wha... what? No..." she stuttered. "Did you say that, Raymond?"

"No... Mum... I didn't. He's lying."

"Wow," Joshua said. "You must be so proud. You're raising the next Charles Ponzi. He'll probably make you millions."

"Wha... I..."

"What?" Joshua taunted. "Don't know who Ponzi is?" He nudged his head. "Go get an education and do the same for your son. I'm so sick of narrow-minded people like you who leap before they look."

"I am not narrow-minded."

"Really?" Joshua looked down at her. "Only a narrow-minded person would jump to a conclusion, and storm over, ready to brawl before asking what is happening."

"I... I didn'...."

Joshua ignored her protests, reached up and tapped Luca's foot. He signed. "Slide down." He walked to the bottom of the metal run and knocked so the vibrations travelled to her. When she looked at him, he signed, "Slide and I'll catch you."

"She really is deaf?" the woman asked.

"Yes, lady, and you need to teach your son that not everyone is the same as he is because one day, he'll learn that lesson the hard way."

"Raymond, get down," she said.

"But I wanna slide."

"Get. Down. Now." She grabbed his ankle and tugged. "Now, Raymond. When we get home, your father is going to hear about this."

Joshua caught Luca, set her on her feet and shook his head at the woman. "Take some advice from me, lady. Do your own disciplining." He pointed at the boy. "Your son is never going to respect you if you keep passing the buck to his father, who actually has no beef with him in this moment. You'll ruin their relationship, too."

"He won't listen to me," she sobbed.

Joshua scoffed. "You should try disciplining a deaf kid, lady." He shook his head again. "We've all got our struggles. Work it out because in the end you can only rely on yourself." He lifted Luca, turned and walked away.

They sat in the hall outside the principal's office. Luca rocked backwards and forwards on her chair, tapping her head against the wall, emitting a low droning sound.

Joshua touched her hand. She continued to move, quickening her pace, the repetitive hum lifting in volume. He put his hand on her chest to stop her movement, then squatted in front of her. He shook his fist from side to side. "No." Then held his hand up. "Stop." He pointed to his ear and twirled his finger. "Too noisy."

She pushed against his hand. Joshua applied a little more pressure and rocked his fist from side to side, signalling, "No."

Luca flung her head back, bucked her hips and kicked out at him. She screamed and slapped her hands on his face.

Joshua grabbed her wrists, wrapped her in his arms, sat on his seat and rocked, crooning against her cheek so she felt his warm breath on her skin. "Hey, hey, shh..." This had helped calm her as a smaller child, but as she grew, he found that her frustration had intensified.

Dealing with deafness in a small child wasn't just a struggle for the hearing parent. How could a person who has no language internalise their thoughts or frustrations, let alone express them? Joshua could only imagine how Luca felt. It wasn't his only concern. She was displaying behaviours that he feared were genetic. No matter how watchful he was or how hard he tried to prevent them from developing or causing harm to others, if they broke free, he'd have no choice but to take serious action. Luca was his priority. Teaching her that control meant freedom was of utmost importance. Correcting sins could come later.

Joshua sighed and continued to rock and hum. He didn't care what others thought of him; he had to protect Luca from the world, from herself, so she could live as a fully functioning person to grow and thrive.

The door to the office creaked. "Mr Kant." Luca's teacher, Miss Stewart, stood in the opening, indicating that he should come in.

He nodded. "Give me a minute. She's calming. I'd like her to settle a little more."

"Sure." Peggy Stewart smiled. "I'll make you a coffee and have it on the desk when you come in. Black? I've got juice for Luca."

"Thank you," he said against Luca's cheek.

Luca sat quietly at a small desk, playing with puzzles as they spoke.

"Mr Kant," the matronly principal, Mrs Campbell, said. "I'm not going to beat about the bush."

"Appreciate it." Joshua looked from the principal to the teacher, then back again.

"Luca isn't coping." She paused. "Before I go on, we understand that you want the best for Luca and that you want her to integrate as a normal person. However, Luca's abilities are limited at this stage. She's finding life very difficult. To do the best for her, we feel that we need to take some backward steps."

"Meaning?" Joshua cocked his head.

"We do not doubt that Luca will flourish when she can communicate, and yes, she is learning sign language. I also understand that you are trying to teach her to speak and lipread." Mrs Campbell looked at some paperwork on her desk, then back at him. "Our records show that you have moved four times in the last two years, and because of this, Luca has had limited professional help." She clasped her hands together and rested them on the desk in front of her. "Moving this often would be disruptive to any child's learning, Mr Kant. To Luca, this is catastrophic."

"That's a bit..."

Mrs Campbell cut him off with a raised hand. "I'm sorry to use such a strong word, Mr Kant. Luca's sign language is well behind what it should be for a seven-year-old. We know you're trying very hard, and we want to work with you on this. Education is our job, Mr Kant, and though we are inclusive, we are not a school for the deaf. Yes, we have great success with deaf children, but they come to us with communication skills and language. We implore you, if you want the best for Luca, to remain in one place, even for just one year, and she will flourish."

Joshua sat quietly. He couldn't argue with anything that was said. Could he risk staying in one place for a year? Before he could say anything, Miss Stewart touched his arm.

"I've contacted a colleague who is very skilled at teaching children with communication problems. The only trouble is, she is based in Brisbane." Peggy pointed at the paperwork. "Our records show that Luca was born in Brisbane and that you lived and worked there two years ago. Luca attended Chermside Primary. My colleague's name is Sally Cartright. She has rooms in Newstead. If you can afford it and want to do the best for Luca, Sally teaches sign language and speech, along with reading, writing and maths to children just like Luca. Her classes are small, a handful of children to maximise optimal results. On completion, her charges speak clearly, so clearly, in fact, that you wouldn't know they were deaf. They become skilled lip readers and well-rounded people." She slid a clear A4 envelope across the desk towards him. "I have printed out all the information you need to help Luca. I implore you to invest in her. She's a very bright girl."

Joshua nodded. He'd have no trouble requesting a posting in Brisbane. The reason they'd left the city was a huge concern.

He looked at Luca. Her future relied on his choice.

Hunter or hunted.

WORD COUNT - 1889

TOTAL WORD COUNT - 20,072