Billy and the Golden Gate (4 page)

Horace steps sideways; the ferry was there the whole time. It looks like a Viking longboat. The tip of the hull is moulded into a sturdy Viking helmet. Daisy looks at Horace for one final moment; he mirrors her and smiles. She starts to walk on and the boys join her. Daisy shakes her head and briskly brushes the corner of her eye. She turns to Billy and says sharply, “I do not want to hear a word about this, do you understand?” Billy nods in acknowledgement and he stays quiet.

There is a ferryman on board. He wears a long hooded cloak that covers every bit of him and holds a long staff in his right hand, which is also covered by the cloak.

Billy opens out the map again; he can see the ferry but no ferryman.

“OK, come on!” He nods at the monster and boards the boat, Daisy next, then Rex after he has peed on Peter's bike, then Rufus, then Peter and his glasses and his now rather stinky bike.

Once on board, Billy gathers them together.

“Now, listen, don't talk to the ferryman. Don't even look at him, he's not there.”

Rufus looks at the ferryman – clearly Billy is mistaken.

“Um, Billy, he's right there, can't miss him, big bloke, not saying much.”

Billy stares deliberately at Rufus.

“No, Rufus, he is not there.” It takes a while for the furrows to etch their way into Rufus's brow but when they do, they are very prominent.

He whispers, “I don't get it.”

“Tell you what, Rufus, just ignore what is and is not there, and trust me.” Billy grabs Rufus's upper arm as he says this.

Billy lifts off the rope and throws it to the dock; the boat starts to float away. The water is a dark navy colour, almost black, and it's impossible to see the bottom. There is a lot of movement just underneath the surface, tiny creatures jostling for space. It feels like the boat is surrounded by them. This is Rex's first time on a boat, and Peter's too for that matter.

The boat moves surprisingly quickly. Peter has turned an odd colour and grabs his lanky tummy every time the boat pitches. Rex is growling at the water; he is ignoring the ferryman, as if he can't see him at all. Rex scampers up and down the boat, increasing the rocking motion. Peter has started to moan.

“Peter, breathe in, out, deeply now, loads of fresh air that's what you need, that's it,” Billy says.

A strange gurgling sound is coming from Peter. Billy is now not so sure the fresh air is helping. Peter grabs hold of his glasses and leans out over the side of the boat. Everything in his stomach is upended into the dark water. Daisy averts her eyes. Rufus watches, astonished.

“I didn't think you could fit that much in, Peter; you're a stick sure.” Rufus sits down beside Peter and gives him a whack on the back. “Fair play, fair play, you'll be grand now.”

Peter looks down into the water and the debris clears quickly. Suddenly a hand reaches up from the depths of the water and grabs at Peter's chest. It starts pulling hard, Peter screeches, but Rufus is beside him – he clamps his arm around Peter and holds tight, anchoring him to the boat. Rufus looks at the hand and with his free arm, he swats at it. The hand releases Peter and snatches at Rufus, leaving a nasty gash on his lower left arm. Then it disappears back into the water. Rufus releases his grip on Peter – the gash is pretty deep.

Peter says, “What was that? I almost lost my glasses!”

He is still peering into the water when Daisy says, “Don't you think it would be wise to move away from the edge and stop looking!” She has a sharp intake of breath and kneels beside Rufus. “Rufus, you OK? That was really brave what you did.”

Rufus has turned a sort of grey – old socks – colour. He nods. “You'd ‘ave all done the same for me.”

Daisy looks at Peter, purses her lips, shakes her head and then looks at Rufus.

“Well, for you, sure.” The gash on Rufus's arm is colouring quickly, all the surrounding skin turning purple.

“Miss Beetle said that cuts should be disinfected, remember, when Veronica
⁹
sliced her hand with the paper knife. It was gross. Billy, anything in that bag for cuts?”

Billy shakes his head, but he reaches into his backpack anyway and pulls out the twine.

“Wrap this around the top of the cut, it will stop an infection spreading. Mind…” he says cautiously. “Not too tight, just enough.”

Billy can see the far shore, not so far now. He shakes his hood off and scratches his forehead.
How is this supposed to go then?
He looks again at his map, still no ferryman. He can feel him standing still as a statue, but Billy doesn't look at him directly. This is going to be tricky. The boat is rocking considerably now but still moving in the right direction.

“Rufus, you OK?” he calls out to his brave friend. Peter is about to respond but thinks better of it when he sees Daisy glaring at him.

Rufus's cheeks have taken on an ashen hue, though the beads of sweat on his forehead suggest a rapidly accelerating temperature.

“Oh yeah, thirsty though.” Rufus smacks his lips and looks longingly at the water. He starts to pull away from Peter and Daisy angling to get closer to the edge of the boat. The rocking increases. The ferryman shifts. His head has turned to watch the three.

Billy figures if he mentions water at all, they will be in trouble, big trouble – like talking about waterfalls when you badly need to pee. Not a good idea. Rex is sitting beside him watching Billy, waiting for any instruction, just in case.

“He can't go in the water, Rex, it's important,” Billy says. Rex whines in reply.

“OK, go tell him how much you love him.” Rex looks from Billy to Rufus; this is confusing but Billy is the boss. Rex stands, shakes himself down and scampers over to Rufus, licking him squarely on the face. Then, he starts licking Rufus's wound. Rufus turns and looks at Rex, astonished.

“Rex, you're a good boy!” Rufus gives him a big hug.

Almost there. Billy glances at the map; the ferryman has started to appear, he stands barring their way to the other shore. On the boat the ferryman mirrors the map, walking deliberately past Billy and taking up position at the bow.

Now Billy watches, and waits.

The boat glides along. Peter, Rufus, Daisy and Rex sit together; they just watch Billy. Daisy kicks a little at the wood, sheer nerves, though when Peter makes a
tut tutting
sound, she just starts kicking the wood even more deliberately.

“Peter, behave yourself,” Daisy hisses, all the while watching Billy.

Peter folds his arms.

“Free country. And I've been sick,” he says, a slight whine creeping into his voice.

“Oh for heaven's sake, you are such a moan!” Daisy pauses. “I mean look at Rufus, practically loses his arm.” Terror streaks across Rufus's face. “And you are giving out about a bit of food? You moan!”

Peter ignores her. Rufus has started looking at his arm; it is still definitely there, yep, still there, terror abated. Rufus shrugs.

Billy stands up.

“Mr Ferryman, my name is Billy Spade. Me and my friends have crossed the river; we have not disturbed your water. Will you let us pass, sir?”

The ferryman makes no reply but extends his arm, still fully covered with the cloak. That's when the buzzing starts. It begins slowly, like one or maybe two bees poking around in purple clover, but then it grows. It gets so loud Billy's friends cover their ears. The ferryman's cloak starts to shift and vibrate with the sound.
Zzzzzzzzz
,
zzzzzzz
,
zzzzzz
.

Daisy yells, “Billy, that is not a happy sound.
Billy
!”

Billy has stepped forward to the ferryman. He has pulled the lollipop out of his bag, placed the bag on the ground and is standing inches from the cloak. The cloak widens and wraps around Billy, covering him in darkness. Daisy moves to stand up, intent on running to her friend, but Rufus holds her back with his sore arm.

“No, Daisy, wait!”

Rufus is so strong no amount of stubbornness on Daisy's behalf will set her free. All they can see now is the cloak, except it doesn't look like a cloak anymore – it swirls and turns and buzzes. A big angry sound.

The trailing lace of Billy's sneaker is the only indication that he is there at all. Rufus sees it and scratches Rex.

“Rex,” he says quietly. “Rex, see it?” He points to the lace. Rex looks and cocks his ears. He sees it alright. He glances at Rufus and then walks slowly towards Billy, picking his way across the boat. About a foot away, he inches even more slowly until his wet nose is touching the tip of the lace. He gently grabs it in his mouth and starts to pull.

The swirling slows down and it is only then they can see – it's a swarm, a big swarm of bees. The bees span out and move to the shore; Billy and Rex go with them. It's as if they are floating to the shore with the bees.

Billy's friends scramble to follow him but still keep a little distance. Peter is yanking at his bike as one of the pedals has got stuck underneath a board. When it comes free, it gashes a deep indentation in to the wood. It takes him several attempts to get off the boat; in the end, Rufus and Daisy half pull him off. Billy turns and sees his friends. The lollipop he was holding has been replaced with a small ball of wax.

“Screech, you've hurt the boat,” he says.

Peter looks at Billy, confused.

“Hurt it?” He turns his head and looks back at the boat. Sure enough, the boat is shivering. “I didn't mean to, it's just the bike.”

“Screech, you're gonna have to leave the bike behind. It belongs to the boat now.” Billy nods his head as if to reinforce his point.

“But Billy?”

Billy replies simply, “You can't hurt something and leave it be, doesn't work like that. You have to make amends.”

Peter mulls over this for a minute.

“So now I'll have a helmet and no bike, what good is that?”

Daisy says, “Well, maybe it's for the best, Peter. You know on that bike you are a dis-as-ter, it's true,” she finishes matter-of-factly.

The bike is placed back on the boat and the strangest thing happens – it melts into the wood, repairing the damage. The wood takes on the pink and navy hue of Peter's bike. The boat stops shivering and expands a tiny bit, a lightening bolt now streaks across the inner hull.

“Well, shiver me timbers,” says Rufus and starts laughing.

Daisy looks at him.

“I think he's hallucinating, fever from that.” She points at his arm.

“Here, Rufus.” Billy walks over to his friend. Rex is still trailing him, holding on to his lace. It means Billy ends up limping a bit as he drags Rex. Billy takes the wax and rubs it into Rufus's sore arm; the wound starts to knit together almost straightaway. “There, that's better.”

“Wow, that's amazing! Save some of it!” Daisy exclaims. “Have to show Miss Beetle.”

“No, Daisy, we had just enough, that's all we needed,” Billy replies emphatically.

The swarm disperses and leaves the shore open for them. Billy looks down at Rex.

“OK, we're safe enough now, Rex, you can let go.”

Rex responds dutifully and runs back to have a quick sniff of the boat, deciding not to pee on it.

“Don't you think doing up that lace is a good idea?” The tangled lace is bothering Daisy. For some peace and quiet, Billy does it up.

Peter is still looking morosely at the boat.

“I miss my bike.”

Rufus steps up beside him and claps him on the back.

“Never mind, Screech, it was meant to be.” He nods sagely. All four look at the boat; it rocks gently at the shore, empty.

“Did they sting, Billy? They must've done, big ol' bees like that…”

Billy shakes his head.

“No, they didn't sting at all. They just talked to me.”

“Talked?” Daisy's voice is incredulous. “I heard buzzing, that's all.”

Billy glances at her.

“Well, we each hear what we hear, I guess.”

Daisy rolls her eyes and looks away from Billy.

“Look, there's the forest,” she says. They are only a short walk away from it. “How come we couldn't see it from the boat? That's weird.”

Peter starts to smile.

“Oh Daisy, if you'd only read the map properly to begin with,” Peter smirks.

Daisy retorts, “You're such a know it all, Peter.” She sniffs, “It's pathetic really.”

Peter's smile widens.

“Just cause I'm right, no need to get all huffy about it!”

Daisy chooses to ignore him.

“Billy, my dad told me about the forest, not safe,” Rufus says, shaking his head. “Said he'd leave me there if my results didn't improve.”

Billy remembers Rufus telling him once that his dad had called him Rufus because it rhymed with Doofus. Billy doesn't think much of Rufus's dad. He looks at the forest, thinking.

“Well, Rufus, just goes to show he doesn't know how brave you are, does he?”

Rufus scrunches his face; he's not used to hearing this sort of thing and isn't altogether sure how to respond.

“You think I'm brave, Billy?”

“Sure do,” Billy says.

A moment passes.

“Lads, we'd better get a move on,” Rufus says.

An indignant sombre voice pipes up.

“Who are you calling a lad,
hmmmpfh
, just because I'm an independent lib-rer-rated woman does not mean I'm a lad!” Daisy puffs out her chest, she looks a bit like a sun-bleached pigeon that is fond of pink and canary yellow.

Rufus scrunches his face again, this time confused. He doesn't say anything, just to be safe.

“I miss my bike,” Peter says, to no one in particular.

Billy grabs the strap of his bag and off they go.

The forest is very dense. The long lean trees are packed tightly together and the ground is very bare – it gets to see so little sunlight. There is no distinguishable path, except maybe to go straight through, but then that isn't a path. It's more of an approach.

Billy opens out the map again, this time the whole gang crowds round staring at the forest section. Rex sits at Billy's feet looking at the underside of the map. He is mumbling and muttering. He sounds like an old man moaning at his gammy hip.

“Well, odds are there's something
in
the forest,” Daisy says earnestly.

Rufus glances quickly at her.

“Odds?”

Daisy rolls her eyes dramatically.

“Rooofus, I mean it's likely, you know, that we will come across something.”

Billy looks sharply at her, but otherwise says nothing. He carefully folds the map and marches on. In moments they reach the forest. It is dense and dark, even though the mist is long gone now, and quiet – super quiet, the sort of quiet that actually sounds very loud in your head. The mind is a funny thing.

“We need to walk towards the west,” Billy says. He pauses for a minute and remembers the wristwatch, which he pulls out. In the darkness, the green bits glow.

Daisy folds her arms and says, “It's a compass you need for that, Billy, not a watch.”

Billy holds the watch in front of Daisy.

“It used to be a watch, Daisy, but my dad turned it into a compass. When the minute hand points at nine it means we are heading west, look.” Billy moves and sure enough when he has stopped turning, the minute hand points at nine.

“I thought a compass was supposed to point north?” Peter says after a moment's reflection.

“Not this one,” Billy replies.

Peter puts his helmet on; the spikes have flopped a little bit, so it makes the helmet look like it's depressed. As the helmet slides on to his head, he thinks he sees something in the distance, perhaps it was just the light.

“So…” he starts.

Billy replies, “We stick together, that's what we do.” They all nod in agreement. No one wants to be stuck in the forest on their own, even Rex is keeping uncharacteristically close to them.

“I figure…” Billy pauses, “We go west we can't go far wrong.”

“Your dad must've been really cool, Billy.” Daisy can't resist saying.

Billy stares at the watch.

“He was.”

“What was he like?” Daisy asks. The other two are listening quietly.

“I can't remember,” Billy says simply, clearly.

Daisy looks at her friend. Billy's face is wide open, hiding nothing. Daisy thinks her heart is going to break. She breathes and her mind whirrs.

“Well there's no way my dad could do that, what with him teaching women's studies.” She pauses. “He's a feminist,” she says in a hushed tone.

Peter guffaws, an unnatural sound coming from him.

“No Daisy, you're mixing up your words again, only women can be feminists, feminine, see?”

“Nuh aaah Peter, you're wrong. My Dad believes in women's rights, that's why he teaches them and that's why he's a feminist.”

Peter smirks, pauses and roots around the nether reaches of his brain.

“Men who believe in women's rights are mis-og-yn-ists, Daisy.” He folds his arms.

Daisy sighs,
What on earth is the point
. She lets it be.

“Is that right, whatever you say, Screech.”

Rufus cuts in. “What are women's rights? My dad is always banging on about them, says that they are the reason Mum went to the…” Rufus pauses and wrinkles his nose in recollection, “eh the coat dash-hur with Fabrice; says they are a blasted nuisance.”

“Oh you'd need my dad here to explain them, Rufus,” Daisy stalls. “You have to go to university to understand them, so my mum says, usually after she has rewired a plug or fixed one of the slates on our roof.”

They all ponder this last statement, each drawing very different conclusions.

“Come on,” Billy says.

*

Slowly the forest starts to thin out just enough for there to be some moss and small plants growing between the trees; there are bluebells and wide garlic. The air pongs.

Rex starts to relax and ambles further and further away without losing sight of the four children. Billy hears him start growling, not his usual half-hearted grumble but a proper ‘I'm not happy' growl. Billy walks over to him and pats him gently on his tummy.

“What is it Rex, eh?” The hair on Rex's back is standing on end and he is puffing himself out as much as possible. He doesn't turn to acknowledge Billy.

Billy looks up and sees what's bothering Rex. About thirty metres away, there it is; a big grey, and decidedly snarling, wolf.

Billy doesn't know anything about wolves. Peter has sidled up beside him. “Billy, we need to be careful here, what we need to do is stare him down – see that way, he knows we're in charge.” Peter seems very sure of his facts, but Billy is not convinced.

“Screech, where did you find that out?”

“Ummm, oh yeah, oh you know.” Peter pauses. “You know the wolves, in that book, the film, Jenny loves it.”

Peter's older sister Jenny (she prefers to be called Jennifer but to Peter she has always been Jenny, since ever) is fourteen and paints her fingernails in black nail polish. Jenny loves wolves, werewolves to be more precise, and she knows everything there is to know about them (werewolves, that is).

“Peter, what do you say we just back up, quietly like. Rex, come on, Rex.” Billy tugs gently at Rex's ear. The wolf watches them, but doesn't make a move.

“Okay, Daisy, Rufus, come on, we're off.” Billy tugs at Screech's jumper. Rex breaks his stare and watches Billy. They are off!

They start walking, all the while Billy looks at the minute hand; they are headed in the right direction.

“Don't worry,” he says. “Just don't mind him, Rex, come 'ere.” Rex whimpers a little then dutifully follows.

“Billy, the wolf is following us you know,” Daisy whispers.

“I know,” Billy replies. “It's OK, let's just keep moving. He's just curious about us is all.”

“Billy,” Daisy says quietly, “there isn't just one.” She glances around quickly. “I can see four, no, wait, I can see five of them now.”

Billy continues walking with the same steady pace. They all stick close together, including Rex.

“Well, they do move in packs,” Peter says.

The wolves follow them, keeping a constant distance.

“Screech, any chance of you talking about something else,” Billy says.

“Well, if I talk about my bike Daisy will hit me, and if I talk about getting sick on the boat Daisy will hit me,” Peter mutters. Daisy whacks him on the arm.

“Ow, what did you go and do that for?”

“Just 'cause you're bugging me now, Peter,” Daisy retorts. She is like a bright light in the forest with her white blonde hair and super yellow and pink garb. “So Jenny believes in werewolves?” she says.

“And vampires,” Peter says.

“And vampires?” Daisy sighs. “You know that's just exactly what's wrong, with everything.”

The three boys collectively hold their breath; this is going to be a long one.

“See?” she waits.

The three lads keep quiet.

“Are you listening to me? I mean, this is important.”

Rufus, in spite of quick urgent glances from Billy and Peter, says, “Oh, I'd like to be a vampire. Great teeth.”

Daisy just looks at him, her slightly hooded eyes showing how highly she thinks of this, which is not highly at all.

“Stupid,” she mutters. “Who wants to live forever and what girl in her right mind wants to hang out with a bloodsucking needy creep with bad teeth?” She looks at Rufus. “And pale skin, yeuck.”

Peter replies, “Well, Jenny says that they give undying love, and protect and stuff.”

“That's 'cause they never die, Peter,” Daisy moans, exasperated. “Well if a vampire ever gave me undying love, I'd tell him to go and get a bit of sunshine. Should get out and about more often.” She pauses. “Anyway, this is totally off the point I was making! You can't go around expecting to be rescued and minded and stuff.”

“Oh I don't expect to be rescued and minded,” Rufus says.

Daisy retorts “No! I mean girls, we are well able to rescue and mind ourselves – makes my blood boil.” (Daisy has heard her mum use this expression on many occasions, usually after her dad has mixed coloureds and whites in the wash.)

“Boiling blood! Vampire id love that,” Rufus says.

Daisy glares at him.

“Werewolves must be always running out of clothes; that'd be a right pain having to explain that to your dad.” Rufus is clearly warming to the subject.

“That, and being naked,” Billy says. They all giggle at this.

Glancing at the wolves, Billy says. “They're not werewolves anyway, they are just plain ol' wolves.”

“How do you know for sure?” Peter sniffs.

“Because werewolves don't exist, Peter, except in stories,” Daisy replies.

Peter is going to have to have a conversation with Jenny when he gets home. Daisy could be on to something, not that he'll ever admit that to her. Peter presses his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, straightens the collar on his T-shirt and pulls at his jumper.

“So you think. How do you know? They could do, just cause you think they only live in stories, you don't know.”

Daisy thinks about this and concedes.

“Well, they're not werewolves, cause the moon isn't out and they are not attacking us. That's why.”

“Well, at least that makes sense.” The three boys nod in agreement, very sensible.

A path starts to form, little more than a sheep track, but still, it is evidence they are headed in the right direction. The wolves keep their distance. The trees reach up high and sprout branches close to the tips of the forest.

“Could be vampires here, too,” Rufus says.

Rex barks, a noisy high-pitched sound.

“Well, not now, you'd need nighttime,” Peter says authoritatively.

Rufus looks at Peter.

“Suppose. But there's bats, Screech, see?” Rufus points up; a colony of them is swooping through the trees. The initial quiet is giving way to all sorts of organic animal sounds.

Rex pricks up his ears and scoots ahead. Rabbits! So many burrows the ground looks like a slice of foreign cheese. Rex is beside himself with excitement. The rabbits scamper and disappear before he reaches them. Rex pushes down into a burrow until only his back legs, bum and tail are visible. Rufus starts laughing and runs up after him. He bends down and pulls on Rex's back leg. Rex shuffles out and turns back to Rufus.

Rufus stands back up, looking into the distance.

“Billy, there's a house, up ahead!”

Everyone runs up to Rufus and they squint into the distance. It does look like a house.