Curse Of Wexkia (4 page)

‘That can’t be,’ she whispered. ‘No one’ll believe it.’

‘Believe what?’ a voice sounded behind her.

Nell yelped and spun around, pushing her hand to her chest where her heart skipped every second beat.

Sam grinned down at her.

‘Why did you sneak up on me like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack.’

‘I wasn’t sneaking. You should have heard my bike a mile off. The brakes squeak.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Why are you hiding in the bushes?’

‘I thought I saw someone.’ She shook her head. Like the crocodile, she couldn’t say anything, even to her closest friend. They would all find out soon enough if she was going mad.

‘Yeah?’ He looked over her head. ‘Hikers aren’t supposed to come this way. Which way did they go?’ Sam held out his hand to help Nell up.

She refused to take it. ‘I don’t know.’ She couldn’t really tell him the man disappeared into thin air. ‘A frilly lizard running past caught my attention and when I looked back he was gone.’

Sam picked up his bike and faced her. He wore his usual black polo shirt and blue jeans. He hadn’t worn the red shirt she had given him for Christmas once.

Crossing her heels, she pushed with her feet to stand. An image of the strange man stayed in her mind and a chill travelled from her feet to her head. Sam still watched
her, so she shrugged. ‘Someone must have walked over my grave.’ She frowned. ‘Why haven’t you worn the shirt I gave you for Christmas?’

He gave her an over-dramatic look of innocence. ‘I didn’t want to get it dirty.’

‘You think you’re so funny.’ She gave him a mock sneer. ‘Want a cold drink?’

‘You bet.’ He wiped the perspiration off his forehead with the back of his hand. ‘A storm’s on the way.’

Nell peered at the sky. ‘Hmmm, looks like a beauty.’

The dense clouds were nearly on top of them. Summer storms in the tropics could be short and intense or settle in and rain solidly for weeks.

Sam pushed his bike and Nell strolled alongside him in silence. She hadn’t realised she’d gone so far along the path. The thought of not going to uni overshadowed everything. It didn’t matter anyway. She couldn’t go anywhere, so it could rain as long as it liked. She picked up a coconut and threw it hard into the undergrowth. ‘It’s not fair,’ she said.

‘What’s not fair?’ Sam stopped.

‘Nothing in this whole world is.’ She picked up another coconut and hurled it as far as she could.

Sam laughed. ‘Come off it, it can’t be that bad.’

‘Wanna bet? Dad said I can’t go to JCU or any other university. Not only that, but I can’t even go far from the house. I can’t go riding with you or the group from Mossman tomorrow. I’m in prison and I haven’t even done anything. I’ll never have any friends.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

Nell’s eyes widened. ‘You know?’

‘Yeah, your dad rang Mum. She sent me over here to talk to you and don’t worry about tomorrow, Dad’s cancelled all rides and closed the trails.’

The swollen sky appeared to sag.

‘Why?’

‘Don’t know. Probably gunna go walk-about again when he gets back from his trip. I just hope he doesn’t expect me to go with him.’ Sam wrinkled his nose.

Nell couldn’t help smiling. Sam hated camping out and he’d do anything to avoid going into the bush with his father, uncles and cousins. Football was his main passion, though music was high on his list.

‘Anyway,’ he said. ‘Dad wrote a new story and wants to know if you’d like to read it.’

Pictures from her nightmares jumped into Nell’s mind. ‘No. I don’t think I should. They’re giving me nightmares lately.’ And making me see and hear things, she added silently.

Carl wrote everything from picture books to lengthy adult novels. Those stories she had listened to, read and loved all her life, now haunted her.

‘Nightmares?’ Sam snorted. ‘They’re not that scary.’ He pushed his bike forward.

She took a step and her foot snagged on an exposed root. Something ripped above her. She looked up and cried out as a coconut fell towards her. She froze. Something smashed against her back. The next moment, she lay face down with a mouthful of sandy soil with Sam on top of her.

Feelings swamped her mind but they weren’t her feelings, they were Sam’s. His affection for her, his love of football, his love for his guitar, parents, horses, beach, mountain. She gasped and scrambled to get out from beneath him. ‘Get off,’ she grunted. He rolled off and she stayed still, staring at the dirt. What was that? Emotions filled her – her’s and Sam’s. Squeezing her eyes shut, she
pushed Sam’s away. She succeeded, but the memory of it all remained. A thread of fear wound through her chest.

She jumped up and spat out as much of the sandy earth as she could.

Sam laughed. ‘Now that’s attractive.’ He picked up his bike and waved his arm towards Nell’s house. ‘Go on.’ When she hesitantly moved in front, he warned, ‘And stay in the middle of the path.’

‘Ha, ha,’ she threw back, but she wasn’t in a laughing mood. She sucked her cheek. What had happened? Of course, she already knew he loved all those things, but it was as if she had experienced Sam’s deepest feelings. Maybe it was female intuition. Friends since babies, she supposed there had to be some explanation. Growing older held a lot more surprises than she ever thought possible. The changes weren’t only going to be physical. It made sense. She’d read somewhere that brains didn’t even finish maturing until people were in their early twenties.

As they silently continued to her house, Nell tried to relax. The thread of fear in her chest finally evaporated but a sense of foreboding grew in its place. That one had good reason for being there. Being confined to such a small area of Cape Hollow with the trail rides stopped gave her imagination full rein. She decided she’d just have to stop it from running away with her.

Feet crashed through the undergrowth behind them. She spun around.

‘Hey, you two,’ Carl called out.

Sam turned and waited.

The white hair on his temples contrasted with his dark Aboriginal skin. Short and stocky, he didn’t look at all like Sam at first glance. Nevertheless, their open faces and laughing eyes were identical.

‘Hi, Carl,’ Nell said.

‘What’s up, Dad?’

‘Your mother wants some coconuts and she reckons the ones here are sweeter than the ones back there.’

Stepping closer, Carl ruffled Nell’s hair. ‘G’day, Nell girl.’

She smiled up at him, but he’d already moved his eyes up the mountain.

‘Seen anybody around?’ Carl said.

‘I haven’t,’ Sam said. ‘But Nell thought she saw somebody before.’

‘Yeah? What did they look like?’ Carl put his hand on Nell’s shoulder.

Warmth and love filled her at his touch. ‘I’m not sure what I saw.’ The sensation from his hand altered. He was distressed about someone being around. ‘Are you worried?’ she asked.

Carl withdrew his hand. A little too hastily, she thought.

‘Worried? Um … yes. A big storm’s comin’ in.’ He eyed Nell as if he was trying to read her thoughts. ‘And … ah, if somebody’s out there, they might get into trouble.’

He’d never had trouble saying what he meant before. She searched his face for a clue to his behaviour. ‘If there was someone there,’ she said, tilting her chin towards the mountain. ‘They’ve gone now.’

Rubbing his stubbly, white whiskers, Carl said, ‘Well, you two better get inside before the storm hits. It’s gunna be a ripper.’ He turned north and marched away before either could reply.

‘What was all that about?’ Sam frowned at his father’s retreating back.

‘I don’t know, but your father seemed upset about a lot
more than a stray hiker or the storm. Did you notice? He didn’t get any coconuts.’

‘Good pick up. I’ll get it out of him later.’ Sam resumed pushing his bike. ‘He’s right about one thing though; we’d better get inside before we get drenched.’ He eyed Nell. ‘Again.’

Not saying anything, she nodded and fell in alongside her friend. She wondered why Carl took his hand off her shoulder so quickly. Why didn’t he want them to know he was worried about something? Did he realise she sensed his emotions when he touched her? As soon as the question was formed in her mind, she snorted silently. Nah. That wasn’t possible. She’d better stick to reading sweet romances.

N
ell emerged from behind a clump of coconut palms. Ducking back, she slammed her arm across Sam’s chest. ‘Wait.’

‘Now what?’

‘Shh. Look, look. Someone’s talking to Dad,’ she whispered, as she jabbed her finger at two people standing on the front veranda with her father. ‘I can’t see but Dad said his sister was going to come here. He didn’t say today though and he didn’t say anything about anyone else coming with her.’

‘David has a sister? Why haven’t you mentioned her before?’

‘I only found out this morning. I think Dad’s been keeping a lot of secrets from me. Someone else was here when I came back from riding. A really strange man. He wouldn’t even let me see him but I got a peek. His skin was green.’

Sam laid his bike on the ground, chortling. ‘Green, huh? What colour do you reckon those two are?’

Nell crossed her arms and stared hard at Sam. ‘Don’t laugh at me. I’m not making anything up.’ She gazed again at the two strangers. They wore long brown capes similar to the other visitor. ‘They’re dressed the same. Don’t you think it’s weird that three visitors arrive on the same day?’
Silently, she corrected herself. Four. And all wearing the same sorts of clothes.

‘I’d probably call it coincidence. Let’s get back to the green man and hurry up, it’s already lunch time.’

  He reached out to put his hand on Nell’s forehead. She backed away. ‘Stop it, Sam. I’m not joking. He looked green and scarred. I figured he was in an awful accident.’

‘What? I’ve never heard of any accident turning someone green.’

‘Well, maybe a fire.’

After a small pause, Sam frowned. ‘Yeah, maybe. It might have had something to do with chemicals. I think copper can turn skin green but I wouldn’t have a clue how.’

Nell sighed. ‘Don’t worry about it. It was probably the light that made it look that way.’

Sam had finally stopped laughing at her so she didn’t want to give him a reason to start up again. She was glad she had kept the grey man on the mountain to herself.

Signalling with her hand for Sam to crouch beside her she wondered if the grey man was another secret of her father’s. Maybe all the visitors had something to do with her birthday? A surprise?

Sam gave her an impatient shrug. ‘This is stupid. Why don’t we just go over there?’

‘Shh! I don’t want them to hear us. I feel … ah … think Dad doesn’t want me to see them yet.’ She was certain she was right. Her intuition was growing stronger, not by the year but by the second. She wondered if she had hit her head when she fell and raised her hand to her forehead. No lumps. A slight concussion might have explained her reactions.

‘We’re too far away for them to hear us.’ Sam plopped onto the ground. ‘Anyway, what on earth are you on about?’

‘I don’t know. Look, I know this is going to sound silly, but I’ve been feeling strange for a while now. It’s like I can sense things.’ She shook her head. Nothing about the day made sense. ‘It’s hard to explain.’

‘Try.’ He smirked and picked a blade of grass to chew on. ‘You know, you have been acting kinda weird lately.’

‘Don’t make fun of me.’ She crossed her legs and plucked at the remaining hair-band on her wrist. ‘All right.’ She sighed. ‘It’s like when you pushed me out of the way of the coconut before. I felt … sensed your fear for me.’

‘You don’t have to be a seer for that. It was a bloody big coconut.’

She glared at him and he choked back a laugh.

‘Fine. Laugh all you like but I’m telling you,’ she nodded towards the house, ‘I know I’ve seen those two before.’

She focused her attention towards the veranda. One visitor was about her height, the other a little taller.

‘How would you know?’ Sam said. ‘We can’t even see their faces.’

Nell fell silent and scoured her mind for the answer. The moment she closed her eyes, images began to flash; images from her dreams, images she couldn’t even try to explain, not even to Sam. Among the pictures, she found the two strangers. In her mind, she watched them turn around. She crashed back onto the sand with a gasp. They were so close; she could have reached out and touched them. Two pairs of sky-blue eyes stared at her and honey-coloured hair framed the two bronze faces. The older girl had a calm face and the younger appeared to have just sucked on a lemon.

‘Nell,’ a voice called from a distance. Hands clasped and shook her shoulders.

Her eyes opened and she pulled away from Sam’s anxious face.

‘What’s going on?’ He tried to help her sit up. ‘You looked like you were in some sort of trance.’

‘Both of them are girls,’ she whispered hoarsely, squirming out of Sam’s grasp. Her eyes darted to the front porch. Her father stared hard at the trees. The two strangers followed his gaze. A small groan escaped from deep within Nell’s chest. They were the same faces. The same girls she had just seen in her head. How? Where did they come from?

‘They couldn’t have heard us.’ Sam gawped at the veranda.

‘They didn’t.’ Her father led the caped girls into the house. ‘They seemed to know we were here.’ She didn’t know how, but was certain she was right.

‘Now you really are being a mug.’ He stood up. ‘Let’s go and see.’

‘No, I don’t want to.’ She doubted that the heat caused the sweat to drip down her back. Something was happening to her and she didn’t want to know what it was. Maybe she had a brain tumour.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t like them.’

‘How do you know if you like them? You don’t even know them, and you’ve got Buckley’s chance of finding out if you don’t bloody meet them.’

‘I don’t want to meet them.’ She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.

Sam hunkered down again. ‘You know? You are weird,’ was all he said.

She silently thanked him for being quiet. Of course, he was right. She had to take the time to think. Closing her eyes, she blocked everything around her out.