Forest Secrets (9 page)

Quenton, his voice verging on the snarly, probably starting to realise that he
really
wasn't the one in Gloria's eyes, said, ‘Who cares if she is taking photos? She wouldn't win the competition, anyway. Snook won't either. They haven't a hope.

I know for a fact that Snook's camera is only a cheap thing that he got for his birthday. I've seen it, and if Jars has one, it won't be much better. It wouldn't be like mine; my camera's top of the range.'

Without looking at him, she said in a chastising way, ‘The type of camera a person uses doesn't matter. The camera doesn't select the pictures; the operator does.'

‘Whatever,' Quenton said, kicking the ground and looking suitably put down. ‘Anyway, I couldn't care less what photos they take or, for that matter, how they plan to get them. I have an idea of my own that'll guarantee my winning, and seeing as you promised to help me, you're part of it.'

As though she didn't hear him, Gloria said. ‘Here comes Snook and Jars now. Why don't you tell them how you're going to win. They might be interested to hear.'

‘W
e're gonna have a cuppa,' Snook said as soon as he and Jars joined Gloria and Quenton. ‘Want one?'

‘No thanks,' Quigley said, answering for himself and Gloria. ‘We've got other plans.'

Gloria was clearly confused. Screwing up her face, head tilted, she looked at Quenton. ‘I don't know anything about plans,' she said.

Snook said, ‘Yeah, Quigley. What plans are you talkin' about?'

Sticking his chin out defensively, Quenton said, ‘For your information, Gloria and I are going to a place you don't know about – where you haven't even been.' Shrugging her shoulders in a
I don't know what he's talking about
gesture, Gloria looked at me, then at Snook.

‘Oh?' Snook said. ‘You wouldn't happen to be goin' downstream to the lagoon, would you? You keep lookin' in that direction.'

‘What if I am?' Quenton said, looking caught out. Me and Gloria are going to the far end of the lagoon. I already know the best way to get there too, so you needn't bother following me.'

Snook pointed towards the edge of the camp. ‘Then you'll be takin' the old bush road past the camp entrance, down there by those gum trees, the ones that are growin' practically right across the road.'

Pouting, Quenton said, ‘So what if I am? Anyway, you can't come. I thought of it first.' Signalling for Gloria to follow, he turned and walked towards the old bush road.

Gloria, whose eyes were on Snook, as though pleading for him to do, or at least say something, didn't move. She clearly didn't want to go. ‘Let's go,' Quigley called back to her, noticing she wasn't following. ‘We'll ride our bikes.
'

‘Okay,' she said her mouth downcast. ‘I'm coming.'

I had to restrain myself. I wanted to tell Snook to follow her, to at least say something, but, in his usual fashion, he did nothing.
I felt like choking him … again.

After they'd gone, Snook thumped a hand into his fist. ‘You know, I really do think there's some sort of conspiracy goin' on. I was gonna suggest we go to the lagoon this arvo, but now Quigley's beaten us to it. Plus, that Blowhard fella's managed to muck up the gorge trip for us … the animals are probably still in their caves and holes in the ground shiverin' in their boots. I don't think I'm meant to win that competition.'

I couldn't help feeling sorry for him, despite his less than cavalier behaviour with Gloria. ‘Cheer up,' I said, clapping him on the back. ‘The weekend's not over yet. You never know what'll happen next. Something might crop up.' I picked up the water bucket and jiggled it. ‘It's empty,' I said, holding it up for Snook to see. ‘Let's go fill it up at the creek and when we come back, I'll make that cuppa. I reckon we could do with one. C'mon, Shadow. You can help.'

O
n our way down to the creek, I asked Snook whether he still wanted to go to the lagoon after we'd had our cup of tea.

‘Not if Quigley's there I don't,' he was quick to reply.

I sighed. It was time to reason with him. ‘Look, Quenton and Gloria were going to the far end of the lagoon. That's what he told us, but we don't
have
to go that far. That way, we probably won't even see them.'

‘Yeah, maybe.'

‘The trouble with you, Snook Kelly, is that you're getting to be real stubborn. You should have asked Gloria to stay with you back there, but you were too pig headed. Too proud. So, we're going to the lagoon whether you like it or not.'

Walking side by side down the grassy bank, I could feel Snook staring at me. ‘You know, you're not the same old Jars that I knew three years ago. You were quiet then. You're kinda bossy now.'

‘What?' I said, thinking that Snook's remarks were kind of sudden, out of the blue so to speak. But in a way I supposed he was right – when I first came down from the Northern Territory to live with the Kellys, I was a bit wimpy. But as I grew older and got used to my new surrounds, I guess I became more confident, more positive – especially around people. Anyway, not really knowing how to reply to Snook, I just handed him the empty bucket. ‘We're here,' I said. ‘Here, you fill it. I'll make the tea when we get back.'

‘Okay,' he said, grabbing it by the handle. He then stepped out onto a flat stone and leaned over one of the deeper pools to scoop some water. Something made him stop. He straightened and rubbed his eyes. Taking a step backwards, he asked, ‘Do you see what I see?'

I followed Snook's line of sight. ‘Yes, I think so. That Blowhard fellow's building a new fireplace – right next to the one that's already there. It looks like he's gone and collected his own wood too. Why would he do that, I wonder? It sure seems silly.'

With the empty water bucket dangling from one hand, Snook scratched his head with the other. ‘It's more than silly; it's crazy. He must be cracked.'

I had to agree with him. It looked like Blowhard was building a bigger and better fireplace than the one provided, just because he could.

Snook shook his head. ‘What an idiot. He has been actin' like a complete fool ever since we first saw him in Sam's shop. I just hope he knows what he's doing with that fire though.'

I hoped so too. The fireplaces were put there by the local council for a purpose – to keep the place looking nice for its visitors and to keep the fires contained and safe. Even the wood was supplied – to stop people hacking into the surrounding trees at random.

Having finally collected the water, we were about to head back to our camp when we saw something else. In the distance.

It was a person, walking beside the river towards the lagoon and he was dressed in khaki pants, braces and a peaked cap.

The rhotosaurus inched his way down the mountain path to the bottom of the gorge. He looked behind. The others were following.

After what seemed like ages, he reached the bottom of the gorge. Already, relishing the coolness of the water that awaited, he took the few steps to the river where he stood, letting the fast flowing stream swirl and cascade over his aching limbs. It was a welcome relief from the heat and wind that he could still hear raging from above.

He sniffed the air. Mixed in with the sour, acrid smell drifting down from the plains was something else. It was the sweet, airy scent of still water, a new sensation that brought up buried pictures from somewhere in the back of his head – of his safe place where he saw himself sprawling in its still pool, drinking from its depths. He stepped out of the river and onto the bank. He could be there soon, to the pool, to where he could ease the burning pain in his body, where he could be safe.

Standing on the bank, the rhotosaurus shook his head as though clearing his thoughts. Then, his mind made up, he started to run. Soon, his twenty- tonne body was pounding forward, swaying, brushing against boulders, and dodging fallen rubble, flattening any shrubs in its path. Then he realised. There were still shrieks and cries coming from the cliff tops. Some of the other dinosaurs had not made it to safety. And in his path, as if emphasising the point, he saw the first of the bodies – two muttaburrasauruses that he thought he recognised. Pulling to a halt and throwing back his head high into the air, he roared. He felt something – maybe guilt – he was running to safety whilst around him his world was collapsing, being destroyed. He looked around. There were other bodies – more dinosaurs from the cliffs and many pterosaurs from the sky. Angry now, he thundered on, his mind scrambled, his feet pounding and echoing through the narrow gorge.

Boom –Boom – Boom –Boom.

His safe place was waiting.

T
he sun had nearly disappeared when I woke up with Shadow licking my face and a sliver of grass tickling my nose. I'd been asleep on the grass next to the creek. Snook was there too, lying next to me, still sleeping. I sat up and shook my head. Dinosaurs, in particular a very big one, were rattling around in there, and they looked like they were running for their lives, but I didn't know why. Then I smelled something. Smoke. Coming from the other side of the river. Shaking Snook awake, I yelled in his ear, ‘Wake up, Snook! There's a fire and it's coming from Blowhard's camp!'

‘What? What's goin' on?' Snook mumbled, sitting up. ‘How come we're lyin' here? Did we go out to it again, or what?'

‘Yes,' I said quickly, more concerned with the fire than explanations about what we'd seen. ‘It happened again, I managed to blurt out – the kid and the dinosaurs paid us a visit. But didn't you hear me? There's a fire! Blowhard's in trouble!'

‘All I can see are a couple of swans and some ducks,' Quenton said to Gloria as they propped their bikes up against one of the willow trees that grew down to the water's edge at the far end of the lagoon. ‘This spot doesn't look much good after all.'

Gloria looked at her watch – a quarter to five. ‘I think we might as well head back,' she said. ‘The sun'll be setting soon. We don't want to be too late getting home.'

‘We might as well, I suppose,' Quenton said, walking over to his bicycle. ‘I can tell you don't want to be here with me anyway.'

‘How do you mean?' Gloria asked, following him.

‘You still like Snook. You only came with me on this photo competition thing to make him jealous. Admit it. It's true, isn't it? I saw the way you were looking at him back there at the camp.' He bent over and picked up his bicycle. He threw a leg over the crossbar and waited for a reply.

‘You seem to have read my mind,' Gloria said, ‘so I might as well tell you everything I know, which isn't that much. The truth is, I don't know what's going on. Snook doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. He snubbed me all day yesterday and today he wasn't much better, and I don't know why. All I know is that he's had some sort of funny turn that's made him the way he is and I don't know what to do about it. So I guess I came with you because … because I wanted to find a way … to fix everything. Sorry it's worked out like this, Quenton. I didn't mean to hurt you.'

‘Yeah, okay, whatever,' he said as he started to move off. ‘But maybe you'll change your mind when I
do
win the photo competition … and the dinner for two at the Realty Restaurant.'

But Gloria wasn't listening. She was watching the billowing grey smoke that was coming from the direction of Blowhard's camp.

With Shadow leading the way and with Snook following, we ran up the bank and over the bridge towards Blowhard's camp.

We got there just in time for the first explosion.

I could hardly believe my eyes. His fire was erupting. Rocks, embers and sparks were flying through the air like missiles, and billowing into the sky and growing denser every second, was a mass of grey, choking smoke. Right in the middle of it all was Blowhard, making short, sharp yelping noises, hopping around on one foot and holding the other as if he was doing a war dance.

We needed to do something fast. There were a dozen or more spot fires in the grass and bushes in and around his camp that had already started. Another minute and the whole camp site would be burning and the nearby trees would be next. I could see the fires already spreading in their direction. ‘We need some blankets!' I yelled. ‘To smother the fires!'

Understanding immediately, Snook raced over to the van. It was locked. He then ran over to Blowhard and grabbed him by the arm. ‘Stop prancin' around like a bower bird and open the van!' he yelled into his ear. ‘I need to get some blankets!'

Blowhard didn't seem to understand. His dancing had stopped but now he just stood, staring into space and jabbering to himself. Snook's frustrations came to the surface. Still holding Blowhard's arm and yelling in his ear, he shook him backward and forwards like a rag doll. ‘Open the van, Blowhard. We need those blankets now! Rex is catching on fire!'