Riddle Gully Secrets (9 page)

Dan swallowed his spit with a
gluck
noise. ‘I memorised a joke today that might help calm our –'

‘Shshsh!' the others hissed.

They strained to listen.
Scrape.
And then again …
Scra-a-ape.

A moment later they heard a clunk, then a thump, then a throaty cry.

‘Aw heck! Is that a cricket on my neck? Cos it sure feels like a cricket on my neck. Quick, Pooky! Get it off me!'

There was a slapping sound and a gruff
ouch!

‘It's gone now,' said a twangy voice.

‘I never could stand bugs!'

‘Listen, Curly-honey, it's been a long day and the map says we have to be close.'

‘I reckon we're just about there, Pooky-doll.'

‘I could kill a gin fizz and a bubble bath. Let's come back tomorrow, nice and fresh. We'll get through the last of this rock my way. An itty bitty stick of gelignite is all it'll take.'

Pollo, Will, Ash and Dan scrambled out of the Wallaby Cave onto the hillside. A breeze was now ruffling the treetops below and the sun had eased a little.

Ash sniffed deeply. ‘I never thought fresh air could smell so good.'

Pollo flapped her muddy clothes from her body. ‘I never thought sunshine could feel this good.'

Will grabbed his backpack from under the ti-tree and rifled hopefully through its pockets. ‘I never thought I could be this hungry.'

‘Who were those people down there?' said Dan, hastily changing the subject. ‘Isn't gelignite for blowing things up?'

‘You got it,' said Pollo
.

‘I hope they know what they're doing,' said Dan.

Pollo snorted. ‘From the way they talked, not likely.

‘Lucky we heard them before they heard us,' said Will. ‘I guess this puts the kybosh on going back down there.'

‘How did they get in?' murmured Ash. ‘They didn't come the same route as us. We'd have seen their tracks in that fine dirt.'

‘A cave with two entrances?' suggested Will.

‘Two entrances and an old strongbox in between!' said Pollo. ‘Will, that thing the mayor said yesterday about great riches lying in what history overlooks …'

‘His new family motto!' laughed Will.

‘That's the one – I'm thinking the strongbox could have something to do with that. It might explain why that dodgy-looking couple have come to Riddle Gully. Do you think it was them?'

‘They sounded about the right age,' said Will. ‘Older than us; younger than our parents.'

‘They were calling each other weird names,' said Dan.

‘It's Curly and Pooky,' said Ash. ‘They're the two who disturbed me at my favourite rock this morning. They didn't mention gelignite then, though.'

‘What did they look like, Ash?' asked Pollo.

Ash considered. ‘Curly's big like a bear and his
wristwatch is huge. They have expensive-looking jewellery like you see in magazines. Pooky is blonde and has a pretty scarf.'

Pollo's eyes sparkled. ‘It
is
them! Mayor Bullock's friends!' She sat on a rock. ‘I knew they didn't smell right.'

‘Just what I thought this morning,' said Ash. ‘Curly wore far too much aftershave. It gave me the sneezes. I only just got away before letting fly. I tried to sound like a whipbird.'

‘Heck, that was brilliant!' said Will. ‘Well, I mean … you know … cool thinking.' He looked at the ground and blushed.

‘Mayor Bullock's no saint,' said Pollo, ‘but I'm surprised he's getting mixed up with explosives.'

‘He might not know,' said Will. ‘I mean, for him it wouldn't make sense to blow things up – there wouldn't be much left of the strongbox when they'd finished.'

‘Perhaps Curly and Pooky don't know just how close they are,' said Ash.

‘True,' said Pollo. ‘Did you notice anything else, Ash?'

‘Of course,' said Ash calmly. ‘They were excited … like on Christmas morning when you're going to open presents. And they had an old map – photocopied pages taped together. Curly was pleased because there was a
rock on the map named after a car, and he thought the rock –
my
rock – must be it.'

‘What type of car?' asked Will. ‘Volkswagen, Triumph, BMW –'

‘It started with “m” … I think.'

‘Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Morris Minor –'

Pollo shifted restlessly. ‘We probably don't need to know the exact type –'

‘No, wait!' said Ash. ‘It was an animal.'

‘Jaguar, Beetle, Impala, Mustang –'

‘Mustang! That's it!' said Ash. ‘I knew a mustang was a wild horse, but not a car.'

‘Mustang Rock!' cried Pollo. ‘That's on the other side of the gorge. They corralled wild horses there in the old days. If those two had an old map of the area and they somehow …' She tilted her head side to side, picturing possibilities.

‘You think they got the rocks mixed up?' said Will. ‘You'd have to be dense to think an old map would show a rock named after a car.'

Pollo shrugged. ‘All we know is that they started the day at Ash's rock. They got all excited. Then they crossed back over the gorge and ended up down a tunnel on the other side.'

‘But how would they get from Mustang Rock down
to the bottom of the gorge?' said Dan.

‘There's an above-ground cave with a tunnel sloping down,' said Pollo. ‘It's been blocked off as long as I've known. But I guess it could easily lead to the gorge.'

Pollo leaned forward, her chin in her hands. After a moment she sat up straight. ‘It has to be the strongbox they were after,' she announced. ‘It must contain something precious. That explains why it was set apart from all the other supplies. And why Mayor Bullock's got his nose in all this.'

‘Wouldn't something precious be better hidden?' said Ash.

‘Maybe its owner had to leave in a hurry,' said Will.

Dan cleared his throat. ‘It could've been the bushrangers who made the rockslide … sort of burying it to protect it.'

Pollo slapped Dan on the back. ‘You're thinking like a real investigator!'

‘Not really,' said Dan. ‘One time Twig buried something in the bush for safekeeping. Only later he forgot where he put it.'

‘Well whoever hid this wasn't planning to forget,' said Pollo. ‘They made a map.'

‘And I bet you five bucks,' said Will, ‘there's a big fat cross under “Mustang Rock”.'

Pollo sprang from her rock seat and tossed Will his backpack. She began heading down the trail.

‘Where are you going?' said Dan. ‘Are we coming too?'

‘I hope so!' called Pollo. ‘We're going to Mustang Rock! I've got a feeling!'

Dan began hurrying after Pollo.

‘I've got a feeling too!' Will called, hugging his backpack to his chest. ‘And it's reminding me that those two lovebirds down there were talking about blowing things up!'

Dan stopped, uncertain.

Pollo faced Will, her hands on her hips. ‘Not till tomorrow morning! They were calling it quits for the day, remember? This is our big chance! If we find out how Curly and Pooky reached the cave – if we find out it really
was
via Mustang Rock – maybe we can get the jump on them somehow! We can save that strongbox and whatever's in it!'

‘Can't we just let them have it?' said Will.

‘Our nation's heritage could be in there, Will Hopkins!'

‘Or a load of rusty, musty junk,' said Will. ‘We don't know.'

‘It beats me why you're making such a fuss,' said
Pollo. ‘We're going back to town anyway.' She shrugged nonchalantly. ‘We just swing by Mustang Rock on the way.'

Prickled and sweaty, the four emerged from the undergrowth at the base of Mustang Rock. Pollo put a finger to her mouth, signalling to hush. Shoulders to the looming granite wall, they skirted around to a cleared area in front of the dark arch of cave and peeked. But no one was lying in wait.

A narrow, overgrown trail led off the clearing. Will plucked at a prickle on his arm. ‘Pollo, does that track lead to Diamond Jack's Trail, by any chance?'

Pollo shrugged. ‘Maybe.'

‘You mean, I've got more holes than a cheese grater from climbing through all those spiky bushes, and we could have strolled along a nice shady track? “We just swing by Mustang Rock on the way,” you said! You didn't say the
back
way.'

‘We couldn't risk running into those two on the main trail, could we?' said Pollo. ‘A good investigator always thinks ahead, Will.'

‘But I suppose,' said Dan, ‘if we
had
happened to run into them, they don't know that we know anything. We could have just pretended to be bushwalkers.'

Pollo looked sheepishly at Will. ‘I didn't think of that.'

Will rolled his eyes and huffed.

Suddenly Ash whipped forward, covering her mouth.
Eew-chew!
Birds flapped from their hiding places in the trees.
Eew-chew!
Leaves fluttered to the ground. ‘They've been here alright,' sniffled Ash, a finger pressed sideways under her nose. ‘That aftershave! I don't think we've missed them by much.'

Dan jigged from one foot to the other. ‘We should be really quiet then … don't you all think?'

‘So they
did
get down there from here,' said Pollo.

‘Even though the tunnel's blocked off?' said Dan.

‘I guess they unblocked it,' said Will. ‘Let's take a look.'

They entered the dank, dark mouth of Mustang Rock, their breathing shallower with the musty smell. At the back of the cave, a natural chimney threw light on a patch of ground. Nearby was the tunnel entrance,
blocked by a heavy iron grid. The grid was blackened with age and pitted from years of constant damp. Tiny hairs of bright green moss sprouted on its bars. A large padlock and thick chain hung from one side.

‘There are shiny scratches around the keyhole!' said Pollo. ‘Just as I suspected!'

‘Mayor Bullock must have given them a key,' said Ash.

‘He's up to something fishy, alright,' said Pollo. ‘Why else would he give keys to two dodgy people who don't care two hoots about either caves or safety regulations?'

Pollo began pacing back and forth, tapping her fingertips together. ‘That lock looks pretty rusty. Maybe if we got a big rock we could just –'

‘I know what you're thinking and you can unthink it!' said Will. ‘We're not going down there! I'm starving to death! Someone ate all the sandwiches, remember?'

‘Pretend you're fasting,' said Pollo, ‘like one of those monks. Ash, how about you?

‘I'll keep guard, but I won't go underground again. The thought I kept having in the other cave of something going wrong, of becoming trapped …' Ash's whole body shuddered. ‘It's still haunting me.'

‘Okay,' said Pollo. ‘I won't push you.'

‘Wow!' said Will. ‘Whenever I say no to Pollo she ignores me.'

‘You've got to mean it,' said Ash.

Will thought a moment. Maybe Ash had something there.

‘I'll go with you, Pollo,' said Dan. ‘Gee willakers, it's not like I'm busting to go home right now. Twig and his portals! Until I can show him the bushrangers' cave I'm steering clear.'

‘I'd like to meet Twig,' said Ash solemnly. ‘He's curious about the types of things most of us don't question. Hey, my mum's working backstage in a play at the Town Hall tonight
.
You and Twig should –'

‘The play!' cried Pollo, whacking her forehead with her palm. ‘Will! What time is it?'

‘Half past four.'

‘We promised Sherri we'd set up the hall!' Pollo began skipping backwards across the clearing towards Diamond Jack's Trail. She called to Ash and Dan. ‘We'll see you both there! I'll save us seats! Dan, bring your dad! There's two spare tickets!'

‘Dan!' called Will, hurrying after Pollo. ‘It's up to you, of course, but you can come to my place first and have a shower if you want.'

Pooky and Curly sat on pink aluminium chairs in the front row of the Town Hall, having thought it wise to keep sweet with Mayor Bullock. Curly waved his program for the Riddle Gully Repertory Club's production of
Les Misérables
in the air uncertainly.

‘You've got to do it in one hit, Curly. You've got to be ruthless!'

Curly's eyes were fixed on his belt buckle. From the middle of the brushed silver metal, a black spider the size of a thumbnail groped the air with its front legs.

‘But it's lookin' at me, Pooky!'

‘It's got a lot of eyes,' said Pooky. ‘It's looking at a lot of things.'

Pooky snatched the program from Curly, rolled it into a tube and brought it down –
thwack!
– onto his buckle.

With a bright pink nail, she flicked the rearranged spider onto the floor. ‘Ruthless, Curly. It's kinder in the long run.'