They Found a Cave (5 page)

‘And Tas would tell you how to trap a bunny when you got hungry, wouldn't you, Tas?' added Brick.

‘And we'd visit you on Sundays and leave a tapioca pudding on your doorstep,' Cherry contributed, knowing his special dislikes. ‘Besides, you could train Fluffles to catch fish for you in the tarn!'

‘All the same,' said Nigel, suddenly serious, ‘I rather wish we
could
, don't you?'

Cherry nodded vigorously, and as usual began at once to picture the idea as a fact. Brick grunted a deep ‘Um-hum!' with longing, and sighed.

Only Tas, the boy bred to the bush, accepted it as a simple practical suggestion.

‘We'd best see first how she behaves,' he remarked after some thought. Then, as though the matter was settled, he stood up. ‘Come and help me drive them sheep down. They've got a track of their own where the bush is too thick fer us to follow. We'll start 'em off, and then go down them Giant Steps and pick 'em up below, see?'

‘I say,' Nippy asked, as Tas disappeared from the cave, ‘what did he mean? He said “she”—“see how
she
behaves”—what exacterly did Tas mean, Cherry?'

‘Dunno. Ask him yourself,' Cherry answered shortly.

For she did know, and her eyes were gleaming at the thought; but thoughts like that, decided Cherry, were not to be lightly trusted to a bit of a kid like young Nippy.

Only a week—was it only a week since Jandie had left, taking with her their freedom and happy days! Cherry moved restlessly in bed and listened. Nippy made little sobbing noises in his sleep and muttered ‘Mummie'. Cherry sat up gritting her teeth, she sat with elbows pressed sharply into her own knees trying to stifle her rage. Oh! To be so helpless—helpless—
helpless
.

There came a stealthy movement and a whisper through the window. ‘Come on the verandah. We're talking things over. Leave him if he's asleep. Don't make a row!' Nigel's shoulders were outlined for a moment against the dark blue and star gleams of the night, and then vanished.

Cherry pad-padded barefoot along the boards to the end where the boys slept. Tas was already huddled in his patched pyjamas on Nigel's bed, telling them they could talk aloud as long as they were careful.

‘Snoring like a yardful o' pigs they were, when I passed the door,' he said. ‘I don't trust 'em far, though. Reckon they mean trouble. What happened? Ma lorst her block, didn't she? And give young Nippy the hiding of his life?'

‘It wasn't fair!' Cherry burst out. ‘It was all about his cat. She knows what he is about Fluffles—she's an utter beast—'

‘We ought never to have left him alone with her, though.'

‘Don't see that we could have helped him much, once she meant business. It's only the beginning—you see!'

‘Oh!' Nigel got up and moved restlessly to the verandah railing as he talked. ‘I've thought of a dozen schemes for us to unite somehow and down the two of them, but when you really come to do anything you find—till Jandie gets back—they've got the whip-hand.
And don
'
t they know how to use it!
'

‘Ha ha! But I've written all about it to Jandie.'

‘Have you, Cherry? Good!'

‘Yes, at least that's all right. I got the man who came to borrow the plough to pop the letter, with one for Mother, too, into his pocket. He said he'd be in Valleeroo in a few days to post mail. Yes, we mustn't worry too much; Jandie will soon know all about it now.'

‘Huh!' Tas laughed mirthlessly. ‘Wait on, Cherry! Your precious letters! Don't you know yet my Ma wasn't born yesterday? Of course she found out and made the chap hand them over to her before he left. Told him Pa was taking the lorry down to Valleeroo himself or some such lie. Oh, yes, and
didn
'
t
they jest enjoy reading all you wrote about 'em to Jandie. Had the laugh of their lives before they stuffed 'em on the kitchen fire.'

‘My letters! They dared to read my letters! I—'

‘Oh, don't waste time worrying about them now,' Nigel interrupted wearily. ‘It's lucky Tas found out, anyway. The thing is, now we've got to make plans. Yes, we must
plan
, I tell you. Hullo? What's that?'

They listened intently for any suspicious sound from the house and heard a slight shuffling noise. Outside the night was absolutely still. There was no moon, but the light from many stars, and the broad pennant of the Milky Way was flying bravely across the sky. Cherry stared at it, frowning. It seemed to her everything was placidly indifferent to their plight: even the little bush creatures were busy about their own rustling tiny affairs, and the whole vast bush cared nothing for herself and her brothers, for they didn't really belong to it.

The shuffling sound resolved itself into light footfalls, and Nippy appeared, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

‘I can't sleep. Why did you go away, Cherry?'

‘All right, old man.' Nigel swung him on the bed and pulled a blanket round his shoulders. ‘You are just the one we want. We are meeting to lay plans to avenge you and Down all Pinners. Now, what do you suggest?'

‘Good! Aha!
Good!
You must first take Ma and roll her down the hill from Hollow Tree in a barrel full of spikes; drive in the longest and sharpest nails you can get, Nig. After that—'

‘Wait a bit,' Brick interrupted. ‘You forget there was never a barrel built yet that would hold Ma Pinner.'

‘Look here!' Nippy surveyed them severely, beginning to enjoy himself as the centre of interest. ‘Mean to tell me you've all been sitting here half the night and no
plan
to show for it yet? You're a poor lot of coves I must say.'

‘But Nippy, this is no game; we've decided we've got to
do
something as soon as possible.'

‘Of course! Didn't I tell you a long time ago?' explained Nippy patiently. ‘What we've got to do is—
run away.
'

‘Oh, yeah? And be overtaken by the lorry and brought back after a few miles? No, thank you! Besides, where would we run? We don't know anyone, and we've only about five bob and some English farthings, which you can't use in Tasmania, in the way of cash. No, no! It's not so easy. We've thought of everything.'

‘No, you haven't, sillies. Just go off and live in the bush till Jandie comes back, like Tas said.'

‘It's like this, you see, Nippy,' Nigel explained carefully in a low tone. ‘They make out that Jandie's ill,
very
ill, in a hospital in Melbourne. Suppose we all “go bush”, as Tas calls it, and then she—she doesn't come back?'

‘He means for a very long time,' said Cherry quickly. ‘What would we do? What would we have to live on, Nippy? It's spring now and fairly warm, but what should we do when winter came?'

‘Plenty of firewood about, isn't there?' put in Tas unexpectedly. ‘D'you know I reckon young Nippy's right—if it wasn't fer the tucker. That gets me beat, I must say.'

‘Oh, couldn't we manage somehow? I
want
to live up there in that cave, Tas. I
won
'
t
stay here with the Pinners I tell you.'

Nippy talked on, but Cherry turned towards the evening sky and tried to imagine what it would be like to live as part of the wild bush. The stars up there looked different, somehow; they now twinkled back in a friendly sort of way, and the little scufflings around seemed to come from little creatures inviting instead of threatening her.

Looking round she saw the dim verandah, where the boys were so eagerly discussing what might have been a great adventure. But of course it was impossible; people had to eat.

Again the sky drew her eyes and this time as she looked an idea flashed through her mind, as clear and complete as those bright stars themselves.

‘Of course!' she whispered, ‘that must have been what Jandie meant. Nippy's quite right. The Milky Way!'

‘What are you giggling about, Cherry?'

‘Don't you see?' Cherry laughed softly, everything clear and settled now. ‘The Milky Way! We can go and live in Capra Cave for we'll take the goats with us. They'll see we don't starve, and Tas will get us rabbits and things, won't you, Tas? The goats make it safe, and anyhow you know I couldn't go without the goats, because I promised Jandie—'

‘Yes, yes! We know all about that,' Nigel interrupted rather brutally, ‘but it does almost seem as though Old Cherrystones has had an idea. What do
you
say, Tas?'

Tas said a lot and it was mostly favourable to the scheme. He believed they could live undiscovered and well sheltered in the cave, with water from the tarn and all the firewood they required. With a constant supply of milk and a few things ‘borrowed' from the Homestead they might do very well.

‘And the first thing I'll pinch will be an axe,' said Tas.

As the planning began in earnest the list of things to be pinched grew ever longer.

Cherry perched herself back on the verandah railings and looked up gratefully at the stars responsible for her idea. A cool breeze blew up from nowhere and she shivered slightly, and was suddenly conscious of a rather empty feeling. She had felt too upset at tea on Nippy's account to eat much, and now she wondered how it would be to live hard and know real hunger.

At last she interrupted the excited whispers on the bed. ‘Suppose,' she asked, ‘suppose things don't go quite as we expect. Suppose we only get hungry and cold or wet or something. What would Mother say if we let Nippy suffer?'

‘Oh, shut up, Cherry! Wouldn't I rather live on
flies
than eat lots with Ma Pinner there? Ough!'

‘Yes, shut up croaking, Cherry,' Nigel endorsed. ‘Come over here and listen to the Plan.' He waited till they had collected round, and no suspicious sounds could be heard from inside.

‘We've decided everything, but first we're going to make one rule. We won't grumble. However things turn out we won't grumble, but we will work hard. Is that agreed, you blokes? We don't expect it to be all jam, do we? There won't be any jam as a matter of fact. Is that agreed?'

They each nodded solemnly.

Nigel glanced round and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘We must seize our chance
tomorrow.
Pa Pinner will be away, I know, after sheep. First will come hard work getting all we need up to Hollow Tree and smuggled there. Tas and I will make out a list and each will be responsible for certain things. We'll aim to clear out when the Old Girl has her morning tea on the side verandah and won't notice us go. Cherry and Brick won't carry quite so much as the rest of us because they have to drive the goats. Do you all understand?'

‘Yes, and mind you don't let the goats out after the morning milking, Cherry,' Tas warned. ‘You can tell Ma you fergot 'em if she asks. And listen all you chaps—yes, Nippy, you too—be sweet as honey to Ma, fetch her in wood and do whatever she wants and butter her up all you know so we don't have trouble. Brick, you better shadow her when Nig and me get at the store-room, so as to give warning if she turns up where she isn't expected.'

‘Yes, and listen, blokes,' added Nippy, feeling a longing to give orders, too, ‘see you each have a box of matches, a piece of string, and a pencil in your pockets before you start.'

They laughed at Nippy and asked what the pencil was for. The box of matches was agreed upon as a useful idea.

Cherry winked at Brick, indicating that it was his turn next to give orders, but he got up instead, yawning. ‘I'm for bed before I forget what all the generals have commanded,' he grinned, and paused a moment listening before he moved away.

The distant chorus of frogs down by the creek reached them, with the deep ‘
BONG'
now and then of the bull frog. There came, too, the startled screech of a native hen in the low scrub, and the regular sawing of wind through the gum-trees along the hilltops. These were becoming familiar, friendly sounds.

Soon, like the conspirators which in fact they were, the rest stole soft-footed to bed, leaving Tas and Nigel making out endless lists by the light of a pocket electric torch.

It was one thing to make plans in the dead of night for running away, and quite another to carry them out successfully. Cherry it was—poor Cherry who always seemed to be unlucky when she particularly wanted to succeed—Cherry who, with a bulging sack on her shoulders, ran full tilt into Ma Pinner outside the back door.

‘'Ere! Stop! What you got there?' Ma demanded suspiciously.

‘Only some feed for the goats,' Cherry lied, her face tomato red as she skilfully got past.

Ma Pinner was not built for quick action, but, on the other hand, Cherry was burdened with a heavy load, and the result was a race which Cherry narrowly won by hurling herself and the sack inside the chaff-house door, and slipping the bolt.

‘Open that there door!' commanded Ma, thumping on it with a stick and panting from over-exertion and fat.

‘Can't. It's got stuck,' announced Cherry gleefully, watching her enemy through a crack.

‘Oh! Got stuck, 'as it?' With a triumphant cackle Ma Pinner laid hands on the big key sticking in the lock outside, and quickly gave it a turn. ‘Righty-ho! Now you can stay inside of there till Mr. Pinner gets back. He'll soon learn you whether it's stuck or not.'

Wheezing with laughter she returned to the house with the key, leaving Cherry in complete despair. She could have forced her way out of most sheds about the place, but the chaff-house defeated her. It had no window, was lined throughout with tin, and the floor was strong. That it had been well and truly laid Nigel discovered when he crawled underneath with a hammer, only to receive a mouthful of dust for his efforts.

‘
Bother!
' he spluttered. ‘Now you've done it, Cherry. Wrecked our whole dashed scheme.'