Outback Hero

by Sally Gould

  "Charlie!"

  Charlie finally got the message and slouched back in his seat.

  No one said anything for ages. But the more I thought about climbing Uluru, the more worried I got. My time for this life must be up. Obviously, only a little more effort was needed to kill me off. If I were stupid enough to climb Uluru, that'd be it. And when I died, Dad would regret forcing me to climb it. But what could I do?

  Eventually, I turned round to Charlie and said, "Do you know how many people have accidents on Uluru?" I knew he'd tell me if people died climbing Uluru - I didn't have to ask.

  "Yep." He folded his arms and stuck out his chin as though he were real smart. "Last year there were sixty-three accidents. One person died, six needed to be airlifted off Uluru and twenty-five needed to go to hospital."

  How did he remember this stuff? Unless he was making it up ... that was possible. "So," I asked, "how did the person die?"

  Charlie screwed up his face. "How would I know? I only know the stats, not the whole tragic story."

  He was telling the truth, I could tell by the offended look on his face. "So you found out those stats on the internet?"

  "Yeah."

  "So, what else did you find out?"

  He sat up. "That almost everyone who has an accident on Uluru is a tourist. That Uluru is as high as a ninety-five-storey building. That some of the people who have accidents get lost - how stupid are they? And if it's too windy, too wet or too dark or the temperature goes above thirty-six degrees, then no one is allowed to climb."

  "Really?" Wow, there was hope. I leaned over the front seat and asked Dad, "How hot is it?"

  "Twenty-eight degrees," he said. "It won't get up to thirty-six at this time of year."

  I glanced out the window. The sky looked like a blue dome - it wasn't going to rain. And if there were any wind, there'd be red dust above the ground, but there wasn't. It looked real still. I couldn't depend on the climb being closed; I had to convince Mom that it was too dangerous for her favorite son to climb.

  I leaned over the front seat and whispered in Mom's ear, "Do you think that every person has a date when it's time for them to die?"

  She stopped reading, turned to me and frowned. "No."

  She'd wrecked my whole argument before I'd even started. I whispered again, "But just say that's the way it is. Don't you think it's a bit weird that I've almost died three times in less than two weeks?"

  She shook her head. "You're accident-prone, that's all. You've always been. Most kids work out pretty quickly that it's dangerous to take unnecessary risks. For some reason, you're taking a long time to work that out."

  She might as well have hit me with a cricket bat. I heard Charlie sniggering behind me. I turned round and glared at him.

  Then he announced to Mom and Dad, "If Max falls off Uluru, I won't catch him."

  I felt myself go real hot. I wanted to punch Charlie.

  "That's a horrid thing to say," said Mom, without looking up from her book.

  I glared at Charlie. "You won't need to catch me," I folded my arms, stuck out my chin and said real calm. "I won't fall. Actually, I bet I'll get to the top before you."

  6. BEATING TYSON

  Dad was so obsessed with Uluru. He'd already gone on and on about how once there was a mountain range and an inland sea. He reckoned the earth faulted and Uluru rose up and flipped on its side, so that the left-hand side of Uluru is fifty million years older than the right side. I liked Charlie's idea, that aliens gave Uluru to the Aboriginal people as a gift, a lot better. We had to drive straight to it, even though we weren't climbing it until tomorrow because Dad had to make sure it was actually there.

  Charlie and me were starving because we hadn't had lunch. But we didn't complain. I knew Mom liked to check in to the hotel first to get organized. But she didn't complain either.

  We passed lots of weird-looking trees. They looked like people who'd been standing to attention when an evil witch turned them all into trees. I could see Uluru in the distance. It got bigger as we got closer. It was very big and very red. But the really weird thing was that it was stuck in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't one other big rock near it. Yeah, Charlie must've been right; aliens must've given it to the local Aboriginal people as a gift. Why they'd want a humungous red rock, I didn't know. Maybe rock-giving was what you did on the aliens' planet.

  We parked and Dad went on, "Oh, look at that! Stupendous! Magnificent! I can't wait to see the view from the top."

  Mom turned and looked at Charlie and me. And Charlie and me looked at each other. I knew we were all thinking the same thing: It's seriously steep. I'm puffing just looking at it.

  There were black slide marks going from the top to the bottom - like the aliens had got mats and slid down the sides for fun.

  Then before we'd even got out of the car, the Jacksons pulled in next to us. They were following us! Alyson, Tyson and then Harry jumped out of their LandCruiser, which had so much red dust on it you couldn't tell it was white. Charlie and me had no choice; we couldn't stay in the nice air-conditioned car forever. We got out. Yep, it was hot. Charlie and me said hi to Alyson, Tyson and Harry, and to Mr. High-Pants Jackson and Mrs. Jackson.

  Harry came and stood with me. He noticed my Manchester United shirt and said, "That's my team, too."

  Alyson told Charlie they were climbing Uluru now.

  Tyson asked me, "Are you climbing it too?"

  "Tomorrow," I said. "We're going to see the sunrise and then climb it." Unless I suddenly got real sick during the night and I couldn't. That was possible.

  Mr. High-Pants Jackson must've heard me because he said, "Oh, don't wait until tomorrow. They're predicting tomorrow will be windy so the climb will probably be closed."

  If we had to climb it now, we'd never get lunch. I'd die of starvation. I felt my stomach, but there was nothing there - just a hollow space. I might die hungry.

  Dad muttered, "We've got to climb Uluru. We haven't come all this way to miss out." He put his hand up to block out the sun and stared at the big red rock.

  Mom said to Dad, "I'd rather wait until the morning when it's cooler."

  "I'll take you to the hotel, if you like," replied Dad. "But I'm going to climb it now. If the climb is open tomorrow, I'll do it again with you."

  Very generously, I offered to stay with Mom. Dad stuck his hands on his hips and glared at me.

  Then Mom shook her head and said, "No, we'll all go together."

  "Good idea," said Dad, "let's get ready."

  I sucked in my breath. Would this be the last day of my life?

  After scrounging in the car to find three cracker biscuits that Charlie and me had to share (I tried not to think that might be my last meal), slopping on half a tube of sunscreen and grabbing our backpacks, we all set off for the base of Uluru.

  Tyson came in between Charlie and me and challenged us, "Bet ya I beat youse to the top."

  I remembered telling Charlie I'd beat him to the top. But now I didn't feel like competing. Not with anyone. I wanted to concentrate on staying alive.

  "I'm not interested in racing," said Charlie.

  "Wimps," he said as though we were totally pathetic, and he ran up ahead.

  Charlie and me looked at each other. I knew we were thinking the same thing. One of us has to beat him.

  "You beat him," I whispered.

  "Why me?" asked Charlie. "Why can't you?"

  "You're the fastest runner."

  "You're better at climbing trees," he said.

  I hadn't thought of that. Actually, Charlie didn't even like climbing trees. But he was bigger and stronger, so he should beat him.

  'Max, I've got to tell you something ... don't laugh.'

  Just the serious look on his face made me feel like laughing.

  He grabbed my arm and whispered, "I'm scared of heights - really scared. I only realized I was afraid of heights at Kings Canyon. Last night, I had a nightmare about being pushed off a tall building."
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br />   I began to laugh, but I stopped. That made sense ... how he'd gone a weird color when we were standing on the edge. Then it hit me just how hard it must've been for him to be lowered down to grab my hands. He'd been looking down at the canyon floor the whole time. But then I thought about me. I wanted to say, Obviously I'm so good I have to die young. I mightn't make it to the top. My dying wish is for you to beat Tyson to the top. But, of course, I couldn't. He'd saved my life. Not once, but three times.

  "Okay," I said, "I'll beat him."

  I swallowed as I looked up. Uluru almost seemed to go straight up. Up ahead I could see a couple of little kids coming down. That was sort of a good sign.

  Mr. High-Pants Jackson turned to the rest of us and announced, "The first section is the most difficult." Then he stepped up onto Uluru and marched off like he was some famous explorer.

  Harry whispered to me, "Can we go up together?"

  "Sure," I replied. I couldn't tell him we had to try to beat his older brother before I probably fell off Uluru and died.

  No one talked as we went up because it was slippery as well as steep. We had to concentrate. By the time we reached the chain rail, all I could hear was huffing and puffing. I listed the fifty US states in alphabetical order to stop myself thinking how I was so puffed I might run out of breath. By the time I got to 'Rhode Island', Mr. High-Pants Jackson had decided we should all stop for a breather. No one complained. Everyone took a few gulps from their water bottles.

  Harry tugged at my Manchester United shirt. "Let's go,' he said. 'They're too slow."

  "Don't you want to get your breath?"

  "Got it," he said.

  Great. I couldn't really say that I needed a bit longer. I nodded and he bounded away. Far out, I had to keep up with him!

  7. THE CLIMB

  "Not too fast. You need to pace yourself," I yelled out to Harry. My soccer coach yelled that out to me every week at training.

  Like me, Harry didn't answer. He just kept bounding up like he was one of those goats who ran up and down mountains. His hand wasn't even touching the chain.

  I heard Harry's father yell out not to race ahead. Then Dad yelled out, "It's not a competition, Max!" We ignored them.

  Somehow I kept up with Harry. The tips of my fingers brushed along the chain. I was ready to grab it in case my time was suddenly up and the wind tried to blow me off Uluru. The backs of my legs were killing me, but I had a responsibility. Harry was only seven years old and I couldn't let him climb on his own. I glanced back down. Tyson was a fair way behind.

  I called out to Harry, who was up ahead, "Let's stop for a sec."

  "Why?" he yelled back.

  Was he stupid? I kept going and tried to remember the rest of the US states. A blue cap flew past me. I pulled my cap down; the wind was getting stronger. I turned round to see where Mom, Dad and Charlie were. I saw Charlie's green T-shirt. It looked like they were heading back down. Could Charlie have got scared of the height already? It didn't matter; if I kept up with Harry, I'd beat Tyson. Turning back, I saw Harry was getting too far ahead, so I made a big effort to catch up. Now it wasn't as steep, but it was getting harder to walk with the wind blowing me sideways.

  Lots of people were coming back down. They were talking to each other in a strange language. Actually, it seemed like only Harry and me were going up and everyone else was on their way down. They were all holding on to the chain real tight. Still, they weren't huffing and puffing like me.

  A guy with heavy walking boots and a funny accent said to me, "Hurry, to top. The climb close soon - the wind."

  I nodded because I was too puffed to answer. How did they close the climb? Wrap this humungous rock in a big black curtain and pretend it wasn't there? And who would close it? Two giants at the bottom who stopped people climbing and two giants at the top who made people go back down? I went faster, cutting through the wind.

  When I reached the end of the chain, I wanted to lie flat on my back and recover. I knew how Nanna must've felt when she tried to keep up with Charlie and me when we'd walk to the shops near her place. But I kept going. Now broken white lines showed us the path. Harry was way up ahead - the smarty-pants. At least it wasn't steep any more. Uluru changed - now it was like sand dunes made of red rock. I caught up to Harry, who, of course, wasn't puffing at all.

  Eventually, the path turned, so we must've been on the top. But still it went up and down and up and down. Some of the rock dunes were so steep we had to take a run up to get to the top and then slowly and carefully go down sideways. When we were at the top of a rock dune we could see forever. It was like being on top of the world because the ground below was so flat and went on and on. The Olgas, another famous Aboriginal sacred site, looked like a pile of random rocks in the distance. Every now and again there was a miniature mountain of stones, like someone had made gifts for any visiting aliens. We kept going up and down, up and down.

  Finally, we saw a few people crowded round a fat stone post. We ran to it. Harry touched it first. Beaten by a seven year old again - embarrassing, I know. There was a brass plate with lots of arrows pointing to places.

  Harry said, "Let's get to the end of the rock."

  We ran off and danced in circles while we whooped as loud as we could. We'd done it! We'd reached the top. We probably should've got in Guinness World Records for the fastest ever time for two kids to climb Uluru.

  I stopped because I got dizzy from going round in circles. Then I realized we were the only ones on the top. Everyone else had gone back down. Suddenly it felt spooky. It was too quiet. That sort of quiet there is when something bad is about to happen.

  Harry was still running around in circles like a maniac. "Come on," I called out. "We should get going."

  He yelled back, "I like it up here."

  I couldn't be stuffed arguing with him. I did what Mom used to do with me. "Fine," I said, "but I'm going back down." I turned my back to him and walked back over to the path of broken white lines. For several seconds, I heard nothing and then ...

  "WAIT!"

  I stopped. Then I heard a sound that stopped my heart beating.

  8. THE HERO

  I heard a long piercing scream, then a thud. I turned and ran back to Harry. He was face down and wailing at the top of his voice. His foot had caught in a deep gap in a rock and he'd fallen flat on his face. A broken branch had pierced his shorts and there was blood seeping out. The branch must've stabbed his thigh as he fell.

  He turned his head so I could see his face. "My leg, my leg."

  I kneeled beside him and freed his foot. "You'll be okay."

  Tears streamed down his face; his wails quieted to sobs.

  I stood up and looked round. There really wasn't one other person on the top of Uluru. We were alone. I felt sick. Real sick.

  "Harry, I'm going to roll you onto your back. You're bleeding; we've got to stop it." He was too terrified to move. I was real gentle, but he screamed a few times. Still, I guess he was pretty brave. His leg had a bend in it that shouldn't have been there, but I didn't tell him.

  "I don't suppose you have one of those big grandpa hankies in your pocket?" I asked.

  "Nooo," he moaned.

  Of course he didn't. I had no choice. I took off my Manchester United shirt, cleaned the wound with it and tied it tightly around the very top of his leg. Harry made a couple of sudden movements, but like magic, the bleeding stopped. I tried not to wonder if Mom would be able to get the blood out of my shirt. Near us, I found a rock that I put under the foot with the broken leg. And then I put my backpack under his head and gave him a few sips of water.

  "Thanks," he whispered.

  I knew there was a reason I'd broken my leg last year. Maybe Nanna was right: Everything happens for a reason. But there was still one thing to do. The problem was that if I did it wrong I might make things worse. I thought hard and decided I had to try.

  From the bottom of Uluru you'd never know there were small trees on top. The aliens must'v
e put them there in case someone broke their leg and needed a splint. I broke off two branches. They weren't perfectly flat like my splint had been. The cord from the surf jacket that I carried in my backpack would have to do to tie the splint. It wasn't long enough, so I used one of my shoelaces as well. Harry asked me if I knew what I was doing, so I told him the story of how I broke my leg.

  "One day," I said, "I told my friends, Thomo and Chook, I could fly. I jumped out of the oak tree, flapped my arms, fell and broke my leg. The pain was real bad, but I couldn't cry because my friends were all crowded around. First the school nurse came, and then the ambulance. The nurse stopped the bleeding by tying a bandage real tight around the top of my leg. Then she put something under my head and under my foot. And someone put a blanket over me. The ambulance guy put on the splint. He said it was to stop my leg moving and that would help it heal."

  If I'd hurt Harry, he wasn't saying so. He said, "You were lucky. What if no one rescues us?"

  "Of course they will," I tried to sound real sure. "Our parents will send a ranger up as soon as they work out we're not coming down."

  "What if they don't know where to look?"

  "We're on top of a rock, not hidden in the jungle."

  "What if it gets dark?"

  I shivered. "We won't die or anything. We'll just get cold."

  "What if the evil spirits come out at night and they try to kill us?"

  "There's no such thing as evil spirits," I said. I shivered again. "We'll be rescued before it's dark. It's not like our parents have ninety kids; they'll notice we're missing." I hugged my knees. "My mom will only wait about ten minutes before she looks for a ranger. She says I'm accident-prone. She'll assume I've broken my leg - trust me."

  "But the ranger won't be able to get me down to the ground." He sounded like he was about to cry.

  "Of course he will. He'll have a rescue team and they'll bring a stretcher."

  "It's too steep."

  "People have accidents all the time. The rangers are always bringing people down. They know what they're doing. You'll be okay. Last year the rangers rescued sixty-three people." I tried to sound real certain, but I couldn't see how they'd get him down either. It was a long, long way down and it was real steep, especially the bottom bit. And Charlie had told me there'd been sixty-three accidents, not sixty-three rescues. But I guess most of them got rescued. Except for the guy who died. Lucky Harry didn't know about him.