Taking the Chequered Flag

by Pam Harvey

  E.D.’s bike lacked the power to keep up with the others on the straights, but over the small hills and at the corners, he was able to gain ground quickly. With aggressive riding he felt he had a 50:50 chance of making it.

  For two laps the group of five jostled for position, swapping places regularly as they weaved around the course.

  As E.D. entered the first curve of their final lap, a tough rider on a red and black bike went down. He had gone into the corner way too fast. E.D. sped past and found himself with open track ahead.

  He gunned the accelerator, knowing that this was his best chance yet to put some space between himself and the riders behind him.

  Two out of four, he muttered, concentrating hard as he rode the jumps. He kept his bike steady, trying to relax his arms and hands as the bike hit the ground again and sped away towards the next curve.

  But in a flash he sensed Jack’s lime-green bike closing him down. He aimed for the high berm, keeping the power in the bike for as long as possible, before quickly shutting off and at the same time hitting the brakes. E.D. leaned forward, stuck out his left leg, all the time keeping his backside off the seat. He knew that putting a lot of weight over the front wheel of the bike would help it stick to the line he was taking.

  Halfway through, E.D. started to accelerate, conscious of the green bike down to his left. And in that split second E.D. almost lost control as he eyed Jack slipping through the inside.

  E.D. eased out of the berm and gunned the accelerator, surprised to find that he was overtaking Jack again.

  They were on the most remote part of the course. Suddenly Jack’s bike veered towards E.D.’s and before he could react, E.D. saw Jack’s right leg extend. In one quick movement, Jack kicked out at E.D.’s bike, sending him angling over.

  Jack sped off as E.D. struggled to keep the bike upright. Another bike zoomed past before E.D. finally managed to wrest back control, but by then yet another bike had snuck inside him and was scooting ahead.

  Swearing, E.D. tried in vain to catch up to the riders in front, but although he got close, they managed to keep him at bay.

  E.D. crossed the line in seventh place. He glanced into the stand as he slowly rode his bike back into the pit area. People were running for cover as big fat drops of rain had started to fall from a black sky.

  E.D. swore again.

  Chapter 10

  Caught on Tape

  Sunday, 16 January

  ‘What happened?’ Angus asked E.D. They were huddled in the front section of Mario’s van, along with Hannah and Gabby. Mario was in the back attending to E.D.’s bike.

  E.D. shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter. It’s done now.’

  ‘It looked like you and Jack bumped or something,’ said Hannah. She looked at E.D. He seemed forlorn and resigned.

  ‘He kicked me, made me lose my balance. Coming out of corners are my best moments and he slowed me down. I just couldn’t get the bike back under control—not until I’d been overtaken.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I recorded it,’ Gabby said, trying to brush off specks of dirt from her new T-shirt. Why do I always get so dirty at motorbike races? she wondered. It’s not like I’m riding the bike this time. She looked up. Everyone was staring at her. ‘What?’

  ‘Oh my God, I’m so stupid!’ Hannah said, slapping herself on the forehead.

  ‘What?’ Gabby asked, looking at each of them.

  ‘Have we got time?’ Angus asked.

  ‘Time for what? Hello?’ Gabby saw E.D. glance at his watch. Suddenly he threw open the door and started sprinting through the puddles towards the clubhouse.

  ‘Come on, Gab!’

  ‘But it’s raining!’ A clap of thunder rumbled overhead.

  ‘And bring the camera!’ Angus yelled, his hair already plastered to his face. Sighing, Gabby reached for her bag and followed the others into the rain.

  ‘Hey, Gabby, what’s up?’ Mario called from the rear of the van. Gabby paused, the rain drenching her. She shrugged, threw her hands in the air and followed the others to the clubrooms. Mario wasn’t far behind.

  Gabby arrived to see E.D. standing alone in the pouring rain, his hand holding a purple flag. He looked like a drowned rat; his long black hair hanging down over his face and shirt. But he was grim and determined.

  ‘What’s he doing?’ Gabby whispered to Angus.

  ‘Holding the purple flag,’ Hannah interrupted.

  ‘Well I can see that.’ Gabby was quickly losing patience. Angus took her bag and pulled out the camcorder. ‘What, do you want me to film him?’

  ‘The race officials are just deciding whether he got there within 15 minutes of the end of the race.’

  ‘The purple flag is the dispute flag,’ Hannah added.

  ‘Oh, I get it. He’s lodging a protest. Why didn’t you just say so? It’s the same in swimming, only the flag is…’

  ‘He’s going in,’ Angus said, moving closer to the window.

  An official had waved him inside. E.D. arrived at the door and handed the flag to a big man with a red face and a white moustache. He looked cross and impatient.

  ‘Too late, young fella,’ he said, gruffly. ‘You should have thought of it earlier. Anyway, I’ve spoken to the marshals and they didn’t see anything unusual.’ It was only then that Angus noticed Mr Proctor and his two children standing together by another door on the far side of the room. E.D. shrugged his shoulders and headed slowly for the door. Hannah and the others joined him.

  ‘As long as the purple flag is available to be taken, a dispute can be heard.’ E.D. froze. It was Mario’s voice that had suddenly broken the silence.

  ‘And who would you be?’ The large man glared at Mario.

  ‘I’m his brother, but I’ve also been on the International Committee of Motorbike Racing and am a current member of the Australian Federation of Motocross Bikes and Bike Racing. I’m aware of the rules. That boy held the purple flag in his hand and you need to hear his complaint.’

  E.D. swallowed. He was about to speak, but Angus suddenly jerked a hand over his mouth.

  ‘Let Mr Theodore decide, E.D. He’s in charge here and he knows the rules better than anyone.’

  Hannah smiled. That was so clever of Mario. She watched Mr Theodore closely as he slowly twirled his white moustache.

  ‘Very well,’ he said, finally. ‘Although Emilio here exceeded the time limit, that flag should have been brought in and it wasn’t. Sit down, Emilio.’ He looked across at Jack Proctor. ‘You’d better come over here and have a seat too, young Jack. It seems that this concerns you.’

  ‘This is an outrage!’ Mr Proctor said angrily. Another crack of thunder shook the building.

  ‘It’ll be an outrage if we all drown because you kept us from getting this affair over and done with,’ Mr Theodore boomed, almost as loud as the thunder. Dragging his feet, Jack sauntered over to a chair and slumped down in it. Two more officials carrying notepads had appeared from a small office above.

  ‘Right, let’s have it.’ Mr Theodore turned to face E.D.

  ‘It’s pretty simple. This guy here kicked out at me and caused me to lose my balance. It took me a while to get my balance back and by the time I did I’d lost at least two places. I came seventh and missed out on the Inter Club Meet next weekend.’

  Hannah, Angus and Gabby edged closer. It was hard to hear with the driving rain beating down on the tin roof overhead. Mr Theodore turned to Jack.

  ‘Well, did you do this?’

  ‘Of course he didn’t,’ Mr Proctor bellowed, striding forward himself. ‘My boy would never do a thing like that. If you ask me—’

  ‘Mr Proctor, I’m not asking you. I’m asking the boy.’ He turned back to Jack. ‘Well?’

  Jack folded his arms and stared straight ahead.

  ‘Of course I didn’t. He’s making it up because he’s not good enough and the only way he reckons he can get to the Inter Club is by cheating.’

  ‘Well,’ Mr Theodore said. ‘That appears to be th
at. One boy’s word against the other’s. And since we have no evidence there’s nothing to be done about it.’

  ‘Now, Gabby,’ Hannah said, pushing her forward.

  ‘What?’ Gabby said loudly. Suddenly everyone in the room was looking at her.

  ‘You have something to say, Miss?’ Mr Theodore glared at her. Gabby stood there, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

  ‘She has nothing to say,’ Hannah said, stepping forward.

  ‘Well that’s plain for all to see,’ Mr Theodore said. Mr Proctor burst out laughing.

  ‘But she has something to show,’ Angus said, joining his friends.

  ‘What’s going on?’ E.D. asked. Gabby reached into her bag and pulled out the camera. Jack’s face slowly went white. His father’s quickly went red, then purple.

  ‘You can’t take the evidence of some stupid little camera taken by—’

  ‘Well, well. Let’s have a look,’ Mr Theodore said, beckoning Gabby over to the table where he sat. The two officials next to him leaned in closer to view the small screen. Gabby pressed play. The screen crackled slightly as black and white lines scrolled across it.

  ‘Gabby?’ Hannah said, suddenly noticing Gabby’s frown.

  ‘It’s okay, Han. I can do this.’

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. How long must this farce go on for? This is an absolute joke. Jack, come on. We’re going.’

  ‘Wait!’ Hannah said, surprised that she’d spoken the word.

  ‘Hannah, it’s not working!’ Gabby squealed, pressing the stop button and then the play button again. Hannah stepped forward. Jack had stood up and was walking over to his father. Mr Theodore was frowning, and the other two officials were glaring at Gabby.

  ‘Gab, did you press rewind?’ Hannah asked, quickly.

  ‘Oh!’ Gabby let out a little embarrassed laugh and pressed the rewind button. ‘One more minute,’ called Mr Theodore. Mr Proctor and the two kids paused by the door. The tape had rewound to the beginning. Hannah pressed play, then fast forward, cueing the tape to E.D.’s race.

  ‘Righto, young man. Now where and when did this supposed push occur?’ Mr Theodore asked, leaning in again and looking interested. The other officials followed his gaze.

  ‘Back corner, right out near the golf course. Marshal 13,’ E.D. said. ‘Just after the corner.’

  ‘Furthest part of the course,’ Mr Theodore grumbled. They watched the small screen for a moment. ‘There!’ E.D. exclaimed, pointing. Hannah stole a glance in Mr Proctor’s direction.

  ‘I’ve got an important engagement, Harold,’ he said, the tone of his voice changed from the anger of a few moments ago. ‘We need to go now.’

  ‘Pause it there and rewind,’ Mr Theodore said, taking no notice of Mr Proctor. ‘Can we zoom in? And go a bit slower.’ He removed a pair of glasses from his top pocket and slowly placed them on his nose.

  ‘He’s loving every minute of this,’ Mario whispered to Angus. ‘Until he finds out the closest I’ve come to a motocross committee is standing for an hour in a marshal tower. And that was only because that nice girl Rebecca promised me a date if I could help out.’ Mario smiled to himself.

  Except for the rain beating on the roof like a thousand drumsticks rapping a snare drum, there was no other sound as E.D. and the three officials closely watched the footage.

  ‘Well, I’ll be dammed,’ Mr Theodore said finally, leaning back in his chair. ‘Damian? Sharon?’ He turned to the officials next to him.

  ‘That’s an obvious breach of rules going on there,’ Damian said. Sharon was nodding her head in agreement.

  ‘Right then.’ But as Mr Theodore rose importantly from his chair, a door slammed. Mr Proctor and Jack had suddenly disappeared.

  ‘Teagan?’ Mr Proctor’s voice screamed from outside the clubrooms.

  ‘I…I’m sorry,’ she muttered, then quickly slipped out. Angus blushed. She had been looking directly at him.

  ‘Well, well,’ Mr Theodore muttered, twisting and pulling his moustache. ‘Most unusual.’ He raised himself up to his full height. Hannah stifled a giggle as the image of a pigeon, preening and proud, jumped into her head. Mr Theodore looked around importantly, cleared his throat and spoke.

  ‘Let it be known that the ruling of this committee is that a breach of the rules of fair play has taken place and that Jack Proctor is hereby disqualified from the race. He will receive zero points and thus be ineligible to participate at the Inter Club Meeting next week. No further penalty shall be invoked. Let it also be known that Emilio De Lugio will be granted an advancement of one placing, thus giving him sixth placing and therefore making him eligible to participate at the Inter Club Meeting next week.’

  Gabby grinned. She liked the way he’d said eligible.

  ‘You guys are awesome!’ E.D. yelled, rushing over to Gabby and Hannah and hugging them both. They watched as the three officials trooped upstairs.

  ‘Well done for bringing your camera, Gab,’ Mario said, squeezing her arm.

  ‘And for taping the race,’ Hannah added.

  ‘And for finding the rewind button in the nick of time.’ Angus smiled.

  ‘Well, I did get a bit of help with that last part.’ Gabby tucked the camera in her bag as they made their way through puddles and mud to Mario’s van. But none of them ran, and for once Gabby barely noticed the rain drenching her.

  ‘Look out!’ Mario screamed suddenly, jumping to his right. The others followed, but not before an enormous black and green van shot past them, saturating them all with a wall of water as its wheels churned through an enormous puddle.

  ‘Temper, temper!’ E.D. shouted and grinned at Jack’s face staring out of the car. ‘Got you now, Jack Proctor.’

  Chapter 11

  Gabby’s Secret Plan

  Monday, 17 January

  ‘This is the best idea we’ve had for a long time,’ said Hannah as she trudged up the long driveway to Gabby’s house. ‘No dust, no dirt, no noise, just peace and quiet, and a swimming pool.’

  ‘It wasn’t our idea, remember,’ said Angus.

  ‘Sometimes, Gabby has the best ideas.’ E.D. ran the last 20 metres to the front door and rang the bell.

  No one had answered the door by the time they reached E.D. He was standing with his nose almost on the wood.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Angus said, pushing his friend away from the door.

  There was a note pinned to it, and the writing was in Gabby’s small, neat hand. Had to go out for a moment. Back soon. Help yourself to drinks and chips around the back. Please turn the filter off before going in the pool. No T-shirts, E.D.

  ‘She just likes my manly chest,’ said E.D. as they walked around the back.

  ‘In your dreams, E.D.,’ said Hannah. ‘She doesn’t want your black T-shirt leaving dye in the water.’

  ‘Believe what you like, Han.’ E.D. grinned. ‘That girl is always thinking of me.’

  Gabby wasn’t thinking of E.D. at all. She was thinking of Tony. And she was on her way to speak to him—without the others, which was what she’d planned.

  E.D. won’t mind, she reasoned. After all, it’s for Tony’s sake. She didn’t let herself think that E.D. might have wanted to be included in helping his brother.

  Gabby arrived at E.D.’s house and checked the driveway for cars. She wasn’t expecting Mario to be there; he would be at work. Mr De Lugio worked at a hardware store in town and Mrs De Lugio would be out shopping. She always said that on Mondays she had to stock up because her boys had eaten everything in the house by the end of the weekend. And E.D. was at Gabby’s place. That only left Tony.

  She knocked at the back door and heard a faint ‘Come in’ from the depths of the house. Nervous now, and wondering what she was really doing, she pushed the door open and went inside. ‘Hello,’ she called. ‘It’s Gabby.’

  ‘Gabby? I’m in the lounge room.’

  She walked through the kitchen to the lounge. A big ceiling fan was slowly swooshing around but the room w
as still hot. And dark. The curtains were drawn against the sun. It took her a moment to see Tony but there he was; his leg up on a chair. In the dull light, his leg was pale. It shocked Gabby until she realised that his leg was encased in a white stocking.

  ‘Hey, Gab,’ said Tony. ‘E.D.’s not here. He said he was going around to your place. Didn’t you know?’

  ‘Oh,’ said Gabby, ‘well, yes. I did know. I invited him.’

  Tony tilted his head curiously. ‘You asked him to your place and then you came here?’

  Gabby wondered how he knew her plan—then realised that it was pretty obvious. ‘I wanted to see you,’ she blurted out. ‘I mean, I wanted to ask you what it was that you know about Croft’s Cement. What’s going on there and why they want to…hurt you.’

  Tony didn’t say anything. He looked at Gabby until she started to squirm. ‘Geez, Gabby. What have you guys been talking about?’

  ’There’s a lot going on. Something at Croft’s Cement yard, something at Proctor’s. And who wants to bury you at the Graveyard?’

  Tony frowned. ‘Did E.D. set you up? Did he send you here to ask me about Croft’s? How did he know about that, anyway?’

  ‘It was my idea to come and ask you. E.D. told us how you’d been arguing with Mario.’

  Tony was silent. He looked away, angrily rubbing his hands on the arms of the chair he was sitting in. He lifted his leg and put it down on the floor, wincing. ‘This stupid leg,’ he said in frustration. ‘I could deal with things myself if I could only get up and going. God! It’s going to take weeks for this to get better.’

  ‘What sort of things are going on at Croft’s?’ Gabby sat down on the edge of another chair. ‘We could probably help you.’

  Tony shook his head. ‘I don’t really know what’s going on. I saw stuff. Some guys threatened me.’ He looked at her. ‘It could be dangerous, getting mixed up with this.’