Shark Frenzy!

by J. E. Fison

  SHARK FRENZY!

  J.E. Fison

  First published by Ford Street Publishing, an imprint of

  Hybrid Publishers, PO Box 52, Ormond VIC 3204

  Melbourne Victoria Australia

  © J. E. Fison 2010

  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

  This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction should be addressed to

  Ford Street Publishing Pty Ltd

  2 Ford Street, Clifton Hill VIC 3068.

  Ford Street website: www.fordstreetpublishing.com

  First published 2010

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

  Author: Fison, J. E., 1966–

  Title: Shark frenzy! / J. E. Fison.

  ISBN: 9781921665110 (pbk)

  Series: Hazard river series.

  Target Audience: For primary school age.

  Dewey Number: A823.4

  Cover design: Gittus Graphics ©

  Cover illustration: Marc McBride ©

  In-house editor: Saralinda Turner

  Printing and quality control in China by

  Tingleman Pty Ltd

  For my own wild boys, Oliver and Max

  J. E. Fison is no stranger to danger …

  I'm the first to admit that being an international adventurer has its tricky moments: like the time I was camping in Africa and woke up to find two male elephants fighting outside the tent. Mind the tins of baked beans, would you guys! Then there was the time I was on a nighttime safari and the open-top jeep broke down, just as a pride of lions decided to start their hunt! My advice when you come face to face with a lion is: try not to panic.

  In the jungles of Borneo I once shook hands with an orang-utan. I didn't mean to and I don't recommend it; they're much stronger than you think. I've also eaten a lot of things that I wish I hadn't. Wok-fried grasshoppers taste just like they look and rat soup tastes even worse than it sounds.

  J. E. Fison – Brisbane 2010

  WHICH HAZARD RIVER BOOKS HAVE

  YOU READ?

  Shark Frenzy!

  Snake Surprise!

  Tiger Terror!

  Bat Attack!

  Contents

  Chapter 1 A Deal

  Chapter 2 Master of Disaster

  Chapter 3 A Boat Ride

  Chapter 4 A Broken Deal

  Chapter 5 Captain Sir Jack Drippypants

  Chapter 6 Stingray Creek

  Chapter 7 A Shark and a Cricket Game

  Chapter 8 A Stupid Idea

  Chapter 9 The Bar

  Chapter 10 Flat Rock

  Chapter 11 The Hideout

  Chapter 12 The Wrap-up

  I made a deal with sharks. I don't swim near them and they don't play cricket. It may be a little unfair. I can swim, whereas they haven't got a hope of hitting a six. The arrangement worked well for many years. I never once saw a shark bowl a bouncer. And no one ever praised a wicket keeper for a safe pair of fins. But the whole deal fell apart when my family spent the summer holidays at Hazard River …

  It's just getting dark one night. My neighbour Lachlan Master is hunting rotten mangoes. He pokes around under the mango tree. There's a mission on his mind and splatter on his cricket bat.

  ‘There's one!’ my little brother Ben shouts. He shines the torch on a mango with really big black spots.

  Thwack.

  Lachlan smacks the mango for six. It whizzes straight past my nose, spraying me on the way past.

  ‘That's gross,’ I say.

  ‘They're rotten,’ Lachlan replies, swinging the bat over his shoulder. ‘It's our duty to get rid of them, so animals don't eat them and get sick.’

  I thought he was just bashing mangoes around for fun. I didn't know he was saving the planet.

  Thwack. Another mango astronaut heads into outer space. It drops into Hazard River with a splash.

  ‘Do rotten mangoes sink or float?’ my brother calls, running to the edge of the river.

  ‘Who cares!?’ Lachlan calls back.

  Ben cares. He collects smelly things. We've been at Hazard River for a week and already he's got quite a stockpile going – three dead crabs, an old jelly fish (very pongy), a flat lizard that was squashed on the window and the remains of a dead bird (unbelievably pongy).

  Ben's class will be in for a big surprise when he takes that lot in for show and tell. The smell will probably kill them.

  ‘I found something!’ Ben shouts from the riverbank. ‘Quick! Come down here!’

  ‘No one's interested in a splattered mango,’ I call back. ‘Just leave it alone, Ben.’

  ‘It's not a mango,’ Ben says. ‘It's … it's … treasure!’

  Lachlan and I run to join Ben. We can all see it now. A great big lump of something is lying in the shallow water.

  For a moment I let myself believe it is treasure. I start to plan how I'll spend my share of the fortune. Perhaps I could buy the complete set of footy player cards that I've been trading and praying for all year.

  But my dreams vanish as we get closer. In the torchlight I can make out an eye, a long pointy nose and a massive gaping mouth with rows of sharp teeth.

  This isn't a ticket to riches. This isn't a bag of treasure. It's a fish. And it's the worst kind.

  ‘A shark!’ I scream.

  The water is lapping against the shark's big grey body. It doesn't move.

  Is it still because it's dead? Or is it just waiting for an unsuspecting ten-year-old to come too close, then launch itself up the bank and attack? Ben and Lachlan move towards it.

  I step back.

  The shark's eyes seem to follow me. I step back further. The eyes are still on me.

  I don't like the look of this.

  I turn my back on the gaping mouth, the rows of sharp teeth and staring eye. I am ready to run.

  Then …

  ‘Ahhhh!!!!’

  Something grabs my leg.

  ‘It's got me!’ I scream.

  I can feel the pain of a thousand daggers in my flesh. My head starts to spin. Blood is deserting my body. I'm too weak to stand. I am ready to submit to my fate.

  Then I remember Mum promised to buy me an ice-cream, with two flavours and sprinkles, tomorrow.

  I must fight this beast off.

  I look down to find my neighbour Lachlan lying at my feet. His fingernails are buried into my calves.

  Bouncing banana muffins! How did I fall for that one!

  ‘You thought you'd been bitten by a shark,’ Lachlan shrieks. ‘That was so funny. It's dead. Anyone can see that.’

  It might be dead, but it's a SHARK. It's the one fish that can scare you whether it's alive or dead.

  Why didn't my parents just book the crocodile enclosure at Australia Zoo? That would be a safer place to spend the summer holidays.

  But my parents don't see it like that. They think Hazard River is peaceful and picturesque. They think Hazard River is paradise. But they're wrong there. Paradise is just across the river. The holiday town of Paradise, with shops, restaurants and a patrolled beach is where we should be on holidays. There's even a proper city on the other side of the river. Summercity has a cinema and a bowling alley. It's got everything.

  I bet sharks don't wash up on that side of the river. They're all over here, with the deadly snakes, venomous spiders … and Lachlan Master.

  Lachlan has been visiting Hazard River since he was five. He's snorkeled with sting rays. He's swum with jellyfish. He's almost stepped on a tiger snake. And he's been bitten by a pelican. (They are a lot more ferocious than they look.) If it's dangerous, he's seen it. If it's risky, he's done it
. He's the self-proclaimed King of Hazard River. ‘Master Lachlan’ as he likes to be called.

  Master of Disaster – more like it.

  ‘Looks like it's been dead awhile,’ Lachlan says, giving the shark a prod with his cricket bat. ‘Never seen a big one like that in the river before. It has to be over two metres.’

  ‘What are sharks doing in the river anyway?’ I whimper. ‘Why aren't they in the sea?’

  Lachlan shoots me one of his ‘don't you know anything’ looks. He's very good at those.

  ‘There are plenty of bull sharks in the river,’ Lachlan informs me. ‘They like a bit of fresh water. You don't have to worry about the small ones. But I reckon a big one like that would rip your leg off without a second thought.’

  I have no doubt he's right. But someone or something in the river is big enough or ferocious enough to take on a two-metre shark and win. I don't even want to guess what that might be.

  But Ben is guessing.

  ‘This is the work of pirates,’ Ben declares. He inspects the shark with one hand on the torch and the other on his nose. ‘Look. They've cut off its big fin.’

  It's then that I notice the shark does look strange. The dorsal fin, the fin that should warn everyone that the scariest fish in the ocean is on its way, is missing. So are its other fins.

  ‘Could be pirates. Maybe it was another shark or maybe it was a giant squid,’ Lachlan says.

  Lachlan crosses his eyes and drops his tongue from the side of his mouth. It's a very unconvincing impression of a giant squid.

  ‘Do you really think a giant squid did this?’ Ben says.

  ‘I think we should find out,’ Lachlan says, giving the shark another poke with his bat.

  ‘Imagine how famous we'll be if we catch a giant squid in Hazard River. We'll probably get our very own TV show.’

  ‘Could I take it to school?’ Ben asks. ‘If we find a giant squid, could I take it to school?’

  ‘You can't take a giant squid to school, Ben,’ Lachlan replies. ‘That's one of the rules at every school. No running. No shouting. No bullying. No giant squid – only normal ones. There's a sign outside every principal's office. You can take it on TV. But not to school.’

  Ben frowns. It looks like his collection of dead things will be going to school without any giant squid.

  I have to admit I'm tempted to hunt down the shark-killer. I'm all up for the money. The fame. The stretch limousines. It all sounds pretty appealing.

  ‘We'll find a big net and have a good look around tomorrow,’ I say. ‘See what's out there.’

  I'm not sure what we're looking for. But we'll know it, if we find it.

  ‘No,’ Lachlan says.

  He takes Ben's torch and shines it down the river.

  ‘We start tonight.’

  ‘First thing we need is the key,’ Lachlan says as we clamber onto his father's fishing boat.

  He shines the torch into a locker and rummages for the key. Life jackets, nets and a few old chip packets fly into the air. Lachlan is desperate to find the ignition key.

  ‘Do you think your father will mind us taking his boat?’ I ask.

  I've seen Lachlan drive it before. But never at night.

  ‘Jack, you're about as much fun as a sea cucumber,’ Lachlan says. ‘The boat's got a six-horsepower motor. And I'm twelve. Of course I'm allowed to drive it. Anyway, who's going to find out? We'll only be gone for five minutes.’

  He's right there. No one will miss us and surely we can't get into trouble in just five minutes.

  Or can we?

  ‘Over here,’ Ben calls. ‘I found something.’

  Lachlan turns the torchlight on Ben. He's holding up the ring pull from a can of soft drink.

  ‘I can't start the engine with that,’ Lachlan says. ‘I'm not driving a can of Coke. It's a boat. We need to find the key if we're going to get to Pelican Island tonight.’

  ‘Pelican Island! Pelican Island!’ Ben gets a chant going. He does a little bum wiggle to go with it.

  Pelican Island isn't really an island at all. It's a sandbank in the middle of Hazard River. At low tide, sandbanks stretch almost from one side of the river to the other. Then, one by one, they disappear under water as the tide comes in.

  ‘I've got it!’ Lachlan calls. He curls his hand around the key and punches the air, like he's just won the Rugby World Cup final.

  The excitement spreads like margarine on a hot day. We all start behaving like sporting heroes. Ben pulls a glow-in-the-dark sword out of his trousers. He waves it around. I bounce up and down with my T-shirt over my head and my arms in the air.

  ‘We've got it! We've got it!’ I call through my T-shirt. But I discover football fields are a good place to prance around blindfolded. Boats aren't. I stumble around the deck, tripping on a rope. My feet find the edge of the boat. I swing my arms in circles, trying to get my balance. But I'm as stable as a tower of eggs. I sway. I feel myself falling.

  Bouncing banana muffins! I'm going in with the sharks.

  ‘Jack! You loser!’ Lachlan shouts. He grabs a fistful of my shorts, just in time to save me.

  ‘Are you trying to ruin everything? Sit down and don't move.’

  I do as I'm told. Lachlan unties the rope that attaches us to the jetty. He turns his attention back to the key.

  ‘Okay,’ Lachlan says, turning on the engine. ‘You two look out for beacons.’

  ‘No thanks. I'm not hungry,’ Ben says. ‘I prefer bacon at breakfast time.’

  ‘Not bacon. Beacons!’ Lachlan shouts. ‘They're the coloured markers. They're like street signs in the river. They tell you which way to go. Don't you know anything?

  ‘We're going out of the river so we keep the green beacons on our left and the red ones on our right. When we come back we keep the greens on our right and the reds on our left. Got it?’

  Ben and I nod. We've got it all right. But I'm just not sure what we've got – a brain ache from being confused or a tummy ache from thinking about bacon. I haven't got any idea about beacons. All I can see is a stream of moonlight and a few lights on the riverbank.

  ‘Can I drive?’ I ask Lachlan.

  ‘Okay, but don't do anything stupid,’ he says.

  I take the steering wheel. For a moment I'm Luke Skywalker flying between the galaxies. The lights on the bank of the river are like stars twinkling on the edge of a faraway universe. The moon seems to be getting closer. I look behind to check if any Storm Troopers are on my tail. I give the steering wheel a little pull to the right to lose my imaginary attackers.

  ‘Hey, give me back the wheel,’ Lachlan says, bringing me back down from space. He elbows me out of the way.

  A spindly branch on Pelican Island comes into view. The motor starts to make a choking sound as it hits the sand. Lachlan turns it off. We glide a little further. The boat comes to rest on the beach.

  Hazard River is a busy place during the day. It's full of boats and people and birds. But tonight we are all alone. The fishermen have gone home. The tourists are nowhere to be seen. Even the birds have found somewhere to sleep. Pelican Island is glowing in the moonlight like some silver pancake dropped from a giant's table.

  ‘Do you think whatever killed the shark is around here somewhere?’ I ask, looking nervously across the line of sandbanks.

  I doubt there are pirates out there. But giant squid and giant sharks could be.

  ‘Only one way to find out,’ Lachlan says, jumping from the front of the boat. ‘Follow me.’

  Lachlan lands on the sand and bounds across Pelican Island.

  ‘Come on, Ben,’ I say, jumping off the boat. ‘Let's go.’

  But Ben's not going anywhere.

  ‘If I can't take a giant squid to school, I'm not going,’ he says.

  Ben folds his arms. A grumpy look takes over his face. He's staying right where he is.

  ‘Come on, Ben,’ I plead. ‘We're going to find what killed the shark.’

  Ben doesn't move.

 
‘I'm not going,’ he repeats.

  ‘Wait!’ I call to Lachlan. ‘We can't leave Ben behind.’

  But Lachlan doesn't hear me. He is on the far side of the island, shining the torch into the night. I hesitate for a moment, then head off in the direction of the torchlight.

  In the boat, Ben is making arcs in the darkness with his glow-in-the-dark sword. He doesn't seem worried that I'm leaving him alone. But he should be.

  An army of soldier crabs is on the move as I sprint across the sand to catch Lachlan. They move in formation towards the water, making a creepy grinding sound as they go. I run towards them. The army makes a retreat. I move closer and their little purple shells screw into the sand.

  I'm Emperor of the crabs.

  If only I had this kind of power on the rugby field. Front row forwards would scurry off at the mere sight of me. The defence would stand aside as I ran for the try line. I'd be Australia's top try-scoring schoolboy. I'd be Emperor of the rugby field.

  A lonely crab makes a final stand. It nips me on the toe.

  ‘Don't you know who I am?’ I say, trying not to cry.

  Some crabs have no respect.

  ‘Where's Ben?’ Lachlan asks when I make it to the water's edge. I'm still hobbling from my crab bite. Soldier crabs are a lot nastier than you'd think.

  ‘He won't leave the boat,’ I reply. ‘Maybe we should go back.’

  ‘Ben will be fine,’ Lachlan assures me. ‘I think I saw something in the water. Let's go to that next sandbank and have a look.’

  He shines the torch across the water. A chain of sandbanks is spread across the river like stepping stones. The first is not far away. I've waded across there before. But it was daylight.

  And we weren't hunting a shark-killer.

  ‘Maybe there's a better spot to cross,’ I say. I try not to sound nervous.

  ‘This is the best place,’ Lachlan tells me. ‘It can't be further than twenty-five metres. You can walk the length of a school pool, can't you?’

  That's the end of the discussion. Lachlan wades into the river. The sand falls away beneath my feet as I follow. In a few moments I am waist deep in water. I look around into the black river beyond the torchlight. The water is rushing past me, as the tide comes in.