by Des Hunt
‘Do the crocodiles eat them?’ asked Luke.
‘Too right!’ replied Andy. ‘If they get the chance.’ He looked up at the birds in the tree. ‘They’re mostly all right up there. The only thing that might get them is the green python, and there’s not too many of those around here.’
A little further on, the river split into two. Andy said it was an island, the first of several in the upper estuary. He kept the boat quietly cruising close to the shore, and soon they were rewarded with a view of a much larger croc. It was lying on a shelf formed by the roots of the mangroves; it looked like a permanent home. Clearly the reptile knew it was being watched, for its head moved to follow the light as they drifted by. Yet it didn’t seem worried about them, even when they moved in closer.
This was what Luke had been hoping to see: a decent-sized crocodile at close quarters. He wondered what would happen if someone on the boat was to fall into the water. Would the croc continue to be so relaxed? He doubted it. There was something about the look of the animal that suggested it was alert in a dangerous way. He imagined it slipping quietly into the water at the first hint of an easy meal.
Chizza must have been thinking much the same thing, for he picked up the rifle and pulled back on the cocking lever.
‘Don’t you dare shoot at it,’ snarled Andy.
Chizza didn’t reply. Instead, he raised the rifle to his shoulder.
‘Chizza!’ called Ham, urgently.
‘OK, OK!’ said Chizza, lowering the rifle. ‘I was just taking a closer look.’
For a time they travelled in silence, until Andy throttled back and let the boat drift into the shore. ‘Shine the light in there,’ he said to Ham.
Ham did so.
‘Bit to the left. Yeah! There! See it?’
In a small clearing there was a pile of dead leaves and branches, looking like a gardener’s compost heap. It was a croc’s nest.
‘That nest was used a couple of years back. I wouldn’t get this close if it was the wet season and it was still in use.’
‘Would the female still be around here somewhere?’ asked Beth.
Andy shrugged. ‘Who knows? Probably not, seeing she hasn’t nested here for a couple of years.’
‘Where’s Crazy Hazel’s nest?’ asked Luke.
‘Not far from here, on a little island she calls her own.’
‘Crazy Hazel?’ asked Beth. ‘How’d she get that name?’
So once again Andy had to give the full explanation.
When he’d finished, Lora asked. ‘Can we go and see her?’
‘No!’ replied Andy, firmly. ‘It’s best if we leave her alone.’
‘What if I say we go?’ said Chizza, glaring at him menacingly.
Andy glared back at him. ‘We still don’t go.’
‘I am the captain of this boat.’
‘You might be, but I know the difference between right and wrong.’
Luke became very much aware of the loaded rifle that Chizza was holding. It seemed to be pointing near Andy’s feet. It only had to be lifted a little and…
The tense standoff lasted a few moments longer, before the roar of trail bikes startled everyone. Luke looked to the bank of the creek and saw two lights flashing quickly between the trees.
‘Are they in the mangroves?’ asked Beth.
‘No,’ said Andy, ‘they’re on the track we came in on. The mangroves are not very thick just here.’ He paused. ‘We might as well go back now: those hoons will have scared all the crocs for miles.’
Chizza said nothing as Andy spun the wheel and gave the motor a bit more throttle. The sound of the trail bikes drifted away, until the only sound was the idling outboard.
As they passed the egret tree, Andy turned off the motor and let the boat drift closer than before. Under the spotlight, heads popped up and glared down at the intruders, their eyes glowing bright orange.
‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ said Lora in a hushed voice.
‘They’re the great egret,’ said Andy, just as quietly. ‘One of our most common.’
Luke started to ask why so many Aussie things were called ‘great’, when the sound of a shot blasted his ears. The colony of birds erupted in a roar of raucous calls as the birds took flight. Wings beat without any sense other than the panic to get away. They bashed into each other and snagged on branches. Clearly they couldn’t see where they were going.
Seconds later all except for three were gone. One had collapsed on a branch with its perfect, white feathers now stained red with blood. A wing flapped vainly, showing that there was still some life left, or maybe it was just the final motions of death. Two others were caught in the upper branches, struggling to free themselves.
As Luke watched, the bloody one became more active, dislodging itself so that it fell into the water.
‘Now, let us see what will happen,’ said Chizza, gleefully. ‘Maybe there will be some action now.’ He was still holding the rifle as if he was going to fire another shot, this one at anything that might rise to take the egret.
‘You bloody mongrel,’ snarled Andy. ‘What did you do that for?’
Chizza gave a sneering smile without taking his eyes off the bird in the water. ‘One of them did a shit on me once.’
Andy looked away in disgust.
The boat and the bird drifted downstream on the outgoing tide, with only a few metres separating them. There still seemed to be some life in the bird, for every so often a wing would move. Luke couldn’t drag his eyes away, sensing that something dramatic was about to happen.
The seconds dragged into minutes, with everyone staring at the bird. Nobody dared to speak. Then a swirl formed in the water some distance behind it. The swirl began to form a wake before suddenly a pair of open jaws came up out of the water. They engulfed the bird and closed with a snap. Almost immediately, the crocodile’s head rose vertically and opened again. Twice more the jaws snapped shut. After a couple of small chomps to clear any remaining bits, the crocodile lowered its head to look directly at the light, before disappearing into the water as silently as it had appeared.
Chizza let out a whoop of delight. ‘There!’ he yelled. ‘That is the way to see crocodiles. Give them something to eat and they will come to you.’
He beamed around at the others as if expecting applause. Instead they all turned their backs, unable to understand such bloodthirsty behaviour.
Andy started the motor and pushed the throttles forward in anger, creating a noise that made it impossible to talk.
Not that Luke wanted to talk. He looked at the black water rushing by, feeling as shocked as the others. It wasn’t so much that the egret had died, as the efficient way the crocodile had attacked its meal. It made Luke realize just how dangerous crocodiles were. If the egret had been somebody swimming in the water, then they would never have known the crocodile was near. Not until it was much, much too late.
Chapter 23
Luke woke the next morning feeling on top of the world. There was the memory of the dinner the night before, along with the promise of more to come that night. Plus he had the feeling that, in between times, the matter of Chizza and his scams would be resolved. By the time he met with Lora in the evening, everything would be well and truly sorted.
Last night’s dinner had been an impromptu affair, and was probably the more enjoyable because of that. Beth had been dropped off at the resort, saying she’d eat in her room and have an early night; Andy wanted to get home to his new partner; then Chizza just disappeared, possibly because nobody had spoken to him since the shooting. That left Ham, Lora and Luke.
As soon as they entered The Nest, Ellie greeted them from the office. ‘What a day!’ she moaned. ‘No Internet, then a group cancelled, and now the owners in Brisbane say they’re coming up next week for an inspection.’
‘You’ll be OK, Ellie,’ said Ham. ‘Nobody can criticize the way you run this place. It’s the best in Cape Trib.’
She put a hand on his arm. ‘Why thank
you, Ham. That is the nicest thing I’ve heard all day.’
Ham gave her a shy smile. ‘If you join us for dinner, you might hear some more nice things.’
And that’s how it happened. The four of them having a cosy dinner on the deck of The Nest, overlooking the tropical jungle with the night sounds providing the background music. It was almost like two couples having a double date.
Ellie was the star. She was originally from Singapore, but had worked in places all over the world. Her stories about the happenings in hotels were entertaining and enlightening. Some of them were also more than a little naughty, although told with such charm that no one could be offended.
However, the nicest part of the evening, for Luke, was after dinner when he walked Lora back to the resort. For the first hundred metres or so they had walked side by side, unsure of what was required. Then without words they each reached for the other’s hand, and after that it was easy.
When they got to her room, Lora said, ‘Thank you, Luke. That was a lovely evening.’
Luke nodded, and then surprised himself by asking, ‘Would you like to do it again? Tomorrow night?’
Lora looked at him sideways. ‘Just the two of us? Like a date?’
Again Luke nodded, although he hadn’t really thought of it like that.
And so it was arranged: they would meet for dinner at the resort at eight. Before Lora went inside, she gave Luke a hug, followed by a shy peck on the cheek. He walked home floating on air, replaying the last image of the evening: the look that Lora had given him as she closed the door—a look that suggested the little kiss might just be starters for the following night.
His first visit of the morning was to the bush chooks’ nest. When he’d first seen it, he had mistaken it for a crocodile nest. Now he knew that was not such a stupid mistake. The two nests were remarkably similar. Maybe this had once been the most common way of nesting? Perhaps the dinosaurs had nested this way as well? He found it easy to imagine dinosaurs living in the jungle and tending a nest just like this.
Unfortunately, that morning there were no animals tending the nest. When he looked closely, Luke could see nothing to indicate they’d been there since the morning before. Perhaps the listening he’d observed was the birds checking on whether the eggs were still alive? Maybe they weren’t and the nest had now been abandoned? It was saddening to think that all the effort to create such a large structure had been wasted. No eggs would hatch from this nest.
His second visit was to Kirk’s cage. He realized that the dog hadn’t been exercised since the pig hunt three days before. It was time to remedy that with a walk to the beach.
If Kirk was still mourning the loss of his friend, it wasn’t apparent as he rushed around the place, dribbling urine on almost every tree and post. His exuberance was catching, and Luke couldn’t help but run with him. Soon they were at Reef Sands Resort. He would have liked to have gone in to see if Lora was up, except Kirk would not be welcome. Instead, he just gazed at her room from outside the wire-netting fence, disappointed that there was no sign of life.
The beach was empty, apart from a worker raking the sand in front of the resort. They ran towards the little creek that had the crocodile sign. Luke kept Kirk well away from the water—he now knew how quickly things could go wrong where crocodiles were involved. The thought of Kirk suffering the same fate as the egret was terrifying.
Their path back to The Crocodile Nest took them past another resort on the main road. Luke was almost past it when he recognized Chizza’s truck parked near the entrance. Wondering what was so important that the man had to be at work so early, he decided to investigate.
‘Down, Kirk!’ he ordered. The dog obeyed. ‘Stay! I’ll be back shortly.’
No one was in the foyer; in fact, the only sign of life was the clanging of dishes from the kitchen. It took just a minute to locate the computer space at the back of a vacant bar. Chizza was seated at the middle of five computers. The two on the left had a screensaver which showed animated reef fish. The other two had the Cape Tribulation photos that were the basis of Chizza’s phishing scam.
Luke hung back in the shadows watching the man work. After a time, he finished with the computer and moved on to the next—one with the scam images showing. Shortly afterwards, the screen on the one he’d left changed to the fish animation. Luke smiled to himself: Chizza was covering his tracks, replacing his phish with fish.
He was about to leave when he noticed the large mirror along the back of the bar. In it he could see Chizza’s face set with determination as he worked on the keyboard—the man did not look at all happy. Then, as Luke watched, he saw Chizza’s eyes lift to the mirror. Their eyes didn’t meet, yet Luke got the impression that Chizza had sensed he was being watched.
Had Chizza seen him?
Luke didn’t think so. Still, he wasn’t going to hang around to find out. He slipped out of the hotel feeling that the day was no longer as wonderful as it had been just a short time before. Some serious things had to happen before he met with Lora that night. Chizza was rapidly removing all evidence of his scams. If the police weren’t brought in soon, then there would be nothing left to find. It was time to have another serious conversation with his father.
Luke found Ham in the restaurant having breakfast with Ellie. It was clear that things between them had advanced overnight. The touching, the eye contact, the little knowing smiles…
After exchanging greetings, Ham got straight to the point. ‘I’ve told Ellie everything,’ he said.
Luke was unsure of what ‘everything’ might include, so he gave a little nod and waited for more.
‘We think you should get the name of that policeman as soon as possible,’ said Ellie.
So she knew about Chizza’s scams. But what about the fake diploma?
‘Then bring it to me,’ she continued, ‘and I’ll contact him. We think it will be better if The Crocodile Nest lays the complaint. It is likely to get faster action, and we want this over very quickly, before too many more customers get scammed.’
‘I’ve already emailed Brian at the bank asking for the name,’ said Luke. ‘Do you want me to check now?’
Ellie smiled. ‘No, enjoy your breakfast first. I don’t think Chizza’s going anywhere in the meantime.’
There was silence for a while, before Ellie turned to Ham and said, ‘You’d better tell him the rest.’
Ham finished his mouthful before pointing to the desk. ‘Did you notice my diploma’s gone?’
Luke looked over and was shocked to see just the outline of where the framed document had once hung.
‘I took it down this morning.’
‘Does that mean you can’t work here anymore?’
‘It depends,’ said Ham, looking to Ellie.
‘I’m going to ask for a dispensation,’ she said. ‘We should get it for a week or two.’
‘Then I’m going back to school,’ said Ham, with a crooked smile. ‘Just like you.’
Ellie leant over and took his hand. ‘Not for long, we hope. The TAFE has a system of recognizing prior learning, so Ham might only need to do a block course for a few weeks and then sit the exams.’
‘We hope,’ said Ham, uncertainly.
‘I’ll make sure they do,’ Ellie said forcefully. ‘This place needs you. We’ll get by for a few weeks, but more than that and the restaurant will start falling apart. You’re an important part of the team. We need you here.’
Luke smiled. It sounded like not only would The Crocodile Nest find it difficult doing without Ham, so too would its delightful manager.
Chapter 24
After breakfast, Luke went straight to the computers to check his emails. He was disappointed to find that Brian had not replied—surely he’d had more than enough time? Luke glanced at his watch and confirmed that it was almost midday in Auckland. If Brian messed around much longer, the reply wouldn’t come that day.
To fill in time he took Kirk for another walk, hoping to make up for the
days of neglect. He went to a different beach, one where a cassowary had been seen recently, but there was nothing there except sunbathers.
Back at The Nest, he went to check his emails again, only to find Chizza working there. Luke backed away, hoping he hadn’t been seen. When Chizza didn’t react, he sneaked forward until he could peep into the room. Apart from Chizza, two others were using computers. The remaining three all had screensavers on: one with the reef animation, and the other two with the old Cape Trib views.
Chizza finished what he was doing and logged out. A minute later the reef animation came on, and he nodded with satisfaction before moving to the next machine. Luke was willing to bet that all traces of phishing and skimming were being removed. In a few minutes all the evidence would be gone. It would then be much harder to prove the scams.
Luke withdrew and rushed to a hidden corner of the bar. A moment later, he was talking to Lora on his phone.
‘Luke,’ she said, ‘how nice of you to call.’
His heart skipped a couple of beats at the sound of her voice. ‘Are you still in bed?’
‘Why? Do you want me to be?’ she said sweetly.
‘No!’ replied Luke. Now was not the time for flirting. ‘I want you to be in the bar where the computers are.’
There was a sigh from the other end. ‘Oh,’ said Lora. ‘It’s about computers again, is it?’
‘Yes! I need you to pull the LAN plug out of the wall socket. Not all the way, just enough to break the connection. Do it on all the computers.’
‘Why?’
‘So you can complain about them not working. Then they’ll call Chizza and he’ll have to come over.’ He then explained what Chizza was up to.
‘Right!’ said Lora. ‘It will be done. I’ll make such a stink that they’ll call him just to get rid of me.’
‘Thanks, Lora,’ said Luke. Then, more quietly: ‘See you tonight.’
He moved back to his spying position. Almost immediately, Chizza finished with the computer he’d been working on and moved to the last of them.