Barefoot Kids

by Steve Hawke

  Dancer and Buddy have paddled and walked the mangroves, looking and calling for Tom to no avail. With the sun dipping, Dancer insists they head back. Mack’s first scream is too indistinct for them to be sure what it might be, but they paddle faster.

  His second, awful scream rings out as they nose the canoe into the bank. Dancer is out and running in a flash. He heads for the lone white gum, then follows the trench line down until he comes upon Mack. In the fading light he can just see the trenchdigger lying on its side like some prehistoric beast, the water lapping around it.

  Dancer takes Mack under the armpits and heaves. Mack screams with pain. ‘Leg. Broken,’ he gasps.

  ‘Can’t stay here,’ Dancer grunts, and heaves again. Slipping and sliding, he somehow manages to haul Mack clear of the rising water to slightly firmer ground. He gathers his breath and calls Buddy, who he had assumed was right on his heels, but there is no answer.

  Mack screams again as Dancer eases him to his feet. With Dancer taking nearly all of his weight, and Mack wincing and groaning with each hop he takes, they stagger back up along the trench line.

  Buddy has heard Dancer’s frantic call, but he ignores it. He is beneath the gum tree, kneeling by the trench. He had been following Dancer until a flash of white, sticking up from the furrow of dirt thrown up by the trenchdigger, caught his eye. It was long and thin, definitely a bone. He intended only to take the quickest of peeks in the trench before catching up with Dancer, but one glance and he is rooted to the spot.

  The trenchdigger has sliced neatly through what is unmistakably a human skeleton. Some bones have been thrown up, others smashed, and parts of the skeleton are still buried on either side of the trench. Then something else catches his eye, a glint from something half exposed by the vertical wall of soil.

  He bends down and plucks the thing from amongst the dirt and bones. It is a piece of pearl shell.

  As he begins to brush the dirt from it, he hears a faint noise and looks up just as Teoh Tom steps out from behind the gum tree, dripping wet. The old man’s horrified look takes in Buddy, the shell in his hand, the bone. For a moment he is transfixed, then his mouth opens in a silent scream, and he turns on his heel, running like the devil is after him.

  Before Buddy can call after Tom, Dancer’s voice rings out, closer now, and angry. ‘Buddy, what the hell are you doing? Come and help me.’ Buddy slips the shell into a pocket, and helps Dancer lower Mack to the ground.

  ‘What’s going on? What’s with Tom?’

  Buddy points at the bones. As he does so, Mack rolls his head and finds himself staring at the bones of a forearm and an incomplete hand, half a metre away. He can manage nothing more than a strangled cry and a violent twist of his head to face the other way.

  There is the sweep of a car’s headlights turning a bend, and the sound of an approaching engine. ‘This should be Eddie or Col,’ Dancer says hopefully.

  But it is Big Al’s four-wheel drive that pulls up in front of them, the headlights illuminating the bizarre scene of a delirious Mack stretched out between the two boys, his head by the furrow of dirt, and the bones.

  Horse rushes to Mack’s side while Big Al takes it all in. He says to Dancer, menacingly, ‘What the hell have you done this time?’

  ‘Boss, come here,’ pleads Horse. ‘He’s broken his leg, and God knows what else.’

  Mack groans again as Big Al and Horse try to lift him. ‘Not … his fault,’ he manages to get out through clenched teeth. ‘Got me … out … rescued me.’

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Dancer asks coldly.

  Big Al does not respond. He looks at Horse. ‘One, two, three.’ They lift Mack from the ground, one on each side, and he screams yet again.

  ‘Did you hear what he said?’ Dancer shouts.

  The men stagger towards the car.

  ‘Come on Buddy,’ Dancer snaps. ‘There’s nothing more we can do here.’

  They head off in the dark towards the shack to get their bikes, the canoe and crabs forgotten.

  Mack seems to have lapsed into delirium as Horse and Big Al manoeuvre him into the car. ‘Spiders … bats … snakes … witch, she said … bad business … bones.’

  Horse is thoroughly spooked as he gets into the front seat, waiting for Big Al to drive them to the hospital. Instead, Big Al comes to his door and stands there with a shovel and a tarpaulin he has got from the back of the car.

  Big Al points at the bones, still gleaming in the headlights. ‘I can’t afford any more hold ups. I don’t want any bloody trouble about bodies and burial sites getting in our way. Dig them up. I’ll come back for you when I’ve dumped Mack at the hospital.’

  Buddy and Dancer hear Big Al’s car roar off as they mount their bikes. They have not got far when they see the lights of Eddie’s car coming down the track towards them.

  They are unaware that Horse is still down by the gum tree, ashen faced, sweating, shuddering with revulsion as he digs in the rapidly fading light, using a rag so he does not have to touch the bones as he picks them out and places them on the tarpaulin.

  25

  A MOPOKE CALLS, farewelling the night, as the very first hint of dawn spreads its grey light over the men’s camp at Garnet Bay. There are dozens of men sleeping in scattered groups, rolled up in swags and blankets. All is still at this early hour, for they were up long into the night dancing and singing the last cycle of the great ceremony.

  Suddenly Buster sits bolt upright in his swag, wide awake in an instant. Like the other men, he has a headband of red wool. His torso is still covered with intricate designs in white paint. He shakes the sleeping body in the swag beside him. Little Joe groggily raises his head. Buster speaks urgently but quietly, so as not to wake the other men. ‘Quick, we’ve got to head home. Something’s happened.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Come on, we’ve got to go. Now. I had a dream. Roll the swags while I get Micky.’

  In Applecross Janey is up not long after dawn to make sure she does not miss the early plane. She steps out onto Sal’s balcony, shivering in the crisp morning air as she watches a rowing eight skimming across Melville Water. She enjoys the quiet moment, wondering if they are awake at home yet.

  They are. Everyone is heading down to Eagle Beach. The cars park near the site office. Buddy runs ahead, with Dancer and the rest following. As they approach the trench line, Buddy can see something is wrong. A shallow, coffin sized hole has been dug out, bisected by the trench.

  Dancer squats down beside Buddy. ‘They’ve gone.’

  Tich whimpers, clinging to Mary’s skirt. ‘It must be the gunbun.’

  Col inspects the hole more closely. ‘That’s not witch’s work Bub, someone’s dug that with a shovel.’

  Eddie is examining the ground around them. ‘Where did Big Al pull up when he got here Dancer?’

  Dancer points to the spot. Eddie casts around some more, pointing as he goes. ‘The footprints are a mess, but look, there’s two sets of tyre prints … Same car, two times …’

  ‘You mean he’s come back and dug the bones up?’ Ally can hardly believe it.

  ‘That’s sure as hell what it looks like,’ Eddie answers.

  There is a hushed silence as they all stand looking at the hole. The silence is broken by Bella. She is leaning against the white gum, quietly sobbing. ‘It’s Dad,’ she gasps. ‘It’s got to be him.’ She dissolves into full on tears.

  When they get back to Jirroo Corner Bella insists they ring Garnet Bay and get a message to Buster, but Col can’t raise anyone there at this early hour. They talk about calling the police, but Bella wants to wait until she has spoken to Buster.

  When it is time to head for the airport to pick up Janey, Buddy volunteers that he and Dancer will stay behind with Mimi Bella, who is in no mood to leave the house. Dancer looks at him questioningly, but agrees.

  Bella retreats to her house. Buddy and Dancer can hear her, still crying, as they sit at the table in her yard.

  ‘What’s going o
n Buddy? You’re acting weird.’

  Buddy takes the shell from his pocket and slides it gingerly across the table to Dancer. At first Dancer thinks it is Mimi Bella’s pendant, but then he sees the dirt stains, and that the engraving on it is different, and that there is just a dark spot of dirt encrusted gum where the diamond sits on Bella’s. He looks up at Buddy, wide eyed. ‘What the …?’

  Buddy sniffs nervously.

  ‘Is this from …?’ Again, Dancer’s words trail away.

  Buddy nods. Dancer’s instinctive reaction is fury. But before he can explode, he sees the pleading look in Buddy’s eyes and restrains himself.

  ‘Spit it out Buddy. They’ll be back soon.’

  ‘It was there in the trench. With the bones. As soon as I saw it I thought it was like Mimi Bella’s. I wasn’t really thinking, it all happened so fast. But this idea flashed into my head that there might be a diamond that we could give to Dad, to make up for the deposit money. But then Teoh Tom saw it, and he freaked out. And then you were there with Mack. And then Big Al turned up.

  ‘I was going to tell you, but you were so wild at Big Al when we left. You just kept telling me to hurry up. And then Eddie showed up, and it was all mad again. I didn’t get a chance.’

  ‘There was all of last night Buddy.’

  ‘I know. But I cleaned it up when we got back, and you can see where something was stuck on with gum, just like Mimi’s. So I started thinking about diamonds again. I thought maybe I could find it when we went back.

  ‘Dancer, I didn’t know who the bones were. I had no idea till Mimi said it.’

  He sounds like he is on the edge of tears now. ‘When she said that, I didn’t know what to do. I felt like the biggest dickhead in the world. And if I’d pulled it out of my pocket then, everyone else would have thought so too … They still will.’

  ‘Jesus, Buddy.’

  The two of them sit there staring at the shell, at each other.

  Suddenly, without them having heard his approach, Buster is standing at the table in his red headband, the paint showing on his chest at the vee of his shirt.

  The boys are silent as Buster reaches down and picks up the piece of shell and examines it carefully. Little Joe and Micky walk up a moment later, sensing from the silence and the body language that something is going on. Buster turns to Dancer with a questioning look.

  ‘It was with the bones.’

  ‘What bones?’

  ‘Buster? Is that you?’ Bella comes charging out of the house and throws herself at her brother.

  Janey can hardly contain herself when the plane lands. In the crowded space of the aisle she wriggles and squirms her way past as many people as she can and manages to get to the stairs just behind the business class passengers. She hits the tarmac running and is the first through the gate into the arrivals area.

  She spots Ally and Mary, Jimmy and Tich, and wonders why Dancer and Buddy aren’t there. Ally bends down for a hug as she runs towards them, but she can sense something is amiss. They all look sombre. When Ally finally lets her go she steps back and asks, ‘What’s wrong?’

  Janey is still trying to come to terms with the garbled explanation of events as they pull into the driveway, only to find Little Joe’s ute about to pull out, with Buster and Bella in the front, and Micky, Dancer and Buddy in the back.

  Janey frantically waves at Little Joe to stop. She runs to the passenger window. ‘Mimi! Are you all right? Nyami, I thought you were still at Garnet Bay.’

  Buster’s voice is stern. He is in no mood for greetings. ‘I just got back. We’re going down there now.’

  ‘Wait, wait.’ Janey clambers into the back of the ute. ‘Come on Jimmy, Tich.’

  Janey hugs Dancer. ‘It’s so good to see you, but isn’t this terrible.’

  ‘You haven’t heard all of it yet Janey.’

  Jimmy and Tich are just as gobsmacked as Janey when Dancer tells them about the shell that Buddy found, and Buster’s premonition and unexpected arrival. The three of them can’t help staring at Buddy. ‘I’m sorry!’ he shouts. ‘I stuffed up. All right?’

  ‘Are you sure about this, boss?’

  Horse stands with a chainsaw in his hand, wishing he was anywhere else on earth. This has to have been the worst twenty-four hours he can ever remember. Digging up those bones has taken ten years off his life, he is sure. Big Al had tested his limits more than once in the past, but this was something else.

  He had finished the job as ordered, wrapped the bones in the tarpaulin, and waited there in the dark praying for forgiveness. When Big Al’s car pulled up he had been expecting news of Mack, and perhaps an apology for the grisly task. But all he got was a curt order to hurry up, and instructions to be ready early the next morning for a busy day.

  Big Al himself had supervised the retrieval of the trenchdigger, which was now loaded on the back of a truck. But that wasn’t the end of it. Big Al had ordered him to cart everything that was movable out of Teoh Tom’s shack, and pile it on the ground nearby.

  ‘Aren’t you going to let him clear it out himself?’ he had asked incredulously.

  ‘He’s had his notice. The construction crew’ll be starting any day now. If you want to keep your bloody job, just do what you’re damn well told.’

  So he had done it. There was a sad looking pile of trunks and boxes piled up beside Tom’s mounds of rubbish. Now Big Al, perched on the low wall of Tom’s well, has just told him to start the demolition of the shack by cutting through the old bush timber corner posts.

  With a sinking feeling in his guts, Horse slides the earmuffs on and pulls the starter rope of the chainsaw. It roars into life as he stares beyond Big Al.

  Big Al turns to follow Horse’s look. A ute pulls up and Little Joe and Bella emerge, followed by Buster, and the five Jirroo kids jumping down from the back. Then Ally, Mary and Micky arrive.

  The noise of the chainsaw dies as Buster leads the posse of Jirroos towards Big Al, peeling off his shirt to reveal the designs painted on his chest. Big Al eases off his perch on the well as Buster comes to a halt just a couple of metres before him.

  ‘Where are my father’s bones?’ Buster asks, in a quiet, even tone of voice.

  The blood drains from Horse’s face. His lips silently form and repeat Buster’s words. ‘His father’s?’

  Even Big Al is taken aback for a moment. But he gathers himself quickly. ‘What bones? What are you talking about?’ Despite his bluster, he is nervous facing this steely looking man in paint and red headband.

  Buster can sense it, but before he can say anything else, Janey steps forward.

  ‘You’re evil.’ She shudders as she says it. ‘You’re tampering with a burial site. You’re … you’re … We’ll get you for this.’

  Only Big Al and Horse can see Buster’s grimace. He had Big Al on the back foot. This was not the moment for Janey to shoot her mouth off.

  Big Al is happy to turn his attention from the old man to the young girl. ‘Don’t you start playing the bush lawyer with me, girlie. I’ve still got the goods on you remember.’

  Buster leans forward and takes Janey by the shoulder. More roughly then he means to, he pulls her back behind him. ‘There’s more than one law we’re talkin’ about here,’ he tells Big Al.

  ‘Laws, shmaws. Why don’t you lot just get out of my hair once and for all.’ Big Al is back in full stride now.

  ‘Stop it! Just stop it!’ Bella has had enough. Being near Big Al is making her feel physically ill. She tugs at Buster’s arm. ‘Come on Buster, let’s just get out of here.’

  For a moment it seems that Buster will ignore his sister. But he takes a deep breath, and says quietly to Big Al, ‘I want my father’s bones,’ then turns on his heel.

  It is a subdued night in the backyard, far from what Janey had imagined for her homecoming. The big kids have gathered in the far corner around the old swing set.

  Jimmy and Janey have made their peace face to face, and Janey has been given the full rund
own on the disastrous performance at the demo. Dancer asks her not to give Kim a hard time if she comes across her. Jimmy is less forgiving, telling her how Kim even asked if she could have another go with them. ‘Guess what I told her.’

  Janey and Jimmy have been dying to do Dreaming in Broome together. But when Jimmy starts on the melody and Janey plays the opening chords, they look at each other and stop. ‘More like Nightmare in Broome, isn’t it,’ Janey says with a sad smile.

  They keep looking over at the fireplace where Buster and Micky and Bella, with Tich on her lap, sit quietly staring at the flickering coals of the small fire Buster has set.

  Dancer is the first to drift over to join them. The others soon follow, and sit on the ground at the old people’s feet. They are joined by their parents and Little Joe. Everyone except Andy is there.

  By the fire in front of Buster the two pieces of pearl shell, Bella’s and the one Buddy found, are joined together. The engravings meet perfectly to make a pattern. It is obvious that a third piece that would complete the design is missing.

  The shells glow in the firelight, gleaming red and orange on silvery grey.

  Buster picks up a stick.

  He lightly touches the shells. ‘He gave this one to Bella. This one was in his grave.’

  There is a long silence, until Tich asks in a small, sleepy voice, ‘What about the other one?’

  Buster stabs the ground where the missing piece should be. ‘It should’ve come to me, I reckon. But he finished up in the ground instead.’

  After another silence he turns to Buddy. ‘You couldn’t find Teoh Tom, hey?’

  Buddy shakes his head.

  ‘He must know something,’ Buster murmurs.

  26

  DANCER IS THE first to wake next morning. Buster is still sitting by the fireplace. He looks as if he has not moved all night.

  He makes two big pannikins of tea and takes them out. The old man looks up with a wan smile. They sit and sip at their tea, staring at the cold ashes of the fire. Dancer steals sidelong glances at his nyami.