Mei’s standing as close to me as she can on the rocks. Her eyes are glistening. ‘It’s back to school on Monday,’ she says, but her eyes don’t look like she’s thinking of school at all. That’s when I wrap my arms around her and kiss her.
We slowly walk back over the dunes, arm in arm, just talking about the stuff we’ll do when we’re home again. Her dad will bring the trawler to the jetty to pick her up later on.
When we reach the campsite Max and Felicity are dismantling the kitchen tent. Dev’s doing ours but before I can help him, Felicity calls me over. ‘How are you today, Joel?’
Apart from feeling like I’ve been flattened by a steamroller, I’m fine. ‘Okay,’ I say.
She pauses; I guess she knows there’s stuff I wouldn’t tell her. ‘Joel, you’ve had a difficult time, but you’ve handled this situation really well. You’re one plucky kid and anytime you want a real holiday . . .’ she grins when she says ‘real holiday’, ‘. . . you can stay at the farm.’ Then she gives me a big hug.
I help Dev pack our gear, but I’m not moving too fast. Dev watches me. ‘You sure you’re okay, mate?’ He says it in that off-hand way of his, letting me choose to answer or ignore him. I’m pressing all the air out of the mattress and I flop onto it, to squeeze out more air. ‘I guess I’m okay but I keep thinking – it won’t ever be over for good, will it? It’s only in stories that the bad guy dies at the end and everyone can relax.’
‘Scott will be in jail a long time, mate.’
‘Yeah, then he’ll get out.’
‘He might get help in there – I did.’
I can’t imagine Scott a changed man like Dev is. Guess I just have to take a page out of Dev’s book and make the bad things work for good in my life, to make me strong. It’s like Dev knows what I’m thinking. He pulls me up and holds me by the shoulders. ‘I am so proud of you, mate.’ His voice cracks and he gives me a hug like he gave Mick – the ‘we’ve been through stuff together’ kind of hug. And then it hits me; I know what I have to do. Scott will always be there but I won’t let him ruin my life. This is one battle I will win. It’s not a battle with Scott but a battle with my mind. And the way to win is to keep my eyes on Dev.
Acknowledgements
This is a work of fiction and no character represents any living or dead person.
My thanks go to Longriders CMC who gave permission for their club’s name to be used in this book.
Thank you to Kristina Schulz, Cathy Vallance and the wonderful team at UQP for all your work on Killer Ute.
Thank you, Ray and Helen Hammat, for your hospitality in showing me Beachport where I spent my first childhood holiday. Thank you, Grigor Fahlbusch, for reading the manuscript and your suggestions. Thanks to Mac Hayes for your advice. Thanks also to John and Lorraine Foote for diving anecdotes, Beachport Information Centre, Beachport Museum, Chris Johnson, Craig Riley, Colin Moulden, Year 6 students at Wilderness, including Rheannon Ashby, and to Ben Morton for the cowcatcher. Thank you, Ross Vogt, for that exhilarating ride.
Also in this series by Rosanne Hawke
THE KEEPER
Get hooked on the first gripping book in this action-packed adventure series!
Twelve-year-old Joel hasn’t had an easy life – the school bully picks on him and his parents abandoned him long ago. He lives with his over-protective gran who won’t even let him enter a fishing competition! Joel reckons having a new dad would solve all his problems, so he places an ad in the local paper.
When a tattooed, long-haired biker named Dev Eagle answers the ad, Joel’s world is turned upside down. But Dev is not the only new stranger in town – someone from Joel’s past is back to haunt him.
ISBN 978 0 722 4973 0
Also in this series by Rosanne Hawke
SAILMAKER
Be blown away by the second haunting tale in this exciting adventure series!
With his biological father back in jail, Joel thinks all his troubles are behind him. He’s looking forward to the future with his biker foster dad, Dev. But Joel runs into trouble when he and his best friend, Mei, meet the old sailmaker and discover that the island lighthouse is haunted.
Strange noises in the night, unexplained footprints – Joel reckons there’s got to be a logical explanation. But he soon realises that solving the mystery will be far more terrifying and dangerous than a ghost!
ISBN 978 0 7022 4972 3
Also by Rosanne Hawke
TAJ AND THE GREAT CAMEL TREK
Winner Children’s Literature Award, Adelaide Festival 2012
CBCA Notable Book for Younger Readers 2012
An inspirational and gripping adventure and tribute to the Afghan camel drivers who helped explore Australia.
Beltana, South Australia, 1875. Twelve-year-old Taj and his camel Mustara are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
They are joining explorer Ernest Giles on his second attempt to cross the Australian desert where wild dogs, scorpions, poisonous snakes and a constant shortage of water mean they are never far from disaster.
As if things weren’t tough enough, Taj, raised in the ways of the Afghan people, is struggling to find his place in this new and exciting land.
‘This is a must-read historic adventure, which is at times quite grim and at other times warm and charming.’ Good Reading
ISBN 978 0 7022 3877 2
First published 2013 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
www.uqp.com.au
© Rosanne Hawke 2013
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Typeset in 11.5/16.5 pt Rotis Semi Sans by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
Hawke, Rosanne.
Killer ute / Rosanne Hawke.
For primary school aged children.
Automobiles – Australia – Juvenile fiction.
A823.3
ISBN (pbk) 978 0 7022 4960 0
ISBN (epdf) 978 0 7022 5078 1
ISBN (epub) 978 0 7022 5079 8
ISBN (kindle) 978 0 7022 5080 4
University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
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