Off the Track

by Cristy Burne

  ‘What happened to your leg?’ asked Deepika.

  Ana smiled a tight smile. ‘Just a twist or a sprain or something. I should be fine.’

  ‘Looks like a break to me, Mum,’ said Deepika, touching the leg gingerly. Ana gasped.

  Harry just closed his eyes, trying to squeeze away the pinpricks that burned at the back of his eyelids. Mum hadn’t stayed. She didn’t care.

  He heard Ana and Deepika talking but didn’t register their words. Then, after forever, he heard himself speak. His voice seemed very small, as if it’d come from a faraway place, as if it’d been squashed and squeezed into such a tight lump that it couldn’t really budge from his throat.

  ‘Is Mum at work?’ he managed.

  Ana breathed out then, all in a rush. ‘Oh, no, Harry. No, she’s not at work. We found that hiker, the one from the red car. He’d been lost a couple of days. He hadn’t carried enough water and then tried to take a short cut.’ She shook her head. ‘He was in a bad way. We tried phoning for help, but couldn’t get through, so someone had to take him back to the car park, to get help.’ Ana slowed then, speaking almost apologetically. ‘We’d been looking for you,’ she said. ‘For hours. We tried calling out, the walkie-talkie, everything, but we didn’t know how far you’d gone, or if you were lost, or hurt, or …’ Her voice trailed off and Harry remembered how he and Deepika had feasted on salty chips, waiting for their parents to arrive.

  ‘We went back to where we’d last seen you,’ continued Ana, ‘and we waited, calling and calling. We were hoping you’d come find us, when you realised …’

  Harry gulped. They had realised. They just hadn’t—

  ‘That’s when we found Alistair,’ she said. ‘He heard our voices and came staggering through the trees. Gave us quite a fright, but we were more frightened to see the state of him. We gave him some water and he perked up a little, but someone had to take him for proper help.’ She looked across at Harry. ‘Your mum volunteered. It was my job to find you.’

  He looked down, blinking hard. Mum’d probably jumped at the chance to leave early and get back to civilisation.

  ‘So then I tried to find you,’ continued Ana. ‘I thought maybe you might’ve gone on, maybe all the way to the hut …’

  ‘We did,’ burst Deepika, unable to stay silent any longer. ‘We did go to the hut, but at first we waited, for you to catch up, and then we realised we weren’t even on the track, so we thought you’d be further ahead, and by the time we realised you weren’t …’

  Harry gulped, remembering the icicles of fear in his guts.

  ‘I’m afraid I made a mistake,’ Ana said sadly. ‘I ran to find you, once I figured you might be at the hut. Along an uneven track, wearing a heavy pack, alone and in the dark.’ She looked up at Deepika and pulled her in. ‘Not incredibly clever.’

  ‘It’s okay, Mum,’ said Deepika, holding her close. ‘You’re okay now.’

  Harry couldn’t stand to look. His whole face felt twisted and broken, and he couldn’t look away either. ‘Why didn’t Mum stay?’ he croaked. ‘Why doesn’t she care?’

  ‘Oh Harry,’ said Ana. ‘Your mum’s a hero.’

  Harry swallowed, his face like stone. ‘Yeah. Anything for a photo opportunity.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that, Harry,’ Ana continued. ‘She was so worried, she didn’t want to go, but she had to. She’ll be doing all she can to help Alistair, then to find you, to find us.’ Ana reached out to pull Harry in.

  STICKING TOGETHER

  They offered Ana the last blue smartie, but it turned out she had an entire banquet in her pack. There were crackers and cheese and a whole log of not-too-spicy salami, plus loads of warm clothes, drinking water, a spare torch, and every kind of first aid you could imagine, except the kind that makes a broken leg okay to walk on. She even had her own mobile phone.

  Harry could not believe it. ‘But you said—’

  ‘I said we needed a phone for emergencies,’ she said, sharing out cheese-and-salami cracker sandwiches. ‘But of course, there’s no reception. Still, we need to let your mum know you’re okay.’ She glanced at her leg ruefully. ‘And that I’m not.’

  ‘We could help you walk,’ Deepika suggested, looking hopeful. ‘We could go at the pace of the slowest hiker.’

  Ana shook her head. ‘I’ve tried,’ she said, grimacing as she shifted. ‘I’ve been trying since I fell. There’s no way …’

  Deepika only nodded, no trace of her usual grin. So that was that. They’d just have to wait it out till morning, till help came. Harry shivered at the thought.

  ‘But you two should go,’ Ana said. ‘You’ve done a great job, making it all this way. And Harry, your mum will be desperate to know you’re safe.’ She squeezed Deepika’s shoulder. ‘I’m proud of you. I’m proud of you both.’

  Deepika shook her head. ‘We need to stick together, you said …’

  Ana smiled and squeezed her shoulder again. ‘You two need to stick together. You’ll be okay. I’ll be okay too. You know where I am, and I’m not going anywhere. The sun’ll be up soon. I might even be able to get a few good photos.’

  But Deepika wouldn’t smile. ‘You don’t understand. We got lost, we missed the Waugal, we nearly lost you …’

  Ana kissed her. ‘But you found me again. And I’ll be okay. I love you, and you’re doing a terrific job.’ She turned to Harry. ‘Now, you’ll need more food, extra water, first aid, and how are you doing for warm socks?’

  While they talked rain jackets and jumpers, Harry tried to patch up his wounds. He put bandaids on his heel and toe, where there were two mega-juicy blisters. There was nothing he could do about Mum.

  A couple of minutes later he and Deepika were loaded up.

  ‘You should’ve been carrying this stuff all along,’ Ana said remorsefully. She held the two sides of Harry’s bag together as he slid the zip shut. ‘I underestimated you. You’re doing such a great job.’

  Now Harry’s pack felt super-heavy, but his heart was almost light, as if Ana had also packed a super-serve of bubbles.

  ‘Okay then,’ she said. ‘Stay safe, stay together.’ She gave Harry’s hand a squeeze. ‘You go find your mum.’

  Deepika bent to give Ana a hug. It lasted a long time.

  Then they headed off into the night. Again. Just the two of them. Again. They hiked up the hill in silence, feet steady on the rolling track. They curved slowly down the side of a ridge. They walked and walked, downhill, across the granite, into the valley, then along a winding plain. Past the tall, proud grass trees, their shadows eerie in the night. Past Waugal after Waugal. For what seemed like hour after hour.

  ‘Hey, Harry,’ Deepika said. ‘What sort of roo can jump higher than a house?’

  But Harry wasn’t listening. He’d heard something else.

  They ran then, though it wasn’t all that responsible. At least they both had torches now.

  And it was lucky too, about the torches, because when they ran around the next corner, they saw the figure seconds before they almost ran right into her. Behind her were a couple of people in SES search-and-rescue orange, but Harry didn’t care. He threw himself into Mum’s arms, pack and all.

  ‘Mum!’

  ‘Harry!’

  The two of them stood like that for a long time, a sort of strange and precarious two-headed camel. But one that made Harry’s heart leap.

  ‘I came as soon as I could,’ Mum said, not letting Harry go. ‘Are you okay? I’ve been so worried, I didn’t want to go, but someone had to. That poor hiker was nearly dead. I was so worried about you, Harry.’

  Harry hugged his mum hard.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Harry,’ she said. ‘This is all my fault, me and that stupid phone.’

  Harry shook his head, still hugged tight against Mum. ‘It’s my fault too,’ he said. And he filled her in on everything, how they’d gone too far ahead, missed the Waugal, found the hut, then found Deepika’s mum.

  Mum groaned. ‘Poor Ana. I can’t bel
ieve this has happened.’

  ‘She’s okay,’ Deepika said. ‘She says she’s hoping to get some good photos.’

  Mum laughed then, and soon they were all laughing, a strange, relieved crazy kind of laughing, and it felt so good to laugh. Tears tickled Harry’s cheeks, which made him laugh even more.

  ‘Good photos,’ Mum said, wiping her eyes. ‘I’ve got a few of those to show you. But first, we better rescue Ana, don’t you think?’

  CAR PARK

  A while later they were all in the car park, sipping hot chocolate from paper mugs. It was like rush hour in the clearing. There were five cars now: Deepika’s, two SES utes, an ambulance, plus Alistair’s dusty red sedan. And a whole bunch of extra people, including the SES volunteers who had carried Ana on a stretcher all the way to the car park.

  Now paramedics were looking after Ana in the back of their ambulance.

  “Looks like you’ll be out of action for a month or two,’ said the tall one.

  Ana smiled a brave smile. ‘I’ll be okay. I’ve got someone to take care of me.’ She winked at Deepika.

  Harry and Deepika had checked out fine, just a couple of blisters and some scrapes. Nothing a roast dinner wouldn’t fix. Harry was already planning his, plus approximately four courses of dessert, and a long sleep in his own soft bed …

  Ana grimaced as the paramedics braced her leg, ready for the bumpy drive out to the main road. ‘How’s Alistair?’ she asked Mum. ‘You’re a real hero!’

  ‘Not really.’ Mum looked embarrassed. ‘But they said he should be fine, thank goodness. They took him in the first ambulance. I guess it’ll be a while before he goes hiking without water again.

  Harry remembered the celebrity and the stolen diamonds. The massive cash reward could’ve been fun, but perhaps he’d discovered something even better. He smiled up at Mum.

  ‘Did you get a photo with Alistair?’ Ana asked. ‘Do you want one with the ambulance?’

  Harry’s smile froze on his face. He was happy everything had turned out okay, happy everyone was safe. But the adventure was over. Mum would go right back to her phone and her emails and her messages. Nothing was surer. It had been fun to have her there for a while, really there. Well, the bits when he hadn’t been totally freaking out had been fun.

  But Mum shook her head. ‘I’m just pleased we’re all okay,’ she said, hugging Harry.

  Ana grimaced again as the paramedics finished up. ‘I guess this kind of ruined it for everyone, hey? Have we put you off hiking forever?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Mum. ‘I hear my name’s already in the logbook, at the hut. Doesn’t seem right to have my name in the logbook if I’ve never actually been. We might have to finish the trip properly, once your leg is all fixed up.’ And she kissed the top of Harry’s head.

  Harry nearly fell over.

  Deepika climbed inside the ambulance, and he waved to her as the doors swung shut. ‘See you at the hospital!’

  ‘See you then,’ she called back. ‘It’s going to be amazing, they have these incredible beds that go up and down by remote control, and they bring in whole trays of food, on this double-decker trolley …’

  It seemed extra-quiet after the doors shut. Harry wondered if he missed her already.

  MARSHMALLOW STICKS

  A few months later and they were all sitting at the wooden picnic table, out the front of the hut. Ana had been in a cast for six weeks, and it’d taken loads of stretching and exercise to get her leg back to normal. But as soon as Ana was better they’d tried the track again, and it’d all been worth it, Harry reckoned.

  ‘Isn’t it gorgeous,’ Mum sighed, looking out across the view. ‘No wonder they make huts with only three sides.’

  Ana looked up from where she was busy sorting the dinner. Harry and Deepika had helped carry in all the ingredients. ‘Not bad, hey?’

  They’d set up their sleeping bags on the raised plywood platforms. They’d brought mini mattresses too, this time. Way less barbaric, and easy to strap onto the outside of their packs.

  Harry and Deepika were on one side, Mum and Ana were on the other. And Ana had brought enough warm jumpers to carpet the whole hut. Or it seemed that way to Harry.

  They filled out the logbook and then, an hour or so before sunset, he and Deepika set off. It probably wouldn’t take long, but you could never be sure with marshmallow sticks. Harry was hoping for two prongs.

  And a couple of hours after that, following a steaming meal of creamy pasta with salami and broccoli, they were sitting around the camp fire, sorting marshmallows into pinks and whites.

  Then a twig snapped.

  Mum jumped. ‘What was that?’

  Beyond the firelight there was a thump, then another, coming closer and closer. ‘Just a friendly nocturnal visitor,’ Harry grinned.

  They stayed around the camp fire, watching for shooting stars and trying for the perfect marshmallow, and Harry sat shoulder to shoulder with his mum. She was laughing and talking and he could see the life in her eyes, the way her smile danced with the warmth of the fire. She was looking around, really seeing. Something had happened.

  She caught him staring and grinned. ‘What are you thinking, mister?’

  ‘You want me to toast you a marshmallow?’ he said, sticking one on each prong of his most excellent toasting stick.

  ‘I’d love that,’ she said. And he felt her eyes follow him as he walked across to the flickering fire.

  He held the marshmallows low and steady across the glowing bed of coals. Above him the stars were bright, and behind him the trees were silhouetted against the night. It would’ve made an amazing photo.

  But Mum kept her eyes right on him.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Cristy Burne grew up climbing trees, jumping drains, chasing runaway cows and inventing stories. She is a children’s author and science writer with degrees in biotechnology and science communication. She has also worked as a science circus performer, garbage analyst, and atom-smashing reporter.

  For more about Cristy go to cristyburne.com.

  ALSO BY CRISTY BURNE

  Isaac arrives on the island hoping for an awesome holiday adventure, but his mum just wants him to stay safe.

  Then Isaac meets Emmy. She’s allowed to do whatever she wants — and she wants to have fun!

  With Emmy by his side, Isaac grows more and more daring, until finally things go too far …

  AVAILABLE NOW

  FROM FREMANTLE PRESS

  AND ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS

  First published in 2018 by

  FREMANTLE PRESS

  25 Quarry Street, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160

  www.fremantlepress.com.au

  Copyright text © Cristy Burne, 2018

  Copyright illustrations © Amanda Burnett, 2018

  The moral rights of the creators have been asserted.

  This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  Printed by McPherson’s Printing, Australia.

  Off the track / Cristy Burne.

  ISBN 9781925591743

  Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.