Di, the owner of the dugout, gave the children a wave from her front veranda next door.
‘Morning, kids,’ she called. She walked out to see what they were looking at. ‘Oh, that’s a big ’un.’
‘Any idea what sort of snake it might have been?’ Lucas asked.
Di bent down and looked at the tracks. ‘Brown I’d say. Too fat for an inland taipan. Both deadly though, so if you see one get out of its way.’
At the mention of the word taipan, Alice-Miranda thought about Sprocket’s story from yesterday. ‘Di, do you know a man called Taipan Dan?’
The woman nodded. ‘Everyone around here knows of Taipan Dan, though you’re not likely to meet him. I haven’t set eyes on the man for years. Heard he doesn’t leave his place at all these days. Has the groceries delivered to the front gate every couple of months.’
‘Why is he called that?’ Millie asked.
‘The story goes that he lived to tell the tale after being bitten by an inland taipan – the deadliest snake in the world. He’d be one of very few people to have that honour,’ the woman said. ‘But whether it’s true or not is hard to say. The outback is full of tall stories.’
‘He sounds like a character,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘One of many,’ Di said. ‘And all with their secrets.’
‘We heard that he’s missing,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Probably just sniffed out another claim. I wouldn’t worry – they all come back sometime, except when they don’t,’ Di said. ‘Anyway, go and enjoy your breakfast, and make sure to keep the screen door closed. Never had a snake inside the dugout, and I’d prefer it stays that way.’
Lucas bundled up the quilt and the three children hurried inside, where Hugh and Lawrence were busy piling lashings of bacon and eggs, toast and tomato onto plates.
The family were packed and ready to leave Di’s by half past ten. Hugh and Lawrence decided they’d take the children to some of the underground shops and do a spot of shopping for Cee and Charlotte while they were there. Lucas was keen to get a surprise for Jacinta as well, and he’d asked Alice-Miranda and Millie to distract her while he made his selection. Her birthday was coming up next month and she’d mentioned more than a few times how much she loved opals. They visited the Catacomb Church and the Old Timer’s Mine & Museum too before it was nearing time to head off.
Next they made a stop at the grocery shop to pick up a couple of boxes of supplies Barnaby had ordered by phone the day before, and then the last stop was the hardware store. There they collected spare parts for the bores, some feed, tools and various other bits and pieces.
While Hugh and Lawrence headed back into the store to collect the last of their order and Jacinta and Lucas made their way to the bakery to purchase some supplies for the long drive, Millie and Alice-Miranda rearranged the back of the car to make sure everything could fit snugly. Alice-Miranda had just moved the suitcases to make room for the groceries when she spotted a familiar face coming out of the hardware store. A burly man was walking towards them, balancing a box under his arm and clutching a couple of shiny shovels in one hand. A lit cigarette dangled from the other.
‘Hello.’ She looked up and gave a wave. ‘It’s Wally, isn’t it?’ she said.
‘Who’s askin’?’ the man replied gruffly.
Millie looked over and recognised the fellow too. His expression was just as sour as when they’d met him the day before.
‘You cooked our lunch yesterday at the roadhouse,’ Alice-Miranda replied, thinking it was probably a good thing he and his wife Sharon had sold the business. They didn’t seem especially suited to the hospitality trade.
‘Must have been all right because you’re still alive,’ Wally sniped.
‘Oh, it was delicious, thank you,’ Alice-Miranda said, and she meant it.
‘You have to drive a long way to get to the hardware store,’ Millie said. ‘You wouldn’t want to forget anything.’
‘A long drive’s par for the course when you live out here,’ he grouched. ‘And I’ve got everything I need, don’t you worry about that. Things are finally coming right for old Wally and Shaz – just one last piece of the puzzle and we’re off.’
The girls nodded, not quite sure of what he meant. Although Alice-Miranda remembered that yesterday Sharon had said something about their ship coming in and moving to Greece.
Millie looked across the road and realised there was another great photo opportunity – of rusty roofs and red dirt and plateaus with mullock heaps beyond the shops. She quickly pulled out her camera and aimed the lens at the scene before turning back and absently snapping a picture of Wally as he was walking away – the quintessential outback bloke. Today, he was dressed in a black T-shirt with an open flannelette shirt over the top, a pair of shorts and worn workboots that looked as if they were feasting on his socks. He had a battered Akubra on his head.
She showed Alice-Miranda. ‘That’s a good one. A true Aussie bushman.’
‘Fantastic,’ the girl replied, then noticed something on the ground. Wally must have dropped it out of the box he’d been carrying. She bent down to pick it up and realised that it was a compass.
‘Did you see where he went?’ Alice-Miranda turned back to Millie, who shook her head.
The child ran to the corner and scanned the vehicles angle-parked against the kerb, but Wally was nowhere to be seen. The couple of cars that had just left were now specks in a cloud of red dust.
She spun around.
‘Oh well,’ Millie said. ‘You tried. Bit weird that he was buying shovels and a compass if he’s about to leave for Greece, don’t you think?’
Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘True,’ she said, and sat the object on the wall right near where Wally had dropped it. ‘Maybe he’ll come back – although perhaps I should take it into the shop. I imagine he’s more likely to look for it there.’
Millie agreed and the girl raced away returning with her father and Lawrence who had the last of Barnaby’s hardware purchases. Jacinta and Lucas appeared too, holding up several large bags full of bakery delights.
‘Who was that guy you were talking to?’ Lucas asked. He had seen the girls with the man while he and Jacinta were walking back on the other side of the road.
‘Wally from the Kulgera Roadhouse,’ Millie said. ‘He was thrilled to see us.’
Jacinta sneered. ‘He wasn’t yesterday,’ she said, then realised that Millie was being sarcastic. ‘Oh, I get it. At least everyone else we’ve met out here is lovely.’
Alice-Miranda nodded as the family and friends piled back into their cars and set off towards Hope Springs Station. She was thinking about what Wally had said about having everything he needed. She hoped they did too – it was a long way to turn around and go back to town again.
Barnaby Lewis hung up the telephone and glanced at the open accounts ledger on the desk. Evie had to be the most stoic woman he’d ever met. True to form, she had been full of questions about the kids, and how he was coping and whether there had been any news from Molly and Ralph. When he asked after her she told him things were going well – although he’d heard a tremble in his wife’s voice when she related a moment in which her mother had been terribly upset because she’d forgotten she was moving and was angry at Evie for making her. Barnaby wished he could be there to support her, but the station wouldn’t run itself.
Yesterday he and the kids had ridden out to check the troughs again only to find them nigh on empty. The dam was too. The bore was definitely not pumping water where it should – he needed to get it fixed as soon as possible. Thankfully Hugh and his gang of helpers were due this evening. They could head out first thing tomorrow and, with a bit of luck, get the work done within a day.
‘How’s Mum?’ Hayden asked from the study doorway where he was leaning against the frame.
Barnaby looked up. ‘Yeah, mate, she’s fine – sends her love. Your grandmother’s not so good, but Mum still hopes to be home by the end of the month.’
Hayden nodded. The boy pushed his brown fringe out of his eyes. He needed a haircut, but that wasn’t going to happen until Molly or his mum got back. He missed them both terribly with a dull ache that swelled in his chest.
‘You okay, mate?’ Barnaby looked at the boy’s sun-kissed face, which was smattered with freckles. It was hard to believe Hayden would be off to boarding school next year, though Barnaby had a feeling his son would enjoy the experience far more than he did. Larry, on the other hand, said that she was never leaving Hope Springs – she’d threatened to chain herself to the washing line when her turn came. She was such an outback kid, like Barnaby had been. Never out of jeans and riding boots, her sandy hair always hanging in two plaits over her shoulders.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit worried about Mum and Granny, and I miss Molly,’ Hayden said.
‘Well, that makes two of us,’ Barnaby said as he stood up from the desk and walked over to his son. He wrapped his arms around the lad.
‘They’ll be fine, mate,’ Barnaby could feel himself welling up. He had Molly to thank for the fact that he hugged his kids. He couldn’t remember his father ever showing him any affection. Not even when his mother left them the day after Barnaby’s fifth birthday. It was Molly who had hugged him and made everything okay. He’d watched her and Ralph hug their own boys often. As a young man, Barnaby had vowed that if later on he was blessed with children, he’d do the same.
‘What’s the matter?’ Larry asked urgently as she walked in on the scene. ‘Is something wrong with Mum?’
Barnaby released Hayden and looked at his daughter. ‘No, she’s good. Just tired, and your grandmother isn’t making things easy. Sadly, dementia isn’t kind to anyone.’
Larry nodded. ‘So you were just having a moment. I suppose hugs have been a bit thin on the ground lately with Molly and Mum away.’
Barnaby frowned. ‘Hang on a tick. Haven’t I tucked you and your brother in every night?’
‘Yeah, but Molly’s hugs are the best,’ Larry said, a glint in her eye.
Barnaby lurched towards the child, picking her up in his arms and twirling her around and around. The girl kissed his cheek. ‘I love you, Dad.’
‘I love you too, Larry.’ He glanced over at Hayden, whose eyes were glistening. ‘Come here, mate.’
He hugged the boy with his free arm and the three of them stayed that way for a minute or so before Barnaby wiped his eyes and put Larry down.
‘What time is Uncle Hugh coming?’ the girl asked.
‘I don’t imagine they’ll be here until midafternoon at the earliest,’ Barnaby replied, walking over to stand beside his daughter.
Through the French doors that led to the veranda, he noticed a swirl of dust in the distance.
Hayden joined them. ‘Maybe it’s Molly and Ralph.’
‘Well, that would certainly make my day,’ Barnaby said.
‘Ours too. If we have to eat another burnt sausage for dinner, I think I’ll go on a hunger strike.’ Larry grinned.
‘How about some lunch then? And I promise nothing charred,’ Barnaby said.
‘Thank goodness for that,’ Hayden said.
Barnaby glanced outside again, but the dust had settled. His heart sank a little. Must have been a willy willy.
‘Wow! Look at that!’ Alice-Miranda pointed at the flat-topped land formations rising dramatically from the desert floor.
‘They’re called breakaways,’ Millie read from her guide book. ‘Once covered by an inland sea, they’re now home to an array of native fauna and flora.’
‘They’re beautiful,’ Alice-Miranda said, gazing at the rocky landscape. ‘I bet they’re even more spectacular at sunrise and sunset.’
‘That’s exactly what it says here.’ Millie ran her finger down the page.
‘I’m afraid we don’t have time to explore today,’ Hugh said. ‘Maybe on the way back. We need to get these spare parts out to Hope Springs. I hadn’t realised that Barnaby was in such desperate straits with the bore until he sent the message last night.’
They settled in for the long drive. Endless miles of dusty red plains passed by the window, with plenty of animals too. There were emus that ran along the roadside in mobs of six or seven, big red kangaroos foraging for food among the native shrubs and eagles flying across their path, each sighting eliciting excitable radio contact about pterodactyls from Jacinta.
The poor girl would have to wake up sooner or later, but Millie hoped not. This was more fun than seeing a Scottish reporter duped into being kitted out in full body armour and a pair of industrial goggles to handle the (completely fictional) dangerous subspecies of koala called a drop bear. The woman had been completely sucked in by the cheeky fellows who set her up. Then again, Australia was home to some of the strangest animals on earth and had more than its fair share of deadly creatures, so believing in drop bears was actually kind of understandable.
‘Let’s play I Spy,’ Alice-Miranda suggested.
Hugh glanced at his daughter. ‘Mmm, okay. But there’s not a lot out there.’
‘It’s an inside-the-car version,’ Millie said. ‘At least after the first guesses of red dirt and kangaroos and emus and eagles.’
‘There’s got to be more than that out there,’ Alice-Miranda said.
They’d been driving for two hours and hadn’t passed a single vehicle after the first twenty minutes. It felt as if they were the only people on the planet – except that this landscape looked more like Mars.
‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with “C”,’ Alice-Miranda said.
Millie looked outside. She was racking her brain, but nothing came to mind. Hugh looked in the rear-vision mirror and spotted the box of groceries they’d picked up for Barnaby.
‘Can, as in tin can, over the back,’ Hugh said.
‘No, that’s not it.’ Alice-Miranda shook her head.
Millie was deep in thought when suddenly she exclaimed, ‘Cat!’
Alice-Miranda turned and looked at her friend. ‘There’s no cats out here.’
‘Ah, yes there is,’ Millie pointed, jiggling about in her seat. ‘Hugh, look out!’
A fat ginger cat had just run from a scrubby bush and sat down in the middle of the dirt road. It raised its right paw into the air as if to say ‘stop’.
Hugh slammed on the brakes, Lawrence skidding to a halt behind them. Alice-Miranda and Millie both leapt out of the car.
‘Girls, be careful,’ Hugh shouted as everyone else got out. ‘It’s likely to be feral.’
Alice-Miranda slowly approached the puss, who meowed loudly.
‘Hello, what are you doing here?’ She leaned down low and the cat padded towards her. It rubbed its head all over her bare legs and began to purr.
‘Not feral, Hugh,’ Millie said. ‘Looks like someone’s pet.’
Alice-Miranda stood up and patted her thighs. The creature jumped into her arms and smooched her face and neck.
The others couldn’t believe their eyes.
‘Good grief – where did that come from?’ Lawrence reeled.
The cat began to lick Alice-Miranda’s face. ‘I think he’s thirsty.’
‘It must be travelling with someone,’ Lucas looked around, but there was no sign of a vehicle anywhere and the view was clear for miles. ‘It’s got a collar.’
‘Maybe it was separated from its owners?’ Jacinta said, giving the affectionate moggy a rub on the head. ‘And now it’s lost.’
Millie retrieved a flask from the car and poured some water into the lid. The cat leapt down and began to lap it up as soon as she put the vessel on the ground.
‘Weren’t there some tins of salmon in that grocery order?’ Hugh rummaged in the back of the Landcruiser until he found what he was after.
He pulled the lid off and placed the tin on the ground beside the water. The cat tucked in, finishing the fish off in less than two minutes.
‘Poor thing – he must have been starving,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘What now?’ Lawrence asked. He looked at Hugh.
‘Well, we can’t leave the cat out here. He’ll be prey for something,’ the man said.
‘Those pterodactyls will get him in a heartbeat,’ Jacinta said seriously.
‘Hmm,’ Hugh bit his tongue and glared at Millie, willing one of the children to set the girl straight, but unwilling to spoil their fun.
‘We’ve got to take him with us, Daddy,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Her,’ Lucas corrected.
‘How do you know that?’ Millie asked.
The boy had knelt down to give the creature a scratch. ‘Her name’s Junie. Says so on her tag.’
‘Junie!’ Alice-Miranda gasped. ‘That’s the same name as Taipan Dan’s cat. That’s what Sprocket said.’
The others nodded.
‘Sprocket said Dan’s been gone for three months,’ Millie said. ‘Junie looks like she’s pretty well fed. She can’t have been on her own for that long.’
‘Sprocket also said that Dan loved his cat more than anything in the world,’ Jacinta added. ‘Why would he leave her here?’
‘Who knows?’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘We’ll take her with us and we can drop her in Coober Pedy when we head home,’ Hugh said.
He glanced back to the cat.
‘She’s gone,’ Jacinta said, turning a circle to look for the feline.
‘Um, no, but I think she’s ready to leave.’ Alice-Miranda pointed.
Standing on the driver’s seat with her paws perched up on the steering wheel, Junie the ginger cat meowed for them all to hurry up.
‘Ridley One, keep your eyes peeled for a vehicle. Over,’ Alice-Miranda said into the two-way handset.
‘How’s Junie?’ Jacinta asked. ‘Over.’
Since they’d set off again, the cat had prowled all the way around the car before making herself comfortable on Millie’s headrest, her paws perched on the top of the girl’s head. Junie was now purring so loudly it sounded as if there was a tiger on board.
Alice-Miranda in the Outback Page 4