But this evening there had been no other choice. Barnaby couldn’t squander the chance of finding little Matilda before nightfall. Hugh and Lawrence had volunteered to go as extra pairs of eyes, and Barnaby was glad they had. That made it easier to insist on Hayden and Larry staying back to look after their guests.
Now, the light was fading. Millie and Jacinta stood up to clear the plates. Lucas volunteered to do the washing up.
‘You guys can come and stay anytime,’ Hayden said with a grin. ‘Do you want to play cards later?’
‘That sounds good,’ Alice-Miranda said, welcoming the distraction. Although she didn’t know Matilda or her family, she was nonetheless worried about the girl. It was clear that everyone else was too.
Larry looked at the kitchen clock. It was almost six and her father should be back soon – he couldn’t fly at night. Five minutes later she heard the whumping of the blades overhead and raced out to see the aircraft landing beside the hangar. The girl charged through the back gate and down the track, eager to see if her father’s mission had been successful.
‘Did you find her?’ she yelled at her father as the engine wound down.
Barnaby shook his head. ‘No, but we’ll head out again at first light and yes, this time you can all come and help. We’ll need to make a plan and everyone has to stick to it – I don’t want to be sending a search party for the search party.’
The girl nodded. Despite her earlier bravado, she knew as well as anyone what a perilous place the outback could be. Just a few years ago a family had got stuck, and instead of staying with their bogged four-wheel drive they’d all headed in different directions looking for help. That had ended in a terrible tragedy. Molly was always warning the children about the dangers of going off unprepared – there were too many sad stories.
Alice-Miranda and Millie had followed Larry outside.
Hugh looked at his daughter and shook his head. Lawrence wore a similarly forlorn expression.
‘We’ve saved you some dinner,’ Millie said, trying to raise the mood.
Barnaby did his final checks, then pushed the chopper into the hangar. There was a solemn air hanging over the group as they trudged back to the house.
‘You will find her, won’t you?’ Millie broke the silence.
‘Course,’ Barnaby said, but there was something unsettling in his voice.
‘Will the police come tomorrow?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘Yes, it’ll be all hands on deck,’ Barnaby said. ‘Looks like the bore will have to wait another day.’
The man sighed quietly. It had been easy to see from the chopper that both their small dams were now almost completely dry, and the open storage wells too. If he didn’t get things fixed, and soon, there would be no water in the troughs for when they brought in the herd. He still didn’t know how he was going to manage without Buddy. He’d rung several pilots he knew, but they were all booked solid for the next month.
He hadn’t told Hugh and Lawrence, but tonight he’d almost put them down miles away from home. A light had come on on the dash. Barnaby had been sure it was a warning. But it had gone off again and he’d held his nerve. His heart had been pounding and his hands were still clammy.
Barnaby hoped that by some miracle Buddy and the family would appear overnight, but he knew that wasn’t likely. It wasn’t safe to drive outback roads after dark – the roadkill along the Stuart Highway was testament to that.
‘Did Matilda take anything with her?’ Alice-Miranda asked, jolting Barnaby back to the present.
‘Cam said her backpack is missing along with her favourite drink bottle, her lunch box and some food from the pantry. We’re all hoping that she and Blue Dog are curled up under a bush somewhere sound asleep and tomorrow she’ll wander home again,’ Barnaby said. He’d been in contact with the girl’s father over the radio.
‘Do they think she ran away?’ Millie asked.
‘Laura and Matilda have recently been to Port Augusta to visit Laura’s parents. Matilda hadn’t wanted to leave, so there’s the possibility that she thought she’d turn around and go back,’ Barnaby said. ‘Sometimes little ones get crazy ideas in their heads and it doesn’t matter what you say, they won’t be deterred from their quest.’
‘I know someone like that,’ Hugh said, grinning at his daughter. ‘Booked herself into boarding school at the ripe old age of seven and one-quarter.’
‘That was a bit different, Daddy,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Matilda’s only four.’
‘There’s something else I don’t think I’ve told you,’ Larry said.
The others looked at the girl.
‘Matilda’s deaf,’ she said.
Barnaby nodded. He well remembered Cam and Laura’s anguish when the child had been diagnosed. Living out here without easy access to medical facilities meant lots of long treks to the city between remote speech therapy sessions and praying that the girl became a candidate for a cochlear implant. It hadn’t happened yet.
‘So she won’t be able to hear the helicopters or motorbikes or voices calling for her,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Can she speak at all?’
Larry shook her head. ‘That’s another reason why we need to find her as soon as we can.’
No one in the house slept particularly well that night. Everyone was thinking about Matilda, alone in the desert with only Blue Dog for company. Before bedtime, Larry had found some photos from when the Darley’s had come for lunch the previous year. There was a gorgeous picture of Matilda sitting on Molly’s lap, all dimples and dark curls with a cheeky grin, and another of her with Larry and Hayden. Barnaby had told them more about the neighbouring properties too.
Darley’s Plains covered about half a million acres directly to the east of Hope Springs, which was double that size. To the north of both landholdings was Saxby Downs, the biggest station in Australia at over five million acres. The three properties intersected at a place called Hope’s Corner.
Hope Springs and Darley’s Plains had been in the Lewis and Darley families respectively for generations, but Saxby Downs had been sold twelve months ago to a multinational corporation. Cam said he’d had a run in with the new owner on his northern boundary a few months ago where the fellow had accused him of diverting water from Saxby Downs bores to fill his tanks. Cam had been mortified at the thought and Barnaby had been angry about the accusation too. Everyone knew how precious water was out here, and the very idea that someone would steal it was almost akin to murder.
With so many thoughts running through her head, Alice-Miranda was awake just after five. She slipped down from the top bunk, landing gently on the bare floorboards. Jacinta and Millie were asleep, though they’d all been tossing and turning for hours. Larry’s bed under hers was empty.
She tiptoed along the veranda, opened the screen door that led to the kitchen and padded down the hallway to the toilet. On her way back, she heard Larry talking. Alice-Miranda stood in the doorway of the lounge room and listened for a moment.
‘We have to find her, Junie,’ Larry said. ‘I’m not sure how long you were lost out here, but people don’t tend to do very well on their own – especially not little kids. They can’t kill bush rats for their dinner like you or I could if we had to. River showed me how to get them – we cooked one up on a campfire – it didn’t taste too bad, but I prefer emu, and goanna’s not bad either.’
Alice-Miranda poked her head in. ‘I thought I heard you.’
Larry was sitting on the sofa, stroking the ginger cat, who had continued to make herself right at home. Junie had staked out several beds last night before deciding that Larry’s was her favourite. Rusty slept on the floor right beside them. The cat and her new companion had barely left one another’s sides. It was the oddest thing. Alice-Miranda looked around the room and was surprised that the dog wasn’t there.
‘Rusty’s gone for a pee,’ Larry said. ‘This one just came back. I heard her meowing at the screen door and let her out. It was only a few minutes before she let me k
now she was ready to come back in again. She’s a bit bossy, but I kind of like that. Everyone knows where they stand.’
Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘Yes, I think she’s already wrapped everyone around her little paw. At least she’s well trained.’
‘Mum wouldn’t have been happy if she did her business in the house,’ Larry said.
There was a whimper at the door, and Larry jumped up and ran off down the hall to let Rusty back in too. The dog raced down the hallway, his claws tripping on the floor until he charged into the lounge room and he jumped straight up on the couch beside Junie. He licked her head while she licked his nose. It was the cutest thing. Alice-Miranda wondered what Taipan Dan would make of his cat’s new-found love.
‘Let’s get some breakfast,’ Larry said as she reappeared at the door. The girls walked to the kitchen to find Barnaby was dressed and filling the kettle.
‘Morning, girls,’ he said with a nod. ‘How’d you sleep?’
‘Badly,’ Larry replied.
‘Not much better for me, I’m afraid,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I suspect we’ve all been thinking about Matilda. Do you have a plan, Uncle Barnaby?’
‘Sure do,’ the man replied. He’d just got off the phone with Laura, who said Cam had scoured the home paddock until four, when he’d returned to the farmhouse for something to eat. Despite his protests, Laura had insisted he have a lie down before they set out again or he’d be no use to anyone. Barnaby had heard the tension in Laura’s voice as she’d spoken and knew the woman was putting on a brave face. If it was Larry or Hayden out there, he’d have been desperate too.
‘The police have arrived at Darley’s Creek, including Laura’s brother, Ted – he’s in charge of the operation. They’re sending a tracker from Alice Springs as well, but he won’t be here until midday. Some experts down at Coober Pedy have done the maths on how far a four-year-old might walk in the time she’s been gone, so the police have set a radius from the house and we’ll work from there,’ Barnaby explained.
‘Can we take the bikes?’ Larry asked.
Barnaby nodded. ‘It’ll take too long to get to the search area on horseback, so you can go two kids to a four-wheeler, and Lawrence said he’ll ride the trail bike.’
‘Are you and Dad taking the chopper again?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘Yeah.’ Barnaby sighed. ‘I’d prefer Buddy was here so I could help with the ground search, but I’m still not sure when they’re coming back. I thought I’d have heard from Molly by now,’ Barnaby said as he finished making his tea and set about buttering a slice of toast.
The girls got themselves some cereal and sat down at the long table. It wasn’t long before the others were up. It was something of a mission to ensure that everyone was fully equipped and briefed. Lunches had to be made and water bottles filled. Hayden and Lucas helped Barnaby get the two-way radios sorted – every vehicle had to take one. Barnaby photocopied a map of the area they were going to search. They’d move in a grid pattern, up and down. He impressed upon them that they’d need to look extra hard around mulga trees and scrubby brush, in case Matilda had crawled underneath and fallen asleep. Jacinta was not impressed by that idea at all following yesterday’s run in with the Chlamydosaurus, but she knew she had to deal with it. A little girl’s life depended on them all being thorough.
The family and friends met at the machinery shed to be briefed by Barnaby again just as the sun began to rise. He also wanted to check that Lucas and Jacinta both knew how to manage the four-wheel motorbike, since they’d be operating their own. He gave them a quick lesson and then tested their skills. Both of the children had ridden the vehicles before and proved competent. With helmets issued, sunscreen checked (several times by Millie, who had been obsessing over the sun and getting more freckles) and arms and legs covered, the children and Lawrence mounted their metal steeds. They would head to the boundary between Hope Springs and Darley’s Plains and start their search – of course keeping a look out for anything on the way. Just because the authorities in Coober Pedy had done the maths didn’t mean Matilda couldn’t have strayed further afield. She was a fit child, always out with her parents around the station and her mother said she could go all day like a wind-up toy. Their best chance was that Blue Dog had stayed with her and would lead her home.
Jacinta turned the key and fired the ignition.
‘Now, I don’t want any of you speeding off,’ Lawrence shouted over the pinging of the 250cc engines. ‘If you see anything, radio in – and if you get into any trouble, radio in – and let’s hope to goodness we find Matilda soon.’
The children nodded and Larry led the charge. Alice-Miranda was seated behind her, while Millie was with Hayden. Lawrence brought up the rear on a trail bike, and over in the hangar Barnaby and Hugh had just finished prepping the chopper. They’d had to refuel, and Barnaby wanted to do some final checks. Not ten minutes later, the helicopter rose into the sky, flying over the children and Lawrence, who gave them a wave.
As sunlight flooded the horizon, it felt as if it was going to be the warmest day since their arrival. And that didn’t bode well for little Matilda.
‘We’ll find her,’ Alice-Miranda yelled to Larry over the mosquito buzz of the four-wheeler. The girl grimaced. There was no other option. They had to.
The man winched another bucket of rocks and soil to the surface, grabbed it from the hook and walked the twenty metres or so to dump it on the growing mullock pile. It had been eighty-five days since he started on this hole, and it finally looked as if all that hard work was about to pay off. Dan lowered the bucket back down before scaling the ladder after it. His skin prickled with sweat and dirt. He shone his headlamp against the wall and examined it through his magnified glasses.
‘There!’ He grabbed the pick and began to chip away. ‘There’s got to be something in that . . .’
Dan spent over an hour dislodging another piece of potch, jabbering to himself all the while and wondering where that damn cat had got to. Little minx had jumped out of the cabin and taken off after a bush rat when he’d stopped for a pee just over a week ago. It had been right on dark. He’d called and called and camped on the side of the road for the night, but in the morning there was still no sign of her. He couldn’t just sit there for days – he had work to do. Maybe she’d find her way to the campsite – it was a long way but cats were known to travel. It was her own silly fault, though he missed her more than he’d ever confess. That blasted cat was the light of his life and without her he felt lost.
When the piece of rock finally came free, the man’s shoulders slumped.
Nothing again, but he wasn’t about to give up. There were too many promising leads.
Dan’s stomach growled and he realised that he hadn’t eaten for hours. It was no wonder he was feeling lightheaded. He was planning to drive to town tomorrow, and he’d look for Junie again. Hopefully she hadn’t turned feral yet. Though, if he knew that cat half as well as he thought he did, she probably had the eagles doing her bidding, supplying her with an endless feast of bush rats and sleeping in a hollow under the mulga trees.
It was annoying that he had to go back again after only a week, but it was his own stupid fault. Dan had procured food for months, but he’d clean forgotten to have his prescriptions filled and without his medication, he wouldn’t last long.
Dan put his pick on the ground and made his way back to the ladder. He stepped onto the bottom rung and placed his hands on the sides then took one step and another until he was about halfway up and realised something didn’t feel right. His head was spinning. He reached his left hand up to the next rung, but the metal disappeared before his eyes. Seconds later, the world tilted off its axis and Dan fell backwards, hitting his head against the wall of the shaft and falling to the floor.
Alice-Miranda held onto Larry’s waist as the girl sped across the open plains. The children and Lawrence were riding four abreast to stay out of each other’s choking dust. It had taken over an hour to reach the bound
ary of Hope Springs and Darley’s Plains, and now they had to locate the gate which was a kilometre or so further north. On the way, they’d seen mobs of red kangaroos and emus and had a close call with a camel who had broken away from a herd and seemed to be practising its sidestepping skills, weaving in and out of the bikes to the surprise of the children.
Once they had crossed over into the neighbour’s property, the group split up into their search areas, first heading closer to the homestead then riding up and down in straight lines, taking it slowly and keeping an eye out for any movement.
It was hot and tiring work requiring a huge amount of concentration. Alice-Miranda could taste the fine red dust that seemed to get into every orifice. When she took a moment to blow her nose, she realised the tissue was a horrible shade of brown.
After a couple of hours, Larry brought the four-wheeler to a halt and radioed the others.
‘We’re taking a break for a few minutes. Over,’ the girl said.
Her brother and Lucas concurred, and Lawrence said he was having a short rest too.
Alice-Miranda hopped off the back of the bike and removed her helmet and goggles, which were covered in a thin smear of red earth. She took a clean tissue from her pocket and gave them a wipe before leaning up against the four-wheeler. Despite having been covered, her eyes still felt gritty. Larry pulled two water bottles from her backpack and passed one over, then snapped open the lid of a plastic lunch box and offered Alice-Miranda a large wedge of chocolate cake.
‘I squirrelled this in for us. There wasn’t enough for the others, so they have to make do with extra muesli bars,’ the girl said with a smile.
‘Thanks.’ Alice-Miranda took the treat.
‘I hate that there’s been no sign of her yet,’ Larry said. ‘It’s getting hot.’ She could feel the perspiration trickling down the middle of her back.
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘At least they think she has some water with her, and food – that’s something. Her parents must be out of their mind with worry. I know mine would be.’
Alice-Miranda in the Outback Page 7