Letty's Christmas

by Lucia Masciullo

  ‘Don’t go too far,’ Letty called.

  Harry shrugged his shoulders and went further away.

  ‘No need to be craxy with ou-er Letty, now,’ Abner chided. ‘Only lookin’ out for you, she is.’

  Harry came back towards them a bit. Letty was grateful to Abner.

  ‘Ach, I need to sharpen this knife,’ said Abner. ‘Back soon.’

  As soon as he saw Abner stroll back towards the cart, Harry’s wanderings got further and further from Letty. When she couldn’t see his little dark head above the bushes, she had to go after him.

  ‘Harry!’

  ‘Come here, Letty!’ Harry’s voice came out of the bushes. They were the same sort of white-flowered bushes that Harry hid in on the sheep-run, Letty noticed. She looked back. Abner hadn’t returned yet.

  ‘What are you doing in there?’ she asked.

  Harry crawled out on hands and knees. ‘It’s a secret,’ he said smugly. ‘But …’ He eyed Letty. ‘If you’re not craxy with me, I’ll tell you.’

  ‘Oh, really!’ she said with a smile. ‘Well, a secret might be fun.’

  ‘Yes!’ said Harry, his eyes sparkling. For once she had said something to please him, she thought. ‘Come in here.’ He beckoned.

  Letty followed him into the bushes.

  ‘On your tummy. Shh!’ Letty did as she was told. ‘Now look close,’ Harry whispered.

  Letty looked. Dozens of little butterflies flitted through the bushes. They were the purple-blue of an evening sky, dusted with gold. The edges of their wings were scalloped like lace.

  ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ she said.

  Harry nodded solemnly. ‘They’re my friends,’ he said. ‘They sit on my hair and kiss me.’

  The butterflies danced about like coloured fairies. Letty and Harry watched them together. Harry lay completely still, the flitting wings of the butterflies reflected in his eyes. Letty could hear him breathing, soft and steady.

  ‘We’d better go,’ Letty said after a while.

  ‘Why?’ said Harry. ‘Don’t you like them?’

  She did, but the others didn’t know where they were.

  Letty wriggled backwards. Mary’s letter fell out of her pocket. Harry saw the blue paper fall before she did. He grabbed it and held it up over his head.

  ‘A big butterfly!’ he said, pinching the letter between his fingers and fluttering it through the air.

  ‘No, that’s mine!’ said Letty.

  Harry laughed. He scuttled away from Letty, further into the bushes.

  ‘You can’t catch me!’

  ‘Yes I can, Harry Grey. Now, you come back!’

  But Harry just laughed again and squirmed out the other side. He took off down a wallaby track between the trees, keeping one eye on Letty and still flying his ‘butterfly’.

  Letty had to run after him.

  ‘Harry!’

  Letty was catching up, but Harry didn’t stop. He was giggling as he ran. Letty worried that he would crumple the letter and ruin it. She needed it to get another job – she had to get it back. Letty ducked under a branch, her eyes fixed on the blue paper in Harry’s hand. Too late, she realised they had come to the rim of the valley. Right in front of them the ridge dropped away to thick forest. Letty grabbed at Harry’s smock. He jerked away. Then they both lost their balance, and fell.

  6

  Into the Valley

  LETTY’S feet slid out from underneath her. She skidded down the slope, over smooth, dry leaves. She crashed past a hanging fern. She clutched at a frond. It ripped through Letty’s hands, but it did slow her fall. She hooked an arm around a shrub, and came to a halt, gasping for breath.

  Below her, she could see Harry tumbling, round and round, down and down. Finally he slumped against a fallen tree. For a second, there was silence. Letty felt sick. What if he was dead?

  Then Harry began to cry – a muffled, faraway wail. Letty shuddered with relief. She had to get to him, even though it meant going further down the steep slope. Maybe he was hurt.

  ‘I’m coming!’ Letty’s voice sounded strange in the forest. The tall trees and the carpet of leaves seemed to soak it up. Carefully, she let go of the plant she was holding and slithered on her bottom and all fours, like some kind of odd, upside-down spider.

  When she came near, Harry sat up. Tears ran down his face.

  ‘I hate you!’ he said. ‘You’re horrible!’

  Letty was so taken aback she stopped. What had she done to deserve that?

  Harry wouldn’t even look at her. Instead he climbed to his feet and began to stumble down the hill, still crying.

  ‘Harry, wait!’ Letty called. Harry only hurried away quicker. Despite his small size, he was just as fast as she was, on this steep slope where she couldn’t run properly.

  Uncertain of what to do, Letty looked back over her shoulder. They had come so far so quickly. The top of the ridge was a long way up. Getting back there would be much harder. Well above her, Letty could see a torn piece of Harry’s smock, snagged on a bush. Mary wouldn’t be happy. Letty would offer to mend it later.

  But first she had to get Harry to stop. For a second she lost sight of him amongst the ferns. Letty was suddenly frightened – worse things could happen out here than torn clothes. Then she saw him again, scrambling over a log. He was like one of the little lambs on the sheeprun, when they had lost their mother, running about in a panic.

  ‘Harry, come back!’ she yelled. ‘You’ll get lost!’

  Harry stopped. He looked back at her. But the moment Letty moved towards him, he started off again.

  Letty realised it wouldn’t take long at all for both her and Harry to get really lost. There was no road to follow back, only trees in every direction. Their coloured clothes were the only things that stood out in the dim, green forest.

  That gave Letty an idea. Not one she liked to do – Lavinia would scold her no end for spoiling another dress. Letty would never have dreamt of doing such a thing in England, or even Sydney. But if she didn’t … Letty sat down and, with her hands and teeth, tore a strip off her blue skirt. She tied it at headheight around a bare branch. If she did this often, it would be like a road – a trail of markers to show where they’d come from.

  Then she slithered downwards again. She was just in time to see Harry skid on a patch of moss and tumble between two large rocks.

  She tied a couple more tags quickly, and hurried after him. The rocks were taller than Letty’s head and she scraped her knee and her knuckles climbing down to Harry. He was still there, lying on a pile of leaves.

  ‘Puh! Puh!’ Harry spat. His mouth was crusted with dirt. Letty wiped his face with the hem of her petticoat.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

  ‘Go away!’ he said, and curled himself into a ball. But Letty didn’t go away.

  ‘What’s the matter, Harry?’ she asked.

  ‘You hurt me!’ he said. ‘You pushed me down!’

  ‘I didn’t!’ said Letty hotly. All of a sudden, she was really annoyed. She had spent the last half year chasing Harry around, trying to be patient and careful, while he was as carefree as the butterflies. And then he blamed her! ‘How could I push you?’ she said. ‘I wasn’t even near.’

  ‘At the top you did!’ Harry insisted.

  ‘I’d never do that!’ Letty said. ‘I was trying to hold on to you, to stop you falling. You’re always running off, and one day you’re going to get hurt.’

  ‘I am hurt,’ said Harry in a low voice.

  Letty was exasperated. ‘Well, there you are, you see!’

  Harry curled himself up tighter. His little shoulders were shaking. Letty looked at him. She remembered herself hunched up on the bunk of the ship, crying, all those months before, and how her not-very-good friend Jemima hadn’t helped. She remembered what it was like to be alone and sad. Harry did cause problems, but he didn’t mean to, Letty thought. If she was cranky with him, he’d only be angry and frightened, and shut himself up more.<
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  ‘I’m sorry, Harry.’ Letty lifted his tangled hair off his face. ‘Can you show me where it hurts?’

  Slowly, he stretched out a foot towards her. ‘Don’t touch,’ he said.

  Letty examined his leg, without touching. His knees were grazed and dirty. He also had a jagged scratch along one shin.

  ‘Blood!’ he whimpered.

  It didn’t look like a very bad cut, but Letty wasn’t sure. It was so hot, even in the thick shade of the rainforest, that it was hard to think. Her lips felt dry and cracked. As she tried to work out what to do, she realised that somewhere below she could hear an even, musical murmur.

  ‘Listen,’ she said. Could it be water?

  Harry listened, then licked his lips. ‘I’m thirsty, Letty.’

  ‘Well.’ She offered Harry a hand. ‘Upsy daisy then.’

  Harry took her hand. But he cried out as she tried to pull him up and crumpled back onto the ground.

  ‘My foot ouches,’ he said.

  ‘Can’t you stand?’ Letty asked.

  Harry shook his head.

  Letty sighed. If Harry couldn’t stand, he certainly couldn’t walk. That meant he couldn’t climb back up, either. Letty hoped the adults would rescue them. She was glad she had made that trail of blue ties.

  ‘How about I carry you?’ Letty suggested.

  Harry shook his head.

  Letty thought of the carcasses beside the road up the mountains. Even great big bullocks died without water. What hope did small children have? Harry needed her help. But how could she get him to accept it? Giving him orders didn’t work. She squatted down and looked into Harry’s face.

  ‘Imagine …’ she began. Harry’s blue eyes fixed on hers. ‘Imagine you’re a fine trooper and I’m your horse –’

  ‘My racehorse,’ Harry interrupted.

  ‘Yes, and we’re going for a ride.’

  Harry sat up.

  ‘Now hop in the saddle.’ Letty turned around so Harry could climb on her back.

  Harry clasped his hands around her neck. ‘Giddyup!’ he said.

  Letty struggled to her feet, then did her best to neigh and prance. Harry giggled. He leaned his face against hers. Harry’s cheek was velvety, like Victoria’s. At last he trusted her. It was a good feeling, even though he was hot and heavy and made Letty’s knees ache.

  The ground began to flatten out. Letty could smell the sweetness of the water. They had reached the bottom of one of those deep valleys she had seen from the top of the pass. A creek ran over rocks and gurgled through the black earth.

  ‘Hooray! Here’s lots of water, Harry.’ She set him down on a rock in the stream. They cupped their hands in the clean water, again and again. Then they washed their faces and cooled their necks. Letty took off Harry’s boots and washed his shin and swollen ankle.

  Harry was happy watching the water run around his feet. He didn’t want to take them out again.

  Perhaps they didn’t need to move, Letty thought. Surely Abner and the Greys must be looking for them by now. Letty had been careful to leave lots of blue tags, which they could follow. Her dress was so shredded, there was more petticoat than skirt now, Letty thought ruefully.

  It might take time for Clem and Abner to catch up. The campsite on the ridge was miles away. But they were tall and strong. They could travel much faster than she and Harry.

  ‘Let’s wait here for a while,’ Letty said. ‘Your papa will come looking for us, for sure.’

  Letty and Harry rested with their backs against a giant tree trunk. Harry became very still, then fell asleep. Letty saw how the forest was incredibly green, everywhere. Green moss grew on the rocks. Green vines looped from high branches. Lichen traced delicate collars on the silver throats of gum trees. Being in the forest was like being inside a tapestry, thought Letty, a tapestry in shades of green and charcoal. Threads and tendrils ran all over the place. It wasn’t at all like England.

  Letty felt the forest go very quiet. She couldn’t hear any kookaburras calling or little birds twittering. The forest seemed to be gloomier, too. When she looked straight up through the treetops, the patches of sky above had deepened into a purple colour, like that of the butterflies in the morning. Was it nearly night already? Letty wondered. Did that mean the adults couldn’t look for them anymore? Would they give up in the dark?

  Off in the distance, beyond the burble of the stream, Letty thought she heard a roaring sound. It wasn’t the sort of noise made by people. Letty was uneasy. She assured herself that the others would be here soon.

  Leaves began to scatter around her like rain. Tree branches creaked, and the tops of the trees tossed and swayed. The weather had changed, Letty realised. The roaring noise was a wild wind.

  Soon Letty felt like she was at the bottom of a stormy sea. At ground level, the air hardly stirred. But out in the open, Letty imagined, it would be a gale. She hoped Mary and Victoria were all right. Letty suddenly thought that Clem and Abner might turn back to look after them and the wool bales. She and Harry might be out here all night, or even longer … Letty didn’t want to think about that.

  Thunder rumbled across the valley. Lightning flashed. Single drops of rain started to fall like long spears into the forest.

  ‘Harry.’ Letty woke him gently.

  Harry opened his eyes and shut them again. He grumbled. ‘Where is my papa?’

  Letty didn’t know how to answer.

  ‘Letty, I don’t want to be here.’

  Neither did she. She didn’t want to be stuck in the dark, in the lightning and rain. They needed shelter, she decided. Perhaps those big rocks that Harry had fallen between could give it.

  ‘We’re going to find a hiding place,’ she said. ‘Come on, Mr Trooper.’

  7

  The Hiding Place

  ONE of the rocks leaned over like a broken fence. Letty and Harry got out of the rain by huddling under it. They didn’t stay dry for long though. Water ran down the stone and dripped on Letty’s neck. At first she didn’t mind, but then she began to feel damp. If she and Harry got soaked, Letty thought, they would also get cold. They needed to keep dry, especially if –

  Letty did not want to consider that ‘if’. But she had to. She had to look after both of them – especially if no one came for them before nightfall.

  ‘I’m getting wet, Harry. We need to move further under the rock,’ she told him.

  Harry tried to shift further back, but winced as his foot hurt him. He shook his head. ‘You move under,’ he said.

  Letty tried very hard to forget what she knew about snakes, and looked into the low, dark space. She couldn’t see anything nastier than moss and a spider. She could see better than she expected, actually. It was almost like there was daylight coming from under one end of the rock. She lay on her tummy and wriggled inwards. She wriggled further. There was a gap under the rock.

  ‘Oh my goodness!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘What?’ said Harry.

  Letty heaved herself through the gap with her elbows. Her head came out into a cave. Not a little one, but a cavern of orange rock as high as a cathedral. A shaft of light came in through its ceiling. Where the light fell, lime-green treeferns opened in starbursts.

  ‘What, Letty?’

  ‘I’ll show you,’ she offered. ‘Lie down and keep your head low. This might hurt a little bit, but be brave.’

  Harry did as Letty asked. She pulled him through by his arms.

  His eyes went big and round as he saw where he was. ‘It’s a treasure cave, Letty! Where bushrangers put their loot!’

  ‘Mm,’ said Letty, who didn’t think so. Unfortunately they were too far away from the road, and the bush was too thick here, even for bushrangers. There weren’t even any signs that Aborigines had been in here. No, she and Harry were all alone.

  ‘Let’s explore,’ she said quickly. ‘And see what we can find.’ She helped Harry climb down into the cave.

  As she expected, they didn’t find treasure. But they did fi
nd a cosy nook with a floor of soft dust. They also found a fallen branch with lots of dry leaves. She must do the best she could, Letty thought. And then hope. She turned around to Harry.

  ‘How about we pretend,’ she said.

  Harry looked at her with interest.

  ‘We’ll pretend we’re good bushrangers,’ Letty continued, ‘and we’re going to camp in our hideout tonight.’

  So they made themselves a ‘nest’, as Harry called it, in the corner. They used leaves to sleep on, and sheets of bark for blankets. In the middle of the cavern, rain poured through the hole in the roof. Letty could still hear the wind thrashing the trees outside. She thought their nest could have done with a featherbed. But at least it was dry and still.

  The light was fading when she finished preparing their bed. Harry and Letty snuggled together under the bark.

  ‘I’m hungry, Letty,’ Harry moaned.

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘So am I. Try not to think about it. We’ll have dinner when we’re found.’

  Letty knew in her heart they wouldn’t be found in this cave tonight. Maybe in the morning Clem would organise a search. But it was too dangerous for anyone to stumble around in the bush at night with only candles to see by. Even if they decided to try, no one would see Letty’s trail in the dark. Letty wouldn’t hear their voices calling in the rain and wind either.

  ‘I didn’t want to get lost,’ Harry said tearily. ‘I only wanted to play.’

  ‘I know. Harry, you have been very brave.’

  ‘Like a trooper,’ sniffed Harry.

  ‘Oh, braver. Like …’ Letty was thinking of Abner. She wished he was here.

  ‘Like my papa!’ said Harry.

  ‘Yes.’ Letty put her arm around him.

  ‘I like you when you’re not bossy, Letty.’

  ‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘and I like you when you don’t run away.’

  Letty meant it. She felt she had found more than the cave in this strange forest. Letty had also found the way into Harry’s own world, where a treasure of insects and animals and imagination was hidden. Letty thought it was a big shame it had taken so long. They hadn’t liked each other until now, and she would soon be leaving him, in Sydney. Or possibly, just possibly – Letty barely gave this thought room to breathe – She’d never leave him, because they’d never be found.