Rain Music

by Di Morrissey

  ‘Roberta, I’m not as fit as the rest of you and I would only slow you down. I’m happy enough to stay here. It’s peaceful and I can easily amuse myself.’

  Antony came over and touched her on the shoulder. ‘Bella, you haven’t seen half of what the Daintree has to offer. I’ve done the walk Roberta’s taking Graham and Phil on a couple of times, so I’m happy to give it a miss. What say I show you other parts of the area? Take you to all kinds of magic places that we can access in my four-wheel drive?’

  ‘He’s persuasive, isn’t he?’ said Roberta chuckling. ‘But you should see a bit more of the Daintree. It’s so beautiful and so fragile and it would be a pity to miss it.’

  ‘Come on, Bella . . . it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,’ cajoled Antony. ‘Isn’t this what you wanted to do when you came up north?’

  Bella grinned. ‘I suppose so. Thanks, Antony, if you’re sure I’m not putting you out. It’d be great.’

  *

  There had been a shower of rain in the night and the vegetation around them dripped and shone. Bella and Antony drove back along the rough road until they reached the broad expanse of the Daintree River, where the flat-bottomed car punt ferried their car to the other side. When they drove off the car ferry, Antony headed north, pointing out things of interest. After a while he pulled over to the edge of the rough dirt road.

  ‘Come and walk. I know this area quite well.’

  The place where Antony stopped seemed exotic and everything dripped with water, while each tree was home to an endless variety of ferns, lichens and orchids. He pointed at a tree with large leaves.

  ‘That’s a stinging tree and those leaves are covered in minuscule spears that prick you and make you itch painfully for hours. Awful thing. Beautiful . . . but dangerous. Like some women,’ said Antony, his eyes twinkling.

  Bella rolled her eyes, laughing. ‘Give me a break.’

  As they walked under the dense canopy of rainforest Bella began to feel perspiration running down her back and between her breasts in the dank humidity.

  Antony glanced at her. ‘We’ll be out of these quandongs soon.’ He bent down and picked up a bright blue pod. ‘You can eat the fruit, but it’s sour. The cassowaries love them. They spread its seeds all over the place.’

  He moved towards Bella and leaned close before turning her head slightly. ‘Look, over there to the left, up high.’

  Bella didn’t see what he was pointing at as his pepperminty breath on her neck was distracting. But then she saw it: a shimmering, fluttering cloud.

  ‘Butterflies! How gorgeous.’

  They watched for a few more moments, Antony still leaning close, his breath warm on her skin.

  Bella stepped away. ‘It’s so humid. I thought you said we were near the coast.’

  ‘We are. But you don’t hear it because there’s no surf. The beach is protected by the big outer reef.’

  As they moved off, the path they were following became sandy and there was a fresh tangy smell in the air.

  ‘The sea. At last. Wow.’

  They walked from the rainforest trees onto the beach, and there before them was the huge amphitheatre of silver white sand and calm blue water. In the distance, a low white line marked the outer reef and the low tide exposed the flat fringing reefs close to shore.

  ‘Captain Cook had trouble getting through those reefs and called them “this insane labyrinth”, which is why he named this place Cape Tribulation,’ said Antony. ‘Want to go and look in the rock pools?’

  Bella glanced around, spying a couple of other people picking their way across the rocks. The beach seemed pristine and unspoilt. Bella stretched out her arms and took a deep breath.

  ‘It’s so peaceful,’ she said.

  ‘Trust me, it wasn’t always like that. In the eighties, the state government decided to put in a road to link Cape Tribulation to Bloomfield further to the north, in order to develop the growing tourist trade in the area as well as open up the place to more logging.’

  Bella dropped her arms to her side. ‘That’s terrible. Any development would destroy such beautiful wilderness. What were they thinking?’

  Antony shrugged. ‘They had big plans but no thought for the environment, so a few locals started to protest peacefully against the venture and the protest grew.’ He gestured to the forest. ‘People climbed up those huge trees and stayed there, chained themselves to the machinery, buried themselves in the path of the bulldozers, in an effort to stop the road, but the government pushed it through. However in the next wet the hastily built road fell apart.’

  Bella burst out laughing. ‘Serves the government right. So what happened next?’

  ‘They had another go at building it, but the federal government had the area listed as a World Heritage site and that put an end to further development. The road is still here but it’s a mess, and only traversable by four-wheel drive in the dry season.’

  They spent an hour looking at the miniature world trapped in the warm rock pools, then walked back to the shore. Bella looked at the solid wall of deep green rainforest sweeping down from the peaks and ending in a fringe of palms. The large, dense bush at the edge of the beach looked like great crinoline skirts brushing the sand.

  ‘Duck under the branches and I’ll take your picture,’ said Antony, showing Bella some low, flat branches where she could sit under a seven-metre umbrella of foliage. She perched in the hidden room of the green roof and white sand floor as Antony snapped her photo. He handed her back her phone and their hands brushed.

  ‘You’re very beautiful. But you know that.’ He smiled.

  Bella hopped down from the low branch. ‘And you’re a flirt. But you know that,’ she said playfully.

  They bought some sandwiches and stopped at a small roadside ice-cream shop where the owner made luscious ice-cream from fresh fruit, and then drove back over the Alexandra Range. They stopped at the popular lookout at the peak and Bella admired the bird’s-eye view of the coast.

  ‘I’m ready to escape back to our private hideaway and our tents and campfire now,’ sighed Bella. ‘Thank you. It’s been a glorious day.’

  ‘One last stop,’ said Antony. He pulled into a service station and topped up with petrol and then motioned Bella to follow him past the toilet block and into a small thicket well away from the road. As Bella looked puzzled, Antony put his finger to his lips and they walked quietly into the trees. He paused and then pointed.

  Bella caught her breath as she saw under the trees a pair of magnificent long-necked birds, about two metres tall, their feathers a glossy black. Their upper necks were bright blue and red at the back of the nape. A loose red wattle dangled from the base of their throats. Each had a bony comb on the top of its head.

  ‘Cassowary. Wow,’ whispered Bella, and quietly reached for her phone to take a photo.

  They watched the pair for a little while and Bella took some photos, then they left quietly.

  ‘That was special,’ said Bella.

  ‘Talk to the girls tonight, they’ll tell you everything you do – and don’t! – want to know about endangered cassowaries. I do know that it’s the male who sits on the eggs and protects the chicks when they hatch. We’re not all playboys,’ he added.

  Bella’s mouth twitched into a grin. She climbed into the car as he held open the door with a courtly flourish.

  On the way home, as they re-crossed the Daintree River on the car ferry, Bella decided that she should raise the subject of her brother with Antony. After all, he lived and worked in this area, so he may have heard something.

  ‘No, I can’t say I’ve heard of a Ned Chisholm staying around here. He could be holed up in one of the more remote guesthouses, but this is a small community and I think if he were staying around here, I would have seen him about. Tell you what, give me your phone number and if I hear anything, I’ll let you know
straight away.’ He winked at her and she smiled despite herself.

  *

  The night air of Bella’s last evening in the Daintree was soft and warm. The atmosphere in the rainforest was very different at night, for the canopy completely blotted out the sky and it was very dark.

  ‘I thought we might head out for a night walk, see what we can spot,’ said Roberta.

  Roberta strode into the forest as if it was broad daylight. The others were strung behind her, following the beams of light from their torches, which were partially covered in cloth to diffuse their intensity. No one spoke, and at a signal from Roberta they stopped, switched off the torches and stood listening. There was a slight rustling movement close to them but they remained still. Antony was standing close beside Bella. She could feel his body warmth and smell the now familiar tang of the peppermints he chewed.

  Roberta switched her torch back on, shining the beam into the lower branches of a nearby tree. A startled black and white striped face with a sharp little nose stopped chewing the fruit which it held in its long claws.

  ‘Striped possum,’ whispered Roberta.

  ‘He’s cute,’ said Bella.

  ‘There’s a tree snake,’ whispered Annabelle, clicking on her torch and turning its beam onto what appeared to be a yellow and green vine, which began to weave slowly between tree leaves the size of dinner plates.

  They watched the snake lazily stretch towards another branch and then they quietly moved on. Bella jumped as she heard a noise like a baby crying.

  ‘Good heavens,’ cried Bella in alarm. ‘What on earth was that?’

  ‘It’s a bird called the spotted catbird, and it’s a type of bower bird. Can’t mistake its call,’ said Annabelle, laughing.

  Walking further along the ill-formed path, Roberta showed them strange, faintly luminous plants that opened to catch unwary insects. She told them about medicinal uses of some of the plants.

  ‘Do you think it’s true that there could be cures for other diseases, still waiting to be discovered?’ asked Bella.

  ‘We’ll never know if we don’t protect the forest,’ said Deidre.

  ‘My family also used grasses and vines to build weatherproof huts. My great-grandfather built a longhouse on stilts which was rainproof, and the extended family used it in the wet,’ said Roberta.

  ‘Did they live around here?’ asked Phil.

  ‘No, further south. They worked in the cane fields until they started their own gardens and began to grow fruit and vegetables.’

  ‘What’s north of the Daintree?’ asked Graham. ‘I can’t imagine that the population further north would be very big.’

  ‘You’re right, it’s not. Years ago there was a major gold rush on the Palmer River and Cooktown was a very wild and busy port, but that’s well and truly over, and these days Cooktown is no more than a sleepy little town. Not much goes on there now, although a lot of tourists visit it in the dry season. Maybe you should go there, Bella,’ Roberta suggested.

  Bella shrugged. ‘I can’t say it’s a place that’s ever been on my radar.’

  *

  Earlier that day, Antony had put a bottle of wine and some beer in a small rock pool, and by the time they returned from the night walk, the drinks were gloriously cool.

  ‘How much longer are you going to continue your work here?’ Bella asked Deidre and Annabelle.

  ‘Another three days. Antony is coming with us this time,’ replied Deidre.

  ‘Lucky me. These two let me go out with them and showed me where the birds and their nests are, so now I can show off my knowledge to the guests at the Lodge. Let them think that I’ve stumbled across a nest, when in fact the girls have spied it out for me already,’ said Antony cheerfully.

  ‘What about you, Roberta? Will you go out with them?’ asked Bella.

  ‘No need. Deidre and Annabelle know what they’re doing. I’ll take you back to Port Douglas and then go out again with Phil and Graham.’

  Later, sitting in the rock pool, her feet propped up on a mossy boulder, Bella lifted her glass in a toast.

  ‘Roberta, thank you for sharing all this. It’s been magic. I’ll remember it when I’m stuck back in my air-conditioned office.’ While she’d meant the comment as a joke, her tone was flat.

  ‘Why go back?’ said Antony. ‘I left a mundane job in a finance company to come up here and work as a tour guide. A lot more fun. You’re in the tourism business, Bella. Why don’t you move up here? You’d easily get a job.’

  Bella was startled by the suggestion. ‘Well . . . it’s not quite as simple as you make out. I have responsibilities. I can’t just move. But I might well come back; it’s a truly remarkable place,’ she added with a smile.

  By nine o’clock, everyone had headed for their tents, except Antony and Bella.

  ‘Feel like a nightcap? There’s some wine left,’ Antony suggested.

  ‘Why not? Thanks. Wow, what a special treat this has been. Roberta is amazing. I never expected to see all this.’

  ‘She’s a great guide. I’ve learned a lot from her.’ He handed Bella a glass of wine.

  ‘Do you do tours like this?’ she asked.

  ‘Not quite. The Lodge, where I work, tends to have up-market guests who want to see and experience the Daintree in a degree of comfort. I think you have to grow up with the knowledge that Roberta has. I didn’t know much at all when I first came up here, but I know a lot more now. People really like eco-tourism, and this area is unique in the world. It has so many opportunities.’

  ‘I’ll have to look into it,’ said Bella thoughtfully.

  ‘I know a great guide.’ He leaned close to her.

  Bella knew he wanted to kiss her, but she straightened up. ‘Thanks for the wine. See you in the morning.’

  ‘You should come to the Lodge. Be a shame to miss it.’ He gave her his winning smile.

  ‘I’ll sleep on it and then see what my boyfriend thinks! G’night, Ant.’

  He chuckled quietly. ‘You do that, beautiful Bella.’

  3

  Ned woke in the brightness of a small white room. He felt a hand on his wrist and opened his eyes. Turning his head, he saw a nurse standing by his bed looking at a hospital chart.

  ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘I’ve felt better. Where am I?’ Ned asked.

  ‘Cooktown hospital. You’re a bit banged up, but not too bad under the circumstances. You’re very lucky on two counts – getting out of a wreck and having Toni find you,’ the nurse smiled kindly. ‘We found your name in your wallet. Is there anyone we can call, Ned, to let them know where you are?’

  ‘No. Thanks,’ Ned muttered. ‘Don’t want to worry anyone. How long have I been here?’

  ‘Only today. We’ll be keeping you under observation tomorrow as well, so just rest. Do you want to sip some water?’

  Ned managed a small nod and the nurse’s strong arm lifted his head and put a plastic straw to his lips. He swallowed two mouthfuls and lay back.

  ‘Toni told us you’re a musician,’ the nurse said, nodding at Ned’s guitar case sitting propped up in the corner of the room. Ned smiled to see his old mate safe. ‘You might not be able to play for a few days because we’ve had to put a few stitches in your arm,’ the nurse continued, ‘but nothing that won’t mend. And Toni sorted your car for you. The police have it down at the station, along with the rest of your personal effects. Someone will bring your gear over later and ask you a few questions about what happened. I’ll be checking in on you during the day.’

  The nurse bustled out of the room and Ned lay in the silence of the white oasis. He had no idea what was outside his door. There was a murmur of voices and the clatter of a trolley. Further away was the noise of passing traffic and what sounded like the throb of a boat engine.

  He suddenly felt anxious. He had to find the fellow abou
t the place to stay and get out of here. Gingerly he began stretching his limbs, but found one of his arms tethered to a drip. He shut his eyes in resignation, hoping that when he woke up it would all be over and he could walk away.

  Instead, he woke an hour later to find Toni standing by his bed. He smiled to see her.

  ‘Hello there,’ she said. ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘Hungry.’

  ‘That’s a good sign.’

  ‘Thank you for rescuing me. I guess you saved my life and I hear you arranged a tow truck.’

  Toni waved a hand. ‘No worries. Besides, someone else would have come along and picked you up.’

  ‘Do you know how my ankle is? Will you have to perform professional services on it?’ asked Ned, smiling weakly.

  Toni looked at the hospital notes.

  ‘’Fraid not. It’s only sprained, and not very badly at that. If it’s well strapped and you don’t try to run a marathon too soon, you’ll be up and about on it in no time.’

  ‘So I won’t be here long?’

  ‘Seems not.’

  Ned nodded. ‘I need to get sorted. Find this guy who was going to get me settled in his place. Replace my phone and get the car fixed.’ He closed his eyes. ‘What a bloody mess.’

  ‘I take it that you’re going to stay somewhere around here, then? Where’d you come from?’ Toni sat down in the chair next to the bed.

  ‘I was in Cairns, did a few gigs along the coast and up on the Atherton Plateau, too. I had an invitation to see a bloke up here about moving into a place he shares while he’s away.’

  ‘How long are you planning on staying?’

  ‘Couple of months, maybe.’

  ‘Up to the wet season? That’s when sensible people leave town,’ said Toni.

  ‘Do you?’

  She smiled. ‘I have a job. I love it here. Been here a while now.’