Cockatoo

by Christopher Cummings

  ‘We should have organized a watch,’ she thought. She knew that wasn’t quite the term she wanted and thought of how the army cadets might guard their camps. ‘Sentry roster,’ she thought. That was the term she wanted. While she hushed Stella and comforted her she wondered if she should even now wake up the others and try to organize a guard.

  But she didn’t. Even though she was terrified she was too scared of what she imagined the others would say. ‘They will sneer and tell me I am being silly and get annoyed,’ she thought. So instead she lay back, miserable and afraid and tried to stay calm. But her eyes kept probing the darkness outside the tent and her ears, allied to her imagination, added to the mounting terror. The jungle seemed to be alive with sounds. Some, like the creek, she recognized but cursed because it made it harder to hear. Others were mysterious scuttlings, cracklings and dripping noises. Once a rotten tree or branch fell with a crash. It was a long way off but it still caused her to stiffen up and Stella sat bolt upright and cried, “What was that?”

  It took Tina more time to calm Stella. Then another frightening necessity developed. Stella tugged at her sleeve and whispered, “I need to do a pee.”

  The moment Stella put the idea in her head Tina felt the need too. She had been several times during the day but it was one thing to walk a round the bend of the track in daylight and to listen to the birds but quite another to contemplate going out into that hostile blackness! But there was no help for it. She realized she urgently needed to go. So she pulled on her boots and picked up her torch.

  It took some persuading before Stella would join her outside the tent. Tina even contemplated doing it just beside the tent but the knowledge that the boys were in their tent only two metres away stopped her. Even in the extremity of her fear she was too inhibited to risk being caught doing something so shameful.

  So the two girls made their way twenty metres or so until they were around the bend in the old road. Then they turned their torches off out of modesty’s sake. That was scary. Without even the thin beam of light the jungle seemed to envelop Tina and she experienced the sensation of it pressing in on her. And the jungle noises seemed louder and closer. ‘I hope there are no snakes,’ she thought. She even opened her mouth to warn Stella but then clamped it shut. ‘She may not have thought of them and that might send her into hysterics.’

  It was only after she had finished and pulled her trousers up that Tina remembered there might be leeches. The thought of one of the slimy creatures worming its way up into her private parts horrified her. ‘I will look later,’ she told herself.

  But she forgot to. She and Stella used their torches to make their way back along the old road. As she moved cautiously Tina had the eerie sensation of feeling that they were being followed and it took all her willpower not to bolt back to the camp. Her whole skin came out in goose bumps and she found she was gasping each breath and that tears were trickling down her face. She knew she was terrified.

  It did not get much better. Back in the tent she could not sleep and lay awake thinking about what to do and imagining death sneaking closer. Several times she fell into an exhausted slumber but each time she had a nightmare and woke with a start. One of the dreams had her out on a large lake at night in a canoe and there was mist and dark shapes were swooping low overhead and then hands, clawing, grasping hands, reaching up out of the water to grab at her. She woke up trembling and drenched with perspiration.

  It was a long, miserable night and when the first grey of dawn showed she felt exhausted. She fell into a deep sleep for another hour until woken by the others as they got up to do their morning camp tasks.

  As she crawled out of her tent Tina was greeted by a very cheerful Andrew. He said good morning and then frowned. “You OK Tina? You look a bit of a wreck.”

  “I didn’t sleep very well,” Tina admitted. Suddenly she was gripped by a desire to be in his arms and she burst into tears. That put her there. Andrew stopped cooking his breakfast and hurried to hold her. “Here, steady on kiddo,” he muttered, hugging and patting her.

  Dimity Bates and Grace Rushbrook from the other Bronze Group both hurried to join them. Tina didn’t want their help at all but had to pretend she was grateful. After a minute or so she stopped crying and shaking but still had fits of shivering. As Andrew held her she looked over his shoulder at the jungle- and then trembled again. The jungle now was a malevolent environment full of menace and threat.

  A pale and drawn looking Stella joined them and then the officers. When Andrew saw them he tensed up and made moves to release Tina. She was reluctant to let go. ‘He can hold me all day long,’ she thought. But he did take his arms away. After a few minutes Tina had calmed down enough to stand on her own and then she felt ashamed of her weakness.

  Blake, all male cheerfulness, said, “You’ll be alright after a good breakfast.”

  Tina could only manage a weak smile and did not argue. ‘No I won’t be,’ she thought, ‘not while those men are still out there.’

  It was that idea that occupied her thoughts while she prepared and ate her breakfast. She pretended that everything was normal but inside she was churning with fear. ‘Danny said he would get me,’ she told herself. ‘Will I have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?’ The notion that the ‘rest of her life’ might actually be a short period of time crept in to chill her some more.

  The sun came out. The others were bright and cheerful and chatted happily either about their expeditions or about the bird poachers. But even though it was a perfect North Queensland day- clear skies, cool breezes, bright sunshine, Tina felt ill and depressed.

  Despite that she did not ask to be taken home. When the police at last arrived with two wildlife rangers in two vehicles at 0930 she was able to answer questions clearly and then went with the others when they went to show the police and rangers the poacher’s camp and the mist nets. The other bronze group went with them as they were hiking the opposite route that day.

  Even with three policemen, two rangers and two officers Tina still felt apprehensive walking along the old road through the jungle. They did not stop at the camp but were asked if they had been into it. When Andrew replied that they had not been into it so as not to muck up any clues the police all nodded with approval.

  At the creek crossing the opportunity was taken to fill waterbottles. Andrew said to the other group, “You won’t find any water at all until you reach the bridge on the other side of the mountain. Drink as much as you can or you will be very thirsty.”

  While they did that Tina and Blake led the police and rangers on up the slope to the mist nets. The rangers were quite excited. “We know nothing about these,” said the senior of the two. “Nobody has any permission to be using them and certainly not in this area.”

  “Who pulled it down?” a police sergeant asked.

  Tina put up her hand. “I did. There was a crimson rosella trapped in it and I wanted to set it free.”

  “You cut it?” asked the sergeant, holding up the end of the net for her to see.

  “Yes,” Tina replied. She reached out and touched the nylon and was again astonished at how milky and light the net felt. She could only marvel at the technology that could manufacture such a thing.

  Tina now noticed movement off to her right and looked up to see a small bird caught in another net. It was one she had noticed before and she wondered how many more nets there might be. So did the rangers and they asked that question. They then untied the net and lowered it and tried to free the struggling bird.

  It was a brightly coloured finch and it looked terrified. ‘That’s how I feel,’ Tina thought.

  The ranger got the bird free but when he went to release it the bird flopped to the ground with its wings fluttering wildly. “Broken wing,” the ranger said. He bent down and picked the bird up and held it for a moment. Then he used both hands and very quickly twisted its neck. Tina was simultaneously horrified and relieved. A bird with a broken wing had no chance of survival.


  The ranger shook his head and Tina could see he was a bit upset. He said, “Lots of wildlife gets injured or dies when it is being smuggled. It is a very cruel activity. Much of it is waste but the prices are so high that people keep doing it.”

  Tina could not imagine how any human could harm such beautiful creatures but she sensed that there were people who did not care. A shiver ran through her as the sickening reality that some humans would also kill and injure other humans came to her. ‘Danny shot the ranger- and he said he would get me,’ she thought. That sent her into a fit of trembling and more tears came.

  Andrew again held her and helped calm her. Then the other group arrived from the creek and Andrew released her and joined Blake in giving them instructions on how to get over the mountain without getting lost. The other group all set off up the mountain and Blake said, “Rather them than me. We at least didn’t have to climb any steep slopes.”

  That led to a discussion with the officers and others as to whether they would continue with their expedition. Tina did not really want to and nor did Stella but both boys did. Tina doubted if she could carry her pack and was also worried about Danny. “Is it safe?” she asked.

  The officers looked worried and asked the police sergeant. He nodded. “Should be. We’ve got a road block at both ends of the Danbulla Road and that will stay in place for the rest of the day. And we will be here for quite a while.”

  Lt Ryan nodded and said, “Well, you can go on with your walk if you like. We will follow along, catch you up and then wait ten minutes and then catch up again to stay with you if you like.”

  Tina brightened up at that because she did not want to disappoint Andrew. “That would be good,” she said.

  After answering a few more questions from the police and rangers they made their way back down to the creek. Here they followed their own advice and filled waterbottles and drank deeply. Then they walked back to the junction. As they did Tina kept having flashbacks and a sense of gloom enfolded her again. She kept glancing over her shoulder and at the thick jungle on both sides. It was a relief to come out into the bright sunlight on the main road.

  Their gear was already packed so there was no excuse to delay and it was already nearly 11:00 O’clock so Andrew swung on his belt. “Packs on!” he called.

  Tina picked up her pack and swung it on. There was immediate pain as sore muscles protested and she could feel the chafing. It hurt so much she nearly cried out and her immediate reaction was to take the pack back off and drop it. Stella did but then Tina saw the look on Andrew’s face and she stiffened her resolve. ‘I don’t want him to despise me,’ she thought. Instinctively she knew that pity and sympathy were no grounds for a serious and loving relationship. ‘That needs respect,’ she told herself. So she kept her face neutral and pretended it did not hurt.

  Stella’s pack was placed in the vehicle and the group then set off. Almost at once Tina began to rethink carrying her pack. The march was uphill and her shoulders ached within minutes. The energy seemed to drain out of her and the chafing began to rub and sting. ‘This hurts!’ she thought. But she still did not want Andrew to think less of her so she clenched her teeth and said nothing.

  That was how it was for the next five hours. The only time she did object to anything was when they stopped at a track junction twenty minutes later and Andrew pointed to a peak just visible through the trees. “That is Mt Edith,” Andrew said. “Kirk reckons that there are a lot of World War 2 trenches up on it.”

  Blake looked surprised. “I didn’t know they fought World War 2 here,” he said.

  “They didn’t,” Andrew answered. “But the troops did their training here before going to fight the Japanese in New Guinea.”

  “And the trenches are still there?” Blake asked.

  “That’s what Graham said. He recommended we look at them. It isn’t far, only a few hundred metres. We can leave our packs here,” Andrew said.

  They had all dropped their packs and both Andrew and Blake started walking up the narrow foot trail that led into the jungle. Andrew glanced back, then stoped and said, “You coming Tina?”

  Tina was torn. She did not want to stay there with Stella, not with Danny and Marco still on the loose and possibly still hiding in the jungle. But nor did she want to drag herself up what looked to be quite a steep little mountain peak. So she shook her head. “No. You can go some other time. Go with Kirk one weekend,” she said.

  “But it’s just there,” Andrew said.

  Luckily Tina had thought of a very good answer. “It will take half an hour or more, an hour all up. We are already late and it is half past eleven. We are due to be picked up at three and still have to walk down the mountain. That is at least eight or nine kilometres.”

  “Aw, we can do that in three hours,” Andrew answered.

  “Well you can go but I am going to keep walking,” Tina said. She knew she was being stubborn and she was actually half interested in climbing Mt Edith. But she was feeling both exhausted and scared. She actually had no intention of walking along that road on her own but was determined.

  At that moment the officers arrived in their vehicle and that made Tina feel safer. It also decided Andrew. “Alright. We will visit it another day,” he conceded.

  “We can drive to here to start,” Tina replied as a sop to make it easier.

  “We could have driven here this time too!” Blake said ruefully. He picked up his pack and hoisted it on. Soon the four were walking again.

  The road was narrow and in places muddy. It wound around the side of the mountain top in a tunnel of jungle. The air was quite cool at that altitude and the rainforest would have been pretty if Tina had been of a mind to admire it. But instead she kept looking back over her shoulder to check that the officer’s vehicle was following and the rest of the time she anxiously scanned the jungle and wondered where Danny was.

  They stopped for half an hour at 12:30 to have lunch. The officers joined them, parking the vehicle just off the side of the road at a point where it was wide enough for another vehicle to pass. One did. When Tina heard it coming up the mountain she got all tense but it was just a family car with some sightseers. As it went past she relaxed but then shook hear head. ‘I am getting paranoid,’ she told herself. She tried to concentrate on her food but felt so ill she could barely force the baked beans down.

  At 2:45pm they reached the junction with the Danbulla Forest Road near Robsons Creek. The officers joined them. Tina was sharply disappointed that her mother was not there to meet them and she just slumped down on her pack, ready to cry. She did cry when her mother arrived twenty minutes later.

  Her mother parked the car and hurried over. “Oh you poor dear!” she cried.

  Tina hobbled to meet her and they embraced. All Tina could do was sob for several minutes. “I was so scared Mum,” she said. ‘And I still am,’ she thought. But she did not want to worry her mother so she did not say that.

  There was half an hour of animated talking. The incident was discussed at length. For Tina the telling did not give closure or comfort as she kept thinking about the poachers and their threats. The police had not caught them. ‘As long as they are free I will feel threatened,’ she thought.

  It was a very miserable and exhausted girl who climbed into the vehicle. And it was not only the poachers who were causing her distress. When Andrew climbed in to sit next to her she thought, ‘I still haven’t managed to get him to ask me to the dance and it is next weekend.’

  How to arrange that occupied her mind during the drive back along the Danbulla Road. The Danbulla Road ran around the northern and eastern sides of Lake Tinaroo but for most of its length it was in thick jungle and too far from the lake to see it. There were occasional glimpses of sections of the lake but otherwise it was just a wall of trees and vines that were visible. Tina had been along it once before on a weekend drive but barely remembered it. It was a good two-lane gravel road and with plenty of traffic.

  Tina’s mum
took the shortest way home going south past the old forestry settlement of Danbulla and through extensive stands of plantation pines. There was more jungle and a number or road junctions where side roads lead off to the lake. None of it really interested Tina. She just wanted to be home and to be safe. She did not even pay attention when Andrew pointed out the turnoff to School Point.

  “That is where we paddled our canoes to last year,” he pointed out.

  Tina had a vague recollection of a very pleasant little backwater ringed by pine forest and with a grassy lawn leading down from a picnic area to the water’s edge but she only nodded and grunted.

  Andrew wasn’t put off. He went on, “We might make that one of our ports of call when we do our real expedition.”

  Blake laughed and added, “And definitely by water. I’ve had enough jungle.”

  They passed the turn-off to Fongon Bay, another picnic area, but much larger. Tina just glanced and then looked away, her mind dwelling on Danny. Nor did she pay attention to other turn-offs or to the tourist attractions of Lake Euramo or ‘The Chimneys’ as she was driven past them. The vehicle went on past an old ranger station and up a steep hill and past another turn-off to the right. Then it wound through the jungle for many kilometres until she felt car sick.

  The only other vehicles they passed were obviously families on Sunday drives or tourists. There were three cars at the Mobo Crater car park and two at the Cathedral Fig Tree. Then they came out into open country and Tina felt a bit easier. After winding through open, hilly farm land for a few more kilometres they came to the junction with the Gillies Highway. Tina expected to see a police roadblock there but there was nothing visible. That bothered her as it seemed to her to indicate that the police did not take the situation very seriously.