Cockatoo

by Christopher Cummings

  ‘If he dies in the jungle the pigs will get at his body and chew it up and scatter the bones,’ she told herself. The thought disgusted her and she shuddered and found she was terrified of even thinking about dying. That got her worrying about the bird smugglers again and she knew she was very scared. Memories of her nightmare returned and she kept scanning the lake, even while she tried to tell herself not to be silly. Knowing it would really frighten little Aiden she said nothing about her fears and managed to keep up a bright chatter.

  Ducks and other waterbirds provided a safe topic and they paddled on in apparent happiness. The sailboat vanished through a narrow strait and then came back to skim around them. That cheered Aiden up and he waved and called out and had to be told to sit still in case he tipped the canoe over.

  They soon covered a couple of kilometres and rounded a point into the most easterly extremity of the lake. There were half a dozen small inlets and bays and two large ones. In particular there was a large arm of the lake extending northwards. On the next point between this and a large southern inlet was a picnic area which Tina recognized as School Point. The sight of the deforested land behind it quite stunned her as it had been clear felled. She had to remind herself it was not a natural forest that had been cut down but a pine plantation.

  The sailboat went northwards so the canoe followed. This had them heading almost directly for Mt Edith and once again worry about Willy dominated Tina’s thoughts for much of the time. However questions about what type of bird was in sight brought her back to the present.

  They paddled on for about another kilometre. The sailboat returned and then went off again, but always in sight, tacking back and forth across the steadily narrowing inlet. Sarah suggested turning back but just as she did they saw the sailboat go briefly out of sight behind some jungle, only to reappear almost immediately on the other side of it.

  “How did they do that?” Aiden asked.

  “It is a little island,” Tina replied, remembering it from a previous holiday trip.

  “Can we go around it please?” Aiden asked.

  So they paddled another half a kilometre until they came to the small island. Tina had forgotten just how pretty the small jungle covered island was and enjoyed the sheer beauty of the setting. She was even more pleased at Aiden’s evident pleasure. The island was only a knoll fifty metres across sticking up out of the water but it had an enchanting appeal to it. ‘A kid sized island,’ she thought, smiling at pleasant memories of reading Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ with its island.

  Then she noted that a bitumen road came out of the water and went up over one side of the island and then plunged back into the lake. “Look. That must be the same bitumen road that goes up over our secret island,” she said.

  That made the island even more attractive and they nosed right in. Aiden wanted to land but at that moment the sailboat came sliding back past them and Mr Creswell called that it was time to start back.

  Sarah waved her paddle and called back, “We will just go around the island.”

  Aiden got all upset at not being allowed ashore but there was no help for it so they back paddled away from the shore and then set off close around the tiny island. “We will come back another day and explore it properly,” Sarah told Aiden.

  “Can we camp on it?” he asked eagerly.

  “If we are allowed,” Sarah answered diplomatically.

  Tina had to smile and agreed that it looked just the most perfect island for a secret camping trip. ‘Maybe we can camp on it when we do our D of E expedition?’ she thought.

  Then she concentrated on paddling. As they went around the northern end of the island she noted that the jungle now loomed so close and so high that she could no longer see the mountain tops. Further around there were pine trees on the eastern shore and she noted a vehicle track come down through them to end at a thick wall of reeds on the edge of the lake. ‘That must be the continuation of the road that goes over this little island,’ she decided.

  Further around again they crossed the mouth of a large creek that emptied into the bay from the east. But the place looked quiet unpleasant to Tina, being full of some sort of brown sludge and tall, brown reeds that looked dead.

  ‘Is that oil?’ she wondered. Still puzzling over whether the brown colouring was natural or not they went on southwards and retraced their route.

  The sailboat kept them company, zipping back and forth and passing both ahead and astern or sometimes sailing close alongside so that it was a cheerful trip back with the wind behind them. It took only half an hour to paddle back, the only thing that caught Tina’s attention being the view down the long arm of the lake to Tinaroo after they passed the headland near School Point. As always it surprised her at how large the lake looked.

  When they arrived back at the camp ground it was to find that more than half the campers were gone and in their place was a lot of litter and worn grass. The canoe was beached and Tina jumped out and lifted Aiden ashore. As she did she felt a curious sense of relief but also regret. In spite of her fears she knew she had been enjoying the canoeing.

  Her parents and Garth arrived ten minutes later and Tina was very glad to see them. Her mother hugged her and anxiously asked how she was. Tina assured her she was fine, even though she felt very brittle inside. The conversation shifted to the search for Willy. Her father commented that they had just driven past the Search HQ. The moment she heard that Tina experienced a feeling of helplessness and then a strong desire to join the search.

  “Can we drive home past it please?” she asked.

  “We were planning to go back the other way,” her father answered.

  “Please dad! It’s very important to me,” Tina said.

  Her father studied her face and then nodded. “OK Ti, if that is what you want.”

  “Thanks dad.”

  They loaded her gear into the ‘Jackaroo’ and then thanked the Creswells.

  Sarah said, “No, I need to thank you. It has been great having you here Tina.”

  “See you at school tomorrow then,” Tina replied, warmed by her friend’s evident sincerity.

  The family climbed into their vehicle and set off homewards. As they travelled Tina described the sailing and canoe trips and tried to sound happy and relaxed. She also described how she and Sarah had seen the airship and then the police visit. By the time she had done this they had reached the Danbulla Forest Drive. Here, instead of turning right they went left.

  Tina became quite pensive, fretting about Willy’s fate. The road went northwards, winding through pine forests and then down across a concrete bridge over a fair sized creek. ‘That is the creek that had all the dead reeds at its mouth,’ she decided.

  The road went uphill with pine trees on the left and jungle on the right, then came to a road junction. Tina noted a road that went off to the left. ‘That is the one that goes over the small island and then up that ridge through the pine trees.’ At that point the main road did a sharp turn to the right and entered jungle. A kilometre or so further along, after several sharp bends, it crossed another small concrete bridge and then went up around another bend with more pine trees on the left. Then it turned left and passed through a patch of rain forest.

  At the end of this straight was a clearing and road junction. Tina saw that it was crowded with parked vehicles and tents and two large caravans. She knew at once that this was the Search HQ. As they reached the place she saw police and State Emergency Services logos on the caravans. One of the caravans was a mobile canteen and a group of people stood at the counter getting food and drinks. Among the people Tina glimpsed two wearing army camouflage uniforms. She recognized Graham and Peter and was seized by the urgent need to speak to them.

  She had intended asking her father to stop anyway but an SES worker was directing them to drive on. Despite this she cried, “Please dad, stop!”

  The SES worker came over as they came to a standstill and asked them to drive on. Tina leaned out a
nd said, “I was the girl who reported the airship last night and those boys are in my class at school. May I speak to them for a few minutes please?”

  “Oh, alright! Park over there,” the SES worker directed.

  Tina’s father parked the Jackaroo but Tina had her seat belt off and the door open even before the vehicle had stopped moving. Then she ran across the grass towards the group. As she did she saw Graham turn to look and then recognition on his face. He stepped out of the group and Tina experienced an intense desire to throw her arms around him. Just in time she stopped herself, shocked at her behaviour.

  ‘He isn’t my boyfriend, Andrew is,’ she chided herself. But she had to concede that Graham looked very rugged and handsome all the same.

  Graham grinned and said, “Fancy meeting you here. Are you just passing through?”

  “No. We’ve been camping here all weekend. I just wanted to know how the search for Willy Williams is going,” Tina replied as the others crowded around.

  Graham looked puzzled. “Did you hear about it on the radio?” he asked.

  Tina shook her head. “No. It was on a portable TV, but it was me who first reported seeing the airship here,” she said.

  “You! You saw it?” Graham asked.

  “Yes,” Tina replied, a bit puzzled by his answer.

  Peter now moved forward. “Where were you camped Tina?”

  “At the Fongon Bay Campground. We had been sailing and canoeing all day,” she replied.

  “You must have been lucky to spot it last night. It was pretty dark,” Peter said.

  Tina frowned and shook her head. “No. It was quite visible. There was still enough light to see it clearly,” she answered.

  “Still enough light,” Peter echoed. He frowned and glanced at Graham, then turned back to her. “What time did you see the airship?” he asked.

  “Just before sunset,” Tina answered. “It came drifting across the lake from this area and went south after passing across the pine trees on the end of the peninsula at Fongon.”

  Stephen now pushed forward. “You are sure? You really saw the airship in daylight down over the lake?”

  “Yes,” Tina replied. She was a bit nettled at not being believed. She was also mystified.

  So, apparently, were the boys. Peter turned to Graham and said, “What time was it when we saw the airship up on top of the mountain do you reckon?”

  Graham bit his lip ad then said, “About eight thirty I think. We hadn’t even got down from Lambs Head to the Davies Creek Road before it got dark.”

  Peter nodded. “That’s right. And then we drove for hours.”

  A man who now introduced himself as Willy’s father, said, “That is right. My mobile phone will tell me what time I made the call from up on top near Mt Edith.” He took out the phone and began checking the call times.

  Stephen turned to his friends. “You know what this must mean, if Tina really saw Willy’s airship at Fongon at sunset?”

  “Yes,” Peter said. His mouth formed a grim line. “The airship we saw wasn’t Willy’s. So your theory might be correct Steve.”

  Willy’s father now bit his lip and showed the phone screen to Peter and Stephen. “You were right. It was eight forty nine.” He then turned to Tina again and said, “Thank you. Your report made the search much easier. My wife was able to get to Lake Eacham area in time to see the airship drift overhead.”

  “But where is Willy? Why wasn’t he on the airship?” Tina asked.

  It was explained to her that the airship had become snagged in a big tree, an emergent that stuck up out of the jungle canopy up near Mt Edith but while he was trying to tie the airship to the tree a gust of wind had blown it away and he had been left behind.

  “So he is still in the tree?” Tina said.

  “We hope so, but we can’t find the tree,” Graham replied. “We have flown around by helicopter and even walked through the jungle. They are searching that bit of jungle now in case he has fallen off and is lying on the ground. We did too.” He explained in detail how he and Peter had taken compass bearings to pinpoint the exact position of the tree.

  Tina was puzzled. “So where are you going now?”

  Graham suddenly looked anxious and glanced at his friends. “We ..e r.. we are going to look somewhere else. We ..er .. have a theory that the police don’t agree with.”

  Peter interrupted, “We found the stump of a huge tree that had just been cut down, but no sign of Willy, or of how the tree was removed. We have an idea we want to check. And what you have just told us seems to confirm it. Sorry Tina but time is important. Come on Graham. We have to get moving.”

  That was all very mysterious to Tina and the vagueness of their statements puzzled her. She frowned but the boys exchanged glances and would not say any more. That nettled her a bit and she said, “Can I help?”

  Peter shook his head. “Thanks for offering but we will check our idea first. Come on Graham,” he said.

  Graham looked embarrassed and then said, “We have to go. See you tomorrow at school.”

  They walked away and Tina was left standing there feeling quiet puzzled and distressed. All she could do was say goodbye and then join her family who had just arrived.

  “Well?” her father asked. “Where is Willy?”

  CHAPTER 31

  I WISH THAT WAS ME!

  During the drive back to Cairns Tina hardly noticed the scenery. Her mind was occupied with worry about Willy and with trying to puzzle out what Graham had meant. The route they followed was west along the Danbulla Forest Drive to Tinaroo and the only places that really caught her attention were the picnic area at Kauri Creek and the dam wall. When they reached the northern end of the huge concrete dam Tina glanced at it briefly and noted just how high it was. There looked to be at least a hundred metre drop down the steep face of the wall. That gave her momentary flashbacks to her fears in the sailboat and to her nightmare.

  ‘You wouldn’t survive going over that,’ she thought. The road wound down the hillside to a concrete bridge a few hundred metres below the dam wall, giving her another good view of the huge concrete structure. As always such massive engineering products both amazed and awed her.

  From there they drove back uphill to the town of Tinaroo and then through kilometres of bush and open farmland to the small township of Kairi and then to Tolga. At Tolga they turned right and went back to Cairns via Mareeba and the Kuranda Range. Once home Tina checked on her birds and fed them and then washed her camping clothes. Then she tried to relax and even began some homework. There followed a whole night of uncertainty. The search for Willy was a major item on the TV news but he had still not been found by the time darkness set in.

  Tina was so upset she had trouble eating her tea and lay awake for hours worrying. Not normally religious she even did some quiet praying. Gloomy thoughts of death depressed her and added to her own fears.

  On Tuesday morning there was still no news. Tina went to school feeling wretched. From time to time she stared back up at the jungle covered mountains to the west. ‘Poor old Willy,’ she thought. ‘He is lost up there somewhere.’ The very idea of being lost in jungle-covered mountains made her shudder and feel miserable. At school she was very glad of the company of her friends. Most were full of stories about how good their weekends had been. Only Sarah was really concerned about Willy and the lack of interest further depressed Tina.

  While she sat talking to her friends under the school before First Bell a stir among the students attracted Tina’s attention. “What is it?” Sarah called.

  Samantha called back. “A giant airship. It’s circling out over the Inlet.”

  “An airship!” Tina cried in surprise. ‘I wonder if it is Willy’s?’ Having seen it brought down the previous morning she could not imagine how it would be allowed up again. Puzzled and hopeful she joined the throng of students lining the school fence and stared. She saw the thing at once, a gigantic object in the sky. It was an airship but a glance told her it was
not the home-made construction she had seen on the TV. This one was huge. It was painted black underneath and a dappled green and grey on top. Underneath was a cabin with motors on either side.

  ‘That is a real airship,’ she thought. She had seen them before advertising cars and football teams. The airship was turning tightly away and was just visible over the roofs of the houses.

  Some girls pushed in beside Tina and Sarah. Tina glanced and noted that it was Barbara and her friends.

  “What’s it doing?” Fiona asked.

  “Going round in circles from the look of it,” Gillian said.

  “What’s that little plane doing?” Samantha asked.

  Tina now noticed a tiny, single engine plane circling around the airship. The plane swooped and dived, then zoomed away, to circle round again.

  Barbara gasped and cried, “It nearly crashed into it then!”

  It was certainly unusual. Hundreds more students and several teachers joined them as the word spread. Tina watched fascinated as the airship circled round again, coming much closer and lower this time. “It looks like it is trying to avoid the plane,” she observed.

  The plane swooped again. A sound, which could only have been a machine gun, came clearly to them.

  “That plane is trying to shoot the balloon down!” Fiona cried.

  Tina was horrified. She watched with her heart in her mouth as the plane circled and came racing in from behind the airship for another run. If it was trying to shoot the airship down it looked like it would succeed. The thought that she might be watching someone get killed made Tina sick in her stomach.

  “Oh no!” There was a united gasp of horror. A man had jumped from the airship with a parachute and the parachute had wrapped around the nose of the attacking plane. Both plane and parachute went spinning down, the man at the end of the parachute just visible as a tiny black dot. Tina put her hand to her mouth and stared in horror.