Flight of the Jabiru (14 page)

Colin had told the men about Lara fainting and her supposed encounter with what she'd described as a giant crocodile. They'd had a heated debate on the subject. Some believed monster salties still existed and that they sometimes came into the freshwater billabongs and river system. Others didn't, claiming they'd been hunted out of existence. Monty was certainly a believer. However, on one thing most agreed. It was unlikely that Lara would be confronted by such a creature in the doorway of the rectory. The odds of that happening were just too outrageous because it was too out of character. They concluded she'd seen a big goanna and her imagination had got the best of her.

“Here she comes,” Monty said to the locals when he spotted Lara walking towards the hotel. “Be on your best behavior, especially you, Charlie.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked, offended.

“Stop that parrot from swearing for starters,” Monty said tersely. “Miss Penrose is a real lady.”

“And what does that make us?” one of the women asked in offense.

“The wives of this lot,” Monty retorted flippantly.

“I can't stop Kiwi from swearing,” Charlie complained.

“You'd better,” Colin insisted. He knew how much Betty wanted Lara to stay.

“Short of tying his beak together, I can't control what he says,” Charlie insisted.

“I've got some twine here somewhere,” Monty said, scrambling under the bar to find it.

Charlie was horrified that he'd even consider doing something like that to his feathered mate.

“Hello, everyone,” Lara said as she walked into the hotel and approached the townsfolk.

“How the bloody Hell are ya?” Kiwi asked and squawked loudly.

Lara appeared startled, while everyone in the pub gaped at her, wondering whether she would turn and walk out.

“I'm fine thank you, Kiwi,” Lara said and laughed. “You must be Charlie,” she said, extending her hand as he struggled to stand up on arthritic legs. “I'm Lara Penrose.”

There was an audible sigh of relief from the locals and then smiles all round. The new teacher wasn't stuck-up.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Penrose,” Charlie said with a lisp that suggested he had no teeth. “Crikey, Colin and Monty claimed you were a real looker, but they've been known to spin a yarn after a few beers, so I didn't believe them. But by crikey, they're right. You look just like my favorite actress, Carole Lombard.”

“She's my favorite actress, too,” Lara said.

“Ya don't say,” Charlie said, real impressed.

“Show us yer legs ya saucy gal,” Kiwi said whistling from his shoulder. “I can see yer knickers.”

Lara looked astonished again and for the first time in his life, Charlie blushed. So did Colin. He was thinking of their first meeting and worried that Lara would think he'd talked about her with the men.

“Take no notice of Kiwi,” Charlie said apologetically. “He says that kind of thing to everyone.”

“Yeah, that's right,” Colin said, hoping to brush the remark aside.

“Monty, give that flamin' bird some nuts to shut him up,” Betty hissed, embarrassed. She didn't want anything else to go wrong. “Let me introduce you to the ladies first, Lara,” she said in a more pleasant voice, steering her towards a table of women who were looking her over curiously. Lara was wearing another of her new, loose dresses, so she looked fresh and cool. She had pinned her hair up, and it really suited her.

“Ladies, I'd like you to meet Lara Penrose, our new school teacher. Lara, this is Doris, Patty, Margie, Joyce, and Rizza.” The women were sitting in a circle around a table of drinks. They all said hello and smiled.

“It's lovely to meet all of you,” Lara said, glancing around the table and taking in the various ages of the women. “I'm not sure who of you I should be thanking for making my kitchen and sitting room look lovely while I slept, but I can't tell you what a wonderful surprise it was.”

“It was a combined effort,” Betty suggested proudly.

“The rectory looks so different. I just can't believe I didn't hear a thing,” Lara said.

“We tried not to wake you,” Betty said. “But you did all the hard work with the cleaning, Lara. We just added the extra touches to make the place more homely.”

“And it worked a treat. I love the tea pot, cup, and saucer,” Lara said. “Who do I thank for them?”

“I brought them out from England nearly ten years ago,” Doris said, pleased. “My Errol is so clumsy that I've never been able to use them, so I'm real happy that you can make use of them.”

“That's Errol Brown with the big nose and beard,” Betty said, pointing to one of the men. Lara was shocked that she'd say something like that in front of his wife, but Doris didn't seem to mind at all. Errol and Doris appeared to be in their sixties, so Lara wasn't expecting them to have children of school age.

“I heard that,” Errol protested, wiping beer from his beard with the back of his hand before waving and smiling at Lara. She could see he took the offending comment as good humored banter.

“Did you leave the Earl Grey tea?” Lara asked Doris. “It's my favorite.”

“Yes, my sister sends it to me. We couldn't get it during the depression of course, but it's no problem now. Have you tried Lady Grey?”

“Yes, Lady Lavender Grey and Lady Citrus Grey, but I still like the original, scented with bergamot oil.”

“Me, too,” Doris said, very pleased to have something in common with Lara.

“Who left the tablecloth?”

“That would be me,” Patty said. “It's the perfect size for the table and the color suits the kitchen. I found some material that matched and quickly ran up the kitchen curtains. I brought the living room curtains with me when we immigrated here, but I've never had a window they suited, so they've been in the cupboard. The cushion covers I made about a year ago, but they suited just nicely, too.”

“They brighten the place up so much and your stitching is perfection. Thank you.”

“I've been sewing since I was a girl,” Patty said, pleased to have her work appreciated.

“Patty and Don McLean have eight-year-old twins, a boy and girl,” Betty said. “That's Don with the hairy chest,” she added. He was wearing a singlet and shorts, so Lara could see most of his hairy chest. He called out, “Howdy,” just as their children ran into the pub, startling Kiwi, who let out a string of expletives.

“I told you kids not to run about near Kiwi,” Charlie protested crossly, embarrassed again.

Don gathered the twins and made them sit down so that Lara could meet them after speaking to the women.

“Margie is the baker in our community,” Betty continued.

Margie appeared to be the oldest woman in the group, possibly a grandmother.

“Margie is married to John Martin, otherwise known as Jonno. That's Jonno in the hat. He lives in that hat. We're all wondering what's under it because we haven't seen the top of his head in years.”

“Neither have I,” Margie added. “He even sleeps in the hat.”

“The biscuits were divine,” Lara said. “I had them with my tea and I was in heaven.”

Margie beamed. “I'll make you an upside down pineapple cake if you like,” she said.

“That sounds scrumptious,” Lara said. “I love pineapple. Did you leave the books on baking?”

“Yes,” Margie said. “Just in case you feel like baking one day. If you don't, it doesn't matter, because I'm always baking.”

“Joyce has two green thumbs,” Betty said. “Plants just flourish in her care. There isn't anything she doesn't know about plants. She's married to Peter Castle, otherwise known as Peewee. He used to be a jockey. Joyce and Peewee have three children.”

Peewee waved and called hello in a voice that would suit a young man whose voice hadn't yet broken.

“Did you grow the orchids?” Lara asked Joyce.

“They practically grow themselves up here,” Joyce said, as long as they don't get any strong sun.”

“I love having something green in the rectory, but I'm worried I'll do the plants harm,” Lara said. She'd never done any gardening.

“The plants on the windowsill are Bromeliads, so they're pretty hardy. All they need is filtered light, or early morning sun is all right, and a bit of water. They should flower where they are if you don't overdo the watering, but I'll come over and tell you how to care for them if you like,” Joyce offered.

“Thank you. Perhaps we can discuss you coming into the classroom to talk about plants to the children. I know a lot of plants are supposed to be edible, or have healing properties, but I've never met anyone who has the knowledge first hand.”

“Joyce knows all about that,” Betty boasted.

“Then it will be a wonderful lesson for the children,” Lara said excited at the prospect. “Would you be willing, Joyce?”

“If you think the children would be interested,” Joyce said barely hiding her pleasure at being asked to help out.

Betty was so relieved. If Lara was talking about lessons for the children, then that meant she was going to stay. She couldn't have been happier. “Rizza provides the township with tropical fruit. She's from Taro Island in the Solomon's and is married to Rex Westly. They have one child and another on the way. Rex is the best fisherman in town.”

“That's debatable,” called Don when he overheard Betty's remark.

“You know he is,” Betty insisted. “They're always competing,” she whispered to Lara.

Rizza gave Lara the broadest, warmest smile. Her dark eyes were full of warmth and she exuded peace and calmness. Even sitting down, Lara could see she was very tall and that the birth of her baby was imminent. “I'm pleased to meet you, Rizza,” Lara said. “The fruit looks divine. Mango and pawpaw are a rare luxury in England but I have tasted them before and I remember them as delicious.”

“They're nice for breakfast,” Rizza said. “But you'll soon get sick of them.”

“I doubt it. I'll eat them for breakfast tomorrow. And the bowl is lovely, too. Thank you.”

“That was from Betty,” Rizza said.

“It was the right color,” Betty said modestly.

“It's a beautiful blue, thank you, Betty,” Lara said. She knew Betty had organized everything and she was very grateful.

“You're more than welcome,” Betty replied. She was pleased to see Lara happy.

“We want you to enjoy your time here,” Rizza added.

Lara smiled. Just this morning she'd thought that was going to be impossible, but what a difference a few hours had made.

“I have some fresh fish for you, Miss Penrose,” Rex said, bringing a parcel of fish over to her.

“Thank you,” Lara said. “Did you leave me the books on fishing for beginners?”

“Yeah, but I can take you out on the billabong anytime,” Rex said. “That's the best way to learn.”

“I could probably do with a book on how to cook fish without ruining it,” Lara said.

“Just put it in the pan and fry it,” Rex said.

“If I can do it, anyone can,” Betty insisted.

“All right,” Lara said, just as Jerry Quinlan strolled into the hotel.

“We weren't expecting you back so soon,” Betty said, very surprised to see him. She glanced at Lara, suspecting she was the reason he'd come back.

“I forgot to leave some Calamine lotion for Lara's mosquito bites,” Jerry said awkwardly. As he was usually never less than self confident, Betty knew she was right. He was sweet on Lara.

“I could've given her Calamine lotion,” Betty said, enjoying seeing him squirm.

“I want you to give her a mosquito net to go over her bed,” Jerry insisted. “We don't want her catching malaria.”

“Yes, Doctor Quinlan,” Betty said mockingly.

“Such devotion to your patients,” Colin added meaningfully, and Jerry blushed, insisting Lara wasn't a patient.

“Here's a shandy, Lara,” Monty said. He then poured Jerry a beer.

“Let's toast to our new teacher, Miss Lara Penrose,” Colin said, and the community all cheered.

Lara smiled, feeling truly welcome. She drank some of her shandy, but her gaze was drawn to the head of the crocodile over the bar, and a chill went down her spine.

Betty noticed and panicked. She hastily gathered the children to meet her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

With her spirits lifted by the kindness of the locals, Lara threw all her energy into getting the classroom ready for her pupils. It took her a full day to clean the church and to rearrange the desks and chairs to resemble a classroom. After she was satisfied with her handiwork, she began searching for text and exercise books, pencils and rulers, and anything else she could find that would aid her lessons. But since it was three years since the church had been used as a school, there was very little of anything useful remaining. Lara enlisted Colin to drive her into the city early the next morning. She wanted to visit the education department. The trip was another hair-raising venture, even though she wore a headscarf, but at least she was moderately successful after putting up a fuss on behalf of her future students. She was given a small grant to buy teaching materials. She filled in an application for more funding and told the department that she expected to be successful. She and Colin soon spent the small grant, buying enough basic materials for twenty students, although she was initially expecting ten.

“I'll open the school on Monday morning,” Lara said. That gave her three days to get ready. “I'm still hopeful that I'll get some students from the local Aboriginal community,” she told Colin. He didn't comment, but Lara could see that he didn't share her optimism. She hadn't yet met any Aboriginal community members, but she had seen school age children from a distance.

Lara was cleaning the blackboard dusters mid afternoon, and contemplating how she would approach potential Aboriginal students, when suddenly boisterous dog barking broke the peaceful silence. She looked out of the window to see the rumps and tails of two small dogs vigorously harassing something in the grass not too far from the edge of the billabong. From the window she couldn't see what it was, but her initial assumption was that the dogs were attacking a snake, as the cross breed fox terriers belonged to Margie and she'd told Lara that the dogs were excellent snake catchers — even though one was old, almost deaf, completely blind in one eye, and partially blind in the other. By the time Lara got outside, armed with a broom, the dogs were bravely circling their quarry, snapping and snarling. Lara approached cautiously with a racing heart, expecting to see a snake, or perhaps a rat, as foxies were also great rat hunters. She tried to call the dogs to heel, but they were tenacious and wouldn't listen. Lara was already well aware of how loved they were by Margie, especially old Trixie, who was fourteen years old. She'd also heard that some of the Australian snakes were the deadliest in the world.

As Lara got closer she could see the dogs were going after something that appeared much larger than a snake in the long grass. She hoped it was a lizard, and not a crocodile. She'd seen several crocs in the past few days. Although they hadn't been very large, she had become almost afraid to venture outside.

Out of nowhere, eight-year-old Harry Castle appeared. He was the middle son of Joyce and Peewee. He was armed with a stick and clearly intent on helping the dogs.

“Stand back, Harry,” Lara insisted protectively. Suddenly the dogs shot out of the long grass, almost bowling into Lara. Distracted by Harry, she was taken completely off guard. She turned to see what had frightened the dogs and gasped with terror when a crocodile lunged in her direction. His jaws were open and he was making a frightful sound, which was terrifyingly familiar.

“Look out, Harry,” Lara cried breathlessly as she tried to shield the boy. The dogs went at the crocodile again, approximately four feet long, but it held its ground. Lara called them back, but they wouldn't listen. “Go and fetch Margie before one of her dogs is eaten,” she told Harry.

“But...”

“Go, Harry,” Lara said with authority.

Harry ran off in the direction of Margie's house, which was a hundred or so meters from the billabong.

Lara tried to call the dogs away again, with no success. They were following their instincts to hunt and protect. Bella was agile at five years old, but Trixie was blissfully unaware of her handicap. Whenever Bella went at the crocodile, she instinctively followed, but she couldn't judge which way to jump when the crocodile snapped and lunged. Three times she collided with Bella as she dodged a terrifying snap, putting both dog's lives in danger.

Lara desperately wanted to run to the safety of the rectory, but she was torn. She couldn't leave the small dogs while they were in danger. It was only a matter of time before the crocodile seized one of them. She tried and tried to call them away, to no avail.

Getting as close as she dared, Lara tried to scoop Trixie up off the ground. Confused, the dog wriggled and fell from her hands. Taking the opportunity, the crocodile lunged at her. At the last second Trixie tried to leap out of the way, but she was too slow and the crocodile latched onto her tail. The dog let out a yelp of distress. Bella barked and snapped furiously, trying valiantly to save her companion, but the crocodile wouldn't let go. Satisfied with a potential meal, it slowly backed towards the water only meters away, dragging the hapless dog with it.

Lara was horrified and completely panicked. She yelled for help, but no adults were around.

Instinctively, Lara lunged at the crocodile with the broom and began beating it, screaming at it to let go of Trixie. It continued to back towards the water with the poor dog yelping in terror. The dog was only feet from a certain, terrible death. Lara became desperate to save her life. She frantically swung the broom as hard as she could, hitting the crocodile on top of the head and back, and screaming for it to let go of the dog. In a last ditch effort, she took the broom handle and poked the crocodile in the eye with it. By now she'd almost given up hope of saving the dog, but the crocodile unexpectedly opened its mouth and Trixie escaped.

In a flash like a lightning bolt, the crocodile lunged at Lara. Taken off guard again by the speed at which the animal could move, she panicked and stumbled backwards. Her heel caught on the uneven ground, sending her sprawling on her back. Lifting herself on her elbows, she was ground level with the angry croc's open jaws, which were terrifyingly close to her feet. Time seemed suspended. Lara knew the crocodile was about to lunge for one of her feet and she imagined herself being dragged towards the water. Instinctively, she scrambled backwards on her elbows, kicking out with her legs and screaming in terror. Bella was barking furiously and snapping at the crocodile, doing her best to distract it.

Suddenly, Harry appeared with his stick and began beating the ground near the crocodile and poking at it, trying to drive it backwards. Seeing him in harm's way almost gave Lara a heart attack. With an adrenalin rush, she managed to scramble to her feet.

“Get back, Harry,” she screamed.

Harry ignored her. He kept up his quest to drive the crocodile away, aided by Bella. Trixie was barking, but she kept well back after her brush with death. Much to Lara's disbelief the crocodile recognized defeat and turned for the safety of the water. He quickly disappeared below the surface of the tranquil billabong, leaving nothing but a gentle ripple.

“Are you all right, Miss Penrose?” Harry asked, as Lara fell to the ground again because her legs were shaking so much they wouldn't hold her upright. Bella and Trixie rushed for her lap, licking her face with tails wagging furiously. Trixie's bleeding tail flicked blood spatters over her dress.

“I think so,” Lara mumbled, taking deep breaths to steady her ragged nerves. She was shaking violently and thought her thudding heart might burst from her chest. “What were you thinking, Harry? That crocodile could've attacked you.”

By this time, Margie was on her front veranda, calling Trixie and Bella, who dashed home obediently. She'd been asleep and was completely unaware of what had just happened. “Were the dogs after a snake?” she shouted. Harry had woken her but she'd been too sleepy to understand what he'd been babbling about. All she'd heard was something about her dogs.

“Nah, it was a croc, Mrs. Martin,” Harry shouted as if it was an everyday occurrence to wrangle a crocodile. “It bit Trixie's tail.”

Margie shook her head. She picked up Trixie when she reached her. “I'll have to keep this dog in,” she called, and shouted that she was going to find some iodine.

Lara was taken aback by how casual Margie treated what had just happened. It seemed these life and death struggles with crocodiles were an everyday occurrence to the locals. Nothing out of the ordinary! It was too much to take in.

“How many times have you had close encounters with crocodiles, Harry?” Lara asked breathlessly. She couldn't deny that he seemed to know what he was doing, and yet he was so oblivious to the danger and completely unaffected.

“Plenty of times, Miss Penrose. This place is full of crocs. Sometimes they get one of our chooks and mum gets real mad if the chook's a good layer.”

“You can't be serious?”

Harry merely shrugged.

“Was that crocodile a fresh water variety, or a saltie?”

“It was a small saltie, Miss Penrose. You can tell by the shape of their noses. Fresh water crocs have long narrow snouts, while salties snouts are wider and rounded.”

“Great, so it's going to grow into a monster croc.”

Suddenly Harry spotted his brother, Tom, playing tag with Patty and Don McLean's son, Vincent. “See ya later, Miss Penrose,” he said and ran to join them.

“See you Monday for school, Harry,” Lara called after him. “Tell the others.”

Harry nodded but didn't look pleased.

Lara got up and began walking back to the rectory on legs that felt like jelly. She was carrying her broom, which was battered after its use as a croc beater. She intended to make a pot of tea to steady her nerves, but decided tea wasn't going to be much help. She needed something much stronger.

Monty was by himself in the pub when Lara walked in.

“G'day, Lara,” he said surprised to see her so early. “You're my first customer today, if you don't count Charlie's lunch time visit. Would you like a shandy?”

“Have you got any brandy, Monty?”

“I've got a bottle somewhere.” He noticed she looked rattled. “Had another visit from a giant croc?” he asked, joking.

“It wasn't a giant, but it was a saltie and still quite terrifying,” Lara said, slipping onto a stool. She was tempted to look up at the croc above the bar, but decided she needed a brandy first.

“Yer get used to them,” Monty said casually as he put a glass on the bar containing a generous shot of brandy.

“I don't think I'll ever get used to them,” Lara said, taking a big mouthful and then gasping. “One grabbed Margie's dog's tail and nearly dragged it into the billabong. I hit it with a broom and then it lunged at me. Would you believe Harry Castle saved my life? He's eight years old!”

“You've had quite an afternoon,” Monty said, playing down the dramatic situation.

“Something should be done about these crocodiles.” Lara drained the glass and put it down on the bar, signaling that she'd like it refilled.

“Like what?” Monty replenished her glass.

“Betty mentioned crocodile hunters and you've been one yourself. Aren't there any in town? Surely they'd do a good trade.”

“As a matter-of-fact there are plenty of hunters in Darwin, but none in town and no one in Shady Camp has the money to pay a hunter to come here and get rid of the crocs. Meanwhile, despite the hunters, their numbers around here are climbing.”

“Harry tells me the crocodiles steal his mother's chickens. One day they'll take a child.”

“They have,” Monty said.

“What?”

“There are plenty of stories about them taking Abo kids.”

Lara took a big gulp of brandy.

“And yet no one believed me when I said I saw a monster crocodile,” Lara said incredulously.

“I don't doubt it for a minute,” Monty said. “The Abos have seen monster crocs, too. They call them
Pukpuk
. I was a crocodile hunter for years, so I know that more than one crocodile hunter has been taken by big salties in the Mary River and in the other rivers in the Territory.”

“Can't you get rid of the crocodiles around here, Monty?”

“Me! I'm not the shot with a rifle I was years ago, and to be honest, I lost my nerve when I lost my leg. You might notice I shake sometimes when pouring a drink,” he added, trying to shrug off the embarrassment he felt.

“I now have a little more understanding of how traumatized you must've been,” Lara said. She held her hands out. They were still shaking. “Where do I find a crocodile hunter?”

Monty looked astonished. “You want to employ a hunter?”

“That's right. I can't live with the knowledge that what happened today can happen again. I want to walk outside and not worry that I might be confronted by a crocodile. Harry was lucky today, and so was Margie's dog. I can't live here and keep worrying that one of my pupils might be taken by a crocodile. So where do I find a crocodile hunter?”