Lost In Kakadu (16 page)

She blinked at him. “I do?”

The plane sounded hollow when he thumped it with his fist. “All we have to do is make this part of the plane thin enough to fit between these trees and it should fall to the ground.”

“Okay. How do we do that?”

“For starters, you drag all those clothes out from under there and take the cargo net down. I’m going to find something to bash the shit out of the metal with.”

Mackenzie moved into the bushes, his steps fast and purposeful. The dense vegetation became practically impassable just a short distance from the campsite but he was on a mission and pushed through it, scanning the ground for a decent sized log. But with each step his frustration grew. Most branches were too thin or brittle to inflict any damage on the metal.

He examined the lower branches on the surrounding trees and, without any luck, pressed further into the bush. Spying a giant gum tree in the distance he headed toward it and noticed an odd shaped lump clinging to the thick bark. At first he thought it was a koala, but as he approached he realised it looked more like an ant’s nest and remembering Abigail’s brush with them he quickly retreated.

Mackenzie turned and froze. An enormous lizard languished on a branch just a metre ahead of him. The reptile’s rough amber skin made for ideal camouflage against the branch it lay on. Loose flaps of skin folded back from its head and its front leg dangled below the branch showing off its long, sharp claws. Its unmoving eyes were as black as midnight.

Mackenzie judged the distance between him and dinner as just two short strides. His pulse pounded in his neck as he inched forward, his feet crunching on dry leaves. The lizard remained still, like a grand trophy in a taxidermy display, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if it was even alive. He kept his eyes trained on it until the creature finally took a breath.

Muscles braced in a tight coil, his breath trapped in his throat, Mackenzie lunged. He wrapped his hands right around the body, just behind its front legs. “Holy shit!” He actually got it. A flap of skin around its neck flared into an angry red skirt and its sharp teeth gnashed together as it jerked around to bite him. The creature’s alien-like hiss raised the hairs on his neck.

He swung the lizard off the branch. Its weight was astounding and Mackenzie needed all his strength to hold it away from his body as it flicked its tail like a metallic whip.

Mackenzie ran.

Adrenalin pumped through him as he jumped over bushes like a man possessed. He ducked under a low branch, struggling against the lizard’s constant writhing. “Abi! I got one.”

Suddenly his feet were no longer on the ground; he was falling.

Jagged rocks dug into his back, shredding his skin like a metal grater. Vegetation flashed overhead and he cried out as he flew through the air. For a brief moment, he saw clear blue sky. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the crunch of death.

* * *

Abigail fought against the branches woven into the cargo net, and with each passing minute she grew more furious about Mackenzie’s delayed return. She wrestled with the final branch and it sprang back, sending her sprawling.

She was stunned at first and it took her a moment to get to her hands and knees. “Mackenzie, where the hell are you?” Abigail wondered if Mackenzie was taking his time on purpose. He could be out there, resting, until she’d done all the hard work. She stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow and flung the branch as hard as she could into the scrub. “MACKENZIE!” she yelled until her throat hurt.

Her dry lips cracked and she tasted blood. She sought out a water bottle and drank liberally. Charlie still slept in his chair, the pink envelope was sitting precariously on his lap, and Abigail worried that the paper might fall into the fire. She rescued it and his notepad to a place a good distance away. But not before she peeked at the envelope and noted it wasn’t sealed. A glance at Charlie confirmed he still hadn’t moved and she wrestled with the idea of reading it. It took all her willpower not to. She did the right thing though, and placed it back on the notepaper.

Realising there was absolutely nothing else to do, she flopped down in the chair opposite Charlie. A knot right between her shoulder blades was so uncomfortable that she twisted her shoulders from side to side, trying to release it.

She scanned the bushes behind the plane, preparing an angry torrent of words in her head to blast at Mackenzie upon his return. “Stupid idiot,” she mumbled. She slipped her shoes off and massaged the balls of her feet. They felt foreign, aching and sore. Smoke drifted in her direction. She fanned it away, but the persistent coils continued to invade her space.

“I’m going to kill him when he gets back,” she said aloud.
Now I’m going nuts talking to myself.
“Hey Charlie, are you awake?”

Charlie’s sweat-dampened hair clung to his powder-white forehead. She knew nothing about his history but sensed his eternal loneliness and hoped her life was never as desolate as his seemed to be.

Glancing at the bush behind the plane, she willed Mackenzie to materialise. Being alone was not in her repertoire.
Come on, where are you?

The wind shifted direction and as the smoke began to waft across Charlie’s face, she glared at him, anticipating the moment he opened his eyes. But he didn’t move. The smoke curled in miniature donuts on his cheeks, drifted up over his forehead and continued its journey. Abigail’s eyes widened. “Charlie?”

He remained completely still.

She inched toward him and touched his shoulder. “Charlie?” His head wavered but his eyes remained closed. Cringing, she felt his forehead and recoiled at his clammy skin. “Charlie. Oh God, Charlie, wake up.” She shook him harder and his head wobbled loosely. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She forced herself to place two fingers against his throat to feel for a pulse. Nothing.

“MACKENZIE!” She ran to the edge of the bush. “Charlie’s dead. Where the hell are you?” Her body trembled and tears streamed down her face.

She fell to her knees and released a gut wrenching scream of despair.

* * *

Mackenzie’s back slammed onto a flat surface, hammering the wind out of him before he smashed right through it. He gasped, swallowing crisp mouthfuls of liquid.
Water!
The surface dazzled above him and he clawed toward it, gulping at the fresh air when he broke free.

The frilled neck lizard suddenly splashed into the water beside him and he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed it and forced it under. With clenched teeth and brute force he held it there until the lizard finally stopped struggling.

It was several minutes before he pulled the carcass above the surface and looked into its lifeless eyes. He’d never killed anything before and he shivered as the enormity of what he’d just done hit him like hot chilli.

“Holy shit,” he yelled, punching the water. “Woo hoo.”

He spun around soaking up the magnificent surroundings. Water tumbled down a waterfall into the lagoon which was about six metres across at its widest point. At the opposite side to the waterfall, the water channelled through a narrow gap created by two huge boulders before plunging over the side. He swam to the edge dragging dinner behind him. After he climbed onto the boulder he lay back absorbing the warmth from the rock. Clear, uninterrupted sky above was a welcome sight after days in the dense jungle.

The view over the edge was simply perfect. Water flowed between the two boulders as a powerful spout, cascading into another, larger lagoon just metres below. The flow narrowed and snaked ahead of him like a giant anaconda, before disappearing into a maze of forest.

The lagoon water had a slight green tinge and was so clear he could see the bottom even at its deepest point. A shiny object caught his eye and he stared into the water.
There it is.
A small fish swam around, oblivious to his existence just metres away. Its scales reflected off the sun like a slip of alfoil and he watched it swim all the way to the waterfall.

The urge to wash off five days of dirt and sweat was too much to resist. He secured the lizard at the edge of the lagoon and, satisfied that no unsavoury creature occupied the water, swan dived into the middle. Silvery fish winked at him as he glided along. The water was cool and invigorating, exactly the tonic he needed. He stretched for the surface, rolled onto his back, breathed deeply and felt very much alive.

Large bubbles frothed up from the bottom as he neared the cascade and allowing it to pound his head, he swam up and under the waterfall. He poked his head through the wall of water and was amazed to discover a cave on the other side. Placing his hands on the rocky edge, he pulled himself out of the water.

The cave was about the size of a small kitchen, high enough for him to stand in, and the thundering waterfall was amplified within the rock walls. Mackenzie felt rejuvenated. Days of sorrow and depression were being liberated from his body. He spread his hands and as he spun in a slow circle he wished Rodney was there to enjoy this with him. But on some level he knew Rodney was.

“Yeehaa,” he cheered and his voice bounced back to him.

He ran to the waterfall, dived through the cascade into the lagoon and stretched out like a human surfboard gliding to the other side. He climbed out of the water and gathered up the lizard. It curled heavily over Mackenzie’s shoulder as he surveyed the cliff he’d tumbled down. Towering above him the brutal edifice offered no obvious climbing route. A living macramé of inch-thick vines hovered above him as he progressed with caution along the lip of the lagoon. A giant vine, the width of his forearm, dangled down the jagged rock. He tugged on it. It was heavy and solid. He was confident it would support his weight.

He tucked his shirt into his shorts and guided the frilled neck lizard down his collar, twisting it until the animal’s claws no longer dug into his stomach. His muscles bulged as he lifted the heavy vine, braced his feet against the rock, leant out from the rock wall and climbed his first step up the vertical cliff.

The cliff face seemed endless and his mind battled between fierce determination and a crippling fear of falling. Tense muscles burnt in his arms and legs, endorphins coursed through his brain and black sparks flashed across his eyes. It was a mental and physical torture and although he tried not to think of it, it was also a battle of life and death.

He placed his foot another length higher and spied a rock that jutted out above him creating a small shelf. With four careful steps, he mounted the ledge and breathed a sigh of relief. His heart thundered in his ears and sweat flooded his forehead, stinging his eyes. Flaps of skin hung from his open blisters and blood dribbled down his fingers.

He wiped his brow on his shirt and glanced downward. It was an awesome sight. The lagoon loomed, dark and ominous, over thirty metres below. Only now could he comprehend just how far he’d fallen. His trembling biceps began to relax and soon his breathing returned to normal.

Above him, the angle of the cliff face eased slightly, buoying his determination. He wiped his bloody fingers over his shirt and mentally prepared to continue. He recalled Rodney’s favourite saying at the gym: ‘
Push through the pain
’. The words had never been so pertinent as he braced against the vine and took a measured step upwards.

The further he climbed, the more the cliff face eased away, allowing less strain on his upper body. Mackenzie realised he was nearly at the top and his spirits surged. The last ten metres were a mere scramble on his hands and knees. When he finally got to flat ground again, he rolled onto his back panting with complete exhaustion. His entire body throbbed.

But he peered through the dense canopy with a new sense of dread. The sky was red. The sun was setting.

* * *

Abigail covered Charlie with her white towel, but the resulting ghostly impression made him look even more horrid. She tore it off and used a black T-shirt.

With each passing minute the sky morphed into a darker shade of crimson and her anxiety increased. A knot sharpened in her stomach when she glanced at the fire and noticed the dwindling smoke. She couldn’t be alone in the dark, never had, never would. The thought was terrifying. Abigail tossed every piece of timber she could find onto the embers and within a couple of minutes a huge fire raged. But this presented another problem.

Charlie was too close to the flames.

If he catches on fire, I’ll go raving mad.

Her heart thundered as much from fear as exertion as she tilted Charlie’s leather lounge. The combined weight of Charlie and the chair required all her strength to drag him backward. When he was about three metres from the fire she sat his chair back up and made sure he was secure. She couldn’t handle it if he slipped onto the ground.

Soon complete darkness surrounded her and the isolation struck as swiftly as a poisonous dart. The light from the fire burnt flame-images onto the backs of her eyelids and Charlie’s ghastly figure haunted her. She willed herself not to look at it, staring instead at her trembling knees. The tension and hunger pains in her stomach made her nauseous. Mackenzie had been missing for hours.
What if something had happened to him, too?

With sudden clarity, she knew a rescue party would never come. She was destined to die alone in this godforsaken place. A heavy sob racked her body.

“But I’ve never really lived,” she murmured through her tears.

* * *

Darkness fell at lightning speed. Mackenzie slumped with his back against the rough bark of a tree and blindly fanned at invisible insects buzzing in his ears. Something stung his ankle and he brushed the insect away, thankful it was just an ant. He wanted to keep moving but couldn’t. Fear of falling off another cliff kept him right where he was. The realisation that he was in for an uncomfortable night alone in the middle of nowhere had his heart pounding and his eyes darting into the blackness around him.

Suddenly a flash in the distance caught his attention and he stared at the spot.
There it is again.
With instant relief he knew what he was seeing.
Abi, you little beauty.
The distant flames were so large, he could only imagine how high she’d built the fire. Resisting the urge to run, he painstakingly tested every footstep. With each step the glow intensified as did his heartbeat. He was going to make it.