Nowhere Boys (2 page)

The bus pulled out onto the road as Bates gave a run-down of the day’s activities. ‘On arrival you will be assigned into groups of four. This exercise is about team building. Learning to work collaboratively with your peers.’

Ellen turned to Felix. ‘If we’re not together, I’m walking back.’

Felix looked at her for a beat and then looked at her boots. ‘In those things? Good luck with that.’

She grinned and thumped his arm.

Felix looked out the window. He wasn’t sure she’d be smiling if she knew the truth.

‘Each group will be given a map with checkpoints that your group must identify and mark off,’ Bates continued. ‘There are also a number of flora and fauna specimens that you must identify on this worksheet,’ he said, waving it around in the air. ‘A group leader will be responsible for the honest accounting …’

By the time Bates had finished giving instructions, the bus was pulling into the Bremin Ranges National Park.

The year tens piled out of the bus into the car park. Felix held on tightly to his bag, feeling tense. He watched carefully as Bates placed a stack of maps and worksheets on a picnic table.

Bates pulled out a sheet of paper. ‘Okay people, form groups of four as I read out your names.’

Felix gripped his bag tighter. This was it.

‘Daniel, Alexis, Tammy, Mike,’ called Bates. ‘Mia, Trent, Dylan and Ellen.’

Ellen looked at Felix in horror. Felix did his best to look equally unimpressed.

‘Felix, Jake, Sam and Andy’.

Bingo! His plan had worked. Felix moved quickly towards a dismayed-looking Jake and Sam.

Andy joined them, grinning cheerfully. ‘Brains and brawn,’ he said. ‘Excellent choice.’

Jake stuck up his hand. ‘Sir, I think there’s been a mistake.’

‘No mistake, Riles. Take a map and worksheet and get going. First group back here with all the requirements fulfilled will win a pass to the Ladbroke Ranges Science Expo.

‘That’s a terrific prize,’ said Andy. ‘I went last –’

‘I’ll go get the map,’ said Felix, cutting Andy off. He walked towards the picnic table.

Ellen appeared beside him. ‘Come on, let’s hitch back into town. I so can’t spend four hours with those losers.’

Bates had the megaphone again. ‘I heard that, Ellen. That’s a definite no.’

Felix looked at her apologetically. ‘Sorry. Let’s meet at my place after for a debrief.’

Ellen shook her head unhappily and walked off.

Felix wanted to run after her but he forced himself to focus. Ellen would be fine. He’d explain it all to her later. Once she knew the reason he was doing this, she’d understand, for sure.

At the map table, Felix grabbed a worksheet, but instead of picking up a copy of Bates’s map, he quickly pulled out a hand-drawn map that he’d tucked into his Book of Shadows. He flattened it out.

As he walked back across the car park, a feeling, like he was being watched, crept up his spine. He turned sharply. Nothing. He turned the other way. And then he saw it: a woman standing among the trees. She was staring at him intently.

With a jolt, Felix recognised her. It was the woman who ran the magic shop, Arcane Lane. What was she doing here? Felix shoved the map in his pocket. Maybe she’d somehow discovered what he was up to. But how could she have worked it out? He’d been so careful.

‘You got the map, freak?’ Jake was calling out to him.

Felix turned. ‘Yeah, sure.’ He looked back to where the woman had been, but could only see trees moving gently in the breeze.

Spooked, he made his way back to the others.

‘I don’t know how we’re supposed to win with these two netballers on our team,’ Jake muttered to Sam as they headed into the bush.

Andy smiled nervously at Felix and, shouldering his heavy pack, followed the other two.

Felix took a deep breath. In the distance he could see Ellen hobbling awkwardly after her group. He watched Sam, Jake and Andy disappearing through the trees.

Everything had gone to plan, but something didn’t feel right. There was still time to turn back. He didn’t have to go through with it.

But then a gust of wind blew up out of nowhere and he was propelled down the path after the others.

‘Wait up!’ he called. And the moment when he could have turned back had passed.

andy:
man vs wild

A shiny beetle with reddish-brown legs made its way across a piece of bark. Andy watched its progress carefully. It looked like a common furniture beetle but it also had some of the hallmarks of the carpet beetle. He’d have to check on their different habitats to be one hundred per cent sure. He tipped his pack off one shoulder and reached inside for his
Field Guide to Australian Insects
. He was about to open it when he heard a voice yelling at him.

‘Get a move on, nerd.’ Jake was jogging back down the path towards him.

Andy stood his ground. ‘Mr Bates said we had to identify the fauna and flora.’

Jake grabbed Andy’s field guide and shoved it back in his pack. ‘
Mr Bates, Mr Bates
. Who cares what Bates says? Jake Riles says if Trent Long beats him then someone’s gonna pay.’ Jake shoved Andy’s backpack onto his shoulder and pushed him roughly back onto the path.

‘If you’d listened to Mr Bates you would know that we actually can’t win unless we’ve listed all the –’

But Jake was already out of earshot.

Andy sighed. Jake might be Bremin High’s super athlete, but clearly his parents had taught him nothing about manners.

He adjusted the pack on his back and set off after Jake. He’d spent weeks preparing for this excursion by watching every available episode of
Man Vs Wild
. He’d watched Bear drink his own urine, kill wild pigs with sticks, and extract venom from a snake and then roast it over hot coals.

‘It’s probably a good idea if we all stick together,’ said Felix, falling into step beside him.

At school Andy spent most lunchtimes hiding in the library to avoid Jake and his friends. But Felix, with his pale face and strange piercings, frightened him even more. Andy smiled nervously.

Felix handed him the worksheet. ‘We can try to do the flora and fauna stuff as we go, if you want.’

Andy looked at Felix suspiciously. Why was he being so friendly? Was he trying to lure him into a trap? Was he planning to suck his blood? Andy wondered how far ahead Jake and Sam were. He tried to sound relaxed. ‘Do you know anything about the forest environment?’

‘Well I know if it touches my flesh, my skin basically flakes off.’

Andy looked at him.

Felix shook his head, grinning. ‘Joke.’

‘Oh,’ Andy laughed nervously. Felix was
really
not funny. Not funny at all.

‘Come on, let’s catch the others up.’ Felix quickened his pace.

Andy struggled after Felix. His back was starting to ache and his new walking boots were giving him blisters.

Maybe his family was right. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. His parents were terrified by nature. Probably because in Singapore it was a miracle to see a tree that hadn’t been encased in concrete and surrounded by a shopping mall. They had only agreed to sign the permission slip when he’d promised to go adequately prepared for any crisis. He was starting to wonder if carrying a week’s worth of food, insect spray, anti-venom, three changes of clothes and a pack of firelighters was a bigger challenge than facing the dangers of the Australian bush.

Andy stumbled. His pack seemed to be getting heavier with every step. He should have done some weight-bearing trials before he agreed to carry his body weight in survival essentials. He looked at the path ahead. Even Felix was out of sight now. He could feel the sweat pouring off him. He unlodged a flyswat from the side of his pack and whacked at the persistent cloud of mosquitoes that had taken up a roving residence around his head.

Jake rounded the corner and hurtled towards him. ‘Right, that’s it. See through the trees? There, at the first checkpoint? That’s Trent’s team. He’s beating us and he’s got
real girls
on his team.’

Through the trees Andy caught sight of a group of four moving quickly off from the first checkpoint.

‘Girls aren’t necessarily a handicap.’

Jake pulled Andy’s backpack off his back. ‘No, but you are.’

Sam and Felix jogged back towards them.

‘What are you doing?’ Andy asked, secretly relieved to have the weight off his back.

Jake unzipped the backpack and turned it upside down so everything inside it spilled out onto the path. Jake, Felix and Sam stared at the contents of Andy’s pack. Andy felt a rush of embarrassment. There really was way too much for a four-hour walk. Plus, he hadn’t realised his grandmother had snuck in her floral poncho.

‘Dude, what is all this?’ asked Sam.

Andy looked nervously at them. ‘Just basic essentials.’

‘At least there’s food.’ Sam opened one side of Andy’s lunch box, which was full of
xiaolongbao
. He poked at the dumplings suspiciously and then opened the other compartment and pulled out a chicken’s foot. ‘Oh man, even I’m not eating
that
.’

Jake held up the poncho. ‘What’s with the girly blanket with the hole?’

Andy felt the sweat trickling down his sides. He silently cursed his
nai nai
. ‘It’s a poncho. For when temperatures drop.’

He was relieved when Jake threw it into the bush without further comment.

Jake grabbed a thermos of herbs from Sam.

‘Wait! They’re from my
nai nai
,’ said Andy. ‘They keep the blood temperature steady.’ But Jake had tipped them out.

Jake thrust the almost-empty backpack at Andy. ‘Come on. We can still win.’

Andy slung the backpack over his shoulder. So light! His shoulders almost sighed with relief. They still had another three hours to walk. It would be much more enjoyable this way. After all, Bear Grylls always travelled light. He looked uncertainly at his belongings lying on the path.

‘Come on,’ yelled Jake. ‘They’re probably at the second checkpoint already.’

Andy hesitated.

‘We can probably pick it all up on the way back,’ said Felix. ‘It’s really better if we all stay together.’

Andy looked at him curiously. That was the second time Felix had said that. Pretty odd, coming from someone who was always on his own or with his equally strange friend.

Andy took one last look at his supplies and then, grabbing a can of insect spray and a bottle of water, headed after the others. He felt guilty but strangely liberated.

Jake was at the first checkpoint when he caught up.

‘Okay,’ said Jake. ‘Here’s the thing: we’re going to have to sprint to the next checkpoint to catch up.’

Felix held up the map. ‘There’s a shortcut we could take.’

Jake clapped Felix on the back. ‘Good one, Dracula. Lead the way.’

Andy didn’t like that idea one bit. ‘Wait. Mr Bates stressed that it was very important we follow the prescribed route.’

Jake rolled his eyes. ‘Enough with the Mr Bates routine. The guy wears pink polo shirts, for Christ’s sake.’

Andy looked at the map Felix was holding. It looked hand-drawn. He was sure the ones Mr Bates had were printed out. ‘Maybe if I could have a look at the map?’ he suggested.

Felix stuffed it quickly in his pocket and headed off the path into the bush. Sam and Jake followed him.

Andy considered his options. Something didn’t feel right. Surely you should never leave the path when you were in the wilderness. Wasn’t that Bush Survival 101?

But three against one meant he didn’t really have a choice, and if Mr Bates got cross Andy could argue that the majority ruled. He looked around at the unfamiliar bush. The wind rustled the eucalypts. He took a deep breath and stepped gingerly off the path. He made his way through the undergrowth after the others. The bush closed in around him. He looked back but the path had already disappeared. He felt a small shiver of excitement as he pushed his way through the trees.

When he caught up with the others, they’d arrived at a small clearing. Directly in front of them was a steep drop, and they were surrounded on all other sides by dense, inhospitable bush. The wind had picked up and the branches swayed overhead.

Jake’s mood had not improved, but now his anger was directed solely at Felix. ‘Where are we, freak?’

Felix was looking at the map, concerned.

Andy moved in quickly to help. ‘I can check the coordinates if you like.’

Felix stepped away, quickly hiding the map from view. ‘It’s all good. We just need to go a bit further east and then we should hit a stream, which –’

The map suddenly blew out of Felix’s hand. It spun and whirled across the clearing towards the drop. Then everything happened at once: Felix chased after the map, but as he reached for it, he slipped on some loose rocks. Sam and Jake reached out to grab him but together they overbalanced, and before Andy knew what had happened, all three of them had disappeared down the ravine.

Andy stood still, shocked. What had just happened? He could hear the boys yelling as they slid down, then suddenly all was quiet. He moved to the edge and peered down. He couldn’t see anything. The ravine was dense with foliage. Maybe they’d been injured. What if one of them had broken a leg? He should turn back, find the path and get Mr Bates. But what would Bear Grylls do? Would Bear leave his mates alone in the forest? All right, ‘mates’ was probably too strong a word. These boys were rude, weird and unfriendly. But they were a team. And hadn’t Mr Bates said they had to work together to solve any problems?

‘Andy!’ He heard a yell from below.

They were conscious, at least. Andy hesitated. What would his family want him to do? Find the safe way home, of course. Well, maybe he wasn’t going to do that. Maybe this was his one chance at adventure. He could slide down that ravine right into the arms of a wild pig. He could fight it with sticks, defy his family and be a man of the wild!

To truly know yourself, you had to test yourself against the elements. To survive, you had to dig deep into that catfish hole with your bare hands and pull out that four-foot fish, even if your flesh was pierced with venomous wounds.