Riddle Gully Secrets (5 page)

Will tried to recall his last shower; Pollo checked the soles of her runners.

‘That rotten Twig!' blurted Ash. ‘If he's having a fry-up after making me eat Weetbix for breakfast I'll kill him!' She started towards the tree trunk, pulling her old colourful clothes from her bag.

‘It's here, Ash!' Will pulled the sandwich from his backpack. ‘There's bacon in this! That's what you can smell!' He quickly grabbed another bite.

Pollo swiped it from him and held it up. The sandwich and a dozen frantic bushflies hovered in the air between them.

‘You can have the rest of it,' said Pollo, ‘if you tell us who the bloke at the camp is –
Twig
, did you call him? – and why you don't want him to see your new clothes. We need to know you're okay.'

Ash licked her lips. Suddenly she lunged and grabbed the sandwich, stuffing it into her mouth. Will dived but it was too late. Ash looked at them, eyes wide and surprised, sucking air through her nostrils over the sandwich packed into her cheeks.

‘For a girl you sure eat like a pig,' muttered Will.

She chewed till she'd made room in her mouth enough to speak. ‘Who says I'm a girl?' She swallowed
the rest of her mouthful and closed her eyes blissfully. ‘Gee willakers! I haven't had bacon for eons.'

‘Come on, Ash,' said Pollo. ‘You're in trouble, aren't you? Who's this Twig man?'

‘My only trouble is you two! Twig is none of your business, my name's not Ash and I'm not a girl.'

Pollo muttered behind her hand, ‘Brainwashing!'

‘I heard that! I might be a bush rat but I'm not stupid. Every new place I go it's the same. You town kids always think you're so smart. And you get all snickety if someone's just a teeny-tiny bit different!' Ash began pulling her long pants over her grey shorts, hopping on one leg. ‘Don't worry, I'll go back to my camp. I won't bother you in your stupid town again. Piddle Gully! That's what I'm calling it!'

‘What are you on about, Ash? It's your town too!' Pollo pointed to where Ash had come from. ‘You can't go back to that camp! You could be in danger – and you haven't told us anything!'

‘Even though you ate my sandwich,' added Will.

Ash paused, one leg in the long pants and one leg out. She turned to Will. ‘Aren't you the one who tried to knock me out yesterday?'

‘Hey, you ran into my arm!' said Will. ‘And I said I was sorry.'

‘Are you two mad at me?' said Ash, still on one leg. ‘Is that why you're following me? Only I didn't mean to hurt anyone.'

‘We're not mad at you,' said Pollo. ‘We're worried about you.'

‘And Pollo smells a story for the newspaper,' said Will. ‘Ouch!' he added as Pollo elbowed him in the ribs.

Ash peeled off her long pants to stand in her grey shorts again. Pollo and Will eyed one another; Ash eyed Will's backpack. She leaned in and sniffed. ‘You haven't got any more of those sandwiches tucked away in there have you?'

‘You can have mine,' said Pollo.

‘Hey!' cried Will. ‘I didn't even get to eat –'

‘Please, Will! She can't have eaten properly in days.' Pollo looked at Ash. ‘Have you?' Ash shrugged and remained silent.

Will sighed and handed over his remaining stakeout supplies. Ash grabbed the sandwich, turning away to stuff it in her mouth as though Will might try to hook it back out.

Will had to feel a bit sorry for her. When she'd finished eating, he asked gently, ‘Ash, does your mum know about Twig?'

‘Would everyone just shut up?' snapped Ash, licking
her fingers. ‘I haven't got a mum and my name's not Ash!
Ash
this,
Ash
that! Call me
Dan
! Dan Whittle. Dan like a normal, everyday boy!'

‘A boy?' said Will.

Ash turned to Will. ‘Check in my shorts!'

‘Pollo, maybe
you
should look,' said Will, his face, neck and ears flushing pink.

‘But what if she's right … I mean, if he's right. Oh, sheesh!' said Pollo. ‘I don't know!'

Just then, from high above, they heard a voice, soft and scattery, like leaves in a breeze. ‘There's no need to look. He's telling the truth – on this occasion.'

The three craned their heads to see who had spoken. Ten or so metres above, they could see splashes of pale green moving among the twining branches of a eucalypt tree.

‘Who's up there?' called Pollo.

‘Wait. I'll come down.'

They all arched backwards. One limb at a time, the person to whom the green splashes belonged wound into view through the branches and leaves, finding hand- and foot-holds in the knots of the trunk before dropping to the ground with a soft thud.

It was a girl about their age. She dusted crumbs of bark off her clothes and cleared a sweaty strand of
hair from her forehead with a fingertip. Her feet were scratched and dusty. Her eyes were dark and large, like a nocturnal animal's.

Will gulped and stared at the surprise stranger with the mop of scraggly hair and eyes that looked right into him. A prickle strolled up the back of his neck. He looked to Dan then back again to those deep, dark eyes. ‘What … how …. where …?'

Dan took over. ‘Who are you?'

‘I'm the one you're after. I'm Ash. Ash Swift.'

Dan glowered at Will and Pollo. ‘Told you I wasn't a girl.'

‘Well I'll be darned,' said Pollo, surveying Ash Swift. ‘You weren't in danger after all. Bang goes my story.' She added hastily, ‘Not that I'm disappointed or anything.'

‘So you're Ash Swift,' said Will, gazing at the girl. ‘The feral one. No! Sorry!' he stammered. ‘I didn't mean … the one who's a bit …'

Ash smiled. ‘Unusual?'

‘Yeah, that's it,' said Will. ‘If Dan's not you, how come you're here? Aren't you meant to be stargazing somewhere?'

‘I'd decided it was time –' she wafted a hand towards the Riddle Gully town as though shooing a fly, ‘– to come back in. It wasn't the same once this couple arrived and started digging right next to my favourite rock. I'd only just climbed that tree –' she pointed to her earlier perch,
‘– to thank the forest for having me when you came along.'

‘Sorry,' said Will.

Ash shrugged. ‘It doesn't matter. I'll be back.' She turned to Pollo. ‘You're that reporter girl, aren't you?'

‘Pollo di Nozi,' said Pollo.

‘Nosey like a sticky beak,' Will clarified.

Pollo rolled her eyes at Will. ‘I just said it out loud! She knows how it's pronounced.'

‘Oh, and I'm Will Hopkins.'

‘I remember,' said Ash. ‘You did the graffiti at the school last autumn.'

No one but Will's family and Pollo knew about that. He'd worked hard to make up for it. ‘No … I … it wasn't …' he fumbled.

‘Stop now before you tell a lie,' said Ash. ‘I was up a tree looking at a birds' nest. I saw you. The nest belonged to a
Chrysococcyx basalis
– a type of cuckoo. I'd not seen one around here before. Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else.'

‘Well, thanks … I guess,' said Will.

‘It's okay. I could see you weren't in a harmonious state of mind.' Ash turned towards the main trail. ‘Goodbye then. I'll see you around some time.' She began picking her way through the undergrowth towards the trail.

Dan called after her. ‘Do you know me? Do you know
who I am?' His voice was hopeful.

Ash stopped. ‘I know you've been telling lies and hiding things from your father, when many people would give anything to live as you do.'

‘No they wouldn't,' said Dan.

‘Well, I would,' said Ash. ‘Living among the rocks and the trees, learning nature's ways through the seasons, going to bed hearing the forest sounds …'

‘Do you know how noisy that can be? Especially when you're by a creek. Those frogs! Gee willakers! You can't hear yourself think!'

‘… looking up at the night sky without streetlights swamping the stars. That feeling of belonging to something powerful that will last forever, yet at the same time being totally insignificant in the universe …'

‘Who wants to be insignificant?' said Dan. ‘I want to
matter.
I want to be in a town photo!'

‘You matter,' said Ash. ‘Not to me very much, but to your dad.'

Pollo's pencil hovered over her notepad. ‘Your dad, Dan? Would that be this Twig fellow by any chance?'

Dan nodded. ‘Worse luck.' He looked from one face to another like a trapped animal. ‘How come you all know so much anyway? Why is everyone in this place spying on me?'

Ash shrugged. ‘I sit still long enough to notice things, that's all. We're all elements of the natural world. We're interconnected. It's natural for me to observe you.' She glanced sideways at Pollo and Will and smiled. ‘You and your father weren't the only ones I watched.'

Will poked Pollo's arm. ‘I
told
you someone was looking at us! You said I was just a beginner and couldn't tell.'

‘And that he was being paranoid,' added Ash. ‘That was good.'

Pollo scowled. ‘I was concentrating on our surveillance subjects at the campsite. I was trying to save your life.'

‘Only it wasn't me,' laughed Ash. ‘It was grizzle guts over there.'

‘You'd grizzle too if your father thought you could talk to aliens,' muttered Dan.

‘That's what I don't get,' said Pollo. ‘Who sees a light on inside a tent and jumps to the conclusion that anyone's talking to aliens?'

‘A person who's been lost in the stars his whole life, that's who,' said Dan. ‘Twig thinks our family has a gift – that some of our ancestors disappeared through …' He shook his head. ‘I can't say it. It's too embarrassing.'

‘Portals?' said Ash. ‘We were all listening.'

Dan nodded glumly.

‘So confirm for me, please,' said Ash, ‘it
was
your iPad making the glow inside the tent?'

Dan rolled his eyes. ‘Of course it was!'

‘How'd your dad take it when he found out it was an iPad?' said Will.

‘Um … Twig doesn't know,' said Dan.

‘The iPad's still a secret?' said Pollo. ‘How come?'

‘I lay awake all night thinking.' Dan took a big breath. ‘I've decided not to tell him. I'm sick and tired of hiding away in a tent and doing home-school. I'm going to run away instead. I'll live off the bush and find a proper school and make real friends apart from Twig and aliens.'

‘That would be unwise,' said Ash. ‘Your bushcraft skills need serious work. You'd die of dehydration within the week.'

‘Hang on! You mean you don't have to go to school?' said Will.

Dan shook his head. ‘I report to a head office every now and again. Twig teaches me.'

‘No getting up and going off every morning. You're so lucky!'

‘No I'm not!' said Dan. ‘You try living with Twig twenty-four hours a day! You'd have run away years ago!'

‘I'm sorry to tell you this,' said Pollo, ‘but at our age, it's illegal to run away.'

‘It is?'

Pollo nodded.

Dan slumped down onto a log. ‘I don't want to get into trouble.'

‘What about your mum?' said Will. ‘Why don't you live with her?'

‘I can't,' said Dan. ‘She's gone to the cosmos.'

Pollo started. ‘She's an astronaut?'

Will cleared his throat. ‘I think he's saying she died.'

‘That's right,' said Dan.

‘My mum too,' said Pollo. ‘I was six when she got sick.'

‘My mother passed when I was a baby,' said Dan, ‘along with a sister. I wish I could remember them but I can't. I've given up trying.'

‘I've got a baby half-brother in Canberra I wouldn't mind forgetting,' said Will.

‘Yeah, well, it's made Twig a bit clingy is all I can say,' said Dan.

‘You can't run away,' said Ash. ‘Just tell your dad the truth about the iPad.'

‘It would shatter him,' said Dan.

‘So would running away,' said Ash.

‘You don't understand,' sighed Dan. ‘I'm letting him
down just by bringing the iPad into the tent. My whole life, Twig has taught me the evils of consumerism and modern technology. How it all blunts our senses and smothers our spiritual connection to Earth and the cosmos – I know it off by heart.

‘Until lately I'd let it wash over me. But at the last place we stayed – Twig was fruit-picking – there was a kid called Evan. I got the iPad from him 'cos he was getting a new one for his birthday. He had rowdy sisters and stuff everywhere, and even though his oldies were nice, they didn't mind telling him off. Evan wasn't bad and he wasn't especially good. He was just, you know, regular – like I want to be.'

Dan looked at the others pleadingly. ‘I'm just a kid who wants to play a few games and get yelled at by his parents every now and again.'

‘Do you maybe believe in that portal stuff just a little bit?' asked Ash.

‘No!' Dan banged his fist into the palm of his hand. ‘And it's the last straw! As long as I can remember, Twig's been dragging me from place to place, never stopping long enough so's I can make any friends.' He mimicked his father's voice. ‘“Don't get attached to people; sooner or later, you lose them, you have to say goodbye; it hurts”.

‘He's got a biscuit tin full of old family photos that his grandma passed on to him – great-uncle this and great-great-grandmother that. He pulls them all out and pores over them for hours. Sometimes I wonder if he cares more about all those dead people than me.'

‘I'm sure that's not true,' said Pollo.

‘And now he springs this … this
gift
thing on me!' Dan spluttered. ‘Gee willakers!' His jaw clenched. ‘You know what I think? Great-however-many-greats-grandfather Fergus had some clever escape route all worked out; Grandpa was drunk and fell into a manhole with the lid off. No aliens! No portals! End of story!'