The Jack Chambers Adventures - The Book of Legends

by Dean Adams

  ***

  Jack and Grandad had been in the air for over twenty hours. They had managed to sleep relatively well, opening some of the suitcases they used items of clothing as bedding. They had even found some items of food, chocolate and crisps to eat. Jack was feeling happier and had been enjoying his time spent chatting and laughing with Grandad.

  ‘Right Jack, are you ready?’ Grandad said standing to his feet.

  Jack thought it was remarkable how energetic his Grandad seemed compared to recently. It must be due to the adrenaline and excitement he reasoned.

  Grandad walked over to the side of the plane. Jack was now standing and stretched his arms out over his head whilst taking a big yawn.

  ‘Here you go Jack, put this on.’ Grandad handed Jack a large back pack he had lifted off of a hook on the wall. He was putting one on his back as well.

  ‘What are in these Grandad?’ Jack said, sliding his arms through the large straps.

  ‘Parachutes.’ Grandad began to help Jack tighten the straps around his chest.

  ‘WHAT?!’ Jack was leaning forwards, the weight of the large bag pushing him down.

  ‘Calm down Jack. It will be fine. Most people don’t realise that the pilot and his crew keep parachutes down here ready for emergencies.’

  ‘But, why do we have to? It’s not an emergency! Is it?!’ Jack began to fret.

  ‘No, no. Everything is ok.’ Grandad reassured Jack. ‘But if I know your mum and dad at all, which I do. They would have called the police about eighteen hours ago and grandmother would have told them we are coming to Australia. So they’ll probably be waiting at the airport for us.’ Grandad finished helping Jack and then walked towards the back of the plane.

  ‘They wouldn’t. Mum and dad wouldn’t and neither would grandmother. Why would they?’ Jack tried to rush after his Grandad but was slowed down by the backpack.

  ‘I’m afraid they would Jack. Look, I don’t blame them and you shouldn’t either. They have got your best interests at heart, they love you and they will be worried about you.’ Grandad attempted to reason with Jack.

  ‘No, they just wouldn’t.’ Jack was upset.

  ‘Jack, they don’t know about the star, the chest, any of it. All they know is that I have taken you from home, without asking for permission and without any change of clothes, anything. If it was me I would have done the same.’

  ‘No you wouldn’t.’

  ‘Yes I would Jack. I love you as well and I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. That’s all they are trying to do, is protect you. Now are you going to come with me or have I got to do this on my own?’ Grandad was standing next to a door at the back of the plane. As always he was smiling whilst talking to Jack. This always relaxed Jack.

  Jack reluctantly agreed. ‘Ok, I’ll come.’

  ‘Good lad. Now stand back.’ Grandad, grabbed hold of a large metal wheel on the door and began to turn it anti-clockwise. Finally the door flew open. Caught by a huge gust of wind the hinges broke and the door flew out into the sky.

  Grandad and Jack stood back, the gusts of the wind through the door were ferocious. They felt as though they were going to be sucked out through the open doorway also.

  ‘Jack, when you jump out, count to thirty and then pull the red cord on your parachute ok?’ Grandad gave Jack a quick lesson on how to use the parachute.

  Looking for the cord, Jack spotted it to his left. He was nervous and his stomach felt funny. ‘Ok.’

  ‘Go Jack, Go!’ Grandad shouted above the wind.

  With great hesitation Jack walked towards the door. As he edged closer he looked back nervously at his Grandad, who was smiling beckoning him forward. Then suddenly without chance to react he was sucked out through the door and sent spiralling into the vast open air.

  ‘AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!’ Jack was spinning uncontrollably, barely able to see as the clouds whirled around him like a giant candy floss.

  ‘Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!’ His stomach was in his throat.

  ‘JACK, LAY FLAT ON YOUR STOMACH.’ Jack could hear Grandad shouting from amongst the clouds above him. He had followed Jack out of the plane.

  Battling against the wind, Jack attempted to re-position his body. He knew if he opened his parachute now he would continue to spin out of control and the parachute would tangle up, rendering it useless. He had to do as his Grandad said. On the first attempt he ended up somersaulting forwards, spinning head first into the clouds. The second attempt, he ended up flying back up in the air before the wind picked up in his face and lifted him into a vertical position, only he was upside down. Finally on the third attempt he managed to lay flat. He could see the earth below rushing towards him. Reaching round Jack pulled the red cord, the parachute shot out of the bag on his back extending above him in the air. Once the parachute fully opened it caught the wind and yanked Jack back up in the air, before slowing him down and allowing him to glide in the breeze.

  ‘Well done Jack! You did really well.’ Grandad had managed to catch up to Jack and they were now flying through the air side by side. ‘Isn’t it beautiful Jack? That’s Australia.’

  Looking as far as the eyes could see, Jack for the first time in his life was lost for words. He was now living out one of his Grandads old stories and this time it was for real, not in his imagination.

  It was now summer time in Australia and the afternoon sun was ravaging. The sky was clear with the only clouds now up above Jack, high in the atmosphere. Down below the land looked flat and mostly brown or red with the occasional green patch or small blue stream.

  ‘Jack, thanks for coming. I’m getting too old to do this sort of thing on my own you know. Now it’s your turn to earn some stories of your own, to tell your grandkids when you get to my age.’ Grandad said bouncing in the wind.

  ‘Grandad, what are we going to do when we land?’ Jack chose not to think of his Grandad being too old. How could he be, when he is sneaking onto aeroplanes and jumping from them mid-air?

  ‘We need to find the local aboriginal tribe. They will help guide us. Tribe people around the world have been protecting the secrets of the land for thousands of years.’ Grandad explained with a large smile on his face clearly enjoying their flight.

  As the ground came rushing towards them at great speed Jack began to panic again.

  ‘When you hit the floor Jack, drop to the ground and roll.’ Grandad tried to explain but Jack was too worried to take it in.

  ‘Aaaaarrrrrrrgggggggh!’ Jack screamed as he hit the ground at a great velocity. He had no control over his body and crashing into the sand below he began to roll around. When he finally came to a halt he found himself trapped underneath the large parachute. Scrambling for air, Jack pulled the parachute away from his head, only to find his Grandad standing smiling at him.

  Grandad helped Jack to his feet and removed the parachute bag from Jacks back. Neither Jack nor his Grandad had been injured upon landing and Jack instantly had his attention drawn to something else.

  ‘Kangaroos, look at them!’ Jack pointed ahead, where wild kangaroos roamed the land. Some were grazing on the grass, others were stood as tall as Jack, watching, presumably baffled by these strange people who had just dropped from the sky.

  ‘There’s loads of them.’ Grandad said.

  ‘What are we going to do now Grandad? How do you know where to go?’

  ‘I have brought the old book from the chest with me. There are a few drawings in it which look like maps. You see this one.’ Grandad held the book open in his hands and pointed to a faded sketch. ‘I think this may be where we are. Whilst we were in the air I was looking around at the landscape trying to match anything with the map. I think we are here.’ He placed his finger at a point in the lower left corner of the map. ‘You see this area on the map, with all of the trees. I think I saw a forest somewhere to the north east of us. We need to head there.’

  �
�But then where is the star?’ Jack was confused.

  ‘If you look on this map, there is a drawing of what appears to be a cave and a pool of water. I don’t know why but I feel like that is where we will find the star. Just as I had been drawn to find the star we already have. Perhaps this new piece of star is pulling us towards it.’ Grandad said with a smile. ‘The only thing is. Australia is very big and I do not know how accurate this map is or how far we have to travel. From the air everything seemed nearby but now we are on the ground it may not be so.’

  ‘Grandad, if nobody knew where the pieces of the star were, then who drew the maps?’

  ‘That is a good point. But to be honest Jack I don’t know.’ Grandad knew Jack preferred it if he was honest with him.

  ‘What will we do?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Start walking, that way. The star has saved my life in the past and I am sure it will not let us down now.’

  Walking towards the kangaroos, some lifted their heads staring anxiously as Jack and Grandad moved closer.

  ‘Will they hurt us?’ Jack said looking at his Grandad.

  ‘No, they’re more scared of us than we are of them. You like animals Jack. Kangaroos are friendly, like dogs.’ Grandad walked towards one but as he got closer the kangaroo jumped to its feet, startling Grandad with how tall it was.

  ‘Oh, well hello there.’ Grandad said, now standing still.

  Pressing his large heavy tail into the ground the kangaroo lifted his feet in the air before propelling himself slowly forward. Moving past Grandad he hopped over to Jack and bowed his head.

  ‘I think he likes you.’ Grandad said laughing.

  As Jack stood stroking the thick brown fur on the kangaroo, the sun was growing hotter. All that lay ahead was a vast expanse of desert. The ground was formed of a deep red coloured dirt and scattered with stones and rocks. Surrounded by flat open land, Jack and Grandad had no immediate escape from the afternoon sun. If they stayed out in the open any longer they would bake.

  ‘This must be what it would be like to walk on Mars. Unbearably hot and red dirt as far as the eye can see.’ Grandad said wiping the sweat from his head. ‘Jack, take your sweater off and wrap it around your head. I know it will make you hot, but it will stop the sun from burning you. If we don’t get some shade soon we will be cooked alive.’

  Jack stopped stroking the kangaroo and did as his Grandad said. Then both of them began to walk in the heat with their sweaters wrapped around their heads.

  ‘I feel sick.’ Jack had stopped walking. It had been over an hour since they had begun their trek. Still they had found no cover from the elements.

  ‘Let’s sit down for a while.’ Grandad slumped to the floor. ‘I – I – I can’t breathe in this heat.’ He said pulling the sweater off of his head. Jack sat on the floor next to him and removed his sweater.

  ‘It’s so hot. My lips are so dry.’ Jack said resting his head on his hands.

  ‘Jack - I’m sorry. I can’t go on. Go without me. My old back and tired feet can’t cope with this anymore.’ Grandad said with sadness in his eyes.

  ‘No Grandad. I’m not leaving you. I need to rest as well.’ Jack proclaimed.

  ‘Jack, if you stay here you will dehydrate. You need to find water and cover.’

  ‘No I’m not leaving you. You know I won’t, so you are just going to have to get up and come with me.’ Jack could be very stubborn if he wanted. Especially if he thought he was right.

  Grandad knew Jack wouldn’t leave him. Just as he would never leave Jack. ‘Ok Jack. I’ll come with you. Give me a hand to get up.’ Grandad put his hand out and let Jack help pull him from the ground.

  ‘But I’m not putting my sweater on my head again. In fact I’m leaving it here, it’s too hot to carry.’ Jack said leaving his sweater on the red ground.

  ‘I agree, it is too hot for that. Come on, let’s get out of here.’ Grandad left his sweater behind as well.

  They continued slowly on their arduous journey across the Australian outback. It was now around 7pm and the sun was only just beginning to lower. Giving them slight relief from the heat. Finally they saw something.

  At first Grandad thought it must have been his imagination playing tricks on him, but then Jack exclaimed ‘A building! Grandad there’s a building! We made it!’

  Running forwards Jack had a sudden burst of energy. He didn’t worry about the strangeness of a building being located in a remote location with such harsh conditions. Instead he felt safe again.

  Grandad struggled to keep up with Jack. Too exhausted to run he began walking slower, relieved that soon he would be resting.

  The building was made out of white timber and had a roof made out of rusted old tin sheets. A large sign hung above the door which displayed the words ‘OUTBACK INN’. It looked like a saloon from an old cowboy film. Outside the inn camels were tied to a wooden post and were drinking from a trough. Jack stared at the large camels as he ran towards them. He had never seen a camel in real life before and they were much larger than he had imagined. Jack thought it strange that there should be camels in Australia, especially with saddles on and tied up outside an inn in the middle of nowhere.

  As Jack ran inside the inn, the place was bustling. Directly in front sat a huge bar, spreading the length of the building. Round tables were surrounded by large men, laughing and spilling beer from their glasses. A large staircase sat to the left of the bar, disappearing into the darkness upstairs. When Jack entered, nobody paid him any attention. This again seemed strange. Surely it wasn’t every day that they had an eleven year old boy wander in, covered in dirt and badly sunburnt.

  It wasn’t until Grandad walked in that the laughter stopped. Complete silence swept across the room, even a dog sat in the corner appeared to freeze. Everyone was fixated on Jacks Grandad but nobody spoke, until Jack walked over to the bar and said to the giant barman ‘Excuse me, but we have been walking for hours. Can we please get a drink of water?’

  As Jack quietly uttered his words, the noise in the bar suddenly resumed. The large men at the tables began laughing again and even the dog in the corner began to walk around. The barman did not speak but walked away.

  Grandad, looking dishevelled walked over to Jack and placed his hand on his shoulder. Jack looking up at him said ‘Who are all these people? Why did they ignore me?’

  ‘I’m not sure Jack. Not to worry, we’ll be ok. Let’s go back outside.’ Grandad didn’t like to say to Jack but he had a bad feeling about these people.

  ‘But Grandad I don’t want to go back outside. We have been walking for so long. We both need a rest and some water. I’m sure if we ask nicely these people will help.’ As Jack spoke, the barman slammed two large glasses filled with murky brown water onto the bar before walking away.

  ‘Jack don’t drink that. It could make you ill.’ Grandad said as he stopped Jack from picking the glass up.

  ‘Grandad we have to drink. My head is killing me and we’ll be ill if we don’t drink anything. I’m drinking it.’ Jack lifted the large glass from the bar by the handle. Gulping down the vile water he drank it all. Wiping his arm across his mouth Jack began to feel his stomach churning. Jacks face went from red to yellow as his stomach let out a large growl, forcing him to run back out of the bar where he proceeded to vomit on the sand.

  Leaning over coughing his heart up, Jack was oblivious to the commotion going on back inside the inn. As he wiped his eyes, and stopped spitting the remnants of his stomach out, shouting and banging came from inside the building. Whilst Jack regained his composure a large smash beckoned from behind. Quickly turning his head, he saw the barman come flying through the window. Shards of glass scattering the floor around him.

  ‘JACK RUN!’ Grandad burst out through the saloon style swinging doors, with all of the men in the bar shouting and chasing him.

  In a state of shock Jack froze for a second, tryi
ng to comprehend what was happening.

  ‘Jump on that camel Jack!’ Grandad shouted as he ran towards Jack, the men hot on his tail.

  Jack ran at one of the large camels, tall and long with two great humps on his back. Leaping into the air he landed on the saddle, resting on top of the first hump. Grandad followed, pulling loose the rope tying the camel to the wooden post.

  ‘Yah, Yah!’ Grandad cried as he clapped his feet on the camel. Immediately the camel rose from the ground, lifting them high into the air. Just as the men were about to grab Grandad the camel kicked his leg backwards. Hitting one of the men square in the stomach, he flew backwards into the angry mob, knocking them over like dominos.

  The large camel sprinted into the wilderness. Jack was amazed at how quickly the camel could run.

  ‘Jack, grab the reins. They’re in front of you. You need to control the camel.’ Grandad shouted as he sat high on the back hump of the camel with Jack below on the front hump.

  As Jack bounced around on the camel, he nervously lent forward, reaching down for the reins. The camel was still full of energy and running at full speed, quicker than a horse. Jack nearly had hold of the reins when he slipped and fell forwards.

  ‘ARGH! Grandad, help!’ Jack was hanging precariously from the neck of the camel as he galloped along.

  Managing to grasp the saddle with one hand, he began trying to swing his right leg up.

  ‘Go on Jack, you can do it.’ Grandad said as he tried desperately to reach down to Jack. Unable to reach from high up on the camel, Grandad felt helpless as Jack struggled to pull himself up.

  As dust flew up around him, Jack had his face pressed firmly against the side of the camel. Managing to swing his foot up onto the bottom of the saddle, all he had to do was garner the strength to winch his body up.

  A loud rumble began erupting in the distance, shaking the ground around them. The noise was getting louder.

  ‘Quick Jack’ Grandad shouted. The camel was still out of control, running manically across the outback.

  Panicking, Jack used all of his strength to pull himself back up onto the saddle. Ensuring he grabbed a hold of the reins as he did. ‘What is it? Is it an earthquake?’ Jack shouted, now in control of the camel.

  ‘I don’t know Jack, but it doesn’t sound good.’ Grandad said. ‘Let’s head for the woods over there. Ahead of them lay what appeared to be a forest full of trees. Dark and haunting, the trees did not have many leaves on. Welcoming they were not. With scorched trunks and burnt branches, Jack could have been forgiven for his reluctance to head amongst them.

  Suddenly the wind picked up, almost blowing Jack off of his high perch on the camel. As if out of nowhere it had descended upon them. The noise was now deafening, vibrating through their ear drums. As the sun began to set over the horizon, the machine moved in closer. The giant blades only inches above their heads, Jack and Grandad ducked as they ushered the camel to run faster.

  For the helicopter was upon them. Why? Jack did not know, but he was sure it had something to do with the bar fight earlier. Keeping his head low he spurred the camel on.

  The helicopter edged towards Grandad as he shouted at the top of his lungs, ‘Get away. You’re not getting it.’ Grandad tried to fight off the man leaning down from the side of the helicopter. ‘NO. You can’t have it!’ He cried.

  Jack looked back to see his Grandad struggling against the man above. With the might of the helicopter, the man had an advantage over Grandad.

  To make matters worse, the men from the inn had arrived. Chasing closely behind on their camels, Jack could hear them shouting with anger. Why were these people after them?

  Desperately trying to spur the camel on, Jack’s only hope was to outrun them and head for the forest. But with the helicopter above them their chances of escape were not great. With the thunder of the camels charging towards them and the huge gusts of wind created by the might of the helicopter, dust filled the air. As the ground shook underneath them, large dust clouds began to engulf them. It was as if they were in the middle of a large sandstorm. Grandad continued to battle the man hanging from the helicopter above, whilst Jack struggled to see through the dust.

  Jack realised the sand storm may actually be an advantage. For if he was struggling to see where he was going, then so would the pilot of the helicopter and the men chasing behind on their camels. Jack decided that it would be easier to evade them amongst the dust, so he came up with an idea.

  ‘Grandad.’ Jack shouted back to him. ‘Drop to the side of the camel like I was earlier. That way you will be hidden behind the large hump and they won’t be able to reach you. In this dust they will have thought we have fallen off of the camel.’

  ‘But I won’t be able to hold on. I’m not strong enough.’ Grandad managed to say as he battled the beast from above.

  ‘Keep your foot in the saddle and hang on to his hump. I’ll do the same, they’ll never get us.’ Confident he wouldn’t fall after his earlier mishap, Jack had begun to slide back down to the side of the camel.

  Grandad knew he had no other option but to follow Jacks advice. And seeing Jack so confident about his plan inspired him to try. Dropping to the side of the camel, the man in the helicopter lost his grasp of Grandad. From above and to the left, the camel appeared to be wild without any rider. Amongst the sand and the dust it was impossible to see Jack and his Grandad. The helicopter, unable to move any closer to the camel for fear of crashing, had to admit defeat. As they neared the burnt forest, the helicopter ascended and flew above the trees into the night sky. The men on the camels behind had also believed Jack and his Grandad to have fallen from their camel and slowed down to search amongst the sand storm. Like a couple of pro cowboys performing stunts on a horse, they had managed to evade the grasp of the enemy. But who was the enemy?