Lulu felt a shiver of anticipation.
‘The boys are going to dance for you,’ explained Harry. ‘They are going to dance the story of a great turtle hunt near Sunday Island.’
Harry pointed out in the darkness towards the distant islands. ‘A big storm comes in over the sea during the hunt.’
Harry picked up a pair of wooden clapping sticks. He began to beat out the time. Several members of the family started to sing and clap. Lulu couldn’t understand the words, but she thought they sounded magical.
The boys danced. They stamped their feet and paddled with their shields. The dance was energetic and beautiful.
Suddenly Lulu smiled. She realised there were now six boys dancing. Five of them wore blue cloths and white ochre marks. One wore red board shorts and white ochre markings. It was Gus. He danced behind Zac, copying his movements.
‘Gus, honey bun,’ called Mum. ‘Come and sit down.’
Harry smiled. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘The boys invited him to join in.’
The dancers finished. Everyone burst into applause. Gus bowed.
‘Thank you, Harry,’ said Mum. ‘Thank you, boys. That was wonderful. But now my little chickens need to go to bed. We have a very early start in the morning.’
Rosie yawned. Lulu stood up slowly. She didn’t want to go to bed yet. She didn’t want the last day at Goorlil to end.
Anthony smiled at Lulu. He turned to Mum and Dad.
‘Perhaps a little while longer?’ said Anthony. ‘I think we should walk down to the beach. It’s a full moon. That would be a good way to say goodbye to Goorlil.’
Lulu jumped up with excitement. Mum hesitated.
‘Great idea,’ said Dad. ‘The kids can sleep on the plane tomorrow.’
‘We’ll need to be very quiet,’ said Anthony. ‘Just in case.’
Just in case what? wondered Lulu.
Everyone followed Anthony down to the beach. He held up his hand to tell them to stop. The sand glowed white by the light of the moon. The sea rippled with a silvery shimmer. Lulu could hear the gentle lap, lap, lap of water on the sand.
Anthony crouched down in the sand dune. Everyone followed, crouching in the shadows. Anthony scanned the beach.
‘Look,’ he whispered. He pointed to the ripple of waves.
Lulu saw a low, dark shape creeping out of the sea. In a moment she realised it was a sea turtle.
The turtle crawled slowly up the beach. Finally she reached the sand dune just a few metres away.
The turtle stopped. She used her four flippers to dig a wide, shallow hole. Then she used her back flippers to dig deeper. It took a long time. The turtle grunted and huffed.
‘She’s laying her eggs,’ whispered Anthony.
Next the turtle used her flippers to cover the eggs. She scattered fine, dry sand over the top to hide the nest.
At last the turtle was finished. She turned and crawled. Slowly, carefully, she inched her way back to the moonlit sea.
Goodbye, sea turtle, thought Lulu. She looked up at the stars. My wish came true.
Chapter 9
The Art Show
A few weeks later, it was time for the opening night of the art show. Dad, Lulu, Rosie and Gus arrived at the Shelly Beach Art Gallery. A big sign said ‘Welcome to the Goorlil Dreaming Art Show’.
Mum was inside greeting the guests. She wore a gorgeous black lace dress. Lulu and Rosie were wearing their best dresses too.
Mum kissed each of them. Her eyes sparkled. ‘Look,’ she whispered. ‘There are so many people here.’
Lulu stared around. The gallery was crowded. People laughed and chatted and admired the artwork.
The walls were hung with the paintings from Ardyaloon. There were other artworks too: painted shields, clapping sticks, woven baskets, boomerangs and carved spears. The walls glowed with the vibrant colours of the earth.
Beside each of the exhibits were Mum’s photos. There were portraits of the artists working. There were photos of the Ardyaloon landscape. The turquoise sea. The rust-red islands. The scrubby green bush.
There were photos of the Goorlil kids swimming with sharks, spearing fish and gathering oysters. Lulu smiled as she saw pictures of all her Goorlil friends.
‘The show looks beautiful, Mum,’ said Lulu.
Mum kissed Lulu on the forehead.
‘Thanks, honey bun,’ she said. ‘And I have a special surprise for you.’
Lulu wondered what Mum’s surprise could be. But there was no time to guess. Mum stepped up to the microphone. The crowd fell silent.
‘Welcome to Goorlil Dreaming. Thanks for coming along to this special showcase,’ she said. ‘I would like to welcome a very honoured guest to tell us about the art and the stories behind it.’
Everyone clapped loudly. A tall man in a red shirt stepped up to the microphone. It was Anthony. He winked at Lulu, Rosie and Gus. So that was Mum’s surprise!
‘The history of our art goes back more than sixty thousand years,’ said Anthony. ‘That is five times older than the Egyptian pyramids.’
Lulu looked at him in surprise. That was very old.
‘Our art is inspired by the beliefs and magic of the Dreamtime. During the Dreamtime, our ancestral spirits created the animals, plants, people, land and sea.’
Anthony waved at the wall behind him. On it was a canvas covered by a cloth. Together Anthony and Mum pulled the cloth down.
They revealed a huge painting. Two black whales danced together. They were marked with stripes and white dots.
Underneath, nine green sea turtles swam and dived. On the sand were three big turtle nests. The nests were filled with dozens of turtle eggs.
It was Anthony’s painting of Goorlil Dreaming. Anthony told the gallery the story of the whales and the turtles wooing. Lulu loved hearing the story again.
Then Mum pointed to the photo beside the painting. It showed Anthony, Dad, Zac and Lulu. They were working to free the injured sea turtle from its necklace of tangled fishing line.
‘Goorlil Dreaming is the ancient story of the sea turtles,’ explained Mum. ‘This photograph is a new story of sea turtles. It is a story of different people, different families, different generations working together to look after the land and its creatures. It is a story of our future.’
Anthony grinned at Lulu. He gave her a thumbs-up sign.
Lulu grinned back.
It was a story about sea turtles she would never forget.
Author’s Note
Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle was written with the help and support of the Davey and Hunter families of Gambanan.
My family and I were lucky enough to visit the Dampier Peninsula, where we stayed with an Aboriginal family at their outstation near Ardyaloon. The adventures of the Bell family are based on the adventures we had together as a family – making spears, hunting stingray, fishing, hearing traditional stories and looking after sea turtles.
The painting Goorlil Dreaming is based on a painting that I have hanging in my office, which was painted for us by an Indigenous artist called Ashley Hunter.
The Bardi people we stayed with were the Daveys and the Hunters – a wonderful family of teachers, artists, hunters and storytellers.
The time we spent with them was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I would like to thank them for their generosity and hospitality as they shared their culture, stories and way of life with us, and welcomed us into their home and family. We will never forget them.
– Belinda Murrell
Some Bardi words
aarli – fish
baawa – child
bayalbarr – dolphin
booroo – home
doorba – luck
gadiya – white person
goorlil – turtle
goowa – mermaid
goowid – moon
linygoorr – crocodile
miinimbi – whale
Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup
A circus is setting up nea
r Lulu’s house. How exciting! But as Lulu and her family walk past, they see a young girl crying. Stella tells them that Spangles the performing dog is missing.
Lulu is determined to help Stella find the clever pup. Can Stella teach Lulu a circus trick in return? When the show starts, the Bell family might get a big surprise!
Out now
Read all the Lulu Bell books
Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn
Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin
Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort
Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon
Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup
Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle
Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub
June 2014
Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party
June 2014
About the Author
Belinda Murrell grew up in a vet hospital and Lulu Bell is based on some of the adventures she shared with her own animals. After studying Literature at Macquarie University, Belinda worked as a travel journalist, editor and technical writer. A few years ago, she began to write stories for her own three children – Nick, Emily and Lachlan. Belinda’s books include the Sun Sword fantasy trilogy, timeslip tales The Locket of Dreams, The Ruby Talisman and The Ivory Rose, and Australian historical tales The Forgotten Pearl and The River Charm.
www.belindamurrell.com.au
About the Illustrator
Serena Geddes spent six years working with a fabulously mad group of talented artists at Walt Disney Studios in Sydney before embarking on the path of picture book illustration in 2009. She works both traditionally and digitally and has illustrated many books, ranging from picture books to board books to junior novels.
www.serenageddes.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle
9780857982025
Copyright © Belinda Murrell 2014
Illustrations copyright © Serena Geddes 2014
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
First published by Random House Australia in 2014
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Murrell, Belinda
Title: Lulu Bell and the sea turtle/Belinda Murrell; illustrated by Serena Geddes
ISBN: 978 0 85798 202 5 (ebook)
Series: Murrell, Belinda. Lulu Bell; 6
Target audience: For primary school age
Subjects: Sea turtles – juvenile fiction
Other authors/contributors: Geddes, Serena, illustrator
Dewey number: A823.4
Cover design by Christabella Designs
Internal design and by Anna Warren, Warren Ventures
Typesetting by Ingo Voss, Voss Design
eBook production by First Source
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