by Karen Wood
‘I just wish it would rain.’ Holly kept pacing. ‘Jake’s down there somewhere.’
‘It’s okay, we’ll find him,’ Kaydon assured her. Out of the blur, he saw the silhouette of a quad bike. On it was a tall, pencil-thin boy in short shorts, big boots and a floppy hat. ‘Dan!’ he called.
‘I heard you on the two-way,’ Dan said, cutting the engine. ‘You got another tank somewhere?’
Kaydon stared at his friend’s stick-insect legs and roper boots. Then, cautiously, he looked higher. ‘Why are you wearing Superman boxers?’
‘It was an emergency, okay. Forgot to put my trousers on.’
Kaydon was speechless. ‘This is the only tanker on the whole place,’ he finally said. ‘Reckon we’ve got Buckley’s of stopping it. We’re just gonna try to keep it contained until the fireys get here.’
‘My brother’s missing,’ said Holly. ‘Did you see him at the house?’
‘Jake?’ Dan’s mouth tightened and he looked annoyed. ‘He’s running along the eastern fenceline. I offered him a ride on the quaddie, but . . .’ He rolled his eyes. ‘He’s not talking to me.’
‘Yeah, funny that,’ muttered Kaydon.
‘Is he okay?’ asked Holly.
‘Seemed all right.’
Kaydon switched the pump off. ‘Let’s go.’ He swung onto the back of the ute and turned to Holly. ‘You drive, I’ll hose.’
Holly froze.
‘What?’ he said.
Holly held both hands out helplessly. ‘I can’t drive.’
Kaydon pulled a face. ‘What do they teach you on the coast?’
‘I’m only fifteen!’
‘I’ve been driving since I was Eva’s age!’
‘I’ll drive,’ said Eva, her eyes lighting up.
‘No you won’t!’ He stared at Holly. ‘Get behind the wheel. If you can shoot a pig, you can drive a ute.’
‘What if I crash it?’ She looked frantically at the line of fire, and back to the ute. ‘Why doesn’t Dan drive?’
Dan shrugged. ‘If you take my quaddy. ’
‘I want to drive,’ said Eva.
‘No,’ Kaydon said firmly, and she subsided. He turned to Holly. ‘Just get in, you can do this, easy.’ She’d be safer driving the ute than Dan’s dodgy quad bike with no brakes.
Eva suddenly pointed to a stand of bluegums. ‘The fire is going to burn the koalas!’
Holly looked across the paddock and gasped.
‘That’s where we saw the koala poo, remember?’ said Eva.
‘Okay, okay.’ Holly dived into the driver’s seat, banging her head on the way in. ‘How do I drive this thing? What if I crash it and we can’t get water over there . . .’
Kaydon leaned in the window. ‘Holly, breathe!’
She gasped in a lungful of smoky air and then exploded into a coughing fit.
‘She’s having a freakout,’ said Eva. She started pulling at the strap behind her. ‘I’m putting my seatbelt on if she’s driving!’
‘Holly, it’s easy.’ Kaydon spoke slowly. ‘There are four gears. Park. Reverse. Neutral. Drive. It’s self-explanatory – see those letters on the gearstick? Put your foot on the brake and drop the stick to Drive.’
He stared at the back of Holly’s head while she grappled with the gearstick. ‘It won’t move,’ she said, pulling and pushing at it. The engine revved suddenly but the ute went nowhere.
‘Push the button in with your thumb.’
The ute lurched forward without warning. Holly screamed. Eva screamed even louder. Kaydon was nearly thrown out the back of the ute. He grabbed the rollbar with two hands while it cavorted across the paddock. ‘Put your foot on the brake!’ he yelled.
The ute lurched forward even faster.
‘No, the other brake! The pedal on the left!’
The ute stopped so hard Kaydon thought the tank would fly over the top of the cabin. After he pulled himself off the back window, he leaned forward. ‘I forgot to tell you about the pedals.’
Holly clung white-knuckled to the steering wheel, breathing fast.
‘I’m getting out,’ said Eva, opening the door. ‘You’re scaring me.’
‘Hop on the quaddy, kid,’ said Dan. ‘We’ll go check on your bro. See if he’s gotten over himself yet.’
Eva’s face lit up and she wasted no time scrambling onto the back of the quad. Dan buzzed off across the paddock with Eva squealing gleefully on the back.
‘Now, about those pedals.’ Kaydon leaned in through the window again. ‘The one on the left is for stopping. The one to the right is for going. Only use your right foot, push one pedal at a time, gently.’
Holly stared down at her feet.
‘Okay, so slowly . . . take your foot off the stop . . . and put it on the go,’ Kaydon, said, remembering how his mum had taught him in this very vehicle when he could barely reach the pedals. He gripped the rollbar with both hands and held on tight. One thing was for certain; Holly was gonna put more dents on the ute than a feral scrubber.
They took off more slowly and Holly wrestled with the steering wheel as it bumped along an old track. Apart from a few random jolts and jerky takeoffs, Kaydon managed to hang on with one hand and hold the fire hose with the other.
‘Cut across the hillside,’ he said, pointing to where the fire flared along a wide open stretch of grass towards the bluegums.
As the ute jolted along the edge of the fire, Kaydon directed jets of water to the biggest flames. The ground hissed with steam. Smoke tore at his throat and scratched at his eyes.
When he was certain the bluegums were saved, he pointed Holly towards the homestead. She paused, gazing out the window at the trees. ‘I still can’t see them. Why are they so hard to spot?’
‘Holly.’ Kaydon spoke clearly but firmly. ‘If we manage to save the homestead and no one gets killed by this fire, I promise I will bring you back and personally show you how to spot a koala, okay? But right now, there is a fire headed straight for the shack.’
She dumped the ute into gear again, making the cogs groan in protest, and lurched off towards the homestead. Kaydon leaned in the window. ‘We’re nearly empty again. Let’s get back to the dam.’
Holly pointed out the window. ‘There’s Jake!’ she said excitedly.
Her brother marched through the paddock with his arms folded, looking cranky. Dan and Eva bumped along behind him on the quad bike.
‘I hope they play nice,’ said Kaydon. The last thing they needed was Jake and Dan brawling again.
‘Hope they don’t kill each other,’ said Holly.
‘Keep driving along the fireline. We have to make sure we stay between them and the flames.’
Down at the homestead there was a series of explosions. The smoke changed to a thicker black.
Suddenly Jake was on the quad bike, in front of Dan. Eva clung on behind and they raced towards the ute.
Kaydon pulled the front door open and leaned across Holly to the two-way, tuning it in to the Rockleigh homestead.
‘Copy, Jerry?’ Click.
There was a long pause before Jerry answered. ‘Yeah, Kaydon.’ Click.
‘I’m at Glenvale. How far away are the fireys?’
There was a long pause before Jerry answered. ‘No idea, mate. What’s the situation out there?’
‘Bad, Jerry. I think the grain shed’s on fire.’
In the brief pause, a new voice flooded through the cabin of the ute. ‘Kaydon, this is Ken Harvey. I heard you on the two-way when I was driving to the station. Are Holly and Eva with you?’
‘Yes. I got Eva and Holly, and Jake’s with us too. We’re all safe.’
‘Where’s Brandon?’
That was a good question. ‘He’s riding around on a horse.’
There was a pause. ‘Mel’s train’s just coming in now. We’ll be home as soon as we can.’
‘Dad!’ squealed Eva. She leaped off the back of the quad and climbed into the ute.
Kaydon passed her the receiver. ‘
Push the button to talk,’ he said.
‘Holly shot a pig and then she drove the ute. We got stuck up a tree and now a shed is on fire.’ Eva looked at the receiver for a few moments and then shook it. ‘Why isn’t he answering me?’
‘You need to let go of the button,’ said Kaydon.
Holly spoke up. ‘Can we go save the shack now, Captain Hero? My guitar’s in there.’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘We need to clear around the house. Can you use a chainsaw?’
Her face went green.
He looked at her wide-eyed. ‘What could possibly go wrong?’
Her mouth gaped a few times but no words came out.
He grinned. ‘Okay, well how about a whippersnipper?’
‘I could give that a go.’
‘That’s my girl.’ Did he just call her his girl? He did. And she didn’t seem to mind. Something about Holly was making him want to leap tall haysheds in a single bound. Damn, he wished he had the guts to just kiss her. Maybe after he’d saved her guitar.
Captain Hero to the rescue!
He hoisted himself onto the back tray of the ute. ‘Let’s go get some more water!’
‘Brandon’s probably headed back for the homestead,’ said Holly.
‘We’ll go help him,’ said Jake. ‘Eva, you stay here with Holly.’ With that, Jake and Dan buzzed off back down the track.
29
Holly really, really wished the homestead wasn’t on fire.
He’d called her ‘his girl’.
She dropped the stick back into drive and lurched into motion again.
‘There’s another waterhole up there,’ said Kaydon. He pointed to a track that led through some trees. The ground was black and smoking on either side. It was near where she and Jake had stopped to eat blackberries the other day. Sticking out of the ground was that strange pipe thing and beyond that was the concrete slab.
‘What is that thing?’ Holly asked, as Kaydon swung off the back of the ute and started hauling the hose out to the waterhole.
‘It’s an oil wellhead,’ he said. ‘Mining companies looked for oil around here in the sixties but not much came of it. They’re all capped off now. Just big empty reservoirs under the ground.’ He stopped and stared a while and Holly saw the same dot-joining look on his face as he’d had last night at the ball. ‘I didn’t know there were any on this property,’ he said, looking decidedly troubled.
He got the hose pumping and then walked over to the oil wellhead and squatted next to it. He ran a hand over the stamped letters on the pipe. ‘BAUHALA 6,’ he said. ‘Same as on Dan’s place. Same as Rockleigh.’
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Holly.
‘I’m not sure,’ said Kaydon. A frown hovered on his face. He was quiet while the tank filled with water.
Eva played with the two-way radio. ‘Hi, Daddy.’ Click.
‘Hi, Eva.’ Click.
‘Have you got Mummy yet?’
‘Yep. She’s right here beside me and we’re driving home as fast as we can.’
The pump stopped chugging and Kaydon rolled up the hose and jumped on the back of the ute. As Holly drove across the charred rocky hillside towards the homestead, she saw that some of the black boulders on the ground had legs. Kangaroos; black and stiff. Smoke still curled off their pelts. She put one hand over her mouth to stop herself gagging, and almost came to a stop.
‘Are you okay?’ From the tray of the ute, Kaydon leaned down by the window.
She shook her head. There were five or more of them. ‘Can we stop and check the pouches?’ she asked, fighting back tears. ‘Oh no, one is still kicking.’
‘Yeah, pull over. You’ll have to be quick, though.’
Holly stopped the ute and hurried across the smoking ground, which resembled a warzone. Embers whirled around in the air and smoke lifted off the charred ground.
The dull blast of a gun sounded behind her. Holly spun around and saw Kaydon standing over a motionless carcass with the .303 in his hand. She hurried to the next charred body and dropped to one knee. A long bald tail hung from the pouch. ‘I got a pinky in this one,’ she called to Eva. The joey inside began to wriggle and kick. ‘Kaydon, do you have a knife?’
He pulled one from his back pocket. ‘What for?’
‘It’s small,’ she said as she took it from him and flicked it open. ‘Its mouth will be fused to the teat. I’ll need to cut it.’
‘Here,’ said Kaydon, handing her a woollen jacket. ‘Wrap it in this.’
Holly pulled the joey onto the jacket and got to work cutting the teat away from its mother.
‘Over here!’ Eva called.
Holly passed the squirmy bundle to Kaydon and rushed over.
‘I found another one,’ said Eva. Her voice was high-pitched and excited. She danced around beside another blackened roo. ‘It’s a big one!’
A silvery smooth leg popped out and pulled back in again. He was as much as five months old, she guessed, and very strong. ‘Give me your shirt,’ she said to Kaydon.
Kaydon pulled his shirt over his head. He had a severe singlet tan going on. She had to get this guy to a beach.
She refocused and pulled the bundle of legs from its mother’s pouch, wrapping it to keep it still.
‘Can he be mine?’ asked Eva, hopping from one foot to another. ‘I found him.’
‘Sure,’ said Holly, passing the bundle to her. ‘Quick, let’s go!’
Kaydon was already in the driver’s seat. ‘Hope you don’t mind,’ he said. ‘But that hut’s gonna go up any minute.’ He rammed the ute into gear.
Holly squeezed in next to Eva, who had both baby bundles on her lap, and slammed the door shut as Kaydon floored it.
‘Will I be allowed to keep them?’ Eva asked as they bumped along. ‘They can be friends.’
‘I don’t know. When Mum gets back, we’ll ask her what to do.’ Holly fought back her feelings. Mum seemed so far away right now.
Pat Armstrong’s voice came over the two-way. ‘You copy, Kaydon?’
The mood in the ute changed dramatically. Kaydon’s grip on the wheel tightened and his stare hardened. It was Eva who picked up the handpiece. ‘He’s driving us in the ute. We saved some baby kangaroos.’
‘Oh struth, don’t tell him that.’ Kaydon snatched it from her hand. ‘I’m at Glenvale. We’ve been through two tanks of water, managed to save the main boundary fence.’
‘I told you not to go there.’
Holly saw Kaydon inhale and fight for self-control. ‘The sheds are about to go up.’
‘The fireys are on their way.’
‘They won’t get there in time.’ Kaydon slammed the piece back into its cradle on the dash and flicked the switch to turn it off. He dropped the ute into a lower gear and roared up the final hill.
Holly gripped tighter to the panic handle and held on. As they crested the top of the hill, she gasped at what she saw. Flames were eating through the wall of the grain shed and flaring up one side of the roof. Black smoke curled from under the eaves and rolled over the roof, billowing into the sky.
She could see Dan at the wheel of the tractor. Brandon was there, and he and Jake were trying to hook a slasher onto the back of it.
Kaydon accelerated across the hillside and Holly felt the wheels slip and slide on the slope. Grass scratched along the sides of the ute as they drove into the home yard. He braked hard outside the hut and burst out of the vehicle. ‘Where’s a hose?’
‘There’s one at the back of the hut,’ said Holly, tumbling out after him. ‘Near the clothesline!’
‘Block up the gutters and fill them with water,’ said Kaydon. ‘I’ll help the others clear around the buildings.’ He ran to the tractor.
‘What do I do?’ wailed Eva. She sat in the ute, clutching her bundles of baby joeys. ‘I’m scared, Holly!’
‘Leave your babies in the front of the ute and come and help me,’ she said, scrambling for a plan. ‘We need to clear around the house. Make sure the fire doesn’t sprea
d to it.’
Holly ran round the back of the hut to the clothesline and briefly wondered whatever happened to that black snake Jake had caught. She stared up at the gutters. They were rusted and full of holes. No way would they hold water. ‘I’ll clear the plants away from the building,’ she said. ‘Eva, you run inside and get the fire extinguisher from the kitchen.’
She ran to the machinery shed. The boys had the slasher attached to the tractor and the blades were spinning. Across the yard, the fire crackled and snapped. Then, in one big, unholy noise, glass shattered. Flames burst out of the small windows. The roof of the shed collapsed into an inferno of brilliant orange flames and sparks. Timber and tiles smashed onto the dry grass below. Holly grabbed a hoe and began furiously hacking at the fishbone fern that choked the base of the hut. It was hopeless. There was too much to clear. Embers floated through the air all around, glowing like fireflies. Small puffs of smoke came to life in the long grass around her.
She tried the hose. A limp trickle of water came out. She growled in frustration and threw the hose down in disgust. It was only three metres long anyway.
Woollen blankets! She raced inside and pulled every one she could find off the beds, and then ran from small fire to small fire, beating and smothering them.
Across the yard, Dan lowered the chugging slasher to the ground. It clunked and bashed over the rough grass. Rocks spat against the casing and sticks snapped and shattered. Jake attacked the grass along the house fence with a whippersnipper. Brandon took a chainsaw and cut tree limbs away. Eva passed the fire extinguisher to Holly. Where Dan had cleared a break, the fire slowed and she hit it with dry chemical foam.
‘Slashing will only slow it down,’ yelled Kaydon above the roar of the tractor. ‘So will the foam. We need water to put it out.’
Above the roar of the flames and the clunking and bashing of the tractor, Holly heard sirens wailing. A convoy of three fire trucks rolled along the road with dust swelling behind them. She nearly screamed with relief.
At the homestead, men in yellow jackets and big boots spilled out of the trucks. Radios crackled with disjointed firefighting conversations. Pumps whirred and jets of water began shooting across the homestead.
