by Dave Warner
The traffic was every bit as bad as they had imagined, but with Todd for company, Charlotte hardly cared. Miss Strudworth found a station playing classical music and settled back while Charlotte told Todd all that had happened – well, not quite all – she had to be inventive now and again to keep Leila out of it.
'So how did you know that they filmed part of the movie in this old mining town?' asked Todd innocently.
'Yes,' echoed Strudworth. 'I meant to ask the same thing.'
Charlotte's brain rattled quickly. 'I think Honey Grace mentioned it at some point.'
Oh no, there it was again – another Hollywood lie. Charlotte was reminded of poor Honey's problems. Since this Sarah-Jane business she'd forgotten all about Oscar.
They cleared one freeway and got onto another where the traffic moved much more freely.
'So what's the plan?' asked Todd.
'I'm afraid I haven't really thought of one other than we get to this place and see if Sarah-Jane is hiding out there.'
'She could have moved on.'
'Yes, she could have,' Charlotte was forced to admit.
'What about this million dollars the kidnapper – Sarah-Jane or whoever – demanded?' asked Todd.
Strudworth revealed the studio was getting it together.
'But is Sarah-Jane planning to pick up the money?' asked Todd.
'I doubt it,' said Charlotte. 'I think she'll turn up and say that she escaped. Then she'll be front-page news and a hero, which is what she wants.'
'You could just wait, then,' suggested Todd. 'Not bother to look for her at all.'
It was Strudworth who answered. 'And let her get away with putting Mr Gold through all this? No. She needs to be taught a lesson.'
In the float, Leila had run through much the same for Warrior. He commented that he couldn't see why anybody cared what happened to some selfish actor. Leila wasn't sure if he was talking about the particular case of Sarah-Jane or whether he was lumping all actors into that category.
'Actors are no worse than show-jumpers,' she said.
He made some grunt from deep in his chest and said, 'So I suppose you've been out partying every night?'
Leila hated that superior tone he adopted.
'Do you know anything about the movie industry?'
'You get paid a lot of money for pulling faces,' he said.
'That's what you think? You have no idea. As a matter of fact I've been training hard.' She told him about the run-in with the mountain lion, swapping her role and Charlotte's of course to make herself sound like the hero, which in fact she'd actually convinced herself of. She also told him about the narrow escape at Excelsior Studios. He listened with interest.
'And I suppose you've caught up with a few old boyfriends?'
He asked it casually but Leila was able to sift through the smoke. She was ecstatic! Warrior was jealous. And if he was jealous, that meant he cared. And if he cared . . . Hmm, how to play this?
'I bumped into one or two old running mates,' she lied with a hint of evasion. 'I suppose you were busy showing off your muscles to some little Argentine filly down there in San Diego.'
'Actually, they stabled us next to the Germans. I'll say one thing about those German mares, they sure can dance.'
Huh. Leila found herself getting prickly all over. If those little Fräuleins came anywhere near Warrior when she was around, they'd wind up with size 10 Ferragamo shoeprints all over their foreheads.
Todd was navigating. It reminded Charlotte of her father, who would let her hold the map, ask her the direction they needed to take but still have to check it for himself. It didn't really bother Charlotte though as map reading wasn't her greatest skill. She was much better out in the open following a trail that would be invisible to ninety-nine per cent of people. Jimmy Possum, one of the Aboriginal stockmen, had taught her tracking skills. They had been in the car for something like three hours when Strudworth spied the little sign to Gilbertsville. Another ten minutes and the dirt road ran out. Strudworth pulled over and they all climbed out of the car. The day was cooking hot, the sky blue, the earth crisp. They had not seen a person or vehicle since turning off the freeway. They advanced a few hundred metres to the edge of a ridge. In the valley below, some rusting buildings were visible.
'I guess that's it,' said Todd.
It didn't appear to be too long a walk. Maybe twenty to thirty minutes. They unloaded Leila and Warrior, locked up the car and started off. The terrain was not dissimilar to Snake Hills – a lot of sand and rock dotted with scrubby vegetation.
'Somebody has walked through here recently,' said Charlotte, pointing at the soft sand.
'You can tell that?' Strudworth was dubious.
Charlotte pointed out some tiny flattened plants. She could also see part footprints all the way to the bottom, which Todd could not detect at all.
'You're very cool, Charlotte,' he said, impressed.
The path down was slippery and Leila and Warrior had to pick their way carefully, which meant it took them a little longer than anticipated to reach the bottom. Leila recalled the spot well. Tommy had done some very fine close-ups under the large cacti and the chef had served up a magnificent crab salad. Leila had also hidden some cacti in Sarah-Jane's face flannel and when she went to remove her make-up . . . Ah, Leila chuckled at the memory.
Charlotte diverted slightly from the course and bent down to pick something up. She returned and showed the others a very recently discarded empty plastic soda bottle.
'It's the brand Sarah-Jane drinks,' said Charlotte. She was glad she wasn't alone here. This place was eerie. The buildings that had once been a bustling gold town were falling apart. The timber had rotted away in places, leaving gaping holes. The tin roofs had rusted and fallen in. The wind keened through what was left of the structures. Charlotte recognised a narrow twisting shape in the sand.
'Snakes.'
'Not the kind of place I would choose to stay,' said Strudworth.
'Though I suppose you're not likely to get visitors,' offered Todd.
Leila had a fair idea where Sarah-Jane would be holed up. At the other end of the town was what had once been the saloon. It was the most intact structure. She let out a whinny and began trotting in that direction.
'Looks like Leila might have picked up her scent,' observed Strudworth.
Charlotte knew the only way Leila would have picked up her scent would be if Sarah-Jane had rolled herself in pizza, but she played along. The others followed and came to the saloon. It had no front door but, amazingly, the high roof was still largely intact, as were most of the wooden walls. Todd didn't hesitate, he strode in. Charlotte and Strudworth followed. They emerged into a large open room which one could imagine might have been impressive in its day. Little of the wooden floor remained. The planks had been torn up and probably used for fires to keep campers warm at night. Charlotte knew from her own experience that deserts could get very cold once the sun dropped. With the wind howling, it would be quite scary. For the first time she wondered if Sarah-Jane really would go through all that for the publicity.
'Here,' called Strudworth from around the other side of an alcove. Charlotte rounded it to find her holding up the sports bag.
Apparently Sarah-Jane would endure quite a bit for publicity. There was no sign of Sarah-Jane but an expensive sleeping bag had been laid out ready for sleep with a camping light, a bag full of food, bottles of water and the pyjamas Charlotte had seen.
'Maybe she has gone to pick up the ransom,' said Todd.
Charlotte, however, didn't think that. 'Something's wrong.'
'What do you mean?' asked Strudworth.
Charlotte pointed. 'The sleeping bag wasn't slept in and the pyjamas haven't been used.'
The others could see she was right.
'Maybe she went to stage her kidnap and now she has been kidnapped for real?' speculated Strudworth.
'Try your phone, Todd,' suggested Charlotte, giving him Mr Gold's number.
H
e tried but there was no signal. They took themselves outside but it didn't help.
'You probably have to get up to the top of the ridge,' said Todd.
'If she made that call pretending to be the Russian woman from up there last night, she would have had to find her way back in the dark. She could have got lost,' said Charlotte.
'Sarah-Jane! Are you here?' yelled Strudworth in her loud voice. Nothing. Strudworth suggested they cover the town first. Charlotte mounted Leila and Todd mounted Warrior. Strudworth searched by foot.
It took less than fifteen minutes to cover the old township but there was no sign of her. They regrouped in what had once been the town square.
Charlotte looked around them. It was possible that even where they had left the car the higher mountains behind might block any phone signal. So if Sarah-Jane had gone to make a call, she might have had to venture further up.
'It looks like rough country. She could easily have slipped and hurt herself,' said Todd.
Strudworth thought she should try to contact Mr Gold to get help searching.
'It's clear she was here,' she pointed out.
Charlotte agreed that was the best plan but in the meantime, she thought she and Todd should start looking. But where? Charlotte slowly circled the perimeter of the town on Leila and this time she found indications that Sarah-Jane had headed south. Unfortunately the track quickly ran out.
'I don't like the look of that.'
Charlotte was staring at the ground. Leila couldn't see what she was talking about.
'What's "that"?'
'A pack of coyotes.'
'Here we go again,' said Leila.
'Come on,' said Charlotte, 'you scared off the mountain lion, didn't you?'
Leila hated it when Charlotte outsmarted her. They returned to Todd and Miss Strudworth and determined she would head back to the car. If she could get no signal using the mobile phone she would drive to the freeway and find a phone box or gas station. In the meantime Todd and Warrior would take the eastern end of the range and Charlotte and Leila the west.
'What do we do if we find her and she's hurt?'
Todd's question was a good one. They couldn't leave her and they had no means of communication other than their voices.
'Let's meet back in two hours time. If one of us isn't here it means they've found her and the other will go to help.'
That seemed like a plan. Charlotte knew from growing up in the Australian outback that the most important thing for survival was water. You could survive without food for days, but not without water, and already the valley was like a furnace. They made sure they had plenty of bottles. Leila rubbed up close to Warrior.
'Bet we find her before you,' she whinnied.
'What are we playing for?'
'You lose, you have to do a slow waltz with me in the dressage ring.'
Warrior let out a low groan. 'And if you lose?'
'I have to do a slow waltz with you in the dressage ring,' she chuckled.
'Ha ha. You lose, you have to massage my back.'
Hmm, thought Leila, not that bad an option. Either way, she and Warrior were getting up close and personal. 'Deal.'
They began slowly working out in a zigzag pattern. Charlotte studied the ground, carefully looking for footprints, but she figured the wind had probably wiped them away. Every now and again she found more coyote prints. She was also looking at the low scrub for any sign that the foliage had been trampled or broken. Nothing all the way to where the ground started to rise again on the far hillside, probably three kilometres from the old town. She used her knees to urge Leila up the slippery slope.
'Do we really have to?' whined Leila. 'Last thing I need is a broken leg.'
'You can do it,' said Charlotte reassuringly.
Leila slowly picked her way up the hill. More than once she asked herself why she was doing this for that brat anyway. Couldn't they just cast somebody else? As soon as she thought that, Leila felt bad. True, Sarah-Jane was a pain but Leila didn't want her to be badly hurt.
After another twenty minutes of fruitless searching Charlotte eased up and looked around her. Nothing. She could just spy Todd, a dot on the far ridge, moving slowly.
'Coo-ee,' she hollered and listened to her voice bounce around the canyon.
'Coo-ee,' came the faint reply.
'You wearing that Sarah-Jane perfume by any chance?' asked Leila. Her nostrils had picked up the faintest tang.
'No. I'm saving my bottle as a present for Hannah.'
'Well, somebody is.'
'You sure?'
'Charlie, I spent half my Hollywood life smelling expensive perfume so I know a cheap one when I sniff it.'
Charlotte was excited. She swivelled in the saddle, feeling the direction of the wind against her face.
'This way.' She turned Leila into the breeze, which had freshened, no doubt the reason Leila had been able to smell the perfume. The tell-tale glint of sun on glass flicked off the ground, only for an instant but for Charlotte it was enough. She galloped Leila the two hundred metres towards it and dismounted.
Sure enough, here was one of the perfume bottles that had been supplied in the gift bags. The bottle had fallen but not broken and the perfume leaked very slowly from the top. Charlotte thought the most likely explanation was that Sarah-Jane had lost it from her bag, maybe while taking out or replacing her phone.
'Sarah-Jane?' she yelled loudly.
The only reply was whistling wind.
'Sarah-Jane?' she yelled again.
Still no answer.
She examined the area carefully and about five metres on found a sagebrush that had been flattened. Now she was growing excited.
'So she came this way?' asked Leila.
'I'm pretty certain. Coo-eee,' she called as loudly as she could but there was no reply and she could no longer see Todd on the far ridge. 'You search over there,' she pointed, 'I'll search over here. Call out if you see anything like a footprint, a flattened bush –'
'– or a candy wrapper?' asked Leila.
'Do you see a candy wrapper?' Charlotte could barely contain her excitement.
'No, but that's the kind of thing I'm looking for, right?'
'Yes, Leila. That's the kind of thing.'
'And could you put my iHorse on? It's kind of boring out here.'
Charlotte pulled the small player and earphones from her bag and pushed them into Leila's ears.
Leila smiled at the sound of that country twang. 'Sweet.'
She started off, humming horribly out of tune. Charlotte tried to ignore her and began slowly walking, scrutinising every centimetre of the hard earth in a long sweep. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
She stopped suddenly. Had she heard something? Her first thought was leakage from Leila's iHorse, but Leila was too far away. No, there it was again. Charlotte took another step forward . . .
The ground beneath her feet collapsed without warning. So shocked was she that she barely had time to squeal. All she knew was she was falling into a deep black pit.
Chapter 12
The few seconds it took Charlotte to fall seemed more like a few minutes. It was the weirdest sensation, like falling off a horse from the top of the highest steeple. The sunlight above was swallowed by black as she plunged. She braced for the impact she hoped would come sooner rather than later because she knew with each passing second the landing would be harder.
Thump.
Whatever she landed on was softer than she had anticipated. Almost like feathers. She lay on her back, breathing for a long moment, running through a checklist. She was thinking clearly. No concussion. Good. Arms and leds could move. She didn't feel any pain so hopefully no bones had been broken. She struggled up. It was very dark down here but as her eyes grew accustomed to it she realised that she had fallen into a mound of fine soft dirt. Further investigation allowed her to see she was in some kind of earthen tunnel. Okay, this had been a gold town, chances were this was some old mine shaft. She manoeuvred he
rself below the hole where she had fallen. It seemed to be about three metres above her. No way to climb up. She yelled.
'Leila!'
Leila was grooving to some Randy Travis. That boy had a voice on him as sweet as molasses. She swayed this way and that. The sun was a little too hot for her liking but other than that it was quite pleasant. She looked back to ask Charlotte if she had any treats on her but there was no Charlotte. She had been there a minute ago. Where on earth was she?
'Leila!'
Charlotte grunted in frustration. That darn iHorse! Leila couldn't hear her.
'Help.'
The voice came from somewhere back there in the dark. It was very faint but Charlotte knew that she had definitely heard it.
'Sarah-Jane?' she called.
For a long moment there was no reply and Charlotte was tempted to think she had imagined it after all. Then came a weak plea.
'Help me.'
Charlotte tiptoed into the dark musty heart of the tunnel. It was pitch black down here. Some light flickered to her left and she changed direction, feeling her way along the earthen walls. It seemed that the tunnel was quite broad, easily wide enough for her to walk with her arms spread and her fingers touching each side. The light went out, then flicked back on.
'Sarah-Jane?'
'Down here,' came the anxious voice. Not at all like the bossy Sarah-Jane Charlotte was used to. Now Charlotte could see her. Or the top half of her at least. The rest was covered by a thick mound of earth.
'What happened?' asked Charlotte, who saw the light was from Sarah-Jane's mobile phone.
'The earth collapsed and fell in on top of me. I can't move my legs . . .' Sarah-Jane turned the phone towards Charlotte, illuminating her face. 'You?' She sounded extremely disappointed.
'The name's Charlotte.'
'This is all your fault.'
Charlotte was taken aback. She was about to ask how it was her fault but Sarah-Jane saved her the trouble.
'You turn up here as Leila's new best pal and suddenly all the attention is on you. Just because you throw a few snakes around you think you're a star.'
