The Publicity Push

by Christopher Cummings

  Kylie sat down unhappily and wiped her brow. She took off her back pack and took out a cordial bottle. As she drank her eyes roved the surrounding jungle. Ruefully she remembered her mother’s warnings that it would not be easy to find the old gold mine. ‘Now I see why!’ she thought.

  For a time they sat and discussed various interpretations of the instructions. That merely baffled them even more.

  “Turn left means turn left, and downhill is not uphill,” Peter commented. Both he and Graham had searched the hardest and were a lather of sweat.

  “The next instruction says to take the left fork to the second creek, then downstream fifty paces. Maybe we should have gone left back there at Nugget creek?” Kylie suggested.

  “What about Frank’s Claim?” Stephen asked.

  Kylie could only shrug. She was feeling very down about it all. “Let’s look anyway,” she suggested.

  Peter supported her so they made their way back to the creek junction and then went along both banks of the other creek. A small creek only a pace wide came down the slope on their left to flow into it. They noted this and pushed on until they came to a second creek. It was no larger, merely a trickle.

  “Now, do we go back down the main creek fifty paces?” Peter asked.

  “We must. It is the only way we can go downhill,” Graham said.

  They did this. This brought them to an area of steep banks covered with wait-a-while on one side and ferns on the other. For the next ten minutes they searched the banks and the bed of the creek. Stephen crawled from rock to rock looking in the bed of the creek for any signs of gold.

  “This is hopeless!” Allison cried as she disentangled herself from a vine. “I’m getting sick of this. Can we go home now?”

  Kylie felt her emotions seethe. She felt hurt that Allison did not want to go on. She also felt embarrassed that it was her enthusiasm that had led them all to the search.

  They stopped to have another rest and to re-read the instructions. Then Graham, Peter and Uncle Bill went on up the creek to see if there was a second creek on the right bank. Kylie and Margaret got up and went after them, with the others reluctantly following a few minutes later.

  There was a second creek, another tiny gully all choked with fallen logs and weeds. Once again they searched. As they did it began to drizzle rain. Raincoats were donned but it did not take long for the grumbles of Allison and Stephen to take effect. Uncle Bill supported them. “It’s nearly two now. Time we started back.”

  “We can’t just give up!” Kylie cried. She was on the edge of tears now.

  Uncle Bill gave her a sympathetic look. “We won’t. But that is enough for today. Now we know what we are up against we can plan better. We will have another look tomorrow.”

  “Which way back?” Graham asked.

  “The way we came, except we search the other bank of Christmas Creek on the way,” Uncle Bill said.

  This plan was put into action. As they re-crossed Christmas Creek the rain increased in strength till it was a heavy downpour. Kylie found it cold and started to shiver. Stephen muttered and grumbled and tried to prevent drops splashing in under his hat onto his glasses. Graham and Peter both ignored the rain, not even deigning to don raincoats.

  It took them longer then they expected to get back to the ‘Pride of Erin’ mine. By then Kylie was shivering and her skin was covered in goose bumps. The group’s spirits were right down as they trudged back along the old road with the rain drops rattling down on them and the surrounding leaves.

  It was with sighs of relief that Uncle Bill’s ute came into view. They were loaded in the back and Uncle Bill drove slowly back along the road to the old farm. Several times the ute’s wheels slipped and it almost bogged a few times. Kylie saw the open country come into sight with mixed emotions. She was glad to be out of the jungle but very downcast that they had not found the gold.

  Mrs Kirk and Gran were waiting in their car. Mrs Kirk bundled them into the car, Graham and Peter staying in the ute with Uncle Bill. The rain became heavier and the road was soon awash. They drove slowly back, the car slithering from side to side on the slopes. It took twenty minutes to travel the few kilometres back to the farm.

  As they drove in they saw a white ute parked there.

  “Bert!” Allison cried.

  Bert was sitting on the front veranda and gave them all a big grin. “Where have you been?” he asked as they dashed from the car to the veranda.

  “In the jungle looking for that old gold mine,” Allison replied. She proceeded to describe their day to Bert.

  Kylie heard her and felt a twinge of concern. As Mrs Kirk bundled them all into have hot showers and to change Kylie took the first opportunity she could to get Allison aside.

  “Allie, please don’t tell Bert what we have been doing. It’s a secret.”

  “Oh it is not!” Allison snorted. “Anyway, they have looked for it before you; and you gave them copies of the old diary. So they must know as much as we do.”

  “Yes but..,” Kylie replied. She did not want to argue and was prevented from saying more as Bert came in talking to the boys.

  Wet boots were taken off on the veranda and the children were sent to the shower. Kylie made Allison go first. While she was in the shower Margaret came over to Kylie.

  “Cheer up Ky. We will find your old gold mine. The boys had a good day anyway.”

  “Graham and Peter certainly did. I don’t know about Stephen though,” Kylie replied.

  Margaret sniffed. “Who cares? I don’t like him much.”

  Kylie agreed, then said. “Sorry you got all cold and wet.”

  “That’s alright. We expected to. It was different. I’m glad I didn’t live in the good old days.”

  Until Allison came out the girls discussed what it must have been like for the early pioneers. Allison was quick as she knew that Bert had to leave soon. Margaret was next, then Kylie. She found the hot shower heavenly and her spirits rose as she warmed up. Regretfully she turned the hot water off and dried herself. Five minutes later, clad in warm, dry clothes, she joined the others in the lounge.

  Allison was sitting there close to Bert. Peter and Stephen were also there. Kylie sat beside Margaret until her mother called her to help with afternoon tea. By the time this was ready Graham had joined them.

  When all were seated Bert said: “I came over to ask you all if you wanted to come to a New Year party on Thursday night.”

  “I thought you came over to see Allison,” Peter joked.

  Allison poked her tongue at him and blushed. Bert laughed and agreed; “I did. I certainly didn’t come over to see you blokes. Anyway, what about it?”

  Mrs Kirk asked about the party: “Who will be there? Where? What adults are supervising?”

  Bert assured her that his mother and father would be there and that there would be no problems with alcohol: “Or anything like that.”

  “Oh please Mrs Kirk!” Allison begged, her eyes alight with anticipation. Watching her Kylie experienced another twinge of jealousy, tempered by pleasure at Allison’s obvious happiness.

  “Yes, alright,” Mrs Kirk agreed. “We will all go.”

  “Ripper!” Bert exclaimed. He gripped both of Allison’s hands and his eyes danced with delight, causing Kylie another bout of jealousy. ‘I wish I had a boy friend!’ she thought.

  Soon after that Bert drained his tea up and stood up. “Well, thanks for the tea. I must get back for milking. Good luck with your gold prospecting, and don’t get lost.”

  That set the boys off. They snorted indignation at the idea of them becoming lost but the idea struck a chill into Kylie. She now knew it would be all too easy to get disoriented in that tangle of ridges and greenery.

  As Kylie stood watching Allison saying farewell to Bert she said to Margaret: “I wish I had a boyfriend like that.”

  Margaret sighed. “I wish I had a boyfriend!” She turned her head to look wistfully towards where Graham and the other boys were laughing and jokin
g.

  Kylie put her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “You will be alright. Don’t worry.”

  Margaret gave her a grateful smile. Graham called to them: “You two coming to help with the milking?”

  That got them moving. They changed back into their wet clothes and went out to help Uncle Bill and the contract milker, a wiry young man in his twenties named Larry. With that many people the work was done quickly and they were finished by 6pm. Another hot shower and change of clothes followed, then tea.

  After tea they sat around and discussed the day's explorations. Kylie was worried that the others might not want to go out again. To her relief Graham and Peter were more determined than ever to search. Once again they laid out all the maps and re-read the old diary and letter and puzzled over where they should look next.

  Kylie went to bed feeling baffled but determined.

  The next day was almost a repeat of the first except that Gran and Mrs Kirk stayed home. Gran was very tired and had caught a chill. That made Kylie both worry and feel very guilty. Mrs Kirk helped to drive them to the old farm at 9 O’clock, but then went home again. The rain had stopped but it was overcast and likely to rain again at any time. They travelled in the ute to the same parking spot as the day before. Once again Kylie worried that the utility might bog in the soft muddy road but it got there without any real trouble.

  Allison and Stephen were again not really interested but went along. Graham, Peter and Uncle Bill led the way. They returned to the ‘Pride of Erin’ and resumed the search. This time they went right up both the creeks they had searched the day before until these petered out in shallow trickles. Several times Uncle Bill used his pan to look for traces of ‘colour’ in the sand of the creek bed, or the black loamy soil of the banks.

  As on the previous day it began to rain after lunch. Leeches bothered them and they became wet, cold and irritable. Kylie saw several scrub turkeys and some sort of rat but otherwise the rainforest seemed to be devoid of life. The rain had driven the birds to cover.

  After following every creek and gully upstream of the start point along both banks they returned to the ‘Pride of Erin’. It was 3pm by then and Allison was obviously not amused. “I’m getting a cold,” she sniffled.

  The group set off back along the old timber road towards the ute in silence. Rain drizzled down and dripped from every leaf and branch. Kylie flicked off another wet leaf and tried to stop the water trickling down the back of her neck. She was feeling very despondent, as well as baffled. It seemed that, no matter how they followed those instructions, they ended up in the wrong place.

  Peter, who was walking just in front of her suddenly stopped. Before she could stop herself Kylie ran into him.

  “What! What?” she said. She peered around him to where Graham, who was leading, had crouched down to look at something on the track.

  “What is it?” Peter asked.

  “Cigarette. And it is still smouldering,” Graham replied.

  They crowded closer to look. Kylie crouched and peered at the cigarette. As Graham had said it was still smouldering. Even as she saw it a wisp of smoke came from it and she saw a raindrop hit what was obviously dry paper.

  “So what?” Allison asked.

  But Kylie knew; and so did the boys. Already they were peering around them, their eyes searching the gloom of the undergrowth.

  “There is someone else here,” Graham said. He picked up the cigarette, snuffed it out and slid it into the plastic map case he had in his left hand. From the tone of his voice and the way he looked around Kylie knew he thought it was serious and that made her scalp tingle. A feeling of chill up her spine made her shiver.

  Margaret voiced her thoughts: “Do you think we are being watched by those men?”

  Graham nodded. “Yes I do.”

  CHAPTER 16

  BAFFLED

  Kylie stared around in alarm. “Do you think he is watching us?”

  “Possibly,” Graham agreed. That got them all looking anxiously into the surrounding jungle.

  “Let’s look,” Stephen suggested.

  Uncle Bill shook his head. “No! Go back to the ute. It might be quite innocent. It might just be people who are birdwatching or studying orchids,” he said.

  Graham scoffed. “Birdwatching! In this weather!” he cried. He crouched to study the leafmould for tracks.

  Uncle Bill was adamant. “Back to the ute. Even if it is the same man watching us there isn’t much we can do about it. Now get going. Here comes the rain again.”

  With obvious reluctance Graham straightened up and continued walking. Kylie saw that Margaret was biting her knuckles and had anxiety written all over her face. She was aware that her own heart was thumping fast and she knew she was scared. ‘I hope we don’t meet those men,’ she thought. The idea that they might be lurking watching them sent shivers up her back and made the jungle look even more gloomy and forbidding than usual.

  They walked faster now, the cold rain helping. Graham kept studying the track for footprints but the thick matt of dead leaves and sticks did not yield any clear prints. Once he stopped and pointed to a boot print in a patch of mud. They studied it but they could not decide if it was one of their own or not. Kylie tried to imagine what a confrontation with the men might be like. The thought made her feel sick in the stomach. As she walked along she kept looking into the jungle on either side of the track and glancing back over her shoulder.

  Ten minutes later they reached the ute at the old road junction. The vehicle appeared untouched. Kylie felt a surge of relief. Graham and Peter quickly scouted around it.

  “Wheel tracks,” Graham said, pointing down. Before Uncle Bill could forbid it Graham and Peter had moved off along the other old track. Kylie walked over and looked. Two tyre marks showed plainly in the mud. With her heart thumping with anxiety she followed the boys.

  Fifty paces on, just out of sight around the bend in the track, was a cream coloured utility. It was locked and the back was empty. To Kylie’s relief the driver was not there.

  Uncle Bill looked very thoughtful. “Could be anyone. This isn’t private property,” he pointed out.

  Graham extracted his notebook from a plastic bag and wrote down the utility’s registration number.

  Uncle Bill pointed back. “Right, let’s get back to our vehicle and get going.”

  Graham and Peter obviously wanted to look around but obeyed. They returned to the ute and climbed aboard. Five minutes later they were back out at the derelict old farm. Mrs Kirk was waiting there. Ten minutes later they were back at the farm.

  As soon as they stopped Graham said to Uncle Bill: “You must ring the police, quickly.”

  “I will,” Uncle Bill replied. “But don’t exaggerate the incident. We have no proof anyone was there watching us. They might just have been bushwalkers.”

  “Who was watching you?” Mrs Kirk asked.

  As Uncle Bill explained, Kylie groaned inwardly. ‘Now mum will ban us from going to look for the old mine.’ She was already depressed with their second failure and she was feeling baffled and irritated at their inability to find it.

  Milking began immediately. They all went out and helped bring in the cows. With so many workers the job was done in one hour instead of usual two. The miserable conditions of drizzle, mud and manure helped to speed the work. Afterwards Kylie and the girls went straight back to the farmhouse for hot showers and a change of clothes.

  Half an hour later, just on dusk, Kylie heard the boy’s voices outside on the driveway. She looked out and saw that they were walking down the track from the top of the hill.

  “Where have you boys been?” she asked.

  “Just checking that bloke isn’t around,” Graham replied.

  The very idea sent a shiver of fear through Kylie. She told the boys to have their showers and get ready for tea, then stood on the front porch and stared at the wall of rainforest at the end of the driveway. In the drizzle it looked black and sinister. She shivered and sho
ok her head, feeling even more depressed and baffled.

  Before she knew it she was crying. She stood and gripped the corner post and stared miserably into the cold wind. It had been a horrible day really. ‘All my great plans to save the farm. Just silly pipe dreams,’ she thought unhappily.

  Margaret appeared beside her. Kylie tried to hide her tears and pretend she was alright but Margaret had seen. She put her arm around her.

  “It’ll be alright Ky. The boys and Uncle Bill will keep those horrible men away.”

  Kylie nodded, sniffled, wiped her face and nodded. “It isn’t just them, although I am scared because of them,” she replied.

  “What do the men want do you think?” Margaret asked.

  “They want the gold obviously. They will take it off us when we find it. If we find it,” Kylie replied.

  “Oh Ky! We will find it. We will!” Margaret cried. She hugged Kylie and looked anxiously at her. “Don’t give up Kylie. It is early days yet, and we shouldn’t let a bit of rain put us off. It certainly hasn’t put the boys off. They are like pigs in mud.”

  The simile made Kylie smile in spite of her tears. “Are you saying Graham is a pig?”

  Margaret wrinkled her nose and then grinned. “No. Yes. He can be. But he and Peter are having a whale of a time. Anyone can see that. And they aren’t ready to give up.”

  “Maybe not. But we don’t seem to be having much luck. Every time we try the instructions don’t make sense,” Kylie replied.

  “We must be missing some clue,” Margaret replied. “Let’s read them all again and see what it might be.”

  Somewhat cheered, and certainly warmed by Margaret’s obvious concern and friendship, Kylie allowed herself to be led inside. The girls gathered in the lounge and began going over all the instructions again. After tea the others all joined them and there was a general discussion of the search.

  Uncle Bill had phoned the police and he rejoined them to say that the police would investigate and would keep them informed.