Alice-Miranda in the Outback

by Jacqueline Harvey

  Jacinta thought some more. ‘But then I’ll be here on my own.’ She stared at Lucas hoping that he’d volunteer to stay behind.

  Lucas looked at her and shrugged. ‘I think I should go with the others. Sprocket needs our help.’

  ‘We have to get some things together,’ Larry said. The children hurried back to the house and made plans.

  It was just after one o’clock when the children left the homestead on their search for Sprocket. They were armed with maps recreated from what Larry, Alice-Miranda and Millie could remember about the two halves they’d discovered. They also had the riddle with them and were on the lookout for rusty metal objects.

  They’d divided up the jobs for their preparation – the three girls were on map making, Hayden was on food, Lucas was on water bottles and compasses, and it had been Jacinta’s job to sort the two-way radios. They’d got everything together in record time.

  Alice-Miranda had tried to call her father, but he hadn’t answered and she decided it was probably best not to leave a message – he’d only worry. Hayden couldn’t get through to Barnaby, which meant he was probably flying. He didn’t leave a message either. Instead, Alice-Miranda wrote the men a note, in case they arrived before the children, and taped it to the back door.

  Now, Larry and Hayden rode the trail bikes while Millie went with Alice-Miranda on one four-wheeler and Lucas and Jacinta doubled on another. Right before they’d been about to leave, Jacinta had changed her mind and decided she’d rather be with her friends than at the homestead with a demanding ginger cat and the prospect of a long afternoon alone. Rusty was with them too, much to Junie’s dismay.

  The children rode side by side across the dry paddock, keeping an eye out for tyre tracks. The boab was at least two hours north by motorbike, but they headed east of the tree, hoping that the spot marked with an ‘X’ would be on their trajectory.

  It was hot and dusty, with endless miles of mulga trees, scrub and red dirt. They saw emus aplenty and a huge mob of camels – at least two dozen – which Hayden took note of. The beasts were in plague proportions in the outback at the moment, and did a great deal of damage to the land and fences. The group rode for over an hour and a half before Millie spotted some tracks.

  She tapped Alice-Miranda on the shoulder and pointed. The girl brought the four-wheeler to a stop. Millie dug about in the backpack she and Alice-Miranda were sharing and pulled out the two-way radio, but when she went to switch it on the signal was weak and she couldn’t get any volume.

  Fortunately, the others had noticed the girls were missing and turned back.

  ‘Sorry – the radio battery seems really low,’ Millie said. ‘We found some tracks.’

  Jacinta rolled her eyes. ‘Give me a look,’ she said. Millie handed over the device and the girl shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. I got all the radios out and the recharged batteries and . . .’ Jacinta’s face crumpled. ‘Oh no. I meant to change them over and then when I decided to come I raced off to get ready and I didn’t do it. All the charged batteries are still sitting in the pantry. I’m so sorry – I’m an idiot.’

  ‘We’ll go back,’ Lucas suggested. ‘And you’re not an idiot.’

  ‘No,’ Larry said. ‘It’ll take too long.’

  Jacinta looked ashen. ‘It’s okay,’ Millie said. She felt sorry for the girl. Clearly she hadn’t meant for this to happen.

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ Hayden said. ‘We just won’t use the radios unless it’s absolutely necessary. Everyone switch them off.’

  They did as they were told, noting that the batteries all had less than half an hour’s life left in them. Thankfully it was something.

  Minutes later, the children were congregated near the wheel tracks in the dirt.

  ‘They’re definitely fresh,’ Hayden said. ‘This soft soil would have been covered by now if they’d been more than a day or so old, especially with all those camels around. This paddock has lots of stock too.’

  The kids followed the trail, which continued on a north easterly path for miles.

  ‘There!’ Alice-Miranda shouted. But it wasn’t the white ute that she’d spotted.

  In the distance, the blades of a rusty windmill poked out above a large clump of mulga trees.

  ‘Could that be the rusty beast in the riddle?’ she said.

  ‘That would be pretty lucky if it was,’ Millie replied. ‘And I’m not sure if you’d call a windmill hungry.

  The group slowed down as they approached a rocky outcrop. Hayden braked hard and held his hand up to stop the rest of them. He rode his bike behind the boulders and the others followed.

  ‘What is it?’ Larry asked as they all killed their engines.

  ‘I think I saw someone,’ he said.

  The children climbed to the top of the red rocks and lay on their stomachs to get a better view. The windmill was still at least a half a kilometre away, which was just as well. Hopefully, whoever was out there hadn’t heard them approaching.

  Larry pulled a pair of binoculars from her backpack and had a look.

  ‘White ute!’ she exclaimed. ‘On the other side of the trees.’

  She passed the binoculars to Alice-Miranda beside her.

  ‘It looks like a campsite. There’s a tarp strung up, and one of those portable gas stoves,’ the child said.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Lucas asked. ‘We need a plan to rescue Sprocket.’

  Millie bit her lip. ‘I think an ambush would work best. All of us arriving at once. Come at them from four sides, then Sprocket can make a quick getaway while the other guy’s distracted.’

  ‘What if he’s armed?’ Alice-Miranda said.

  Jacinta looked at her and rolled her eyes. ‘Sprocket won’t shoot us. We’re rescuing him.’

  There were a few giggles. ‘It’s not Sprocket we’re worried about, Jacinta,’ Lucas said.

  Her mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ as she realised what the boy meant.

  No one had thought of that until now, but there was a fairly high likelihood that the person who had taken Sprocket had a weapon. Even Barnaby usually carried a rifle on the motorbike with him as a precautionary measure for livestock issues. Given the local vet was over four hours’ drive away, sometimes euthanasia was the only humane thing to do.

  ‘Even if he does have a gun, he can’t fire at all of us at the same time,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Especially if we surprise them. And maybe we could make a lot of noise too. Hayden do you still have those flares we took when we were searching for Matilda?’

  ‘Yes,’ the boy said. ‘That would be a shock if we let them off.’

  The others agreed. They had to try.

  A shadow momentarily blocked out the sun. Jacinta looked skywards and screamed when she saw a creature with a small furry animal clutched in its talons.

  ‘The pterodactyls are back. Come on, let’s go!’ she urged.

  ‘Jacinta, they’re not pterodactyls,’ Alice-Miranda called after her, but the girl was having none of it.

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ she said, scrambling back down the rocks to the four-wheeler.

  Lucas looked at the others with upturned palms.

  ‘We tried,’ Millie said.

  Minutes later the plan was ready. Hayden would head further out and approach the camp from the north, while the others would fan left and right and Larry would stay on track from the south. The children would arrive at the camp simultaneously from all sides. Hopefully Sprocket would realise it was a distraction and make a run for it. He could get a double back with either Hayden or Larry – whoever was nearest to him.

  The mosquito buzz of the four-stroke engines zipped towards the campsite until they were only metres away.

  A dog began to bark. They couldn’t see it properly, but Rusty jumped off the back of Larry’s bike and ran into the camp, wagging his tail and creating chaos.

  ‘Rusty!’ the girl yelled, but the dog wasn’t listening.

  ‘Oi, get out of here, you mongrel!’ a voice
yelled. A man walked into the clearing. He had bright red hair and wore a blue singlet, stubbies and a dusty pair of workboots with long grey socks.

  Another fellow followed. He was hairy and tanned with a tattoo on his right bicep and a shock of dark curls. Neither of them was Sprocket.

  The kids killed their engines and hopped off their bikes.

  ‘G’day,’ the tattooed bloke said to Larry with a nod. He had a steely gaze and didn’t take his eyes off the girl.

  ‘Hi,’ Larry replied. ‘Just wondering what you’re doing out here. You do know this is private property?’ She eyeballed the man. Alice-Miranda walked over and stood beside her. Millie stayed with the four-wheeler.

  The red-haired fellow ran his tongue around his teeth and turned full circle, wondering why the kids had come from four different directions. ‘Um, we were just camped for the night. On our way through to Oodnadatta.’

  ‘Pretty early to have already set up camp and you’re a long way from the road,’ Hayden said, his brow furrowed. He walked further into the campsite and caught sight of the dog cage. Rusty was barking at the animal inside. It took a moment for the boy to realise that the occupant was no stranger. ‘Blue Dog!’ he called and ran to open the door and let her out. The animal jumped on him and licked his face, then took off with Rusty haring about like two long lost pals.

  Hayden stood up. ‘Where did you get the dog?’ he demanded.

  ‘It wandered into the campsite,’ the hairy bloke replied.

  ‘When?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘A few days . . .’ the skinny fellow started, until he noticed his mate glaring.

  ‘You said you were only camped here for tonight,’ Lucas challenged.

  ‘I meant a few hours . . .’ the man corrected himself, but the kids weren’t buying it.

  ‘Sorry, sir, we haven’t even been properly introduced yet. I’m Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, here visiting our good friends the Lewises who own this property, Hope Springs,’ the child offered her hand to the two very surprised fellows. ‘These are my friends.’ She proceeded to name everyone and explain who lived here and who didn’t. ‘And you are?’

  ‘I’m Muz,’ the skinny bloke said with a grin, ‘and he’s Col.’

  ‘Sheesh, way to go telling them our real names,’ the bigger bloke mumbled to himself softly, but Alice-Miranda caught it.

  ‘Why wouldn’t you tell us your real names?’ she asked. ‘Unless you have something to hide.’

  ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about, miss,’ the man said. ‘I didn’t say a word.’

  Lucas had wandered around the camp and noticed there seemed to a big pile of tin cans and other rubbish. Certainly more than one morning’s worth.

  ‘We were wondering if you’ve seen anyone out here today. They were driving a white ute with a dog cage on the back,’ Larry said, her eyes drilling holes in the pair.

  They both shook their heads.

  ‘Haven’t seen a soul,’ Col said. ‘Although we noticed some dust swirling to the east a little while back. Thought it must have been a willy willy, but out here it’s always hard to tell.’

  ‘Okay,’ Larry said. ‘We’ll be taking the dog with us. She belongs to our neighbours.’

  ‘Oh, that’s good to know. Appreciate if you could. She’s been eating us out of house and home,’ Muz said.

  ‘I thought you said she only arrived today,’ Hayden frowned. These guys had to be the worst liars he’d ever come across.

  ‘Yeah, but she was hungry,’ the other bloke said. ‘Reckon she would have cleaned us out if we’d kept opening tins for her.’

  Alice-Miranda had a strange feeling that there was a lot more to the story than these two were letting on. She looked closely at the camp and their swags and the ute. She nudged Larry and raised her chin towards the tray. The tailgate was down and they could see inside.

  Larry let out a tiny gasp. Both girls had noticed the same thing. A toolbox with Saxby Downs written on the side.

  She mouthed the word ‘water’ to Alice-Miranda.

  Alice-Miranda’s eyes widened. ‘You think they’re tampering with the bores?’ she whispered, remembering what Hugh had told her while explaining what the men had found just before Lawrence was bitten. They needed to play this cool or they risked having the pair take off, never to be seen again – or worse if they realised the kids knew what they were up to.

  ‘I think we should call the police,’ Larry whispered. ‘Get Millie to take a picture.’

  Alice-Miranda nodded.

  ‘Well, it was very nice to meet you, Col and Muz, but we should get going. It’s a long way back to the homestead,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  The men gave a wave. She and Larry went to leave when it was Alice-Miranda’s turn to gasp. Slung over one of the camp chairs was a blanket – the same as the one Matilda had been wrapped in when she was found in the machinery shed.

  She spun back around. ‘You didn’t happen to come across a little girl out here a few days ago?’ Alice-Miranda asked, watching their reactions carefully.

  ‘A little girl!’ Muz exclaimed. ‘Why would a little girl be out here wandering about on her own? That’s not very safe now, is it?’

  Anyone would have thought he was auditioning for a part in a soap opera, given his horrible overacting.

  ‘She was lost but someone brought her to the homestead at Hope Springs. The police are very keen to speak to whoever it was,’ the child said.

  Col’s eyes didn’t leave the ground. He shook his head. ‘Nope, told ya we only just got here this morning. Haven’t seen any kids out here except you lot.’

  Alice-Miranda didn’t believe a word of it. And neither did the others.

  ‘Is she okay?’ Muz asked. ‘The little girl.’

  ‘She’s fine,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘She’s been chatting away telling everyone about her big adventure.’

  The other kids turned and stared, wondering what she was playing at.

  ‘But that little girl’s de . . .’ Muz started, then clamped his hand over his mouth.

  ‘Gotcha!’ Alice-Miranda pointed her finger at him. ‘I knew you weren’t telling the truth. That blanket is the same as the one Matilda was lying on when she was found. Uncle Barnaby said that it hadn’t come from their property.’

  Hayden grinned. Alice-Miranda was so smart. He would have never thought to trap them like that.

  The man gulped and looked like a five-year-old who’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. ‘I swear, we didn’t hurt her or anything. We gave her some food and took her home,’ he babbled.

  Alice-Miranda drew herself up taller. ‘What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just bring her to the door.’

  The last thing Muz and Col needed was to have the police pay them a visit. But maybe if they explained the situation – well, their imaginary version of events – to the kids, they’d keep it to themselves and that’d be the end of it. Because if the police got involved, undoubtedly one thing would lead to another and the two of them would be in a mess of trouble.

  ‘Would you kids like some tea and a biscuit?’ Col asked. ‘We’ll tell you the whole story.’ He looked at Muz with a glare that said he was planning to do all the talking.

  Alice-Miranda whispered to Larry. ‘Let’s hear what they have to say for themselves. They’re not the sharpest pair, but they’ll be worried about us getting the police if we let on that we know what they’ve been up to – apart from the fact that they found Matilda and didn’t tell anyone.’

  Larry called the others over to her while Col boiled the billy on the camp stove and Muz set about finding mugs. Alice-Miranda offered to help while Larry explained to the others in hushed tones exactly who she and Alice-Miranda thought they were and what they were planning to do about it.

  The men admitted they’d been camped there for a few days, but their story was surprising.

  They said they were hiding out from someone they’d offended at one of the roadh
ouses on the way from Alice Springs. Even though they swore they hadn’t done anything wrong, the owner said he was getting the police after them, so they decided to lay low for a while on their way up north.

  ‘Which roadhouse?’ Millie asked.

  ‘Um, Cadney . . .’ Col began, but at the exact same time Muz chimed in with, ‘Kulgera.’

  Col glared at Muz. ‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

  ‘We’ve been there,’ Jacinta said.

  ‘So you had a fight with Wally and his wife, Sharon,’ Millie said. ‘They’re an interesting couple.’

  ‘She knows everything about everyone,’ Larry said. ‘And isn’t afraid to share it.’

  ‘Yeah, great,’ Col said, though pursed lips. Of all the roadhouses, Muz had to mention one the kids were familiar with. Boofhead.

  ‘So what happened?’ Lucas said.

  The two men exchanged nervous glances. ‘Um, she accused me of not paying for my beer, which I absolutely did and so I got a bit hot under the collar and we had words,’ Col said. ‘Nothing really.’

  Muz leaned forward and decided to add some colour to the story, much to Col’s horror.

  ‘Well, there was more to it than that, wasn’t there, mate?’ he said.

  ‘No, there wasn’t,’ Col snapped.

  ‘Yeah, there was.’ Muz nodded, a dopey grin plastered across his face. ‘Sharon came at Col and threw a left hook and he went down like a bag of spuds, so I leapt up on the counter and it was on for young and old, and the place got properly busted up,’ he blurted.

  ‘You finished?’ Col glared at his friend again. ‘Can’t just leave things alone, can you, mate?’

  Muz shrugged, wondering what he’d done wrong. He’d always been taught never to let the truth get in the way of a good story and he was particularly enjoying making this one up.

  The children looked at one another.

  ‘You know violence never fixed anything,’ Jacinta said.