by Di Morrissey
‘Be a very brave girl for me.’ With that, he cut into her leg as quickly as he could. Shirley couldn’t help but scream out, but her father held her steady. Then he lowered his head over the wound and sucked her blood, spitting the poisonous venom onto the ground.
‘My poor baby,’ he said as Shirley sobbed in his arms. He lay her on the front seat of his old truck and drove as fast as he could past the trees and onto the dirt track that led into town.
‘I’ll be all right, won’t I, Daddy,’ said Shirley, sounding weak. Albert hoped that this was from shock rather than anything else.
The drive into town seemed interminable, although it could not have been more than thirty minutes, but at last he came to a halt outside a small shack with a corrugated-iron roof and wooden walls, where the bush nurse was based. Carrying Shirley in his arms he dashed inside.
‘Nurse! Please help me.’
‘Here I am, now what’s happened here? Hello, young lady,’ she said as Albert brought his pale daughter into the room that served as a clinic.
‘Snake bite,’ said Albert.
‘Here, on her ankle?’
‘Yes, it happened in a mine shaft. It was dark.’
‘Hmm.’ The nurse unrolled the cloth bandage which was now soaked in blood. She swabbed the wound to reveal the angry red bite.
‘We’ll give her what we’ve got and hope it’s the right thing. We don’t know for sure it was a poisonous snake, do we, dear?’ she said cheerfully to Shirley.
Albert shook his head, smoothing Shirley’s perspiring face. ‘I killed it. I should have brought it in. Then we’d know.’
Albert sat by Shirley’s side as she slept fitfully. Hours passed. The nurse brought him a mug of tea and regularly checked Shirley’s pulse and temperature.
‘Do you want some sleep?’ she asked Albert, who just shook his head. There was no way he would leave his daughter’s side.
In the early hours of the morning, Shirley seemed better. Her breathing seemed more normal, and her fever less. At last Albert closed his eyes and slept. With a jolt he awakened as the nurse bustled in. Bright light shone in the street outside the window. He leant across and touched Shirley’s forehead, relieved to find it cool and normal.
‘She’s come through it just fine,’ said the nurse quietly. ‘Obviously she didn’t get much venom or it wasn’t a very poisonous snake. Go and get yourself some breakfast at the café. I’ll watch her. Bring her back something to eat. She’ll be hungry when she wakes up.’
When Albert returned with a sandwich and some milk for his daughter, he was overjoyed to see her sitting up in the bed, chatting to the nurse and a man with his arm in a sling.
‘Ah, Mr Mason,’ smiled the nurse. ‘Shirley was just telling us all about what happened. I would say that she’s had a lucky escape, thanks to your prompt action.’
‘How are you feeling?’ Albert asked Shirley.
‘I’m fine, Daddy. But my ankle’s sore. This is Mr Price. He’s injured his wrist,’ she told her father.
The nurse looked at Shirley. ‘Probably best that you stay until this afternoon. Just to keep an eye on you. But I’m confident that everything’s fine.’
Albert looked relieved. ‘I don’t know how to thank you, nurse. I was so worried. If anything happened to Shirley, I would never forgive myself.’
The nurse smiled. ‘Well, nothing did happen. Now you just give that food to Shirley. I bet she’s very hungry.’
It was late afternoon when they drove back into the camp. They saw that several campfires had been lit as the miners started to prepare their evening meal. But others would work much later, until tiredness and cold drove them back to their camp. Everything looked normal and Albert breathed a sigh of relief as he patted Shirley’s knee.
‘Now, where were we?’
She smiled. ‘Digging up opal, Daddy.’
‘You stay here in the tent and have a bit of a rest. I’ll go back down the mine and tidy up.’
‘No. I want to come.’
‘All right,’ said Albert, realising that the little girl didn’t want to be left by herself. ‘Let’s drive over to it and save ourselves the walk.’
So instead of walking the few hundred yards from their tent to their claim, Albert drove across the rough patch of ground, the truck bouncing over ruts and holes.
At the entrance to their shaft he stopped and put his hand on Shirley’s shoulder. ‘You wait up here. I won’t be long.’ He pulled a new candle from his pocket, made sure he had his matches and climbed down the ladder.
Shirley waited and when Albert seemed to have been gone a long time, she called out, ‘I’m coming down, Daddy.’
‘No! Stay there, Shirley,’ shouted her father. ‘I’m coming up.’
Shirley was shocked by the harsh-sounding command and stood back as she saw her father’s hat and broad shoulders appear at the top of the shaft. He climbed out and immediately slumped to the ground.
‘Daddy! What’s the matter? Another snake . . . ?’
Her father dropped his face in his hands and his shoulders shook. She flung herself at him. ‘Daddy? What’s wrong?’
Finally Albert lifted his head and stared at her. ‘It’s gone. They’ve taken the lot.’
‘What?’ Then the little girl realised. ‘Our opals? All the opals? Are they gone?’
He nodded. ‘Ratters. I’ve told you about them, how men sneak into mines and steal other people’s opal.
I suppose that it was an open invitation to them, leaving everything unsecured. We left in a bit of a rush.’ He tried to smile and his expression squeezed Shirley’s heart so tight she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
‘Oh, Daddy. I’m sorry. The snake . . . I’m sorry.’ Tears ran down her cheeks.
Albert reached out and took her hand. ‘Heavens, it’s not your fault, sweet pea. You’re far more important than opals and we had to get you into town.’
Shirley jumped to her feet, blazing with anger. ‘They are bad men, bad. Let’s find them. Let’s go over there. Maybe Mr Gordon saw the bad men . . .’
Albert tried to soothe her. ‘Not right now. I can guarantee no one saw or heard anything,’ he said in a resigned voice.
‘But how did they take it away? All the rocks? What about the ones we found, Daddy, that were in the bucket?’
‘Gone. They’ve taken the bucket, too. Would’ve been handy,’ he said bitterly. ‘Most of my tools are gone, too.’
‘Can we find some more opal?’
‘I doubt it. I can see where the seam ran out. They’ve worked through the night and cleaned out the run.’
‘We still have our eggs, Daddy?’
He tapped the pocket of his work pants. ‘Yes. We’ll take them home and get them cleaned up.’
‘Maybe something is left here . . .’ She bent down and picked up a piece of clay from the top of the mullock heap.
‘Leave it, Shirley.’
Albert drove the truck back over the rock-strewn terrain to where many of the miners had their camp. He jumped from the truck and strode towards one of the campfires.
‘You stay in the truck,’ he told Shirley.
The men around the fire looked at him, their faces non-committal. Gordon tipped his hat back on his head.
‘Evening. Care for a mug of brew?’
‘No, thank you, Mr Gordon.’
‘How’s the little girl? We heard she was bitten by a snake. I seen a big ’un down a mine once,’ said the man squatting next to Gordon.
‘My daughter is all right, but when I had to leave for town in a hurry, I didn’t have time to secure my mine. When we got back, it had been ratted,’ said Albert bluntly.
‘You bottomed on opal then?’ queried Gordon.
‘A decent patch. Now it’s cleaned out.’
The men shook their heads. ‘Dunno how that happened. Didn’t see anyone around here,’ said the man next to Gordon.
‘Did any strangers come through? Did you hear anything? There’s less tha
n a quarter of a mile between here and my mine,’ said Albert. ‘You must have seen or heard something.’
‘I hope you’re not accusing us?’ said Gordon, his face starting to redden.
‘I’m simply asking if anyone knows anything before I report the theft to the police,’ said Albert, turning as Shirley crept forward, putting her little hand into his. Albert glanced down at her. ‘I thought I told you to stay in the truck.’ But his voice was gentle, so Shirley stayed.
‘Better ask Harry over there. His place is nearest yours,’ said Gordon. He gave a shrill whistle. ‘Harry! Smoko!’
‘Did you see the bad men who stole our opals?’ Shirley asked Gordon.
‘Sorry, girlie. If anyone was in your mine last night, I don’t know about it.’
Harry, known on the field as Hopeless, stuck his head out of his tent. ‘What’s up?’
‘The Professor has a question for you,’ said Gordon.
Harry clambered out of his tent and ambled across to them. ‘Heard you had to hurry into town yesterday. Snake, eh?’
‘Seems news gets around. Did you also hear that I’d been ratted?’ asked Albert.
‘Ratted, eh? Bastards. So you were on opal?’ He glanced towards Albert’s mine.
‘See anyone? Hear anything?’ asked Gordon.
‘If I did, I wouldn’t tangle with them,’ said Harry. ‘Could be dangerous buggers.’
‘But if you heard something, surely you would have raised the alarm?’ said Albert grimly.
‘Dunno. It wasn’t till this morning I was told you and the girlie had gone to town. I thought you were working last night.’
‘Last night? You heard working in my mine? I never work at night,’ said Albert.
Harry shrugged. ‘Gordon said you were heading back east soon. Thought you were having a last go.’
‘Did you see anyone, a vehicle?’ demanded Albert.
‘Heard a truck. Thought you were coming back and working. None of my business,’ said Harry.
Albert stared at the tightly closed faces of the men.
‘I see. I hope that if any of you get ratted, your mates will be as helpful as you have been to me. Come on, Shirley.’
Shirley and her father climbed back into the truck and Albert drove towards their tent.
‘Did those men steal our opals, Daddy?’
‘I don’t know. But they knew it was going on.’
‘Are we going to tell a policeman?’ asked Shirley.
‘I’ll report it, but it won’t do much good. I’ll speak to some of the fellows in town who buy rough and nubs, just in case. But I don’t think our opals will be offered around here. Never mind, we’ll just have to make the best of it.’
Shirley heard the frustration in his voice and said sadly, ‘I’m sorry, Daddy. ’Bout the snake.’
‘Oh, sweet pea, I’ve told you before. It wasn’t your fault. These things just can’t be helped. Main thing is, you’re all right.’ He paused. ‘I know one thing for sure, though. As soon as we leave the camp, there’ll be a bunch of new claims pegged near our mine.’
‘What are we going to do, Daddy?’
‘We’re going home to see Mummy and baby Geoffrey and sell those nobbies and start somewhere else next holidays. That’s what we’ll do.’
‘Will we find more opals in our new mine?’ asked Shirley dubiously.
‘You know, I think we might try a new place. I’ve heard about another spot, Opal Lake. Tucked away, past White Cliffs. Might try our luck out there, eh? We both have to work hard at school and then we’ll be off. We’ll start over, Shirley. If you get knocked down, you get up and start again.’
They packed up their tent and loaded their things into the back of the old truck. As they left, Shirley bent down and picked up a stone and put it into her pocket. It was valueless but it would remain with her for years as a talisman and a reminder that life was not always fair and just.
On the long drive back to the city, Shirley fingered the five beautiful nobbies. Her father told her opals were like a fire that spread and ate you up. Once seen, never forgotten. Like a warm fire on a cold winter’s night, they drew you to their fierce and alluring flame. Maybe in this place called Opal Lake they would find more of them.
7
IN THE MOONLIGHT THE TWO figures, etched black against the silver stretch of the still lake, stood transfixed.
‘Remember tonight, Shirley. It might be a long time before you see it like this again,’ said Albert softly to his daughter.
‘It’s like a picture from my fairytale book,’ said the little girl, holding her father’s hand.
‘The big rain this winter finally reached Opal Lake.
I don’t expect it’s been like this for a long time.’
‘But it is a lake, so it should have water in it,’ said Shirley.
‘Out here, in the west, it’s very dry and the water only flows after massive rains. It’s not often that it gets as far as this lake.’
‘Can we stay here till the morning? I want to see it in the daytime.’
‘You bet. We can throw down our sleeping bags and I’ll fetch some wood and light a little campfire.’
Shirley sighed. ‘I’m so glad we came here, Daddy. This is much nicer than that camp at Lightning Ridge.’ She stopped, sorry that she’d reminded her father of their ratted mine. Her father had promised he’d find a new place to mine. She hoped these holidays would be better than the last ones. Shirley had worried that her mother wouldn’t let them come away again after the episode with the snake, but her mother had been pleased with the beautiful nobbies they’d found, and whatever her father had told her had appeased her enough that she agreed to their coming on another trip.
‘I’ll get my bag. Are we going to live out here?’ asked Shirley, heading for their truck.
‘Not here at the lake. Tomorrow we’ll head into town and get our claim organised.’
Together they sat at the edge of the shimmering lake, the light from their campfire dancing on the surface of the shallow water.
‘It looks really deep. Could there be a huge monster down below, like a dinosaur?’
‘Not any more, sweetie. They were here a long time ago.’
‘I’d love to see one,’ sighed Shirley.
‘Well, in the morning we’ll have a good look at the lake and see what’s out there. Now you snuggle down. It will get chilly later, so I’ll put another log on the fire. When we wake up, we’ll watch the sun rise. How special will that be?’
‘It’ll be good, Daddy. Night, night.’
‘Sleep tight, sweet pea.’
Shirley wriggled into the kapok padded bag and curled up like a fat caterpillar beside her father. He lowered a log into the embers of the fire and together they watched its small red sparks flare into the sky, matching the stars for brilliance. Sleepily Shirley watched these red jewels sparkle and disappear. They reminded her of the red fire that danced in the heart of opals. She hoped this new place would lead them to more beautiful opals. But for Shirley it was also very, very special to be so far away from home, alone with her father in such a magic spot. She knew she’d always remember this time.
The smell of the fire and the crackling of wood woke her. It was still dark, but the sky was tinged a deep indigo, so she knew that daylight was not too far away. From the warmth of her cocoon she watched her father throw tea leaves into the bubbling billycan. Seeing she was awake Albert smiled at her and lifted the billycan with a thick rag. With an extended arm, he swung the pot of brew around in a circle.
‘That’ll settle the tea leaves,’ he said.
Shirley laughed. ‘Do it again, Daddy.’ She loved it when her father did one of his campfire tricks.
They toasted thick chunks of bread on a stick and smeared them with golden syrup.
‘Here they come, the bridesmaids dancing attendance on the queen, leading her towards her throne in the sky,’ said Albert, pointing to the horizon. ‘First the ladies in lilac, then rosebud pink and th
en pale gold.’
Shirley watched the sun rise, its colours running together more quickly, as a cloud of deep scarlet began staining the low sky. ‘There it is,’ she cried excitedly as the first gold rim of the day glinted over the horizon.
Hugging their mugs of tea, father and daughter sat, dwarfed by the enormity of the pageant marching across the sky. But they were not the only audience. Seemingly from nowhere, thousands of birds began to awaken.
‘How do they know about the lake?’ whispered Shirley as small birds flitted, others screeched and called, and – presiding over them all – pelicans glided and then splashed to a skidding halt in the shallows. The sky had suddenly come alive with darting birds, and the shining surface of the lake was ruffled as they jostled to find their own stretch of glistening water.
‘Unbelievable,’ sighed Albert. ‘What a magnificent sight. They must have come from miles away. They know, they just know about the water. I don’t know how, but it’s wonderful.’
After breakfast, as the novelty of the scene wore off, Shirley raced through the shallow water, laughing joyously as flocks of birds rose and resettled. She waded far out into the lake, heeding the warnings of her father to watch out for submerged logs.
‘It’s so clear, Daddy. I can see everything on the bottom. There’s little funny fish in here, too. And tadpoles.’
Eventually Shirley was persuaded that it was time to leave and push on to the tiny township of Opal Lake to find somewhere to stay, get supplies and then take up their claim.
‘I’ve only seen markings on a map, so I don’t know what to expect,’ Albert told Shirley as the old truck churned through the soft soil towards the faint tracks through the scrub.
The sun was high and hot by the time they saw the small hills and cluster of buildings that marked the little town. Beside one rise they saw what they realised was a deep mine because of its large mullock heaps. On the hills they could see diggings that signified a rabbit warren of mines burrowed into the hillside.
‘Looks a bit different from the Ridge.’
‘I don’t see many camps,’ said Shirley. ‘And that windlass has two handles.’
