Ross River Fever

by Christopher Cummings

  Forman yelled an obscenity and added: “You turds will pay for that!”

  “And you will pay for what you did to Jill!” Mark shouted back. Andrew again shoved him and he at last turned and started walking.

  Forman screamed another obscenity and went on: “That’s nothin’ to what will happen to her. You shits dob on us ter the coppers and you will regret it, an’ so will she. We’ll do her over good an’ proper!”

  Andrew shook his head and looked back. As he did the three thugs started walking towards them. Andrew had to bite back the sharp comments that trembled on the tip of his angry tongue.

  Forman shouted again; “Go on! Run ya gutless turds. An’ don’t tell the cops, or it’ll be your bodies they start fishin’ out of the river!”

  The threat shocked Andrew. He went cold from fear and tried to keep control of his feet. Another glance back revealed that the gang had reached the track junction behind them. Worse still he saw that Shaun had drawn a knife and the sight of the sunlight winking on the blade made his blood run cold.

  The three thugs stopped at the track junction and seemed unsure what to do next. Andrew had no doubts. “Walk faster! We have to get out of here to get the police,” he hissed to his friends.

  The three friends increased their pace and rounded a bend which partly hid them from view. The thugs sounded as though they were having an argument. Then another horrible thought came to Andrew. ‘My tracks! They will see my footprints in the mud at their tree!’ He silently cursed himself for being so careless and for not obliterating them. ‘Now they will know we have discovered their hideout and they will clear out!’

  “Come on!” he snapped. “Run! We have to get the police before they clear out!”

  It went against the grain to run but fear lent them strength and speed. Mark objected. “I hate this! It just seems gutless!”

  “I know. But they have knives and I’ll bet they’d use them,” Andrew replied. “Now save you breath and run.”

  He glanced back and saw that Shaun and Forman had appeared at the bend in the track. They were also running but were fifty metres behind. “Here they come! They are chasing us!” Andrew gasped.

  The others glanced back and at once increased speed. Andrew began to mentally prepare himself for the fight of his life. ‘Only two,’ he noted. ‘I’ll bet Jay has gone to get the other two.’

  That made him consider their position. For sure the thugs would know all the tracks. ‘They will probably send two along the track beside the river. We had better get back to our bikes.’ So thinking he looked ahead and studied the ground. Off to the right-front the ground sloped up through open bush to a low hill which he guessed was at the bend in the gravel road. Their bikes were beyond that. Sudden doubts assailed him. The bikes seemed a long way off and he wondered if they had the stamina to run that far. Martin appeared to be slowing already.

  As these thoughts raced through Andrew’s mind he heard Jay yelling down along the river bank. ‘He is calling Drew and Troy,’ he decided. This helped him keep running. After a hundred metres he was in trouble. By then he was gasping for breath and a painful stitch was developing. Sweat trickled salt into his eyes and he could feel himself weakening. The wound in his leg began to hurt. Martin and Mark were still running as well but the worst thing Andrew noted was that the real pain was the shame of running away.

  He glanced back and saw with relief that both Forman and Shaun had stopped running. ‘They aren’t all that fit either,’ he thought thankfully. “Slow down! Get your breath back,” he called. Mark and Martin both looked back and slowed to a walk. Martin was very red in the face and looked quite puffed. For the next two hundred metres they continued at a fast walk, the two thugs following at the same speed.

  As he strode along Andrew studied the ground. He was trying to keep track of where they were. The track they were following had dipped across a shallow gully which then ran parallel to them on their left. The track divided and the left fork went into the bed of the gully, which appeared to get deeper and to be lined with big trees.

  ‘I think I know where we are,’ he decided. Then it hit him. ‘Those other thugs can run along the tracks beside the river and get ahead of us. They could cut us off!’ The geometry of the place became clear in his head. Both lots of tracks ran roughly parallel along the river bank. Gleesons Weir was now only a few hundred metres ahead. Their bikes were up the slope to the right-front.

  “Follow me,” he ordered, jogging past the other two and cutting off the track to run cross-country. He chose a course which went diagonally up the gentle slope of the low hill. The ground was partly bare and partly covered in waist-high grass. It was easy to run through but the ground was soft and muddy.

  “What’s up?” Mark asked as he broke into a run behind him.

  “The other thugs might cut us off by going along the river bank,” Andrew replied. Even as he did he heard Forman shouting for Drew and Jay and there were answering yells from amongst the trees almost level with him on his left.

  The sound spurred the three friends into full speed. Andrew looked back and saw that Forman and Shaun were also racing after them in hot pursuit, and appeared to be gaining. Shouting amongst the trees indicated the location of the other thugs. They were too close for comfort and even as he glanced in that direction Andrew glimpsed running figures among the undergrowth. There were angry shouts from Troy and Jay, who came racing across towards them.

  ‘If we hadn’t turned we would have run fair into them!’ Andrew realized with a shock. He was cold with fear now and was starting to run with desperation. Five against three would be a massacre!

  “Run! We must beat them to our bikes!” he gasped. He urged Martin and Mark to keep running. Martin was gasping audibly and slowing down. Andrew looked at him anxiously. ‘If he falls behind we must stop and fight!’ he decided with sick realization. He slowed to stay with him and to his relief so did Mark.

  They sprinted across a low gully, leapt the remains of a barbed wire fence and crossed a trail bike track running down from the crest of the hill. The grass scratched and scraped at his bare legs but anxiety kept him going. Even the fear of snakes, which would normally have made him go as slow as though he were walking in a minefield, was thrust aside by the knowledge of real peril close behind. Andrew did not believe the thugs would kill them but he did think they would give them a severe bashing and he did not relish the prospect.

  After another hundred paces they were only half way up the long slope to where he thought the bikes were hidden and it was obvious that Martin would not make the distance at the run. He was staggering and panting and his skin was flushed red. Andrew glanced behind. To his relief he saw that the thugs had joined into one straggling group and that Drew had slowed to a walk. The others were strung out over fifty metres, Shaun and Troy being the closest, then Forman and Jay.

  “Slow down,” Andrew called. Mark and Martin slowed at once and looked back.

  “We can fight them,” Mark gasped.

  “Not all of them,” Andrew panted back. “Only the first one; and we’ve got to injure him so badly he can’t fight again before the others catch up.”

  That was a sickening and sobering prospect. Andrew steeled himself for the necessity and wondered exactly how to go about it. He looked back and saw that only Shaun and Troy were now running. Shaun was only thirty metres behind and closing fast.

  “OK, turn and take him!” Andrew cried. The three spun around and faced their pursuers. Shaun realized his peril instantly and stopped at once, chest heaving and eyes glaring hate.

  Andrew realized they could not wait. “Keep going now,” he ordered. The three turned and walked as quickly as they could. Shaun followed at the same pace till Troy caught up with him. Andrew kept looking back, sizing up the situation. The closest thugs were only fifty paces behind, close enough to hear their breathing. Forman and Jay were about twice that and Drew about a hundred and twenty. The situation was bad.

  Andrew muttered t
o the others, who walked on either side of him: “We have to make a clean break when we reach the bikes. If even one of us is caught we all have to stay and fight. Get your breath back and when I say run, go for your life.”

  The others gasped agreement and they hurried on through the long grass and across the rough ground as fast as they could walk. The situation remained the same for the next hundred metres. Andrew kept casting anxious glances at Shaun and Troy and judged they were getting ready for a sprint to overtake them.

  The line of the gravel road along the power line appeared ahead through the trees. Andrew noted a large, white reservoir on the hill slope beyond and that gave him a reference point to the bicycles. “Get ready,” he puffed.

  At that moment Shaun and Troy suddenly sprang forward in a flat run. Andrew heard them and cried: “Wait till I say!” He looked over his shoulder and judged when the two were only 25 paces back. “Now!” he called. They sprinted forward. Andrew heard footfalls close behind and glanced back. Shaun was only a couple of paces behind. Fear helped. Andrew forced his legs to pump frantically. For a moment he thought he had miscalculated but they all just managed to keep a few paces ahead of Shaun.

  Martin began to slow but Mark grabbed his arm and urged him on. They leapt a ditch, sprinted through long grass and dodged trees in a frantic burst of energy. Little by little they drew away from Troy but Shaun kept pace with them. Forman and Jay were now fifty paces back and Drew was nowhere to be seen.

  Andrew’s mind raced as he tried to work out how to find the bikes, get them to the road, mount them and get away before clutching hands had one of them. His eyes scanned the grass ahead for sign of the hidden bikes. The scar of the dirt road leading to the weir came into sight to his left-front.

  “Up to the right,” he gasped. They swung right and ran parallel to the track. And there were the bikes. Andrew dashed to his and scooped it up. Using brute strength he dragged it up and out of the long grass. By an effort of willpower he kept on running, the bike bouncing along over stones and clumps beside him. To his relief Mark and Martin both managed to grab a bike each and kept going without being caught by Shaun, who had fallen back to about ten paces behind.

  They burst out onto the gravel road and ran along it. Andrew looked back and saw that Troy was about twenty paces back. Once again he considered how to incapacitate Shaun before Troy could come to his help. Mark had somehow leapt onto his bike and started pedalling and Martin now performed the same feat of gymnastics. Andrew ran along trying to judge the moment. The bike bounced and shuddered on the rough gravel surface. A mistake would see him down and in the thug’s clutches.

  Heart in mouth he leapt, landing painfully astride the seat. For a moment he thought he would black out as pain seared through him but he managed to hang on and to get his feet on the pedals. With a frantic surge of effort he began pedalling, even as Shaun sprinted forward and reached for him.

  And then they were clear.

  As soon as they picked up speed they were safe. Shaun slowed to a stop and shouted taunts and obscenities at them. Andrew burned with shame at the insults but kept pedalling. The three friends kept going for a hundred metres before slowing. Andrew then looked back and saw that Shaun and Troy were standing on the road watching them. The next time he looked back they had turned and were walking back into the bush.

  “Keep going!” he gasped. “We must get the police before they have time to clear out.”

  “How?” Mark asked.

  “Nearest phone,” Andrew panted back.

  Martin pointed ahead. “Uni gate,” he added.

  Martin took over the lead and turned them into the university entrance road, ignoring the fact that he led them the wrong way along a one-way road. They arrived at a security check-point almost exhausted. There was a small guard hut with boom gates in the middle of the road. A security guard stepped out as they approached. Martin jumped off his bike and cried: “Police!”, then fell gasping on the grass.

  Mark was the least winded and he tried to explain things but it came out as a flow of disjointed words. Only after the friends had recovered their breath could Andrew make clear to the man what they wanted. The guard at once went into the guard hut, still eyeing them suspiciously, to pick up the phone.

  More problems followed. The police apparently had more important things to worry about than three kids running away from some bullies. Andrew leaned panting against the door frame and said to the guard: “Can I talk to the police please?”

  The guard handed him the phone and he stood, alternately shivering and sweating, while he explained who the thugs were and who he was. He asked for Sgt Bailey and was switched through to him. After an explanation he was told to stay there.

  Andrew handed the phone back and went outside to flop down beside the others. They lay there for the next five minutes until they had recovered their breath. After that they sat up and recounted the story to the security guard. Minutes ticked by and Andrew became anxious.

  “If they don’t hurry up the gang will be gone,” he muttered angrily.

  The security guard grunted. “I suspect the police have other things to do as well,” he replied.

  Andrew shook his head in exasperation. The thugs had now come to dominate his thoughts and he badly wanted them caught before he went back to Cairns. ‘That is only a week away,’ he thought.

  It was twenty minutes before a police car arrived. An inspector whose name Andrew did not catch was in it with Sgt Bailey. The inspector and Sgt Bailey quickly questioned them, then asked them to point out where the gang’s camp was on the map.

  “Can we drive there?” the inspector asked.

  Andrew shook his head. “You might in a four-wheel drive.”

  “Can you show us where this camp is?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good. Leave your bikes here and get in,” the inspector ordered. The boys obeyed at once. As they did Sgt Bailey, who had been talking on the radio, reported that they had cars watching the other ends of both Gleesons Weir and the Black Weir. That mollified Andrew somewhat. The police had been acting after all.

  The police car drove back out to the gavel road. Andrew was surprised to see four other police cars there, including a ‘Paddy Wagon’ and a van with dogs in it. That cheered him even more. The police were taking it all very seriously.

  Five minutes later they were at the place where their bikes had been hidden. One police car was sent on ahead and they all climbed out. Andrew was thrilled to see that, not only was there a police dog, but also two policemen in dark blue uniforms who were wearing bullet-proof vests and had rifles.

  The group set off down towards the riverbank. As they got closer two of the eight police were sent to follow the track along from Gleesons Weir, including one of the men with rifles. Andrew described the track system and the police kept in touch by radios, the group splitting up so that every track was covered.

  By the time they re-entered the ‘forest’ along the river bank Andrew was very excited. He felt a fierce exultation at the thought of catching the thugs. He wiped sweat from his face and slapped at mosquitoes. Everything seemed to be very clear and moving slowly. He could plainly see trees on the slopes of Mt Stuart, and noted grey curtains of rain in the distance.

  Within another twenty minutes they were at the cottonwood tree. The police went first now, walking in along the branches. The Inspector noted the skull with a grunt. At the rope the police did not waste time. They just trampled through the reeds to the grove of trees. The boys followed. Andrew wanted them to go slow and to try to creep up but couldn’t bring himself to say so. The inspector was an intimidating man who did not look like he would take kindly to advice.

  It did not matter. When they arrived at the camp a few minutes later there was no-one there. Both the tents were gone and most of the camping gear.

  Andrew felt a sharp pang of disappointment. “They must have gone by canoe,” he cried. “They can’t have gone far!” He indicated the track leading t
o the river. The police dog was loosed and flashed off along it, followed by the police and then the boys. The track only went twenty metres long and ended under a low tree at a muddy ‘beach’. The marks of canoes were plain to see, and also the twisting channel they must have followed to reach the open river.

  “Call your people on the other bank!” Andrew blurted out, losing his awe in his annoyance. “People over there must have seen the canoes!”

  The inspector gave Andrew a cold glance but did so. He told his people to go to every house across the river between the two weirs and to warn them and question them. Then he spoke on his radio. In almost instant response to this a helicopter appeared low overhead and went roaring off along the river searching.

  The police dog was set to sniffing but this drew no more clues although it led them out to the track. Satisfied that the gang were not hiding in the reeds the inspector told the dog-handler to backtrack the scent it had.

  Andrew reminded the inspector said that the thugs had come along that track from the Black Weir.

  The inspector nodded. “Doesn’t matter. We have to follow every lead,” he replied. He was clearly annoyed and slapped angrily at a mosquito. Then he looked at his uniform which was stained with mud and sweat and swore. Two police were sent back to search the camp again and to collect what they could from there.

  The group then walked along the tracks to the end of the Black Weir. As they did the helicopter went past going upstream. At the end of the weir they stopped and looked around. Two police stood at the far end of the weir, their car visible nearby. The dog was told to cast around but kept returning to the end of the weir. The scent was lost there because of the ankle deep water flowing over it.

  The Inspector eyed the water and grunted. “You say you saw these thugs walked across here?”

  “Yes sir,” Mark replied.

  The inspector gestured to the swirl of water below the wall. “Bloody stupid. They are damned lucky they didn’t slip off. I wish stupid kids would stop taking risks like that.”