Ross River Fever

by Christopher Cummings

  Here the river was about a hundred metres wide. A bitumen bike track ran along the top of the bank to the school. The river bank dropped steeply and he could not see down onto the bank from where he was. The river came around on the left of the school to flow over the Black Weir in a shimmering white cascade. Then it flowed directly towards him until almost level, at which point it curved away again to head down to Gleesons Weir.

  Across the river was the area of bush and thick scrub that they had explored two days earlier. This continued on upstream beyond the weir.

  “Where exactly did the bullies go Toad?” he asked.

  “They come walkin’ along Bamford Lane there, then cut across the road here and went down over the top of the bank near that tree,” Toad indicated.

  “Three of them you said?”

  “Yeah. That Forman bastard, an’ his cronies Troy an’ Shaun.”

  “You are sure?”

  Toad looked offended. “Course! I seen ‘em hundreds of times. They’se even bin ter my place.”

  “Why?” asked the astonished Andrew.

  “’Cause Troy an’ me brother is in the same class, least they was,” Toad replied.

  Having studied the situation Andrew moved back along the fence to where the others stood in the shade of a tree. He ignored the hundreds of passing cars as being of no consequence to them. They were just adults.

  “I’m going to have a look but we need to split up to watch all their escape routes. Martin, how about you and Carmen go back along that street just back there?” He studied the map to find its name. “This one, Moondarga Drive, then along Arinya Street to where you can watch Gleesons Weir. Letitia, you stay here with Rat and Toad. Mark and I will go down onto the bank and try to track which way they went. We will wait five minutes to allow you to get into position.”

  No-one disagreed with the plan so Carmen and Martin set off along the footpath on their bikes and vanished into Moondarga Drive. Andrew returned to the end of the fence. “Now, you others try to keep out of sight. If the gang appears then stay hidden and try to follow them without them knowing.”

  Rat and Toad agreed and Letitia nodded but looked scared. Andrew turned to reassure her. “If they come your way run into a house where there are people and ask them to phone the police.”

  She nodded. Andrew did not wait. He set off along the top of the bank at a brisk walk. From there he could see down into what had previously been ‘Dead Ground’. What he saw did not inspire him. Much of the river bank just dropped steeply through a matt of grass and weeds into the water. Further along, at the tree indicated, several foot tracks led down to a tiny beach. The area was a litter of tins, bottles and cigarette butts.

  “Where the local kids come to smoke when they are wagging it,” he suggested to Mark. Mark nodded but said nothing. He was busy looking in all directions, his face a study in grim concentration.

  Ten metres on was a derelict and broken concrete water tank with several trees growing around and through it. Another foot track led down from there but after that the bank appeared to be just long grass and weeds with a few trees. As there was nowhere else to go Andrew slithered down the steep dirt track and halted in surprise and annoyance.

  A few metres away was the entrance to another large storm water drain. It was half way up the bank and a trickle of water was flowing from it. All the long grass below it had been flattened by the recent floods. The entrance was big enough for a person to walk into standing upright. Andrew swore under his breath and muttered: “Bloody Killer Turtles!”

  Cautiously he edged across to the entrance. He was aware that anyone inside would be hidden in darkness while he would be clearly silhouetted but he saw no alternative. He paused just back from the entrance to listen. The only sounds were the gush of water and the wind in the trees. Taking a deep breath Andrew put his head around the end and looked in.

  The pipe was a dark tunnel that went straight back under Ross River Road. After about twenty paces it became too dark to see what lay beyond but there was enough light to show him there was no-one and nothing anywhere near the entrance. He studied the floor carefully and noted that the slime and moss which might be expected to be there had been worn or scraped off. The water was only deep enough to reach his ankles so he stepped around and into the pipe.

  That was an eerie feeling and he found his heart pounding fast. A wind blew out of the pipe, bringing a rotting stench with it. Placing his hands out to steady himself Andrew walked into the pipe. Mark followed him to the entrance. After ten paces Andrew stopped. It was too dark and, though he would not have admitted it, he was very scared.

  His right hand encountered rusty steel. He moved to examine it and found the ends of several steel bars protruding from a join in the roof of the pipe. Whether they were part of the reinforcing of the concrete he couldn’t be sure. What he was sure of was that a canoe could be tied firmly to them. He turned and made his way back out and stood on the bank, looking across the river.

  Directly opposite was a wide belt of reeds which grew up to a jungle of large green trees. ‘That will be where that camp was we found,’ he surmised. Exasperated, he said to a curious Mark: “This is where those thugs escaped to the other day, I’ll bet. They just slipped across the river in their canoes, tied them up in the drain there and went on along the drain to come up somewhere else a block or two away.”

  “Neat!” Mark replied with grudging admiration. “Just what you’d expect from a Ninja Turtle.”

  “Killer Turtle,” Andrew corrected. “You’d think the cops would have got a plan of these drains by then and been watching them. I’ll bet they don’t even know this is here.”

  “So what do we do now? Follow the drains?” Mark asked.

  Andrew made a face. “You can if you like. Let’s get the others and have a council of war.”

  As he said that Rat and Toad came sliding down the bank to join them. Andrew pointed to the drain. “I reckon they went in there.”

  Rat nodded. “Yeah. They would. We seen ‘em go into other drains. We always wanted to explore this one but we ain’t game.”

  “Be too dangerous. If there was a rain storm you could get drowned,” Andrew replied. “Now come away.”

  Acting on his own instructions Andrew led the way back up the bank. Then he turned and said, “Mark, you go and get Carmen and Martin while I try to think this out.” Mark nodded and hurried off. Andrew the two urchins followed, walking slowly back to their bikes where a worried Letitia waited. Mark jumped on his bike and sped off while Andrew explained his find to Letitia.

  Ten minutes later Mark, Martin and Carmen were back with them. Carmen agreed with Andrew’s theory and asked: “So what do we do now?”

  Andrew shook his head in exasperation. He had no desire to start a subterranean war in the pipes. He turned to Rat and pointed across the river. “You said once you thought the gang had another hideout somewhere near the Weir. Would that be the one we discovered the other day, or do they have another one?”

  Rat and Toad wanted to know about the hideout they had discovered so that tale had to be told. Once that was done Rat said: “I’ve heard they got a coupla hideouts up this way.”

  “Would it be likely they would have another one somewhere on the other side of the river above Black Weir?” Andrew asked, pointing to the thick line of scrub and trees lining the other river bank in the distance.

  Rat shook his head emphatically and looked frightened. “Nah! I wouldn’t think so. That’s Sheena’s territory.”

  Andrew was intrigued. That was the second reference to Sheena’s territory. The kids they had met the other day had also been frightened when they mentioned it. He asked: “Who’s this Sheena?”

  Rat and Toad exchanged glances. Rat then explained. “That Sheena, she’s a girl from one of the schools further up the river. She’s in Year Seven I think.”

  “Year Eight I heard,” Toad put in.

  Rat shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. Well, she’s a real dead
ly bitch and she’s got a gang nobody tangles with. They all run around with nuthin’ much on and..” He looked at Carmen and Letitia and blushed. “An’ I heard they do things wot is against the law for little kids.”

  “Surely they get into trouble if they behave like that!” Carmen said in astonishment.

  Rat shook his head. “Nah, nobody bugs ‘em, not now.”

  “Yeah,” Toad agreed. “They got knives and blowpipes with poison darts.”

  Carmen frowned. “But surely older youths must give them a hard time,” she insisted.

  Toad butted in. “Not since some hoons tried to rape Sheena an’ she cut off their... you know.. cut off their.. their.”

  “They did rape her I heard,” Rat insisted, oblivious to Toad’s blushing confusion in the presence of the girls. “So she got her gang an’ trapped ‘em, then tortured them. I heard she cut off their balls and made them eat them.”

  Toad shook his head while blushing and glancing at Letitia. “No, she cut off their..” he started.

  Andrew was embarrassed and interrupted. “Yes, we get the idea. So what do we do now?”

  Mark answered. “We could ride around all the streets looking for them,” he suggested.

  Carmen made a face. “We could but we don’t have any means of communicating. We need two-way radios to keep in touch.”

  “Where does this bike path go?” Andrew asked. He still had a hunch the gang would be found somewhere on or near the river.

  Mark answered. “It just runs along the river bank all the way to the dam,” he explained.

  “What dam?” Andrew asked.

  “Ross River Dam. It’s about ten kilometres upstream,” Mark replied.

  “Twenty,” Martin disputed.

  “Ten,” Mark insisted.

  Andrew stopped them. “Doesn’t matter. We can measure it off the map. I recommend we ride along this bike track and do a bit of a reconnaissance of the river bank. That way we will know better where they might be.”

  Carmen nodded. “I agree. But don’t forget we have to be home by about twelve for lunch, and to go to cadets.”

  Toad looked at them. “Are youse kids in the cadets?” he queried.

  Carmen nodded. “Yes, the navy cadets,” she replied.

  “Oh navy cadets!” Rat said, curling his lip. “My big brother was in the army cadets at Heatley.”

  Carmen laughed. “Well navy cadets are better. You should join when you are older,” she said.

  At that both Rat and Toad made negative faces but Andrew felt sure the idea had gone home. He consulted his watch. It was already ten fifteen. ‘Not much time,’ he thought, biting his lip. “OK. We can ride on for about half an hour. Are you and Toad coming Rat?”

  Rat shook his head. “No thanks. We’ll just head off back along the river. We’re a bit out of our territory here,” he replied.

  “Well thanks for the information. Please let us know if you see anything else,” Carmen said. That surprised Andrew a little but it seemed her attitude to catching the gang had changed since the attack on Jill and the ransacking of the Schipholl’s house.

  Martin asked: “Are we going to tell the police?”

  “When we find a phone,” Andrew replied. He was reluctant to do so, partly because he did not feel they had a very strong case, but also because he wanted to make sure the gang was caught. ‘If we tell the cops they might warn us off from looking,’ he mused.

  The friends mounted their bikes and set off along the bike path. Within minutes they were at the end of the Black Weir beside the school. Here they dismounted and stood on top of the bank to study the weir. It was similar to Aplins Weir but looked longer and higher. Water was flowing over it but only a few centimetres deep. Andrew noted that the water had a distinct brownish tinge to it. ‘Flood run-off,’ he decided.

  The thought of floods made him look up and wipe sweat from his brow. The sky overhead was still blue and the tropical sun blazed won on them with an intensity which burnt through the cloth of their shirts. Letitia’s legs had a marked reddish colouring. ‘Clouds in the distance,’ Andrew noted.

  “We could cross here,” he suggested, still thinking to explore the other bank.

  “Don’t be silly!” Carmen snapped. “You could slip and get washed off. Don’t forget what happened to us at Aplins Weir.”

  Andrew looked at the weir and noted that directly at its foot was an area of strong turbulence. There was, he knew, a concrete apron to stop the foundations being undermined by the floodwaters. That exacerbated the whirlpool effect. “But the gang crossed it twice the other day,” he pointed out.

  “They were just lucky,” Carmen insisted.

  Mark chuckled. “Don’t forget Sheena’s gang,” he added. “You wouldn’t want to get caught by them.”

  “By Jove no!” Martin agreed with emphasis. Andrew blushed but felt a distinct queasiness in his lower stomach and his testicles contracted slightly. He mounted his bike. “Come on, time is getting short.”

  They rode on along the bike path. It passed between the primary school fence and a concrete pump house at the end of the weir, then between an open playing field and a grass covered levee. Ahead stretched half a kilometre of mowed park in which stood several large, shady trees. The path wound through these on top of the river bank. ‘Pioneer Park’ the map informed Andrew. Distant buildings marked the end of the park. Several dirt tracks led up through the long grass on their left in the direction of the river.

  “We should check all of these tracks,” Andrew said. “They are just the sort of place the gang would hide their canoes while they are on this bank.”

  So at the next track, about a hundred metres past the school, they dismounted and Andrew led the way along it. The track was not even wide enough for them to walk along without brushing the head-high blady grass and he went very slowly from fear of snakes. The track went up for five metres to the top of the levee, then down into a tangle of trees, weeds and long grass. The water of the river glinted about fifty metres away.

  Voices! Male voices. Andrew stopped and put a finger to his lips. The others stopped. “Wait here while I do a bit of scouting,” he whispered. “And keep quiet!”

  Cautiously he crept on along the track. As he went his heart began to pump with fear and excitement and he wiped sweaty palms on his shorts. Mosquitoes began to annoy him. After another five paces he stopped and peered through a clump of tall grass.

  Beyond was a small clearing beside the river. On the bank sat two men in their twenties. Both wore old clothes and held fishing rods. Fearing an unpleasant scene if the men caught him peeping at them Andrew hastily backed off and hurried back to where the others were waiting. As he rejoined them he shook his head. “Go back, quietly!”

  “What is it?” Letitia whispered.

  Andrew just shrugged. “Just a couple of guys fishing. Not the gang.”

  The group filed back out to the path, mounted their bikes and started pedalling. Soon after that they passed a pair of middle aged joggers going the other way. Out on the park was a lady with a dog. In the distance a cricket team appeared to be playing. Three youths wearing black T-shirts came into view pedalling along the bike path towards them. For a moment Andrew feared the worst, reconciled to a clash because they outnumbered the gang. However it was three other kids who just pedalled by and ignored them.

  By then they were half way along Pioneer Park. The levee had ended and the path curved away from the river. Mowed grass sloped down to a grassy beach under a line of Paperbarks. Andrew turned off the path and rode down to the edge of the river. The others followed. From there he had a good view upstream and across the river. Nearby were a line of red buoys and a ramp.

  “This is where we water ski,” Letitia said. Andrew nodded and studied the other bank. It was two hundred metres away. Along virtually its whole length it was fringed by a thick belt of reeds and water lilies. Bright pink or white lily flowers added a touch of colour to the greens and browns. The whole of the far bank
was thickly clothed in a tangle of weeds, thorn bushes and trees. Several small gaps, all choked with reeds and lilies and overhung by trees indicated where creeks or inlets led into the bank.

  Andrew pointed to these. “I’ll bet there are places over there where they could have another secret camp,” he said. Having discovered the places he badly wanted to go over and look. He then studied the map and led the group on along the bank up to where several brick fireplaces and picnic tables stood. Beyond it was a concrete boat ramp. Five younger kids, three boys and two girls, were swimming there with two adults sitting watching.

  The friends went up a slope of a few metres to regain the bike path just near some shed like buildings. Mark explained: “Scouts and Guides Huts, and that is a football club, and there’s a cricket clubhouse and things like that.”

  Andrew noted that there were about a dozen such buildings in a semi-circle around a ring road. This led out onto a busy four-lane road which his map told him was still Ross River Road. Just past the huts he stopped again to stare up a long reach of the river which went off southwards.

  Carmen pointed the other way to a collection of shops beyond a busy intersection with traffic lights. “What’s that place?”

  “Willows Shopping Centre, where we went the other day,” Letitia replied.

  Carmen nodded. “Oh yes. We went there on the bus. It’s got lots of really nice shops.”

  Andrew looked at his watch. Nearly eleven. “Another fifteen minutes,” he said.

  They continued on. The bike path curved back to run close beside the river with Ross River Road only a few metres away on their right. Down on the left they saw a group of youths of about their own age who were using a rope to swing out over the river. It wasn’t the gang so they continued on. The path went down through some trees, which was very pleasant, then back up beside the busy main road. A man on a bicycle, with a small child seated on a seat behind him, went past in the opposite direction, then a girl of about ten who looked as though she had just been to ballet.