by Peter Ness
The tap dripped in the background. Mom glanced at it quickly and then back at Dad.
‘And—, that would be — me?’ Mother responded, jokingly. She stood up, walked to the sink and tightened the tap. It seemed to work — for a while.
‘Huh! Pigs might fly south in winter,’ he snorted in an old-fashioned response and opened the door.
‘Well maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s just pigs flying south?’ Mother replied cynically, in a rather annoyed voice. ‘Don’t be too long. I’ll brew coffee on the assumption it isn’t the boogeyman and you will come back alive,’ she added sarcastically. ‘If you’re not back in half an hour I’ll call the local police — Art — in the morning.’
The animals were becoming less restless. Over the next five to ten minutes their noise gradually dissipated. Dad’s coaxing voice spoke gently to the animals in the distance, placating them, soothing them down. Soon, it was deathly quiet except for the odd cow mooing. A moth began flapping against the glass pane of the kitchen window. Mom and I exchanged glances. Then she closed her eyes in silent prayer as the 32-volt generator spluttered. The fluorescent kitchen lights and bedroom bulbs flickered on and off. Eventually, the power died and the lights dimmed and went out.
Walking over to the cupboard, Mother reached up and took down a kerosene-lantern. I held the torch while she bent down to switch on the lantern, watching as she struck a match and lit it. Picking up the kerosene lantern now I placed it on the cement floor between the kitchen sink and the stove. This was the standard drill each time the lights blanked out. Mother lit a second lantern and placed it by the bathroom door. The glow burnt brightly and it was almost as clear as twilight now. She sat down on the sofa and crossed her bare legs.
From outside the ruckus continued. We heard a loud bang! And then a loud crash! These were followed by a well pronounced:
‘Darn! What idiot put that there? — Oh, it was me,’ followed by glass shattering and a less endearing profanity; as Dad stepped on a shovel or a pitch fork and the handle flew up and hit him in the groin. ‘Ouch!’
Mother winced as she felt Dad’s pain.
‘I’ll bet that hurt,’ I spat out. Jo giggled.
Dad picked the shovel up, looked at it and decided it would make a valuable weapon. He crept forward, brandishing it with one hand while shining the light into the darkness with the other. Clang! Clatter! Someone or something had kicked a metal can. Then, they kicked another small metal can and sent it skittering and bouncing over cement floor of the barn.
Inside the house, Jo placed her hands over her ears. Mother clutched a pillow. I chewed on a bone, then nonchalantly picked up another one and took a large bite of tough stringy meat. The sounds of the sheep bleating in the distance and the odd cattle bellowing broke a prolonged, deathly silence.
A freezing cold hand suddenly clutched at my bare leg. I jumped in the air and knocked a knife onto the ceramic plate in front of me. I grimaced at Jo.
‘I’m thirsty. Pass me the milk Heni,’ Jo ordered. ‘I want the milk!’
‘Shush! — Wait for Dad to come back first,’ I answered.
‘What if he never comes back?’ Jo asked in an annoyed voice. ‘I don’t wanna die of thirst waiting—.’
‘Shush. Jo, be quiet. You won’t die of thirst,’ Mother said in a calm but wavering voice. She stood up, and then lit a candle, placing it on a saucer in the center of the table.
‘But, I’m thirsty. I think I’m gonna die. I’m dehydrating. And, I’ll get diarrhea before long,’ Jo complained.
‘No you won’t. That’s just silly,’ I replied. Jo became annoyed.
‘Pass me the milk Heni. Pass it to me. Now! Right now! I can’t wait,’ Jo hissed insistently, tugging hard at my arm.
‘Swap you with the tomato sauce then?’ I negotiated.
‘Okidoki,’ Jo picked up the sauce.
‘Shush. Just be patient, for a while.’ Mother stood up. She walked around and brushed Jo’s long brown hair with her hand soothingly. Jo passed me the sauce and pointed a torch at the table while I poured her a drink of milk in the half light.
The generator whined as it started up again and the lights flickered back on. A few minutes later we heard a loud knock at the door and a banging of shoes. Dad came in, locked the door, went to the sink and turned on the hot water tap. Retracting his hands quickly from the scalding hot water, he turned on the cold water. After washing, and then wiping, his hands in silence he sat down at the table and wolfed down his custard and dumplings.
Dad said nothing, but his pale face said it all. We sat in silence, staring at him inquiringly. Mother posed the question first.
‘And—?’
‘And — it was a fox. It was just a fox,’ he said, almost relieved. ‘I told you so.’
‘Well—? Did you get him?’ Mother asked anxiously.
‘Well, he ate most of the chooks, one or two of the pigs, a cow, and one of the dogs — and then he drove away in the utility. I chased him all the way to Ashton and Rosa’s place, but I think he got away with their chooks as well—.’
‘Pull the other leg,’ Mom said with a smirk. Dad gave a pale smile back.
‘Bull-der-dash,’ I spat out.
‘No swearing in this house young man!’ Dad’s face went stern, and then he whacked me on the back with a forced laugh.
‘Well, Dad, did you get him?’ Jo asked.
‘The fox—? No. He got away. He managed to steal an egg or too, but I’m sure he’ll be back. Let’s catch him in the act. I’ll set a trap or two or him tomorrow.’
‘Good. Can I help?’ I asked.
‘Yes. It wasn’t too scary. Neither of you lost your appetite. That was quick. I see you both finished your dessert. You must have scoffed it down. Now, brush your teeth and head off to bed.’ He looked at me and pointed, ‘the pair of you.’
As if on cue, lights bounced around flashing across the paddock opposite the house and the animals made a ruckus again. We froze as several bullets ricocheted over the rooftop. Sub-vertical lines of light tore back and forth across the fields. We all stood up, staring out of the kitchen window.
‘It looks like someone is spotlighting for Roos,’ Dad said. ‘It’s probably just the Henton brother’s spotlighting for rabbits but we’d better check it out. Let’s take a look anyway. You two,’ he pointed at Jo and I. ‘Get ready to go. I’ll go start the Holden. Right after I phone Ashton.’
‘All of us?’ queried Mother. ‘It’s freezing cold outside—, what, with no clouds to hold in the heat—.’
‘Yes everyone,’ Dad emphasized in a strict voice. ‘It’s safer that way. ‘Or, do you prefer to stay here by yourself?’ He picked up the phone. Mother went off grumbling, hunting, rummaging noisily for her down jacket, opening and closing drawers.
‘Yes. Okay Ashton. We’re just going to check it out now. Talk to you later.’ Dad put the handset back on the hook. ‘The timing was impeccable,’ he said to Mom.
#
Ashton put the phone down and turned to Rosa and Brian.
‘Jesse’s gonna check it out. His timing is impeccable. I was just going to phone him.’
‘Brian! Put the bat down, and go finish your homework. Education is the only thing separating humans from animals,’ Aunt Rosa said, lecturing him as she stood over the sink scaling and gutting fish.
‘Crikey. Do I have to?’ Brian asked with a pleading look, reluctantly leaning the baseball bat back up against the wall.
#
We all clambered into the vehicle and then it puttered loudly down to the gate, where I climbed out to open it.
‘Heni, leave the gate open,’ Dad yelled as the car drove through. I ran to catch the car, hurriedly jumping into the EH Holden. Then Dad drove to second gate at the T-junction. Climbing out, I rushed to open it.
‘Leave that open as well. We won’t be long,’ he called. I rushed to jump back in.
Dad steered the EH Holden to the right towards Gullabilly National Park and Ashton’s pl
ace. Headlights flashed over the sand dunes, and then a police patrol car came bouncing over a small ridge towards us. The local policeman dimmed his headlights, drew up next to Dad and wound down his window.
‘Hi officer! Oh Art. It’s you. Did you see who fired shots towards our house?’ queried Father, a rather concerned look creeping over his face.
‘No. We’re just checking out the area,’ Art replied feeling at his podgy beer gut. Art pointed first to himself and then his date in the front passenger seat, a nurse. Then his hand slid to the back of his neck, which he gingerly rubbed. My pendant clamped down on my chest, turning green, so I slid it under my thick jumper.
Art’s face suddenly twitched and jerked. Gazing across at Jo and I seated in the back seat of the Holden he appeared to snarl. Pointing his finger at us now Art’s eyes flashed reddish, but neither Father nor Mother seemed to notice. Unnerved, Jo grabbed at my arm. Art abruptly reverted to normal.
‘What’s the problem?’ Dad asked the policeman, lounging out his open window.
‘We’ve received quite a number of reports of people seeing strange lights in the area,’ Art explained. ‘They’ve been reporting everything from Min-Min lights, to UFOs, to people spotlighting and defacing their property and things like that. I received a call earlier tonight from your neighbors, Bill and Sandra Thomas. And, Jack Henton’s wife Denise phoned in just yesterday with a sighting as well. So, I thought it only fair to come and check it out for myself.’
‘We saw someone spotlighting a while back, so came looking for them to make sure they don’t shoot towards the houses,’ Dad replied. ‘We found some burn marks in the paddocks the other day, but as you know we reported those.’
‘Yes. Now, that was interesting. Well, for what it is worth Jesse, people are seeing strange lights at night anyway. Like you say, it’s most likely just someone spotlighting,’ Art suggested. ‘People see lights in the sky and phone in all confused. The aborigines call them Min Min lights. But, they’re usually just reflections of car headlights from the highway bouncing off the clouds, or gas bubbles caused by the piezoelectric effect of slabs of crust below fault zones filled with quartz. Well, that’s according to your geologist mate Kirin, from Blue-Sky Mining.’
‘Yes. He told me that theory too,’ Dad said. ‘He says that the peninsulas are just horsts and the gulfs between are just normally faulted grabens.’
‘Anyway, we don’t take phone calls of alien sightings too seriously these days but we still check them out. I’d much prefer to be at home curled up with my girlfriend on the couch — a bottle of beer in one hand, a hotdog in the other.’ Art laughed, and then his eyes flashed red again. The pendant bounced below my jumper, trying to escape like a cat might, so I pushed it back in and told it off.
‘Stop it,’ I said, and then I whispered to Jo. ‘It’s just the pendant playing games with our minds again.’ Then, my imagination kicked in. ‘Art’s always been the local policeman. I wonder if he was born one?’
#
‘Doctor. Come quick!’ A nurse called.
‘Ah!’ Dr. Jefferson replied gleefully. ‘The baby is coming out now.’
‘What is it? A boy or a girl?’ Jo, wearing a nurse’s uniform, queried.
‘Just a minute while I look — Hmm. All I can see is a hat and a police truncheon. Oh! It is a baby cop—. How cute—,’ Doctor Jefferson replied.
‘Is that all? It’s just a baby copper?’ Jo asked. ‘I can’t see. Move out the way so I can get a better look.’ Jo shoved the doctor out of the way. ‘Where’s the un biblical cord?’
‘Hey! Watch you don’t cut anyone with that surgical knife,’ Dr. Jefferson said. ‘Here give it to me, I need to cut the umbilical cord. It’s caught on his beer gut.’
‘Don’t we have enough coppers already?’ Jo asked. ‘Can’t we just terminate him? Oh look, there’s a fly buzzing the surgery again.’ She picked up a fly swat and raised it above her head, eyes darting back and forth. A small insect with beady blue eyes landed on the bed. First it looked at the doctor, then at Jo, and then in a flash it dove into baby Art’s neck. Blood spurted out, splattering all over the nurse’s white uniform.
#
I shuddered, looking up at the interior greyish white ceiling of the car which was covered with dripping blood. Jo smacked me on my bare forearm to wake me up. The car’s interior ceiling turned a dull greyish white again.
‘Yackety yack — yackety yack.’ The conversation between Dad and Art the policeman went on and on for ages. I almost nodded off to sleep again, but Father’s voice rocketed me back to reality.
‘Yes Art, people are just seeing things I’m sure. The eyes can play tricks on you in the dark. Then, you start to imagine things that’re not there.’ A dark shadow flashed over the car bonnet as Father spoke. Jo grasped at my arm. We both jerked upright now, suddenly wide awake, our eyes darting around nervously. A pair of white blinking eyes watched back from the darkness.
‘Yes, but some people are downright frightened — panicked,’ Art explained. ‘They think they’re being harassed. People are reporting cows being gutted with entrails strewn out all over the place like with some religious rites, and things that go bump in the night.’
‘Yeah, well we’ve all had our fill of them,’ Dad agreed, nodding.
Jo screwed up her face at me and uttered the obligatory ‘Oo—! Yuk!’
‘It’s probably just the local hooligans, like the Henton brothers playing tricks. I’ll ring Denny tomorrow and warn her,’ Dad joked. ‘Of course, some religious fanatic group may be trying to scare the crap out of people. But from experience, the only monsters around here are the ones in the back seat of this car.’
They both laughed, so we all laughed with them. Mother yawned. She wanted to go home.
‘Ha, ha, ha,’ Jo said sarcastically, and then her freezing cold hand abruptly clutched my arm scaring the crap out of me. A long shadow flicked over the boot of the patrol car and a horrid tang of sulfurous gas filtered into our car through the open front window.
‘Don’t panic. It’s just the pendant playing tricks again,’ I whispered.
‘Plus, we are getting a lot of reports of people seeing strange lights in the sky who are also missing time — not remembering anything that happened for several hours—,’ Art glanced at his wrist watch, deadly serious. ‘Geez — is that the time already? Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it—?’
‘Well, that hasn’t happened to us yet,’ Father replied.
Art turned sharply, glaring at both Jo and I. Both he and his passenger pointed their fingers at us. Their eyes turned red-brown, with vertical yellow slits. Art’s eyes narrowed and his face turned dark and menacing.
‘You think that because you have the pendant you’re safe Heni Hani,’ he growled viciously. ‘Well. You’re not!’ Drawing his pistol out now, he pointed it the back window where Jo and I sat. A sharp retort followed and the window shattered glass all over my arm. Jo and I shifted about nervously, clutching at each other, eyes opening widely. ‘You can’t hide from us. We’ll get you while you’re sleeping,’ Art chuckled loudly. ‘Then the pendant will be ours,’ he added ominously. A cold shiver rushed up my spine.
Like the click of a switch Art’s demeanor flipped back to normal. The cold, fogged up window wasn’t broken. No shot had even been fired. My hand reached out, wiping the fog off. Art smiled, nodding politely at me, knowingly. Father and Mother reacted as if they never heard any of it — perhaps Jo and I had just imagined it?
‘Is Art just messing with our thoughts?’ I whispered. ‘Or is it the pendant?’
‘Probably both,’ Jo replied, her fingernails biting into my arm.
‘Anyway, keep your eyes peeled,’ Art suggested, pointing and shooting an imaginary gun at us, and then winking as he blew away its smoke. ‘Well, it’s getting late. We should go now. There aren’t any strange lights in this neck of the woods anyway. But, you can feel secure and sleep safe in bed at night knowing that the force is he
re to protect you. Stay safe folks!’
Yeah! That sure made Jo and I feel much safer!
‘I don’t think so,’ I muttered under my breath.
‘Okay. Will do! Take care. Talk to you later,’ Father replied with a nod.
‘Catch you later alligator,’ yelled Jo feeling more confident now. The nurse in the police car laughed and waved goodbye. The patrol car drove back towards town, but Art’s eyes shot me a menacing red flash as the police car moved past.
‘Maybe it’s an evil pendant Jo?’ I whispered to Jo ‘Maybe that’s why I found it. It’s evil so the previous owner threw it away. Perhaps I should too?’
‘I don’t think so. Don’t be a silly Billy,’ Jo whispered back. ‘It’s not evil. Only people are evil.’
Dad backed the car around. Behind us, the menacing white eyes in the bushes were joined by a second and third pair. I watched them dancing in the darkness behind the car as we drove back towards the safety of our house’s lights in the distance.
Chapter 17: The Hentons
The next day, Friday afternoon. Jack Henton’s Farm:
Robin Grady paused, leaning against a back tire of Jack Henton’s orange-red Massey Fergusson. Jack was tucked in behind the front tire, tightening a fuel line on the side of the engine. Finished now, he reached across and placed the spanner on the front tire. Then he turned to face Robin, wiping his hands clean on a piece of old frayed cloth covered in dark splotches of diesel oil.
‘Good afternoon. I saw you sneaking up on me. What can I do you for Robin?’ he asked.
‘Good Afternoon Jack. Sorry to bother ye.’ Robin held his hand up to block out the glare of the sun. ‘I was wondering, Jack. There’s an American mate of mine working for a mining company in these parts, Blue Sky Mining. Have ye heard of either it, or him?’ He sniffed at the smell of diesel fuel hanging in the air.
