Beginner's Luck (13 page)

'Frank must have let him go last night after everybody
left,' Shelby said out loud. It made sense, but she
couldn't stop her heartbeat from quickening in her
chest. He
probably
had, but what if he hadn't? What
if Blue had been bitten by a snake and was lying
flat-out somewhere, straining and grunting, while the
poison gradually overcame his whole body? What if
he was caught up in his reins and they were strapped
tightly around his legs and his neck, and he was
slowly choking to death just beyond her current view?

'Blue!' she called, cupping her hands to the sides of
her mouth. She peered into the scrub, but she couldn't
see his familiar patchwork hide moving in the undergrowth.

It would take another half an hour, at least, to ride
her bike to the back of the nursery, and then along the
path. She wanted to make sure Blue was all right this
minute.

A truck drove past behind her, making her clothes
billow, and her hair ruffle around her ears. Shelby
looked down into the billabong again, biting her lip.
It was a very long way down, but she had done it
before.

She sat down, slid off her shoes and pushed her
socks right up to the toe. She tied the laces together,
and then, standing on the edge, she spun them over
her head by the laces and threw them, like a hammer
thrower. The shoes hit a branch on the other side of
the billabong and then dropped down to the ground
below, near the saddle blanket.

Shelby turned backwards and, using her hands and
feet, slid down the slope for a short distance. The
sharp stones hurt the soles of her feet and her hands
were still raw from the day before.

She turned around carefully, resting most of her
weight on a large rock jutting out of the slope, and
holding onto a clump of grass. She bent her knees, and
took a deep breath. She was about to jump but she
hesitated. It was dangerous. She'd been told that you
weren't supposed to jump in water unless you knew
how deep it was. You could break your neck.

Besides that, it would be cold. And then there were
those unidentified slimy things.

Shelby remembered Frank's story about the half-eaten
girl. She could see the sandy mud through the
yellow-coloured water at the edge of the pool, but
beyond that it was murky and all she could see was
the reflection of the white clouds above her – cumulonimbus,
she remembered from Geography. All across
the water were tiny little circles where gnats, bugs and
dragonflies skimmed over the surface.

She looked up and realised that she would have
trouble climbing back up to the road again, even if she
wanted to, and her shoes were on the other side of the
pool anyway.

When she had fallen in the day before she had not
hit anything, but she wondered if that was because she
had hit the surface of the water flat on her back. She
knew from going to the local pool that she would not
dive as deeply into the water if she bombed or belly-flopped
as she would if she dropped straight, like a pin.

She took a deep breath again, squeezed her eyes
shut, and this time she jumped, folding her legs underneath
her and wrapping her hands around her knees.
She could feel the air under her chin, and her hair
lifting from her forehead. Suddenly she was sure that
she wasn't going to make the water, and instead would
hit the dirt further down the hill and break her back.
She felt her bottom hit the water like a slap. The cold
water around her, and the noise of it, sent a jolt of
adrenalin streaking through her limbs.

She bobbed to the surface and swam quickly to the
edge, eager to be out of the muddy water. She had
closed her mouth tightly, but could still taste the
sludge on her lips.

As she strode out of the pool the water streamed
from her clothing. She wrung out the loose material
around her legs and flapped her tee-shirt, but there
was no getting around the fact that she was completely
soaked, and would be for some time. To make
matters worse, when she walked over to gather her
shoes her feet got covered with dirt, sand and dead
leaves. She used one of the socks to brush them off,
but it made little difference, because then it was on
her socks, and they still had to go inside her shoes.
She slid the shoes on her feet and tied the laces loosely.

On closer inspection she discovered that the bridle
had been dismantled and was laid out, with the reins
neatly coiled, between two roots of the tree to which
Blue had been tied. Frank must have let him go, but
Shelby still wanted to see that he was all right.

She grabbed the bridle, tucked the saddle and cloth
under her arm, and made her way through the glade.
She glanced left and right, calling to Blue, but she
couldn't see him. When she reached the clearing she
jogged around past the buildings to the fireplace at the
back. Blue wasn't there either.

Frank was sitting on the block of wood with a
mug in his hand. He had taken his beanie off and
what little hair he had on the top of his head stood up
on end, making him look even more like an ancient
wild man.

'Morning young-un,' he said, cheerily. He looked
her up and down. 'You've been trying to catch a
kipper for breakfast by the look of you.'

'Where's Blue?' Shelby asked.

'Until I am measured, I am not known, but you
will miss me when I am flown. What am I?' he asked.

'What?' Shelby frowned.

'I beg your pardon,' the old man corrected.

'Have you seen Blue?' she asked.

'Time,' he answered.

Shelby stared at him.

He took a sip of his tea. 'Each morning I appear at
your feet, you cannot outrun me, but I nearly perish in
the midday sun.'

'Shadow,' Shelby answered. It was an easy one.

'Very good,' he said, raising his mug to her. 'Would
you like some? You might want to share my fire for
a while. The expression "drowned rat" springs to
mind.'

'I need to find Blue. Can you please tell me if you
have seen him today?'

'How far will a horse walk into a forest?' he
retorted.

Shelby shook her head. 'Please help me. I just want
to know that he's safe.'

'Ah, but none of us are ever completely safe,'
Frank replied. 'You've outswum the bunyip, but what
about influenza, cholera, typhoid or other waterborne
nasties?'

Shelby was angry. Frank was very irresponsible.
He was supposed to be a grown-up, and yet all he
cared about was his tea, his privacy and his silly
riddles. Last night, when he realised how serious her
injury was, he should have helped Lindsey straight
away, and they should not have made her move. He
should be helping Shelby now. Instead she was right
back where she started, about to make the same
mistakes over again.

The same mistakes over again.
The phrase
reminded Shelby of the magician at Erin's party. She
tried to remember what he said.
If you're smart you
do things a little differently the second time around.

What was different? She turned away, looking into
the bush.

'How far will a horse walk into a forest?' Frank
repeated.

Roos,
thought Shelby. Twice she had seen kangaroos,
and twice they bounded away – but not aimless
bounding – both times they had hopped in the same
direction. There might be some better grazing where
they went. Blue might have followed. Maybe the roos
even knew a way out? It was at least worth a try.

Shelby walked to the edge of the clearing where
she thought she had seen the roos before. She squatted
down. There was a low path meandering between the
trees. She had mistaken it for a burrow the first time.
About ten metres in she could see a branch, freshly
broken – the fracture was still green. It was possible
that Blue had snapped it on his way past.

She bent down and crawled into the space she had
found. There was definitely a trail. It seemed to wind
around without direction, but it might have made
perfect sense to a roo.

'Halfway!' Frank called from behind her. 'Because
once he's halfway in, he's halfway out,' he finished.

Shelby ignored him.

The gap between the trees was so low and narrow that
Shelby had to bend over double, with the saddle
tucked into her hip, and after a short way the small of
her back began to hurt. The ground in front of her
was thick with leaves of all different sizes and colours,
and slightly moist. She could make out the trail that
the animals used because there was a slight dip, and
the leaf litter was ground into smaller pieces from the
traffic. It was perfect snake territory, and if she were
to come across one she probably wouldn't see it until
she was right on top of it.

The path meandered up the hillside and after
about twenty metres she saw the arc of a hoof print.
Sure that she was on the right path, Shelby continued
up the hill. She had the bridle over her shoulder and
changed the grip on her saddle. She hadn't realised
how heavy it was.

After another forty metres she came to a rock face
similar to the one down which Lindsey had fallen. It
was whittled in layers and similarly covered with
moist mosses and ferns. Blue couldn't climb out this
way either, but there was a path that ran alongside it,
and further along she could see a patch where a tree
grew quite close to the rock face. Here some of the
ferns had been broken. Blue must have rubbed his side
along the rock face as he squeezed past the tree.

Shelby was able to stand up straight now and
progress more quickly. Above her she could see the
morning sun. She estimated that it must be around
eight thirty. Her parents would be up and preparing
breakfast for her brothers by now. Shelby felt a pang
of guilt as she realised that she should have left them
a note. Normally she didn't bother because they knew
she would either be at the stables, or in the Gully
somewhere, but today was different. They would have
no idea where she was and what time she would be
home.

After another thirty metres she could see that the
rock face was lower and slanted like stairs. Some of
the rocks had come away from the wall and clustered
in a pile at the bottom. She wondered whether Blue
would climb up there, and if he had, how much
further had he gone? What was at the other end? Did
this track end up joining the one at the power station?
Blue may be hours ahead of her. He might have
reached the road by now.

Shelby clambered up quickly. Just as it was on the
plateau above the other rock face, the scrub was less
dense and the trees younger, slender and with less
foliage. She could see much farther in each direction.
No Blue. When she looked down the trail was gone
too. Here, it seemed, the roos each made their own
path. There were no discernible prints either. Shelby
sighed.

She rested for a moment to orient herself. Gully
Way was on the eastern side of The Pocket. She had
climbed up the hill on the north-west side, and then,
as she followed the rock wall around, she was heading
east, so she imagined that here at the top of the rock
face she must be facing due north. Somewhere to her
right was Gully Way. There was a fence along the
bridle trail on the other side, but this far up she wasn't
so sure.

Blue always made a big noise when he was crunching
through the bush so Shelby stood still with her
hands on her hips and listened. She could hear birds
calling and insects chirping. She cupped her hands
around her mouth, called to him and listened again, but
all she heard was the wing beats of a bird taking flight.

Shelby walked along the top of the rock wall
towards where she imagined the road to be. Every
now and then she could glimpse into The Pocket, but
all she ever saw was the grassy area behind the doll's
house. Even from this angle the trees obscured the
structures. Shelby thought it was amazing how well
hidden Frank's place was.

Shelby slipped the saddle around over her
stomach and held it by the pommel. For a little while
it was more comfortable, relieving the pressure on her
back, but before long her neck and shoulders began
to hurt. She was about to stop again when she heard
the heavy drone of a truck's hydraulic brakes. The
road must be close by. Up ahead she could see cars
moving on the other side of the trees, and as she
moved closer she could see the hurricane fencing
running along between the bush and the road. At
least Blue wasn't able to wander onto Gully Way. She
followed the fence along, walking parallel to Gully
Way, and then in the distance she could see the shapes
of houses.

Looking through the fence past the houses, she
could see a shop on the corner of Gully Way. She was
so hungry and thirsty and the idea of a shop full of
food made her stomach grumble. Shelby walked along
the back fences of the houses. Most of them were
made of green aluminium, and all she could see of the
yards were the tops of jacaranda, camellia trees or
Hills Hoists, but every now and then there was a
wooden fence with palings spaced far enough apart
that she could peek through and see budgies in cages
on back porches, built-in barbecues, and the occasional
above-ground pool.

She was hot now, and smelt like a combination of
horse sweat, leather and scummy pond-water. The
idea of dunking into a pool was heavenly.

There was a laneway running between the houses,
and as she got closer, Shelby could see the street on
the other side. The houses were very similar in style to
the ones where she lived – single-storey bungalows of
pale brick with a stretch of patchy lawn and a wide
cement driveway leading up to a garage at the front of
the house.

There was a woman hanging out washing in the
back yard next to the laneway.

'Excuse me,' said Shelby, peeking over the fence.
'Have you seen a pony come through here?'

'Yes, I did!' she said. 'Earlier this morning. It came
along there, right where you are now, walked across
my front lawn and then headed off down the street
that way.' The lady pointed to the right. 'Everyone
came out to have a look at it. We all stared at each
other. We'd never seen that on this street before. It
was weird – like in a dream. We get little wallabies
sometimes, but only out the back.'

'Did anyone try to stop him?' Shelby asked.

The lady frowned and shook her head. 'It looked
like it knew where it was going. It didn't stop at all.'

'Thanks,' said Shelby, but she wasn't thankful at
all. She couldn't believe they would just let him head
straight towards Gully Way without trying to stop
him. He wasn't even shying or being spooky. If the
woman had caught him and put him in her yard then
Shelby would know he was safe by now, and then Blue
could carry the stupid saddle for a while. All she knew
was that he seemed to be OK a few hours ago. Who
knew where he was now?

Shelby rushed along the laneway and on to the
street. She felt like throwing the saddle on the ground
and leaving it there, except it was the only one she had
and she knew she would regret it later. Shelby
wondered if somebody had stolen her bike yet.

The street seemed to go on forever, but eventually
there was strip of three shops – a newsagent, a video
shop, and the corner store she had seen from behind
the fence earlier. In front of the shop there were a set
of traffic lights where the street intersected with Gully
Way. Shelby jogged along under the annexes to the
corner. The traffic seemed to be moving smoothly
along Gully Way, and that was good news. If there
had been a dreadful accident then surely the cars
would be blocked.

There was a man standing in the doorway of the
corner store.

'Hey, was that your horse before?' he asked.

Shelby stopped. She thought it was fairly apparent,
given the tack that she was carrying. 'Yes. Which way
did he go?'

The man grinned. 'Funniest thing I've ever seen.
Mr and Mrs Kessler had just bought the paper, and
that horse stood there behind them at the lights
looking up and down as though he was waiting for
them to change, and then when the light went green
and they crossed, he walked right behind them like he
was their dog or something. They got to the other side
and Mrs Kessler turned around. It gave her a real
fright! She went, "Ah!", and put her arms up, and
then the horse looked kind of startled, as if it was
thinking "Ah!" too, and then the Kesslers headed off
up that way.' The grocer pointed to the left. 'And the
horse walked off along the footpath that way.' He
indicated the right.

'He got across the road safely then?' Shelby asked.

The man nodded. He patted his tummy, smiling,
still enjoying the memory.

'And nobody tried to catch him?' she added.

The man shrugged. 'He seemed to know where he
was going. Besides, I thought it would have been
worse to chase him onto the road.'

Shelby huffed. 'Thanks.' She pressed the button for
the lights with her forehead, because her hands were
full. Here she was at the corner of Gully Way again.
She hadn't needed to jump into the billabong and run
all the way around. She would have been better off
heading into the Gully behind her house.

The walk light illuminated and Shelby crossed the
road. On the other side was a cement footpath surrounded
by manicured bush that led to a look-out
over the Gully. She put the saddle down on the bench
for a moment to stretch her arms.

She realised had been here before. A few times
when they were out on a ride together, Erin had a
craving for lollies or soft drink and they had ridden up
here to the same shop where Shelby had just spoken to
the man. Shelby hadn't recognised the shop because
she had always waited at the look-out with Bandit and
Blue while Erin ran across the road. She wondered if
Blue would remember.

Looking down over the edge of the wooden
viewing platform, Shelby could see a dirt path zigzagging
down the hill and disappearing into the
scrub. Even from this distance she could make out
hoof prints, but she was not surprised; other riders
probably popped into the shops for drinks and
supplies as well.

If Blue was going home he would take this path
down into the Gully, cross the causeway at the bottom
and then head up the other side, taking the trail that
led to the cul-de-sac around the corner from where
Shelby lived. She could imagine him marching purposefully,
with his ears pricked forward, all the way
home. He might even be there by now.

Shelby looked out at the Gully stretched out below
her and sighed. She was more than Frank's 'halfway
in', but if she'd known how far the whole way was
going to be she would have stayed in bed. It would
probably take her all day to get home again carrying
the stupid saddle.

It would be much easier for her to walk back to
the stables. Taking the bridle path along this side of
Gully Way wouldn't take much more than an hour.
She was sure Lindsey's mum would let her ring home
and organise for Shelby's mum or dad to pick her up.

Shelby picked up the saddle, balancing it on the
top of her head, imagining she was an African lady
from a
National Geographic
magazine, and started
walking.