Forest Secrets (13 page)

I looked around.

He might be out there … in the lagoon … the one you're lookin' at.

There was no way that I wanted to curb Snook's enthusiasm, but then again I thought there
was
a flaw in his reasoning. Trying not to pooh-pooh his idea too much, I said, ‘There's one thing that bothers me. Like Stormy told us, the dinosaurs were here on earth about sixty-five million years ago. The landscape and lots of the land's physical features would have changed since then. I mean the mountain, the gorge, the river, the lagoon; they all would have been different.'

‘Maybe so,' Snook said, coming across all scholarly, ‘but you can't deny that dinosaurs are still being found all around the world. There were two big ones found in Queensland not that long ago and there are others too. They're findin' them all over the place. Stormy told us about two of them. They had nicknames – Matilda and Banjo.'

I must say I was impressed. It wasn't like Snook to get all enthusiastic like that – about school work. ‘Yes,' I said. ‘I remember him telling us all that, and thinking about it, you're right. It doesn't always matter that the earth has changed shape. Dinosaur bones – or signs that they were around – turn up in lots of places like cliff faces, quarries, ice shelves, deserts, caves.'

‘Yeah, and there were those big footprints they found imprinted on the rocks in Western Australia.'

‘You're right again,' I agreed. ‘Stormy told us about them as well. If I remember rightly, they're in the Kimberly region near Broome. The Aboriginals treat the place as sacred, and you know what, the more I think about it, it's not impossible that our dinosaur is out there, in the lagoon. Mind you, it's extremely unlikely but, like I say, not impossible, but I don't think we should get our hopes up too high. It is a bit far-fetched.'

I couldn't help noticing the depth and fire in Snook's eyes during our chat, but what he said next
really
slayed me. ‘You know,' he said, ‘I think we've been led to this place. I reckon that's what the
visions
are all about. We were chosen to see them.'

I didn't know what to say to that, so in the end I just asked, ‘What do you want to do now?'

‘Are you warmed up now?

I nodded.

‘I'm gonna go wadin'. Do you wanna come?'

A
fter Snook had insisted that it was his turn to take the deep end, I outlined exactly where I'd come across the half-buried objects. I'd used one of the Aboriginal methods of marking the spot, a technique often used in the bush. It was a matter of lining up the tops of two trees till they were aligned. It was then just a matter of taking a sighting from them. Doing that gave you the direction and the distance to your spot.

After putting another piece of wood on the fire for later when we came out of the water, I followed Snook down to the edge of the lagoon. I watched as he waded out to the spot where I'd felt the objects with my feet. I hoped like mad that I wasn't sending him on a wild goose chase.

‘Feel with your feet,' I yelled out to remind him. ‘The bones or whatever are under the mud.'

About half an hour later, with Snook still walking backwards and forwards in the spot that I'd shown him and with nothing to show, I was beginning to lose hope, but I let him go on. I hadn't seen him this bright and sparky for days. However, after another half hour of wading, I was starting to think that it was time for him to rest and for me to get wet again. I started to wade out.

I'd gone about halfway, already feeling the cold seep through my body, when I saw Snook doing the unbelievable. Gobsmacked, I could only stare. His bum was waving in the air and his legs were sticking out of the water like a duck looking for grubs. The rest of him was hidden somewhere below the surface. I continued to stare. What was he doing? Had he found the bones?

I'd soon find out.

Like a floundering swimmer gasping for air, he burst through the surface. ‘You little ripper!' he yelled at the top of his voice, holding what looked like a bone high in the air. ‘I've found one! I've found a bone and there's more down there.'

‘Something's not quite right though,' I said when he waded past me holding his find above the water. ‘It doesn't look like a dinosaur bone to me; it looks too small.'

‘Who knows if it is, or not?' Snook said, still excited as he stepped ashore. ‘Well find out soon enough.' He carried the object, which was a foot long, to the base of a eucalypt tree growing on the bank. ‘At any rate, dinosaurs would have had all sorts of bones, big and small. And you were right; there are heaps of them out there and I know exactly where they are now so I'll go get 'em.'

Wasting no time, he waded out once again – apparently not feeling the cold. He then continued to dive for the other bones. I waded out a fair way to save him having to walk. He could concentrate on his diving, which was fine with me. Grinning each time, he'd bring each find back to me, none of which I thought looked prehistoric. I'd then take the bone or bones to the shore. It was long, tiring work, but we were getting there. We'd already accumulated a substantial pile that I was stacking up under the eucalypt. After about two hours of this, I started to feel uneasy. ‘Snook,' I called out to him. ‘These bones definitely look human to me.'

‘Are you sure?'

‘Not really, but if you ask me they're definitely not prehistoric. I think we'd better call the police. Okay?'

‘Yeah, okay,' he said, looking disappointed. ‘Whatever.'

‘So, where did you put your phone?'

‘It's back at the camp, in the basket on the front of my bike.'

‘Okay, I'll run and phone. You can come out and warm up. I won't be long.' I didn't wait for a reply. I turned and sprinted back towards our camp instead.

On the way, I noticed that Blowhard was packing up ready to leave. He looked up when I ran past, but didn't say anything. Me neither. I wasn't going to waste time talking to Mr Blowhard; I had more important things to do. Reaching our camp, I raced over to the bikes, found Snook's phone and rang home.

Snook's mum answered. Feeling a bit out of breath, I tried to tell her about our find, and how some of the bones looked human to me. I also told her that I wanted to let the police know.

My aunt told me to take some deep breaths and start again – to explain slowly.

Trying to calm down and think straight, I told her all that I knew.

‘Okay,' she said, taking control. ‘Unfortunately, your uncle's still out with the boat so I haven't got the car; it's down at the jetty, but I think I've got the picture. So you and Snook stay put while I ring the police.'

Sergeant McGruff wasn't having a particularly good day. It was supposed to be his day off, but one of his colleagues had gone home feeling sick. That meant he'd had to take over his duties for the day, and then there was the lady who'd come into the station and demanded that he look for her lost dog that'd chased a cat and hadn't come home. Luckily, he was able to assign someone else to deal with her. So when the sergeant's superintendent walked in and plonked an armful of paper-work on his desk, with instructions to complete it all before going home that evening, McGruff's face took on a glazed look. It sure is going to be one of those days, he thought, just as the phone rang.

‘Sergeant McGruff, Queenstown police speaking; how can I …What? … What did you say? … Your niece and your son have found some bones?' The sergeant looked up at the ceiling and sighed.
What have I done to deserve this? Please, don't let it be one of those crank calls.
Pulling himself together and putting on his best police manner, he asked, ‘Where exactly are these bones, Mrs Kelly?' Swivelling a sheet of paper towards him, he picked up a pencil, ready to write down an address. ‘What?' he said, ‘… at a camping spot … near Ghost Mountain. Yes, I know the area. I'll be there … in about an hour.' Putting the phone down, he called out to his offsider, a Constable Sweetman, who was busy with something or other behind her desk. ‘Get your hat,' he said. ‘We're wanted. We need to go look at a pile of bones.' Then, after a quick word with the officer at the front desk, McGruff and his partner set out for the gorge camping area.

A
fter phoning Snook's mum, Shadow and I ran back to the campsite to wait for the police. Blowhard, I noticed, was sitting down, drinking what looked like a cup of tea or coffee. When Shadow and I got back to the lagoon, I couldn't help noticing that Snook had parked himself right next to the bones, practically on top of them. ‘Hi,' I said, puffing a little. ‘I managed to talk to your mum. She's going to call the police. So all we have to do now is to wait for them to get here.'

‘Good-oh,' Snook said and with that, all three of us settled down under the eucalypt tree and waited.

It was mid-morning when a policeman and policewoman walked out of the bush. I hadn't heard their car so it was somewhat of a surprise. Leaving Snook sitting – he was happy to stay where he was – by the bones, Shadow and I got up and crossed over to meet them. After they had identified themselves and after I'd explained what was going on and what we had been doing, the two officers followed us towards Snook.

‘Hello, young fellow,' Sergeant McGruff said, pointing to the bones. ‘This young lady tells me you have something to show us.' Scrambling to his feet, Snook pointed to the bottom of the eucalypt tree where we'd piled the bones. ‘I reckon they could be dinosaur bones but Jars thinks they might be human. That's why we called you.' Not saying anything, the two officers marched over to the tree.

‘Me and Jars fished them outta the drink a couple of hours ago,' Snook said as we followed them.

‘I see,' the sergeant said, not really looking at us, ‘but why were you in the, er, drink in the first place?'

‘Lookin' for those bones. Why else?' Snook said.

‘I see, and what do you know about them? The bones?'

‘Nothin' much. Only what I said. That they might be dinosaur bones.' He jabbed a finger in my direction. ‘But Jars thinks they're too small for that. That's why she thinks they could be human.'

‘Does she now?' the sergeant said, locking eyes with mine. ‘What makes you think that, young lady? Are you some sort of expert on the subject or are you just guessing? You shouldn't make rash statements if you don't know what you're talking about.'

Straight away, I didn't like this policeman's attitude. I'd have thought he'd be grateful to us – for finding the bones. After all, they could be important. Deciding that it was something else and not us that had put him in such a sour mood, I decided to be civil. ‘I suppose I
am
guessing but I'm pretty sure they don't belong to some sort of wild animal. I don't know of any animal in Australia that has five fingers.'

As though making up for the sergeant's abruptness, Constable Sweetman smiled and said, ‘That's very observant of you. I'm sure you're onto something there.' She looked across at her sergeant. ‘Should I make the arrangements … to have the bones examined?'

Still looking like he'd swallowed something sharp, the sergeant pulled out a mobile phone from his belt. ‘Of course, Constable,' he said, ‘that goes without saying. But I'll take it from here.' He then spoke into the phone ‘… need a diver … Mucky Lagoon … Ghost Mountain … bones definitely
not
an animal's … repeat … not an animal's … in an hour … good.' Clicking the phone shut, the sergeant told us that a police diver and photographer were on their way.

Trying to keep the
I told you so
tone out of my voice, I simply said, ‘So, the bones we found
are
human.'

My words seemed to panic the sergeant as though he'd just realised what he was dealing with here. ‘We'll need to put up … er, I mean cordon off the area, Constable. As quick as you can.'

‘Very good, Sarge, I'll fetch the barrier tape. There's some back at the car in the boot.'

‘Very well, Constable,' the sergeant said, as if trying to regain his authority. ‘You do that and hurry back. This could be a crime scene.'

‘Very good, sir,' she answered, and then, looking over in our direction, she said to Snook and me, ‘Coming? There's something I want to ask you.'

O
n the way back to collect the police tape, and as we passed Blowhard's camp, Constable Sweetman said, ‘I wanted to ask you about that poor fellow down there who's packing up his van. His annex has been completely demolished. Do you know anything about that?'

I looked down on the remains of Blowhard's camp – a blackened, flooded mess with bits and pieces of annex lying around and sticking out from half-burned bushes. I nodded and told her about the flood and how it had washed most of his annex away downstream, including Blowhard. I didn't tell her about the fire – she probably saw the remains of it anyway – or how silly I thought he'd been, camping so close to the creek; that wouldn't have helped. Seemingly satisfied, Constable Sweetman then followed us across the bridge and over to our camp where she immediately went to the boot of the police car for the roll of black and yellow tape. When she came back, I said to her, ‘Snook and have some sandwiches that we brought for lunch. Would you like to share them with us?'

‘That'd be nice,' she said, ‘as long as you have enough. I don't think the sergeant brought any lunch.'

‘We've got lots,' Snook said grinning, ‘and this time we'll be able to have lunch in peace. No interruptions from the dude across the bridge.'

‘Mr Blowhard won't be disturbing us,' I said pointing to his van as it passed by our camp. ‘But someone else might. Isn't that Doctor Huntingdale's car coming our way once
again
. I wonder what he wants this time.'