Forest Shadows (15 page)

It was just after seven when they set off. Thankfully, the morning had turned out to be fine as they made their way through the forest, their expectations of finding the treasure high, especially Jars' and Snook's. Reg had told them he was hopeful, that he'd keep his fingers crossed. Quenton was okay with the idea, maybe because he was the one that had told them about the treasure in the first place.

Snook found it hard to containing his excitement. ‘C'mon,' he urged, ‘we'd better get a move on.' He hurried along in front with Shadow bouncing at his side.

Knowing the way this time, they soon reached the falls. It was nearly eight o'clock.

Reg considered their options as he stared at the tumbling, torrent of water. ‘If Mr Wu's collection is here, it'll probably be behind the waterfall in a cave. Getting down to it is the problem.'

Jars was quick to volunteer. ‘I'll do it. You can lower me with the rope. It doesn't look too bad. I could climb down the rocks at the side of the waterfall, then slip in behind … see if there
is
a cave.' She saw Reg grimace. He doesn't like it, she told herself, but I'm the lightest one here; I'm the best one to give it a go. ‘It'll be safe enough, Reg. With you guys hanging onto the rope, it'll be a cinch.'

Reg still looked doubtful. His gaze fell on the fast-flowing river as it poured over the edge into the pool. ‘I don't know, Jars. It looks dangerous. I think I'd better be the one to go.'

Snook shook his head, putting his arm around Jars' shoulder in a rare gesture of affection. ‘Nah, I reckon Jars would be better. You're too heavy.'

Realising Snook was right about Jars being the obvious choice, Reg gave in. Besides, he told himself, she was easily the nimblest and most sure-footed among them.

Slipping the coil of rope from his shoulders, he handed it to her. ‘Tie this around your waist and we'll let you down, but whatever you do, don't take any risks. The rocks will be wet and slippery.' His eyes locked onto hers. ‘Understand?'

Tying the rope around her waist according to Reg's instructions, she gave a slight nod and began the descent.

Whimpering, Shadow crept over to the edge of the falls on his belly. He rested his head on his paws and watched as Reg lowered Jars down the rock face. Not liking what he saw, he stood and pawed the ground. He cocked his head to one side and looked across at Reg, who still had hold of the rope. ‘It's okay, boy,' Reg said, glancing sideways at him. ‘She won't be long.'

With Quenton looking disinterested, Reg and Snook put their weight behind the rope as Jars felt her way down. The rocks, smooth from the constant soaking were, as Reg had predicted, slippery. She continued to edge her way down, testing each step. Then she saw what looked like a dark, ledge-like structure. Extending a leg, she squeezed between the curtain of water and the cliff face, feeling for the ledge.

Her feet touched firm ground and she looked around. All she saw was a dim cavity filled with spray. She strained to adjust her eyes to the shadowy light. She blinked several times and gradually she saw what it was …

‘It's a cave!' she shouted to the others but doubted they would hear her above the roar of the falls. Bent at the waist, she inched into the cave with the rope dangling from her waist. The cave had a musty, dank smell and fine spray spattered and tickled her cheeks. In its far corners, she could just make out the grey-black patterns of spider webs that were hanging from the roof and sides. Her eyes fell on something else. It was a bulky, shapeless object and it was lying on a rock shelf below the spider webs.

She hurried over. It was a hessian sack. With trembling fingers, she pried it open. She gasped. It was Mr Wu's collection. She foraged inside. It was all there – the gold nuggets, the opals and all the other minerals and crystals. And near the top, its tree-like, orange membranes glistening, was Mr Wu's favourite – the crocoite.

Hurrying, she untied the rope around her waist. She attached it to the sack; then, making sure the collection was secure and wouldn't fall out, she gave three sharp tugs on the rope, the signal to pull.

She smiled to herself, wishing she could see their faces when they opened the hessian sack and saw Mr Wu's treasure.

'W
ell, you weren't wrong,' Reg beamed, as Jars, now safely back, untied herself.

‘Absolutely brilliant!' Snook gushed. ‘You solved the puzzle and found Wu Han's collection. Nice one! I knew you would. Knew it all the time.' He looked over at Reg. ‘I guess we'd better take it back to Mr Wu now though, like Jars promised.'

Reg pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch. ‘We'll do that but we'll have to hurry.
The Shandora
will be here soon.'

Quenton, who'd been standing to the side during all this, threw his arms in the air. ‘Hey! Does that mean we have to go over that waterfall again?'

‘That's right,' Reg said. ‘We've no option.'

Quenton groaned and pulled a rather nasty face.

They crossed the waterfall without mishap and headed for Wu Han's Camp. It was nine o'clock when they got there.

Except for Wu Han's wild animals that were happily grazing in the clearing, the place looked deserted.

‘He must be inside,' Reg suggested.

Jars frowned. ‘I guess so, but it's a little strange. He's usually out and about by now. I'll go look.'

With Shadow tagging along, she ran across the open space towards Mr Wu's hut. When she got there, the door was half-open. She knocked but there was no answer. She stuck her head around the door and saw straightaway that the room was empty.

‘There's no one here,' she called back to the others. ‘Not even Po-Yee.' Shadow poked his head around Jars' legs to look inside, too. She ruffled his ears. ‘They're not here, Shadow. They must be outside somewhere.'

‘That's strange,' Reg said as he and the others caught up with Jars. ‘I wonder where he's gone.' He checked the time. ‘I hope he won't be too long. Time's getting on.' He waved his arm in a circle. ‘In the meantime we'd better spread out; see if he's around here somewhere.'

‘Y-you don't th-think those alien things have got him?' Quenton was quick to ask.

‘Don't be silly,' Snook said, not quite believing his own words. ‘Do what Reg said and start lookin'.

Shadow had different ideas. Before they could move off, he nudged Jars' leg and then ran towards the hut.

Snook gave Jars a friendly shove. ‘He wants you to follow him. I reckon he know somethin' we don't.'

Shadow ran back and tugged at her sleeve. Snook was right. She quickly followed Shadow back to the hut.

She pushed the door fully open and stepped inside, not knowing what to expect. Then she saw it. Weighed down with a small stone in the middle of the table was a sheet of paper. Shadow barked his approval when she reached over and picked the paper up. It was a note. She read its contents:

Jars,

I know you come back again. I know you find Wu Han's treasure.

Please, you take treasure with you, but not Wu Han's
special
crystal. And please, you remember what I tell you about stars.

Jars stood, not moving. Thoughts bounced around in her mind, twisting and writhing like snakes. She felt terrible.

And there was a smell, a raw almond-like smell. A cold shiver ran down her spine and she hurried outside, her pulse racing.

'B
eats me,' Reg said, reading the note Jars handed to him.

Jars took it back and read it one more time. ‘It doesn't feel right, Reg, taking his rock collection. I mean, Mr Wu was really proud of it. It took him years to gather all those specimens. In a way, the rocks and crystals were his life.'

‘I agree, but it sounds like he really wants you to have them. He must think you'll make good use of them.'

Reg hesitated, then said, ‘But, where is he? That's the main question.' He stroked his chin, looking a little awkward. ‘I'm really sorry, Jars, but the thing is … it's fairly obvious. The collection's a parting gift, his way of saying goodbye. I don't think Wu Han is coming back. His note sort of says that.'

‘Not coming back? How do you mean?'

‘I mean I think he's left for good. Sorry, Jars, but that's the way it is. Wu Han's gone.' He called out to Snook and Quenton, who were waiting outside. ‘Wu Han's not here. We'll head back.'

Leaving the crocoite crystal behind as asked, head bowed and carrying the hessian sack with the rest of the rock collection over her shoulder, Jars fell behind the others. She couldn't help the silent tears welling in her eyes.

Shadow kept close to her side and a low rumble, like very distant thunder, escaped from his throat.

A
fter Evelyn Grimshaw shut off the motor, she let the boat drift alongside the old jetty for the second time that weekend. Hector leaned over with the mooring rope and tied the boat to one of the posts. Without hesitating, the two Grimshaws and Quigley, chins jutting as if on a mission, climbed onto the jetty. From there, they hurried to the track that would take them to the ranger's shack and maybe, the treasure.

When the shack came into sight, they hid behind a covering of ferns. ‘It looks deserted,' Evelyn said. ‘That means they've already gone to find the treasure. We'll have to wait here. Let's hope they come back soon, before Jim Kelly arrives to pick them up.'

‘You seem quite sure that Jim Kelly's going to pick them up,' Quigley said.

‘Of course I'm sure. It's the last day of the holiday weekend so he'll be picking up those horrors as soon as he sells his catch. He'll want to get them back to Cray Bay before nightfall, so he'll be here soon – about lunchtime, I'd guess.'

Persuaded by Evelyn's logic, Quigley stretched out behind a large tree fern where he had a good view of the shack and the path through the forest. He'd just settled himself down, listening to the occasional bird call and the steady murmur of the stream, when he suddenly sat up. ‘I hear voices,' he said, poking his head around the fern.

Hector, who'd also been stretched out, leaped to his feet. ‘Yeah, so can I, and they're getting closer.'

‘Quiet you two,' Evelyn warned. ‘It is them. I can see one of them now. It's the girl and she's carrying something over her shoulder. It looks like a sack.'

‘They've got it!' Hector cried out, forgetting himself. ‘They must have found the treasure!'

Evelyn motioned for him to keep quiet. ‘You idiot! Keep your voice down!'

When she was certain Hector hadn't been heard and it was safe to do so, she said from the corner of her mouth, ‘They've found the treasure. That's for sure. Now we make it ours!'

‘I must say, I'm a little confused.' It was Quigley. ‘Would you kindly tell me how you plan on doing that?'

Ignoring a bemused-looking Quigley, Evelyn's gaze fell on Hector. ‘As soon as those brats and the ranger get inside, we move. You go down by the river, but stay hidden somewhere among the bushes. Take the .22 with you and fire a few shots as if you're shooting at something. That'll get their attention, especially the ranger's.'

‘What then?' Hector asked.

‘Reg Carter, and probably the others, will come out to see what the shooting's about. When they do, let off another couple of shots. That'll set them running in your direction. Then you get out of there as fast as you can and hightail it back here.'

A thin, wormy smile crossed her lips. ‘With the shack empty, Quigley and I will walk in there and grab the treasure. Then we all make our way back to the boat.'

Two pairs of eyes, hidden in the shadows of the trees, were already observing what was transpiring around them. Invisible, their owners moved into position.

Inside the shack, Jars pressed her face to the window. ‘There's something out there.'

‘Where?' Snook said, joining her.

She pointed. ‘Down there, near the river; I saw something move in the trees.'

In direct contrast to his earlier wimpy behaviour, Quenton leaned over on his bunk and said in his creepiest, scariest voice, ‘Oooo dear, is Jarsy all scared of the boogie-woogie men? What are we to do?'

Snook's patience with Quenton was running out. ‘Can it, why don't you? You're foolin' no one. It's easy to be the big brave man now, seein' that we're goin' home in a minute. Besides, you never know, it might have been one of your boogie-woogie men that Jars saw and he might even be coming for you!'

Reg walked over. ‘Listen, you guys. I think there's been enough talk about creatures from outer space for one day. Anyway, something tells me Mr Wu's
Collectors
are long gone by now with …' He nearly said what he was really thinking, that they'd taken Wu Han with them. That would've been cruel, he told himself. Jars was upset enough – but he'd caught himself in time. ‘Let's pack up and head for the jetty. The boat'll be here soon.'

‘But what about Mr Wu?' Jars said. ‘We don't
really
know what's happened to him. We shouldn't leave till we find out.'

Reg sighed. It was time to clear the air, time to help the kids put an end to all of this talk about aliens and Mr Wu. They'd had enough excitement for one weekend, enough to give them nightmares for a lifetime. ‘Finish your packing,' he said, ‘then we'll all go down to the river, see the shadows among the trees for what they really are, try to put what we've all heard in some perspective. Then we can all head for home.'

They all marched down to the creek. As usual, Shadow led the way. ‘It's like we're in the army,' Snook quipped, ‘like we're on patrol or somethin', lookin' for the enemy.'

S
tanding on the river bank with the kids, Reg laughed. ‘I wouldn't hold out much hope of seeing any enemies, Snook. There's no bad guys here.' He waved his arm in a sweeping motion. ‘See, there's nothing to worry about except trees and scrub, and those dark things you can see are just plain old shadows.'