Forest Spirit (17 page)

Jim Kelly had every intention of tagging along. The kids were out there somewhere and they needed him.

They set off along the track. The sound of the waves lapping on the rocks followed them. All around, the birds, invisible in the dim light, chirped their good nights, and the men, heeding the Inspector's orders, picked their way along the track in silence.

Jim, bringing up the rear as requested, had mixed feelings.

His belly felt squeamish. Were the three kids safe? Had he been wrong about Jars? Reg Carter had certainly thought so. Before his talk with Reg, he had been certain; Jars had deliberately disobeyed him and had tormented the life out of Quenton.

Now he wasn't so sure; seeds of doubt had been sown. He could have misjudged her. He would have a good talk with Snook. Despite his larrikin streak, the lad had a good sense of right and wrong. His natural curiosity would have driven him to find out the ins and outs of Jars' behaviour. But then again, if Snook had found out that Jars was blameless, why hadn't he said something?

What they would find at the end of their trek, he didn't know. He prayed that it would be the three kids, and he prayed that they would be safe and unharmed. He shook his head as if to clear it, and continued to make his way forward.

He wasn't to know that at that very moment, Jars, Snook and Quenton were in the middle of a very dangerous situation; one they couldn't control.

The boat drifted towards the shore until it came to a halt with its bow resting on the rocky edge of the lake.

Arnie, a length of rope in his hand to tie up the kids, stood and watched as two people from the boat lowered themselves onto the dry land. ‘Um, should I still tie them up, Hector? Would Evelyn want me to do that, would she, Hector?'

Hector, his eyes riveted on the approaching figures, their silhouettes barely distinguishable against the glassy blackness of the lake, hissed a reply. ‘Leave it for now.' He pointed with his chin toward the large boulder where Snook and Quenton had been. ‘Get them on the ground behind that, and make sure they don't get up to any funny business. Take the rifle with you.'

Arnie herded them over to the boulder. He told them to sit. ‘Hey,' Snook said to Arnie, ‘the ground's damp. You want us to get pneumonia, or what?'

‘Ah, Hector says you have to sit there. And he says I gotta stay and watch you, to make sure you're good.'

Snook lifted his eyes. ‘Do you always do what that freak says? Why don't you stand up to him? You're big enough. You could flatten him with one good slap if you wanted to.'

‘Um, Hector, he knows best. He's my brother and he has to tell me things.'

‘Yeah, but they're pretty bad things, aren't they? Like trapping all those birds and selling them for heaps of money.'

Jars joined in. ‘A lot of them will die too, or didn't you know that?'

‘No, no, Hector says they're to go to nice places. They'll be safe then, he says.'

Jars thought for a moment and then, as though reaching a decision, said, ‘Look, whatever your name is, you've been tricked. Snook's right in what he says. Your brother's going to sell them to private breeders, and like I said, some of the birds will fret and die; others will suffocate, hidden away in things like stockings and boxes.'

‘So,' Snook added, ‘what are you gonna do about it? You gonna let him get away with it, or what?'

Arnie's mouth opened and closed as though he was searching for words. But before he could say anything, they were interrupted. It was Evelyn Grimshaw.

Jars sniffed the air, smelling once again the familiar aroma of perfume, the sickly sweetness that had hung in the air inside the Quigley house and then again in the ranger's office.

She stepped into view. Wearing a heavy turtleneck sweater, blue jeans and hiker's boots, she had prepared well against the chill of the evening. She was not, however, prepared for the sight that now met her eyes. Her bottom jaw dropped. With a stare that could shatter glass, her lips twisted into a snarl. ‘What … what the devil's going on? Why are
they
here?' Without waiting for an answer, she spun on her heels and called through the dim light. ‘Hector! Get over here, wherever you are. You've got some explaining to do.'

Hector, who had hung back, slunk into view. ‘We had to grab 'em,' he explained quickly, before his sister could say anything. ‘They were snooping around. They saw what we were doing. We had no choice.'

‘You idiot. You had a choice all right; you should have kept out of sight. Instead, you chose to stupidly advertise your presence with your snooping around. All you succeeded in doing was to draw attention to yourselves. And now Jim Kelly is in town, waiting for the ranger to get back from Hobart. As soon he does they'll be out here looking for these kids.' She rubbed her chin, as though thinking. ‘You've kidnapped them, you know. That's serious. Now we have the problem of dealing with them. If we let them go, they'll obviously tell everyone about us. We'd be finished – arrested and locked up for God knows how long. What did you have in mind, may I ask, or hasn't your excuse for a brain thought that far ahead?'

Before Hector could answer, Evelyn's partner came from behind the boulder.

Quento gasped ‘Dad? Wha – what are you doing here?'

The towering figure of Mr Quigley stepped forward. He looked down at his son. ‘Why are
you
here? That's more to the point. Evelyn? Answers please.'

She quickly told him what had happened.

Mr Quigley coughed into his hand as though clearing his throat. ‘This is totally unacceptable, absolutely outrageous. Your brothers have placed us in an impossible situation.' Then, thinking along the same lines as Evelyn, he pointed towards Snook. ‘That boy, who goes by the name of Snook, and the girl, will tell the whole world about all this.' He waved an arm in the air. ‘It goes without saying that we can't allow that to happen. We'll have to take them with us until I decide what to do with them. Hector, get them on board, except Quenton. I'll deal with him. Arnie, you load the cages, and be quick about it. We need to get out of here.' Hector grabbed the rifle from Arnie and pointed it at their three prisoners. His lips curled and stretched to a sneer. ‘If you ask me, they need snuffing out now and I'm just the man to do it.'

Mr Quigley took a pace forward and pressed the barrel of the rifle towards the ground. ‘You've caused enough damage. There will be no talk about snuffing out anybody, so do as I say. Get these two onto the boat.' He paused for a moment, then added, ‘I shall attend to them in due course.' Quenton Quigley's face ran with new tears. Jars, who was sitting next to him, placed a hand on his shoulder.

‘Don't worry,' she whispered, ‘we'll be okay. We'll get out of this.'

‘Why is he with these bad people?'

Cupping a hand over his mouth, Snook leant over Jars so that Quenton could hear. ‘Jars is right. Don't worry, we'll beat them yet.'

Jars flinched as Hector raised the rifle to firing position once again. ‘Get on yer feet.' He nudged Snook and Jars with the barrel. ‘And start walking. You're going on a nice little trip.' He sniggered and prodded them once again.

At that moment, a brown blur flew through the air. ‘Shadow!' Jars cried when she saw him. ‘Snook, it's Shadow!'

Shadow, his training and instinct teIling him that Jars was in danger, had crept towards the group. He had then leapt to the top of the rock where he lay watching, invisible in the darkness. When Hector prodded Jars with the rifle, he knew that meant danger. He knew about guns; he had learnt their purpose while on patrol with the ranger when they had come across hunters in the forest. It had not taken him long to associate their loud noise with death. He had to stop the man with the gun.

Still in mid-air, Shadow's teeth sunk into Hector's arm. The force of the dog's momentum forced Hector to stumble, then fall backwards to the ground. Shadow held on, shaking his head from side to side, growling.

Hector, through fear or hope, hung onto the rifle. ‘Get him off me! Evelyn, Arnie, get him off!'

As though in shock, Evelyn and Arnie didn't move.

Snook saw his chance. He rushed over towards Hector, who was writhing and twisting on the ground, trying desperately to dislodge the dog.

Snook was a fraction of a second late.

With a last desperate twist of his body, Hector grabbed the gun with his other hand. He coiled his finger around the trigger and fired.

Shadow let out a sharp yelp and fell to his side.

Taking advantage of Hector's prone position, Snook let fly with his boot, kicking the rifle out of his hand. He bent and picked it up. He pointed it at Hector. ‘No sudden movements, or I'll blast you to smithereens. Now, get on yer feet and move over to the others.' He swivelled the barrel in an arc, covering the Grimshaws and Mr Quigley.

‘Shadow!' Jars hurried towards him. ‘Snook, Shadow's hurt.' She bent down, quickly examining the dog. ‘The bullet's gone through his shoulder. It's bleeding badly.'

Snook didn't take his eyes off the poachers. ‘How bad is he?'

‘He's alive. I – I don't know how bad he is, but the bleeding is getting worse.'

Ignoring Snook, Arnie shoved away from the others and walked purposely towards Jars.

‘Hey, ya big ape, what'd I tell you?' Snook pointed the rifle at Arnie. ‘One more step and I'll …'

He didn't complete the sentence. Arnie had already bent down and lifted Shadow as easily as if he were a rag doll. Cradling Shadow in his arms like a baby, Arnie whispered with soft words into his ear. Then, with concerned eyes, he turned to Jars. ‘We have to get the dog back to your camp. I can fix him up good there.'

Jars noticed that Arnie didn't stutter or stumble over his words. ‘Do you think he'll be all right?' she found herself asking. ‘I mean, how bad do you think he is?'

Arnie smiled. ‘He'll be good. The bullet's gone through the fleshy part of his shoulder. Now we just got to stop all the blood from coming out. I can stop it with this for now.'

Holding Shadow with one arm, he ripped the singlet from his back with the other hand and stuffed it into the dog's wound. He pressed down, stemming the flow of blood. Shadow whimpered. ‘It's okay now. You'll be all right now,' he said. He raised his eyes and looked at Jars. ‘But he needs a proper bandage put on it. Have you got one of them … back there … in your camp?'

Jars was about to answer when Hector interrupted. He was holding his arm, still bleeding from where Shadow had sunk his teeth. ‘Think you're smart, don't you little boy, but if I'm any judge you haven't got the guts to use that gun you're holding.' He sneered. ‘Reckon I'll come right over and take it away.'

Snook trained the barrel on Hector, who had already taken a step forward. ‘I wouldn't if I were you.'

Hector laughed, a shrill giggle. ‘Like I said, you don't have the guts.' He took another step, then froze as the gun exploded for the second time that night. The bullet sped past his ear. He ducked. ‘You idiot! You could have killed me.'

‘Next time I will.'

Evelyn, who had remained quiet all this time, turned to Quenton's father. ‘Do something. We have to get out of here. His father and Reg Carter could be here at any minute. All my plans will be ruined. I can't let that happen. I simply can't.'

‘Evelyn, I have news for you. I don't particularly care about you or what happens to you. Our business dealings are clearly over. You and your stupid brothers can stay here and wait to be thrown into jail … to rot. I will disappear. Quenton, come over here, we're leaving.'

Snook shook his head. ‘I don't think so. You ain't going anywhere, Mr Quigley. Not when I've got hold of this.' He waved the gun in the air.

‘Look,' Mr Quigley went on, ‘you're forgetting something. I'm an important man in Cray Bay and if you harm me, lots of people will hate you for it. They'll be out of work, including your father. The town needs me, so, as I stated earlier, my son and I are leaving. Quenton, do as you're told and get over here.'