Medical Mission (4 page)

Josh took a sip of his warm, flat lemonade. ‘Mmm,' he said. ‘Thanks.'

It tasted terrible and had a slight yellowish tinge to it that made him think of wee. But Ratchet had given each of them a glass and he was too scared of her to say anything bad about it.

Josh looked around the room as he forced
himself to take a second sip. Pete and Sally sat on either side of him on a dusty old couch, clutching their glasses and trying not to look terrified. The ‘bio box' they were in was the projection room. It was a dilapidated brick space with peeling plaster and a flaking ceiling. There were three glassless square windows in the far wall with projectors set up in front of them, pointed at the giant screen on the other side of the grounds.

The opposite wall was covered in framed movie posters and stills. Josh let his eyes wander over them –
Fire in the Stone
,
Ground Zero
,
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
,
Salute of the Jugger
,
Stark
,
Pitch Black
,
Red Planet
,
Kangaroo Jack
.

‘Like me posters?' asked Ratchet, standing over the kids, chest swelling with pride.

The three friends nodded.

‘They were all shot here,' whispered Pete in awe.

‘What?' asked Sally, eyes widening with panic. ‘Shot?'

‘No, no, not shot with a gun,' explained Pete, as he realised that Sally had misunderstood him. ‘Shot with a camera. Those posters. All the movies were filmed around here. Either in Coober Pedy, or in the areas around it. Lots of sci-fi 'cause the desert looks like an alien landscape.' His eyes were alight with excitement. ‘That's why there's a spaceship in the car park next to the opal place. It's a leftover prop from
Pitch Black
.'

‘I thought that was a tourist thing,' said Sally.

‘Yeeeeeesssssss,' growled Ratchet, squinting at Pete.

Pete sunk back into the couch and tried to hide behind his glass of lemonade.

‘How do you know all that?' asked Sally.

Pete shrugged from behind his glass. ‘I like movies.'

‘Right-oh then,' said Ratchet, planting her bulk down on a tiny stool. ‘Details!'

‘Well,' started Josh. And he launched into the story of what had happened with his mum and new baby brother; how the RFDS had come in the night; how he had written an essay about it; and how his class was going to do some fundraising. And then he put forward his idea about using the drive-in to show a film. His mouth was bone-dry again by the time he finished.
He took another swig of wee-coloured drink and immediately regretted it.

‘So, you kids want me to let you use the drive-in?' said Ratchet. ‘For free?'

Josh nodded.

‘That's one helluva ask.' Her voice got louder. ‘Lucky! Youse kids are lucky. Lucky that I almost died!'

How can we be lucky that she almost died?
wondered Josh. It was at this point Josh realised just how odd Ratchet's speech was. It was a curious mix that seemed to lack consistency. Her accent was sort of American, but she used Australianisms like ‘youse'. And she sometimes smooshed her words together.
But what does almost dying have to do with anything?

‘Back when I was your age,' continued
Ratchet, ‘I used to go opal hunting. Fell in a hole one day. Snapped me arm. Slashed me leg on a rock.' She straightened out her left leg and pointed. There was a faded jagged scar that ran up the inside of her leg from the boot to just under the knee. ‘Lost lots of blood. Them flying docs came and got me. They saved me life.' The stool creaked as she leaned forward. ‘I'd be delighted to help 'em any way I can.'

Delighted?
Josh smiled. The word didn't seem right coming from Ratchet.

‘You think that's funny?' Ratchet looked like she was about to pounce on Josh.

Josh's smile evaporated as he quickly shook his head.

‘Now,' continued Ratchet. ‘Any idea what youse want to show?'

Josh shrugged.

‘What about
The Flying Doctors
?' suggested Pete.

Everyone turned to look at him.

‘It's a TV show from the 80s,' he continued. ‘I haven't seen the series, but my mum is always going on about it. She reckons it was great because it was set in the outback. Showed things how they really were.' No one said anything, so Pete blundered on. ‘Anyway, it's about the RFDS. And I know it's TV not film. But maybe we could show the first episode, since it was movie-length.'

‘Don't be daft!' roared Ratchet, getting to her feet and towering over the kids. She put her hands on her hips. Pete tried to disappear into the couch cushions. ‘Ya can't just show ep one. That program
started off as a mini-series. Three movie-length eps. All telling the entire story. You show one –' she pointed an enormous finger at Pete ‘– you show all three.' She crossed her arms over her chest, tools jangling in the belt. ‘And don't think I don't know who you are.' She glared at Pete and he shrunk even further down into the couch. ‘You come here every Friday with your brother in that rundown Holden pickup.'

Pete breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

Ratchet's gaze narrowed. ‘And every Saturday night you sneak in here and sit behind the third tree on the right, from the back fence.' She paused.

Pete's face went white.

‘Without paying!'

Pete tensed, looking as if he was about to run.

‘But you're not in a car. So you don't get no sound. I figure since you're that desperate for the silver screen, it couldn't hurt to leave you be.'

The tension drained from Pete's body.

Ratchet stabbed an enormous finger in Pete's direction. ‘But don't think I don't know!'

Pete nodded hurriedly.

‘Um.' Sally raised her hand as if she were in class. ‘Won't all three episodes be too long?'

‘Work with me on this,' said Ratchet. ‘We'll do the screenings over three consecutive nights. We can advertise to the tourists. Make sure to let everyone
know how it's raising money for the RFDS.' Ratchet's eyes were glowing now. ‘It's gonna take a bit of work to set up. Need to contact Crawford's and get permission.'

‘What's Crawford's?' asked Sally.

‘Holey moley, people!' roared Ratchet. ‘Don't youse kids know anything? Crawford Productions is the company that made
The Flying Doctors
.'

‘I knew that,' Pete piped up.

‘Yeah, well, I know someone who works there,' said Ratchet, voice dropping a little. ‘I can get him to speed things along and get us permission real quick. The fact we ain't making money for ourselves makes it easier.' The corners of Ratchet's mouth twinged again. ‘You just leave it to me.' Then her mouth hardened again. ‘But you
kids need to do everything else. You need to make posters. You need to advertise. And you need to get food to sell on the screening nights. I'm providing the venue but I ain't providing the snacks. You have to do that. Got it?'

Josh, Pete and Sally nodded.

‘She's real tired,' said Dad as he handed the phone to Josh. ‘So make it quick.'

Josh grasped the phone with trembling hands. ‘Mum?'

‘Hello, love.'

Josh almost burst into tears. He was so relieved to hear her voice. He bit his lip to stop himself. He couldn't cry in front of Dad.

‘Miss you,' he managed to say.

‘I miss you too, love.'

‘How's Nate?' asked Josh.

‘He's stable,' answered Mum. ‘They reckon he's going to be fine. He just needs a bit of time for his lungs to get stronger. But he looks so small and weak.'

Josh thought that her voice sounded small and weak – exhausted. He glanced up at Dad, who looked like he wanted the phone back straight away. Josh didn't blame him. Dad probably missed her just as much as he did.

He desperately wanted to tell her about his essay, and the fundraising and his visit to the drive-in. Instead he simply asked: ‘Know when you're coming home?'

‘No, not yet, love.' She sounded disappointed.

‘Okay,' said Josh, looking up into Dad's impatient eyes. ‘I better go then. Love you.'

‘Love you, too.'

He handed the phone to Dad, who walked into the next room. Josh sat at the kitchen table and tried to listen in. They talked for about another ten minutes. Josh wished that he had gotten as much time.

Josh spent the rest of the evening thinking about Mum and Nate – about how much he missed Mum; about how much he wanted to properly meet Nate.
How long before they come home?
he wondered.
And is Nate really going to be okay?

After Dad went to bed, Josh fired up the computer that sat on the old desk in the corner of the lounge room, right next to the two-way radio that he used to get his
School of the Air lessons over. The computer was ancient and it took ages to boot up, but at least they had internet thanks to the satellite dish on the roof of the homestead.

Josh searched for ‘premature birth' and ‘lungs'. The connection wasn't great, so it took a long time for the page to load. But when the info came up, it really frightened him. ‘Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome', also known as ‘surfactant deficiency disorder'. It sounded dangerous.
Didn't Aunty Karen say something about a syndrome?

He tried to read the details, but it was full of words and explanations he didn't understand.

‘Incidence decreases with advancing gestational age.'

‘Developmental insufficiency of surfactant
production and structural immaturity in the lungs.'

‘Rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood.'

He eventually switched the computer off, more anxious than ever.

‘Done deal!' growled Ratchet.

Josh dropped his schoolbag with a little yelp and almost fell over with surprise. He had not expected the drive-in owner to be waiting for him as he got off the school bus. The other kids disappeared quickly, giving the scary woman in the khaki get-up a wide berth.

‘What?' he asked.

‘Pay attention,' she snapped. ‘Me mate came through with permission from Crawford's. They're sending a digital copy of the mini-series next week. So we is all set to rock 'n' roll.'

Josh gazed up at Ratchet.
Rock 'n' roll?
He nodded.

‘You and your friends – youse need to come over some time so we can discuss dates for the screening.' Josh noticed that Ratchet looked a little different from before. Her eyes seemed … not as manic. The corners of her mouth were twitching a bit higher. Could it be … she was excited?

‘Cool,' said Josh.

‘Way cool,' answered Ratchet, as she strode off down the street. ‘C'est fantastique.'

Josh didn't have the heart to tell her that
nothing had been settled yet at school. Today was the day that fundraising ideas would be discussed.

What if no one likes my plan?
he worried.

‘I hope you all had a good think about fundraising ideas over the course of the week,' said Ms Wright. ‘Who would like to go first?'

Josh's hand shot up in the air.

‘I have a written proposal,' announced Marceline, jumping to her feet and waving about a plastic folder full of papers.

‘Oh my,' said Ms Wright. ‘That's impressive, Marceline. Why don't you come up and tell us all about it.'

Marceline walked to the front of the class, giving Josh a smug look as she went. ‘My friends and I have been meeting every day after school to brainstorm ideas. And we did some online research. I've put together all the statistics into this.' She smiled sweetly at Ms Wright. ‘Based on what schools across Australia and other countries have done to raise money, car washes are the most successful. But we can't do that because it's really dry here and we have water restrictions. Markets and trash and treasure sales were also high on the list. So I think that we should be running a Trash and Treasure Market that includes local souvenirs. We should be targeting the tourist dollar.'

Tourist dollar? Targeting?
Josh shook his
head.
She sounds like some sort of marketing brochure.

Marceline handed the folder to Ms Wright. ‘It's all in here.' Then she returned to her seat, giving Josh another smug smirk.

‘This is very impressive,' mumbled Ms Wright, as she flipped through the pages. ‘I think we may have found our class fundraiser. It's certainly something we could all be involved in.'

Josh's arm, still in the air, sagged.

‘Excuse me, Ms Wright,' said Sally. ‘We held an after-school meeting, too.' She pointed to Pete and Josh. ‘We didn't write things down, but we have a pretty good idea.'

‘Oh?' said the teacher. ‘Well, let's hear it, Sally.'

Sally gave Josh a little shove from behind. His hand was still half-heartedly in the air.

‘Um,' started Josh. ‘Well, we thought that –'

‘Out the front please, Josh, Sally, Peter,' said Ms Wright.

Josh lowered his hand and pushed his chair back. It made a scraping noise along the wooden floor. He moved hesitantly to the front of the room, followed by his two friends. Josh turned to face the class, making a point of not looking at Marceline. Sally stood by his side, while Pete hung back trying to hide behind the other two.

‘We thought we could show
The Flying Doctors
at the drive-in.'

Marceline made a little noise, like a cross between a giggle and a snort.

‘That's a nice idea, Josh,' said Ms Wright. ‘But that might be a bit difficult to organise. A market would be easier.'

‘Actually, it won't be that hard,' piped up Sally. ‘We've sort of made a start already.' She looked encouragingly at Josh. He took a deep breath and continued.

‘Yes. We already spoke to Ratch … I mean, the owner of the drive-in. The RFDS saved her life when she was a kid, so she's keen to help. She said we could use her drive-in. And she's already organised permission to show
The Flying Doctors
. That's the old mini-series from TV. All we have to do is get people to come. And … and … we could target the tourist dollar. It's set in the outback, so people who've come sightseeing here would probably be interested.'

‘And it wouldn't just be a one-night fundraiser,' said Sally, again looking to Josh.

‘Yep.' He nodded, feeling his enthusiasm rise. ‘It's a mini-series. So we can show it over three nights. Which means more ticket sales. Which means more money for the RFDS.'

‘Wow,' said Ms Wright, sounding impressed. ‘The three of you did all that?'

Marceline's face fell.

The teacher rolled up the marketing proposal in her hands and tapped her chin with it. ‘Yours and Marceline's ideas are good,' she said thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps we can do both?' She smiled at the class. ‘Yes. I'll contact the RFDS and let them know what our plans are. I think they will be thrilled that we're doing two different fundraisers.'

Marceline glared at Josh.

‘Hey Dad,' said Josh as his father dropped onto a kitchen chair. ‘Got some news.'

Dad stretched, yawned and leaned back, closing his eyes. Josh was making dinner for them tonight. He was sick of baked beans, so he had offered to cook. Bacon and eggs on toast was usually more of a breakfast thing, but it was something he knew how to make, and something he really liked.

‘Dad?' said Josh, when his father hadn't responded.

Dad opened his eyes with a sigh. ‘Yeah, what is it?'

‘We talked about the fundraising ideas at school today,' said Josh, as he pushed the bacon to one side of the pan and cracked
the eggs into the sizzling fat. ‘And we're gonna do my idea.'

‘That's great, son.' Dad stifled another yawn.

The toast sprung out of the toaster with a little metallic clang.

‘We're showing
The Flying Doctors
mini-series at the drive-in,' continued Josh, when he realised his dad wasn't going to ask him about it. ‘We'll be making posters and flyers. Not just for the locals. We're also going to … target the tourist dollar.'

‘I hope you know what you're getting yourself into,' said Dad. ‘Sounds like an awful lot of work. Don't forget you've got chores here too. I don't want them falling off.'

‘Don't worry. I'll do my chores.' Josh tried to sound responsible. ‘I've already
done this month's muck out of the chook shed. The poddy calves are doing well. I took the trail bike out and checked the north fence today. All good. And I'll check the south fence tomorrow. I'm keeping the kitchen clean while Mum is away. And dinner is ready.'

Josh buttered the toast and served up the bacon and eggs. He hung back for a while, the mention of Mum reminding him how much he missed her and how worried he still was. He bit at his lip and tried to push his anxiety away before sitting down at the table with Dad. He took a deep breath. ‘Will you come to the show?'

‘I don't know, son,' said Dad, shovelling food into his mouth. He continued to talk. ‘I've got a lot on my plate. And your
mother's not here. Not even sure when she'll be getting home with your brother.'

Josh looked down at his own plate. He'd lost his appetite. He had planned to quiz Dad about how Nate was doing, hoping to get some more details … but now decided it wasn't worth the effort.

After Dad finished eating, he went to bed, leaving Josh to wash up.