Vulture's Gate (10 page)

First, it was the blanketing device he had designed that was automatically triggered whenever a scanner tried to read the terrain. Then they spent an hour comparing his Slugbot with Mr Pinkwhistle. Callum tagged along while Mollie gave Bo a tour of his computer lab, where he had cobbled together working machines from a dozen forms of old technologies. He even showed them how he monitored the boundaries, explaining how he had seen Bo and Callum coming before they had crossed the rocky crest of hills.

The only moment of satisfaction Callum felt was when Mollie tried to take Bo into the aviary where he kept his sentry cockatoos. She stood behind Callum and refused to go near them. Finally, Mollie gave up and took the children into the kitchen where he laid out a platter of fresh fruit and poured them both a cup of strong black tea.

‘Plenty of men still afraid of birds,' he chuckled. ‘That's why I trained those fellas to attack.'

‘They don't scare me,' said Callum.

‘Shouldn't everyone be afraid of birds, especially me?' asked Bo.

‘Lot of misunderstanding about the avian flu. It didn't pick favourites to begin with. Millions died and then, when they thought they had it under control, it mutated. That's when all the women and the little girls began to disappear. Even the women that survived, they lost the ability to bear girl children. My wife and me, we had five sons. Every time we conceived a baby girl, she miscarried. There's been two generations of boys with no sisters, men with no wives.'

‘But there's me. And I must have had a mother.'

‘Maybe womenfolk in your family developed a gene that's resistant to bird flu. Your grandfather probably took you bush to save you, Bo. He must have kept your mother and your grandmother in hiding too. Women that could have babies were kidnapped and if baby girls were born, they were taken away by the government, until the government fell to pieces.'

‘There's still the Colony government,' said Callum.

‘They're not a government,' said Mollie scathingly. ‘They're a bunch of psychopathic wackos.'

Callum slumped into angry silence. While Bo chatted with Mollie, Callum sat pensively beside her, looking out the window at the green hills and scuffing his bare feet on the pressed-earth floor. As the days slipped past, Callum spoke less and less.

One night, as they were returning to their hut after dinner, he grabbed Bo by the hand and gestured for her to follow him away from the central compound. He put his finger to his lips to indicate he needed her silence and led her into the orchard. When the lights of Mollie's hut were only a distant flicker, Callum turned to her.

‘When are we going to leave?'

‘What's the hurry? It's easy being here. We don't have to hide from Outstationers, there's plenty of food, and Mollie seems to like us.'

‘He likes
you
,' said Callum. ‘Not me.'

‘But he's not mean to you,' said Bo.

‘I don't trust him. You know, he listens to us at night, when we're in our room. He has little devices all over the place. They don't work in the orchard because the cicadas drown them out. He watches every move we make and listens to every word we speak.'

‘He's taking care of us, Cal,' said Bo, but her voice betrayed her uncertainty.

‘You said you didn't need anyone to take care of you, and I don't want Mollie Green taking care of me. He's nothing to do with me. If we go to Vulture's Gate and find my dads, then we'll be with family.'

‘
Your
family,' said Bo.

‘They'll be yours too. I've told you that before. Come on, Bo. Every day that we spend with Mollie is another day away from my dads. I don't want them thinking I'm dead or lost forever.'

Bo pulled up a strand of grass and chewed on the end of it, her brow furrowed with concentration.

‘Soon,' she said. ‘We'll go soon.'

One afternoon, when they were near the end of their third week in the valley, Mollie Green started preparing dinner early. Callum stood by the window looking longingly at the distant horizon. Bo sat on a stool, picking luscious, ripe cherry tomatoes out of a bowl and watching as Mollie prepared all the different vegetables they'd harvested from his gardens.

Bo put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands, sighing with pleasure. ‘This is simply lovely,' she said, as Mollie sliced a mango into a fan shape and arranged it on a platter.

‘I felt like giving you kids a treat,' said Mollie. ‘I'm making special things for both of you.'

‘I don't need anything special,' said Callum.

Bo glared at him. ‘Don't mind Callum, Mollie,' she said. ‘He's only a bit restless, he doesn't mean to be rude.'

‘Yes I do,' said Callum. ‘Tell him, Bo. Tell him that we're leaving.'

Bo twisted her hands in her lap and drew a deep breath. ‘You've been so good to us, Mollie, but Callum wants to go and find his dads. I think we might leave soon.'

Mollie put his knife down. ‘Vulture's Gate is a dangerous place, Bo. Especially for you. Hell's Gate would be more fitting. As the women started to die off, the city tore itself apart. It's a cesspit of disease and unrest. You can't go there, Bo. It's not safe.'

‘But you said I wouldn't get sick. That I've probably got resistance to bird flu.'

‘There are worse things than disease in that city. The people, the men, they're sick at heart. It's not a safe place for a little girl.'

‘My fathers are there. Bo will be safe with them,' interjected Callum.

‘I'm not a little girl, Mollie, and I'm bigger than you, Callum. I'm almost a grown-up.'

Mollie looked down and concentrated on slicing the vegetables. ‘I've got cooking to do. Dinner will be ready after sunset. We'll talk about this later.'

Callum and Bo walked down to the dam, in the heart of the valley, and spent an hour swimming in the warm, tea-brown water. Callum was almost too angry to talk to Bo. He floated on his back, staring at the high blue sky and wondering if he should run away by himself. By the time they returned to the kitchen, Mollie had changed his clothes and was setting the table.

‘You look different,' said Bo.

Mollie turned to face them, grinning. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and a checked gingham shirt.

‘What's that thing you've got tied around your neck?' asked Callum.

‘It's called a tie,' said Mollie, flicking the piece of brightly coloured fabric out from inside his jacket. ‘Very old-fashioned but I like them. Folk used to wear 'em for special occasions. Pretty colours, eh?'

‘But it's not a special occasion, is it?' asked Bo.

‘Could be, could be,' said Mollie, nodding seriously as he shook out a once-white but now yellowed tablecloth. Then he set his best, chipped white-and-gold crockery in place. Next, he positioned a battered silver candelabrum in the middle of the table and jammed homemade candles into it. Bo and Callum sat opposite each other while Mollie straightened his tie and drew a deep breath, as if to make an announcement.

‘I've been thinking about our conversation, thinking about what the future might hold for you kids.' He looked Callum in the eye. ‘Boy, I know you want to go to Vulture's Gate and find your dads but I've got another proposal for you. I've been thinking about it a lot these past few days and I want you to seriously consider what I'm about to offer.'

Callum stared at Mollie warily.

‘So, what I was thinking, boy, is, if you give me a chance, I could be a father to you. Teach you 'bout permaculture. How to make this place work, how to take care of yourself and Bo.' For a moment, Callum softened towards the old man. ‘Thanks, Mollie. But I've already got a father. Two fathers. I don't need another one.'

‘You're not listening to me. I can offer you a safe home. Not something you'll find in Vulture's Gate. You can't take that girl there. She needs looking after.'

‘Mollie, I do not need looking after,' said Bo.

‘Now I know you're a proud young missy,' said Mollie. ‘And that's something I like about you. My own mother and my wife were proud women. It's a lovely thing in a gal. Which is why I've got something to propose to you too, Bo. Something important.'

Clumsily, Mollie stretched across the table and took Bo's hand. He held it tightly as he began to speak, though he kept his eyes closed, as if what he was saying required every ounce of his concentration.

‘I know I'm an old coot and you're still a strip of a girl. But in a year or less, you'll start changing, filling out, turning into a woman.'

Bo tried to pull her hand free but Mollie wouldn't let go. He looked up at her now, his blue eyes watery, his gaze determined.

‘A woman is better off having a man to protect her, Bo. Be a long while before Callum is a real man. So you and me, we should get married. I'll treat you right, take care of you. You'll be safe here with me. That's what a husband is for – to safe-keep his wife. I'll husband you, be a father to Callum and then, when my time is over, Callum will still be young enough to take my place. Be your husband in my stead. Maybe follow on as a father to those sons you and I will make together one day.'

Bo wrenched her hand free and jumped up from the table, catching the tablecloth by its edge and bringing all the crockery to the floor with a crash. ‘I don't want to be your wife!' she shouted.

‘You're crazy, old man,' yelled Callum, kicking his chair aside and snatching a knife from the scattered cutlery. Brandishing the weapon, Callum backed away from the table with Bo beside him. But Mollie moved quickly, stepping between them and the doorway, slamming the door shut and barring their escape.

‘Nature's way, kiddies. This is Nature's way. The ancients, they gave the young girls to the old men, 'cause they were the ones that knew how to care for them. I can help you both. Save you. It's only natural that you should be my wife, Bo.'

‘Keep away from her, you filthy old man,' shouted Callum.

‘Listen here, runt . . .' said Mollie, knocking the knife from Callum's hand and twisting his arm behind his back.

Bo stuck both her fingers in her ears and shut her eyes. ‘Stop it!
Stop it!
' she cried, her voice a piercing wail of misery.

In the silence that followed, they heard Mr Pinkwhistle at the door, scrabbling at the timber.

Mollie released Callum, as if he'd finally realised the full import of what had happened.

‘Settle down, settle down,' he muttered, raising his two hands in the air in a sign of surrender. ‘No need to make a decision right away. Plenty of time. You two have a think about everything I've proposed and we'll talk about it in the morning.'

Back in their hut, Callum turned on Bo. ‘See, I told you. Tomorrow, we're out of here.'

Bo nodded but she lay down on her bed and covered her face with her arms. That's when they heard the bolt slide across.

Callum ran to the door and tried to push it open but it was secured on the outside.

‘Hey,' he yelled, pounding on the wood with his fists. ‘What do you think you're doing?'

‘Keeping you safe,' yelled Mollie Green. Callum raced to the window and watched in disbelief as Mollie fixed a sheet of black metal against the glass. Then he circled the hut, hammering covers over every possible exit, sealing the two children inside.

16

FITCHER'S BIRD

‘Great,' said Callum. ‘Now we're trapped.'

‘He can't mean to hurt us,' said Bo.

‘Didn't you hear what he said? He wants you to be his wife! He's the bad guy, Bo. Like in those stories you told me about Bluebeard and Fitcher. He wants to keep you forever.'

Callum threw himself down beside Bo and pressed his face against the pillow.

‘“Fitcher's Bird
”
,' said Bo thoughtfully.

She put one arm across Callum and whispered in his ear.

‘In “Fitcher's Bird”, the girl runs away. Remember? She tricks the old wizard by rolling in honey and then covering herself with feathers so he passes her on the road and doesn't recognise her.'

Callum turned to face her. They were so close he could feel her breath against his cheek. He nuzzled his mouth closer to her ear in case Mollie was listening to their conversation.

‘I don't think honey and feathers will work but we could still run away,' he whispered. ‘You know we have to run away, don't you?'

Bo nodded and Callum felt a flood of relief rush through him. The last few days, when he had toyed with the idea of running away alone and getting to Vulture's Gate by himself without Bo's help, had left him feeling cold and lonely. Now, everything had shifted again. Bo wanted to be with him.

‘We need to think of a plan,' she whispered.

At that moment, Callum couldn't think of anything but how good it felt to be close to Bo again. In the desert they had slept side by side, but since arriving in the valley Callum had stayed on his mattress on the floor. He realised how much he'd missed lying close to her. He shut his eyes and rested his forehead against her neck. Her long hair tickled his cheek but he didn't mind. He simply wanted to breathe in the smell of her for a little longer.

Callum woke with a start. Mollie was dragging him off the bed and across the floor.

‘Fine kettle of fish!' he shouted. ‘Finding you two in bed together. Should never have started that conversation with you around, boyo. Should have known it would give you ideas.'

‘What?' yelled Callum, trying to shake himself free of Mollie's iron grip.

‘Mollie!' shouted Bo. ‘What are you doing? You're hurting him.'

But Mollie slammed the door shut in Bo's face.

Callum kicked and screamed as Mollie twisted his wrists and dragged him across the compound to the edge of the circle of huts. He wrenched open the door of the cockatoo aviary and threw Callum inside.