Forest Secrets. David Laing

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СКАЧАТЬ It was time to do something. Anything.

       Suddenly an image – vague and indistinct – came to him and with it from somewhere in the back of his tiny brain, there was a thought. He forced himself to remember.

       Then he remembered, and his body trembled with renewed hope; there was a place, a safe place he had once known. Many years ago. And it lay somewhere ahead of him.

       Ignoring the heat and the wind and billowing smoke, the rhotosaurus broke into stride, not stopping until he came to a steep cliff. He drew to a halt and looked over the edge. There was a narrow gorge and at the bottom of the gorge was a river; they looked familiar. Once again he tried to remember, and then, like a slow moving slide show, he saw it form in his mind. There was a place … nearby … a cool, safe place. He was sure of it. And there had been a path that led him there. Willing his tiny brain to respond and swivelling his long neck to the left and right, he scanned the cliff top, looking for the path that would take him to the bottom of the gorge, to the river, to his safe place. He ran along the edge of the cliff, searching, trying to remember. But time was running out.

       Then he saw it. His heart thumped. It was just ahead of him – a narrow track winding down to the floor of the gorge. He was safe. So were the other dinosaurs, who’d been pacing backwards and forwards at the top of the cliff; they could now follow him to the river.

       They were going to make it, too … hopefully.

      Chapter 8

      I can’t remember what happened after Snook and I saw the kid earlier on this evening. All I know is that I woke up on the lounge room couch across from Snook, who was half lying, half sitting, on one of the lounge chairs. Gloria was there too. She was shuffling back and forth between us, feeling our foreheads, checking our pulses – things like that. And lying on the floor, breathing into my face, was Shadow. His head was resting on his outstretched paws and judging from the heavy breathing, he was snoozing, oblivious to the drama going on around him.

      All I can say is that when I woke up, I was in a kind of smoke-screen where I felt only half awake. I guessed that Snook was in one too. I couldn’t have been too dopey, though. After blinking a couple of times to clear my eyes, which were still adjusting to the haze, I saw Gloria sidle over to Snook’s chair and sit on the arm rest. I also saw her reach over and then hold on to his hand whilst gazing into his half-open eyes. She still likes him, I thought and I knew that Snook liked her; so why don’t they both come to a mutual agreement to like each other? Because neither one of them wants to be the first to make a move, I figured.

      I shook my head again in an effort to clear the grey film that kept swirling in front of me like a fog, and then I saw that Snook was coming awake too. At least he was conscious enough to enjoy the attention he was getting from Gloria. His eyes had taken on a distant, dreamy look and his mouth had tilted sideways giving him a sort of cock-eyed, half-potty look.

      Footsteps in the passage interrupted my snooping.

      It was Gloria’s dad. He came into the room carrying a wet cloth. Being the closest and seeing that Snook was being attended to by his daughter, he walked over and applied the damp cloth to my head. He told me that another doctor was taking the callout. ‘When I saw you both lying here when I came back earlier,’ he explained, ‘I could hardly believe my eyes. You were both in a trance as if you’d been hypnotised. Are you feeling better now?’ I nodded. ‘You and Snook were both mumbling something about a young boy. Can you tell me anything about him? If you feel up to it, of course.’

      I tried to remember, and in my half-awake state, I told Gloria’s father everything that I knew about the kid. I told him that he was about twelve years old, that he was wearing khaki pants, braces and a peaked cap, and that he hadn’t said anything but just looked at us with a sad, downcast face – one you’d expect to see at a funeral. I also told him that the kid had left abruptly with a hurried, goodbye kind of smile. I also told him that I’d seen a dinosaur that was more than two storeys high.

      Gloria, who was still holding on to Snook’s hand, had heard my story too; her blank stare told me that. So did Shadow, who at the present moment, was showing his concern for me by plonking his two front paws next to my nose. He then tried to wash my face with his wet, sloppy tongue. At any rate, my story must have shocked Gloria and her dad; the room fell silent. But Snook broke that. He sat up as if suddenly realising something and then, looking directly at me, he said, ‘You saw it too! You’ve seen what I’ve seen!’

      With Gloria and her father looking on open mouthed and obviously clueless as to what Snook was on about, I could only stare as he asked, ‘What else did you see? Tell me.’

      I told him everything, even down to the smallest detail, such as the smell of the sulphur and the distant rumbling of the volcano.

      ‘Yeah,’ Snook said, when I’d finished, ‘I saw all that. I didn’t like the bit when all the dinosaurs were panicking and runnin’ for their lives. That was real sad. The big dinosaur, the one that was eatin’ the leaves in the forest, looked really scared. I hope he escaped in the end. Did you see what happened to him?’

      ‘No, I didn’t, but I hope he escaped.’

      ‘Yeah, just thinkin’ about it makes me sweat.’

      Gloria’s father, who was now shaking his head slowly from side to side, interrupted. ‘Okay, you two,’ he said, his voice shaky now, ‘I think Gloria and I have heard enough. You’re both obviously unwell. Try and get some more rest while we all wait for Snook’s parents to come home.’ Gloria was looking shaken too. She was biting one of her nails as she watched Snook, her eyes unblinking and narrowed.

      I’m not sure why I said it but I found myself saying, ‘Er, when my aunt and uncle do come home, I don’t want to say anything about tonight. I don’t want to worry them.’

      ‘Neither do I,’ Snook said, agreeing with me. ‘Dad would just tell me to stop dreamin’ anyway.’

      I looked across at Gloria’s father for confirmation, but he was pacing up and down the room, dabbing at his forehead with a tissue and breathing rather heavily. In fact, he looked as if he’d been possessed. ‘Doctor Huntingdale …’ I called out. He didn’t reply. Didn’t even look up.

      I was pondering over his sudden nervousness when suddenly and without warning, I felt a tingling feeling sweep through my entire body. At first I didn’t know what it meant, but then I knew. I’d had it before. It was the feeling you get when you know something’s going to happen but you’re not sure what. Then it came … like a dream.

       There was a slight breeze blowing, rippling through the leaves of the ghost gums and the man-high spear grass. There was the smoky scent of camp fires too, and I could hear the distant chattering of the women and the men as they went about their business, and I could hear the laughter of the children as they played. And above all that I could see and hear my mother … Minma. She was younger than when I’d last seen her and she was frowning when she told me:

      Awa! Palatja kurun-kurunpa ngalya-pitjanyi!

      I must have looked different or something because Snook, his face all squished up and frowning, asked, ‘What’s up with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!’

      Pushing up on one elbow, I whispered, ‘I’ve had a warning from The Dreaming. A spirit person is coming! Minma told me.’

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