As the waves of wind pounded his face, he caught a glimpse of a highway sign that showed the Crocodile Farm was just ahead. He tried to stay preoccupied with the scenery, but there was movement beside him.
“Oh no,” he thought, “it could be the knife.” He had heard stories about the deranged and their victims, but hoped it was only his imagination running wild.
“Ever take candy from a stranger?” the swagman tapped him on the back, extending an unwrapped stick of gum.
Donovan shook his head and looked at his wrist watch. He had been gone for twenty minutes. Surely they would make it back within the hour.
Folding the rejected ploy into his mouth, the man chewed slowly as though plotting out his thoughts.
“Always travel alone?” his tone was more dry than before, not really caring about the answer.
Donovan sat still for a second and raised his chin to skim over the tops of heads until he spotted the American family at the front of the bus.
“I’m not alone,” he said poignantly. “That’s my family up there.”
Annoyed by the response, the swagman smacked his gum and said,
“You know.., I could’ve sworn they had New York accents when I got on the bus.”
Donovan’s reserved had proved right. Exactly what this man wanted was beyond him, but why the persistence? Was it really that obvious he was a misfit? he wondered.
“You must’ve been mistaken. That’s my family,” he insisted. “We’ve just had a falling out, that’s all.”
The swagman distastefully swung his head from side to side, leaned in closer and grimaced, “Look, kid. I saw you leave the bank.”
Thirty two minutes had passed and the humorous sarcasm had since died. Viola was really worried. She had already shaken the life back into Preston, who had searched the stalls of the men’s restroom and examined the air strip, along with every other square inch of the building, but there was no trace of her brother.
Preston stooped down and braced her by the shoulders, “Quick, do you have a photograph of him?”
“No, I don’t think so,” her voice cracked as she went for her purse. “Wait!... My pillowcase”
At once, the two of them were scrambling for the luggage, they rummaged through everything until they found the pillow. As soon as Viola turned it upside down, all of the pictures fell out and scattered about on the floor.
Preston heaved at what he saw, the picture of his liquor bottle shining from his lapel, the shot of Viola sleeping with the bottle on her pillow, one of Donovan pretending to guzzle down the alcohol, plus the two of him making funny faces.
As she went to scoop them up, he snatched them from her hands, overwhelmed with fury.
“Shame on you two! Spoiled little snots!” he seethed while wedging them into his secret pocket, except for the one with Donovan’s finger lodged up his nose. As horrid as the image was, it happened to be the only one that halfway resembled his natural features.
Then he tossed the luggage into a heap in the corner of the room, scribbled out a brief note and placed it on top for Yancey to find when he arrived. And just as quickly, he took Viola by the hand, and rushed about frantically, as he asked everyone in sight if they had seen the boy in the picture.
There were moats with five foot high cement walls separating the tourists from the crocodiles, and Donovan had to stand on his toes to get a good look. It was even more of a strain to toss over the stale fish parts that the ranger had given him, but it was well worth the effort as he watched the powerful jaws clamp onto the raw treat. Some actually leapt up to three meters to catch the food before it hit the water, making him relieved to feel the security of the thick wall between them as they swarmed in the hundreds below.
He was equally glad to have been part of the afternoon tour, which allowed him to participate in their daily feeding schedule. Otherwise, the reptiles would have probably been lethargic and docile.
Although a ranger had pointed out the differences in the fresh and saltwater species, Donovan couldn’t distinguish between them, aside from the obvious divided pools. In fact, all he was really able to establish mentally was how gruesome it would be to fall into the midst of them when he stopped the passing ranger and asked, “How big do they get?”
The Asian man in the green uniform swatted the gnats away with his matching cap and replied, “Eighteen feet’s a good length in the wild, but they aren’t that lucky here. See, this is also a research station and a hatch’ry. Most of these crocs wind up on the menu in local barbies.”
Oddly enough, Donovan was pleased with the answer. It somehow made him feel better just knowing that man was still in control. Then a dark hulking figure leaned over him, tossed in a juicy chunk of meat and purposely dripped some of the blood onto his arm.
The ranger had hurried off to warn a thrill seeking teenager to get down from the wall, and Donovan found himself staring directly into the eyes of the man he had been trying hard to stay clear of.
“Wouldn’t wave that around too much if I were you,” the voice taunted him. “It’d be a bloody shame to lose it.”
“Look mister, what do you want from me?” he cringed defensively.
The swagman wasn’t as easily intimidated. Cynically, he waved a finger in his face like an incessant school teacher, “Too many questions for a boy your age. I’d be careful.., you know what curiosity did to the cat,” while making the motion of slicing his throat with his thick callused finger and letting out an eerie laugh that caused his corks to dance as he shook.
Donovan had never swallowed a bigger gulp of saliva in his life. He was speechless as he carefully inched away from the man and bumped into another person, which made him aware of the fact that he wasn’t so vulnerable after all.
Now he was out in the open, surrounded by other tourists without the confines of the bus, and he looked for an avenue of escape.
The Chinese family was flashing pictures on either side of him when a woman, wearing the same green uniform as the ranger, made an announcement over a loudspeaker from a bus that read, “Kakadu National Park.”
“For those of you going to Kakadu, we will be leaving in ten minutes. So please have your passes ready”
The Asian ranger passed by again. “Looks like your folks are leavin’ without you, mate,” he commented out of concern.
Donovan picked up his backpack and said, “Thanks,” in appreciation for the reminder.
The swagman headed for the bus returning to Darwin, but brushed against his shoulder on the way and whispered, “Save you a seat.”
This required a snap decision. The American family was about to board the bus going to Kakadu, and he was too afraid to ride back to Darwin with the swagman out to get him. So he fell in behind the blonde family again. But as he got closer to the steps, he didn’t know that it would be as easy getting past this one
The brown haired woman was a no-nonsense type, he reasoned it out. She had a military cut and carried herself more like a man than the Asian ranger had. He would have to act quick. Fortunately, the skinny black driver tapped the woman on the shoulder in the nick of time. When she turned back around, she was already reaching for the Italian couple’s passes.
No one had even noticed that he hadn’t been accounted for, and he planned to keep it that way.
Since he didn’t want to risk being isolated again, he nestled in closely behind the Americans at midpoint.
Little did he know that this bus would be taking him another hundred miles deeper into the bush, without returning its passengers to the city.
Chapter Five
Telephone directories and maps were scattered all about the large billiard table in the trophy room as Yancey aggressively pressed one button after another in search of a lead, which had been the case for hours.
It was April 25th and most of the businesses and banks had been closed early due to the next day’s celebration, Anzac Day. Desperation was mounting more by the minute as he
slammed down the cordless phone, inhaled deeply from a lit cigarette and then stabbed it out into an ashtray.
“Nothin’!” Can you believe it?” he literally spat the words at Preston, who was already stressed beyond maximum kilt and shrinking at the knees.
Viola had been standing in the doorway and Yancey turned to find her there, reading the worry on her face.
“What a bloody ocker I am,” he breathed in mock frustration, but full of sympathy. “I’m sorry darlin’, we’ll find your brother. You’ll see. She’ll be apples.” He held out his arms and she ran to him.
“Apples?” she asked, making every effort to keep a proud face.
“Oh,” Yancey replied, pulling his hand from his forehead as if he had had a revelation. “What I meant to say is that everythin’ will be all right. Got it?”
Viola nodded in agreement. Her hair was only partially in ribbons now and she was tired. “You know what I think?” her voice was weak.
“No, darlin’. Tell me,” Yancey replied, sweeping the hair away from her face so he could see her wide green eyes.
“I think Donovan got on the crocodile bus. He was looking at it through the window, before I went to the restroom.” Her eyes filled up again and she tried hard to hold back the tears.
“Then I’m sure that’s exactly what happened,” he stated matter-of-factly. “And we’ve got the authorities workin’ on it right now. So don’t waste another minute worryin’ about it, pretty girl.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Now do as your Uncle tells you, all right?”
“Mary!” he yelled in his deep boisterous manner, a rugged opposite of his younger brother.
His wife hurried into the room, saw Viola sitting on his lap and understood all too well the urgency of the situation.
“Viola, I thought you were gettin’ ready for dinner,” her voice was sugary sweet. “Come now.., you must be starved. Marcy’s waitin’ for you in the kitchen.”
Viola liked her aunt and she welcomed her soft hand as the maid came to greet her in the doorway, ready to escort her to the kitchen.
Mary stayed behind a moment. “Has anythin’ turned up yet?” she asked, although the discouragement was apparent.
“I’ve phoned just about everyone I know. We’ve searched every nook and cranny and the bloody wallopers said they’d keep a watchful eye out, but it’s too early for ‘em to take it seriously.” He pounded his hand against the table.
“Tomorrow’s Anzac Day. Practically everytin’ will be closed, and if we don’t hear from someone within the hour, I’m headin’ out on my own.”
Mary walked over and massaged his shoulders, “I still haven’t been able to reach Allister and Elizabeth. It seems they’ve not made it to the hotel.”
Preston nervously tucked the bottle inside his jacket that he had just taken the last sip from. He needed something more to remove the edge. “I’d like to drive into town and ask around some more, sir. It’ll be getting dark soon.”
Mary looked surprised.
Yancey turned to him and sternly said, “Even with the best bandwagon we’ve got, you don’t know your way around these parts and we’re talkin’ about miles of desert.”
Mary took his empty coffee cup and excused herself from the room before the air got too heated. “If you hear anythin’.”
“Yeah, likewise..,” he sighed.
Then his eyes grew harsh as he turned to the old man. “You know somethin’.., I can’t figure out for the life of me, just what the hell you were doin’ when the lad disappeared! You’re his guardian, for mercy’s sake!”
“I I..,” he stuttered, “I must have dozed off.., after the long flight,” too ashamed to look at him directly.
“I see,” Yancey got up and paced the floor, narrowing the tension in on him. “And it couldn’t possibly have had anythin’ to do with that blasted bottle! Now could it?!” He jerked it loose from his pocket.
“You do know..,” said Allister sharply, “there is still a lot of controversy over the mining of uranium. Even with the government restrictions on Aboriginal territories”
Elizabeth got a chill and it wasn’t from the change in altitude, either. “Something’s wrong..,” she said.
“Of course it is,” he continued. “The reserve is limited and the investors…”
“No..,” she said complacently as though her mind was elsewhere, clouded with unease. “About the children, I just feel like something has happened”
“Oh, love,” he replied, leaving no room for compromise, “the children are fine. You’re simply feeling guilty over the separation.”
“It seems more than that. Call it mother’s intuition if you will, but we shouldn’t have left them alone.”
“We didn’t. As I recall, we left them in very capable hands. Why, they have Preston, Mary and Yancey, plus a whole slew of others. They’re probably having the time of their lives about now.”
“I suppose you’re right, but we just don’t spend enough time with them,” she said. “You should’ve seen Donovan’s expression at the airport, it was as if we were abandoning him”
“Isn’t that the reason we’re even taking this trip? To see if we can’t alter things a bit? Anywho, our children have all of the advantages. Why, I spend as much time with Donovan as my father did with me, and you see how well I turned out.”
However, Elizabeth didn’t smile.
Chapter Six
Traveling northeast on Pine Creek, the journey became more fascinating with each mile. The crop-haired woman had given a brief presentation of everything they had passed so far, including the history of the Jawoyn country and the discovery of gold in 1872.
“Within a short time.., copper, tin, and tungsten were also found and labor or “native control” camps were set up, which meant the Jawoyns left the river banks and took to working underground. Some of the remnants still remain near the mines, and what you’re seeing are farms Europeans established during that time”
Donovan was thinking about how neat it would be to explore one of those mines. He had seen and heard enough about civilization, and now he was ready to find out what was behind the thicket of trees and waist high brush that surrounded the properties.
“Whatever it is,” he mumbled, “it has to be more interesting than this speech she’s giving.”
But once they had passed through the old town and train station, the land became unsettled again, and he could hardly believe what his eyes were seeing.
From the flat receding flood plains, hundreds of white egrets took flight and a pink cloud of galahs rose with them at the passing disturbance. A band of emus strutted throughout the open grasslands where green shrubs spotted the landscape and massive rock formations emerged in the distance. And what Donovan was experiencing was both excitement and regret, realizing that the bus would be reaching its final destination soon.
It had taken three and a half hours to reach Jim Jim Gorge from the Crocodile Farm. They had stopped off once when they reached the Adelaide River, but it was so far out that he didn’t know exactly where they were, and he didn’t care to be let off there, away from the faces he had grown accustomed to.
According to the map he had picked up at the fuel station, Kakadu Park was just around the bend. So he kept the vigilance, not wanting to interrupt the sanctity of those around him as they worshipped the scenery. But even with its startling beauty, Donovan knew that things would look much different after dark, and he hoped for a quick return to the city before it got too late.
As they neared the entrance, the bus slowed to a steady pull, which gave him the opportunity to read a sign that showed the parks parameters. Stretching almost 80 miles north to south and 40 miles east to west, it was hard for him to comprehend just how wide the jagged mountain of rock spanned. He wondered, did the park have any boundaries.., or did it just keep on going?
Then the muscle armed woman began her fact lesson again as she spoke flatly into the cordless microph
one, her serious stare rarely catching his diversion.
“Kakadu is crossed by four major rivers—the West, South and East Alligator Rivers. And oh yes, the Wildman. Each of these rivers are fed by a vast network of creeks and streams, and are the lifeblood of the park. And this water—a vital source to he more than 1,000 plant species, 300 species of birds, 75 different species of reptiles, along with 50 species of native mammals, and 30 varieties of amphibians, not to mention one quarter of all Australian freshwater fish species and thousands of different insects”
“Wow.., it’s just like exploring in a warm jungle or a rain forest!” Donovan blurted with renewed vigor, gaining the attention of the Italian couple.
The elderly woman turned to him in broken English and said, “Are you not with a parent? I see you have been alone the whole trip.”
Donovan didn’t want to give any cause for alarm, so he replied, “I’m meeting my uncle here.”
“Oh.., I see,” she smiled. “It’s such a long journey for a young boy.”