Forest Shadows. David Laing
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and Mighty. Everyone knows you and Snook took that rock collection.’ He leaned over, jabbing a finger in front of her face. ‘It seems you’re not the goody, goody you pretend to be. I reckon you somehow conned Snook into robbing Pearson’s shop.’ He straightened but continued to stand over her. ‘That wouldn’t have happened when Snook and I were best friends. We didn’t ever do anything that bad.’
Snook, who was listening and trying not to lose his cool, couldn’t take it any longer. His head jerked up. ‘Whatcha talkin’ about, Quigley?’ he spluttered. ‘Are you mad or somethin’? Best friends? You and me? You gotta be jokin’.’
‘Well, I was, until she came to stay with you. She’s spoiled things between us; she should have stayed in the Northern Territory. That’s where she belongs.’
Snook strode across the room, grabbed Quenton by the collar and spun him around. Still holding on to him, he thrust his face forward till their noses were nearly touching; then in a quiet but no-nonsense voice, he said, ‘Look Quigley, you’ve gone far enough. Leave Jars out of it. You don’t know what she’s been through.’
Jars pushed up from the chair and walked over to Snook. She placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s okay, I’ll tell him.’ Her face was blank and her eyes had a sad look as she remembered. ‘I had to come here, Quenton, to Cray Bay. Uncle Jim and Aunt Irene, as well as Snook, were the only family I had. There was no place else to go, except to an orphanage. A welfare lady made all the arrangements.’
Snook jumped in. ‘Yeah, Jars couldn’t help it. She had no choice. After a buffalo smashed into her dad’s car and killed her family, everythin’ changed.’ The second he said the words, Snook looked sorry. He shouldn’t have mentioned her family, the buffalo, or the killing. But it was too late. Tears had already started to well in Jars’ eyes. They always did when the memories of that day came back to her. He bit his lip. ‘Sorry, Jars. I’m a screamin’ idiot. A complete dork.’
Pouting and looking a little taken-aback, Quenton changed the subject. ‘Yeah, yeah, I get the message. She’s sensitive. But what I really came round for was to show you something. He reached into his back pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. ‘I was looking for a book on the library shelf and this fell to the floor. It was between the pages. Like it was hidden.’
‘Looking for a book?’ Snook said, whispering to Jars. ‘More like looking for a block of chocolate.’
Jars, recovered now, couldn’t help smiling. She could just imagine Quenton sneaking a sweet, especially since his mother had put him on a diet. Not before time, she thought. All those lollies and soft drinks he was scoffing all the time would be bad for anyone’s health. Especially Quenton’s. You just had to look at him. Flab hung from places it wasn’t supposed to and when he walked, he wobbled. A diet would do him good.
Quenton straightened the sheet of paper. ‘Listen to this.’ He read it aloud:
THE TREASURE MAY BE FOUND WHERE THE MAD HATTER DRINKS AND THE RAINBOW RISE.
Snook and Jars exchanged glances. Snook shot out an arm, snatching the paper from Quenton. He showed it to Jars.
Jars read it again. Looking across at Quenton, she asked, ‘Do you know what it means?’
‘Haven’t a clue.’
‘But that’s what it is,’ she said. ‘A clue. A riddle.’
‘Yeah,’ Snook said, ‘and whoever solves it gets the treasure.’
‘Don’t get too excited,’ Jars said. ‘It obviously belongs to Mr Quigley and he obviously hasn’t solved it, otherwise he’d have the treasure. Anyway, maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just somebody’s idea of a prank.’
‘Howdya know that?’
‘Because it was still in its hiding place. If it was real, then Mr Quigley would have done something with it.’
‘Yeah, maybe, but I reckon we could do something with it, figure out what it means. I’m gonna take a copy.’
But Snook’s enthusiasm was short-lived. The news on the television suddenly had everyone’s full attention. ‘Quick, Jars,’ he said. ‘Turn the sound up.’
Chapter Seven
They all crowded round the set listening. It was a news flash:
… the phenomenon was seen last night by several people near Cray Bay, a small fishing village on the west coast of Tasmania. According to witness reports, a large, flashing object was observed hovering above the town. Apparently, the object then proceeded to move slowly across the sky in a southerly direction where it disappeared. No clear explanation for the strange sight has been given. However, some theories have been forthcoming, one of which suggests we are being visited … by aliens.
Jars noticed the newsreader’s discomfort when he had to read the last bit of his announcement. It was as though he didn’t know whether to frown or smile. Then he concluded:
We will keep you informed as more information comes to hand.
Snook exploded from his chair. ‘Wicked! How cool is that? Whatcha reckon, Jars? Wanna go look for those aliens?’
‘Hmph,’ Quenton sneered, ‘that’s so stupid; there’s no such thing.’
‘Snook glared at him. ‘Oh, yeah? How would you know? Lots of people have seen UFOs. Even aliens.’
‘Little green men, you mean? Hah! That’s brainless.’‘Well, I don’t care what you think. It’s possible they’re true so I wanna go look for whatever’s out there. Whatcha reckon, Jars?’
Jars smiled to herself. Here we go again, she thought. Another one of Snook’s wild ideas. ‘You realise,’ she said, ‘that the lights could have been caused by any number of things? Like space junk, weather balloons, meteors, even aircraft.’
‘Yeah, and it might even be a UFO,’ Snook continued. Then, seeing Jars’ skeptical look added, ‘Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to look, even if it was junk or one of those other things.’
‘It’s not that. The announcer said the thing, or whatever, was heading south. So, if it was a UFO, it’d be far gone by now.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Anyway, it’s after five. That’s far too late to be going anywhere. We need to fix dinner for your dad and Arnie. They’ll be home soon.’
‘Yeah,’ Snook mumbled, ‘I suppose you’re right.’
Jars, with Shadow following, headed for the kitchen.
Snook turned to Quenton. He jerked a finger towards the front door. ’We’ve got work to do so you’d better take off.’
Jars was already getting cooking utensils out of the kitchen cupboard when Snook joined her. He drew out a chair and sat. Eventually, he said, ‘What if it is aliens visiting us? What if they are true? It’d be awesome if we found ’em. Why don’t we go lookin’ after dinner?’
Smiling to herself, Jars could feel his excitement. ‘Let’s see if there’s any more news before we do anything. You know, play it by ear.’
‘Okay.’ He slapped a fist into his palm. ‘But if there is any news about aliens bein’ around here, I’m gonna go find ’em.’
Shadow, who had settled under the kitchen table, lifted his head, ears cocked. He thumped his tail on the floor. Something was going on.
Chapter Eight
Jim Kelly, Snook’s dad and skipper of The Shandora, stood on the deck alongside his partner, Arnie Grimshaw, whom he’d recently taken on as a deckhand. Jim had been quick to see the potential in Arnie, who had previously been a reluctant member of a bird-smuggling gang. The gang had included Arnie’s sister, Evelyn Grimshaw, his brother Hector and Mr Quigley, Quenton Quigley’s