The Gum Tree Gang and the Mystery at the Old Queenslander (7 page)

Kevin lay still for a
moment, then turned his head, his
eyes
opened. "What gang?" he asked, a trifle interested.

"Our gang. Tracey, you,
Matthew and me. We could
have codes and
missions and all that. We might even
stop
Nathan and Davo's lives being messed up," she
added.

"It sounds like fun. Yeah,
maybe the Lord wants us to
help Nathan and
Davo. I'll talk to Matt after practice."
Kevin yawned.

"It rained! That means footy
and soccer are off, so you can get all your jobs done and we can
talk about this later
at the old
Queenslander. Tracey and I are meeting at the
ghost gum at two, so can you ring Matt and see if he
can
come. Well, I'd better get my chores
done, and my Bible
read, and have brekkie.
See ya." Krystal clicked his
bedroom door
shut.

~~~~
Chapter Thirteen
~~~~

Meeting at
the Gum Tree

It seemed like five minutes
before it was a quarter to two.
Mr. and
Mrs. Cormack were sitting down relaxing after lunch.

"It's nice to have a day to
relax together," Steve
Cormack
remarked.

Krystal and Kevin finished rinsing the lunch
dishes.

"We've done the dishes. May
I go and see Tracey
now?" Krystal wiped her
hands on the little hand towel
near the
sink.

The two children had made an
extra-special effort to be
helpful to their
parents today. They could hardly wait to
meet at the gum tree.

"Sure. You've been terrific
today, helping with all the
jobs around the
place. You've earned a break!" Mrs.
Cormack
smiled approvingly at her two children..

"MM...I think I'd better
give you two a bit more pocket
money this
week!" Mr. Cormack reached in his back
pocket for his wallet. "I'm impressed with my two
lovely
children." He handed a shiny coin to
each of the children.

"Me, me!" a small voice
sounded from the centre of the
family room
floor. Little Kathy stopped playing with a
puzzle when she saw the coins being given out.

"Oh, and one for Kathy for
helping Mummy and
Daddy," said Mr. Cormack,
handing a silver coin to his littlest daughter.

"Put that in your money-box
for later," Mrs. Cormack
suggested.

"Lata," Kathy repeated as
she ran towards her bedroom
with the
cherished coin.

"Dad, can I go with Krystal
as well - to see Matthew?"
Kevin
asked.

"I don't see why not, Son. Off you go." Mr.
Cormack looked at his wife for confirmation.

Mrs. Cormack nodded in
agreement.
"Enjoy

yourselves. Just make sure
to be back by tea-time," she
said, smiling
at the two children as they headed for their
bedrooms to get their gear.

Krystal and Kevin arrived at
the gum tree just after two
o'clock. They
had brought their back packs which had a
torch, pencil and paper, some biscuits and a drink in
them.

Kevin wore his watch, and
brought a hammer and nails
- just in
case!

Krystal had brought her
pocket radio and earphones.
She also had
her camping knife tucked away in her back
pocket.

The two hid their bikes and
stack hats behind the old
water tank
stand.

It was a lovely fine
afternoon after the morning rain.
The
ground was a bit muddy, so Krystal put her bag on an
exposed tree root.

"I'd love to climb this tree
right to the top." She
squinted into the
speckled sunlight coming through the
shaded
leaves.

"You'd have to fight the
birds off." Kevin stared at two birds sitting high in the tree.
"The kookaburras live there,
and I've seen
some magpies around too."

"Mm, we should've kept our
stack hats on. I wish those
two would hurry
up." Krystal put her hand on her head,
just
in case a magpie came swooping down.

"Matt said he was helpin'
his dad fix a fence for their
dog. Maybe
he's still helpin'." Kevin pulled a piece of
bark off the tree. A large black spider scampered from
under it. Kevin stepped back quickly!

"What time is it?" Krystal asked.

"Nearly half-past. Maybe we
should go over their place
and see what's
going on. I don't want to stay under a
gum
tree all day, bird watching..." Kevin was interrupted
by Krystal's excited voice.

"Looks like they're coming."
Krystal eyed two cyclists
coming in their
direction. "Yup, it's them." She
recognised
Matthew's green BMX and Tracey's bright
pink bicycle with its little carry basket on the
front.

Within moments they reached the gum tree.

"Hi," they said, greeting each other.

"Where've you been? We
thought you weren't
coming." Krystal glared
at Tracey.

"Mum had the day off and
asked me to go shopping at
Garden City, and
we took too long!" Tracey hid her
bicycle
behind a bush, and put her pink stack hat in the basket. She ran
her hand over her hair. "Sorry."
"I was
helping Dad and we forgot the time. We've
fixed the fence. Dad said I did a good job," Matthew
added proudly, throwing his bicycle and stack hat
into the
middle of some bushes.

~~~~
Chatper Fourteen
~~~~

Adventures Inside the Old Queenslander

"Well, we're all here now;
let's go inside one at a time.
I'll go
first." Krystal looked around to make sure nobody
was watching. The two kookaburras laughed
loudly.
"Shh!" Krystal shook her finger at
them.

In a few moments all four
were inside the house. It
seemed very dark
inside at first, but their eyes quickly
adjusted to the poorly lit house.

"Let's check the place out
for another exit," Krystal
suggested.

"Yeah. We need to be able to
get out quickly. That
cupboard was a bit
like a prison. I read in books where
old
houses have secret doors and things. Maybe there's
one here. We've got to have another way out."
Tracey
took out a pencil and paper. She was
keen to map the
place out.

"Let's split and start
lookin'," said Kevin, as he
beckoned to
Matthew.

"Us girls will go into the
'cupboard' room then."
Krystal headed that
way, followed by Tracey.

"And we'll check this one."
Matthew and Kevin
headed towards the room
with the fireplace on the left of
the
entrance hall.

Tracey walked around the
cupboard room, feeling the
timbered walls.
"There might be a secret passage around
here."
"Maybe. I'll check out this
cupboard again." Krystal
studied the way
the cupboard was set into a ledge with the
ceiling above. She leapt inside, and after a moment
peered out at Tracey. "We could try to remove the
piece
at the top of the cupboard. I think
it might lead to the
attic. Did Matthew
bring a screwdriver I wonder?"

"He did, actually. I think
there's a gap here." Tracey
kept her finger
in the gap as she spoke. "If you really
want me to I'll go and get it for you." She sounded
reluctant to leave her find.

"No, I'll go." Krystal jumped down and headed
for the fireplace room where she could hear the boys.

They were standing near the
fireplace, looking up into
the chimney
hole.

"Matt, Tracey said you
brought a screwdriver; may I
borrow it
please." Krystal held her hand out.

Matthew searched in the
bottom of his tool box.
"Here." He handed
it to Krystal. "What're you doin' with it?" he asked.

"I'm gonna try to get into
the attic through the roof of
the cupboard.
Thanks!" Krystal took the screwdriver and
headed back to the cupboard room. She began to unscrew
the cupboard ceiling. "Matt, Kevin," she called
out.
"Please come here. I need
help."

The two boys sauntered in.

"What's up?" Matthew asked.

"I've nearly broken my wrist
trying to get these screws
undone. They're
rusted." She handed the screwdriver to
Matthew. "Can you please try?"

"Okay," said Matthew,
leaping up into the cupboard,
and almost
knocking Krystal over in his enthusiasm.

"I
can't see.
I
need a torch." He glanced towards
Kevin, who immediately leaped into the cupboard and
shone his torch on the screws.

Krystal quickly moved
aside.
"I
could've
done that."
Krystal waved her
torch.

Matthew leaned on the
screwdriver and turned it with all his might. "It moved," he said
after a moment. "Got
it!" A large cloud of
dust fell on the three heads,
followed by a
screw.

"Got me!" said Krystal,
rubbing her forehead where the
screw had
landed.

Three faces looked upwards.
A Corner of the timber
was lower than the
others.

"I did it!" Matthew exclaimed.

"I helped," said Kevin, shining his torch on
the corner.

"All
right.
eep helping then," said
Krystal
encouragingly. "Shine the
light."

Matthew tugged at the edge of the timber.

Another screw clinked on Kevin's torch.

Kevin and Krystal put their heads down.

Krystal put her hands
on
her
head. She
didn't want a
screw falling into her
eyes.

Suddenly the whole piece of
timber crackled and,
amidst a cloud of
dust, ended up in Matthew's hands.

The three children covered
their faces as another large
cloud of dust
fell towards them.

After a minute they looked
up. Krystal and Kevin shone
their torches.
All they could see was black.

"It's a hole!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Where?" Tracey's excited
voice came close to the
edge of the
cupboard. She stared up through the
cupboard with an open mouth.