Fleeced (5 page)

Christmas hams, thought Christopher.

The guides kept in radio contact and were mainly interested in the weather forecasts. If the cloud was down, or snow was coming, trampers mightn't be able to walk through.

‘This is the last group of the season,' explained Zoe. ‘ We can't walk any later than this, or we might have to fly the whole group out by helicopter.'

Meanwhile, Stan was birdwatching.His bird book was in the outside pocket of his backpack. He wore binoculars around his neck. He hung back with the last walkers, stopping often to match birds to photos in his book.

‘D'you think Stan is looking for more than birds? ‘ asked Christopher suspiciously.

Amy thought Christopher was getting her ‘mystery-itus' But Stan was one of the last into the toilet stop hut.

‘Oh, are you still here?' Stan said.

‘Blister.' Amy put on a bandaid. Drips trickled inside her yellow oilskin.

‘This is where the Freedom Walkers stay overnight. They do their own cooking. Anyone else still here?' asked Stan.

Amy peered inside. It was like a big shed, with bunks. A kitchen was at the other end. Outside, the toilets had warnings about the need to wash hands.

‘I am.' The Freedom Walker they'd seen yesterday, appeared . ‘Just tightening my pack. Hi. I'm Bertha Tree

Who are you?'

‘I'm Stan,' said Stan as if he'd just met her.

‘Aren't you late starting?' asked Amy . The Freedom Walkers were supposed to be several hours in front, or behind the organised groups.

This Freedom Walker was behaving strangely. Was she wanting to speak to Stan secretly? Did she know him before? Or maybe she was another bird watcher?

‘Were you worried during the bomb scare?' asked Amy.

‘Which bomb scare?'

‘On our flight from Sydney.'

‘Might have been.' The Freedom Walker then ignored Amy. “Must get started now.'

Stan followed Bertha up the track leaving behind Amy who had trouble pulling her boot back on.

They disappeared around the bend, together.

Ms Tree was a mystery, thought Amy.

Chapter 6

Excitedly, Big Jon knelt at the water's edge.

‘What is it?' Christopher's backpack almost tipped him into the river. At the bottom, speckles showed. Sand or gold specks?

‘Fish! Just about catch them with your hands.' It was so clear. ‘Great place for fishing,' Jon unfolded his fishing rod. ‘You go on. Catch up with you later.'

‘Is that gold?' Christopher pointed to the specks.

‘Maybe.'

‘If I found a nugget, I'd buy the latest music by The Mouth, millions of hamburgers whenever I wanted them and...'

‘No, you wouldn't.'

‘Why not?'

‘If gold's found here, in the National Park, it belongs to the Government, not the person who finds it. Some American guy was written up in the papers a few weeks ago for trying to smuggle out nuggets. Been sentenced.'

‘Oh. What about fish? Can you take them out?'

‘If you've got a licence. Or eat them here.' Big Jon smiled down at Christopher. ‘The cook at the next hut will grill them if you smile sweetly. Fish get to be a bit smelly if you carry them out in your pack for three days.'

Deciding to share the facts about gold nuggets with Amy, Christopher had another thought.

If Big Jon had been out of the country playing rugby, how did he know about the American smuggler of New Zealand gold nuggets?

‘Wait until you get to the Bus Stop.' Zoe smiled strangely as they strode along. Rain shone like diamonds on the ferns.

Amy used her walking stick she'd made from a fallen branch. Christopher had found one too. His was longer.

‘What kind of buses come out here? Water taxis? Air buses?' asked Stan. Whenever Zoe spoke, Stan listened with exaggerated attention. Maybe he was getting keen on her?

‘Have a look when you get there. It's marked on your map.' Zoe didn't say any more.

Each walker had been given a map by Zoe. And Amy still had the folded one which had been left in backpack 108. They'd already walked past the first two crosses on that map. Nothing special there. The first cross was the swing bridge outside the first hut. Perhaps the crosses were for dangerous places? Remembering Ms Tree, perhaps the warning should be for walkers' weight not the number of them. The second cross was at a waterfall. The Japanese mountaineers had called this' a photo opportunity'. They walked very fast and detoured to photograph every scenic spot.

Each signpost Amy checked. So far, none seemed to look like the background of the half photo.

Christopher carried his map in a plastic cover. Other maps had turned to mush in the rain.

‘There's the Bus Stop!'

It was a shelter, beside fast flowing water which came straight down the hill. Alongside them, the water boiled into white froth . They had to cross that. Usually the rocky path stuck out well above the water level. And there were wooden posts with linking chains as hand rails in the dangerous parts.

‘Where's the Bus?' Stan was puzzled.

‘It's a joke. Sometimes we have to wait to cross. It's often flooded at this time in the season,' explained Zoe.

‘But not usually as high as this.'

‘So why is it called the Bus Stop?' asked Stan.

‘Because we have to stop here when the water is high,' suggested Amy.

‘Right.' Zoe smiled. ‘You stop.'

‘So where's the bus timetable?' asked Stan, looking around.

Could he be that stupid? Or was he just pretending not to get it? Amy wasn't sure.

The others, glad to sit for a moment, ignored Stan. A few dropped their packs.

Zoe went ahead to check on the route. By the time she returned, Big Jon had caught up. His rod was folded and stuck out of his pack as he strode up the path, alone.

Gertrude was sitting inside the Bus Stop shelter. She checked her big sheep-shaped watch. She must have bought that in New Zealand, thought Christopher.

‘You were quick Jon. No fish?'

‘A couple of big ones. Fast fishing.' Big Jon indicated his pack . ‘Wrapped in plastic. I'll ask the cook for a favour tonight.'

‘Aren't you going to show us your big fish?'

‘Already wrapped up.'

Christopher smiled about fish coming out of the water, then being wrapped in plastic so they didn't get wet from the rain. Strange.

Zoe waved the others on. ‘ Take your time. Use the chains. The rocks are slippery. Single file.'

Rocks stuck out of the fast flowing water. Gertrude was first and looked nervous. She held the chain with her left hand. The chain was bolted to the posts, but had a bit of slack. Gertrude grasped the chain and put all her weight on it. The chain went tight and she swung forward. Gertrude wobbled on her chosen rock. She lost her nerve. Her weight was off-balance. She leaned forward, forgetting the weight of her pack. The chain swung out. She tipped over, headfirst into the rushing water. Gertrude's left arm struck out, the watch caught on a branch, the band broke, and her watch fell in the water.

‘Help! Save my watch.' Gertrude floundered in the water. She tried to stand, and was knocked sideways by the water force. Christopher tried to grab her arm. Big Jon who had caught up, turned, but he was too late. Still on the riverbank, Amy used her Amy-made walking stick to catch the watch as it floated past.

‘Got it!' Luckily the water wasn't very deep there , although it was fast. Meanwhile, Big Jon had yanked

Gertrude upright and hauled her out of the water, like a beached whale.

‘Thanks Jon. Got my watch Amy?'

‘Yes.'

Why was Gertrude was fussing about a cheap watch when the rest of her was so wet? Finding a dry towel, Zoe wiped her down.

Before returning the watch to the damp Gertrude, Amy looked closely at it. Animal watches were fashionable now for kids and ‘greenies'. Not that the sheep were a threatened species. So what was all the fuss about?

‘Isn't it waterproof?' asked Christopher. ‘Is that why she was fussing?'

‘Has your watch been opened before?' asked Amy .

Gertrude gave her a strange look. ‘Why do you ask?'

‘Because , if you've put in a new battery, they don't guarantee it's waterproof anymore. If the back's been opened once, then water might get in.'

Mum's Singapore jeweller told Amy that, after Amy had dived off the top boarding her inside-out clothes for Christopher's twenty dollar April Fool's Day dare. Amy's watch was not guaranteed water-proof anymore.

Gertrude's watch was most unusual. The watch band was fluffy like wool. Instead of numbers, it had tiny sheep-shapes.

‘Is it a fake?'

‘Fake sheep?' asked Stan. ‘Of course it's a fake. It's a copy-watch.'

‘Where did you get it?' Mum helped Gertrude to rearrange her pack. Mum hated silly souvenirs. Once, at Bangkok airport, when Amy bought the tin of fresh air, with the tin opener attached, Mum chucked a mental.And when Christopher opened the tin, to check, Mum went right off.

‘My son gave it to me, just for this trip. No it's not waterproof now,' replied Gertrude slipping the watch in her pocket. ‘Okay ,I'm ready now.'

‘Right Gertrude? Let's go.' said Zoe. ‘No more walking on water, please.'

Dad and Dr Al were well in front and hadn't realised about Gertrude's slip into the river. The Japanese group had also passed a while ago, in single file.

After walking steadily , for two hours, they stopped for lunch. Stan had been nibbling from his pack for the last half hour. He carried seeds, nuts and dried fruit snacks.

Bird food,' said Gertrude dismissively. ‘Have a piece of my chocolate.'

The snacking reminded Amy of the diabetic chocolate wrapper. She checked. Gertrude's chocolate wrapper was ordinary.

‘D'you ever eat chocolate without sugar?'

Gertrude shook her head, ‘My son does. He's diabetic.'

‘There's the lunch hut !' pointed Zoe who was walking last to keep them moving.

‘And the loo,' said Mum thankfully.

The wooden hut roof peaked out between the dense bush. The Falls were behind and rushing water could be heard. Another guide had hot water ready. The first arrivals made their own coffee , chocolate or hot soup.

But locals were also waiting. Lunch turned into a bird snack attack!

‘Don't feed the kea,' warned Zoe. ‘They mustn't learn to depend upon us for food.'

While Zoe was speaking, a kea walked behind Christopher , pecked his map and took off, the folded map between his beak.

‘Dumb bird.' Christopher chased him.'You can't eat that!' The bird fluttered upwards and sat on a branch, just out of reach.

Hiroshi whipped out his camera. ‘Photo opportunity!'

‘Maybe the kea doesn't know where he's going.' Amy laughed as Christopher grabbed back his bird-beaked map. There were little beak marks on the plastic cover. ‘He'll be a Mac Kea Burger if he's not careful,' threatened Christopher.

‘Please?' Hiroshi indicated that he wanted Christopher's photo holding the beaked map bag.

Christopher posed.

Another kea hopped across and pecked near Stan who was flicking through his bird book, checking something.

‘Look out!' The bird took Stan's orange, rolling it along the ground like a ball.

‘Wants to play soccer... or rugby?'

‘Wrong shaped ball,' joked Big Jon.

‘Mountain parrot. That's what they are. There's one kea story I'll never forget ...' As Dr Al told his story, another big, greyish-green bird walked up as if it owned the place. ‘They're cheeky thieves,' continued Dr Al.

‘Work in pairs. Like con artists. One distracts you and the other takes the food. The story goes that some bird smugglers tried to take a couple of kea out through the airport. Our birds are worth a lot when sold to secret collectors in Europe. Drugged them ,of course, but the birds woke up early. One pecked out of the carry-on bag while the other pecked the smugglers' passport. They were caught and swore they'd never carry kea illegally again. ‘

Everybody laughed as Dr Al bit his meat sandwich.

‘Was that true?' asked Stan.

‘Con merchants. Thieves, with charm, that's what the keas are,' winked Dr Al.

‘What a scam!' Mum filmed the kea hopping near Stan. ‘Fleeced by a bird!'

‘Ninety percent of smuggled birds die in transit, so it's a very cruel trade,' added Zoe looking at Stan who was fiddling with his binoculars now.

‘Bird lovers exist worldwide.' replied Stan.

The twins weren't sure what he meant by that. Did he think birds like keas should be smuggled out of New Zealand?

Camera ready, Mum had been watching the kea closely. ‘You've heard of ‘meals on wheels?'

Amy nodded. They were meals delivered for oldies stuck in their own homes.

Just then a kea hopped away with part of Dr Al's meat sandwich.

‘Well, instead of meals -on-wheels, there goes your lunch- on- legs,' Mum followed with the camera.

‘Meals in flight,' added Zoe. Like Mum, Zoe enjoyed word-games.

Christopher wondered if any birds were vegetarian. That kea ate the meat sandwich, so it wasn't. And then the kea's mate stole Gertrude's sandwich. She hadn't even unwrapped it.

‘ ‘Hey!' Gertrude was ultra-upset. She grabbed the sandwich back and stuffed it in her pocket.

Once they'd finished lunch, or the keas had stolen it, people left at their own pace. There was a slight mix up with the backpacks. Most people had left theirs resting against the wall. Amy had left 108 leaning on the seat. Gertrude had left 801 nearby.

‘Our numbers are the same, upside down,' Amy observed, helping Gertrude with her pack. Her woollen jumper had dried already. ‘Easy to mix up.'

‘My lucky numbers,' said Gertrude. ‘I always use 1 and 0 and 8 for everything. In advance, my son especially requested that number backpack from Zoe. He had it too. But there was a mix up. She gave me 801 instead. My lucky numbers, but in the wrong order. I even live at number 108. My son used to live with me. ‘