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  “No. There was a locked gate wasn’t there,” Graham replied.

  “Yes, and the road was badly eroded in places. It means a hike.”

  Graham visibly brightened at that. “Good idea.”

  Stephen frowned. “In this weather?” he asked.

  “We can’t afford to wait,” Kylie said. “If we do then those men might beat us to it.”

  “How would they know where to go?” Peter asked.

  Kylie wished she hadn’t raised the subject but now that she was pressed she said: “From Cousin Victor.”

  Margaret looked surprised. “Do you think he is involved with them?” she asked.

  Kylie pursed her lips and nodded her head. “It’s possible.”

  “But how would he find out?” Margaret asked.

  Stephen snorted and laughed sarcastically, then said: “From young Bert, via Allison.”

  “Oh she wouldn’t tell!” Margaret defended.

  “But she has!” Stephen cried.

  “Well, she won’t if we ask her not to,” Kylie put in. She felt upset and saw that Margaret was looking anxious.

  “I wouldn’t bet,” Graham said. There was a minute’s uncomfortable silence.

  “So what do we do about Allison?” Stephen asked.

  “What do you mean?” Margaret asked.

  Stephen made a face. “If she tells things to Bert then Victor might get to find out about them. How do we stop her doing that? I reckon we should cut her out.”

  Margaret was horrified. “Oh Stephen! That is horrible.”

  Stephen shrugged. “Maybe so, but it’s a possibility.”

  The issue, once raised, had to be debated. Kylie felt quite upset about it but knew it had to be resolved. She said: “I think we have to trust Allison and just ask her not to give away our plans.”

  “But can she be trusted?” Stephen persisted. “She’s a girl and her loyalty might be to her boyfriend.”

  “Don’t be so sexist!” Kylie flared. “Just because she is a girl doesn’t mean she can’t keep a secret.”

  At that both Stephen and Graham snorted derisively.

  “That will do,” Peter said. “No need to argue. I agree with Kylie. Allison has been part of our team up to now and we can’t suddenly just exclude her. She’s a nice person and I think we must trust her.”

  “Well I don’t!” Stephen snapped.

  “We will take a vote on it,” Peter replied. “Who is for Allie staying?”

  Kylie put her hand up at once. So did Margaret and Peter. After a moments hesitation Graham did so as well. Stephen made a face and shrugged. “Let’s hope you are right,” he said.

  “OK, let’s start planning,” Peter said.

  Margaret had been reading during this and she looked up and said: “I don’t like this passage. It says that they all took up leases. ‘Two thousand ounces went through the batteries. Every ounce was in floaters, the lot, and this right up near the top. But we never found the reef.’ That sounds like we have a job ahead of us.”

  Kylie nodded. “We have, but we have Grandad’s instructions,” she pointed out.

  Graham laughed. “We have been following them for three days!”

  That caused the others to chuckle. Kylie remembered something she had read and skimmed through ‘Gold and Ghosts’. “Listen to this. This is in 1931. ‘At that time Messrs W. H. Kraft and J. Wilkie discovered alluvial gold in the gullies draining the hills on the Mulgrave side of Bartle Frere Mountain. Whilst working their find, the pair were constantly looking for its source and in 1935 discovered a white quartz reef crossing a gully in the area later designated as Lower Camp.’ It goes on with more details, but obviously there are gold reefs there, and they aren’t the ones found by Grandad Hector as they are on the other side of the river.”

  “So how do we get there?” Stephen asked.

  At that moment Allison appeared, her face flushed from sleep. “Hi! What are you doing?” she asked.

  There was a moment’s uncomfortable silence, then Kylie answered. “We are planning our next expedition to try to find the gold,” she replied.

  “And you aren’t to tell Bert,” Stephen added.

  Kylie was shocked at the bluntness of Stephen’s statement. Allison looked a bit stunned and shook her head. “I won’t,” she replied.

  Kylie intervened. “I asked Allie not to last night and she agreed. She won’t, will you Allie?”

  “No I won’t,” Allison replied. She looked embarrassed and annoyed. “I will ask Bert not to ask me about it.”

  “He might dump you then,” Stephen said. “He is probably only taking you out so he can squeeze our secrets out of you.”

  Allison looked very hurt and her eyes watered. “That’s not true!” she cried. “He loves me.”

  Kylie was aghast at Stephen’s cruelty and lack of tact. She snapped at him: “That was an awful thing to say Stephen. You are just jealous that Allison loves Bert.”

  “Aw crap!” Stephen retorted angrily. He flushed red and blinked angrily back through his glasses.

  “No need to swear,” Peter said. “Let’s not have a fight. If Allison gives her word I don’t see a problem. So let’s get on with some detailed planning. For example, how do we get to Kearneys Flat; and will we be allowed to go if we don’t have an adult with us?”

  That diverted the conversation. Graham took up the theme. “What if we ask Uncle Bill if he will come with us for a few days?”

  “Can he get away from the farm for that long?” Margaret asked.

  “Don’t know. Let’s ask him,” Peter said.

  The conversation settled down to details of when and how and all the clues had to be re-read and discussed. Throughout this Allison sat in silence. Later she spoke to Kylie alone.

  “If there is a problem about trusting me I won’t come,” she said.

  Kylie shook her head. “Oh Allison, it is just that awful Stephen. He can be very cruel at times. I’d rather he didn’t come. I want you to. You are my friend.”

  Allison looked doubtful. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am,” Kylie insisted.

  Allison’s eyes watered. “I.. I’d like to come. I won’t.. won’t have much to do when I go back to Cairns. My dad.. my dad will be.. busy,” she said, her voice a choked whisper.

  That confirmed the suspicion Kylie had that there was some serious family problem between Allison’s father and mother but she did not want to probe. She spontaneously hugged her instead and said: “Come with us. We’d love to have you along.”

  At that Allison burst into tears and clung to Kylie. Mrs Kirk came through from the kitchen and raised an eyebrow to Kylie who gave a slight shake of her head. After a few minutes Allison stopped crying and wiped her tears.

  “Thanks,” she sniffled. She blew her nose and wiped her tears. “I won’t tell Bert. I promise.”

  Kylie nodded. “I know. Now come and help me feed the calves before that rain arrives.”

  CHAPTER 19

  PREPARATIONS

  For the remainder of the day the teenagers sat around the house talking, listening to music and staring out the window at the rain. This had set in again as a torrential downpour.

  Stephen looked out the window and shook his head. “It’s a wonder that bloody mountain doesn’t dissolve,” he commented, indicating Bartle Frere, which was dimly visible through the drifting curtains of ‘liquid sunshine’.

  “It is,” Peter replied. “It is just taking a while to do it.”

  Kylie looked at her watch and stood up. “Who is coming out to help with the milking?” she asked.

  There were groans and mumbles. Graham sat up. “Why don’t we toss for it? It doesn’t take six of us to bring in one herd. Two is enough.”

  This was voted a good idea. To Kylie’s surprise Allison stood up and volunteered to go. To save any problems she then said she would go as well. The others accepted this.

  “We will meet you down at the milking shed,” Graham said.

>   “While you are waiting have a talk to Uncle Bill about our expedition to the Mulgrave,” Kylie added.

  Stephen stood up. “I’m going to phone my oldies and see if they can pick me up tomorrow. If we aren’t going exploring again there are things I can do at home.”

  Privately Kylie thought that would be a good idea. She left them talking and went to put on her work clothes and raincoat. Allison did the same and the two friends went out into the rain. To her own surprise Kylie really enjoyed the next hour as they sloshed along the muddy lanes shooing the cows to the milking shed. Several times she laughed aloud and she smiled a lot.

  “You are happy,” Allison commented.

  “Because we have worked out where the gold mine is I suppose,” Kylie replied.

  “I’m glad,” Allison said. “And Ky, thanks for sticking up for me back there. I was very hurt.”

  Kylie grunted and felt embarrassed. “That’s alright. Forget it.”

  “I won’t. But I won’t say any more about it,” Allison said.

  The two girls walked along behind the cows in companionable silence, broken by an occasional ‘shoo!’ at some beast that wanted to stop to chew at the grass.

  After milking and tea that evening the group sat around the lounge room to discuss plans. Graham and Peter had explained the plan to Uncle Bill. He wanted to see all the evidence so they went over it all again with Mrs Kirk and Gran present as well. At the end of the explanation Uncle Bill nodded thoughtfully and said: “That all makes sense. It is hopeful anyway.”

  “Can you come with us Uncle Bill?” Graham asked.

  Mrs Kirk spoke first. “What makes you think you are going at all? I think you should have asked me first. Your father and I have an interest in this too you know.”

  “Aw mum, dad will let us. He will think it is a good experience,” Graham replied.

  Mrs Kirk looked annoyed. “He might, but what about me?” she replied.

  Kylie could see that Graham was liable to put her off-side with his usual bull-at-a-gate tactics so she spoke up: “We would very much like to do it mum. May we please?”

  Mrs Kirk made a face. “And who are the adults who are going to be with you?”

  “We don’t need an adult with us mum,” Graham put in. “We often go on hikes without any adult.”

  That was true but in this case cut no ice with Mrs Kirk. “This is a bit different I think. You will be a long way from help if there is a problem and it is very rough country.”

  “Oh mum! What could go wrong? Nothing is going to happen,” Graham replied.

  That did annoy her. “Rubbish! One of you could get hurt quite easily in that sort of environment. What if someone slips on wet rocks and breaks an arm or leg, or gets a whack on the head? No, you don’t go if there are no adults.”

  “I would like to go,” Uncle Bill said.

  Mrs Kirk turned to him, a worried look on her face. “Bill, can you afford to take three or four days off just for a wild goose chase?”

  “Yes. I will do what I have suggested and hire the contract milker again for a few days. I need the break, and I want to go.”

  That settled it. Mrs Kirk gave in and said yes. Kylie grinned with delight and bubbled with enthusiasm. That night she slept very soundly, sure that they would now succeed.

  The next day followed a similar routine. They were up at 4am for milking followed by breakfast. The rain held off during this but clouds enveloped Bartle Frere and indicated more to come. Stephen packed up and they all sat and talked till his mother and father arrived. Morning tea followed.

  While they were all sitting around having morning tea Stephen raised the question of whether he could join the others on their proposed expedition to the Mulgrave. That necessitated retelling the story of their search and of how they had now worked out where to go next.

  In the middle of this they heard another car drive up and stop.

  “I wonder who that is?” Mrs Kirk said. She stood and looked out. “Oh, it is only young Bert.”

  Kylie’s heart rate shot up. Bert! “Oh Allison, stop him! We don’t want him to hear all this.”

  Allison hurried out and the adults all looked mystified. “What is that all about?” Uncle Bill asked.

  The teenagers squirmed uncomfortably. Kylie answered. “We don’t want anyone to know our secret plans. We suspect that cousin Victor is looking for the gold too and Bert would tell him.”

  Mrs Kirk laughed. “Victor certainly is. His father and uncle searched for years and he has often talked about it.”

  “So we want our plans kept secret,” Kylie replied. She turned to Mr and Mrs Bell. “Please don’t talk about any of this please.”

  The Bells agreed not to and the issue of whether Stephen could join the expedition was resumed. Kylie rather hoped he wouldn’t be allowed but when they learned that Uncle Bill would be with them they gave their consent.

  A few minutes later Stephen left with his parents. As they drove off Allison and Bert came into view walking along the driveway hand in hand. A shower of rain caused them to run.

  “Come in,” Kylie said, giving Allison a meaningful glance. Allison gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head and Kylie relaxed.

  “I can’t stay long,” Bert said as he seated himself in the lounge. As he did Kylie realized that all the maps lay open on the table. ‘Should I try to close them up?’ she wondered. ‘Or will that be too obvious?’

  Even as she tried to determine what to do Peter stepped forward and scooped the maps up into a bundle and walked out of the room with them. Bert did not appear to notice, being engaged in a conversation with Margaret about the party.

  Mrs Kirk came in and asked Bert if he was staying for lunch. Bert shook his head. “I’d love to aunty, but I am expected back. I just wanted to see Allie. She tells me you are all going home in a few days.”

  “Yes, on Monday,” Mrs Kirk confirmed.

  Bert showed his disappointment. “Could Allison come for a drive or something tomorrow?”

  Mrs Kirk shook her head. “Not on her own. She is too young. But you can all go somewhere as a group.”

  Bert looked at them hopefully. “What about that? What would you like to do?”

  Graham shrugged and Kylie could not think of anything. Margaret pointed out the window to where the rain was still drizzling down. “It depends on the weather.”

  For a while they could not think of anything. It was Roger who suggested the plan they adopted. “There are steam trains which run from Atherton to Herberton on Sundays. I haven’t done the trip yet. What about that?”

  “When do they go?” Kylie asked. She wasn’t fussed about the trains but any outing which helped Allison and Bert was a good idea.

  Roger shook his head. “I can’t remember exactly. The times are in the paper. I think it leaves Atherton at about ten a.m. and gets up to Herberton in time for lunch, then comes back to Atherton by about three.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Kylie agreed. “We could be back in time for the afternoon milking. Can we do that mum?”

  Mrs Kirk smiled and nodded. “I will see how much it costs. If it is too much I will take it out of your pocket money.”

  Graham and Peter, who had returned, both enthusiastically agreed to the project. They were keen model railway buffs and were busy helping Roger to build a huge HO scale model railway under his house. The boys agreed it would be a good plan.

  Bert then took his leave. Allison went out with him to say goodbye. Graham watched them talking close together. “I hope she doesn’t let anything slip.”

  “She won’t,” Kylie insisted. “She has promised.”

  It was plain that the boys weren’t entirely convinced but they let it go at that. The conversation returned to their proposed expedition. Bert drove off and Allison returned, her face aglow with happiness.

  Lunch was served. Afterwards they were at a bit of a loose end because of the continuing rain. Most of them lay and read books or talked. Kylie, Allis
on and Margaret helped Gran in the kitchen and learned to make pumpkin scones. The boys turned their noses up at this activity but ate the results happily enough.

  The trip on the steam train was a big success. Straight after breakfast Bert arrived, driving a car. That allowed Uncle Bill to drive Gran to church. Mrs Kirk and Bert drove the teenagers to ‘Platypus Station’ on the southern outskirts of Atherton. Mrs Kirk then drove back to Malanda to go to church. The teenagers went on the train trip.

  Kylie did not really enjoy the journey, but she did enjoy the outing. The carriages were open to the weather and there were a few showers of rain as the train puffed slowly and noisily along the swampy flats at Carrington but once up on the mountain they were in a rain shadow and the weather was fine. The boys enjoyed themselves hugely, laughing and joking. Margaret sat and smiled at everything Graham said. Allison and Bert sat holding hands and whispering sweet nothings.

  In Herberton it was cool and overcast. A few spits of rain fell but not enough to cause any problems. The group walked the streets, went to a cafe for food, then strolled back to the railway station. The boys all climbed onto the footplate of the locomotive, even Bert. Kylie stood next to the engine and was impressed by the heat and the apparent power of the smelly, steaming thing.

  The return trip was uneventful. Mrs Kirk met them and Bert helped to ferry them home. Allison and Bert were very quiet on the way back and there were a few tears when it came to the farewell at the farm.

  “When will I see you again?” Bert asked. He looked very strained as well.

  Kylie watched this and marvelled. ‘He must really be in love!’

  Allison shook her head and wiped away a tear. “I don’t know.”

  “Could I see you if I come down to Cairns?” Bert asked.

  ‘It must be love!’ Kylie decided. ‘If he is willing to drive all that way.’

  “I suppose so,” Allison replied. She now looked very unhappy.

  “When? Next week?” Bert asked.

  “No, not next week. We are going looking for the gold... er.. Oh.. er..We won’t be there. We are going away,” Allison concluded lamely.

  “Allie!” Graham growled. Kylie groaned inwardly.