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  Bert appeared not to notice. Instead he asked again when he might see her. “Will you be away all week?”

  Allison gave Kylie a guilty glance, then said: “We leave on Thursday.”

  “Then I will be down on Wednesday,” Bert said. “I will convince mum there are important reasons for us to drive all the way to Cairns.”

  Allison was now bright pink. To Kylie she appeared to glow, mostly because of the obvious affection and adoration being lavished on her. Bert told her he loved her, ignoring the audience.

  Soon after Bert drove off. Allison turned to the others looking very upset. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything.” Then she burst into tears and fled inside.

  Kylie and Margaret followed her in. They found Allison sobbing in the bedroom. Kylie put her arm around her and comforted her.

  “Hush! Sssh! It’s alright. It was a natural thing to do. Don’t cry Allie.”

  Allison looked up, her face streaked by tears. “I’m sorry. But I do want to see Bert again. I really want to stay here with him.”

  Margaret and Kylie both hugged and patted her. It was obvious that Allison was very much in love, and also very upset. They calmed her after a while and the three girls went for a short walk along the road, leaving the boys playing a game in the lounge room.

  The afternoon and evening seemed to speed past. The rain continued, making milking a miserable experience. Bedtime found them all tired and more than ready to sleep. Next morning they were up at 4am as usual for the milking. The rain still drizzled and it was cold and gloomy.

  As they sat eating breakfast Uncle Bill thanked them for their help. He added: “You have been a great help. It has certainly made the milking easy. You kids can come any time you like if you work like that.”

  That pleased and embarrassed them. Kylie was already feeling fragile as she loved visiting the farm and now the parting was upon them. When they loaded the cars she found she was on the edge of tears. Roger’s parents had driven up to collect him and Graham and Peter went with them. Allison and Margaret went with Kylie in Mrs Kirk’s car.

  There were tearful farewells. Kylie clung to Gran and wept. She had a secret fear that Gran would die before she saw her again, which did not make it any easier. She knew she had this fear on every visit but that did not help.

  Gran patted her hair. “See you next time little baby,” she said to her. Kylie nodded and sniffled and did not at all resent being called a little baby by Gran. Then they were in the cars and driving through the rain away from the farm.

  As the car went down the long slope away from the farm Allison looked out and said: “I loved that holiday Kylie. You are very lucky to have such a wonderful Gran.”

  Margaret seconded this. “She is wonderful. She makes you feel so welcome and treats you just like one of the family.”

  That embarrassed Kylie and she said: “You only like it because of the boys.”

  Margaret laughed and Allison smiled. They then discussed boys as they drove along, till Mrs Kirk reminded them that boys often only want one thing from a girl. That made Kylie blush and the three girls giggled and gave each other secret glances.

  The road they followed did not go past the Reid’s farm, which Kylie thought was just as well. That would just have made it harder emotionally. They drove north past North Johnston to the Gillies Highway and then east past Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine. Then it was down the 16 kilometres of winding road into the Mulgrave Valley.

  As they went down they came out under the low cloud and were able to see the whole length of the valley. That woke Kylie’s interest in the gold mine. She looked out at the rain-shrouded valley below and wondered what it would be like. ‘We will definitely find that gold mine this time!’ she vowed.

  Allison was carsick after a while and they were all glad to reach Little Mulgrave at the bottom of the valley. After that it was a quick half hour drive to Cairns.

  In Cairns it was raining and overcast but that did not depress Kylie. It was nice to be home. They dropped Allison off first, with much discussion of times to meet the next day. Margaret was taken home next. She obviously did not want to go. Not that she didn’t love her parents. “I just want to be with Graham,” she said.

  Mrs Kirk laughed. “You are too young Margaret. Don’t rush it. And you be careful, or you might see too much of him and then both of you might regret it.”

  Margaret blushed bright pink and Kylie laughed. “Yes Margaret, you are too big to have baths with boys now.” That reference to the incident the previous year when she had been found in the bath with Graham made Margaret blush even more. She poked her tongue.

  “See you tomorrow,” she said and then she fled inside.

  Then it was home. For Kylie that was wonderful. Her first action was to dump her belongings in her room, then she ran across the road to get the pets. ‘Skip’ the fox terrier was the first to meet her there. She jumped up and ran towards Kylie, barking excitedly. Kylie scooped the dog up and hugged her. The dog wriggled so much that Kylie could hardly hold her. There were snuffles and licks and much tail wagging and patting.

  Mrs Marshall, the neighbour who had been minding the pets, came to see what all the noise was about and also gushed a welcome. She went and got the budgerigar cage and Kylie had to chirp and tweet at them for a few minutes, to the jealous annoyance of Skip.

  Mrs Marshall handed the cage to her. “Here you are dearie. The cat is round the place somewhere. I saw him at breakfast time.”

  “Thanks Mrs Marshall. He will come home at tea time,” Kylie replied. She wasn’t worried about the cat. ‘Claud’ was not her favourite.

  She returned home with Skip and the budgerigars. Skip repeated her welcoming performance for the others, then settled on the floor of the lounge as though all the world was now right. Unpacking and cleaning then began. Every single item of clothing worn in the jungle was placed in the washing machine and then in the tumble drier. Graham took the opportunity to lay out all his hiking kit on the concrete floor in the ‘Ship Room’, a large room under the house where he kept his models and where the boys played games.

  The cat did appear at tea time as predicted. Kylie stroked him but Graham just ignored him. He didn’t like the cat much. The evening was a quiet one. Kylie was glad to be home and found she felt very tired. Graham became absorbed in a book, then in working on a model of a battleship that he was building. Kylie was glad to go early to bed.

  Tuesday was washing, cleaning, shopping and chores. Kylie had to wash the dog and then the cat, clean the budgerigar cage, tidy and vacuum her room, water their father’s orchids under the front of the house, and do a dozen other small tasks. Graham had to mow the lawn, trim the creeper from the side of the house, then prune a tree (‘Good practice for cutting your way through the jungle,’ Mrs Kirk said).

  On Wednesday the friends all came over. They gathered on the front veranda to talk and listen to music. Margaret sat on Graham's bed reading while he worked on his model ship. Stephen, Roger and Peter sat on chairs nearby studying the maps of the Mulgrave Valley and Kylie walked back and forth from her room to the front wondering if Allison was allowed to come.

  When she had not arrived by 10am Kylie went to telephone to see if she was allowed. To her relief Allison answered the phone and said she was on her way. Twenty minutes later she was dropped off by her father. Kylie badly wanted to know how things were in Allison’s family but was careful not to ask or hint.

  No sooner had Allison seated herself beside Margaret than a car pulled up out the front. Kylie stood and looked out.

  “Who is it?” Margaret asked.

  “Bert,” Kylie replied. “It must be love. He wasn’t joking at all then.”

  Allison blushed and glowed. She stood and went to the door to greet him. Graham turned and said to Peter: “You’d better put those maps out of sight before he arrives. It’s bad enough that he knows we are going. We don’t want him to know where.”

  Peter scooped the maps into a bundl
e, folding them quickly. Graham had the topographic map on his desk, folded army-style with the part of the map he wanted on the outside. He tossed it to Peter. “Stick this with the others.”

  Peter missed the catch and dropped the map. He stood and bent to pick it up just as Bert came up the front steps. As quickly as he could Peter added the map to the bundle. These were placed in a cardboard folder. Peter walked over to put them out of sight as Bert greeted them. At that moment Skip woke from her slumbers under the table. Realizing that a stranger had arrived and mindful of her duty as a good guard dog she sprang out barking, running between Peter’s legs as he did so.

  Peter tripped. As he stumbled he reached out to steady himself on the table. In doing so he lost his grip on the folder which fell to the floor. The maps spilled out of it at Bert’s feet.

  Bert helped steady him. “Hey, I don’t mind Allie throwing herself at me,” he said with a grin. He released Allison and bent to help Peter pick up the maps. ‘Oh no!’ Kylie thought. ‘Perhaps he won’t notice where they are of.’

  Bert obviously did. He straightened up with the old mining map in his hand. From the bed Kylie could see the pencil circle around the mines in the Mulgrave Valley and she could also see that Bert was staring at them. He gave a grin and handed the map to Peter. Peter was flustered and obviously angry with himself. Skip did not help by continuing to bark and by scattering the other maps more in her excitement.

  Bert bent to ruffle Skip’s ears. “Good dog! What’s your name?” he asked. Kylie could see the topographic map lying right next to him. Peter scooped it up and hastily passed the bundle to Graham, who shoved them in a drawer.

  “Her name is ‘Skipper’,” Kylie answered. “Good dog Skip. Down girl! Down!”

  “Yes she is a good dog,” Bert agreed with a smile.

  CHAPTER 20

  KEARNEYS FLATS

  Bert appeared not to be interested. He turned to Graham and said: “I hear you have lots of model ships. Could I have a look at them?”

  Graham nodded. Normally he was sensitive and defensive about his models but they seemed a good way to divert things. “They are down stairs.” He stood and led the way down the front stairs to the Ship Room.

  As soon as Bert was out of hearing Stephen said sarcastically: “Well done Pete! That gave the game away.”

  Peter flushed and replied defensively: “It wasn’t my fault. Skip is the real villain; aren’t you doggie?”

  Skip, on hearing her name, looked up and wagged her tail. Peter bent and gave her a friendly pat. Kylie touched Peter’s arm. “It doesn’t matter. Bert may not have noticed.”

  Peter made a face. “I think he did. Let’s hope we find the treasure before the opposition.”

  He turned and went down the stairs, followed by the others.

  The ‘Ship Room’ took up nearly half the area under the high-set house. It measured ten metres by twelve and had a concrete floor and timber slats for walls. On the floor were dozens of ‘scratch-built’ models made from timber, balsa wood, cardboard and odds and ends. They were of 20th Century warships on a scale of 1:240. Also displayed on the floor were hundreds of tiny model tanks, trucks and aeroplanes, all made of balsa wood and cardboard.

  Bert looked around in amazement. “What’s all this then?” he asked.

  Graham blushed and shrugged. “Just a game we play,” he replied. He was embarrassed to be found to be still playing such games at his age. “A lot of the models belong to Peter and my brother Alex. It is something we did a few years ago and haven’t done much of late.”

  “They look good models,” Bert said. He moved in and knelt to study them.

  Graham then felt constrained to show off his better models. While doing this Bert spied dozens of old sailing ship models stored on tables in the back corner. These had to be inspected next. After that they group went back upstairs and Bert said hello to Mrs Kirk. Morning tea followed.

  After that the girls and Bert went shopping leaving the boys to talk and plan. Kylie made sure that Bert and Allison were able to be on their own as much as possible.

  “Are you buying food for your trip?” Bert asked.

  That caused a moment’s silence. Allison answered. “Yes we are, and you aren’t to tell anyone about it. Promise.”

  Bert laughed and gripped her hands. Kylie thought they looked so good together, a perfect match. ‘I hope it lasts,’ she told herself.

  Bert and Allison wandered off hand in hand after agreeing where and when to meet up. This allowed Margaret and Kylie to get on with their shopping. Mrs Kirk did the weekly grocery shopping at the same time. Afterwards they all met up at a coffee shop where Bert and Allison sat, deep in earnest conversation.

  They drove back home and unpacked. Lunch followed, then the teenagers all went for a walk to the park and that allowed Allison and Bert to be alone for a bit more. All too soon, in Kylie’s opinion, Bert had to say goodbye. “If I don’t go now I won’t be back in time for milking,” he explained. He turned back to Allison. “When will I see you again?”

  “Next week?” Allison suggested, half-turning towards Kylie for confirmation. Kylie nodded. She thought, but did not say: ‘If we haven’t found the gold in a week we won’t ever.’

  Bert gave Allison a very tender and lingering kiss farewell. Both Kylie and Margaret watched with hungry interest while the boys made rude comments and ‘yuk’ noises. Bert just grinned and kissed Allison again, to her embarrassment and delight. Then he climbed into his car and drove off.

  “Good!” Graham cried. “Now we can talk freely.”

  Kylie could have hit him as she could see that Allison was very fragile, her bottom lip trembling. The grouped settled to discussing arrangements for the following day. The boys still hadn’t done their shopping for food, batteries and so on and they prepared to do this.

  “Afternoon tea first,” Roger suggested.

  They took up this idea and trooped through to the kitchen. Mrs Kirk was there listening to the radio. She looked up as they came in and said: “You children may not be going yet. If this rain keeps up the roads may be cut by flooding.”

  Kylie felt a stab of alarm. “Oh mum, it hasn’t rained much today.”

  “Maybe not, but I will be keeping a close eye on the weather. Now, when you boys are ready we will go and buy your food.”

  Shopping took the boys away for two hours. While they were gone the girls talked, played with the pets, and helped Kylie pack. When Mrs Kirk and the boys returned it was time for Allison and Margaret to go home. Mrs Kirk unloaded the boys and drove the girls home. Kylie noted that Allison was looking very fragile and on the edge of tears. As Allison climbed out of the car Kylie squeezed her hand.

  “It will be alright Allie. You will see Bert next week.”

  Allison smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “Yes, but I am wondering how we will see each other from then on. It is a long way from Malanda to here.”

  Kylie could only nod. She had wondered the same thing herself. All the old sayings such as ‘love will find a way’ ran through her mind, but so did something else she had heard one of the boys say once about a relationship between a boy in Cairns and a girl in Brisbane. ‘GBI’ they had called it- geographically bloody impossible. That was a depressing thought but she did not voice it.

  That evening there was no rain and that cheered her up. When she woke the next morning it was sunny and clear. As soon as Kylie made her way to the kitchen for breakfast she at once pointed this out to her mother.

  Mrs Kirk shook her head. “Don’t speak too soon. I’ve just been listening to the radio and there is a ‘Low’ in the Coral Sea. That could mean a lot of rain, or even a cyclone.”

  Graham looked up from his bowl of cereal. “That won’t bother us mum. We will just keep listening to the radio and if things get bad we will drive home. It is only an hour from the Mulgrave to here.”

  Mrs Kirk frowned. “You may be walking in the rainforest so it could take hours more than that.”

&
nbsp; Graham shook his head. “Oh mum, there will be plenty of time. They track cyclones very carefully with satellites and radar so we will get plenty of warning,” he replied.

  Mrs Kirk, as a ship captain’s wife, was well aware of this, but she still wasn’t happy. “I will talk to Bill when he arrives.”

  It was left at that until Uncle Bill arrived at 8:30 am. To the relief of the children he agreed with them. “We will keep tabs on any weather problems,” he promised Mrs Kirk.

  They loaded their gear into the cars, said goodbye to the puzzled pets once again, and drove off to collect the others. Peter’s mother was also helping to ferry them to the Mulgrave valley and she had picked up Roger. Stephen went with Uncle Bill and Margaret and Allison went with Mrs Kirk.

  All were ready and loaded by 9:30. The three cars set off in convoy. The first part of the drive- from Cairns to Gordonvale- Kylie did not enjoy. She never did- too much rush and heavy traffic. It wasn’t till they turned off the Bruce Highway at Gordonvale onto the Gillies Highway that she relaxed and started to enjoy the drive. From then on she stared out the window at the mountains which towered on either side. It was a pretty drive, particularly through the Mulgrave National Park.

  At Petes Bridge they turned left off the highway and crossed the Mulgrave. Kylie noted that the river was fairly full but was flowing clear and wasn’t obviously in flood. That was a relief as she had been worried, not just that her mother might veto the trip, but that they might not be able to ford the river to get to the area they wanted to search.

  The road wound up over a high, wide ridge through sugar cane farms, then down to recross the Mulgrave again at The Fisheries. This bridge was a hundred metres long, a low concrete structure, and the river looked much higher and fuller here and Mrs Kirk frowned and muttered as the water was nearly lapping the bridge. After that the road ran through rainforest studded with houses until coming out on a wide flat covered with sugar cane. This was the area Kylie had always called ‘Goldsborough’ but she now knew that was wrong. Goldsborough was at the far end of the open cane farm area. Before reaching this they passed a line of houses, then turned left to cross the river for a third time.