The Grub and
the Man from Firestone Ranch

By Lock Pollard

Copyright 2013 Lock Pollard

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Chapter 1

Marcy was asleep on my shoulder, her head bobbing with each bump of the bus. There was some drool hanging from her mouth and I watched it lengthen and drop onto my shirt, joining an already large stain. The bus jolted as we turned off the highway onto a smaller road and her head bounced off my shoulder and landed with a heavier thump. She groaned and opened her eyes.
'Hello, sleepyhead,' I said.
'Are we there yet?' she groaned, wiping the drool off her chin.
'Almost. Here comes a sign, let’s have a look.'
I squinted, trying to read the sign in the bus’s headlights. It was a big sign and along with Cromer Beach, our destination, there were a number of cities with corresponding distances listed.
'How far?' Roy asked from across the aisle.
'Ten kilometres,' I answered.
'Cool.'
'Roy, what time are your auntie and cousin meeting us at the bus station?' asked Marcy.
'Six o’clock.'
I looked at my watch; it was 5.30 am. We'd left Horseshoe Bend eight hours ago and the bus had only stopped twice: once at 11 pm for everyone to use the bathroom before they went to sleep; and again at 4.30 am to buy something to eat and go to the bathroom again. The three of us were starting to go a bit crazy from sitting down for eight hours and Roy and I were starting to get impatient. We'd been planning this trip for so long. We were on our way to spend a few days with Roy’s relatives. They lived in the Cromer Beach campground and we'd been invited up for some surfing, camping and laying around.
'What’s your cousin’s name?' asked Marcy.
'Jade,' replied Roy.
'And she’s the same age as us?'
'Yeah,' grunted Roy.
'And what do we call your auntie?'
'I don’t know, just call her Auntie T,' replied Roy, starting to get annoyed.
'Maybe she doesn’t want us to call her that,' said Marcy matter-of-factly.
Roy shrugged.
'And what about your uncle?' continued Marcy.
'Uncle Jim, he's a bit weird sometimes.'
'Well, I’m sure everyone will be nice,' said Marcy before turning away. I could tell Roy was getting annoyed with her. Originally he'd asked me if I wanted to come and then I'd asked if Marcy could come too and he'd reluctantly agreed. I knew he didn’t really want her to come, but I’d argued that he'd be hanging out with his cousin and I'd be left out, so he’d allowed her to join us. Besides just her questioning I could understand why he was annoyed; Marcy and I were sitting together and he was sitting beside a fat, old guy who had his flabby arm hanging over the armrest. Plus, I'd been talking to Marcy more than him: there was only so many times we could speculate what the surf was going to be like when we got there.
 Roy's my best friend, we've been hanging out pretty much ever since I moved to Horseshoe Bend; ever since our family moved from the bush to the beach. But Marcy's my girlfriend; she was the very first person I met. I still have dreams about opening the door to find her standing there smelling like apricots and peaches.
The bus shuddered to a stop and the door hissed open.
'Cromer!' thundered the bus driver as he jacked his large frame out of the seat and down the stairs. We followed him out and collected our backpacks, surfboards and the tent from underneath. We were the only passengers getting off the bus and one look at the town told us why.
 There was no bus station; just a sign scrawled Bus Station nailed onto the side of the service station, which didn’t look like it had been open during my lifetime. Two fuel bowsers stood alone in the middle of a patch of uneven bitumen displaying a fuel price which I knew must have been from the good old days, as my father used to say.   A row of broken down cars separated the bitumen from an overgrown field full of weeds. The street was ghostly, lit by a single lamppost out the front of a closed shop. The morning sunlight was still battling the blackness, but I didn’t think sunlight would change my opinion of the town; it was a dump!
'Is someone meeting you here?' asked the bus driver.
'My auntie is picking us up,' Roy answered.
'What time's she coming?'
'Six am.'
The bus driver looked at his watch and I did the same; it was ten minutes to six.
'We’re early. We made good time on the highway,' he explained, adjusting his belt now there was no seat to support his sizeable girth. I looked away and searched up and down the deserted road, the town was dead quiet.
'You want me to wait with you?' said the driver.
'Nah. We’re cool,' I answered.
'You might be cool. But Cracking Crazy Christo escaped from Firestone Ranch the other week and is somewhere around here. Apparently he's already stolen some dresses off a clothesline and was spotted in one of them down the beach the other day. By the time the police appeared he’d gone.'
'What's Firestone Ranch?' I asked.
'It’s the mental asylum,' answered Roy.
'Cracking Crazy Christo, said Marcy slowly. 'He doesn’t sound very real.'
The bus driver stared back at her with eyes glassy and bloodshot from the overnight drive. He grunted, spat on the ground and adjusted himself again.
Marcy was the girl in our class who always knew when the teacher was joking, or trying to pull your leg.
'Have you ever seen him?' she asked.
'Well, no. But one of the other bus drivers reckons he heard from a passenger…'
'So you’ve never seen him?'
'Not personally, but…'
Marcy was staring disbelievingly at him; she was tired and grumpy.
'Well, thank you anyway.'
The bus driver glanced at his watch, shrugged his shoulders and climbed back into his seat. The door hissed shut and the bus rumbled off, leaving a cloud of diesel smoke on the deserted street. I wondered who Cracking Crazy Christo was and what he looked like in a dress – he sounded like an interesting character.
'My mum and dad said this is a weird town,' Roy mumbled.
'It looks nice,' said Marcy, seeming not to care about a madman on the loose who dressed in women’s clothing.
I didn’t think there was much to see that could be called nice; and as if in agreement a mangy dog lying on the bonnet of an old Holden yawned loudly.
'Leroy!'
We turned and saw a lady walking towards us. She was wearing a dress that flowed all the way down to her bare feet and she had long messy, brown hair. Her eyes were sky blue and she had perfectly tanned skin. Following her was a miniature model that was similar in every way except her hair had been braided, I figured that was Roy's cousin, Jade.
'Hi, Auntie T,' replied Roy.
'Haven’t you grown up?' she said as she hugged him and tried to kiss him on the cheek. He escaped her grasp and she kissed a handful of hair. 
'Auntie T!' He cried.
Her eyes were suddenly on me. 'And you must be Grub?' she asked uncertainly.
'Erm, yeah.'
I avoided her gaze, wondering if she was going to try and kiss me too.
'How did you get called that?' 
'When I moved to Horseshoe Bend I had a farmer’s tan and one of the boys thought I looked like a witchetty grub so everyone called me that until it got shortened to Grub,' I explained. Truth be told, the witchetty grub nickname had been a cruel creation of one of the surfers, Kell. I hadn't liked being called that, but as I got to know everyone at school they all started to call me Grub, and now I kind of liked it. Marcy still called me Mitchell though.
 'Very interesting. Do you like living in Horseshoe Bend?' Auntie T was staring straight at me; her blue eyes seemed to search my soul.
'It’s great. A lot different to living on the farm… I mean, I miss the farm, but it's been fun living on the coast.'
'Great. I hope you like Cromer just as much.'
Considering my first impressions of the town and the mangy dog, which was now snoring, I just mumbled a reply. I was wondering what Roy had led us into.
Auntie T turned her attention to Marcy.
'So, that makes you Marcy.'
'Hi,' Marcy replied timidly and held out her hand. I could tell she also didn’t want to be hugged and kissed by some strange woman.
They shook hands and Auntie T clapped her hands together in delight.
'And this is Jade,' she exclaimed, turning to her daughter.
'Hi,' I replied.
'Hello, I’m Marcy,' said Marcy as she stuck her hand out.
They shook hands with straight arms and smiled shyly at each other, unsure what else to say. Time stood still for a moment as the two girls sized each other up, which allowed me to assess Jade. She seemed pretty cool: not worried by her mother’s over abundance of enthusiasm, especially for so early in the morning, and confident among strangers. I sensed she was as relaxed as Roy and I knew straight away it was going to be fun to hang out with her. I’d been worried she'd be all bossy and demanding, and we wouldn’t be able to do anything we wanted to.
Finally she broke the awkward moment and turned to Roy. 'Hey, punk, long time no see.'
'Yeah, buttface, how’s it hanging?' Roy grinned back at her.
'Not bad. Didn’t know you had any friends!'
We all laughed and a good feeling about the weekend came over me.
Auntie T piled us into an old station wagon stenciled with the name of their campground across both sides. The car was ancient: the window handles had broken off and the windows in the back were stuck half way up; the vinyl on the seats had cracked, displaying yellow bits of foam; and the engine coughed like an old man as Auntie T turned it over. After a moment it burped and came to life, sounding more like an airplane engine than a car motor.
'The campground is only five minutes down the road,' Auntie T yelled.
Some blue smoke floated off the engine and into the car as we roared down the street. Auntie T seemed oblivious to the blue haze distorting her vision as she sang to herself gaily.



Chapter 2

The sun finally came up as we drove along the riverside to the campground and it covered Cromer in a rich, golden glow. The water in the river sparkled invitingly in the morning light and I longed for a swim. I was beginning to think that Auntie T had underestimated in saying that it would only take five minutes when we bounced through a grove of trees into the caravan park. It was full of tents and caravans in all different colors and sizes: some had awnings out the front; some had pot plants welcoming visitors; there were complex tent structures; and, small tents like the one we had. Despite the early hour there were already kids playing with toys and older boys heading to the beach with their surfboards.
Auntie T turned her head to face us. 'I’ve reserved a nice little secluded campsite for the three of you. It’s at the back of the campground, and has its own private path through the dunes to the beach.'
'Cool!' commented Roy.
'And if you need anything while you’re here, we’re in the house over there.'
She pointed to a large house that was nestled behind the palm trees. On the veranda I saw two boys playing on bikes.
'Thanks Auntie T,' said Roy.
'That sounds great,' added Marcy.
'Do you have enough food?' enquired Jade.
'Yeah, we got heaps,' answered Roy.
'Well if you need to put something in the fridge or if you get hungry then feel free to come over,' added Auntie T.
'Thanks.'
'Or if you need to use the phone to ring your parents.'
'We have mobile phones.'
'Oh, really?' queried Auntie T.
'You see mum, I told you, everyone has them! EVERYONE EXCEPT ME!' whined Jade.
Auntie T looked at Jade with an expression that could have been amusement or bewilderment.
'Right, well here is your campsite,' she said.
Auntie T turned off the main track and onto a dirt path that threaded around a clump of palm trees to a clearing completely hidden from the rest of the campsite. The car coughed to a stop and we climbed out.
'Let’s get for a surf!' said Roy.
'Don't you think we should put up the tent first?' said Marcy, picking up the tent.
Roy shot her an evil look and mumbled something. Again, I had that feeling that bringing Marcy might not have been a good idea.
'It'll only take us five minutes,' I said, 'otherwise we'll have to do it after, when we're wet and sandy.' 
'I can help,' said Jade, immediately helping Marcy to pull the tent out of its sleeve.
We erected the tent in record time with Marcy asking Jade all sorts of questions about where the toilets were, where we could buy ice, bread and such. I hoped that they could be good friends, otherwise she'd want to hang around with me and Roy and that would be a major problem. When we were finished Roy and I grabbed our boards and started off on the secret path to the beach.
'Make sure you go along the beach,' called out Jade.
'Where?' asked Roy.
'Go along the beach. Don’t go straight out the front.'
'No way, we’re going out in the river mouth. It’s supposed to be one of the best surf spots on the east coast of Australia,' said Roy.
'You can’t. The Barras surf out there!'
'The Barras? What? Who are they?' I asked.
'Max Luger and his crew.'
'And what about them?' I continued.
'They don’t like tourists.'
'They the locals?' asked Roy.
'Yeah. And they really don’t like other people surfing here. Last summer they smashed someone’s face and snapped his board. He had to go to hospital and everything. And no one actually knew who did it, so the police couldn’t do anything.'
'Really?' asked Marcy.
'Yeah. They’re so mean. Some of them live in the caravan park and all they do is surf, they don’t work or anything.'
'Ugh. I hate people like that,' grumbled Marcy. She was looking at Roy as she said it, and I knew she was thinking of his older brothers, all they did was surf.
'Well, we’ll check it out anyway,' I said.
'We’re cool,' Roy stated.
'Be careful,' Jade warned.

***

The river mouth was a spa bath of frothing and churning water with strong currents ripping away in different directions. There was no solid bottom of sand underneath so the waves broke in different places across an area the size of four football fields. In the middle, where the river ran right out into the ocean, we could see a strong channel of water dragging dirt and bits of junk out to sea. It was the deepest part of the river mouth and boats were using it to come in and out of the harbor. Across the other side was a deserted island and I could see barren sand dunes, and in the distance a lighthouse. Directly in front of us where the waves were cleaner there were half a dozen surfers.
'Yew, let’s go Grub,' said Roy, putting his board on the ground and attaching his leg rope.
I stared at the handful of surfers and watched one of them paddle onto a wave and jump to his feet expertly.
'What about the Barras?' I questioned.
'Man. There's plenty of space and only a few of them.'
'True,' I agreed. There seemed to be enough waves for everyone to share.
We ran into the water, threw our boards down and jumped on them, surfing into an oncoming wave and falling off. They were the biggest waves I'd ever been in, but I felt safe with Roy. Plus we were on holidays and the adrenalin was running thickly through my blood – laughing and yelling we slid onto our boards and paddled out into the surf without a care in the world.
We paddled out to the other surfers and sat up on our boards. They were all older than us and nearly all of them had tattoos on their arms and shoulders. We nodded back at them when they stared at us, but they didn’t say anything. They certainly looked like they could smash someone's face in. I was thinking that maybe we should paddle back in and go somewhere else, when Roy turned and paddled hard for a wave. He churned his arms quickly through the water and as the wave came under his board he jumped to his feet. It was a nice wave and I looked on admiringly, waiting for him to do a nice move. Maybe if the Barras could see that we could surf, and we weren't some city chumps, they would be cool.
 As I watched, waiting for Roy to crack an awesome move that would show them we could shred, one of the Barras paddled out of nowhere and jumped onto the wave as well, right beside him. He was surfing on a collision course straight towards Roy.
'Roy!' I yelled.
He heard my warning and looked up at the surfer coming straight at him. He had a choice of being hit or jumping off, and being pummeled by the wave. The Barra snarled and raised his fist ready for the impact.
 Roy did the sensible thing – he jumped off, choosing to take being dumped by the wave rather than punched. The wave rolled over him, picked him up and smashed him down. I imagined him being pulverized on the sand underneath as his board bobbed around, held back by his leg rope.
I waited to see if he would surface, wondering if he'd made the right choice, perhaps he would've been better taking the punch.
'Hey, kid!'
I turned, two of the Barras were right behind me, sitting on their boards and staring at me like I was an alien from out of space, and I was the one in the wrong place. I stared back, they had shaved heads and lots of tattoos, which admittedly wasn't that uncommon in Horseshoe Bend, but they both had the same tattoo of a barracuda coming over their shoulder onto their chest. One of them splashed some water in my face, forcing me to shut my eyes.
'What do you think you’re doing out here, hey?' he growled.
I opened my eyes just in time to see him reach behind me and cut my leg rope.
'Go home. This is our break. If we see you out here again, I’ll cut ya!' snarled the other one as he pushed me in the face and off my board.
Then a wave crashed on my head and spun me over and over like a washing machine. It was all black and I was disorientated, but I knew to wait for the wave to pass before surfacing. Because I hadn’t been prepared I hadn’t had a chance to take a breath of air and my lungs screamed for oxygen. I tried to remain calm, but I could feel the wave still rolling above me. After what felt like an eternity the wave passed and I pushed off the bottom to the surface. I gasped in big mouthfuls of air and stared up at the sky thankfully.
'Grub, you okay?' asked Roy.
'Yeah. I’m okay, but they cut my leg rope.'
'Dude, your nose is bleeding.'
I wiped the back of my hand across my nose and saw a streak of red. The thought of sharks flashed through my head – time to go into shore!
'Where’s my board?'
'I saw it float into shore on a wave,' replied Roy. 'I was worried you'd drowned or something.'
I looked over at the Barras. They’d moved away from us, but their message was clear.
'You okay?' I asked.
'Yeah. That guy was a loser, he was going to hit me.'
'They told me they’d cut me if I came back out. He had a knife on him.'
'A knife? Who takes a knife surfing?' said Roy. 'I guess they’re the Barras.'
'They have matching tats on their shoulders of a barra,' I said.
'Fools,' said Roy. 'Anyway, let's go.'
I swam into shore while Roy paddled beside me. My board had washed up on the sand and I recovered it, grateful it hadn’t been damaged. We stood on the beach and watched the Barras while we waited for my nose to stop bleeding. They were really good surfers and the waves were some of the best we'd ever seen – but we weren’t going to be surfing them.



Chapter 3

Marcy and Jade were sitting on the grass in front of the tent and talking like long lost friends when we got back, and although my head still hurt, I was happy to see that they were getting on well.
'That was quick,' said Marcy.
'Yeah. We met the Barras,' I groaned, as I held up my severed leg rope. 'They cut my leggie and punched me in the face, just as a wave came over me. I got smashed and then had to swim into shore.'
'And some clown cut me off,' added Roy. 'He was like twice my size with tough stickers all over him.'
'Tough stickers?' queried Jade.
'Tattoos,' I said.
'Oh, yeah,' she replied. 'They have to get the barracuda tat on their shoulder and then the Kombrigs, like the leaders, have to get a skull on their fist.'
'Are you okay?' Marcy asked coming over to me.
'Yeah. I just swallowed some water and had a nosebleed. They’re such bullies, there's so much space, but they don’t share.'
'Is your nose okay?' she asked as she inspected my face, trying to touch my nose.
'Yeah. It’s all better now,' I replied, pushing her hand away.
'Maybe you should see a doctor,' she added.
'It’s okay. It’s nothing.' I grabbed her hands and held them together so that she couldn’t touch my nose.
'I told you,' said Jade.
'Yeah,' mumbled Roy.
'You’re just going to have to surf down the beach,' continued Jade.
'Down the beach! The waves are pus there. It’s awesome in the river mouth!'
'Awesome,' I echoed.
Roy threw his board and snorted in a mixture of anger and annoyance. 'Those Barras are bullies.'
'Well, Marcy and I are going to walk into town if you want to come to the markets.'
'Ugh. The markets!' Roy and I exclaimed simultaneously. We’d never anticipated going to the markets; it was supposed to be a surfing weekend.
 I knew Roy would be thinking that it had been a bad idea to let Marcy come. The weekend was starting to fizzle, if we couldn’t surf it would be a nightmare. We didn’t want to surf down the beach in the small sloppy waves. An idea popped into my head. 'What about if we paddle across the river mouth and surf on the other side?' I said.
'Nah, mate. That’s a long paddle. Then we'd have to paddle back. Plus with all those boats it would be pretty dangerous. We need a boat to take us over to the other side, but we haven’t got a boat,' Roy replied.
'You know what?' said Jade excitedly, as she jumped up.
'What?' I asked.
'Dad has a boat and he could take us over and maybe we could all camp over there.'
'Really?' said Roy.
'Well, Dad and I once went over there and camped. It’s an island,' she explained, her eyes glistening with excitement.
'That'd be cool,' said Roy.
'Will your dad let us camp there?' asked Marcy.
'I can ask him. We'd have to take another tent for me to sleep in.'
'I don’t reckon we’ll be allowed,' said Marcy firmly.
I knew that if it were her mum and dad, we definitely wouldn’t be allowed.
'Let’s go and find Uncle Jim then,' I said.
We found him repairing the fence. He was a small, hairy man with a potbelly that pushed against his singlet, and he was gently hammering a freshly painted railing onto the post, careful not to slip and smash the face of the hammer into the wood. We waited, watching him slowly knock the nail in. I was getting impatient; eager to get our adventure moving, but Jade had folded her arms and was watching the birds in the trees. I looked at Roy, who was dancing on the balls of his feet, only Marcy seemed to appreciate Uncle Jim's craftsmanship.
Finally, the nail flush against the railing, he looked up and Jade introduced us; she told him what had happened and asked if we could camp on the island. He wasn’t easy to convince, but we said we had our mobile phones and if anything happened we could call him. We weren’t actually going to be that far away from the campground, it was just that there would be a river between us. I reckoned that we'd actually be closer to the house than where our secret little campsite had been. After some deep thought he eventually said okay and an hour later we were in his boat crossing the river.
It didn’t take us long to put the tents up. Marcy and Jade decided to share one and Roy and I had the other. The girls climbed into their tent and organized their clothes in neat little piles. Roy and I just threw our stuff in so that it got all mixed up.
For lunch we had sandwiches Jade’s mum had made for us and afterwards we decided to explore our island. It was full of sand dunes and we pretended to be explorers travelling through the desert. We found some animal footprints and tracked them for a while, hiding behind each dune and peering over it in case we ran into the animal. I knew they were horse footprints, but we pretended they were from some animal no one had ever seen and it was really dangerous. We found some horse poo and inspected it. I put my hand over it so that I almost touched it.
'What are you doing, Mitchell?' asked Jade.
'Feeling for heat to see if it’s recent. If the poo is still hot then you know it’s fresh and the horse isn't far away. But if it’s cold then the horse could have done it yesterday and be long gone.'
'Is it hot?'
'I think so.'
I touched it with my finger.
'Yuck!' exclaimed Jade. 'You just touched horse poo.'
'Yeah. It’s warm. Which means there’s a horse around here somewhere.'
'Dad says there are some wild horses around here, but the council is trying to shoot them,' said Jade.
'Shoot them! Oh, the poor things,' exclaimed Marcy.
Marcy used to be afraid of horses, but I’d taught her to ride and now she loved them. 'Do you think we'll see it?' she asked.
'Nah. He'll stay away from us,' I answered. 'He can smell us from a mile away, and probably thinks we’ll shoot him.'
'I want to see him,' said Marcy. 'Maybe he’s like your dad’s horse.'
My dad’s horse had once been a wild brumby that he'd captured and tamed. He was a big, powerful horse with a wild spirit, but if he liked you he was really affectionate and gentle. I looked into the distance, searching for the wild horse; he was out there somewhere, hiding from us. We'd gotten bored of playing our lost adventurers game and the sun was beating down on us. My shirt had stuck to my back from sweat; it really felt like we were in the middle of the desert.
'I need a swim,' I said.
'Yeah, time for a surf,' added Roy.
Roy and I headed back to the tent to get our boards, and the girls went to explore the lighthouse.
We surfed for three hours and it was the best surf of my life; it felt like we were the only people in the world. There were no other surfers, no Barras, no one except us, and we had all the waves to ourselves. And they were beautiful, like each one had been hand carved by a God; they were the height of a door and broke smoothly, allowing us to carve along their faces performing surf tricks. The water was as warm as a bath and the sun shone brightly above – it was perfect!
Eventually our arms were too tired to paddle anymore and we went in to find Marcy and Jade building a sandcastle. They'd collected a huge pile of colorful seashells and we helped them with decorating; it was pretty cool, it had three towers and a moat around it. Roy and I made cups with our hands and carried water up from the ocean to fill the moat.
The sun was slowly inching its way towards the horizon and its beams were refracting off thick heavy clouds, creating an orange glow. I was standing mesmerized by the beautiful view when Marcy came up to me and slid her hand into mine.
'It’s magic isn’t it?' she asked.
'Yeah, but there’s a storm coming,' I replied.
'How can you tell?'
'By the types of clouds and the grey lining. I think we’re going to be stuck in our tents tonight.'
 'Cool, we can play Monopoly after dinner,' she said.
The four of us made a cold chicken salad for dinner and after an afternoon of exploring, and our marathon surf, I was so hungry that I ate everything on my plate and half of Marcy’s food. For dessert we had some chocolate brownies Jade’s mum had made for us. It didn’t really feel like we were camping because we were eating like kings. Afterwards we ran down to the sea and washed our plates in the last few minutes of sunlight as the first of the raindrops landed on our faces. In the distance I could see the thick, water logged clouds coming towards us like slow moving air force bombers. Even though it was nearly dark it was still really hot and humid, and we splashed water at each other to cool off.
We walked back to the tents tired, full and content, ready for a game of Monopoly, but when we got back we realized we had a visitor – and he definitely couldn’t play Monopoly!



Chapter 4

In the middle of our campsite a wild brumby was smashing into our tents and sniffing at our stuff. As we watched he stuck his head into a packet of biscuits and started munching.
'Our boards!' cried Roy.
We'd left our surfboards beside the tent and all it would take was for one of the brumby’s hoofs to land on a board and it would be shattered.
'Your boards! What about the tents?' snorted Marcy.
'Where are we going to sleep?' cried Jade.
The brumby had completely ruined our tents; one of them was caught around his front right leg and the other had been ripped to shreds. We stood frozen to the spot, watching the brumby destroy our campsite and possessions. Then to make matters worse he lifted his tail and a flow of manure flowed out – right onto my towel!
'Oh, gross,' said Marcy.
'Ha. That’s your towel,' laughed Roy.
It was so sad it was funny.
'How are we going to get our stuff?' asked Jade.
'I’ve got an idea. I’ll be back in a sec’,' I said.
I ran down to the beach and searched the high tide mark. I was looking for something I'd seen earlier – an old, sun-dried rope. It was almost dark and the rain made it hard to see but I found it and ran back to the group. The brumby was still in our campsite eating our Cornflakes.
 I stepped forward and shouted. 'Ha!'
The brumby pulled its muzzle out of the box and stared at me; it shook its mane violently and snorted. I leapt back, the air in my lungs escaping like a punctured balloon. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. He was big, much like my father’s stallion, except instead of a shiny coat his thick hide was full of burrs and knots. I knew to treat horses with confidence because they can sense fear, so I pretended it was my horse, Pippa.
'Ha!'
I stepped forward.
He didn’t move.
'Ha!'
He lifted his head, shook his mane and snorted like a steam train.
Behind me I heard Jade gasp. 'Mitchell!'
I brought the rope around and held it up in front of me. It was weather beaten from years of being rolled around in the sea and then hardened on the beach under the sun. Holding one end I swung it around and then flicked my wrist: Crack!
The brumby snorted again and rocked on his legs.
'Ha!'
I stepped forward and cracked my makeshift whip again.
Crack!
He jumped, just slightly, but I saw the whip was having the desired effect. His large eyes were staring straight at the rope. I took two steps forward.
'It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,' I said in a soft, but firm voice. I was trying to sound like my dad, but I was shaking with fear and was sure it sounded too soft and lacked conviction. 
But he lowered his head slightly and snorted. I could see him watching my every move.
'Mitchell. Come back,' called Jade.
I ignored her and raised the whip.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
The brumby moved back and snorted.
I was shaking so much I could barely swing the rope.
'Ha!'
I stepped forward. There was only five meters between us now. I forgot about the rain falling on me and the sand surrounding me – it was just me and my horse, Pippa.
'It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.'
I held my arm out straight and maintained eye contact with him.
I brought the whip up.
Crack!
I took another step forward.
He moved back and snorted softly.
This was the last step. I was in charge, I had established control, but if I wanted to make full contact, I had to touch him.
I could feel him shaking too.
'Why are you so afraid? I’m not going to hurt you,' I said.
He snorted again, but this time much softer, as if he understood what I was saying and trying to answer. He shifted on his feet and moving forward ever so slightly I raised my hand and rubbed his neck. Talking quietly, I gently pushed the brumby away from what was left of our campsite. Behind me Jade, Marcy and Roy started to collect what was left of our possessions. I walked him over another dune, said goodbye and returned to the others.
'Holy cow, Mitchell, that was awesome,' said Jade.
'I told you he was good with horses,' added Marcy proudly.
'Grub, that was so cool,' said Roy.
'Thanks, but what’s happened to our stuff! Our tents are completely ruined.'
'I’ll have to give my dad a call to come and pick us up,' said Jade disappointedly.
'Yeah,' we all agreed.
'Can I use your phone, Roy?' she asked.
'Sure.' 
He looked through the pile of collected stuff and then lifted up three plastic pieces. 'Nope. The brumby destroyed it.'
'Don’t worry, we can use mine' said Marcy. She quickly went though her bag and pulled out her phone. She'd packed it safely in all her clothes and it was still intact. She flicked it open and looked at the screen.
'Yep. All good. No, wait. Oh no. Stupid, stupid, stupid.'
'What?' asked Jade.
'There’s no reception,' she said. 'What about your phone, Mitchell?'
I pulled mine out and turned it on. A moment later it beeped and I looked at the screen.
'Damn! No reception either.'
'I thought we had reception when we got off the boat,' stated Marcy.
'Maybe the storm is interfering with the coverage,' I said.
The rain around us was getting heavier, and our shirts were now totally drenched.
'What are we going to do?' asked Roy.
'The lighthouse. Maybe we can get reception up the top,' said Marcy.
Bam! Above, the thunder crashed and a minute later a flash of lightning lit up the night sky.
'Quickly, grab what we can and let’s go before we get struck by lightning,' I said.



Chapter 5

The lighthouse was set back from the beach and built on hard ground to protect it from being washed away. At the top a light was rotating, sending a powerful beam out into the darkness to warn ships that land was nearby.
We climbed over some slippery rocks to the door just before the storm erupted on our heads and the thunder and lightning became one. The door had been jimmied open and was swinging in the strong wind; someone had broken in before us, probably to hide from a previous storm.
The beams of our torches barely penetrated the darkness and it was like we were watching a scary movie as we filed up the staircase. It smelt of musty shoes and socks, and the wind howled like a banshee. At the top the beacon rotated and its beam pierced into the thick rain beating down on the glass.
BAM!
Thunder clapped overhead.
Crack!
A lightning bolt stabbed into a tree beside the lighthouse and we watched a thick branch fall to the ground.
'Eeee!' the girls screamed. Marcy grabbed my arm. 'This is so scary!'
'Scary? This is awesome!' said Roy. 'Look out into the water when the lightning erupts and you can see the waves, they're massive.'
BAM!
CRACK!
The girls jumped, but I searched out into the ocean and saw waves the size of buildings smashing into each other. It was like a different planet.
'Oh, no, I still can't get reception. This stupid network!' exclaimed Marcy.
I pulled out my phone, knowing without looking at it that I wouldn't have reception if Marcy didn't; my network was the cheaper one.
'Got nothing too,' I said.
'Let’s go somewhere else,' said Marcy. 'Maybe if we walk to the river mouth. I had reception there when we first got off the boat.'
'What? We can’t go outside,' I replied.
'We’ll be all right here,' commented Jade. 'We can wait 'till the storm passes.'
'This is awesome!' exclaimed Roy.
'Look, someone's living here,' cried Marcy.
In a corner were a pile of blankets, dirty clothes, newspapers, old magazines and some tins of tuna. I picked up one of the newspapers and read the date. A chill shuddered through my body.
'This is yesterday's paper,' I said, the hairs on my neck standing on end.
Bam!
The sound of thunder made us all jump and we glanced around expecting to see someone standing in a dark corner. Involuntarily we all huddled close together.
'I'm going to go and shut the door,' I said. 'Come on Roy.'
We ran down and jimmied a piece of wood into the door handle so it couldn't be pulled open. It didn't take us very long, but when we got back Marcy grabbed me tightly.
'Did you shut it?' she asked, her voice quivering.
'Yep. All good. No one can get in.'
Just as I said it a huge crack of thunder boomed above us, followed by a bolt of lightning that illuminated the trees around us; standing beside one of them I saw a man.
'Look,' I exclaimed.
Crack!
The thunder rolled again and the lightning lit up the sky, but where I'd seen someone there was now only a small sapling blowing in the wind.
'What?' asked Roy.
'I thought I saw someone. But I must have been imagining it.'
'This is freaky,' whimpered Marcy. 'What are we going to do?'
I knew we had no choice to wait out the storm and from my experience on the farm I knew it could pass quickly or stay overnight.
I slid my hand into hers and squeezed. 'I've still got some dessert'.
We sat down, unpacked our backpacks and laid our sleeping bags around the light beacon. Fortunately, my packet of chocolate éclairs that I'd been keeping as a surprise for Marcy were still okay. We ate them sitting underneath the rotating beam of the beacon; it's uniformity provided comfort as it stabbed it's light out into the cacophony of thunder and lightning.
It had been a long day; we hadn’t had much sleep the previous night because we'd been on the bus and today we’d been surfing twice and walked a thousand miles. My whole body felt like it was deflated and my eyes were drooping, even with the sound of thunder and lightning erupting around us, we were soon fast asleep. Only the beacon stayed alert, sending its powerful beam into the throes of the storm to warn ships of the dangers nearby.



Chapter 6

If the storm had been the most amazing thing I'd experienced then the sunrise was perhaps the most beautiful thing I'd witnessed. Jade woke us up as dawn broke and the darkness was slowly being eaten away by light. Bleary-eyed, Roy, Marcy and I climbed out of our sleeping bags and stood up against the window. For the first time we noticed a door that opened onto a small landing circling the dome. Eagerly we filed through the door and crammed onto the rusty metal landing. The cold morning air, the freshness of the grass and the salt from the ocean rejuvenated us like an energy drink.
As the sky slowly began to lighten, we stared eagerly out at the horizon waiting for the first glimpse of the bright orange ball. We kept calling out ‘and now’ trying to anticipate the very second that it would come over the horizon. When it finally came, I shuddered unexpectedly. The sense of the power of the sun ripping into the new day filled me with strength. I inhaled the fresh morning air, forgetting about yesterday’s disaster and ready for another day. As I watched the burning ball pull up from the horizon I felt renewed, like I'd just stepped out of a bath.
'This is mind-blowing,' Marcy said as she slipped her hand into mine.
'Mesmerizing,' added Roy. 'It's like the whole world just stopped for a moment and I was looking into a place where there was just peace and happiness. It was Nirvana.'
I looked at him; Roy wasn't usually the most eloquent of speakers.
'Is there food in this place?' asked Jade. 'I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.'
Funnily enough, just at that moment we saw the brumby galloping through the edge of the water. This time a smaller horse, its mate, accompanied him. They were magnificent, kicking up spray as they pounded through the water.
'Black Beauty,' whispered Marcy.
They continued along the beach and disappeared around the bend.
'What time is it?' Marcy asked.
I looked at my watch and was about to answer, but Roy beat me to it. 'I think it’s time for a surf,' he said.
'We have to go, I’m starving,' said Jade.
'Look at the waves. Look at how perfect they are. We have to go surfing, I don’t reckon anyone has ever surfed here. It will just be us. Then we can go.'
The waves were clean and perfect: like Michelangelo had sculptured them from the water and the Gods were sending them into shore like soldiers marching across a field. They were calling to me.
'I don’t know,' frowned Jade.
'It’s five am. Your dad probably won’t be awake now anyway,' I commented.
'Yeah. Okay. But only for an hour.'
'Cool,' we exclaimed.
Roy and I grabbed our boards and ran down. As we got to the water we jumped onto them and surfed into an oncoming wave before being knocked off. We yelled excitedly, splashed some water at each other and paddled out into Nirvana.
We surfed like we were in the final of the Quicksilver Pro, taking turns catching waves, paddling hard onto them, jumping to our feet and performing powerful maneuvers. On some waves we would surf up to the top and jump over the back of it before it crashed in an explosion of foam and white water. On others we would carve along the face. I slid along the lip of the wave with my fins out; I dropped off six-foot faces – I ruled!
The hour passed in what seemed like ten minutes and then Marcy was yelling my name from the water’s edge.
'Hey, Roy,' I called.
'What?'
'I think the girls are ready to go.'
'Okay. Team wave.'
Behind us a wave was coming towards us. We paddled hard and jumped to our feet. I looked up at Marcy, hoping that she was watching. Beyond her, in the dunes I thought I saw something – the man!
Was it the guy who lived in the lighthouse? Had he come back?
The wave wasn't very special, breaking evenly across the face so neither of us could cut away. As it died we fell onto our stomachs, allowing it to push us right into shore. I thought about telling Roy about what I'd seen, but I figured that soon we'd be walking back to the river and getting Jade’s dad to pick us up. I was probably just imagining things anyway.
Jade and Marcy skipped along the beach towards us and we splashed water at them. They squealed that it was cold and Roy and I tried to catch them, but with our boards we couldn’t. They ran to the lighthouse and up the stairs to the top.
'Na, na, na na. We’re the kings of the castle!' They sung.
'Aren’t you queens?' I yelled.
'Oh. Na, na, na, na! We’re the queens of the castle!'
'Good one!'
Roy and I climbed up the stairs to the girls. They'd already packed our stuff so we grabbed our backpacks and went back down the stairs. But something was wrong. When I tried to open the door it wouldn’t budge; it was locked from the outside and we were trapped in the lighthouse! 
'Oh, no,' I frowned.
'What?' asked Jade.
I pictured the guy I'd seen and felt sick in my stomach. I should have said something. Marcy was staring at me, waiting for me to tell them what they already knew.
'Someone has locked us in,' I replied.
The girls howled.
'Come on, Mitchell, let’s both try,' said Roy.
Together we pulled the door, but it didn’t move.
'Maybe you can smash it,' said Marcy.
Roy karate kicked it.
'Ouch!' He cried as he grabbed his ankle.
The door hadn’t budged; it was made from thick oak and had withstood hundreds of storms. I don't know what Roy had been thinking his lame attempt at a karate kick would do.
'What are we going to do?' asked Jade.
'Let’s go up to the top,' I said.
We raced back up the stairs to the top and peered out. Standing in the long grass beside some of the trees was the longhaired man I'd seen. He had a long, brown beard and his clothes were all tattered. He was half-stooped, half-leaning against a tree and when he saw us he stood upright and glared up at us.
'That’s Cracking Crazy Christo,' whispered Jade.
'Who?' Roy asked.
'The crazy guy who escaped from the mental institution,' said Marcy.
'Let us out you clown!' yelled Roy.
Crazy Christo grinned.
'What do you want?' I called out to him.
He stared up at us with his crooked grin.
'He doesn’t talk. Apparently he hasn’t spoken for twenty years,' said Jade.
Crazy Christo raised his index finger at us and then made a cutting motion across his neck.



Chapter 7

We were captives in the lighthouse. Below, Cracking Crazy Christo, with frazzled shoulder length hair, was staring up at us. His mouth was open in a wide, crooked grin and I could see he was missing some teeth. He made a noise that sounded similar to a dingo’s howl – a long whining wail.
'Shut up!' yelled Roy.
'Maybe this'll work,' said Marcy as she pulled out her phone and turned it on.
'Please have reception,' she pleaded. She went outside onto the balcony and walked around holding the phone up as high as she could.
'Argh! No reception,' she cried. 'Stupid, stupid phone.'
'Maybe we can jump,' said Roy.
'The fall would kill us,' I replied.
Christo was still watching us and grinning.
'Let us out!' yelled Marcy.
'Please!' cried Jade.
Crazy Christo turned and went into the bushes and returned a moment later, dragging a big branch. He placed it at the bottom of the lighthouse and then went back into the bushes.
'What’s he doing?' asked Marcy.
'No idea. He’s as mad as a cut snake,' said Jade.
'He's…,' I said, knowing exactly what he was doing. But I didn’t want to tell them. It was something that Dad and I'd done on the farm to chase rats away – but now we weren’t on a farm, and we weren’t rats. I shivered with fear and felt a lump grow in my throat. As I watched, Crazy Christo dragged out another large bushy branch and placed it around the other side of the lighthouse, then he went back into the scrub.
'We need to get out,' I said urgently
The two girls looked at me, they must've heard the quiet panic in my voice because their eyes widened.
'What’s happening Mitchell?' Marcy asked.
'He’s going to put the branches around the lighthouse and then set fire to them,' I answered.
'You mean he's going to burn us alive?' asked Roy.
'But the lighthouse won’t burn, it’s built from bricks, and bricks don’t burn,' said Jade.
'The smoke will fill up the lighthouse and suffocate us,' I stated matter-of-factly.
An eerie silence surrounded us as we contemplated what would happen.
'What are we going to do?' asked Jade.
Marcy took her phone back out onto the ledge; she held it up as high as she could and walked around, hoping that somewhere she would get reception. I peered down at the pile of branches; it was almost complete.
'Christo?' I yelled.
Nothing.
'Chris?'
Nothing.
Roy glared at him and shook his head. 'Absolute lunatic!' he hollered before picking up an empty tuna tin and throwing it at Christo. It fell short, making a clink as it hit the ground. Christo turned, picked it up and balanced it gently on the pile of branches. He looked up, pointed at us with his finger and then slowly ran it across his neck. Then he withdrew a lighter from his pocket, knelt down and held the flame to a pile of leaves and small sticks.
'Marcy, give me your water bottle,' I said.
'What?'
She picked it up; unsure why I wanted it, so I grabbed it from her.
'Hey!'
'Just watch.'
I poured the water over the small flame and it went out.
'Ha ha!' yelled Roy.
Christo stared up at us for a moment and I flicked some water at him. It splashed on his face and we all laughed at him. Then he turned and walked into the bushes.
'Good work, Mitchell,' remarked Marcy.
'He’ll be back,' I replied. 'It's just bought us some time. We need to figure out what we can do.'
'Maybe we can turn the beacon on and send an SOS signal,' said Marcy.
'Good idea,' said Jade.
We inspected the beacon, trying to figure out how to turn it on.
'How does it work?' asked Jade.
'It’s automated, triggered by light,' I replied. 'When the sun rises it turns off and when it gets dark it turns on.'
'So there must be a solar panel or something,' said Marcy.
'Yeah, probably on the roof,' I replied.
'I'll have a look,' said Roy.
He went outside, stood up on the railing and peered over the roof.
'Yeah, there's something that looks like a solar panel.'
'Put this over it,' I said as I threw up a towel.
Roy grabbed it and covered the panel. Instantly the beacon clicked on and the powerful light blinded us. 
But it was daylight, who would see it?
'Mitchell, look!' said Marcy.
Below, Christo was walking out from the bushes holding a blazing branch. There was no way I could put this out with the water bottle. In an extravagant display, like a conductor in front of an orchestra, he threw the burning torch onto the pile surrounding the lighthouse. I watched the other branches quickly ignite until the entire lighthouse was surrounded by fire. The smell of burning leaves and wood floated up to us. I knew we didn't have long.
Behind me the lighthouse beacon was rotating, sending out its warning signal, but people would probably think it hadn't turned off.
'I’ve got an idea.' I said.
I grabbed another towel and held it over the light. I had to walk around the tower to keep the towel over the light as I tried to send an SOS signal.
'Hang on, Mitchell,' said Roy as he came back in.
He grabbed one of the blankets and wedged it between the floor and the rotating disk so that the spinning beacon stopped. But the light was pointing out to the horizon, where nobody could see it.
'Try it again when the beacon is pointing towards Cromer,' I said.
Roy pulled out the blanket and the beacon continued to rotate. When it was aimed in the direction of Cromer he wedged the blanket under and it stopped.
I started to send the Morse code distress signal using the towel. First I did three short flashes, then three longer flashes and then three more quick ones. Each time I held the towel over the light and then pulled it away. I was trying not to think about how hard it would be to see. If it had been night the signal could have been seen from Cromer, but because it was already daylight I knew it would be hard for someone to see. Suddenly, Jade burst into a fit of coughing as she sucked in a lungful of smoke.
'Mitchell, we haven't got long. It's not going to work. What are we going to do?' cried Marcy.
'Yeah. This is useless,' I agreed, deflated, feeling very much like a rat.



Chapter 8

The dome was full of smoke and we'd been forced onto the balcony, but we were still breathing in the thick white gas. Below the branches were cracking with a feverish intensity. Crazy Christo was somewhere in the bushes searching for more branches to add to the blaze. No one knew what to say. The smoke was too thick to continue sending an SOS and our phones didn’t have reception – we were going to slowly suffocate.
'Maybe someone will see the smoke and come for us,' said Marcy.
I didn’t want to say that it would be too late. 'Yeah,' I agreed.
'What about that window?' cried Jade.
'What window?' we answered.
'Half way down the stairs there’s a window.'
'There is?'
'Yeah.'
We ran down the stairs through the thick smoke to the small window; it wasn’t very big, about half the size of a car window. But there was a latch on it and I flicked it and pushed the window out as far as I could. I could barely see the ocean through the smoke.
'Okay, we have to climb out and jump,' I shouted.
'What?' cried Marcy.
'There's no other choice. Roy, you go first.'
The smoke was so dense I could barely see him. 
'Roy, where are you?'
'Here, I’m going,' called Roy from beside me as he coughed and spat, climbed up and jumped out. I leaned out the window and saw that he'd just cleared the surrounding branches. But if we waited any longer the flames would be right in front of the window.
'Marcy, you’re next,' I yelled.
'What?'
'Yes, come on!'
I felt around, grabbed her and pushed her up. She reluctantly squeezed out of the window and jumped. I heard her squeal as she landed.
'Jade. Come on.'
My eyes were hurting from the smoke and I felt sick in the stomach. Jade climbed up, the branches on the other side were now on fire – she'd have to make it the jump of her life. She pushed off, but her foot slipped and she yelped as she landed.
Tears were streaming from my eyes now and I could barely see. But I still had to get out.
'Mitchell, come on!' shouted Roy.
'No, don’t, the flames are too big, you'll be burned alive!' howled Marcy.
It was too late, the branches around the window were all on fire and the flames were flickering into the window right in front of me. The window was now a fireplace and if I climbed up there I was sure to be cooked.
I ran back up the stairs and grabbed the blanket. I closed my eyes as I went down the stairs and felt along the wall for the window with my hands. It was so hot my face was getting red and I was roasting.
I threw the blanket over the flames and climbed up. I could see the fire eating away at the blanket – my idea had only bought me a few seconds.
'Mitchell! No!' screamed Marcy.
It was going to have to be a superman jump. I took a breath, but got only smoke and it felt like I was swallowing a razor blade. Through the haze I could just see the other three.
'Jump!' they yelled.
I shut my eyes and jumped as far as I could. Beneath me the flames were licking at my feet. I landed beside them and rolled into a ball along the ground. When I stood up Roy grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the beach. My eyes were watering so bad I couldn’t see anything.
'Argh,' yelled Christo from behind us.
Still blinded I allowed Roy to direct me down the beach, wondering where Jade and Marcy were. We ran down to the water’s edge.
'Here, wash your eyes,' said Roy.
Gratefully I scooped up some water and washed my eyes. The salt water stung a little bit, but the cool water was a relief on my dry eyes.
'Where are Jade and Marcy?' I asked when I could finally see again.
'Don’t know,' said Roy. 'They ran off the other way.'
Looking back at the lighthouse it was now covered in smoke. The girls were nowhere to be seen and neither was Christo.
'HELP!' screamed Marcy from the other side of the dune.
Jade burst over the dunes running towards us, but she was alone. She ran to us, holding her arm tightly to her chest.
'He has her,' she yelled as she got close to us.
'What?' I muttered.
'We were running, she tripped, and then he grabbed her. There was nothing I could do,' cried Jade.
On the grassy dune I saw Christo dragging Marcy back to the lighthouse. She was screaming and trying to fight him, but he was much stronger than her.
'Are you okay?' I asked Jade.
'I think I broke my arm.'
I could see the tears in her eyes, but I knew she was worrying about other things at the moment.
'We have to do something,' she continued.
'Yeah,' I replied, wondering what we could do. He was a grown up. And not just a grown up, but a crazy grown up.
'Let’s get him,' said Roy, beginning to walk up the beach.
'Hang out,' I said.
'Why? We have to do something,' replied Roy. 'He could kill her or something.'
'Wait a second,' I said as I turned to look out at the ocean. I needed a moment to think.
'What are you doing? We have to get her!' said Roy forcefully.
I knew my dad always took a moment to think through things. I breathed out as I tried to think. Roy was right; the only thing we could do was go and confront him.
'Okay. Let’s go,' I said turning to him, but out of the corner of my eye I saw something. The brumby and his mate were trotting along the water’s edge towards us. 
'Hang on,' I said. 'I’ve got an idea.'
I let out a loud wolf-whistle. It was so loud Roy and Jade cursed as it hurt their eardrums. Further down the beach the stallion lifted its head.
'This way,' I said, commandingly.
I whistled again and ran towards the horses. Roy and Jade followed asking what I was doing. But I didn’t really know.
The stallion snorted as I approached.
'Hey, boy,' I said.
He swung his head; his huge eyes stared at me. He neighed slightly and rocked on his feet, ready to gallop away.
I whistled again and Roy cursed. 'Let us know when you're doing that.'
But Black Beauty stayed still.
'It's all right… tisk… tisk,' I said, softly as I patted him on his neck. He rubbed his nose on my shoulder affectionately. I knew he was looking for food and I figured that once he'd lived in a stable. Knowing that made me more comfortable with what I had planned.
'Mitchell, what are you doing?' questioned Jade.
'Roy, come here, give me a boost.'
'What?'
'Quick, hurry,' I replied, urgently. 'Do this!' I showed him how to make a cradle with his hands. He made one for me and I stepped into it and then onto the back of the stallion.
The stallion rocked a little as it felt my weight and I spoke to him gently. I was worried that he would buck me off.
'It’s okay,' I said softly.
'What are you doing?' asked Jade again.
'Wait here,' I said.
I grabbed the stallion’s mane so that he turned to face the lighthouse and kicked him gently in the flank. As if understanding what I had in mind he trotted up the beach and over the dune.
Beside the lighthouse Christo was holding Marcy. He had a glazed look and was yelling at her. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but I could see the fear in her eyes.
'Ha!' I yelled as I rode the stallion up to him. My heart was beating fast. I'd only ever ridden my horse bareback and the stallion was a different beast to my Pippa. Between my legs I could feel his power and it was nothing like sitting on the back of my mare. I rubbed his neck and kicked him in the ribs, urging him straight at Christo.
The stallion stopped for a moment.
'Come on!' I yelled and slapped him on the rump.
This was it. The stallion would either buck me off or do as I asked.
'Ha!' I yelled and the stallion leaped forward straight at Christo. He put his arms up and turned, running off to the lighthouse. 
I lent down. 'Give me your arm.'
Marcy was shaking with fear but she stood and raised her arm. I pulled her up behind me, just in time to see Christo returning with a flaming branch.
He howled his dingo wail and sprinted towards us.
'No,' I cried, imagining the stallion reacting in fear and bucking us off. I knew horses hated fire. But perhaps sensing his role in the rescue, he spun smoothly and galloped over the dune and down the beach to his mate. Behind us Christo yelled hysterically. But he couldn’t keep up with the stallion. We'd escaped.
'Thank you, boy,' I whispered as I rubbed his neck



Chapter 9

After we'd reunited with Roy and Jade we rode the horses back to the river. The mate was just as tame as the stallion and she was happy to have people on her back. As we arrived a police boat pulled up. We slid off the horses and were greeted by a police officer. 'Did you send the SOS signal from the lighthouse?' he demanded.
'Yes, sir,' I answered, relieved someone had seen it. I'd been wondering how we'd get across the river; we'd left everything in the lighthouse. The officer didn't seem very happy but when he saw Jade his expression changed; he obviously knew her.
'What’s going on, Jade?' he asked.
'Sergeant Jones, we were being chased by Cracking Crazy Christo, he was trying to suffocate us by burning the lighthouse down!' she answered.
'Slow down. Slow down,' said Sergeant Jones, reassuringly.
'It’s true!' added Marcy.
'Is everyone okay?'
'I think I broke my arm when we jumped out of the lighthouse,' answered Jade.
'How come you were in the lighthouse?' he asked.
'We came over here yesterday to camp, but then the horses destroyed our tents and we couldn’t get reception so we tried the lighthouse and then had to take shelter from the storm,' said Marcy.
Sergeant Jones was trying to comprehend everything, looking at the horses, Roy and me. He probably hadn't seen this much excitement for a long time.
I cleared my throat. 'It seems as though Crazy Christo was living in the lighthouse and this morning he locked us in and tried to smoke us out.' I pointed back at the lighthouse, and the column of smoke rising above it.
'And we had to jump out the window otherwise we would have died and that’s how I broke my arm. The fire was huge. We had to jump over it,' commented Jade.
The sergeant nodded his head. 'Well, get on the boat. I’ll take you back home.'
When we got back to the house Uncle Jim whisked Jade off to hospital and the sergeant went back to the island to find Crazy Christo. Auntie T cooked a big breakfast of bacon and eggs for us and we ate it all while we retold our tale.
It wasn’t very long before Sergeant Jones rang to say he'd arrested Crazy Christo. He'd also rescued our possessions from the lighthouse and he'd drop them around after he'd returned Christo to Firestone Ranch.
While we waited, the local television station came and interviewed us: we were big stars and everyone wanted to hear our story. Marcy spent an hour doing her hair and even put some make up on when she heard they were coming. It was a pity Jade couldn’t be there because she was still at the hospital. However, she came home for dinner and was in good spirits. We signed her arm cast in colorful pens and I drew a picture of her and Roy on the horse.
During dinner Sergeant Jones arrived with our surfboards and what was left of our stuff. Uncle Jim met him outside and we heard the two men talking about the lighthouse and the brumbies – the local council had caught them.
When Uncle Jim came back in and sat down I sensed Jade staring at him. She didn’t look in good spirits anymore.
'Dad, what are they going to do about the two horses?' she asked.
Uncle Jim stuck some meat into his mouth, eager to finish it before it got cold. 'Not sure honey,' he answered through the mouthful.
'Are they going to shoot them?' she asked.
'Well, they're wild horses and they damage the natural plants on the island. It’s best for the environment if they remove them.'
'By remove them, do you mean kill them?' asked Marcy.
Uncle Jim swallowed and looked at Marcy as if he was trying to remember who she was.
'Do you, Dad?' demanded Jade.
Uncle Jim shifted his gaze back to his daughter. A part of me understood what he was saying: wild horses weren’t native to Australia and thus they had a detrimental affect on the native plants and animals. In one aspect it was best to get rid of them and I knew from living on a farm that shooting them was the cheapest and easiest option. But a part of me felt as though I owed something to the two horses for what they'd done for us.
'Honey,' Uncle Jim frowned. 'It’s just the way it is.'
'It doesn’t have to be that way. They could just let them live,' glared Jade.  
Uncle Jim kept his eyes down at his plate and quickly began to finish the rest of his meal.
'Maybe we could keep them,' said Jade.
'Jade, be realistic,' murmured Auntie T.
'But!' Jade sniffed and then stabbed her fork into her meat. I saw a tear run down her nose and drop onto the tablecloth. Underneath the table I felt Marcy’s leg against mine.
'Mitchell, maybe they could stay with Pippa,' she said softly.
'Who's Pippa?' inquired Jade.
'My horse. We have three horses that we keep in some stables near our house.'
'And you could take Black Beauty and his mate?' asked Jade.
I thought about it; it cost money to stable horses. Dad was thinking about selling his stallion because of the expense. If only we still had the farm.
'Erm, I don’t think we could afford it,' I said.
'How much does it cost? It couldn’t be that much,' commented Jade.
'Jade! That’s enough,' said Auntie T.
The table was quiet as we all thought about Black Beauty and his mate. I knew they'd be shot for dog food and a part of me cursed my parents for being unable to afford the farm.
An idea popped to mind; I cleared my throat. 'Maybe I could ask a friend if he would look after them.'
Everybody at the table turned to me.
'I have a friend who has a farm and his family might take them,' I continued.
'Really?' exclaimed Jade.
'And then we could go and visit them too,' added Marcy, excitedly.
'When can you ask them?' asked Jade.
'I could ring them now.'
'Let’s do it!' cheered Jade. 'Do you have their number?'
'Yeah.'
Jade jumped off her seat and ran into the lounge to get the cordless phone. She came back in and held it out triumphantly to me.
Everyone at the table listened to the conversation: even Auntie T was careful not to make any noise when she started clearing the table. First I spoke to my friend and then I had to wait while he went and asked his dad if it would be okay. He came back to me with a few questions: his dad wanted to know how old I reckoned both horses were and if they were in good condition. I told him they were both in excellent condition and had no problems galloping, but I couldn’t really estimate how old they were. There was another long silence while my friend went and relayed the information back to his dad. I crossed my fingers. Finally, he came back and said that his dad had said yes. I thanked him and hung up.
'Fantastic!' Jade yelled in my ear and hugged me tight.
Uncle Jim, Auntie T and even Marcy were looking at me seriously, waiting for the full details.
'How are they going to get the horses?' asked Marcy.
'If they can hold them for a couple of days his dad will come and pick them up with his horse trailer.'
Uncle Jim suddenly stood up; he picked up the cordless phone off the table and walked into the lounge. The door slammed shut behind him. The silence descended upon the table as we all realized that it might be too late. Black Beauty and his mate might have already been killed. Nobody knew what to say. We looked at each other and I saw tears forming in Jade’s and Marcy’s eyes.
'Excuse me,' said Auntie T as she picked up some plates and went into the kitchen.
The longer we waited the more the tears in Jade’s eyes formed and eventually one ran down her face. She sniffed and wiped it away. Auntie T came back in and we jumped expectantly. She quietly took some more plates back into the kitchen.
Marcy slid her hand into mine and I squeezed it tightly – we'd done everything we could. We just had to hope we were in time to save the horses. I crossed my fingers and put them on the table. Slowly, clockwise around the table Marcy, Roy and Jade did the same – we looked at each other. Above the door the cuckoo clock clucked eight o’clock. No one had anything to say; we were all thinking about the horses. I was picturing them the way we'd seen them that morning, running through the ocean kicking up water.
'Right. See you, mate,' said Uncle Jim into the phone as he stepped through the door.
He leaned against the wall.
My heart sunk, I didn’t want to look at him. Marcy’s hand gripped mine; it was hot and sweaty. On the table our fingers were all crossed.
I forced myself to look at Uncle Jim – he was smiling!
'Yes!' howled Jade as she jumped up and went to hug her dad.
'They have agreed to release the horses,' announced Uncle Jim with a wide grin.
'Awesome!' we howled as we leaped off our chairs and hugged and high-fived each other.
Black Beauty and his mate were safe!
The next morning Uncle Jim took us to the bus station for the trip back to Horseshoe Bend. It was sad to say goodbye to Jade and we made a pact to go and visit Black Beauty on our next holiday. 
I sat down in my seat already planning our next adventure; I knew exactly where we would go; what we would do; and what we would see.
'Wait until you see the sunsets over the outback, they're amazing,' I told Marcy and Roy.
'I can’t wait,' replied Marcy as she squeezed my hand and rested her head on my shoulder.
The bus hissed and roared out of Cromer.

***



The Grub's next adventure, The Grub and The Golden Nugget, when the four go to visit Black Beauty, will be out soon. If you have any ideas for the adventure please follow my blog

In the meantime you can read other titles by Lock Pollard at www.lockpollard.com