The Secret of Sinbad's Cave

  Chapter 21

  Grounded

  At the end of the corridor, Nat and Kathleen stood between the statues and looked out into the fog.

  ‘How’s your arm?’ asked Nat.

  Kathleen managed a lop-sided shrug. ‘Hurts.’

  ‘Ready for the real world again?’

  ‘Not really.’

  Nat wasn’t sure if she was ready for the real world either. ‘Stick close to me. Real close. They’ll be looking for us, so it won’t be too long in the cold this time.’

  Two steps forward landed them deep in the pea-soup fog. They started yelling for help.

  ‘Dad!’ bellowed Kathleen. ‘We’re down here.’

  ‘Barnaby! Dad! Jack!’ called Nat.

  They paused, and listened to the echo of their voices float away on the dense cloud. Nat looked back to the statues. They had disappeared.

  ‘Try again,’ urged Nat.

  ‘Jack!’ screamed Kathleen. ‘Come save us! Dad! We’re here!’

  ‘That ought to do it.’ Nat grinned. Kathleen had been blessed with the most enormous lungs.

  Snatches of conversation drifted back to them.

  ‘I heard something – they’re down that way.’

  Nat rustled around in her jacket to keep warm.

  ‘You did it kiddo,’ she said. ‘We’re about to get rescued.’

  Kathleen nodded, and looked over her shoulder toward the cave. Nat understood how she was feeling.

  ‘Chin up,’ she said. ‘We’ll see them again, remember?’

  ‘I know,’ said Kathleen. ‘But I didn’t get the treasure to save my pony.’

  ‘Right now, let’s get home and get warm,’ said Nat.

  ‘Kathleen?’ This time it was Mike’s voice. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Hey Dad, my legs are okay! I hurt my arm, that’s all.’

  ‘Rope coming down!’ called Mr. Lima.

  Kathleen and Nat stood back and the coil landed neatly at their feet.

  ‘You first,’ said Nat. She looped the rope under her sister’s arms and tied a quick bowline, making sure to back it up. ‘Kathleen’s ready,’ she called. ‘Mind her arm – it’s in a sling.’

  With all the muscle on the end of the rope, Kathleen disappeared skyward in seconds. Nat could hear the cries of joy at the top of the cliff. The rope slithered back into view. Nat tied it around herself slowly. She couldn’t see anything of where they’d been, but just knowing the grotto of light existed made her reluctant to leave. Strange, she thought, that a place can settle in your heart after one visit.

  ‘Ready,’ she called. She flew up in the fog, like a great white elevator with Pi fluttering beside her. Although the cloud was still dense, she could have sworn the mighty statue flicked its tail once in farewell.

  When Nat appeared there was a cheer. Elijah and Barnaby, their feet braced in bushes of tussock, grinned at her. Behind them was Mr. Lima. Jack was wrapping Kathleen in a blanket. But then she saw her father. Mike hugged her without even bothering to untie the rope. He lifted her over to Kathleen and held them close. Nat suddenly understood how anxious he’d been.

  ‘Sorry Dad,’ she said.

  ‘It’s okay mate,’ he muttered, without lifting his head. ‘We’re all right now.’

  ‘In the nick of time,’ said Mr. Lima. ‘Not much light left.’

  ‘Yep,’ said Mike, and Nat watched the worry fade from his face. ‘Thank goodness for that. This is no place to be at night.’ He scooped Kathleen up in his arms. ‘Nice work on the sling Nat,’ he said, and carried Kathleen back to the truck. Mr. Lima followed, carrying the coiled ropes and extra blankets. He threw a final order over his shoulder.

  ‘Jack, Elijah, grab the rest of the gear would you?’

  The boys obeyed, leaving Nat and Barnaby alone in the fog.

  ‘Where did you go?’ asked Barnaby. ‘I fetched the others, we abseiled down – and you’d disappeared.’

  ‘We weren’t gone that long,’ protested Nat.

  ‘It’s been hours,’ said Barnaby. ‘We’d almost given up – your Dad was ready to call the cops, search and rescue, everyone he could think of.’

  ‘Hours?’ asked Nat. ‘Really?’

  Barnaby nodded, biting his lip. He did that when he was really worried. ‘The thing is,’ he said, ‘I went down first, and found these incredible statues – like nothing I’d seen before. They were of men – but they had wings, and one had an eagle’s head.’

  ‘And another had a tail?’ asked Nat.

  Barnaby’s eyes widened. ‘You saw them too – what were they guarding?’

  Nat cocked her head to the side. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘As soon as Mike and Dad landed beside me, the statues faded away – there was only a sheer rock face. We found an entrance and followed a passageway to a terrifying drop. Your Dad was right; no-one’s been there in years. When you were nowhere to be seen, we climbed back up and kept searching.’

  ‘We should get going,’ said Nat, taking a few steps up the hill.

  ‘Hold on,’ said Barnaby. ‘What about Kathleen’s sling? You may have fooled your Dad, but I’ve seen your first aid. It’s not that good.’

  She smiled. ‘Thanks a lot.’

  ‘Aren’t you going to tell me anything?’ said Barnaby.

  Nat shrugged. ‘Not today.’

  Barnaby put his hands on his hips and glared at her. ‘You’re a piece of work Splattercat. We’ve been scrambling over these hills for hours, getting frozen and terrified over whether you’re even alive, and clearly something amazing happened down there – and you won’t even share?’ Nat kept walking. Barnaby sighed. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘At least you’re okay.’

  He strode past, reached out one hand and shoved her over. Taken off guard, Nat rolled a few times before stopping, arms in one tussock, legs in another. She didn’t know whether to laugh, or race to catch up and tackle him too.

  ‘I’ll get you Barnaby Lima!’ she yelled.

  Barnaby laughed. ‘Come on,’ he yelled back. ‘You deserved it!’

  Nat climbed out of the tussock. She was beat. Pi reappeared and settled back into her pocket. The two families separated into their own vehicles, and Kathleen snuggled up to her sister as Mike picked the smoothest track home. They’d been driving for a few minutes when they passed a grove of trees Nat hadn’t taken much notice of before.

  ‘Dad,’ she said. ‘How old are those trees?’

  ‘The pukateas?’ he asked. ‘Really old. Lots of bush around here regenerated after fires, or the land being cleared. But pukateas don’t burn, and the settlers had no use for them. They let them be. I quite like them – don’t you?’

  ‘Very much,’ said Nat. She looked down at Kathleen to see what she thought, but her sister was already asleep.

  ‘Now listen up,’ said Mike, his eyes on the track ahead. ‘There’s been enough monkey business. This just tops it off. You’re all grounded. Tony’s kids too. Till the end of the holidays. No questions.’

  Nat folded her arms. She loved her Dad and knew he was trying to look after them, but there had to be a way around this. And if there wasn’t, she was going to make one.