The Secret of Sinbad's Cave

  Chapter 30

  Into Position

  After that note of warning, Nat couldn’t believe how much time slowed down. It seemed like all their words had dried up. Even Jack’s store of wisecracks and bad jokes was empty.

  They changed into their wetsuits, donned gumboots and climbed into their harnesses. Elijah and Barnaby went around obsessively checking that they were tight enough, that the double-backs were done, and that each piece of gear was fastened properly. Nat gave Riki a quick abseil lesson and she passed with flying colours. Everyone was ready, and grimly silent.

  ‘Calm before the storm,’ joked Barnaby. No-one laughed.

  Abraham started his truck. He was to be their look-out on the ground. Nat followed him around the house.

  ‘Abraham,’ she called.

  The old man turned and rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘You don’t need to worry,’ he said. ‘All you have to remember is to stop, look, and take everything in. If you give yourself that moment, you will know what to do.’

  Nat shook her head. ‘I don’t mean to be disrespectful – but how can you know that?’

  ‘Because I have known you for two whole weeks,’ said Abraham. ‘In that time I have seen a brilliant girl leaping about, trying to get people to notice her – when no-one could miss you. You’re a shooting star Nat.’ He lifted the pounamu from around his neck and held it up. It glinted green in the sunlight. ‘This taonga brings good luck and good judgement. Wear it next to your skin, and it will protect you.’

  Abraham put the greenstone over her head. Nat slipped it under her wetsuit and felt a zap of energy as the pounamu rested against her chest. She opened her mouth to say thank you but then closed it again. She had no words to express her gratitude.

  Abraham climbed into his truck. Pi was nestled in his shirt pocket. He honked the horn as he pulled out of the driveway and Nat thought she heard him call ‘Good luck.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she said to herself. ‘We might need it.’

  She returned to the others. Standing in their small circle, wearing all the kit they could and carrying even more in their bags, they looked like strange super-heroes.

  ‘Are we ready?’ asked Elijah.

  ‘How are we supposed to move in this outfit?’ asked Riki. ‘I feel like a stuffed penguin.’

  Nat giggled, and the giggle was infectious. Soon everyone was cracking up.

  ‘Stop!’ called Riki. ‘Otherwise I’ll have to pee!’ That was definitely a bad thing to say, because everyone laughed even more. Nat grinned at Riki. At least she’d managed to defuse the tension.

  Riki led the way around the back of the house to the reserve. ‘The first part is easy,’ she said. ‘There’s a bit of a path. After we get past our possum traps it’s pretty thick, so we’ll keep an eye out for the markers.’

  They’d been walking for a while when the path began to fade away and they ventured deeper and deeper into the dark bush. Soon the weather broke again. The raindrops were fat and heavy and they started to fall faster.

  ‘It’s funny being rained on in a wetsuit,’ said Riki.

  ‘Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?’ asked Barnaby.

  There wasn’t a chance to answer the question because all of a sudden, the ground shook in a series of sharp blasts.

  ‘What was that?’ asked Jack

  ‘Earthquake?’ said Elijah.

  They looked at each other in confusion.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Riki. ‘It sounded odd.’

  Jack poked at a tree, as if this was the cause of the disturbance. ‘What do we do if there’s another one?’ he said.

  ‘Stop, drop and roll!’ said Barnaby.

  Jack chuckled. ‘They don’t prepare you for earthquakes in the bush, do they?’

  ‘It was the first thing that came into my head,’ said Barnaby. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Let’s keep going,’ said Elijah.

  ‘What about aftershocks?’ asked Nat. ‘There’s never just one.’

  Elijah glared at her. ‘We can’t wait here, being scared about what might happen. We’ll deal with anything else when we come to it.’

  The path disappeared and they started to climb through supple-jack. The black snaky vines created a convoluted maze. Each time a creeper moved, it clanked against its companions and they twisted tighter. Jack and Elijah led the way through, following the markers.

  After an eternity of scrambling, Barnaby whistled.

  ‘Almost there,’ he called.

  ‘Good,’ muttered Nat. She stayed close behind Barnaby, holding down the vines he handed to her, trying to make sure none flicked back onto Riki.

  Looking up, Nat could see that the light ahead was stronger. She pushed on through the last of the tangle and stepped out into the heavy rain. They’d arrived at the edge of the cliff. It was a long way down.

  ‘Duck!’ called Barnaby.

  They all hit the ground.

  Riki crawled up next to Nat. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Tourists,’ said Nat.

  A scattering of people were milling about by the lagoon, cameras held high.

  ‘Can you see Abraham?’ asked Riki.

  ‘Not yet,’ said Nat. ‘It’s odd those people are standing there. They should have cleared out after the earthquake.’

  Beside them, Barnaby had coiled the abseil rope. He lowered it down. No-one noticed.

  ‘I’m going,’ he said.

  ‘Wait!’ hissed Riki. ‘Abraham said he’d signal us. Give him a couple more minutes.’

  Barnaby flicked his hair out of his eyes. ‘I’m saturated!’

  ‘It’ll be the same down there,’ said Elijah. ‘Deal with it – and wait.’

  Barnaby grunted, and turned to Jack. ‘Is this messing with your head?’ he asked.

  Jack shoved him. ‘Shut it.’

  Riki raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Jack hates heights,’ Nat whispered. ‘But he won’t let on how frightened he is.’

  Nat hadn’t found anything Barnaby was frightened of yet, but when she did, she’d be rubbing it in his face. Jack was pale, and although she had faith he’d execute his abseil perfectly, she felt sorry for him.

  Far below, a single figure emerged from the trees. He tipped his cap back and whistled, long and low.

  ‘That’s Abraham,’ said Riki. ‘It’s clear.’

  ‘Can you see any tourists?’ said Elijah. ‘Double check.’

  Nat scanned the path. ‘They’re gone.’

  Barnaby flicked the rope through his abseil gear in a split second. Thorough hands checked his helmet, harness, tied on his safety device, and he was off. He sailed over the edge and down the rope in a flash, and soon Nat heard his call from the bottom.

  ‘Rope free.’

  Nat heard Jack swearing under his breath as he stood up to follow. He didn’t look at anyone. His hands were shaking, and they fumbled while he loaded the rope. Nat knew better than to offer help, and she saw Elijah was watching too, both of them making sure he had a backup safety attached. Then Jack was away, and although his descent wasn’t as graceful as Barnaby’s, it was just as fast.

  The two figures joined Abraham, and Nat could see them stripping off their harnesses and loading them into Barnaby’s backpack. They’d just get in the way for the next section.

  ‘Who’s next?’ asked Elijah. ‘I’ll go last. Nat?’

  ‘Yep,’ she answered. ‘Then I can belay Riki.’

  Nat sorted the rope and checked over her gear. Then she leant back and transferred her weight into the harness. She shifted her feet onto the wall, then kicked off and sailed down. In four bounces her feet were on the ground.

  ‘Rope free,’ she called up to Riki.

  Barnaby was there as her bottom belay. ‘Nice work Nat,’ he said. She slid off her harness and handed it to him.

  ‘You too,’ she replied. ‘How’s Jack doing?’

  ‘He’ll be okay. You should have seen how much his hands were shaking when he landed.’

 
‘Where is he?’ she asked.

  ‘Went for a walk with Abraham. The old man reckons there’s something fishy about that quake.’

  ‘Fishy how?’

  Barnaby shrugged.

  ‘On belay?’ called Elijah from above them.

  Nat’s focus snapped back to Riki. ‘On belay!’ she confirmed. She held the rope in her hands, ready to pull tight to save Riki from falling if anything went wrong. Her friend wriggled over the edge and descended slowly, bobbing around on the wall. When she landed on the path she gasped.

  ‘Thank goodness!’ she said, wiping the rain from her face. ‘It really digs into your back!’

  ‘That’s why it’s best to go fast,’ said Barnaby, with his trademark grin.

  They retreated under the bush canopy to wait for Elijah. Nat watched how expertly he operated at the top of the cliff. He leapt out with confidence and then without warning, the ground started to shake again. Elijah was in mid-air. He slammed back into the crag.

  Suddenly rocks started falling. Under the trees, Nat, Riki and Barnaby gathered together as the tremors continued. Elijah pushed off the unstable rock face and hurled himself backwards. He flew down the rope at a frightening speed, but landed perfectly on the shaky ground and sprinted towards them.

  The four of them huddled together, arms and faces tucked in tight so if anything fell, their helmets and packs would take the impact. Abruptly, there was silence and everything was still.

  Nat spoke first. ‘Everyone okay?’ she asked. Each member of their group nodded.

  ‘That wasn’t part of the plan,’ said Riki.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Elijah. ‘Those rocks were scary. One of them just missed me.’

  ‘We have to find Jack and Abraham,’ said Barnaby.

  ‘You guys go,’ said Nat. ‘We’ll stay here and stash the gear.’

  Elijah undid his harness and followed Barnaby down the path. Nat stuffed Elijah’s kit into the pack with the rest of the equipment and they hid the bag under some king ferns.

  They didn’t have to wait long before the boys returned. Barnaby emerged at a sprint from the end of the path and started gesturing to them.

  ‘Hide!’ Barnaby called. ‘Now!’

  Nat slid under the ferns next to the bag, and Riki followed. Barnaby leapt in behind them and held one finger across his lips. His eyes were wild and urgent.

  ‘Where’s Elijah?’ whispered Nat.

  Barnaby slammed his hand across her mouth, shaking his head frantically. Nat pulled herself into the tiniest ball she could and lay perfectly still. The king ferns they were tucked beneath offered tiny peepholes out to the path. Soon Nat could see black boots stride past, the kind that army men wore. The soldier found the rope, yelled out, and a second man came running. When the first man turned, she saw something that made her heart begin to thump. Over his shoulder, he carried a machine gun.