going to ash island

8/14/2019 Going to Ash Island.

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James felt hungry. He could eat a dog. He’d been on the computer all afternoon playing

Maple Story. He was on a great quest and had finally entered the Prendergast Mansion.

He looked up to see that it was dark. He logged off, stood up stretched and rubbed his

tummy. He walked down the long corridor that connected his bedroom and his computer

room to the rest of the house. It was very quiet. He went down the stairs and through the

wide foyer and into the kitchen. The lights sensed him and came on. Where was

everyone? A note caught his eye attached to the refrigerator with a magnet he had made

in preschool. Surely Mum could throw it away now. So dumb! ‘Mum at the gym, Dad at

a meeting and Marley at violin’. Another night on my own sighed James. He opened the

freezer and stared in. Neat rows of quick meals, no cooking needed. Three minutes in the

microwave and he could have a tasty Rogan Josh or a pizza.

‘I’m starving,’ he said. ‘I think I’ll have both.’

He ripped off the cardboard boxes and stood over the two bins under the sink. Was

cardboard rubbish or could it be recycled? Whatever he thought as he dropped them in

the nearest one. While he waited for the ‘ding’ he clicked the remote for the large plasma

screen on the wall in the dining room. The Biggest Loser boomed out. He looked at the

huge bodies. He would go on that show when he was old enough. He was sick of kids

calling him ‘fatty’ and making pig noises at him. His Mum said he ate too much fast food

but it tasted so good. He pressed stop and opened the door sniffing a mix of curry, cheese

and tomato. Yum!

He licked the plate clean and placed it in the dishwasher. He inspected the freezer for

dessert. A Magnum or a Cornetto? He closed his eyes and reached in. He pealed off the

wrapping and sunk his teeth into the double chocolate. The sticky mess of paper fell to

Going to Ash Island. 1



the floor. He would get it later. He clicked to Foxtel. Girls wriggling their hips danced

across the screen. Dad watched this sometimes; he thought James was too young. Mum

doesn’t like these sorts of shows. He looked for a while and yawned loudly. He

remembered he hadn’t done his homework. Too bad. Boring. He walked back up the

stairs and along the dim hallway and into his bathroom. He had chosen the tiles himself.

Black and shiny everything, it looked like a place from a ‘galaxy far far away’. He’d

picked gold taps too. He waved his hand under to get the water to come on. As he

brushed his teeth he watched the spit slide from the bowl into a hidden drain that took it

away. Max, his best mate, thought it was so cool when he came for a sleepover and

wanted to play with it for hours. At his place he only had one bathroom and it was so old

fashioned. You turned the lights and the taps on with your hand. His family were poor,

‘povos’.

They became friends when they were both sitting on the seats at lunchtime with no one

to play with. They were not interested in sport and so got left out of most games. Max

looked really funny when he ran around, his face turning into a big red beetroot and he

puffed like an old steam train. They joined the computer club instead. Max liked to eat

too. James had plenty of money and bought Max burgers and fries on the way home after

school. James yawned again and fell into bed with his school pants still on. Mum would

never know if he pulled the covers up really high. He was too tired to change.




He awoke with a start. It was still night. What was that noise? He could hear the rumble

of voices in the corridor. Whispering and shushing from Mum, something was wrong.

‘It’s worse than I thought,’ said Dad. ‘Millions of dollars have just disappeared from the

bank. I don’t know what has gone wrong.’

‘Surely that is only in America. It can’t happen here in Australia. Can it?’ said Mum.

‘It has love. We could lose everything,’ Dad said trying to keep his voice down.

‘Not my house, you don’t mean that do you?’ said Mum sounding like she was going to

cry.

‘It hasn’t come to that yet but you have seen the houses in this street surrounded in

barbed wire and security guards coming and going making sure no one goes in?’ said

Dad softly.

James got out of bed and stood behind the door to listen better. He’d seen Robbie Anton

move out of his house. He thought they had moved to bigger one. The house on the

corner was all boarded up and the grass was growing up to the windows. Max scared him

by saying dead people were in there.

‘I’ll do my best to save it,’ said Dad hopefully. ‘Though if I lose my job and we can’t

pay, just because I work for the bank won’t help.’

‘You’ll get another job,’ said Mum.

‘I don’t think so,’ he said sounding very upset.

Mum started to cry.

‘What happens to people if they lose their house? Where did the Antons go? I tried to

ring Cheryl. Her mobile is disconnected,’ said Mum.




‘Come on love let’s go to bed. We will have to wait and see. We won’t say anything to

the kids yet,’ said Dad.

James heard on the news that a lot of money was going missing. He wondered if some

alien had come to earth and stolen it all. He listened to the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

say it was an ‘s-word-storm’. He’d been shocked to hear him swear but it was cool. He

could swear more often now even at school. If he got into trouble he could say the prime

minister does it!

He didn’t understand how a storm could make money disappear. On the way to school

tomorrow he would look more closely at the empty houses, maybe there were some clues.

This would be a quest. The houses in his street were like huge mansions!




James opened his eyes as his computer screen blinked. In coming mail, Max would meet

him on the corner in ten minutes. He was nearly dressed. His school pants were a bit

crushed. He’d only need a new shirt and clean socks. He raced into the kitchen grabbed a

box of ‘Breakfast on the Go’.

Mum and Dad were gone already and Marley was sitting at the table eating a carton of

low fat yoghurt one slow mouthful after another. She stopped eating a few weeks ago and

only agreed to start again if Mum bought her that yoghurt. Sisters were so stupid!

‘I want to go the long way today,’ James informed Max as they both munched their

breakfast. ‘I want to count how many houses are empty.’

‘Why do you want to do that?’ asked Max. ‘Sounds pretty dumb to me!’

‘Dad was whispering to Mum last night about money disappearing and people moving

out of their homes. Nobody knows where the people move. I want to look for clues.’

James said.

‘Why don’t you ask your Dad?’ said Max.

‘I can’t,’ said James, ‘he doesn’t want me to know. I was eavesdropping behind the

door.’

‘I told you why they were empty. You can’t live with dead people. They smell.’ Max

made a ghostly sound and widened his eyes in front of James’s face.

‘No, that’s not the reason,’ said James. ‘It is something to do with a storm of poo and it

came from America.’

‘I don’t understand how that could be right,’ said Max giving James a strange look.




They wandered up into the next street. They counted four houses with no sign that

anyone lived in them. The windows were dusty and the flowers and lawn dead and

brown. Large signs hung off the rolls of sharp wire that blocked the front gate.

‘ Keep out. Repossessed by the Commonwealth Bank. Trespassers will be prosecuted,’

James read stumbling over some of the words.

‘At least we know which bank!’ he laughed as he peered at number thirty two. It looked

spooky. Something moved at the top windows.

‘What does ‘repossessed’ mean?’ said Max.

“I don’t know,’ said James. ‘ We could do a ‘google search’ at lunch time.’

‘Boring,’ said Max. ‘I’ve just got to Ossyria. I want to stay ahead of you now. You’ll

never beat me.’ James didn’t want to upset Max by telling him he was already way past

there.

They wandered down the next street and counted six empty houses and seven in the cul-

de-sac behind their school. This was getting worse. The banks now had notices on most

of the houses in each street. Why didn’t they let people move in and look after them then

they wouldn’t look so creepy? James thought.




James was in trouble in Mr Smythe’s class. He hadn’t done his homework again. A note

would be sent home. Ryan Hobbs yelled out ‘He’s fingers are too fat to hold a pen sir.’

Everyone laughed. Max gave James a sad look. Ryan Hobbs played football and had a

big thick neck and didn’t even know how to read; he didn’t get teased about that! It just

wasn’t fair.

The principal Mrs Dutton knocked on the door. Chairs scrapped along the floor as the

class stood to say ‘good morning’.

‘Sit down, thank you children,’ she said. ‘After today you will be together with all the

other Year fives, we have cut back on teachers. Tighes Hill and Islington Schools have

closed and all the children will now come here. The Education Department has lost a lot

of money. Our school has some left so we can stay open. I have to ask that you all be on

your best behaviour with so many classes in one room and lots of new children arriving.

Thank you I know I can count on you.’

James put up his hand.

‘Is this because of the ‘s---storm’?’ he asked. The class exploded with shocked giggling.

‘James is swearing Miss,’ said Ryan Hobbs.

‘James see me at lunchtime in my office,’ said Mrs Dutton as she turned and walked out

the door.

‘Settle down everyone and open your book at page three,’ said Mr Smythe.

Max passed James a note. ‘Maybe this school will close too. Yes.’

James gulped down his two pies and a sausage roll at lunchtime, spilling sauce on his

shirt. He tried to rub it off but only smeared it more. He’d probably get into trouble for




that too. He dragged his feet along the hall to Mrs Dutton’s office. She was waiting for

him.

‘Come in James and sit down,’ she said. ‘That’s not like you to swear, what’s going on?’

‘It’s not swearing Miss. The Prime Minister said it. Something strange is going on and

that rude word storm has caused it. There are empty houses everywhere and my Dad

doesn’t want me to know about it,’ he rushed to let it all out.

‘It’s not something for you to worry about. Some people in the banks have taken more

money that they should and given too much money to other people to buy houses. When

they can’t pay, the bank takes back their home. Ask your father, he works in a bank,’ she

said. ‘So no more bad language. Now run along.’

James was worried. Banks losing money, schools not having enough and closing, empty

haunted houses it was very confusing. He burst into the computer room and sat down at

his terminal. He had to find out what that word ‘repossessed’ meant. It was as Mrs Dutton

said. ‘The bank took back a house when the people didn’t pay’.

There were lots of different sites to look at but most of the words were too hard to

understand. He remembered another time that Dad was worried. It had been about petrol.

It was costing a lot of money to fill up their two SUV’s. Dad said they might have to get

smaller cars. James felt embarrassed to think he would have to drive around in an Echo or

a Getz, how ‘povo’!

The government did something on the net. Dad looked at it every morning and now

petrol was cheap again. Grown ups seemed to like to worry. Maybe this storm was just

another thing they liked to talk about and get upset over. James thought he’d like to stay a

child for a bit longer.




Max was whooping and shouting.

‘I am beating you James, you won’t catch me now,’ he said jumping around in his seat

and looking really pleased with himself.

James logged in and set off on a new quest. He wanted to get to Crimsonwood Keep. It

had no storms in it he hoped.




James pressed the numbers into the security pad on the front door and pushed his way in.

He dropped his school bag on the kitchen bench. Mum was sitting at the dining room

table crying. Not again. It’s a wonder she has any tears left. A letter was in her hand.

‘What’s wrong Mum? What’s there to eat?’ said James.

‘Grandad is going to come and live with us for a little while,’ she said sniffing and

wiping her cheeks.

James’s grandfather had gone doolally, lost a horse from the top paddock and was found

wandering around in his pyjamas at the mall. James didn’t understand the first two things

but he knew you couldn’t go shopping in your pyjamas. How gay.

Grandad got taken to a home with lots of other old people. The doors were always kept

locked. Grandad wore a plastic thing on his wrist. When he tried to escape it set the alarm

off. The nurses came running and dragged him back inside. He was always in his

pyjamas now so he shouldn’t be walking down the street.

James didn’t like going to visit him. There were a lot of weird people. Some of them

were scary. One lady tried to get into the lift with him and started screaming when she

was stopped. Lots of people lay in beds on wheels and looked like they were dead with

dribble coming out of their mouths. They tried to reach out and touch him with their old

hands. They looked like claws. He sometimes had nightmares about them coming to get

him. Granddad didn’t like it either. He always asked if he could come home with James.

He said they hadn’t given him a bed and he had nowhere to sleep. He even said they tried

to poison him with little white tablets. Mum told Grandad crossly that they were only his

heart pills and he had to take them so he would get better.

‘Why does he have to come and live with us?’ asked James.




‘The government hasn’t got any more money for old people’s homes,’ she said. ‘They

are closing them down. I don’t know how we will cope with him.’

‘Well,’ said James. ‘We have good security here. We will have to lock him in and not

tell him the codes.’

‘Yes,’ said Mum. ‘I suppose you are right.’

Money seemed to be causing a lot of headaches. James really liked money. It bought

things that he loved like games. He was saving for a Wii, he only needed another fifty

dollars. Whoever invented money in the first place will have to come back now and

invent something else. Though inventing probably took a long time. James quickly

thought of an even better idea.

‘Why can’t the factory that makes the money just make more and give it to people for

their houses and for Granddad’s home?’ asked James hoping he had solved this problem.

‘I don’t think they can do that,’ said Mum. ‘Dad will know why.’

Dad came into the kitchen. He was home early too. This was strange but nice. James

hardly ever saw his Dad.

‘What will I know?’ he asked.

‘Why can’t they make lots and lots of money so the storm can take as much as it likes

and everything will be all right again,’ James looked hopefully at his dad.

‘It’s a really good idea pal, but that would cause inflation,’ Dad replied.

James would need to get back onto ‘google’. The only inflation he knew about was when

he blew up his bike tyres at the garage and the warning on the pump said ‘do not over

inflate’. Dad said that meant they would have too much air in them and blow up. James

did want to try it one day. He could imagine them getter bigger and bigger and maybe the




bike would float up into the sky like a balloon. He could ride around up there and scare

people flying along in an aeroplane. Keep peddling right through a black hole into space

and meet the real Luke Skywalker. Max would be so jealous. He couldn’t think how this

had anything to do with money. Another mystery!

Mum asked James to go to his room. She began to cry again. He started up the hall and

then crept back and hid behind the door. He balanced in between the light sensors to keep

them from coming on and giving him away.

‘What’s wrong love?’ said Dad.

Mum explained, in between loud crying, the news about Grandad.

‘It will be okay. Things are bad and going to get much worse. We will have to stick

together as a family,’ he said. ‘There are others worse off than us. I found out where the

Anton’s have gone. They are living in a caravan park, up by the beach. The council have

let people put tents and vans near the showers and toilets. There are about fifty families

living there.’

‘I can’t imagine Cheryl living like that. What would she do without a dishwasher and a

pool?’ sobbed Mum. ‘I don’t think I could do it.’




The next weekend they went to pick up Grandad and all his stuff. The home was chaotic

with people rushing around packing cars and trying to stop their grandparents wandering

off. Grandad was waiting by the front door with a big smile on his face. He looked really

happy. He was dressed in trousers and a shirt. He was wearing his slippers. His big toe

pocked through a hole in one of them. His teeth were in one hand and his hearing aid in

the other. Grandad ruined lots of hearing aids. He put them in the glass of water with his

teeth when he went to bed. They never worked after that.

Grandad climbed into the car and did up his seat belt.

‘So you have found me a bed at your house?’ he said. ‘I’ll be glad to see the back of this

place. They tried to drown me last night. They put me in this room with water pouring all

over me. They took all my clothes off.’

‘Now you know what it is like for your hearing aids,’ laughed Dad.

‘They gave you a shower,’ Mum smiled. ‘They wanted you nice and clean to come home

with us today.’

‘Oh,’ said Grandad and closed his eyes and was soon snoring loudly.

Marley groaned.

‘I won’t be able to bring my friends home any more with an old person roaming around

in his pyjamas. It is just so not cool,’ she said.

‘Well my friends cope seeing my sister the stick insect,’ said James pulling a face at her.

‘They think I have my own skeleton from the horror museum.’

‘Well it’s better than being fat. You are so gross,’ she sneered at him.

‘That’s enough,’ said Mum. ‘We will all have to try and be a bit more tolerant. We are

better off than a lot of families. Granddad will be sleeping in the guest room. He’ll have




everything he needs in there so you probably won’t see much of him. Though I hope both

of you will go and visit and keep him company.’

James and Marley both mouthed ‘Not’ in unison.

‘Can we stop at Macca’s?’ said James as he saw the yellow arches up ahead. ‘I’m

starving.’

Dad flicked the indicator and turned into the car park.

‘I could do with a large coffee too,’ said Mum. ‘What a morning we have had!’

James shook Grandad awake.

‘Where am I?’ he said looking anxious. ‘I need to get back. It will be morning tea. Today

they have my favourite pink finger buns. I like to lick the top off and give the rest to

Margie who only likes plain ones.’

‘I’m going to be sick,’ said Marley. ‘Don’t let him near my food.’

‘That won’t be hard,’ said James. ‘We’d need a microscope to find what you eat.’

Marley pulled a fat face at him puffing her cheeks out.

‘Cut it out you two,’ said Dad. ‘Now what would everyone like?’

‘I’ll have an extra skinny decaff cap with only one teaspoon of milk,’ said Marley.

James glared at her.

‘Why don’t you have an empty mug, you can drink air.’ He poked out his tongue.

‘I’ll have two egg and bacon muffins, three hash browns, a large coke and a super size

fries,’ said James.

‘I’ll have the same,’ said Grandad.

They sat at a table with a view of the children’s playground. They waited and waited. It

usually didn’t take this long. It was supposed to be fast food! Grandad encouraged James




and Marley to go and have a play with the other little children. They both raised their

eyes and sighed. Grandad then struggled to put his teeth in. They were covered with blue

bits of fluff from his pocket where he had them stored. He got them in and when he

opened his mouth they shot across the table and landed at Dad’s feet as he came with the

trays of food.

‘Sorry it took so long. They have cut back on staff. They are losing money. Families are

staying home to eat. Several stores have already closed,’ said Dad looking worried.

James felt sick. If Macca’s closed what would he do? He only liked their burgers. The

other brands just didn’t taste the same.

Grandad ate all his food without his teeth. He asked could he still have a finger bun.

Mum looked at him nervously as she wiped his mouth with a serviette.

‘I hope all that doesn’t upset his tummy. We had better go straight home and get him

settled.’

Mum had hidden giant nappies under a towel when she thought no one was looking.

They had Granddad’s name written on them in black texta. James thought it was funny.

He imagined Grandad turning back into a baby. He wondered if he had a dummy too. He

thought Mum might have to take him into the nappy change. He dragged Max in there

one day to have a look. The table folded up into the wall. James turned the catch that held

it up. Whoomp! It fell out nearly hitting Max on the head. There were special bins and

soap dispensers. James couldn’t work out how you used them. Dad might have to help lift

Grandad up. He’d have to remember to tell Max. Max loved things that were so weird.

On the way to school on Monday James and Max took a longer route. James wanted to

see how many other streets had been taken over by the banks. They’d stop by their local




Macca’s. James skipped breakfast. He was hungry. Nothing could have prepared him for

the sight. A huge barricade of razor wire encircled his regular eating-place. The

playground was deserted. There were no queues of cars in the drive through grabbing

‘brekkie to go’. Vehicles slammed on their brakes as they went to go in and couldn’t.

Horns blared and James heard lots of words he couldn’t repeat. Really bad words! There

was no delicious smell of hot fat wafting to greet him. The place was all closed up. He

wouldn’t be getting any fries today. A guard stood at the front entrance with a real gun on

his hip. Big ‘Keep Out’ signs were plastered across the arches. Hysterical kids sat in the

gutters.

‘But I want a hash brown,’ cried one small kid hurling himself on the ground and waving

his arms and legs in the air. ‘And I want it now.’

James needed answers. This was really serious. Houses were one thing but his favourite

food store; this was not on. He bravely put his hands in the air to show he didn’t have any

weapons. He walked slowly towards the guard and in his most polite voice asked,

‘What happened, did a very disgusting word storm hit?’ He didn’t think he had better

swear in front of a dude with a gun.

‘It’s the global financial crisis sonny. No one is eating here anymore. They have lost

money and can’t pay their staff,’ he said. ‘Most of the other stores will close too.’

James gasped. This is a food crisis who cares about money? Max looked like he was

about to cry. James’s tummy rumbled. They would have to be brave. They’d be forced to

eat at the school canteen’s Breakfast Club, porridge and bananas with all the ‘povos’.

The line was long and lots of kids they didn’t know were jostling and pushing as they

waited. He hadn’t realised just how many ‘povos’ there were. James listened to the




chatter all around him but listened hard when one of the boys said he was living up near

the beach in a caravan. The bank had taken his house. He said sadly that he had no

television and no computer. He slept in the same room as his sister. James imagined that

and felt really sorry for him.

‘That’s nothing,’ said James in a really loud voice. ‘All the Macca’s are closing.’

The whole canteen went silent and all the kids stood like statues.

‘A global financial crisis has hit and a smelly storm has taken all the money. We can’t

have any more burgers. A man with a gun will shoot you if you try to go and order

anything.’

‘You’re a fat liar,’ said Ryan Hobbs. ‘You’re probably only saying that because your

mother has put you on a diet.’ No one laughed.

Max said James was telling the truth. If they all went now they could see for themselves

and still be back in time for the first bell. James took the lead and a long line of children

followed him.

‘Where are you all off to?’ bellowed Mr Smythe.

‘No where,’ said Max.

‘What do you think you are all doing?’

‘Nothing,’ said James.

‘He’s on about that storm again Sir,’ said Ryan Hobbs. ‘He reckons it has hit Macca’s

now. What an idiot!’

James held up his hand to halt the crowd as they reached the sad scene. He pointed out

all the evidence. A few children started to cry.

‘What’s a global financial crisis?’ asked Chloe Forbes.




‘I don’t know,’ said James, ‘But if you come to club at lunchtime we can ‘google’ it.

They turned and trudged back the way they’d come. Chloe Forbes pointed to an empty

house in Parkway Avenue.

‘I used to live there,’ she said. ‘Now I live in a caravan next door to Samantha Anton.

My mother cries all the time. She misses her microwave and her gym has closed down.’

The ‘google’ search brought up hundreds of hits. James tried hard to make some sense of

what he was reading. Banks seemed to be the ‘bad guys’. It was really hard to

understand.

In America the empty houses got bulldozed so no one could live in them. Maybe Max

was right. At least that would bury all the bodies and make the smell go away. Then you

could build a new house for someone to live in. He couldn’t see anything like that

happening around here. He clicked, another image showing long lines of people waiting

to be given boxes of food. It went for kilometres around and around the town stopping

the traffic making everyone cross and shake their fists at each other. It was like the

canteen this morning. Why couldn’t their mothers go to the supermarket and buy what

they needed? Surely the stinko storm hadn’t hit them too.




James felt glad to be home again. Maybe he could forget about what was happening for a

while. He went around the back and climbed over the security fence. He didn’t want to

wrestle with Grandad like he did yesterday. Grandad had been waiting behind the door

ready to run out the minute he opened it. He only had his undies on. He was muttering

that he needed to go and see a man about a horse. Maybe that was the horse he lost.

James looked around the back garden. He wouldn’t be able to keep it here. There was no

grass for it to eat and if it tried to gallop it would fall in the pool.

Grandad could be really silly. James never knew what he was going to do next. He

sometimes took all his clothes off and went swimming. James cracked up as his mother

chased him around and around trying to pull something on to his funny body.

Marley got hysterical covered her eyes and raced off to her room slamming the door

hard. James found him one afternoon sitting in front of the computer, tapping the keys

and making clicking noises with his mouth. He was laughing to himself even though it

wasn’t turned on. James switched it on and he ran away looking really scared. Poor

Grandad there are so many things he doesn’t know about. He is frightened of the

microwave too and won’t eat anything that comes out of it. He said the food is still

cooking and bubbles in your tummy until it turns into lava and rushes out like a volcano.

James lay in bed that night going over all of the things that had happened. Round and

round the thoughts went in his head until he had a headache. No more Macca’s, how

could that be possible? Doesn’t Kevin Rudd know what that will do to kids? What will

they eat? He hardly slept at all. He had a bad dream that all he could find to snack on was

a carrot. Only a rabbit would be excited about that!




James’s mobile vibrated on his bedside table. It was Max. He had really awesome news.

We need to go straight to school, no more looking at stupid houses full of putrid bodies.

James dragged himself out of bed. He felt tired. This had better be good. He could do

with something to make him smile again.

It took him a long time to get out of the house. He’d be late. Every time he went to open

the door Grandad tried to race out. He had his pants on back to front and he was wearing

one of Marley’s hats. She would be furious. James had to outwit him. He pretended to be

going out the back door calling out a goodbye as he went. He then ducked around and

raced for the garage. He double clicked the remote for the door so it would only open a

little way. He quickly slid out. He made it, dusted off his pants and raced to the corner to

meet Max.

‘Tell me what’s happened, tell me,’ James said as he jumped up and down.

Max grinned until James could see right into his mouth. He was sucking something red

and all his teeth had turned pink. It must be something really good. Max’s face was

glowing.

They started running stopping for a few minutes to catch their breath and then going as

fast as they could. They saw their school. Lots of people were standing on the pavement;

teachers were wiping their eyes with tissues. More dangerous looking wire and more

signs and more tough men with shiny pistols stopping anyone from going in. The gates

had big padlocks hanging off them. Teachers looked sorry and hugged each other; the

school was completely closed up. Most of the children were running around in circles

shouting and screaming, ‘No more school, no more school, no more school forever’.

Only a couple of the nerdy types put on a sad face.




Mrs Dutton stood up on the back of Mr Smthye’s Ute.

‘Children, children can I have your attention for a moment. Now I know you will all be

very upset that our school has been forced to close,’ she yelled over the noise. It got

louder and no one could hear anything except a happy buzz. Max started to run around in

circles.

‘Not,’ cheered Max. ‘I think it’s great!’ He grabbed James’s arm and dragged him off.

‘Come on let’s not stay and listen. We’ve heard all we need to know. I told you it was

the best news. We can go to your place and play on the computer all day. We can spy on

your Grandad. I like him; he’s a crazy man. Maybe he’ll take his clothes off and run

around.’ James blushed. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Max about that. It was probably a

family secret.

They hurried back the way they’d come. They gave one last sad look as they passed

Macca’s but imagine never having to go to school again. This was the best information

James had heard for weeks. Forget about homework, science projects and sport, no one

teasing him and calling him names. He felt tingly inside. They could spend every day

playing computer games only stopping to eat or have a swim. Closed schools rule! The

swear word storm had done something good for a change. He punched the air and let out

a loud whoop.

James and Max rounded the corner onto the patio. He heard his father’s raised voice.

Mum was crying again. James was famished. The events of the day stopped him eating

and he was looking forward to opening the refrigerator. His mouth filled with saliva.

Dad didn’t sound happy. He was never home in daylight. It must be something bad.

James put his hand on Max’s arm to stop him so they could listen.




‘I’m sorry love we are going to have to move. I have hung on as long as I can. My job

has gone now and most of our money is lost. The bank has given us a week to get out,’ he

said as he paced up and down.

‘Where will we go?’ said Mum breaking into a new bout of crying. ‘I’m not going to the

caravan park. How humiliating to have Cheryl see me living like that!’

‘She lives like that,’ said Dad. ‘I’m sure she’ll understand. However, we are not going

there. We have been allocated a place on Ash Island.’

‘What sort of place?’ asked Mum brightening. ‘And where is Ash Island? Is it like the

Fiji Islands where we went for a lovely holiday last year?’

‘Not quite like that. It is about twenty kilometres north of here.’ said Dad. ‘There are

these places everywhere now. So many people have lost their jobs and their houses.

There’s Braye Park and Hollywood out at Jesmond. You get allocated one shed per

family.’

‘A shed,’ screeched Mum. ‘I’m not living in a shed.’

‘Well it is a bit better than a shed, it’s a container,’ Dad replied, patting Mum’s hand

trying to keep her calm. ‘What one of those steel boxes they have on ships?’ Mum

quizzed him. ‘They have no windows and great big doors that shut with a massive

handle. You need a crane to lift them. They are very heavy,’

‘Yes love one of those,’ Dad confirmed. ‘The ships have stopped taking stuff to China so

the council has got them for people to live in. We are lucky to get it. Some people have

missed out and are sleeping in cardboard boxes.’

James’s stomach felt like it had sunk to the floor. It would be terrific to not have to go to

school but to live in a metal box. This must be one of his nightmares again. He would




wake up soon and find it wasn’t true. Then how come Max was standing beside him and

there was Grandad trying to escape out the gate they had come through and left open?

As they came into the room Mum and Dad stopped talking. Mum sniffed and gave James

a weak smile.

‘Hello James. Hello Max. Did you have a nice day at school?’ she asked.

‘The best day of my life,’ blurted Max. ‘It’s closed down. We can’t ever go there again.

You get your head blown off by a man with a real gun and all your clothes get ripped to

pieces by pointy wire if you try to go in. They never want us to learn anything forever.’

‘That can’t be right,’ said Dad. ‘You boys are imagining things. I think you have been

playing too many computer games.’

‘No it is true,’ said James.

‘We will discuss it at dinner,’ Dad went on. ‘There is something your mother and I have

to talk to you about. Run along now. I’ll order pizza and call you when it comes.’

Max thought he had better go home. This wasn’t sounding like fun.

‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ he said to James. ‘I’ll bring my laptop. We can form a

guild. I can’t wait. See ya!’




James sat at the dining room table and waited for the food to be delivered. He asked for a

cheese crust Hawaiian. He heard his Dad on the telephone trying to put the order through.

There seemed to be a problem. Dad came back into the room.

‘A recorded message says ‘we are closed until further notice. Sorry for any

inconvenience.’

‘You’ll have to help me buddy. Go to the freezer and see what is in there. Then show me

how to use this microwave. We won’t tell your mother, she has enough to worry about,’

he said. My Dad is a really clever man but he doesn’t know anything about cooking.

James felt a bit churned up. He hoped he could eat. Maybe food might help take the

funny feeling in his belly away. What was going to happen?

They sat around the table. Mum dragged Marley to sit down. She slumped in her seat

and snarled. She wasn’t eating a disgusting thing with cheese on it. Dad sat at the top of

the table looking very serious. James thought it was quite nice to be eating together. They

only did it for birthdays or Christmas. He got lonely sometimes eating in his room or by

himself in front of telly.

‘We are going on a long holiday. Camping at a place called Ash Island,’ said Dad. ‘I am

not going to work for a while so it will be good to spend time together, fishing,

swimming and getting back to nature.’

‘We always go to five star hotels. I have a massage and get a full body tan,’ Marley said

crossly. ‘I don’t like nature, all those bugs. I’m not coming.’

‘You have to,’ Dad said. ‘The bank wants the house. We won’t be allowed to live here

anymore. If we don’t go by ourselves the police come and help us.’ He tried to smile as

he added.




‘I need you to pack one suitcase each. There is no electricity so nothing with a power

cord.’

Marley started to scream.

‘I need my hairdryer, my GHD, my television and my laptop.’

The food was getting cold. James and Grandad were the only ones eating.

‘I love camping,’ said Grandad. ‘When I was a boy we had the best adventures in the

bush, tracking animals, sleeping in caves, lighting fires and telling ghost stories around

them at night. Sometimes we really sacred each other.’

It was beginning to sound like it might be fun. Mum and Marley didn’t look like they

thought so but James loved ghost stories. Playing with matches had been banned after he

set fire to one of Mum’s magazines behind the sofa. Maybe now he’d be allowed to light

fires so they could sit by them and cook things.

‘One suitcase’ James looked worried, how could he possibly fit all he needed into it?

Most of what he tried to pack had to be plugged in to work so he’d taken them back out

and left them on the floor. He could hear Marley and Mum arguing. Marley said she was

going to tie herself to her bed. She wasn’t going anywhere that didn’t have a gym and a

mall.

The back of his closet was a lost universe he hadn’t visited for years. He found some

card games. He used to enjoy them especially when he won. He packed those. He found

his soccer ball. Maybe there would be other boys his age. They could play together. He

filled up the rest of the space with clothes. So he wouldn’t feel so sad leaving his

computer he played until bedtime trying to get to the end of Maple Story. Max came over




every day. He wanted to move to the island too. He was hoping his Dad would lose his

job.

‘I’m going to miss you James,’ he said going bright red in the face. ‘Maybe I’ll run

away. Where is it you are going?’

They found the island on ‘Google Earth’ and printed off a map so Max would know

where to run.

On the last day James watched Max walk down the street until he was a little speck. He

wondered would he ever see him again. Until the credit ran out on his mobile he could

call him up. Then he’d have to think of some other way to talk to him.

The car was packed. They were only taking one, as there was no money for petrol and

the ‘servos’ had all closed down. Dad siphoned some from Mum’s car. He hoped it was

enough to get them to the jetty where they’d get a boat to take them across to the island.

Marley sulked in the back seat with her ipod attached to her ears. Lucky for her it ran on

batteries. James said goodbye to his computer and tried hard not to cry.

They turned onto the highway. Mum wiped her eyes with a tissue. She was trying to be

brave. Grandad planned all the things they could do. He didn’t seem to care where he

lived. He’d even forgotten about finger buns.

They drove up and out of their street. Most of the houses were now abandoned and

fenced off. Security vans crawled up and down the roads with the lights on the roof

flashing. They drove through the shopping centre and past the bank where Dad used to

work. It was silent and deserted, the windows covered with sheets of wood. James

thought that was a good idea. It was too scary to look in. Marley let out a big howl when




they passed the gym. A truck was pulling up loaded with rolls of wire. The doors were

shut and there were no sounds of blaring ‘step music’.

The car started to cough and do kangaroo jumps and then came to a stop. Dad jiggled the

key. The engine coughed but refused to start. It had run out of petrol.

‘We will have to walk. Get out and load up with whatever you can carry,’ said Dad. He

locked the car and led the way over the road through a paddock and down to the water.

Pots and pans tied to Mum’s back clanked as they walked. She gulped back sobs as she

said she didn’t know how she was going to cook with them. There was no stove there.

A rowboat bobbed from its rope at the jetty. Marley started to whine.

‘I’m not getting into that stupid boat. Where is the engine? I don’t know how to row,’

she said crossly folding her arms over her chest.

‘Rowing is one of the first things we will all have to learn to do. From now on anywhere

we want to go will be in this boat. The island has no roads or bridges,’ Dad said firmly.

‘I’ll teach you,’ said Grandad. ‘Come on I’m sure I can remember how it’s done.’

The boat tipped as all the cases and boxes were piled in. Dad got in first and stood in the

middle. He grabbed onto hands and guided them to sit down. Grandad pushed James

along the seat. He showed him how to grip the oar and he took the other one.

‘Untie the rope,’ he called to Dad. ‘One, two, three pull James.’

The boat wobbled a bit more and went around in circles.

‘James pull with me,’ said Grandad. ‘Try again one, two, that’s it good boy. We are off.’

The river was very quiet. Birds flew up out of the bushes and ducks paddled along beside

them.




‘I’ll have to teach you how to catch one of them,’ laughed Grandad. ‘They are good to

eat.’

James didn’t think he could eat one. They looked so cute swimming around diving in

and sticking their bottoms up in the air.

‘I’m never eating anything so disgusting. There’ll be a shop?’ said Marley. ‘I have to

have my yoghurt.’

‘No shops,’ said Mum. ‘We have a book, one each with coupons that entitle us to basic

food like sugar, flour and tea. We’ll be eating home cooked meals.’

‘I’ll show you, I used to make a lovely spotted dick’ said Grandad pulling hard on the

oars. James nearly choked. Did Grandad really say that and what did it have to do with

food?

‘I remember eating that years ago with cold icecream melting over the top mmmmm!’

said Dad.

His face was burning and sweat poured down James’s back. His arms were starting to

ache.

‘Come on Marley, your turn,’ said Grandad.

‘Never,’ she kicked her foot at him. The boat rocked. Mum screamed and hung on

tightly.

‘You will be stuck on the island, you won’t be able to go anywhere if you don’t learn,’

Grandad said. ‘It’s fun isn’t it James?’

He went on. ‘This is only the beginning. You need to know about wind direction and the

tides to safely get about in the water. I learnt all that when I used to go fishing.’ He licked

his finger and stuck it up into the air. ‘Yes a nor’ easter, that’ll help keep us cool,’ he




said. They all looked at him. Sometimes he talked sense and other times well who knew

what he was talking about. Wind as far as James was concerned was part of storms.

James had quite enough of them for a while.

This was an adventure. James couldn’t imagine what their new life was going to be like.

No shops, no electricity, probably no fast food, no cars. This must be a night terror this

time, much worse than a bad dream. He’d surely wake up soon.

Dad stood up forgetting that he was in a boat. He swayed and nearly fell over the side.

‘Look we are nearly there. I can see the camp. Move over James it is time I learnt to use

an oar,’ he said pointing ahead.

The sun glinted off the roofs of several large rectangular buildings. Washing flapped

about on long rows of lines. Dogs and children shouting and waving ran around. Some

were diving into the water and squealing excitedly. It reminded James of the circus he

had been to in the local park when he was younger. It looked a bright and happy place.

Maybe he could wake up now. It was going to be all right.

People came running down to the jetty. Hands reached out to help pull the boat in and

unload all their belongings. Women rushed over and hugged Mum. She started crying

again. Grandad hobbled up the bank and sat down. He was tired after all his hard work.

‘Welcome to Ash Island,’ said Dave.

A group of boys rushed over to James and told him to follow. They would show him

around. None of them had shoes on and their faces and hands were dirty. Their clothes

were old and ripped. James felt a bit uncomfortable in his Nike shoes and his Ripcurl

shorts and shirt. He didn’t think he could remember all their names. They stopped at a big

mountain of rubbish. James could see old tyres, rolls of wire, sheets of tin, ropes and all




sorts of junk. Xavier told James that everything that got thrown away in their other life

was now useful.

‘Anytime you go walking and you find something you bring it back and put it here,’ he

said. ‘We make things out of all this stuff. We especially like old prams or things with

wheels. You get points for what you collect. A pram gets twenty points. At the end of

each month the points are added up and you get a treat if you have the most.’ James

mouth watered maybe he could get enough for a chocolate bar.

Liam tugged on James’s arm and raced him off with the others following.

‘This is the place we come to eat,’ he said showing James inside one of the containers.

“When it is time they hit that piece of steel and it clangs really loud. You can hear it all

over the island.’ Rows of tables and chairs were set up and along the outside walls fires

smoked with big pots bubbling over the flames.

‘Lunch is in those pots,’ said Liam. ‘All the parents take turns to cook. Boys our age

have to keep the firewood chopped.’ He pointed to a big pile of neatly stacked wood.

James didn’t think the lunch smelt very good but he looked forward to using a real axe.

He had better keep that a secret. Mum would be scared he would chop himself.




‘Come on,’ shouted Xavier. ‘We need to show him the ‘big drop’. The other kids started

to laugh. They ran along a track through some bush. A horrible smell got stronger and

stronger. Liam told James he might like to hold his nose or pick a leaf off a gum tree and

sniff the eucalyptus.

James looked to see a wooden hut with a door that had a gap top and bottom. It was like

the toilets at school and the smell was almost the same.

‘This is the ‘big drop’,’ smiled Liam. ‘Go on Marksey show him how it works.’

Marksey took a big lung full of air and held his nose. He struggled with his other hand to

pull his shorts down. He raced for the door flung it back and let it slam shut.

‘Silence everyone,’ yelled Xavier. All the boys put their hands to their ears and leant

toward the shed. It took a moment and then James heard the sound of something falling

and then a loud splash as it hit the bottom.

A noisy cheer went up as Marksey ran out gasping for air.

‘Marksey can always be relied on to produce a big one to show new kids,’ shouted

Xavier. ‘Three cheers for Marksey.’

‘When it fills up,’ explained Liam. ‘The dad’s have to dig another deep hole and move

the shed. We take all the dirt and build mud hills to slide down. We drag buckets of water

up from the river and make it really wet. You can go faster and faster. It’s the best fun.’

James head was spinning. He didn’t like getting dirty but maybe he could try it once.

Robbie shouted,

‘Let me show him the chooks. They are my favourites. The best time James is when

they have their babies. You come to see them one morning and all these heads pop out of

the mother’s feathers. You can take one and make it a pet if you want. I’ve got them




trained too. At night they line up one behind the other and wait for me to lift them up on

the perch. When it gets dark they go into a trance like someone hypnotised them. You can

help if you like?’

James had never seen a real chook. He thought they looked a bit scary with their pecking

beaks and claws. He could remember when Dad told him where eggs came from. He

hadn’t wanted to ever eat one again. Yuck!’

As they ran into the chook yard birds flew up into the air squawking and sending

feathers and dust everywhere. James coughed and wished he knew the spell to put them

into a trance! It smelt and he could see piles of poo everywhere. He gave up trying to stop

it sticking to his shoes. At least it was a bit better than the ‘drop’! He didn’t know how he

was ever going to go back there and use it. He felt sad as he thought of his lovely ‘Star

Wars’ bathroom at home. He’d have to share one toilet with so many people.

‘The best is when the chooks get their heads chopped off. They run around with blood

coming out,’ Liam grinned at James. ‘We don’t tell Robbie he gets too sad.’

‘Why do they do that? Isn’t that a bit cruel?’ asked James.

‘We eat them,’ said Liam. ‘In our other life we used to go to Henny Penny now we come

here. You’ll get used to it. Look out for the rooster. Here he comes!’

‘At least Henny Penny isn’t cruel to the chooks. They keep them in cages out the back

and wait for them to get really old and dead. Then they cook them,’ said James turning to

look to where Liam was pointing. A large bird was strutting toward them. He was nearly

as tall as James. He had a big red floppy thing on his head and large angry eyes. He had

monster claws and a long pointed beak. The hens all followed him. They didn’t seem

worried. Liam grabbed James’s hand and pulled him away just as the rooster leapt in the




air, spread his huge wings out and pecked the spot where they had been standing. A roar

went up from the other boys.

‘That was lucky. He nearly got you,’ laughed Robbie.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

‘Come on it’s lunchtime,’ said Robbie. ‘I’m starving!’

The boys raced through the alleyways in between the containers ducking under flapping

washing. They lined up in front of a big bowl of soapy water and took turns to wash their

hands. Liam showed James where to sit and how to wipe his hands on the back of his

shorts. James looked up and saw his family sitting at a far table. He waved and sat down.

All the grown ups sat at one table and the girls at another.

Bowls of food and a plate of chunky looking bread were passed along the table. Liam

warned him that anyone not eating had to go straight to bed. Food was never wasted now.

James looked down at the bowl of grey looking water. Lumps of fat floated on the top

and he could see lots of green things bobbing around. He thought ‘I might as well just go

straight to bed.’ Liam shovelled the food in and reached for more bread. James held his

nose and closed his eyes. He tasted a spoonful. If he imagined a Big Mac he could

probably swallow it.

‘You had better hurry up and eat that,’ said Robbie, ‘or someone else will.’

James scrapped the last of his lunch into his mouth. His teeth ached from chewing the

bread with all the bits of seeds in it. He only ever ate soft white bread cut into thin slices.

He saw his Dad coming over. He must have managed to eat his lunch.

‘Come on pal, you can go with your friends later. You need to come to our new home,

get unpacked and make your bed,’ he said.




‘See ya!’ said Xavier. ‘We’ll wait for you back here, there’s still heaps of things to show

you.’




Dad led the way. The doors of the container were wide open. Mum was busy, pulling

things out of bags and boxes, placing sheets and pillows on each bed. She had nearly

stopped crying. Marley lay curled up on a bed muttering about never eating again and she

wouldn’t be leaving this spot until they went back to their real home. Grandad was

snoozing and patting his tummy.

‘Your bed is right at the back James,’ said Mum.

James looked around. It was one long room with five beds pushed up against each wall.

There was a table and chairs in the middle and beside the front door a large fireplace. A

pile of wood was stacked up ready by the sidewall. A cat sat on the top of it licking her

paws and washing her face. James reached out to pat her.

‘Is this cat ours?’ he asked. ‘I have always wanted a pet. Someone will be home all day

and we aren’t going to be too busy.’

‘I think she belongs to everyone,’ said Dad. ‘But I’m sure you can feed her and carry her

around.’

‘You’ll have to help me keep the fire going at night. We need the smoke to stop the

mosquitoes. ‘Hexham Blues’, so big you can put a dog lead on them and take them for a

walk. Dave told me they can suck all the blood out of you in one night.’ Dad’s eyes got

as big as saucers and he looked nervous. James thought he might like one of those for a

pet too. He’d have to think of a way to stay awake and trap one.

It was very late before James had time to think about Max. So much had happened and

he was dying to tell him. His new friends dragged him all over the island showing him

the things they did each day. His name was added to the work roster. He’d join the boys

each morning to do chores. Some of them sounded so disgusting like collecting cow poo




and putting it on the vegetable garden. Washing dishes, sweeping and watching the

babies, so boring, once all the jobs were done they were free to do what they liked.

Everyone had been really nice and no one teased him.

He keyed in Max’s number. The lights flickered and the screen went blank. No signal.

‘How will I ever talk to Max again?’ wailed James shaking the phone.

‘You’ll have to get a homing pigeon,’ said Grandad.

Everyone looked at him.

‘He’s one pigeon short of a pie,’ Mum whispered.

‘What do you mean Grandad?’ asked James.

‘When I was in the war we used pigeons to carry messages for us. There were no

telephones. They can fly for miles and all they need is some wheat and a drink of water,’

he said proudly.

‘Where could I get one?’ said James.

‘They have nits and mess everywhere,’ said Mum. ‘You can’t keep one in the house.’

Grandad flapped his arms and cooed loudly. Mum gave a big sigh.

‘They build their nests under the jetty where the boat is tied up. You wait until the babies

have feathers and then you take one. Keep it close to you for two weeks and then it

always knows where home is. Max can get one too so you can talk to each other,’ said

Grandad. ‘You carry it with you everyday and if you are in trouble put a message on its

foot and let it go. It will fly back here and we can come and get you.’

‘I saw boxes and wire on the junk pile. Maybe you could help me build it a house?’

James looked at Grandad hopefully.




Grandad nodded and puffed up his chest. He knew how to build lots of things. He got a

bit tired sometimes but he could still give the instructions and hold onto things while they

got hammered. He looked forward to seeing the junk pile. He missed using tools and

tinkering with bits and pieces. At the home all they wanted him to do was watch

television all day.

‘Right, bedtime,’ said Mum. ‘I’m exhausted.’

James put his head on the pillow, snuggled the cat under the blanket and the next thing

he knew it was morning. He dreamt about a pigeon with a little leather helmet and a small

pair of goggles on its head bravely flying to Max’s house with an important message.




James pulled on the same shorts and shirt as he’d worn yesterday. He thought he would

leave his shoes off today, be like the other boys. There was no mention of a bath or

cleaning his teeth and he hadn’t seen anything that looked like a bathroom. He managed

to balance a lemon smelling leaf under his nose to use the toilet. Phew!

At breakfast he told the boys he was going to be busy today getting himself a pigeon.

‘Are you going to eat it?’ asked Liam licking his lips.

‘No,’ whispered James. ‘I’m going to train it so it can carry messages. Like in the war.

My mobile doesn’t work and I have to contact my friend Max.’

‘Wow!’ said Xavier his eyes lighting up. ‘Who told you about that?’

‘My Grandad, he is the expert,’ James said proudly.

‘We want one too,’ chanted the boys. Marksey yawned loudly.

‘I don’t need some pongy bird I’m going to build a plane and fly myself.’

‘Yeah sure,’ said Robbie. ‘He’s always got some mad idea. Last week he was going to

build a machine to wash the dishes. He broke three plates when it jiggled around so much

it fell over.’

‘It was a good try Marksey. All the mums were hoping it would work,’ said Xavier

kindly. ‘I’ll help you. I would like to fly too. When I was a little kid I used to put my

Superman cape on and jump off the garage roof. I broke my arm. I did fly a little way.’

James hurried around the paddock scooping up lumps of brown sticky stuff into a large

bucket. It smelt a bit like old grass. This was the first chore he had ever done in his life.

Trust it to be the foulest one. When the bucket was full he dragged it across to where his

Dad dug and pulled out weeds. Dad never went in the garden! The man in the green truck




came to James’s old house and mowed the lawn. Dad stood up and rubbed his back. His

face was all wet and muddy.

‘Bring it over here James. Dave has shown me how to spread it around the vegetables to

make them grow,’ he said. ‘They grow everything that we need to eat right here. It is

quite amazing!’

James looked. He didn’t recognise anything that looked like food. Dad reached over and

pulled a bunch of leaves off a tall plant. He opened it up. Inside was a golden yellow

thing.

‘This is what we are having for lunch today, corn,’ he said. ‘Here taste it.’

James took a small bite. A sweet juicy flavour filled his mouth. It was really yummy. He

had eaten disgusting lumpy porridge for breakfast. At least now he could look forward to

lunch.

James tipped the bucket out and his Dad helped him spread it around. He made several

trips until he could find no more. He liked looking at the cows. They had big brown eyes

and stood watching him as they chewed some hay licking their lips with a pink tongue.

They let him walk around and touch them. They weren’t scared of him. He liked the baby

ones. They looked funny when they put their faces under their mother and butted into her

wagging their tails as they drank the milk. He learnt quickly to stand well behind the big

cows. Sometimes they lifted their tails and brown stuff came spurting out. It went

everywhere!

‘I really like it here Dad,’ said James. ‘I was frightened when you first told us but there

was nothing to be afraid of.’




‘You are a good boy James and I think I will like it too once I get used to working

outside,’ he said. ‘You need to be gentle with Mum. She is finding it really hard. She’s

used to living in a nice house with all the mod cons. This is a bit rough for her.’




James finished his chore and raced back to find Grandad. They were going to build cages

to keep the pigeons in. The boys were already sorting through the pile throwing out

things that could be useful. After a lot of hammering and sawing they each had a box

with wire across the front and a perch for the bird to sit on. James hammered more

fingers than the nails. It hurt.

Grandad showed them how to bend the wire back to make a door and use a plastic bottle

with a hole in the lid to drip water for the bird to drink. James looked around. He wanted

to paint his and write his name on it so they wouldn’t get muddled up. He dug in the pile

until he found a half full tin of red paint. The others chose different colours and put the

cages in the sun to dry. It was the first thing he had ever built.

Clang! Clang! Lunchtime. James helped Grandad stand and walked slowly with him to

wash up. He didn’t seem to want to run away any more or do silly things. Maybe he liked

it here. James had paint all over his hands and clothes and everyone looked the same.

Dirty!

Grandad wanted to come on the pigeon hunt. The jetty was too far for him to walk.

Xavier raced off and returned with a large pram. Grandad looked a bit embarrassed but

sat down in it. He didn’t want to miss out on this trip. He’d tell the boys which birds to

take and how to handle them properly. The boys needed him.

James looked at the long platform stretching far into the water. It was low tide and a long

way to fall. He’d seen some older boys swinging under and then jumping into the waves

below. It looked like fun.

They parked Grandad in the middle beside the ladder that went over the side. James

climbed down and gazed up at all the nests hidden beneath. He could see the babies




opening their beaks and squeaking. Larger birds flew in and out putting food in the

gaping mouths. James tried not to look down. A nest was close by. He reached out and

grabbed a warm body. He tucked it into his shirt. His hand slipped. He screamed as he

waved it around trying to grab onto something. His other hand couldn’t hold and down he

went into the icy river. He trod water as fast as he could, keeping his chest above the

waves. He didn’t think his baby bird could swim. Xavier swam up beside him and pushed

him toward the ladder.

‘I got one Grandad,’ he said as he opened his wet shirt for him to peek in.

‘Well done James you were very brave,’ said Grandad. ‘It was touch and go there when I

heard you fall. Your mother would have my guts for garters if anything had happened to

you.’

The others came rushing to show off their new pets. The boxes would be dry by now.

James hung his red pigeon house on a hook high up above his bed. The cat showed a lot

of interest in what was inside and tried to squeeze her paw through the wire. The bird

flapped around nervously. James couldn’t believe he now had two pets and Mum hadn’t

said anything.

Every morning James cleaned out the box when the cat fell asleep in the sun. He refilled

the bottle with fresh water from a large tank that collected the rain. He picked the seed

tops of tall grasses that grew all along the bush tracks and watched as the bird pecked

them up. Grandad told him they did the same in the war. He wished he could go to the pet

shop and buy him those packets of proper bird food.

The boys spent a lot of time talking about names. Grandad said the ones in the war had

names like ‘Suzie the Magnificent’ and ‘Madeline the Mighty’. James wasn’t going to




call his after a girl! He finally decided on ‘Astro Andy’. He remembered how fast and

brave Astro Boy was and Andy is his chatroom name. A seriously cool name!

He found an old plastic lolly container. It would be just right to tie to Andy’s foot and

place a note inside.

The two weeks passed quickly. He was starting to forget about Maple Story. He was

busy learning so many new things He had got better at rowing. He and Liam had the job

of going up the river and collecting lumps of coal for the fire. They tested the wind just

like Grandad and watched the tide to keep safe. He had learnt how to set a crab trap with

a piece of chicken bone. He haul them up full of snapping creatures. He could pick the

crabs up from the back so the claws didn’t nip him. He carried them home in a bucket

and put them in the kerosene tin full of boiling water to cook. He watched amazed, as

they turned from muddy brown to red. They were so sweet and juicy to eat. He was

beginning to not even miss fries!

His feet become tough and hard so he never wore shoes and he had got used to washing

in the river after he had swung in on the big rope and let go above the deepest hole. He

only went home now to sleep and see Andy. He could never have believed being outside

was so much fun.




At last the day came for Andy’s big test. He had grown massive and was covered in grey

and brown shiny feathers and ‘Cooed’ very loudly. He stretched his wings and jumped

off his perch gliding down to the floor. He was big and strong.

At breakfast the boys jumped around with excitement. They ate their breakfast in record

time. Their birds were ready too. James chopped the wood as fast as he could. He loved

to see the axe slice neatly through the logs and split down the middle. He stacked it along

the wall of the kitchen, placed the axe back in its place in the toolshed and raced home to

get Andy. They decided to take the birds to the furthest end of the island. Grandad was to

stay at home with some seed and watch the sky for incoming birds. James put a note on

Andy’s foot saying ‘You are the best Grandad’.

James saw lots of things for the pile along the way. He’d come back later and get his

points up. He saw a shopping trolley and an old car lying covered in vines. They should

be worth something. He’d found out that the prize was a day off chores!

Xavier called out for them to stop. This was far enough.

‘Boxes on the ground, doors open and release,’ he called out.

James reached in and grasped Andy. He kissed him on his head, just for good luck, held

him up to the breeze and let go. Would he ever see him again?

‘Run,’ yelled Liam. ‘See if we can beat them back.’

James ran and ran. Grandad sat out near the fireplace with a handful of seed. James

collapsed panting next to him and looked up into the sky. A sparrow flew into a nearby

tree. A black bird dived into the river with a splash. A speck came closer and closer

leading a lot of other spots.




‘Come on Andy,’ cheered James. ‘You can do it.’

A flutter of wings, a puff of dust and Andy landed at James feet. He picked him up and

felt his heart pounding in his tiny chest.

‘It worked Grandad. It worked. Who needs a stupid mobile phone? Andy you are the

greatest pigeon ever.’ James was thrilled. He could hear the other boys all around the

camp shouting as their birds came in.

James handed Andy to Grandad.

‘Read the message, go on,’ he smiled.

Grandad untied the container and slowly studied it. A huge grin spread across his face.

‘I’m not just a silly old man after all,’ he said looking like he might cry. ‘Now you have

to get one for Max.’

The boys arrived with their birds safely back in their cages and patted Grandad on the

back.

‘How do they find their way home?’ asked Robbie.

‘I don’t really know,’ said Grandad. ‘It’s something to do with the magnetics of the

earth. We don’t need to know why. They have been finding their way around the world

for hundreds of years. You boys will be safe wherever you are. You know you can

always send them for help.’




James knew exactly what to do. He painted Max’s cage blue and wrote his name in big

letters. He climbed up under the jetty without falling and chose a brown and white bird.

He left two babies in the nest so the mother wouldn’t miss it. He now had to get the bird

to him. That would mean going back. James felt strange thinking about how the city

might look now all the people had left.

At dinner, as he struggled to chew vegetables and swallow warm milk fresh from the

cow, he asked Xavier to help him. Grandad couldn’t make it and if he told his Mum and

Dad they might try to stop him. It would have to be a secret. Xavier decided the best time

to go was at night. They’d have to blacken their faces, wear dark clothes and wait until

everyone was asleep. Robbie and Liam wanted to come too.

‘I want to see the city but I am a bit scared. We might get shot or put in gaol,’ he

whispered his eyes getting bigger and bigger.

‘We’ll go tomorrow night if the tides and the winds are right,’ said Xavier. ‘Get into bed

as normal and wait until everyone’s snoring. Meet at the jetty. Keep a cover on the bird

so he doesn’t ‘coo’ and give us away.’

‘After dinner we’ll go to the recycled clothes bin for the right gear,’ he added.

James was nervous but he really wanted to see Max. His Dad must still have his job.

James hoped so or how would he find him? He knew where the beach camp was but had

no idea about the other places.

The day dragged as he got through his chores. His turn to mind the babies had come.

Some of them smelt awful and had shiny stuff coming out of their noses. They put their

midget arms up for him to pick them up. He didn’t want any of that snot on his clothes.

He tried to remember some songs that Mum sang him when he was a baby. Something




about the wheels on a bus, they stopped and looked at him and jigged up and down. He

went on singing. He hoped nobody heard him. When the mums came to get them for

sleep time he breathed a sigh of relief. This was a girl’s job though he couldn’t imagine

Marley doing it. She had finally made some friends and left her bed. She now dressed in

black rags and sat out in the fields smoking and listening to one of the boys play his

guitar. How could he ever be related to her?

Grandad made a handle for Max’s cage.

‘It will make it easier to carry a long way,’ he said. ‘I wish I could come but I’m too old

now for such a dangerous mission.’

They met at the jetty and waited for Liam. It was hard to see each other. James went

back to the car in the bush and found some grease. He had got five points for it. He was

up to twelve. He needed eight more. They had smeared the goo all over their faces and

hands. The rest of their bodies were camouflaged in dark clothes.

Xavier watched the weather during the day and gave a final check on the wind. There

was a slight breeze blowing but it would be behind them helping to push them along.

They loaded the boat. James placed the bird under a blanket and slid it below the seat. He

would row first with Liam until they got tired. His heart raced. This was a really big quest

and he couldn’t wait to see Max.




They gently dipped the oars not wanting to make any noise. As they saw the camp

disappear they rowed faster and soon reached the jetty at Mayfield. They’d walk all the

way to the city. Robbie tied up the boat and James retrieved the cage. Grandad was right,

the handle made things so much easier.

It was completely dark, some clouds covered the moon and only a few stars were

twinkling. There were no streetlights and any houses closed up and blacked out. The rolls

of wire that now went for miles glinted. Landmarks and buildings helped them to find

their way. The old BHP site was like a graveyard as they walked past. Robbie pointed to

the bridge going into Maryville. It was very creepy as they walked up and over the other

side. Something could be waiting underneath to grab them.

No cars were on the streets and it was totally silent, like a ghost town. James hoped none

of them were floating around anywhere. They kept close together. Suddenly a headlight

flashed and came speeding toward them. They ducked down flat on the ground and hid

their faces. James peeped up to see a security van whiz past.

‘That was close,’ Xavier said as he stood up and checked it had gone.

‘Stick close to me and be ready to hit the dirt. They must still be patrolling.’

‘Move on boys.’

James put his ear close to the cage but couldn’t hear anything. The bird must have slept

through it. They took the path around the harbour, far from any roads. The water looked

like thick ink and all the boats had gone. It used to be filled with fishing launches and

rich people’s yachts and cruisers. The greedy storm must have past here too.

‘My Dad had a sailing boat. We had to sell it when he finished at his work,’ said Robbie.

‘He was really cut up.’




‘I don’t think I ever want to come back here to live. Ash Island rules,’ said Xavier. ‘The

best thing I like is no school.’

‘The best for me,’ said James, ‘is never being lonely. Everyday we do fun things

together and at last I’ve got cool pets.’

‘I like milking the cow,’ said Liam. ‘She always turns around and licks all the sweat of

my face. It feels nice but I wish we could make the milk cold it is a bit yuck. And

icecream would be so yum.’

‘My favourite,’ said Robbie.

‘Don’t tell us ‘chook boy’ we know. It’s a wonder you haven’t grown feathers and claws

you spend so much time with them,’ teased Xavier. Robbie laughed.

‘Yeah I really love them,’ he sighed. ‘I am collecting feathers and when I have enough

I’m going to make a cape and fly off the toolshed roof.’

‘One day we won’t be able to find you and Marksey, you’ll both be up there flying

around,’ chuckled James. It was good to have dreams. Some of his had come true since

they moved.

‘There’s Wickham Station so if we head up that street Max’s house will be close by,’ said

James. ‘What’s that smell?’

‘It’s smoke,’ said Xavier. ‘It’s coming from that empty shop there. Shhh. Let’s creep

closer and have a look.’

A small hole in the wall of the old building gave them a peephole.

‘I think it used to be the surf shop,’ said Liam softly.

They were shocked to see people in rags sitting around a fire. They were very skinny

and dirty. A baby was crying.




‘What have we here?’ A loud voice boomed behind the boys. James jumped nearly

dropping the cage.

They turned to see a man dressed like a homeless person and he smelt awful. His hand

shot out trying to grab the cage.

‘What’s in there? I’m after something to eat,’ he grumbled.

‘It’s nothing,’ said James trying to back away. The bird woke up and gave a loud ‘Coo

Coo’.

‘A plump juicy bird, I’ll be having that son.’

‘Run,’ screamed Xavier.

The boys took off at top speed not stopping until they could hear no more footsteps

behind them.

‘This is so hair raising,’ said Xavier. ‘Come on we need to do this and get home. I don’t

want to run into anymore creeps.’

‘I should have brought the rooster,’ said Robbie bravely. ‘That hobo wouldn’t have stood

a chance.’

‘It must be horrible to be hungry. I don’t like the food on the island much all those

vegetables but at least we have plenty to eat,’ James said.

James put Liam on his shoulders so he could read the next street sign. They must be

getting close. Liam began to sound it out.

‘N A T I O,’ he said slowly.

‘Let me look,’ said Xavier. ‘We’ll be here all night.’

‘I only started reading when my school closed and I’m starting to forget what the words

say. It’s not my fault,’ he whined.




‘It’s ok we just need to hurry before someone else scares us,’ said Xavier.

The sign read National Park Street. Max lived in a block of flats half way up. His flat

was on the second floor. James collected some pebbles to throw up at the window.

The building was in total darkness. James hoped he had the right one as he launched the

first pebble. Tink! Nothing. He threw another couple. Tink! Tink! The curtains pulled

back and a sleepy face looked out. The window flew open and Max’s leant out.

‘James is that you?’ he shouted.

‘Shhh, yes it’s me. Can you come down without waking up the whole street?’ James

hissed softly.

The sound of a door creaking open and then Max was beside them.

‘What have you got in the box and how did you get here?’ he asked.

James explained after introducing everyone. He held the box up so Max could see what a

beauty he had brought him. He gave Max quick instructions. Xavier was anxious to be

heading back.

‘I’m coming with you. There are no kids left around here. I have prayed that my dad

would get the sack and we’d move where you are. I’m so lonely. Gaming is no fun when

I have no one to beat,’ he said.

‘I’ll pack a bag and leave them a note. Wait for me.’ He tiptoed back up the stairs and

came back with his backpack over his shoulder. He had a packet of biscuits and a slab of

Coke. James swooned as Max shared them around. The first bite and the first sip, so

delicious! Max was the best!




James noticed lots of good stuff lying everywhere as they made their way back. He

gathered up as much as he could carry and put the rest into two old prams. Xavier wanted

the pump up tyres. They made carts that practically flew. Robbie and Marksey wouldn’t

be the only ones up in space.

‘You need to think of a name for your bird,’ said James. ‘Mine’s called ‘Astro Andy’.’

‘Mmm,’ said Max thinking hard. ‘I might call him ‘Supersonic Shane’ after Sonic and

Shane Warne.’

‘That’s a great name. I think it suits him. We haven’t tried him out yet but I’m sure he

will fly fast,’ said James.

Xavier stopped and sounded very serious.

‘We will have to hide Max. If the grown ups see him they will send him straight back

and we will be in lots of trouble.’

‘How will we do that?’ asked James. ‘The island is only small and people are around all

the time. I thought we could say he had come for a holiday.’

‘I don’t think they’d believe you. How would he have got there all on his own?’ said

Xavier.

‘My parents won’t miss me. My mother is sick of me around the house moaning about

being bored. They won’t bother coming to get me,’ said Max. ‘The only cool thing has

been rats. Now that all the people have gone they have moved in. Hundreds of them. My

Dad and I built these crossbows out of bits of pipe. We shoot real arrows and get heaps.

My Dad says I am a good hunter.’




‘Can you show me how to build a crossbow?’ asked Liam. ‘We could go hunting. I’m

sure I have heard a rat scuttling on the roof at night.’

‘That would be a possum and you are not allowed to shoot them,’ said Robbie.

‘We’ll have to ask your Grandad he’ll know what to do with Max,’ said Xavier.

‘Yes, you can trust him with a secret because you tell him something one day and by the

next he has forgotten,’ said James. ‘My Dad says he is one sandwich short of a picnic.’

They all stared at James. What did a picnic have to do with forgetting things?

They trudged along the deserted streets. James wanted to go and have a look at his old

house. Xavier said he’d be going alone they needed to return and get Max hidden. It

would be morning soon.

James suggested they take Max to the old car. It was well hidden and still had all its seats

in it. He could sleep in the boot and no one would find him. They reached the jetty and

loaded all the junk they had collected. They had some great stuff. The boat was very full

and sat low in the water. Xavier gave Liam a bucket to start bailing if any came in over

the side.

‘I didn’t know you could row James,’ said Max as James sat down and held onto an oar.

‘There’s lots of things I can do now,’ said James putting out his chest.

‘At our old school some losers used to tease him about being fat,’ said Max. James

punched him on the arm.

‘There’s no way they would now. I hardly recognised you.’

‘I have to warn you, the island is great but the food is all healthy. You don’t really want

to eat any of it but we have to,’ said James looking down to notice how flat his stomach

was.




The boat started to jump around. Xavier stood up and tested the wind. A strong gust

caught the side and pushed it off course. They had been warned over and over about the

dangers of the weather suddenly changing.

‘Two of you get on each oar and try to straighten her up,’ yelled Xavier. The wind

whipped his words away and they could hear the howl as it flung the treetops back and

forwards. The bottom of the boat was filling with water. Max screamed,

‘Sonic’s cage is getting wet, he’ll drown.’

‘Get the bucket,’ hollered Robbie.

‘We’ll have to get rid of the junk. Try to go close to the bank and we will throw it off.

We can come back for it later,’ said Xavier.

They struggled to control the oars. All of them pulled together and got near enough to

toss the junk off. The boat bobbed up higher and stopped filling up. The wind turned

lifted it up out of the water tossing the boys into the freezing brine. One of the oars broke

free and floated off. They clung to the capsized craft and held on tight. Xavier dived

down and came back up with a rope.

‘I’ll swim to shore and try to pull you all in,’ he gasped.

Max held the blue box up in the air desperate to keep it dry. The bird flapped about

inside ‘cooing’. Xavier’s head disappeared and then popped up again. He clambered up

the slippery bank and secured the rope to a tree. One by one they worked their way along

to safety. They looked back to see the boat thrashing around. Hopefully the rope would

hold it until morning.

They began the long walk home, wet and tired. Max couldn’t stop talking and jumping

around.




‘That was the most scary fun I’ve ever had. I nearly drowned. When the boat flipped it

was like one of those rides at the show. You know James like the big Ferris wheel. We

got thrown out. I’ve always wanted that to happen. Sonic has had his first adventure.

Xavier saved our lives. He’s a hero. Can I be one of your friends too?’

‘Shhh, Max,’ hissed Xavier. ‘We are nearly there someone will hear us. We need to get

to bed and then be up early and bring the boat back and find the missing oar before

anyone notices.’

James and Liam helped Max to his hiding place and crept back into their beds. James

couldn’t go to sleep. There was so much to think about.




In the morning as soon as Mum and Dad had gone to their chores and Marley had gone to

sit in a paddock James had a chance to talk to Grandad.

‘In the war Grandad if you wanted to hide what would you have done?’ he asked.

‘Let me think. It was a long time ago,’ Grandad rubbed his chin. ‘We dug underground

trenches but when I was a boy we built secret cubbies much harder to find. You dig a big

hole and then cover it with sheets of tin and put the dirt back over the top.’

‘I can always count on you Grandad,’ James said as he ran off to find the other boys.

They had work to do.

Xavier was beaming. A secret place underground, he could just imagine it.

‘Your Grandad is the best.’

They took turns at digging. Xavier made several trips back to the toolshed to get a

crowbar and a mattock. Some of the soil was hard and came away in big lumps. It took

three of them to lift the load.

‘Shh,’ said Xavier, ‘some one’s coming.’

They could hear rustling and the patter of feet.

‘It’s only Grandad,’ said James as he saw him sitting in a pram pushing himself along

with his feet.

‘I have looked everywhere for you. I wanted to see how the trench was coming along,’

he said.

Grandad peered in the hole.

‘You need some planks of wood to lay the tin on otherwise it might fall in and suffocate

you,’ he said.




‘Ahhhhhh, Ahhhhhh,’ Max gave out a blood curdling scream and ran off into the bush.

He came back and ran around and around holding his finger. Blood spurted out of the top

of it.

‘I’ve chopped the tip of my finger off. Heeelp! It seriously hurts,’ he cried out. Real

blood was all over the ground.

‘Put it in your mouth and bite it hard,’ said Grandad.

Max bit down hard and blood dripped out of the corners of his mouth. He looked like a

vampire.

‘It’s stopping,’ he mumbled and pulled his finger out to show everyone. It looked like a

dead ‘granny’ finger but the blood had stopped.

‘There’s broken glass in the dirt,’ said Liam. ‘The cavemen who used to live here must

have got drunk and smashed some bottles.’

‘Sure Liam, they didn’t even have glass in the olden days,’ said Robbie.

The lunch bell clanged. They laid some sheets over the hole and told Max to sit inside

promising to bring him something to eat. He looked a bit pale and shaky.

‘I’ll have a works burger, a scallop and a large fries,’ he said. ‘That sloppy stuff you

gave me for breakfast was gross.’

‘In your dreams,’ laughed the boys as they ran off.

The hiding place was finished as the sun started to set. Max wasn’t looking forward to

sleeping by himself again. There were lots of spinechilling noises in the bush and you

couldn’t see what was making them. At least he had ‘Supersonic Shane’. He asked James

could he leave his bird and if a monster came to get him he’d send Andy for help.




The seats from the car and an old door put up on bricks for a bed made Max’s hideout

comfy. Armfuls of grass made a soft place to lie in. The seed heads were eaten up by the

pigeons, they needed to eat a lot now they were so big. Some of them so tame they sat on

their shoulders as they walked about. Grandad showed them how to make a fire with a

proper chimney out of an oil drum and a piece of downpipe. Max didn’t want all his

blood sucked out by monster mossies, he had lost enough from his finger.

They covered the roof with branches and piles of dead leaves. When they stood back you

would never know it was there. If only they were really hiding from something

dangerous!

‘We could be a guild,’ said James, ‘and fight monsters together. We could run away and

hide and they would never find us.’

‘I haven’t seen any monsters James. I know what we can do,’ said Liam. ‘What do those

dopey teenagers love more than anything?’

‘Their dumb guitars and their cigarettes, they aren’t even real fags. They roll up bits of

leaves and grass. They are such noobs.’ James shouted out.

‘That’s what we’ll do,’ said Xavier. ‘Josh that one with the long coat he is a real psycho.

We’ll steal something from him. Then we’ll run off into the bush and hide out he’ll never

catch us.’

Max ran around in circles.

‘Can I do it first? I’ll be brave,’ he said.

After breakfast they searched the island until the twang of a guitar could be heard. They

crept into the bushes and looked across the field to where Marley and her friends were

sitting in a circle puffing on their phoney fags.




James and Max stood up and wandered over.

‘What are you little cretins doing around here?’ said Josh snarling at them. ‘Go on get

lost before I do something. I just feel like beating a small child. It is so boring on this

island.’ He stood up. His coat was on the grass where he had been sitting.

‘Nothing,’ replied Max his voice sounding a bit freaked.

James ducked around grabbed the coat and started running. Max took off, his knees

shaking under him. Josh looked shocked and then started yelling and calling to the others

to follow.

‘I’ll rip his head off,’ he screamed.

James ran as hard as he could. Josh was tearing off branches as he ran behind. James

went off in the wrong direction and then circled back to the hideout. He was amazed how

fast he could run. He slid a piece of the roof off and fell in. Reaching out he slid it back in

place and held his breath. Footsteps pounded along the track and then stopped.

‘He’s disappeared. Where did he go?’ James could hear Josh calling to the others.

‘He’s just gone, Poof! No sign of the loser.’

He waited for the roof to be flung off and for Josh’s big hands to grab him.

Nothing happened. Josh cursed and then began to walk away.

The roof slowly opened and the faces of his mates looked in. They climbed down

laughing and looking very pleased.

‘You should have seen it James,’ said Liam. ‘He stood right on top of you looking all

around. He couldn’t believe that you had completely gone no trace.’

Tormenting Josh and his friends was more terrifying than any monster. Josh was furious

that they seemed to vanish into thin air, one day with his precious guitar and another with




his fags. One minute he could hear them running through the bush and the next they were

nowhere to be seen. He told Marley to tell her retard brother that when he caught him he

would be dead meat.

The booty was slowly returned to the middle of the field. It had been a hoot but Josh was

really scary and Max was worried he might find him alone one night and goodness knows

what he’d do. Marley told James that Dougie, one of Josh’s mates, had a slingshot. He

threatened if James didn’t give himself up he would shoot Andy out of the air next time

he saw him flying past. James’s nightmares returned. They would have to pretend

something else was coming to get them. It probably wasn’t as much fun.




Large sheets of paper covered the dinner table as the boys sat down. Marksey was bent

over scribbling and drawing flying machines.

‘I’ve got it,’ he said. ‘I’m going to visit Smithy’s Kingdom. He is this unreal dude who

has an airport with lots of old planes lying around. He has his own government and

makes his own rules. My Dad used to work for the council. He showed me the place one

day. They were always trying to close him down and take his land back. Dad said he was

a ‘public nuisance’ I’m going to ask him if he could spare some real wings.’

‘Where is this place and how will you get there?’ asked Xavier. He didn’t think this

could be true. The government made all the rules. They sent all these families to this

island and were probably living in all the best houses themselves and their children

playing with the good toys left behind.

‘It’s not far from here, across the river on the other side of the island. I’ll need your

help,’ said Marksey. ‘Can I have one of those prams you brought back from the city? I

need to make a swing to get across the water and reach the Kingdom. It is too far to take

the boat and someone would probably want to know what we are doing and ground us.

This has gotta be kept quiet. It is really dangerous and someone could die.’ He pulled all

their heads into a ‘cone of silence’.

He only needed the seat of the pram; someone else could have the wheels. He attached

long lengths of rubber as ropes. It would have to be hauled up a tall tree and tied tight he

explained. He consulted his drawings and yelled orders to the others as to how it was to

be built. It had to have good bounce and launch them far enough to make it over the river.

They found some old bike helmets to put on their heads. James took the seat belt out of

the old car and attached it to the swing.




Josh and Dougie wandered passed just as they were putting the last ties on the ropes.

Josh glared at them. ‘Who’s this kid?’ He pointed at Max who stood his ground staring

back.

‘He’s a new kid. He came this morning by himself. His parents don’t want him

anymore,’ said James.

‘I can understand their feelings, another brat,’ sneered Josh.

‘What are you babies doing anyway?’ said Dougie

‘We’re not telling,’ said Liam bravely.

Josh grabbed Marksey and held him up off the ground.

‘I’m……. b…building something that flies,’ he stuttered.

Josh dropped him and sniggered.

‘Well that’s good because you’ll probably kill yourselves and save me the bother, come

on we’ll help and then we can watch you die,’ he said as he winked at Dougie.

They set off to the western side of the island through the dense grasses and shrubs. James

took Andy. Max had wanted to try out ‘Sonic Shane’ but he would fly back to the

hideout. That would be no use in an emergency.

It was lucky the older boys had come. The launcher was heavy and they’d need help

carrying the wings back. They’d have to swim them across the river holding on to them

for floatees. Marksey wasn’t sure how heavy they might be. Maybe they could use a long

stick and stand up like on a surfboard and push them. They must reach the other side in

one piece before he had to worry about getting back.




A tall tree with its roots right down into the river was chosen. It leant over toward the

other side. It had several branches up the trunk making it easy to climb. Josh volunteered

to go up high and tie the ropes.

‘The sooner I shoot one of you into space the better,’ he chuckled. Josh and Dougie must

be really bored or they were going to get their revenge now! James thought.

‘I’ll go first,’ said Marksey. He climbed aboard, snapped the clip on his helmet and

clicked his seat belt. The launcher was pulled back as far as the ropes would stretch.

‘Do a proper countdown,’ said Marksey. His voice shook a bit.

Ten, nine, eight, seven and they let go. They couldn’t hold it any longer it would pull

their arms off! Marksey shot up into the air, the seat tipped, righted itself and the ropes

came undone flinging him across the river and he disappeared.

‘Marksey are you all right?’ shouted James.

‘One gone,’ laughed Josh giving Dougie a ‘high five’.

Marksey’s helmet appeared at the top of a bush.

‘I made it,’ he yelled back. ‘Go and get a rope to pull the seat back so you can come on

over.’

Liam took off and returned with a long piece of rope. Marksey dragged the seat to the

edge of the river and attached the rope to it.

Josh wanted to have the next turn and then Dougie. Dougie screamed as the seat went

around and around and turned him upside down high up in the air. He spewed and the

mess flew into the water making a yellow slick that drifted away. He jumped off just

before the seat got caught on the top of a tree and stuck firm. They ran off leaving the

other boys behind.




‘Ohhhhh,’ groaned Max. ‘Wait for us.’

‘I’m going to swim it,’ said Liam. ‘I can hang onto the rope if we tie it to a tree. I want to

see the Kingdom. There might be knights and ‘quiddick’ games.’

James, Robbie and Max waited until he was on the far shore and plunged into the current

clinging tightly to the rope. They were getting good at doing this! Liam tied it to a tree on

the other side. The current pulled them but they hung on tightly.




One by one they dragged themselves up the slippery bank on the other side. They hurried

to catch up with the others or they’d miss all the fun. They could see them ahead over the

railway line climbing a tall wire fence. The tracks were all rusted and bent. The trains

must have stopped running too. They looked both ways just in case.

A big sign on the gate read ‘Private Air Strip. Enter at your own risk. By order King

Smithy’.

James checked Andy was safe. He sat happily on James’s head. They may need to send

him for help. Over the fence they went and crept to the nearest building ducking down

behind it. Not far away the others could be heard whispering.

James put his head up. A tall man dressed in a blue uniform with a row of medals across

his chest sat at a table under a pole. The pole had an aerial attached to it. He had

headphones on and was talking in a loud voice into a microphone.

‘Roger, Charlie over and out,’ he said.

Marksey had come out of hiding and was walking toward him.

‘Please sir, would you have a couple of wings from one of your planes that I could have

to build a flying machine?’ he said very politely. He pulled his plans out of his pocket

and went to spread them out on the table. He was one daredevil.

Liam raced over to join him, ‘And please sir are there any knights here to protect your

Kingdom?’

The man looked shocked.

‘How many of you are there?’ he said angrily. ‘Come on out all of you. Show your

faces.’




They stood up and slowly moved toward him. He didn’t look like he had any weapons.

James whispered to Andy.

‘Get ready for take off.’

‘Where the dickens have you all come from? I thought everyone had moved away and I

could have the place to myself at last,’ he said calming down.

‘We have come from Ash Island,’ said Josh. He was the biggest so probably wasn’t even

one bit scared. ‘We just want some wings and we’ll be on our way. Please.’

‘Who was that you were talking to?’ asked Dougie. ‘We didn’t think any telephones or

radios worked anymore.’

‘If you stick with the old things sonny they always work. It’s a crystal radio like they

used in the war,’ he said. ‘You build them out of scraps of this and that and they go

forever.’

James held out Andy.

‘Just like a homing pigeon,’ he said feeling very important. ‘My Grandad used them in

the war and taught us how to train one each and if you hurt us I’ll let him go to get help.’

‘Your Grandad is right on the ticket sonny,’ he smiled. ‘Those birds helped win the war.

Brave as any man. I won’t hurt you. I just got a bit of a surprise. Thought you might be

someone trying to take my land from me or a spy from the council.’

‘But aren’t you the boss of this Kingdom?’ said Robbie.

‘I am,’ said Smithey standing up tall and putting out his chest. ‘Fall in men, airport duty

coming up. Quick march, left, right, left, right.’

The boys giggled as they marched down a road swinging their arms and lifting their

knees. Ahead they could see a wind socket fluttering in the breeze and beyond that a




paddock full of aeroplanes. They were all old and dusty and had bits missing. Wings

drooped down to the ground making them look sad. Their flying days were over.

Marksey was running about like a mad person. So many wings surely he could have two

and get them to fly again.

‘Have a look around and see which two you would like son?’ said Smithey. ‘As you can

see I won’t be flying these again. But I still have one that I sit in and have a bit of a flap

about. Come on I’ll show you.’

They followed him up a hill made out of old car tyres. A plane sat on the top.

‘You boys can give me a push for take off,’ he said as he climbed in, put a leather flying

helmet on and pulled his goggles over his eyes.

‘Ready,’ he called out. ‘Echo. Charlie. Bravo.’

The boys moved to the back of the plane and gave it a big heave. It slid forward caught a

breeze under the wings and flew across the paddock landing in a pile of sand with a loud

whomp.

Marksey’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. He had to have one. Even to fly that far

would be enough. If he could have wild wind like the other night he’d go for miles. The

boat had nearly taken off.




Smithy pulled himself out of the plane and dusted himself off.

‘Come on we’ll see about these wings you want,’ he said letting them follow him

without having to march!

‘I used to do tricks in this one. I could take her up and do a loop-de-loop and fly upside

down.’ He stood in front of a plane with two sets of wings on top of each other.

‘You boys ever heard of a Tiger Moth?’

‘Dougie looped around getting over here and spewed everywhere. Did that ever happen

to you?’ asked Max.

‘Yes a few times, it was a bit messy if the wind was blowing the wrong way,’ he

chuckled.

James felt a bit sick. He hadn’t vomited since he was four and didn’t want to break his

record now.

‘We had better be getting back. We won’t hear the lunch bell from here,’ said Liam

rubbing his belly. ‘It’s not really a Kingdom is it? Just a big junkyard with some unreal

stuff. I don’t mean to be rude.’

‘That’s okay son, come and visit me again,’ said Smithey. ‘I’ll show you how to build

one of those radios.’

‘No thank you sir, we have pigeons. We wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings,’ James said

very softly, putting his hand over Andy’s ears.

Smithey helped them get the wings over the fence. They carried them carefully down to

the river; all held on with one hand on the rope and floated them across. Marksey had to

wave the plans in the air so they didn’t get wet. Andy fluttered on top of James’s head.




Dad stood in the middle of the track looking from side to side. He ran toward them. Max

ducked into the nearest bush to hide.

‘Where have you been? You’ve missed lunch. We were starting to worry,’ he said.

Liam groaned. He loved food even fruit!

‘We went to the Kingdom of Smithey and got some wings. Marksey is going to fly with

them,’ said James.

‘Isn’t that a bit dangerous?’ asked Dad.

‘Not really,’ said Marksey. ‘Smithey does it all the time even upside down until he

chucks.’

‘Well come on we kept you some food. I’m glad Josh and Dougie were with you they

would keep you out of trouble,’ he said heading off toward the dining hall.

Josh blushed and Dougie coughed loudly.

‘Remember when you couldn’t find us in the bush? We have an underground hideout.

I’ll show you if you like?’ said James.

Josh and Dougie had been a big help and everyone managed to come back alive. They

didn’t seem disappointed about that. Maybe they could be friends.




Marksey laid the plans out once more and called out what needed to be done.

‘Bring me the wheels from the pram, that old boogey board, another seat belt, lots of wire

and the wings,’ he said frowning over his drawings. ‘I think I’ll lie down to fly. That’s

how birds do it and they should know.’

They attached the board to the wheels pulling the wire tight and securing it around the

pram frame. The wings were more difficult. They kept flopping to the ground.

‘Go and get your Grandad James,’ said Marksey. ‘He’ll know what to do.’

James pushed Grandad along the track to where the plane laid waiting. Grandad rubbed

his chin and looked worried.

‘You need some of those rubber strips that were lying around,’ he finally said.

‘Oh no,’ said Marksey. ‘We used them on the launcher. There aren’t any more.’

‘We could go and get it out of the tree,’ Max piped up.

‘Is that you Max?’ said Grandad.

‘No it’s just a boy who looks like Max,’ said James quickly.

‘My names Scott,’ said Max. ‘I came here by myself, my parents sent me away. They

said I cost too much to feed. Kevin Rudd said it was all right for me to be here.’

Grandad looked puzzled.

‘I’m sure Max had a face like yours and the same colour hair,’ he said. ‘I forget most

things now so maybe I can’t really remember.’

‘Flying machines Grandad remember, one plane short of two wings,’ said James.

‘Come on we’ll go and get the rubber,’ said Marksey.

They looked up at the seat stuck in the tree. How would they ever get it out? Max

climbed up and jiggled the ropes about. The seat moved but stayed stuck.




‘All come up and if we pull the ropes tight and then let go it might spring back. Climb

up,’ said Max.

They balanced on the high branch and pulled and pulled until the ropes stretched as far

as they could.

‘On the count of three let go,’ Max sung out.

The seat shot forward and then catapulted up to the sky and began to fall to earth. The

boys stood still and watched with terror as it headed their way. None of them moved. The

seat gave a final shuddering sprong and landed behind them pulling the tree in the same

direction. The boys hung on.

‘How about that?’ said Max. ‘Seriously it looked like it was coming straight at us. This

island is dangerous. I’ve nearly died two times already!’

‘Run down and move the seat slowly toward the tree.’

Max held on tight as the tree jerked back to stand up again. He undid the ties and

climbed down.

‘I think,’ said Grandad. ‘If you attach a lever to the ropes one end and the other to the

wings and then when you move it up and down that will make the wings flap. You’ll

have to sit so you are high up. Isn’t that right Max?’

Max smiled at him.

The plane was ready. They carried it to the top of the slide mountain. The dad’s had just

dug a new ‘drop’ hole so it was way up in the sky. They pushed and tugged. Josh and

Dougie wandered along in time for lift off.

‘Someone will surely die this time,’ Josh nudged Dougie. ‘Only kidding guys.’




Marksey climbed aboard. A bit of a wind was behind him. One mighty push and up it

went. Marksey pumped furiously on the lever, the wings flapped up and down and he

glided down to the tops of the trees and out over the river. They couldn’t believe it. He

was flying. The plane seemed to stop and hover and then dropped like a stone into the

water. They ran like mad to the bank in time to see Marksey floating along and pumping

the air with his fist.

‘I did it,’ he whooped. ‘Who wants the next turn?’

A rope was thrown out and the plane pulled in. Josh had the next turn. He flew right

across the river and landed in the tall grass. His strong arms could work the lever faster

and faster. The pump up wheels gave a nice soft landing.

As James soared into the air he knew what it was like to be Andy. He looked down and

saw everyone below. He only had time for a quick look before the plane dropped into the

water.

They were pulling the plane into shore when Dad and Max’s father appeared out of the

bush.

‘James, James where are you? I need to ask you something important.’

Max froze on the spot.

‘Max is that you?’ said his dad.

‘There’s no Max here,’ piped up Grandad. ‘It’s a look alike called….. I forget.’

‘Oh Max, we have been so worried about you,’ he said as he hugged him. ‘Thank

goodness you are all right. What were you thinking?’

‘I just missed James too much. This is the best place. Can’t we come and live here?

Can’t you do something bad at your work so they will sack you?’ he spluttered.




‘We’ll talk about it later,’ he laughed. ‘I’m just so glad you are all right.’

‘Grown ups always say that and then the answer is no,’ sighed Max looking at James for

help.

‘Max’s father has brought some good news,’ said Dad. ‘Come and have your dinner and

we will tell everyone.’

‘We are going to live here forever, Macca’s is opening a store on the island and all the

money has been found hidden in a treasure chest on an alien planet and the stinko storm

had been captured by the Fantastic Four and all its powers have been taken away. That’s

it isn’t it?’ said James racing around his Dad.

‘Not quite pal,’ said Dad shaking his head. ‘No computer games for months and he can

still come up with a story like that. It’s amazing. They really are brainwashed. All this

fresh air hasn’t cured them.’




When everyone was seated and quiet James’s dad stood up and announced that it was all

over. The global financial crisis had come to an end. The government had got lots of

money to help people move back to their houses and to make jobs. The banks were going

to let everyone have a holiday from giving them money. They would be going home.

James’s mum started to cry. She mustn’t want to leave here either. The children were

silent. This was not welcome news. Schools would probably open again. Grown ups sure

had some funny ideas about holidays.

The boys looked at their plates and slowly started to eat.

‘We have two weeks to pack up and get back,’ said Dad. ‘I’m sure I speak for all of us,

this is the best news.’

‘Not,’ muttered Max.

‘Not,’ said Grandad wiping his eyes. ‘I’ll have to go back to that home again and be put

in front of a television all day.’

‘Max’s dad will go home tomorrow but he has agreed that Max can stay and come back

with us,’ said Dad.

Two weeks was a long time. They still had so much to do. They needed to go back and

see King Smithey. He wouldn’t be happy with the news either. They had canoes they

were going to build to get there. Marksey had the plans nearly finished. A list was made

so they wouldn’t forget to do anything. Everyone got a turn to put something on it.

They decided they would all sleep in the hideout and keep Max company. Max wanted

Marksey to teach him how to get a giant splash in the ‘drop’. It was such a cool trick.

He’d never be able to do it when he went home. It was now or never.




The hideout was fitted out with extra beds. Some nights they cooked their own dinner on

the fire. They raided the fish traps and pulled in some beauties. They gutted them and

threw the stinking mess at each other. They looked like real ghouls. It would be the best

look to go trick or treating.

They invited Josh and Dougie to come over. They brought some girls with them. They

sat on the beds and put their arms around them and looked like zombies. One of the girls

wanted to sit next to Xavier. He went all sloppy too. Marksey tried to talk about his latest

invention. They didn’t show any interest. Xavier didn’t even get excited. Girls spoiled

everything. It was better just boys. The girls didn’t think Andy was at all interesting.

They said he smelt.

James slept in his own bed that night. He wanted some thinking time. Maybe it would be

good to get home. It wasn’t going to be fun if girls were going to be hanging around. He

wondered why some boys changed from hating them to going all ‘oooh aaah’ over them.

It was quite gross. It was never going to happen to him.

James needed to build another cage to take the cat home. He couldn’t leave her here.

She would get lonely. It took him a few days to complete and he thought he would paint

it at home. Maybe he could go to a shop and chose a colour that would be good for a cat.

The boys had one last turn of the plane, one last sleep in the hideout and one last visit to

Smithey. They built the canoes out of old bits of tin. The holes were filled with melted

rubber from old thongs. It smelt really bad when it got hot but sealed up the holes tight.

They had one each and raced across the river. Liam won. James wanted to take his home,

he could paddle it in the pool.

‘Much better invention than the launcher Marksey!’ Robbie teased him.




Robbie was a bit sad. He was only allowed to take one chook home and he was having

trouble choosing. He would never have enough feathers to make a cape now. Marksey

was so lucky his dream had come true.

Smithey gave them each instructions for building a radio and they promised to keep in

touch. James tried to tell him about a mobile phone.

‘Those things rot your brain sonny; I’ll stick with my radio. Thanks anyway,’ he said.

Max offered to visit if the trains started running again.

‘Over and out men. Stand easy and dismissed,’ said Smithey as he saluted them and

waved goodbye. He placed his goggles and helmet onto Marksey’s head.

‘It’s been good to meet you. You are one ace pilot.’




Large motorboats arrived early one morning. Everyone would be going home together.

James only had his two cages to put on board. Andy would have to be caged for two

weeks to learn where his new home was. James’s clothes were old and dirty and he didn’t

know where his shoes had gone. He left them behind. He would have no use for them.

Grandad was very sad even though Mum had promised he could come and live with

them. He said,

‘It was the best camping holiday I have ever had.’

There was lots of girls hugging and kissing and promising to keep in touch. The boys

looked sadly at each other and climbed aboard.

‘Where’s Marksey?’ someone called out.

James went to look for him. He found him at the junk pile trying to carry as much stuff

as he could.

‘I just can’t leave all these great things. I need them for my next invention,’ he grumbled.

His dad told him to forget it; they could go to Bunnings, the store that has everything for

the handyman.

‘But this is all for free,’ he stamped his foot and walked down to the boat dragging the

lever and the rubber ropes from his plane.

The boys sat together at the back of the boat and watched as Ash Island got further and

further away. Some clouds drifted down and the mist rose off the river giving the island a

magical look like in a fantasy.

‘It is an unreal place,’ said James. ‘We could never have imagined it in our best dreams.’

‘Bye bye Ash Island’ they all said softly.




Buses met the boat and drove people home. James yelled out and pointed as they passed

his dad’s car. It had no wheels and all the windows were smashed.

Workmen were busy removing all the rolls of wire and people were cleaning up their

homes. They passed a Macca’s the lights were on and the golden arches sparkled.

‘I’m only going to Macca’s sometimes,’ said James. ‘I can run really fast now without

even getting puffed. I never want to be called ‘fat’ again.’

Mum patted him on the leg.

‘We are so proud of you. Not once did you complain. You got in, made the most of our

new home and I think you really enjoyed yourself,’ said Dad. ‘I did too. I’m never going

to work like I did before. I want to be home with my family more often.’

‘So boring,’ groaned Marley. ‘Don’t think I’m going to join in happy families. I’ve seen

enough of you to last me the rest of my life.’

They all laughed.

‘What’s so funny?’ she glared at them.

James gazed out the window of the bus. They passed his school. It would probably be

open again soon. The bus stopped outside Max’s house. He jumped off with Sonic’s cage

under his arm and waved at James.

‘See ya tomorrow,’ he said, turned and walked into his building.

As soon as the birds settled into their new homes they could swap them over and send

messages back and forth. It would be so cool. When Andy needed a holiday James

thought he might call on the mobile or send an email. He wondered if he’d remember

how.


going to ash island

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