CHAPTER THREE

The Stranger

‘Someone’s coming, Mama.’

Mary Richards looked up in surprise. Who could it be? Wiping her floury hands on her apron, she joined her daughter on the verandah. Hannah pointed to a cloud of dust in the distance as it slowly wended its way towards them.

‘It’s probably the new neighbours. I invited them to call when they’d settled in. Run down to the paddock like a good girl and tell Dad we’ve got visitors. Ask him to come up for a cuppa.’

As Mary watched, the cloud of dust gradually thinned enough to reveal a man on horseback. He pulled up at the gate, dismounted, tied the reins to a fence post and swaggered up to the bottom of the verandah steps.

‘G’day, missus,’ he said. ‘Scarfie’s my name. I’m lookin’ for a bloke called Jim Richards.’

Mary leaned over the rail and silently eyed the stranger standing below. He wasn’t one of their new neighbours after all. He was a dirty, scruffy-looking fellow with greasy hair, a straggly handlebar moustache and a vivid purple scar down one side of his face. I’m glad Jim’s not far away, she thought. I don’t much like the look of this Scarfie fellow.

‘I’m Mary Richards and Jim’s my husband. What do you want him for?’

‘I heard tell he’s a pretty good tracker.’

‘Why, yes … he is. Is someone lost?’

‘Nah … I want him to track a … kind of animal.’ He was climbing the steps now, and Mary took a pace backwards.

‘What do you mean by a kind of animal?’ asked Mary suspiciously.

‘Well ...’ he said, looking around furtively and lowering his voice, ‘I heard there’s been sightings of an ape man in these parts. You know … one of them Yowies.’

Mary gasped. Her thoughts immediately turned to Howie. He was in danger!

‘Yeah, missus, I know. Scary creatures, they are.’

He had mistaken her reaction for fear. Mary knew she would have to be more careful or the man might suspect something.

She pulled herself together and laughed nervously. ‘Oh, you’ve been listening to old Tom Jackson, haven’t you? He claimed he saw a Yowie in the forest once. But you can’t take any notice of him … he’s been known to see pink elephants when he’s had too much grog. Besides, there’s no such thing as Yowies or ape men. They’re all nonsense— just made up stories!’

‘Oh no, they’re not,’ insisted the stranger, his hands on his hips. ‘There’s evidence of them everywhere—all over the world. They’ve got different names; that’s all … like Big Foot and the Abominable Snowman and the Yeti! Anyway,’ he claimed triumphantly, ‘I’ve seen one for meself. Matter of fact ...’ he paused dramatically and leaned closer to Mary, ‘I’ve seen a whole family of them! A male and a female; with a baby!’

Mary could barely hide her astonishment.

‘Where … whereabouts were they?’

‘Up in the Blue Mountains.’

Mary looked sceptical and placed her hands on her hips. ‘Well, if that’s the case, why are you looking for a Yowie here? Why aren’t you in the Blue Mountains, tracking down the ones you’ve seen … instead of coming all the way here on the strength of a rumour started by the local drunk. It doesn’t make sense.’

‘If you’ve ever been to the Blue Mountains, missus, you’ll know why,’ he replied indignantly. ‘It’s a real jungle up there. People get lost and they’re never found again. Very wild, treacherous country; impossible to track anything there.’

Mary turned gratefully at the sound of voices. It was Jim and Hannah. As quickly as she could, she explained the reason for the stranger’s presence.

Before she had even finished, he interrupted her. ‘See … if we caught a Yowie, you’d be famous, mister. You wouldn’t need to chop down trees to make a quid. Could get yourself a cushy little job as a police tracker.’ The man called Scarfie narrowed his eyes and added, ‘Tell you what … I’ll pay you ten shillings a day, as well as a bonus of twenty pounds if we catch one. So … what do you say to that?’

‘Well,’ said Jim Richards, in his slow, thoughtful manner, ‘I’d say it was a complete waste of money on your part. Anyway, if you did happen to find one, I’m curious to know what you’d do with it. Kill it, or what?’

‘Kill it? No way, mate—not if I could help it. There’s more money to be had from capturing these things alive. People pay big money to come and look at them. There’s a bloke in Sydney who collects all kinds of freaky animals and people, and he shows them at carnivals and such. So many queer things, you’d never believe it—like a six-legged sheep and this all-white kangaroo that they call an albino. And have you heard about the famous tattooed lady? She’s got every inch of her body covered in tattoos … that’s what they reckon, anyway …’ Scarfie rolled his eyes suggestively. ‘There’s even a bearded lady … and the elephant man, who’s so ugly, he has to wear a sack over his head!’ The man grinned, exposing his rotten teeth. ‘Why, it gives you such a good laugh to see things like that.’

Mary and Jim looked at each other in dismay. The thought of the dreadful fate that could befall Howie if he somehow fell into this man’s clutches was just too much to bear.

Hannah burst into tears. ‘Well, I think you’re a horrible man! I hope you never, ever catch a Yowie or anything else in your whole life!’ she cried, running into the house.

Jim Richards was oddly calm. His wife noticed that he had a rather curious expression on his face—one that usually meant he was making an effort to control his temper.

After a moment, he turned to the stranger and shrugged. ‘Fine. If you’ve got money to throw away, I’ll help you do it,’ he said lightly. ‘But I’m a busy man. If you’re so set on this wild goose chase then let’s start the day after tomorrow. I’m only willing to give you two days of my time on this pointless exercise. But even two days should be enough to convince you that there’s no such thing as a Yowie in the Goonoo.’

The stranger nodded and took his leave. ‘Right-o,’ he said. ‘See ya Tuesday, then.’

The couple watched as the evil-looking Scarfie mounted his horse and rode away, eventually disappearing from sight.

Mary turned to her husband, a worried look on her face. ‘What on earth are you up to, Jim? You’re surely not going to help him catch Howie!’

Jim put his arms around her and kissed her gently. ‘Of course not. But I thought it would be better if I was the one doing the tracking … not someone else! This way, I can make sure that Howie is safe. We’ll get Hannah to warn him tomorrow to stay hidden until this Scarfie fellow has left the district. She can take Howie some food and water so he can lie low until we give him the all-clear.’ Jim gave his wife a final hug before entering the house. ‘I’d better go and let Hannah know the plan. I hate seeing her so upset.’