We’re packed before sunrise. Mei goes with Felicity in her jeep; Felicity’s got a trailer with the tents in it and a Jet Ski. ‘Just for emergencies,’ she says when she catches me looking. It took Felicity a long time to convince Dev the bike could give us away and to leave it in the farm shed. I bet she doesn’t want a repeat of the day we roared off and lost them.
The sky hasn’t started to lighten much yet, but it’s dark blue rather than black. I find myself looking down every side road we pass, but I can’t see any rogue utes. I see a fox chasing a rabbit though. Man, do I know what that rabbit feels like. In one way, I feel safe with Dev and Felicity but in another way, I don’t. Why haven’t the police caught the ute guy yet? Why do we have to hide? I can’t help wondering what will happen if Dev and Felicity aren’t capable of protecting Mei and me.
Felicity drives into the park. It’s thick scrub and twisted mangroves with lots of dark places to hide. She ignores all the public camping areas and keeps going. The park is huge, maybe fifty kays long. Eventually Felicity stops in a remote part overhung with branches. It has no toilet block or anything.
‘Why have we stopped?’ I ask.
Felicity looks at me like she’s checking how much I can take. ‘This is where we’re staying.’
I look around. ‘But nothing’s here.’
‘That’s the plan.’ Felicity turns to the trailer and pulls out the tent bags.
‘No toilet?’ That’s Mei.
‘We’ll dig one,’ Felicity says and hauls out the shovel. Dev takes it and disappears behind some bushes.
I’m quiet as Mei and I help Felicity take more stuff out of the jeep: a camp stove, gas bottle, fold-up table, a few chairs, blow-up mattresses, huge water bottles. Guess no one will find us out here so Felicity was right. It could be fun out in the bush, like when I was a little kid and lived on the farm: Grandad and I used to camp in the scrub at Easter time.
Felicity pulls a tent out of its bag and I help her peg stakes through the loops and into the ground. We’re onto the third tent by the time Dev comes back. ‘I’ve left the shovel there for when you do your business.’
Mei colours up so I add, ‘You throw some dirt in afterwards.’
Felicity smiles. It’s like the pressure is off now that she has us in the park where she thinks it’s easier to keep us safe. She hands Mei the rubber mallet for banging the pegs in. Mei does a good job so I start pumping up the air mattresses instead.
‘When can we go down to the beach?’ I can hear breakers on rocks. I look up and see Felicity’s smile disappear.
‘Not yet, I’m afraid,’ she says. ‘We don’t want anyone to catch on we’re here. A fisherman might sail past and talk about what he saw in town.’
‘Will we ever?’
‘We’ll go down at night first. Then we’ll see how it goes.’
I glance at Dev. A muscle in his cheek tightens. So we might be camping in the bush but we’re still ‘contained’. I pump faster, imagining I’m filling up the mattress with my frustration. If only it was that easy to get rid of.
We finally get the campsite ready to live in. There’re two sleeping tents and a lean-to tent with the kitchen gear in it. I feel like an explorer I read about in school. All we need are camels and the scene would be set. At least there are lots of birds for Mei to sketch. She gets out her pencils and diary once the tents are up.
Felicity draws up rosters. We’ll share in the cooking, washing up, putting rubbish in a huge plastic bin she’s brought, and we’re responsible for cleaning up our sleeping tents.
‘We also have to keep a lookout at all times,’ Felicity says. ‘Report to me any vehicles you see. The public doesn’t usually come this far – it’s off the track. Sometimes hikers may walk around here, but tell me whatever you notice. And I’ll report it to the police. They’ll bring any supplies we may need, or help if there’s an emergency.’
I don’t ask what she means by that. Snakebite? We won’t be falling off any rocks into the sea, that’s for sure, if we never get to go to the beach. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it: being so close to the sea and not being able to enjoy it. It’s like there’s this invisible rope between me and the water. If I don’t get to swim or fish, I feel like I’m being strangled.
Then Felicity pulls out canasta cards. Dev brightens a bit. We teach Mei how to play, and we start the first of many tournaments. Sometimes we play individually and sometimes in pairs. I like that; usually Mei is my partner. We even gamble with our dish duty. Mei starts winning and Dev ends up with enough dish duty to keep him washing and drying for days.
That night we don’t have a campfire. ‘Fire season,’ Felicity says, ‘and besides, we don’t want to advertise we’re here, do we?’
I’m wondering how soon the excitement of being out here will be shadowed by that horrible feeling of being closed in.