Nina stepped onto the verandah and cocked her head. The rain had stopped. Strange, to no longer hear its steady drum on the roof. She’d flown home from Moree with clearing skies and a light spirit, having shown the police and her astonished parents the taped interview – incontrovertible evidence of Dad’s innocence. The sound of Ric and Sophie bickering came through the kitchen window, and she moved closer to listen.
‘I told you,’ said Sophie. ‘I’m going to live here with Nina. I like her old bedroom. It’s got pony curtains.’
‘What would your mother say?’ said Ric. ‘She wanted you to live with me, not a stranger.’
Sophie’s voice swelled with indignation. ‘Nina’s not a stranger. She’s my friend, and anyway, Mum wouldn’t care.’ A chair squeaked inside and the little girl came running out. ‘Nina, I’m so glad you’re back. I have to talk to you.’ Sophie’s voice was high and urgent. ‘It’s important, a matter of life and death.’
‘Well,’ said Nina, ‘in that case, I’m all ears.’
Sophie took her hand. ‘Come into the kitchen. I want Dad to hear this too.’
Finally Sophie had them all seated at the table. She took a deep breath, fixed Nina with her big brown eyes and began. ‘You said my geese couldn’t stay here because they didn’t have parents to teach them to migrate, right?’
Nina nodded. ‘In a few weeks, instinct will tell them to fly away, but they won’t know where to go. They’ll get lost, and if they don’t find permanent wetlands . . . well, they won’t survive.’
‘Where would their parents take them if they were still alive?’
‘I don’t know for sure,’ said Nina. ‘But I’ve done some research. A few magpie geese overwintered at the Currawinya lakes last year. There’s a good chance that’s where they’re from.’
Sophie frowned. Nina had never seen anybody think so hard. ‘How far away is it?’
‘About five hundred kilometres. On the Queensland border, along the Paroo River.’
‘Is it safe there?’ asked Sophie.
‘Absolutely. It’s a national park, a Ramsar wetland.’
‘What’s a Ramsar wetland?’
‘A breeding site of worldwide importance,’ she said. ‘Listed under the Ramsar Convention. Wetlands are the only habitat in the world to have an international convention to protect them.’ She looked across at Ric to make sure he heard her. ‘I hope Billabong may be a Ramsar site one day, if we can talk your father out of turning it into a cotton farm.’ Ric gave an enigmatic smile.
‘I want my geese to go to those lakes for winter,’ said Sophie.
‘Well, we could drive them there,’ said Nina, ‘but they’d never find their way back to the Bunyip next spring.’
‘Not drive them,’ said Sophie. ‘Fly them. Teach them to migrate.’
The idea cannoned into Nina’s brain. Why not? Why shouldn’t she fly them there? ‘Oh, Sophie,’ she said after a few moments, ‘that’s a wonderful idea. What made you think of it?’
‘There was this movie —’
‘Of course there was,’ Ric cut in.
‘With a girl just like me – a mother-goose girl. She teaches them to migrate by following a little plane.’
‘That’s just a movie, Soph,’ said Ric. ‘It’s not real.’
‘It might be a movie,’ said Nina. ‘But it’s based on real life. It’s been done with all sorts of birds.’ Nina’s head was spinning with excitement. Why hadn’t she thought of it? ‘Canada geese, trumpeter swans, northern bald ibis, Siberian and whooping cranes – even eagles and condors. As soon as the chicks hatch, they meet a human foster parent. Then for the next few months, the human stand-in spends almost every waking hour with the birds, feeding them, grooming them and playing with them – just exactly what Sophie’s done, right? Finally, the bond is so strong that the birds are willing to follow their parent anywhere. Even if that parent is sitting in a ultra-light aeroplane.’
‘Could we really do it?’ asked Sophie.
‘It’s never been done in Australia before. It would be a first, but I don’t see why not.’ Nina’s enthusiasm for the crazy plan was building by the second. ‘As long as your father agrees.’ She looked across at Ric’s bewildered face. ‘What do you say, Dad? Are you in?’
‘Please, Dad.’
‘Okay, I’m in,’ he said at last. Sophie squealed so hard that Jinx began to bark.
‘Right,’ said Nina. ‘Now all we need is the right aircraft.’
‘You’ve already got a plane,’ said Sophie.
Nina shook her head. ‘The Skyhawk’s too big, too noisy.’
‘My cousin’s got a trike, a two-seater. An Airborne Edge,’ said Ric. ‘Any good?’
‘That’d be perfect. Reckon you could get your hands on it?’
‘Leave it to me,’ he said. ‘Although I’ve a feeling I’ll regret saying that.’
Nina got up and stood behind his chair. ‘You won’t regret anything. I promise.’ Then she leaned over and kissed him until her toes curled. Sophie giggled and Jinx got jealous, trying to push in between them. When she came up for air, Ric looked like she felt – dazed with happiness.