In the damp, dim light of early morning I began to stir. Judging by Henry’s rooster that I could hear crowing back at the Farm, it was only about five o’clock. Charlie was out like a light – it takes more than a rooster to wake him up. But I couldn’t see Pete anywhere.
‘Pete?’ There was no answer. I stood up, looking all around. ‘Cooee!’ I called out, my voice echoing through the mountain air, setting off the kookaburras on their early morning laughing session. I waited for Pete’s reply but there was none, so I tried again. Still nothing.
‘What’s up?’ Charlie asked, sleepily.
‘I can’t find Pete,’ I replied, looking around for some sign of him, something to indicate he’d been there, but I couldn’t find anything.
Charlie and I searched the mountain top together, but there was no sign of Pete. Two gunshots rang out, echoing all around. Probably Henry shooting rabbits in the veggie garden, I thought.
I went to the edge of the cliff and looked down. It was the opposite side of the mountain to the Farm. Water was flowing over a rock ledge, through the mist and into the creek below – it was the waterfall that Pete and I had swum under. On the far side of the creek, there was something lying on the grass, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Probably a log that washed up, I thought.
Charlie and I headed back down the mountain track, looking for Pete at every turn. The rocks were slippery and, at times, I could only see a couple of yards in front because the mist was so thick. Following the track along the edge of the cliff, I kept looking down and almost lost my balance a couple of times. When the track stopped suddenly, I had to slide down onto the ledge below. As I waited for Charlie to catch up, I was getting impatient and more and more worried about Pete.
I went down another steep section, sliding on my bum most of the way, then followed the narrow track to the cave that we’d found on the way up. ‘Cooee!’ I called. There was a long echo but no reply. I went in a bit further, but it was too dark to see anything. When I came back out, I met up with Charlie who was looking over the ledge.
‘What’s that?’ he said, pointing at what looked like somebody lying on the grass next to the creek.
I took off again, following the track around the cliff and down through the forest of gum trees, jumping over the large branch that had fallen and just missed me the night before. I scrambled down the mountain as fast as I could, not always keeping to the winding track. I slid down the big rock face that we’d climbed up before, landing hard and very close to the edge of the cliff. My body was aching but I kept going. I left the track, pushing my way past lantana and blackberry bushes, jumping and sliding over rocks, taking the shortest possible route down to the creek. I splashed my way through the icy-cold water and then stopped.
In the early morning light, I could see the mop of brown hair that I knew so well. It was Pete. I think I’d known it up on the mountain – I just didn’t want to believe it. I knelt down and touched his cold, damp hair.
‘G’day mate, where have ya been?’
I fell back in fright as if I’d been pushed. ‘Jesus, you scared the living daylights out of me! You’re alive, you bastard!’
‘Sure am,’ Pete said, sitting up, stretching and yawning.
‘What are you doing all the way down here?’ I asked.
‘I needed t’ave a piss, but it was too dark to see where I was goin’. Got worried I might fall off the cliff like Billy did, so I crawled around on me hands an’ knees until I found a safe spot. There I was havin’ a piss, when I heard this terrible screechin’ – sounded like animals tryin’ to kill each other. When I saw the yellow eyes – real evil they were, just like me stepdad’s – I bolted. I fell over a few times, but apart from that, I didn’t stop until I reached the creek.’
‘You’re a lucky bugger, you know that?’ I said, putting my arm around him. I looked up at the mountain, watching as it broke through the mist. ‘I can’t believe we climbed all the way to the top. Look at the size of it!’
‘I thought ya were dead!’ Charlie called out, running towards us. There was a bright-yellow crescent of light rising up through the trees behind him.
‘The sun’s coming up!’ I shouted.
We ran back up the dirt track, past the charcoal pits, orchard and veggie garden, took a short cut through the flame trees to miss the cattle stop, and then crossed the track, running into the barn as fast as we could, even though we knew we were already late for milking duty.