Chapter 9

Up first to shower Saturday morning, Lucy ambles downstairs and sets the table for breakfast. By 6 o’clock, she’s ready for the day. Hope Shirley comes over, she thinks. Lucy gazes at the kitchen clock and sighs heavily. Now I have to try and wake up Dad: he just has to go out with Ted today. Anyway, he’s slept for over fourteen hours each day for the past two days. That’s way too much for him: lucky if he gets six hours a night when things are normal.

Walking into the bedroom, Lucy looks down at her sleeping father and sighs. Bending down and shaking his shoulder gently at first and then more firmly, Lucy sees one eye open slowly.

‘Wha’s up? House on fire?’

‘In a way,’ she says briskly. ‘We’ll be having a fire sale if you don’t get up Dad. Ted’s arriving in half an hour and you need to be out there working with the rest of them.’

Harry groans. ‘But I was having such a lovely dream,’ he says blinking hard.

‘A dream?’ Lucy repeats suddenly alert. ‘What was it? Tell me.’

Harry smiles sleepily, ‘I dreamed I was the captain of a fiery red ship. And the sea all around was a deep emerald green.’ He yawns. ‘And underneath the water, I could see mermaids and they were talking to me. But I couldn’t understand their words because they were speaking in Spanish.’ He stretches. ‘I wonder what they were saying?’

‘“Help!” more than likely,’ Shirley says propping herself up against the bedroom door.

Lucy gasps. ‘Where did you spring from, Shirley?’

‘Thought I’d wander over early, seeing I couldn’t sleep,’ she says. She looks over at the prone figure in the bed. ‘Getting up today, Harry? You need to lead the troops you know,’ she adds looking at him keenly. ‘Ted’s in the kitchen. Thought I’d catch a ride over with him, spend the day commiserating.’

‘What about?’ Harry asks, clambering out of bed half-heartedly.

‘Well, like you, the Bank has decided to call in our overdraft.’ Lucy signals furiously to Shirley who doesn’t notice.

Harry stops his walk towards the bathroom. ‘You? They can’t do that,’ he says only half awake.’ He takes another step towards the bathroom and stops suddenly. ‘What do you mean, “like you”?’

Too late, Shirley looks across at Lucy. ‘Oh, sorry, I thought you knew,’ she says belatedly.

Blearily, Harry turns to look at Shirley, trying to focus. ‘Are you saying that the bank manager, what’s-his-name, is calling in my overdraft too?’ She nods. ‘Why didn’t he tell me? Why did he tell you?’

Shirley and Lucy look at each other and shake their heads.

‘Mum didn’t want to worry you,’ Lucy replies quickly. ‘She’s left you a long note I was to give you. When you were really awake, she says. Anyway, you were exhausted: you needed your sleep. But she had to leave before she could tell you.’ Before you were awake, Lucy thinks to herself. ‘So now, we’re all trying to find a way to save the Folly.’

‘How strange,’ Harry says as he stumbles into the bathroom.

Together, they wait for Harry to come barrelling out yelling as the penny finally drops.

‘Lucy,’ Shirley says suddenly concerned, ‘does Harry realise you could lose the Folly?’

‘It doesn’t seem to be registering, does it?’ They continue to stare at the bathroom door, waiting for an explosion but nothing happens.

‘Well, maybe Ted can get through to him,’ Lucy sighs downcast. ‘I don’t really feel like breakfast any more anyway. I’d better ring Mum and tell her that Dad knows about the overdraft. Not that it seems to be making any difference.’

Together, they walk back to the kitchen. Gull and the boys are already hoeing into bacon and eggs. Shirley and Lucy quickly explain the situation to Ted, and he promises to “work on Harry”.

‘At least you know you don’t have Norah Sprogg’s “blight”,’ Ted says. ‘Now that the smaller crops are falling over as well.’

‘Norah Sprogg,’ Tom says vehemently. ‘She should be boiled in cold tea.’

Ted throws back his head and laughs just before everybody else but Tom bursts out laughing.

‘What?’ Tom says looking from one face to the other.

‘You’re funniest when you don’t mean to be,’ Shirley says wiping away tears.

‘Boiled in cold tea?’ Jake repeats. ‘I’d like to see that miracle.’

‘Well,’ Ted chuckles, ‘it’s good in a way. Now we’ve got everyone coming around to Harry’s side. I don’t mind telling you Norah Sprogg and her cronies split the farmers for a while there. But now I reckon, as we’re all in the same boat, we’ll be rowing in the same direction from now on. Oh, by the way,’ he says casually, ‘has Shirley told you the good news?’

‘No. What?’ Lucy asks. ‘I’m sure we’d like some.’

‘Well, those CWA Amazons, er, women, have rung up everyone within a hundred kilometre radius. And, as most of the other farmers have finished harvesting, they’ve got them coming in by the truckload with their swags, to work like Trojans. So, you’ll be cooking up a double storm today as they’ll be eating everyone out of house and home. Just as well you’ve got a big vegie patch.’

‘And I can use those new ideas of mine. You know, substituting damper for bread, and rice for flour,’ Jake smiles. ‘Hey, maybe I could even publish my own cookbook. I could call it, ‘Jake’s er, Joyous er …’

‘Jokes?’ Tom suggests airily. Automatically, Jake elbows him in the ribs.

‘Enough, you two,’ Lucy says quickly. ‘There’s work to be done. No plans for anything until after the hemp is in.’

Lucy looks over at Ted. ‘How much do you think can be saved?’ Just then, Harry walks in and sits down at the table, grabbing some toast and a boiled egg. He doesn’t seem to be listening: he’s so intent on keeping awake and eating.

‘Oh, probably more than we hoped, what with the scything,’ Ted says lightly. He puts his finger to his lips as he looks over at Harry. ‘Hurry up Harry. Jimmy’s picking the gang up soon. So, it’s just you and me.’ He gets up from the kitchen table. ‘And so off to work we go.’

‘Heigh ho,’ Harry says dolefully. Draining his cup, Harry takes another piece of toast and follows Ted out.

As soon as they’re gone, Lucy says, ‘Poor Dad. He looks so weary all the time. We just get in front with good news like the two extra Harvesters… ’

‘And get Mum out of the way,’ Tom continues. He glances at the shocked faces around him. ‘Er, get Mum away from her mysterious sleeping problem.’

Lucy shakes her head and smiles to herself. Brothers! Then she turns to Shirley. ‘I know Ted didn’t want to upset Dad … But how much of the crop can be saved, do you think?’ Lucy asks.

‘It may be more but at least two-thirds at this stage,’ Shirley replies quietly.

‘Two-thirds?’ Lucy gasps. ‘Is that all? For all that effort? And planning?’

‘Afraid so,’ she sighs. ‘And unfortunately, the hemp is only one of our many, many worries.’

‘What do you mean, Shirley?’ Jake asks.

‘Well, now, we’ve got to save the farms,’ Shirley answers.

‘Yeah, yours and ours,’ Jake sighs.

‘No,’ she says heavily. ‘The three farms along this road: yours, Jimmy’s and ours. We’ve all been given notice by the Bank now. Either pay up or get out.’

‘What is going on? This is mad,’ Gull says startled. ‘That bank manager needs to be hung, drawn and quartered, for his own good.’

The others laugh despite themselves: Gull looks so furious.

‘Why, Gull, how can you speak like that about my new boss?’

‘New boss?’ Lucy laughs. ‘I thought you were the boss at home. Ted always says so.’

‘And he’s right,’ she says winking, ‘but not at my new job.’

‘But you don’t work anywhere else,’ Jake frowns.

‘I will be as from tomorrow. I decided I needed a new challenge. And as I don’t need to help babysit Helen, I’ve got more time on my hands. For the last fortnight, I’ve been helping out at the Bank when I’m not over here. And, as from tomorrow, they’ve offered me a whole week. So, the bank manager is my new boss. Not that he’s ever there much. He seems to be either ringing in or out on farms.’

‘But why would he be visiting farmers?’

‘Well,’ Lucy says quietly, ‘he was out here recently, remember?’

In unison, the gang stops eating. Each of them can visualise the bank manager: Lucy pictures him arriving on the back of a vulture hurling a cloud of eviction notices onto the farms below. Tom sees himself in a white hat confronting Cyril Sprogg who’s wearing a black hat and grinning. Jake imagines squirting honey and maple syrup over Cyril to glue him to the spot. And Gull is busy riding Velvet, expertly lassoing the bank manager and tying him to a stake.

‘Wherever Cyril Sprogg goes, farmers get hurt,’ Jake says.‘And he was out at Jimmy’s place recently,’ Shirley adds.

‘But why are you working for the enemy?’ Lucy asks suddenly.

‘Well, for the money. And,’ she says slowly, ‘I want to know why the Bank’s in a rush to take our three properties. I’ve been wracking my brains over this. What is it that we have in common?’

‘Well,’ Jake says, ‘they’re all next door to each other.’

‘And they’re big,’ Tom adds.

‘But is it that simple?’ Shirley asks. ‘No,’ she says shaking her head, ‘I keep thinking there must be more to it.’

‘Is that all that’s bothering you?’ Gull asks.

‘No,’ Shirley says shaking her head. ‘It’s just that Getalong’s a community. And overnight, the Bank’s gone from being a big supportive part of the community to some sort of sinister presence.’

‘You know,’ Gull says, ‘I think you’re right, Shirley. I mean, from the day the bank manager came out here, things started going wrong. First,’ she says counting on her fingers, ‘a whole box of Useless’ puppies appears from nowhere and from no one. Secondly, Helen falls asleep. Then the hemp falls over, and now the overdraft is being called in. That’s four. Yep, it’s definitely the bank manager’s fault,’ she says grimly.

Tom looks over at his cousin and raises his eyebrows. ‘Uh, Gull,’ he says quietly, ‘remember, you arrived out here the same day as the bank manager? So he’d probably say it was all your fault.’

‘That’s a dreadful thing to say,’ Gull says, looking shocked.

‘Stop,’ Lucy says trying not to giggle. ‘I’d trust Gull over our bank manager any day. Anyway, she’s our cousin so she must be alright.’

‘Yes,’ Shirley says staring into space. ‘The Bank …’

‘You really think the Bank has something to do with the hemp falling over?’ Tom asks. ‘I didn’t know banks were that powerful.’

Shirley sighs loudly. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. And I know it sounds far fetched. But I just get the feeling something’s going on that we don’t know about.’

‘A lot’s going on we don’t know about,’ Tom mumbles.

‘Well, everybody,’ Lucy sighs glancing at the clock, ‘time to hit the road. We’ve got five minutes. Shirley, want a lift?’

‘Great,’ she nods as everybody begins to clear the table.

Jake says, ‘Coming Gull? Now that Helen’s off your hands, you’re free to work like a slave with us.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Tom grins. ‘We’ll start you on the easy stuff. Oh, by the way,’ he adds cheekily, ‘there isn’t any easy stuff.’

‘Leave the back door unlatched, Gull,’ Lucy calls out as she heads for the ute. ‘The CWA will be over later: they’re making lunch for the shed workers and the farms. This is now,’ she says proudly, ‘the hub of Getalong.’

Five minutes later, Shirley and Gull climb into the back of the ute with Jake. ‘Just drop me off at the top gate, Lucy,’ Shirley calls out from the back. ‘I’ll walk home from there. It’ll give me time to think a few things through. Once I’m home, all I do is find more things to do.’

* * *

That evening at the end of another hard day, the gang piles out of the ute and collapses onto the kitchen chairs. Gull and Jake rest their weary heads and arms on the kitchen table. She thinks to herself, I won’t need any more exercise for the rest of my life: hold the hemp up, gather it, pile it onto the truck and then start all over again. Boy, am I bushed.

‘Too much exercise, eh?’ Jake smiles at his cousin. Tired, Gull manages a small smile. Just then the phone rings.

‘Probably Mum,’ Tom sighs reaching across to the wall phone. A moment later, he passes the phone to Gull. ‘Shirley for you.’

Gull sits up and takes the phone. ‘Hi Shirley. Yeah? Really? Uh huh, uh huh. Yep. Fine. See ya.’ She passes the phone back to Tom to put on the wall.

‘Glad that’s sorted out,’ Tom says, trying not to look curious.

‘You mean you understood all that?’ Lucy asks as she staggers over to the fridge and peers inside.’

‘Not a clue,’ Tom replies. ‘So, what’s happening, Gull?’

‘I’ve got a new assignment,’ Gull beams.

‘Really?’ Tom says. ‘Doing what?’

‘I’m going with Shirley to the Bank as from Monday,’ she replies.

‘Exactly what is Shirley going to be doing at the Bank anyway? Robbing it to pay off the overdraft?’ Tom asks.

‘No, clerical work, she says. And just some basic computer stuff.’

‘So how come she’s taking you with her?’

‘Shirley’s just told me I’m too young to be left at home alone: after all, I’m only seven.’

‘No, you’re not,’ Tom frowns. ‘You’re nine. And anyway, you’re out working with us,’ he murmurs. ‘Not home alone.’

‘Remember Gull? We all made the big trip down to the city to go to your ninth birthday party in Centennial Park? Yep, you’re definitely nine,’ Jake nods.

Gull grins from ear to ear. ‘Not any more: now I’m seven.’

‘Impossible,’ Tom says bewildered. ‘Are you in a Time Machine?’

‘Well, a nine year old might be able to take care of herself. But there’s no way a seven year old can,’ Gull says winking hugely.

‘Oh!’ Lucy breathes.

‘Oh!’ Tom echoes. ‘Funny how your memory plays you tricks even at my age. I’m sure I remember stuffing my face… ’

Lucy throws a tea towel at him and asks Gull, ‘But what will you do all day? Won’t you be bored?’

‘Yeah. In a Bank! It always looks so boring,’ Tom chimes in as he starts reading the writing on the tea towel.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Gull answers breezily. ‘I might just play some games on the computer or read people’s e-mails or just hang out with Shirley. Who knows?’

‘Ah ha! So you’re a spy in training,’ Jake grins.

‘Maybe. Maybe not! Anyway, Shirley thinks I might stumble across something important.’

‘You’re going to be a computer hacker?’ Tom asks surprised.

‘Er, not exactly. Anyway, isn’t that illegal?’ Gull asks innocently.

After a quick dinner, the gang collapses untidily in the lounge room. Gull curls up in a high backed lounge chair and daydreams about her puzzling find in the Folly, now hanging up in the hallway. Opposite her, Lucy quietly sketches her cousin, while the twins play Scrabble on the floor.

A while later, they hear Ted’s ute pull up, the door slam and the ute drive off. The gang runs into the kitchen eager to talk to Harry.

‘Hi kids. Bye kids.’ Harry yawns. Patting each of them on the head as he goes past, Harry goes into the bedroom and closes the door firmly.

‘But Dad, what’s happening about the overdraft?’ Lucy shouts through the door. ‘And what about some dinner?’

‘Not hungry. Talk tomorrow,’ Harry shouts back before they hear him turn on the shower.

‘Yeah, sure. You know, tomorrow never comes,’ Tom grumbles as they walk back into the lounge room.

Lucy frowns, bitterly disappointed. ‘I know he’s tired but… ’

‘It’s just not fair,’ Jake says finishing his sister’s thoughts. ‘After all, we’re the ones doing all the worrying.’

‘But he does know about the overdraft,’ Gull says optimistically. ‘So, I reckon he’s just hatching a secret plan to foil the Bank. After all, you’re always saying “Dad can fix anything.” So, the overdraft’s just another thing for him to fix. Right?’

The three cousins gaze at Gull, lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Lucy says slowly, ‘I guess you could be right. After all, Dad’s an adult and, as far as he’s concerned, we’re just the kids. So, I suppose we should trust him enough to leave it up to him.’

‘Right,’ Jake says thoughtfully. ‘So we’ll just give up worrying about the Folly from now on.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ Tom murmurs quietly. ‘Dad’ll fix it.’

Gull looks at the three faces in front of her. She can see her cousins trying hard to believe Harry will save the day.

‘Oh, alright,’ Gull says eventually. ‘I give up. I suppose Harry really does need our help whether he knows it or not. And, let’s face it, it’s really up to us to save the farm.’

The cousins’ faces break out into huge smiles of relief, as they throw their arms around Gull.

‘The weather is supposed to be a real scorcher tomorrow. And as we’re all going to be farm hands again, we need a good night’s sleep starting about two hours ago,’ Lucy sighs.

Four weary heads nod in agreement. Then without another word, the gang trudges up the stairs to bed.

* * *

While the humans are working on their problems, Useless is resting comfortably on his bed in the puppy pen, his progeny scampering all around him. Ma is suddenly alert. What’s that humming? I know I’ve heard it before. And where’s Cha-Cha? No, still sulking. You’d think she was human, the way she carries on. Ma frowns, annoyed. Well, I’m not going to waste my time on her. This is urgent. ‘Max?’ she says turning to her one constant companion, ‘track down O Solo Mio.’

‘O Solo Mio?’ Max repeats mightily surprised.

‘And don’t ask questions,’ Ma says irritably. ‘On second thoughts, get me Cha-Cha as well.’ Max scampers off. Ma frowns: if Cha-Cha’s going to insist on singing all day, she must recognise this humming.

Mentally hounding her, Max rounds up O Solo Mio. She steps forward timidly, Max right behind her. ‘What’s that sound?’ Ma says sharply. ‘That beat?’

O Solo Mio, warned by Cha-Cha of Ma’s latest obsession listens intently.

‘Latin!’

Ma gives her a mental ticking off. ‘That’s what Cha-Cha says. But Latin’s a dead language. So, I’ll ask you again: what language is it?’

O Solo Mio sighs then listens more intently. Finally she says, ‘Indistinct’, knowing Ma won’t be pleased.

To her surprise, Ma is silent. ‘Need more volume?’

‘How’ll we do that?’ O Solo Mio asks curious.

‘Get closer,’ Ma says shortly. With a well-placed nip on Useless’ rump, the dog staggers up and jumps neatly over the low, puppy-proof fence in the big shed. Trotting out, he then breaks into a run, jumping fences until he stops at the unharvested hemp crop. Ma guides Useless into an area where she can hear more clearly. She stops biting Useless, and he plops down in the middle of the hemp and sighs. ‘Volume’s up! What is it?’ Ma demands.

O Solo Mio listens again. ‘Definitely European.’

Ma senses a movement behind her. ‘Cha-Cha, come here,’ Ma growls impatiently. Out of Ma’s shadow Cha-Cha steps reluctantly. ‘Can you hear it clearly?’

Cha-Cha nods.

‘Now what is it?’

Cha-Cha listens with all her might. She starts to dance in time to the rhythm of the humming. ‘Ma,’ she volunteers, ‘all I can say is that it’s got a Latin beat. But I don’t understand the words.’ She waits for Ma to slap her but no slap comes.

Ma hunkers down into herself and thinks. Latin beat, Latin beat. Well, you won’t beat me, she thinks to herself. This is too important. The Folly is threatened. Latin beat indeed!

With that, she gives Useless a quick nip: he gets up immediately and then, with more encouragement, runs back to the puppy pen and jumps in. Once inside, he sinks down comfortably, happy to be among his offspring once more. Jam sits on the fence and purrs contentedly: she likes having Useless around.

‘Now,’ Ma says, quickly lining up her best mites into Units, ‘I want each of you to land on a puppy that is a different nationality from our home grown Useless. He has grown friendly with French Poodles, German Shepherds, Mexican Chihuahuas and several other nationalities. The list is too long, so we’ll work on just a few at a time. Now, you will bite those puppies and they will yelp in their mother tongue, seeing they’re still so young. As soon as they have, you will jump back onto Useless, and then you report to me.’

Tiny, hoping to be chosen, stands up as tall as her imagination will allow. As usual, Ma ignores her.

‘Unit 1,’ Ma calls, and several mites under the command of Max step forward. ‘Go and bite the fluffiest puppies: listen and memorise their yelps: they’ll be in French.’ Ma then commands the second Unit to step forward, led by Terra, her most down to earth mite. ‘Go and bite the brindle puppies. Listen and memorise their yelps: they’ll be in Italian.’ Calling the third Unit led by Dizzy, she says, ‘Go and bite the black puppies. They will yelp in Spanish.’

Deflated and dejected, Tiny decides to make a meal of the latest arrivals. Taking a bite of each of the warm, fat, white and tan puppies, Tiny then jumps back on Useless’ tail in order to forget that Ma has overlooked her again.

‘Now,’ Ma says giving Useless a quick nip, ‘we’re going out to listen again to that humming in the hemp. And carefully this time because this might take all night to go through all those puppies. If I’m right, those mites will be singing their swan song pretty soon: most important, I feel they’re losing their power. They can’t last forever. Not like us who can live forever,’ she adds proudly.

Soon, guided by Ma’s persistent nipping, Useless is lying among the humming hemp. Ma calls O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha to stand on either side of her. In front of her stands the first Unit. ‘Now, sing!’ Ma commands. Max and his Unit immediately start to sing. ‘Well?’ Ma asks quickly, mentally turning from one side to the other.

‘No,’ O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha say in unison.

So not French, Ma thinks to herself. Then she calls the second Unit to the front. ‘Now, sing!’ she commands again. At the end of the short piece, Ma repeats ‘Well?’

Again, after listening, O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha chant “no”.

Ma frowns: so it’s not Italian either. ‘Last one,’ Ma mumbles to herself: ‘this had better be it: I don’t want a long night. Unit 3!’ she barks, ‘step forward. Now, sing.’ Immediately, Dizzy and her Unit step forward and start singing.

‘Yes,’ Cha-Cha says as O Solo Mio says, “no”.

‘Well, which is it?’ Ma screams. ‘Yes or no?’

‘Close,’ brave O Solo Mio says listening carefully, ‘but not close enough.’

‘But it’s the right beat, the right rhythm,’ Cha-Cha says heatedly. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘The words,’ O Solo Mio says doggedly. ‘They’re almost right but, oh, I don’t know: they’re just not quite right enough.’

Just as Ma is about to give them both a mental slap, they hear a small voice singing at the end of Useless’ tail.

‘That’s it! O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha yell together.

‘Tiny, come here!’ Ma shouts. In no time Tiny, shaking, stands in front of Ma, wondering what she’s done this time. ‘Now, sing again,’ Ma commands. In a quavering voice, Tiny begins but soon gets carried away until she’s singing and dancing happily in time with the rhythm of her song. ‘Well?’ Ma says. ‘Is that it?’

‘Yes. Definitely,’ O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha sing out in unison.

‘Tiny, who did you bite?’ Ma asks.

‘Those new puppies,’ Tiny answers, ‘the Argentino Dogos.’

‘Ah,’ Ma sighs, as understanding dawns. ‘Of course! Argentinians speak Spanish but Argentinian Spanish. Well done, Tiny,’ she says giving her a mental pat. Tiny swells up to twice her size. ‘Oh, and good work,’ she says belatedly to O Solo Mio and Cha-Cha who begin preening themselves.

‘I can still hear them,’ Tiny says, now back to her normal size.

Ma’s senses are picking up some strange disturbance on their host, Useless. ‘That’s because they’ve hitched a ride. They’ve just passed us heading for Useless’ tail. They’ve given the puppies the flick and they’re travelling with us.’

In the distance, the Aussie mites can hear the Argentinians singing in their own language and laughing. Ma wonders: But why are they here? They have nothing in common with Australia, except for the letter “A” in the alphabet. She listens to their noisy laughter. I need to know more. And I need to know now.

* * *

At lunchtime, four weary workers shuffle into the tin shed, joining some of the other workers, and plop down on the hard, concrete floor. The air is stifling inside. Several people lie down while others slowly reach for their lunch.

‘Phew,’ Lucy says, lounging beside Gull. ‘This heat is really intense.’ She leans across her brothers and grabs a sandwich. Gull doesn’t answer.

‘You look done in, Gull,’ Jake says sympathetically. ‘And it’s only halfway through the day.’

‘Don’t want you getting sunstroke,’ Lucy says, looking concerned. ‘Yesterday was hot enough but today is really hard work.’

‘Told you there wasn’t any easy stuff,’ Tom mumbles.

Just then, Harry and Ted wander over and collapse untidily beside the gang. Ted reaches over for some sandwiches and tosses one to a yawning Harry.

‘How’s it going, Gull? Keeping up?’ Ted asks as he takes a big bite of a devon and chutney roll.

‘Sure,’ she says quietly. Lucy looks at Ted and shakes her head.

‘This must be the hottest day we’ve had,’ Ted continues conversationally. ‘Almost over the century mark, the old timers are saying. Here, Gull, have some water,’ he says handing her a flask. ‘Just drink it slowly. The heat can really knock you out here.’

‘Not to mention the dust and the flies and the slave drivers we work with,’ Tom says wearily. Jake throws a peach at him.

Lucy gets up and wanders over to a basket that has flasks of tea and coffee. Spotting Doris from the CWA, Lucy has a quick word. Doris nods and looks over at Gull. Then, picking up a flask and a few mugs, Lucy wanders back to the group.

‘Gull, I’ve been thinking,’ Lucy says slowly. ‘You know, you’re off to the Bank tomorrow for the week. And, as there’s nobody to do our chores, and Doris is going back that way, well, I was thinking … ’

‘Great idea,’ Ted says, jumping in feet first, ‘Gull can go back home with Doris, do all the chores and get your dinner ready. Right Gull?’

Lucy frowns at Ted who doesn’t notice.

Gull sighs. ‘You mean I’m useless out here?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I mean you look knackered and that fair skin of yours could burn up, even with a hat. Anyway, we can’t send you home to the city a complete mess. Otherwise, you’ll never want to come back.’

Gull sighs. ‘What a relief,’ and laughs. ‘I am wrecked.’

‘Hey, what about me?’ Tom says. ‘I’m wrecked too.’

‘Sorry,’ Ted says, shaking his head. ‘Only one wreck per season. Anyway, you’re a farm boy: you’re supposed to be wrecked.’

Tom subsides into incoherent mumbles. Just then, Doris appears smiling. Gull slowly gets to her feet and staggers over towards Doris and her car. Waving goodbye, she slides into the hot car and breathes a sigh of relief. Doris grins at Gull and Gull smiles back happily.

As soon as Doris drops her off, Gull trudges into the house and upstairs for a shower. A while later, a clean Gull saunters down to the kitchen, grabs a Granny Smith apple and walks over to the computer in the lounge room, switching it on. Wonder how many new hits I’ve got, she thinks as she opens the Folly website. ‘Wow! Two more with emails,’ she beams. ‘Wait ’til I show the gang.’ She browses through the Internet idly for a few minutes. Then her attention wanders as she looks around the room. Forgetting about the Internet, Gull gets up to peer at the books on a shelf by the door. Think I’ll read for a while until the heat dies down. Something light, she thinks to herself. ‘Ah, the perfect thing’, she says grabbing a handful of the twin’s comics. Mmm, “Ginger Meggs”. That should do for a start,’ she adds as she settles herself down onto the couch with her bitten apple.

* * *

Biting Useless on the rump, Ma steers him towards the house. Her senses are alert. Somebody’s in the house, she thinks to herself. Gently guiding Useless through the kitchen, she steers him into the lounge room. Useless stops at the couch and sniffs at the half-eaten apple lying on the floor: Gull is fast asleep.

Ma listens intently. Through her body, she can feel an electrical vibration. Good, she thinks, that girl’s left the computer on. And that’s exactly what I need: the Internet. Now, if only I can use the mouse.

Investigating the area with her senses, Ma picks up on erratic movement to the left of the computer desk. Tom’s mouse, Curious, is running around her cage bored. With her well-honed skill, Ma directs Useless in that direction. He sits down near the cage. With her nose pressed against the side of the cage, Curious comes over to Useless and timidly sniffs him. Trusting this mission to no one else, Ma jumps skilfully onto Curious who now runs around her cage in excitement. As usual, Tom has left the cage door unlocked. Useless nudges it. Curious peeks out. Goaded by Ma, she scuttles out of her cage and onto the desk. Then she scampers onto the computer keys.

Hardly able to believe her luck, Curious travels lightly all over the keyboard, investigating every nook and cranny. Ma waits patiently for the little white mouse to become used to her new environment. Finally, Ma guides the little white mouse onto particular keys. Satisfied with her handiwork, Ma waits for Curious to settle down again before the important final step. Eventually, after many tries, Curious jumps onto the mouse pad, wiggles onto the hairless “mouse” and jumps up and down. Only then does the search engine begin its methodical rummaging for information.

Useless noses over towards Curious: they sniff each other. Seizing her opportunity, Ma jumps back onto Useless, leaving Curious to dart harmlessly among the keys.

* * *

Gull wakes up with a start. She glances at her wristwatch. ‘Oh, no! It’s after five o’clock. It can’t be. I must have dozed off. And I haven’t done anything.’ Bounding off the couch, she rushes out to the kitchen and grabs a large cane basket.

She runs out to the vegie patch and hastily starts picking a variety of vegetables. Then she races over to the chicken coop and collects the eggs. Making sure the chickens have enough water, she dashes back to the house. In no time, Gull boils eggs, makes a huge salad, sets the table with an array of food and races back to make sure the horses and puppies have clean straw and plenty of water.

Rushing back into the house, she heads straight for the lounge room and the computer. Just then, she hears the ute outside and darts back into the kitchen without checking for hits.

Lucy sings out, ‘We’re back. Where’s the food? We’re starving!’

Useless barks loudly in anticipation of scraps from dinner. With a flourish, Gull shows them the table groaning with food.

‘Where’s Harry? Working late?’ Gull asks as she dishes out their favourite tomato and onion salad.

‘Yup,’ Tom says with a full mouth. ‘Arp wites,’ he mumbles as he crams another mouthful in.

‘Egg whites?’ Gull asks confused. ‘No, I did hardboiled eggs. Here you are,’ she says handing him the bowl.

‘He means arc lights,’ Jake interprets. ‘On the hemp that’s still standing, they’re using arc lights at night to harvest. But that’s all finished now. So, they’re using arc lights where they’re scything.’

‘Harry is?’ Gull asks astonished. ‘Isn’t that too dangerous?’

‘Why?’ Jake asks.

‘Because Harry could fall asleep and cut himself really badly on a scythe.’

‘No, no,’ Tom answers breezily. ‘He doesn’t fall asleep when he’s scything. Only when he’s on the Harvester.

Suddenly, all eyes are on Tom. ‘What?’ he asks in the middle of a mouthful.

‘Wait a minute,’ Lucy says. ‘That must mean that whatever is affecting the hemp is no longer in the lying-down hemp.’

‘Yeah,’ Jake says jumping up, ‘because the lying down hemp is already infected and whatever it is … ’

‘ … Is only going to be interested in getting the hemp to lie down,’ Gull adds excitedly. ‘Its job is done. The “still standing” hemp must be safe now.’

‘But why aren’t Ted and Jimmy and the other drivers falling asleep like Harry?’ Gull asks perplexed.

Everybody falls silent looking puzzled.

Suddenly, Lucy jumps up. ‘Of course! Everyone’s got a Harvester with a cabin except for Dad. So he’s affected because he’s nearest the hemp with no barrier in between.’

Then there’s dead silence. ‘So where do we go from here?’ Jake asks. ‘I suppose we could always put a watch on the standing hemp and see if we can catch whatever it is that’s knocking it down.’

‘Great idea,’ Tom says. ‘What if we had a really big camera to film the crops all night and all day, then maybe we’d find out who or what’s doing this?’

‘And what?’ Lucy asks, shaking her head. ‘Rig it up from the moon? I mean, you’d need a huge camera to cover all the crops.’

‘Hey,’ Tom smiles, ‘I like that. A camera on the moon doing surveillance on Getalong’s hemp crop.’

Lucy groans.

‘I’m getting dizzy,’ Gull says, shaking her head.

‘Probably too much sun,’ Tom says shrugging.

‘No, I mean we just seem to be going around in circles. Can we have a break for a while? Maybe talk about something else for a change?’ Gull asks plaintively.

‘You’re right,’ Lucy says. ‘Working hard all day and worrying all night isn’t healthy. So, everybody, what will we talk about instead?’

Gull says, ‘Let’s check on “Puppy Pie”.’

‘I thought you’d done that,’ Jake frowns. ‘That’s one of your chores, isn’t it?’

‘No, I mean the other “Puppy Pie”,’ she grins. ‘Come on.’

Grabbing a last mouthful, the cousins follow Gull into the lounge room. Gull, over the moon about the increasing number of hits on “Puppy Pie” walks backwards in to the lounge room, saying as she does, ‘You won’t believe what I’ve got on the computer.’

At the lounge room door, Gull’s cousins stop dead in their tracks. Lucy does a double take as the twins collapse on the floor in hysterics. Gull spins around to see what all the fuss is about. She stares open-mouthed: Curious is sitting on the computer mouse cleaning her whiskers.

With her cousins laughing too hard to help, Gull gingerly moves towards Curious and picks her up. The little white mouse sits in Gull’s open hand, explaining excitedly how she was the one who used the Internet; what fun it was to jump from one key to another, and how simple a computer is to use. As Gull doesn’t speak “mouse”, the conversation is lost on her. She simply shakes her head, nods, smiles at Curious and hands her to Tom where Curious runs happily up and down his arm squeaking excitedly.

Gull sits patiently at the computer waiting for her cousins to recover. Finally, grinning from ear to ear, they saunter over to her.

‘So, what’s your next trick?’ Jake asks grinning hugely.

‘I didn’t have anything to do with the mouse on the, er, mouse.’

‘Well, who else, Gull? I mean, it wasn’t one of us. We weren’t even here,’ Tom grins.

Gull looks sternly at the happy mouse and frowns. ‘I think we’ve got another mystery on our hands.’ Idly, Gull moves the computer mouse around. ‘Now, everybody watch this!’ she says hitting a key. The screen lights up. Immediately, a small map of South America appears in a corner next to a larger, highlighted map.

‘What’s this?’ Jake asks. Argentina? Why’d you get that up?’

‘I didn’t,’ Gull says bewildered.

‘Sure!’ Tom the unbeliever scoffs.

‘See? More magic! Even without the magician knowing,’ Jake adds laughing.

‘Well, seeing it’s here,’ Tom says, ‘what about a guided tour? Let’s see now,’ he says scrolling down the list of topics: ‘Art: that’s one for Lucy; Cattle, Climate, boring, boring. Ah, Cooking: that’s one for Jake. Right, now what else?’ Tom starts skipping through, picking topics at random while Gull sits back bemused. He reads, ‘Crops, Finance, Geography, Tourist must-sees …’

‘Stop,’ Lucy shouts. ‘Go back, Tom. Click on “crops”.’

‘Why?’

‘Just a hunch,’ she shrugs. ‘They’ve got crops. We’ve got crops. Might pick up a few hints.’

Tom clicks on “crops”. He starts reading aloud: “Argentina is famous for its wheat, blah blah blah, the Pampas, blah blah, wheat yield, blah, wheat uses, blah, wheat export.’ He stops and sighs heavily. ‘So boring! Who cares anyway?’ He stretches and wanders over to the window with Curious now perched contentedly on his head.

‘Argentinian farmers care,’ Lucy says seriously as she takes Tom’s place next to Gull, scrolling through. ‘There might be something useful here.’

‘Like what?’ Tom asks walking back to stare at the screen.

‘Hemp!’ Jake says. ‘Hey, look: they’re using hemp to make didgeridoos. Shouldn’t we be doing that?’

‘Probably!’ Tom yawns. ‘So, what else is new?’

‘This!’ Lucy shouts suddenly.