Chapter 12

‘Oh!’ Gull gasps. Standing at the door is the bank manager with a bright pink face. She tries to think. After what seems like an eternity, she says brightly, ‘I was just looking for the game.’

‘What game?’ he says as he advances towards her menacingly.

Slowly, Gull inches back the open drawer with her knee.

‘The game you borrowed from your nephew. The er, uh …’ she stumbles, “Flying Foxes”.’

‘Pigs,’ he sneers at her, his wintry smile now a stark snarl.

Ooh, Gull gulps taking a step away from the desk. I really don’t like those teeth of his, like a wolf, so sharp.

‘Yes, that one,’ Gull says forcing herself to smile. ‘I can’t find it.’

‘Tomorrow,’ the bank manager says roughly. ‘Not today! I told Shirley I’d bring it in tomorrow.’

‘Oh, sorry,’ Gull shrugs backing towards the door. ‘Wrong day.’

As he sits down at his desk, the bank manager smiles coldly at her. ‘Well, Shirley did say you were a daydreamer. So that probably explains the confusion. Don’t seem to know what day of the week it is, do you? Mmm?’ he adds, tilting his head slightly.

‘Guess I don’t,’ Gull says giving him her best absent-minded look.

‘And close the door after you,’ the manager barks, his head already buried in the papers on his desk.

Grasping the door handle for support as she closes it, Gull just manages to stumble down the stairs and walk back to her desk before her legs turn to jelly.

A few minutes later, Shirley walks over to her desk with a biscuit and another steaming cup of tea.

‘Sorry, Gull. I didn’t even see him walk in. So tell me, what happened? And why did you have to go back in?’

‘I had to return the memory stick,’ Gull says quietly. ‘Otherwise, he may have noticed it was missing.’ She tries to raise the cup to her lips but her hands are shaking too badly.

‘Well, what did you say to him? And, more importantly, what did he say to you?’

‘Oh, I just said I was looking for his dorky nephew’s game he told you would be on his desk.’

‘But he’s bringing it in tomorrow, not today,’ Shirley says confused. ‘I told you that, remember?’

‘Yeah, that’s what he said. Anyway, I gave him my best impression of a seven year old not knowing what day of the week it was. And he seemed to believe me.’

‘Sure?’

‘Hope so,’ Gull gulps, finally able to sip the hot tea without shaking.

* * *

Bouncing up and down on the rim of the Harvester’s giant wheel, Lucy, is on her second shift and waiting impatiently for Tom to turn up in the ute. ‘Come on, Dad,’ she says again, ‘let me have a go.’ She can see Harry’s eyes fluttering, as he tries to stay awake.

‘’M fine,’ he says jerking awake. ‘So boring, going up and down,’ he mumbles. ‘Be right soon,’ he yawns.

In the distance, Lucy can see the ute tearing towards them. ‘Dad,’ Lucy says looking back at her father, ‘Tom’s here with lunch. Let’s stop and have a break.’

‘Can eat while I work,’ he says blearily, staring out at the vast acres of hemp yet to be harvested.

‘Well, I can’t,’ she says hotly as the ute pulls up ahead of them. With one deft movement, she puts the tractor in neutral so that it rolls to a halt. Then she grabs the keys out of the ignition. ‘You have to climb down first, Dad,’ she says. ‘Otherwise, I can’t get down.’

‘Can’t you?’ he asks surprised.

Not today, Lucy thinks. I’ve got to get you off this machine somehow.

Reluctantly, Harry slips out of his seat and down to the ground. Lucy jumps down after him. Tom is hastily setting up the vacuum flask and sandwiches on the tailgate of the ute. Harry stumbles over to the ute and sloshes the strong tea into his mug.

‘Cuppa will work wonders,’ he says sleepily to Tom. Tom looks over at Lucy who shakes her head. Sitting on the tailgate, Harry sips the tea and gazes vacantly into the distance.

‘Ah, Dad, you might feel more comfortable in the front,’ Tom says suddenly. He looks at Lucy. She smiles conspiratorially.

‘Right,’ Harry says, slowly getting off the tailgate and walking to the passenger side of the ute. He slides into the seat and Lucy hands him his mug. She and Tom stand by the open door and watch as Harry slowly sinks into a deep sleep. Before the hot tea tips over him, Tom grabs the mug and pours it onto the ground. Quietly, Lucy closes the door and they both take their mugs to the back to the ute.

‘Guess we’ll be harvesting for the rest of the day,’ Tom smiles at Lucy. She grins back.

‘Guess so. We’ll round up Jake, and I think there should be two of us on the Harvester at all times. Dad’s more affected because he’s been more exposed. But we can’t take any chances.’ Finishing their tea, they throw the dregs on the ground. ‘Will you be alright with Dad?’ she asks as Tom climbs back behind the driver’s wheel.

‘Yep. Jake can help me get Dad back to bed and then we’ll both come back here to help.’

‘Right,’ she says as she watches Tom expertly swing the ute around and head back towards the farmhouse.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Gull arrives back with Shirley to an eerie silence.

‘You were right, ’ Gull says as Shirley puts the kettle on, ‘I would have been coming home to what feels like an empty farm. No one awake and up.’

‘Not for long, by the sounds of it,’ Shirley answers as the three weary cousins stagger through the kitchen door. Then they scramble for water at the kitchen tap.

‘It’s been so hot and dusty harvesting all day,’ Jake says. ‘And the sticky flies! You’re far better off in the Bank.’

‘You’re just trying to make me feel better. I know,’ Gull smiles.

‘No, honest,’ he responds. ‘Even Tom said he’d rather be bored in a Bank than working himself to a frazzle outside.’

‘Um, you know the Bank’s not air-conditioned, Tom,’ Gull says.

‘No but it’s shady,’ Tom says. Then adds laughing, ‘Hey, a shady Bank. Get it? It’s a joke.’

Jake playfully tickles him on the neck. They both grin. ‘Anyway, shade makes a big difference.’ Tom looks expectantly at Gull. ‘Er, have you saved the Folly yet?’

‘Oh, I almost forgot,’ Gull says, plunging her hand into her bag and extracting the memory stick.

‘That itty bitty thing’s going to save the farm?’ Tom asks pointing at the small red and silver object in Gull’s palm.

‘Where’d you get that?’ Lucy asks.

‘Don’t ask,’ Shirley tells them. ‘The less you know, the better.’

‘See? I knew you were a spy in training,’ Tom laughs as the five of them walk briskly into the lounge room and over to the computer.

Gull turns the computer on and then inserts the stick. Immediately one file appears on the screen.

‘Right,’ Lucy says enthusiastically. ‘Now, do your magic, Gull.’

‘Yeah,’ Tom chimes in, ‘magic this thing and save the farm, just like the legend says.’

Gull looks over at Shirley and shrugs. ‘I need a password but I don’t know what it is.’

‘No, Gull,’ Tom says shaking his head. ‘Wrong answer: try again. Try “yes, I know” this time. And then just type it in. So easy!’

‘Wish I could,’ his cousin answers, slouching at the computer. Shirley settles herself in a chair and crosses her fingers.

Tom collapses onto the couch. ‘We’re doomed!’

‘Gull says, ‘All I know is that the file had four initials on it. Let’s see,’ she says thinking hard. ‘Have To Join Firemen.’

‘Huh?’ Tom says. ‘You want to fight bushfires?’

‘No, it’s not that,’ Gull says shaking her head. ‘It’s um, mnemonics.’

Tom walks over to Gull and tries opening her mouth.

‘What are you doing?’ Gull asks batting him away.

‘Thought you’d swallowed a dictionary. What’s nem, nem…?’

‘Mnemonics?’ Shirley repeats. ‘Isn’t that when you remember something by using a pattern of words?’

‘Right,’ Gull grins.

‘Another dictionary swallower,’ Tom mumbles and Jake grins.

‘I had to remember the initials H.T.J.F. That was the name of the file. And the sillier the sentence, the easier it is to remember. Got it?’ Gull grins at Tom.

‘Got it,’ he grins back.

‘So, Gull, what makes you think this is the file?’

‘Because of all the files, it’s the only one I can’t open.’

Lucy is studying the initials, frowning hard. She repeats them out loud. ‘H.T.J.F. Doesn’t tell us a lot, does it?’

‘On the way home, Shirley and I were wondering whether it might be a sentence itself, like ‘Hope to join farms’,’ Gull says.

‘Doesn’t make any sense at all,’ Tom scoffs. ‘What about er, “Heavy tuna jellyfish”?’

‘Sounds like the name of a rock band,’ his brother laughs.

‘Of course! How simple,’ Lucy shouts suddenly as she jumps up.

‘Is it?’ Jake and Tom ask at the same time.

‘Don’t you see?’ Lucy says exasperated. ‘Gull has got the right file after all. I bet you anything that H.T.J.F. stands for Harry, Ted, Jimmy and one ‘F’ for the Folly. Not,’ she says looking over at Jake, ‘Heavy tuna jellyfish.’

‘Yet another mystery solved! Not that it matters much,’ Lucy sighs heavily. ‘Oh wait. How many letters do you need for the password, Gull?’

‘Six,’ Gull says as she scribbles another word down on a piece of paper.

‘Folly? No, five letters,’ Jake mumbles. ‘What about “Harry”? No, forget it. Only five letters.’

Leaning forward, Shirley says, ‘Now, let’s think six letters. Maybe it’s a word that connects the three families.’

‘Um, I can only try for a password three times,’ Gull says.

‘Really? How come?’ Lucy asks surprised.

‘Security. The computer locks me out even if the fourth try is the right word,’ Gull says staring up at the file.

Jake walks up and down the room. He mumbles to himself, ‘Six letters. Six letters.’ He stops pacing. Suddenly he says, ‘Hey, what about ‘Sprogg’? That’s six letters. And it connects the three families. He’s the bank manager for the farms.’

Excitedly, Gull races back to the computer.

Gull looks up at her cousin, his face glowing with expectation. ‘Come on, Gull. It makes sense, doesn’t it?’ He looks over at his siblings for support. Even Shirley nods when Gull looks around at her.

‘Well, here goes,’ Gull says as she types in “SPROGG”. Five pairs of fingers are firmly crossed.

Across the screen flashes the words ‘Incorrect Password. Entry Denied.’

‘Oh, no,’ Jake groans as he sinks to the floor. ‘But it fits. It has to be “Sprogg”. It has to be.’

‘Sorry Jake,’ Gull says forlornly, looking down at her crumpled cousin on the floor. ‘It was a great try but no banana, I’m afraid.’

‘Only two more guesses,’ Lucy sighs sitting down on the floor next to Jake.

Shirley shakes her head and looks around at the disconsolate gang. ‘Look at it this way,’ she says. ‘At least you’ve got two more guesses. And you’re already home. Which is more than I can say for myself. So, that’s where I’m heading for now: home. After all, tomorrow is another big day.’ Especially for Gull, she thinks. Immediately, Gull gets up from the computer and follows Shirley out.

‘Thanks for everything, Shirley,’ Gull says as they walk over to the ute.

‘Look,’ Shirley says quietly putting her arm around Gull’s shoulder, ‘I know you’re under a lot of pressure. I just want you to know that if the farms are lost, it’s not your fault. It’s not even your battle but I’m glad you’re here anyway.’

Gull bites her bottom lip. ‘I know, I suppose. But I’d still feel I was letting everybody down if I didn’t come up with the evidence. After all, isn’t that what “Gulls” are supposed to do? Save the farm?’

Gently, Shirley asks smiling, ‘Wasn’t this supposed to be a holiday for you?’

‘Yeah, a holiday with a very big adventure in the middle,’ she nods as Shirley climbs into the ute and starts the engine. Shirley reaches out and ruffles Gull’s fair hair before she drives away. Watching her disappear down the road, Gull feels very much alone. If only I knew the password. Then I’d know what to do.

‘Dinner’s ready,’ Lucy announces as she comes out to stand beside her cousin. ‘And I’ve just been adding to our sheets about today’s events so we’re up to date. Doomed, of course, as Tom says but up to date anyway,’ she says shrugging helplessly. She looks at Gull’s glum face. ‘Look, it’s not your fault about the Folly or even your problem.’ Lucy sighs. ‘Some holiday this turned out to be for you. I bet you never want to come back here again.’

Gull, close to tears, hangs her head. ‘I should be able to work this out,’ she says bursting into tears. Lucy, her own eyes overly bright, gives Gull a long hug. ‘Don’t worry, Gull. You’re always welcome, wherever we are. After all, you’re our friend as well as our cousin.’

Gull drags out a tissue and blows her nose loudly. ‘So, what’ll we do now?’

‘Eat! And then go try waking up Dad again. This is almost his last chance to listen to our conspiracy theory before it’s too late.’

* * *

As Useless lies below the window in the attic, Ma senses her brood around her. ‘It’s time,’ she says to Venomous and Menacing. They smile to themselves. They know she only calls on them when it’s a “big” job. And this is the biggest they have ever had.

‘You have to cross the barrier tonight,’ Ma says roughly. ‘And you can’t fail. Or the farm is lost and us with it. Remember, Harry is your target. And only Harry,’ Ma adds darkly.

* * *

Outside the Folly, the sky is darkening as Useless slowly pads down the stairs. In the kitchen, Jake says to the rest of the gang, ‘‘Let’s try waking Dad for the very last time.’

The others agree and, grabbing Tom from the Harvester on the way through, make for Harry’s bedroom.

‘Dad, wake up,’ Lucy says shaking him gently.

‘That never works,’ Jake says. ‘We’ve tried that before.

‘My turn,’ Tom says as he jumps onto the bed. ‘Come on, Jake, let’s try this.’ The next moment, the twins are jumping all over the bed. ‘Wake up now, Dad,’ Tom gasps as he jumps up and down on the bed. ‘We’ve got good and bad news for you but you have to wake up to hear it. Otherwise, we’ll lose the farm.’ With decreasing enthusiasm, the twins keep jumping up and down on the big bed until they flop down exhausted.

Still, Harry sleeps on, oblivious of the frantic gang. Tom looks at the others in desperation, and they return his look. ‘What’ll we do now?’ Tom asks.

Gull says, ‘I wish I believed in magic or the little people. Something wonderful that was on our side, for a change, instead of having the whole world against us.’

‘Me too,’ Lucy says despondently. ‘But we don’t believe in magic or tiny creatures so let’s not even think about it. And I hate to say it but Dad’s a dead loss.’

‘Yep,’ Jake agrees sadly. ‘And tomorrow’s Wednesday! We could lose the farm on Saturday. We’re running out of time.’ A jolt runs through the gang.

Gull looks at her dejected cousins. Gently shepherding them back to the kitchen, she grabs a cold jug of fresh orange juice from the fridge as the others collapse into the nearest chairs. Lucy slouches onto the table with her head in her arms; Jake is staring dolefully into space; Tom is staring down at the floor.

Gull, swallowing hard to keep from bursting into tears again, pours the orange juice into four glasses.

‘I’d like to propose a toast,’ Gull says formally, just as she’s heard here own parents say. She tries to smile. Her cousins raise their heads and look at her. ‘To my courageous cousins, who’ve worked really hard to save the Folly. Sorry I couldn’t help more.’

Tom picks up his glass and clinks it against Gull’s. ‘You did help,’ he says graciously as he tries to smile at Gull. Jake and Lucy raise their glasses too.

‘To the gang,’ Jake sighs with a watery smile as he clinks glasses with the others. Lucy smiles sadly, drinks her orange juice and shrugs. ‘Well, wherever we are, we know we can count on each other. And that’s the most important thing.’

The gang finishes their juice in abject silence. With a communal sigh of despair, the gang gets up and heads towards bed. As they pass Harry’s bedroom, they glance in to see him still sleeping deeply.

Lucy shrugs. ‘Poor Dad! It’s not your fault. Pity you can’t fix this problem: you can usually fix anything.’

Just then Useless, apparently in a playful mood, jumps onto Harry’s bed, big paws leaving the occasional muddy mark on the crisp white sheets.

‘It’s no good, Useless,’ Jake shrugs, ‘we’ve already tried jumping up and down. I don’t think you’ve got a chance if it didn’t work for us.’

‘After all,’ Tom adds, ‘you’re only a dog.’

‘Gerroff,’ Harry slurs as he tries to shift Useless. However, seeing Harry move makes Useless even more playful, and he starts pawing at Harry as if it’s a wonderful game.

Harry opens one eye. ‘Useless, get lost,’ he says but Useless is in a frantically playful mood and won’t be put off. ‘Lucy, get him off me,’ Harry shouts opening both his eyes and blinking hard.

Lucy standing at the door begins to fume. ‘Sorry, Dad’ she says coldly, ‘can’t help you. If you won’t help save the farm, I can’t get Useless off you.’

‘What are you on about?’ Harry asks grumpily. ‘Farm’s alright. Get off dog,’ he says trying to grab Useless’ collar. ‘Ow! Something bit me,’ he says almost launching himself out of bed.

‘Dad,’ Jake says angrily, ‘the Bank’s calling in the overdraft, the crop’s still not in and we need your help. We’re about to lose the Folly, and all you can do is sleep.’

‘Rubbish,’ Harry says trying to control Useless as he turns over to go back to sleep. ‘Everything’ll be alright tomorrow.’

‘No, Dad. Now!’ Lucy shouts. ‘Wake up now and fix the problems. We know what’s making the crop fall over: it’s a mite. But we don’t know how it got into Australia or who brought it here. You have to wake up and listen to us. Otherwise, everything is lost. We won’t even have a roof over our heads.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Harry says only half listening as he tries to control a frisky Useless. ‘Fix everything tomorrow.’

‘You’re not paying attention, Dad. Tomorrow,’ Jake says vehemently, ‘was yesterday.’

‘You,’ Harry says sleepily, trying to point a finger at Jake, ‘worry too much,’ as he tries pushing Useless’ head onto the pillow.

‘And you’re not worrying enough!’ Lucy cries storming out, the rest of the gang storming out after her. The last one, Tom, slams the door so hard it almost falls off its hinges.

Harry murmurs after them, ‘Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.’

The gang stands on the other side of the door frustrated and fuming.

‘Now what?’ Gull asks.

‘Maybe Useless will have better luck than we’ve had,’ Lucy glowers morosely. ‘Come on. Let’s go upstairs. It’s late and we need a good night’s sleep.’ They stomp up the stairs, swamped by feelings of impending doom.

With the bedroom door firmly closed, Useless is trapped inside with Harry. In a half-hearted struggle, Harry tries hard to keep Useless lying down instead of scampering all over the bed like a young pup.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Harry says as he tries to dodge Useless’ affectionate paws. ‘Owww!’ he yells as something bites him savagely.

Having licked Harry’s face mercilessly, Useless is now sitting on the end of the bed watching Harry twitch. ‘Gerroff,’ Harry mumbles sleepily. ‘Stop it, Useless.’

Useless, with his head on one side sits looking perplexed. He’s used to being told off but not when he’s doing nothing.

Venomous and Menacing sigh with relief: they’ve crossed the barrier from animal to human, something no other mite has ever been able to achieve. They look at each other with the same thought: Ma will be pleased.

‘Stop it!’ Harry yells sitting up suddenly and staring straight into Useless’ big brown eyes. For a moment, Harry looks as perplexed as Useless. Taking a bite of Harry’s left armpit, Menacing laughs as Harry jumps straight into the air.

‘Your damn fleas,’ Harry shouts jumping out of bed. ‘Get off! And get out!’ he shouts as Useless wags his tail encouragingly. Harry opens the veranda door and shoves the hapless dog outside. Looking at the bed sleepily, he begins to crawl back in.

‘Owww!’ he shouts. Quickly, Harry pulls all the bedclothes off the bed and lies down on the bare mattress. As he lies back down, a sharp bite from Venomous has him yelling again.

Harry throws the bare mattress onto the floor, turns it over and lies down again. After a minute of needle-like jabs, Harry sighs loudly. With another quick jab from Venomous, Harry yells, jumps up, runs into the bathroom and turns on the shower.

As he scrubs himself vigorously, Venomous and Menacing lie warm and dry in the tight, circular curl of his ear.

‘He’s awake now,’ Menacing laughs.

‘But we gotta keep him wide awake,’ Venomous growls. ‘He’s got to help Ma save the farm. Otherwise, you know what Ma’s like.’ They both shiver.

Soon, Harry is out of the shower, dry and awake. As he walks back into the bedroom, Harry glances at the bed and the mattress on the floor. He sighs and mutters, ‘Bed’s too dangerous.’ Then he throws on jeans and a clean but crumpled red t-shirt and wanders out to the kitchen. ‘Funny, it’s so quiet,’ he says to no one in particular as he fills the kettle. He glances up at the kitchen clock. ‘No wonder,’ he says. ‘It’s past midnight, already tomorrow.’ He scratches his head. ‘That’s funny,’ he says to the kettle. ‘I can’t seem to remember what I did yesterday.’ Automatically, he walks over to the fridge, takes out two eggs and two slices of bread. He drops the bread in the toaster and the eggs in a saucepan of water on the kitchen sink. ‘Wait on,’ he says, ‘I remember I was harvesting the hemp at home and then …’ He scratches his armpit. ‘Nope! Nothing at all after that. Well, that’s odd. Fancy me not remembering the rest of the day. Must ask the kids. I remember Lucy and Tom hanging around. Oh, that reminds me. Better check the kids are alright,’ he says to himself as he walks with his empty mug through to the hallway. Just as he’s about to tiptoe up the stairs, he glances into the lounge and over to the computer.

Harry sighs heavily and shakes his head. ‘Don’t tell me they’ve left that thing on again: gotta keep an eye on them all the time. Never know what they’ll get up to next.’ Harry ambles over to the computer. Just as he’s about to turn it off, a sharp nip makes his hand jump and he knocks the hairless mouse. The screen lights up and a vivid map of Argentina flashes onto the screen. Argentina, he thinks to himself. Now who mentioned Argentina recently? He clicks the mouse and it highlights the last section the gang was looking at: ‘Argentinian Siesta Mites.’

Harry, bending over the computer, starts to read, chuckling to himself. Must be some sort of practical joke, he thinks as he scrolls down. However, as he reads further, a trickle of recognition runs down his spine. Harry stares hard at the screen. I’ve been so sleepy recently. Is this mite the reason? He sits down heavily in the chair in front of the screen. Out loud, he says, ‘Well, I never! But how did they get here?’ Harry starts clicking feverishly, searching for more information on the pest.

Turning back to the coffee table for an instant, he grabs a fresh piece of butcher’s paper and starts making a few notes. As he clicks out of the Internet, he sees several files that were hidden behind the information on Argentina. Opening the one marked Folly Spread Sheet & Timeline’, he begins to read avidly, scribbling more notes as he goes.

‘Have I really slept through all this?’ He looks around for a calendar. ‘And it’s only six days until the Bank calls in the overdraft.’ He stops suddenly, his heart ominously missing a beat. ‘Can that be right? No, hold on, Harry,’ he says to himself. ‘That can’t be right. I must have more time than that.’

Harry runs into the kitchen and looks at the calendar. The gang has marked each day off, just as Harry usually does. He looks hard at the calendar. ‘Wednesday! It’s Wednesday, the … ‘It can’t be!’ Frantically, he looks around for a newspaper. Running into the laundry, he grabs yesterday’s newspaper from a pile near the door ready for composting. He gulps as he looks at the date. ‘Tuesday, 27 January. That’s yesterday?’ Harry runs back into the kitchen. He stares at the calendar in disbelief: Jake has carefully written “overdraft due” across the coming Saturday.

‘Wednesday,’ Harry gasps in disbelief. ‘Today’s Wednesday! And in three day’s time, not six, the overdraft’s due.’ He staggers to the nearest chair. ‘How could I have slept through all this?’

Just then, the kettle boils and the toast pops. Menacing gives Harry a nip on his leg. ‘Ow! He scratches the site Menacing has just vacated. ‘Those Argentinian Siesta Mites are pretty vicious with their bites.’ Menacing and Venomous laugh mightily at Harry’s mistake.

‘Let me think,’ he says clearheaded as he puts the eggs on the stove. ‘What have we got? So far, there’s mites, the overdraft …’ Harry shivers involuntarily. ‘And the crop. Somehow, they’re linked. But how?’ He gets up and starts pacing up and down, just as the gang has been doing for weeks. The egg timer rings and Harry sets the eggs in eggcups absentmindedly. He takes the still warm toast over to a plate and sits down. Decapitating the eggs, he automatically plunges the toast into the soft-boiled egg. He thinks as he munches. Right, mites affect the hemp and slow down the harvesting. What should have taken a couple of weeks will take just over a month. He has another mouthful of egg and toast. But where does the overdraft come in? And why? And who brought those mites into this country in the first place?

Pushing his empty eggs away, Harry strides backwards and forwards over to the fridge putting the butter back in. He takes out the milk for his tea as he recites out loud the gang’s findings, fixing them firmly in a mind still dulled by sleep.

Harry, now completely engrossed in the gang’s findings, wonders what the strange light is, as it begins to fill the kitchen. He looks around him and then up at the kitchen clock. ‘A quarter to five already,’ he says out loud. ‘No wonder the sun’s coming up. I’d better get a move on.’

Racing to the farthest end of the lounge room, Harry opens a cabinet to reveal a safe. After some rummaging, he removes a photocopy of the Deed of Title to the “Folly” and the overdraft contract. As an afterthought, he also takes out the surveyor’s report of the Folly. Taking his notes over to the computer, Harry starts to put them into order. For over an hour, Harry sits in front of the computer typing while he mentally shakes his thoughts into order.

By six o’clock, Harry has finished typing.

By six thirty, Harry and his truck are flying away from the Folly and out the top gate.

* * *

Half an hour later, the gang groggily stumbles downstairs.

‘Somebody’s been up,’ Jake says. ‘Look at all these dirty dishes piled up. Alright, which one of you has been having a midnight feast?’

The gang looks blank.

Jake frowns. ‘Hold on,’ he says dashing into his parents’ room. ‘Dad’s up! And he’s gone!’

‘Hey!’ Tom calls from the lounge room. ‘Our notes are all over the place. How come?’

‘What?’ the others yell running over to him: the coffee table is bare and the sheets are scattered all over the lounge room floor.

‘What’s going on?’ Gull asks confused.

‘Beats me,’ Lucy shrugs. ‘Wait on,’ she says, running back to the kitchen. ‘Let’s see if Dad’s left a note. She finds a scrappy piece of paper sticking out from under the milk jug. ‘Ah ha!’

‘What’s it say?’ Jake asks eagerly.

Lucy reads, ‘Gone fishing. Love, Dad.’

‘You’re kidding!’ the twins cry in unison.

‘I can’t believe it,’ Gull says shaking her head. ‘Fishing at a time like this! So, what do we do now?’

Lucy shrugs. ‘Well, we can either keep harvesting. Or waste time looking for Dad up and down the river banks.’

‘No choice,’ Jake says quickly. ‘Harvesting because if we go looking for Dad, where would we look? So, harvesting?’

Lucy says, ‘And three of us can take it in turns harvesting and then trucking it to the sheds.’

‘Ah, Gull, are you going in with Shirley today?’

‘Yep,’ she answers. ‘Oh and by the way, yesterday was almost my last day.’

‘What?’ Lucy shouts.

‘Yeah,’ Gull nods. ‘The bank manager said something to Shirley about me being there.’

‘Like?’ Tom asks.

‘Like the Bank wasn’t a kindergarten.’

‘How insulting,’ Lucy says indignantly.

‘What did Shirley say?’ Jake asks.

‘She said everyone was out working bringing in the hemp, and I was too young and delicate to be out working too, and a bit of a daydreamer. I don’t think he likes me being around. I make him nervous, I think.’

‘Good,’ Jake announces firmly. ‘After what the Bank has put us through, he should be nervous.’

‘Come on, everybody,’ Lucy says. ‘I’ll tell the others not to pick us up, that we’re bringing in our own crop again. Plus Gull’s got to get ready for the Bank.’

‘I know,’ Gull sighs despondently. ‘I’ve got to find that password.’

Lucy says, ‘The good thing is Dad’s awake now so maybe tonight we can tell him what’s been going on. But,’ she says perplexed, ‘I still can’t work out why Dad would go fishing. Oh, quick, Gull,’ she says, glancing at the kitchen clock, ‘Shirley’ll be here in fifteen minutes.’

‘Guess you’re not off the hook yet,’ Jake says quietly to Gull.

‘Guess not,’ she answers with a sinking feeling.

An hour later, the only sounds coming from the Folly are the rooster crowing and the harvester sailing majestically through the emerald green hemp.

* * *

Later that evening as they start getting dinner ready, Lucy says, ‘I wonder where Dad is? It’s too late for fishing now. And Gull’s late too. I wonder if she’s saved the Folly yet’.

‘Maybe she’s gone fishing too,’ Jake says heavily.

Just then, the gang hears the ute at the top gate. Within a few minutes, Harry is pulling up outside the kitchen door and climbing out of the ute.

‘We’ve got everything ready, Dad. Hope you caught something big and tasty for dinner.’

‘Huh?’ Harry says forgetting the note he’d left that morning. ‘Oh! Ha ha! Well I think I might have caught a whopper but I threw him back to see if he’ll grow a bit more.’

‘Then you didn’t bring any fish home?’ Lucy asks. She sighs heavily. She was looking forward to some fish for a change. ‘Didn’t you go fishing?’ she asks.

‘Sort of,’ Harry says mysteriously and then winks.

His children look at him confused.

‘Well good to see you’re awake, Dad,’ Tom shrugs at the others.

‘Doubly awake now,’ Harry says with a rueful grin. ‘Wish you’d told me what was going on with the Folly a whole lot sooner, what with the overdraft being called in this Saturday.’

The gang is gobsmacked. They stare at Harry.

‘What?’ Harry asks looking at them mystified.

‘We’ve only been trying to tell you for weeks,’ Tom bursts out.

‘Have you?’ Harry says. ‘I don’t seem to remember.’

Tom starts to say something more but Jake steps on his foot, and Tom bellows.

‘Not your fault,’ Jake says generously as he shakes his head rapidly at Tom. ‘Those Argentinian Siesta Mites have been singing you to sleep.’

‘Thanks Jake,’ Harry says smiling slightly as he looks around at his children. ‘I get the feeling I’ve let you all down pretty badly: I don’t seem to remember anything much,’ he says scratching his head. ‘But now,’ he says, ‘I’m fully awake. I know it’s still on the cards that we could lose the Folly.’

‘But what have you been doing all day Dad?’ Lucy asks seriously.

‘Well I have been fishing. For information that is,’ he says hastily. Three pairs of eyes look at him puzzled. ‘Surely you didn’t really think …’ Harry says. ‘Oh, the note. Sorry! Just my warped sense of humour: I thought you’d “catch” on. Get it? “Catch” on?’ Harry looks around at three tense faces. ‘Alright, I’ll be serious from now on. Because this is serious. Right, kids?’

The gang nods and repeats, ‘Right,’ very pointedly.

‘Right, back to work,’ Harry says, looking down and shuffling papers. ‘Now, I’ve been up at the Council most of the day catching up with some old friends of mine,’ he replies.

‘Socialising?’ Lucy says looking askance.

‘No, not socialising,’ he says quickly. ‘On your spread sheet, Gull had typed that the bank manager had been spending a bit of time over at the Council as well as seeing farmers, and I wondered whether the two were linked. So, I’ve been sniffing around, trying to find out whether anything or anyone new has come into the area. Or, more importantly, plans to. And this is where it begins to get interesting.’

Three heads lean toward Harry as he starts to tell them in detail what he’s found out. Halfway through, he says, ‘Look, let’s go into the lounge and look at your spread sheet again, and I can tell you where things link up.’

The four of them race into the lounge, and Lucy turns on the computer. ‘But who’s doing this?’ Lucy asks. ‘And why?’

Just then, Shirley’s ute draws up at the kitchen door and Gull gets out, waving goodbye as the ute disappears towards the top gate.

‘You’re still awake,’ Gull exclaims, staring at Harry as she follows the voices into the lounge room.

‘Yeah! And Dad’s been fishing up at the Council,’ Jake says helpfully.

Gull lets her backpack slide off her shoulders.

Quickly, Harry fills her in on what he’s been doing.

‘Anything to add, Gull? Any exciting discoveries?’ Harry asks hopefully.

Gull smiles like a cat who has swallowed the canary.