I stared out the car window, unable to believe my eyes. We'd come all the way from one end of Australia to the other to see this? Outside, everything was flat and boring - boring and flat. Very flat and very boring.
"You said Kak-my-du was stunning," I said to Mom.
"We won't be there for hours," she replied.
I slid down in my seat and tried to block out the music. It was already turned down because no one was into it. There was no iPod attachment and we didn't pack any CDs, so in Darwin Dad said we'd better buy a CD. Not one each; he's too tight for that. We had to agree on one CD for our whole trip. I knew straight away that was dumb. Mom likes slow mushy stuff, Charlie likes rap and I like rock. And Dad - no kidding - loves dance music. He might be boring and strict, but when he gets in the car without Mom, he turns up his dance music real loud.
I stared out the window and wondered what my best friends, Thomo and Chook, were doing right now. Chook was skiing, so he was probably screaming down a mountain having the best time of his whole life. Thomo was at home, probably listening to good music.
Although maybe going to Kak-my-du was better than staying at home. Darwin had been sort of fun. Except for the croc farm with millions of baby crocs climbing over each other, all looking like baby alien monsters with their bulging yellow eyes. Now we were going into big croc country. The only good thing about that was Dad hired a white LandCruiser and Charlie and me each had our own row of seats. That meant he couldn't annoy me.
"Did you know there's usually one croc attack on a human every year?" Charlie called out from the back seat. "And so far this year there hasn't been one."
I turned round to him. "Liar."
"It's true," he said. "And human meat isn't their favorite, but they aren't that fussy. They eat anything that moves. They can slice us up into small pieces. So they can kill us, but we're not allowed to kill them."
"What?" I almost shouted. "Why can't we kill them?"
"They're protected."
Mom turned round and glared at Charlie. "That's enough." She said to me softly, "Max, when you were four years old, we went to a reptile park and you held a baby croc."
"Really?" I sat up straight. "Wasn't I scared?"
"Its jaws were taped together, so it couldn't bite," she said. "As soon as the woman asked for a volunteer to hold it, your hand shot up, and you pushed to the front and took the baby croc. You were fearless."
Wow. I was fearless.
Charlie said, "I read that if a croc does attack you, you'd be better off shoving your head into its jaws and getting the whole thing over and done with. No point dragging out your own death."
"Oh, Charlie," said Mom with disgust. "I don't want to hear another word about crocodiles."
I was fearless, I said over and over in my head. What happened between when I was four and now? I didn't know. And it didn't matter. If I was fearless then, I could be fearless now.
"Here we are," said Dad, pointing to a sign. He slowed the car to turn left.
The sign read, ADELAIDE RIVER QUEEN JUMPING CROCS. What?! They jump? I could just imagine a bunch of crocs jumping into the boat to get their morning snack. I glanced at Charlie and realized I had to sound calm, because I didn't want him to know I was worried. "I thought crocs could only swim and slide along the ground."
"These ones can jump way up in the air." Dad sounded excited.
My heart began to thump and my mouth dried up. I wasn't afraid; I was terrified. But I couldn't let anyone see it. How could I get out of going on the boat? My mind went blank. Before I knew it, Dad was parking the LandCruiser in the parking lot near the river.
This was serious. I couldn't get on that boat. I was too young to die.
"I feel a bit sick," I said, holding my stomach. "I'll wait in the car."
"No way," said Dad. "You're coming with us. I've already bought the tickets." He jumped out and slammed the door.
Then Charlie climbed over the back seat, jumped out and slammed the door.
Mom reached over to me and patted my hand. "Max, that trick only worked when you were little." She began to get out of the car. "Come on."
Far out! I didn't have a choice. I had to get on that boat. I followed Mom from a safe distance - just in case a croc was lurking up ahead.
"MAX!" Dad yelled. "Hurry up, we're boarding."