Jax didn’t know how long he had sat on the track by the river cradling Ruby, but it was well past midday when he suddenly thought of Mai. She would have waited by the classroom, wondering why I hadn’t come, he thought. How can I tell her that Ruby is dead?
Jax stood up slowly, wiping away his tears. He stared down at the little body. I can’t take her home and let Mai see her like this, he thought. I have to find a place to bury her.
Jax looked around. Behind him stood a pair of rusty gates swinging gently on their hinges. Above the gates were the words Whispering Cloud twisted out of wrought iron and forming an archway that led into a huge rainforest park. There was something mysterious about the park. Even though it looked deserted, Jax could hear a soft whispering. He hesitated, but then a breath of wind brushed past his ear, enticing him in.
Inside the park, the wind strengthened, whipping the branches, running its invisible fingers through balls of leaves first on one tree, then on another. Under the tall canopy of green, Jax felt an eerie silence. Plants climbed on top of each other searching for light, while vines hung down like living beaded curtains.
Suddenly, up ahead, a large fox crossed the path. The animal stopped and turned to look at Jax. Its yellow eyes glinted. Thrusting its nose in the air, it made a high barking sound, thumped its bushy tail on the ground, and loped off into the bushes leaving what looked like a trail of sparks. Jax stared after it. How strange, he thought. A fox making sparks? He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he had imagined it. But when he reached the spot where the fox had disappeared, he saw that some dry leaves and twigs had caught on fire. He quickly stamped them out then hurried down the path, with a creeping feeling that he was being watched chilling the back of his neck.
Up ahead, the path branched off in two directions. Jax stood for a moment wondering which way he should go. One of the arrows on the signpost pointed to Rotunda, the other to Lake and Ancient Banyan Tree. He decided to head for the lake. At least there he would be out of the darkness of the rainforest. And he might find a nice, dry place to bury Ruby.
The path snaked through a dense bamboo grove, then opened out as it climbed a hill. Without the shelter of the trees, the heat from the midday sun made Jax sweat. But then, as he came over the rise, he was greeted by a refreshingly cool breeze. From where he stood he could see a large expanse of water, and on the shore the outline of an enormous tree, like a dark green umbrella against the sky. Jax headed towards it.
When he came to the lake’s edge, he saw that much of it was covered with water lilies. In between the boat-like leaves, pink lotus flowers rose up like graceful hands.
Jax stood under the massive tree. Its trunk was so thick, it would take twelve people standing hand in hand to circle its girth. Long aerial roots hung down from the thick branches above, like ropes on an old sailing ship. At Jax’s feet was a wooden plaque that read:
Weeping Chinese Banyan
(Ficus benjamina)
600 years old
Legend has it that this tree was planted by
Admiral Zheng He
whose fleet came to Australia from China in the 15th century
Jax wondered how anything could live to be that old. Then he thought about Ruby. The vet said she was the oldest dog he had ever seen. How old was she? Where did she come from? Who had owned her before? These were questions Jax thought he would never find the answers to.
Jax gently laid Ruby’s body beside him on the ground. Then he realised he was still clutching Ma’s gold necklace in his hand. He had been holding it so tightly, his palm was bleeding from the metal squares that had cut into his birthmark. He draped the necklace over a large tree root, and licked the blood. It tasted salty and metallic but he didn’t care. He was tired and numb to everything. Jax put down his backpack and started to dig with his bare hands. If only he could dig out the emptiness he was feeling inside.
When the grave was deep enough, Jax gathered dry leaves and laid them down to make a soft bed for Ruby to lie on. Then he sat back on his heels and whispered…
Black earth falling on white fur,
Cold against a body still warm.
Ruby sleeps.
Our lives apart but not our souls,
Always in my heart, my Ruby.
Jax sprinkled leaves over the little body and covered it with earth. He knew it would be dark very soon. In the tropics there is no twilight and the sun was now low on the horizon. Wiping away his tears, he picked up his backpack and headed for home.
It was dark when he finally turned into Trumper Street. A lone porch light lit up the paperbark tree, giving it a ghostly appearance. Jax saw Mai playing hopscotch. She bent down to pick up a stone, then turned to look in his direction. At first she hesitated, but realising it was Jax, raced excitedly up the street to meet him.
‘Is Ruby all right? Can I see her? Where is she?’ Mai danced around her brother then looked up into his face. Her expression suddenly changed. ‘Jax, where is she?’
Jax didn’t answer at first. He put his arm around Mai’s shoulders, then said gently, ‘Ruby’s dead.’
‘No, she can’t be!’ Mai started crying softly.
‘The vet said she was very old, older than any dog he’d ever seen before,’ Jax tried to comfort her. He picked one of Ruby’s white hairs off his sleeve and twirled it between his fingers. ‘I buried her by a lake, Mai. It’s a nice place.’
‘I don’t want her to be dead,’ said Mai, sobbing loudly. ‘Why did she have to die?’
As Jax and Mai stood on the front porch they heard footsteps coming up the hall. Jax turned to Mai. ‘Did Ma find out I didn’t go to school today?’
Mai shook her head, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. ‘I told Mama you had footy after school, that’s why you’re late.’
He squeezed his little sister’s hand as Ma opened the front door.
‘What are you two doing out here in the dark?’ she said. ‘Come inside and wash your hands. Dinner is almost ready.’
Jax entered the house. It was filled with the smell of roasted garlic, but he didn’t feel hungry. Instead he felt numb and empty as if his insides had been whittled away with a knife.
‘Come on, Mai, you help me set the table while your brother puts his things away,’ said Ma.
Mai looked at Jax, then followed Ma down the hall to the kitchen, sniffing quietly.
Now is the perfect time to put Ma’s necklace back, Jax thought, glancing into his parents’ bedroom. He unzipped the outside pocket of his backpack. That’s funny, I’m sure I put the necklace in here.
Jax began pulling everything out, slowly at first, then with more and more panic in his actions.
Again and again he searched, hoping it wasn’t true, wishing there was a hidden pocket somewhere. Or that maybe it had slipped down inside the lining. He looked through every corner of his backpack, but couldn’t find it anywhere.
No, please, no! I can’t have lost it … Jax leant against the wall, his eyes closed, drained of all energy. He wished he could just sleep. But then he thought, no, I can’t give up. What does Ma say? When was the last time you saw it?
And so he began to play everything through in his mind, from the moment he chased Ruby out of the clinic, to leaving the park after burying her. He examined every detail closely. And then he saw it, there in his mind’s eye, the gold necklace hanging on the roots of the old banyan tree.
Please, God, please make it still be there, Jax prayed.