CHAPTER 32

After pegging the washing back up on the clothesline and tidying up the hayloft, Evie feels like her day has disappeared. But it’s not lunchtime yet; there’s still plenty of time to put her plan into action.

Mr Duffer appears at the stables and Evie helps him to harness Bernard to the buggy so he can take George into Breamlea to find out where the zoo handlers and the bullock dray have gotten to.

“Don’t worry, Evie. I’m going to put them off for as long as I can,” George tells her. But with his father being the way he is, Evie can’t help but doubt George’s good intentions. She feels the bullock dray could be here any day now.

“Come on,” says Evie. Rhino saunters along behind her, through the wild garden, under the rustling moonah trees, over the bumpy hummocks and into the sand dunes.

Evie collects a pile of driftwood and it’s in the seclusion of the sand dunes she chooses to build an enclosure for Rhino. On one side is basalt rock, which creates a natural barrier. The other side of the dune needs a fence to complete the place that will hide Rhino. With a rock, Evie bashes mainstay posts deep into the sand and it is through these she weaves driftwood to form a fence.

While she works, she lectures Rhino in a firm voice.

“You must stay here, out of sight. Do you understand me?”

Rhino watches Evie, huffing over her shoulder.

But Evie finds the driftwood difficult to bend. It’s brittle and easy to snap, and her fingers are full of tiny splinters. She sucks on them and continues working.

By mid-afternoon, the semblance of an enclosure is taking shape. Feeling happy, Evie returns to the stables. She finds George, recently returned from Breamlea, in the garden, picking herbs with Cook and Mr Duffer in the house paddock repairing a trough. It wasn’t easy but Evie did several trips to the stables, without anyone seeing her, returning to the dunes with armfuls of lucerne, a bucket of bran and molasses and a bucketful of water.

This might work, thinks Evie, and she leads Rhino inside the enclosure, shutting the makeshift gate. She props a few rocks against it, to make sure it’s solid. Rhino stares at Evie doe-eyed.

“You must stay here until I get back. Do you hear me?”

He curls his lips at her, making a smacking noise.

“I love you too. Now, stay.” Evie gives him a quick kiss before scampering back toward the house.

Rhino sniffs at the strange stick fence and leans against the gate. It’s as flimsy as straw, but for some reason the golden-haired child wishes him to stay here. He will, for her. She never does anything without a reason, so he’ll go along with it. For now. Until he runs out of food. Or if the urge to wander overcomes him, he may have to leave. It happens when the breeze brings him delightful smells that call to him. Call him to investigate. Sometimes, the call is irresistible. But, for now, he’ll stay in the sand dunes as asked.

When Evie returns to the stables, she finds Mr Duffer cleaning out the foaling stall and replacing it with fresh hay.

Simon and Mini hear her and poke their little heads out of the hay. She waves her hands at them to “stay put” and shakes her head at them.

“Rhino’s missing. Have you seen him, Mr Duffer?”

Behind Mr Duffer, Evie can see the monkeys hanging upside down from the loft.

Mr Duffer leans on his pitchfork and scratches his head. The monkeys swing high into the rafters of the stable roof, and Evie forces herself to look Mr Duffer in the eye. At least they’re not chattering thinks Evie.

“No, Evie. I haven’t seen him since he headed off with you into the sand dunes earlier,” he says.

Evie nods and hurries to the house where she finds Cook and George sitting together at the kitchen table. They’re reading recipes and George is copying them out by hand into his notebook.

“Rhino’s gone. I can’t find him anywhere,” she announces to them.

“I’m sure he’s down the way, child, grazin’ with that daft cow,” says Cook.

George looks up. “Have you seen Dominique, Evie? They’re always together.”

Evie rushes to the study to seek out Grandpa.

“Rhino has gone missing. I can’t find him anywhere; I’ve been looking for him all morning. He’s gone, Grandpa. I’m sure of it.”

Grandpa looks up from his desk where he’s working. “Are you sure, Evie?”

“Quite sure. He’s gone. He never wanders far. What if he’s lost?”

Grandpa turns to the window and smiles. “Well, I’m sure I can see him wandering in from the sand dunes.”

“What?!” Evie dashes to the window where she sees Rhino sauntering into the garden, nibbling parsley, and twirling his tail.