Page 20 of Lost In Kakadu

Chapter Twenty

T he pounding in Charlie’s head beat to an odd rhythm and he willed it to go away. He forced his eyes open and stared at the shredded undercarriage above him. The brutal recollection of their plans before he blacked out made him panic. With a shaky hand, he touched his chest and with instant relief he felt the rough bandage.

He heard laughter and turned to see Mackenzie rolling on the ground, cackling hysterically. Charlie concluded that he must’ve consumed the last of the rum. No other scenario would arouse laughter in their current situation. His bundle of letters caught his eye and he attempted to reach for them, but intense pain unleashed a tortured scream. Seconds later Mackenzie and Abigail were at his side.

“Hey, buddy. How’re you feeling?” Mackenzie squatted beside him.

He silently nodded, wrestling with swirling nausea. “My chest doesn’t hurt as much as my head.”

“Rum will do that to you. But you’re in luck. We found some pain killers at the back of the plane. I’ll get them.” Mackenzie ducked his head as he left the makeshift bedroom.

Abigail pushed the letter bundle closer to him and Charlie rested his hand on the pile. She looked like she wanted to say something but thankfully she didn’t.

Charlie wasn’t ready to answer questions just yet. They remained in uncomfortable silence until Mackenzie returned .

“Here, take a couple of these. At least you’ll have one less pain to worry about.” Mackenzie popped out two pills and handed them over with water.

Charlie battled to suppress a cough as the warm water slid down his throat. “Thank you.” He peered into Mackenzie’s eyes and saw pity in them, as if he possessed a divine knowledge of his impending future. He looked away. Mackenzie’s sad eyes hurt more than the throbbing headache.

“Are you hungry?”

He nodded, knowing that opening his mouth would release flood gates he didn’t want to open. Mackenzie squeezed his shoulder and left his side. Abigail followed, leaving Charlie alone in his cargo net shanty.

The satin ribbon around his precious letters was smooth and silky between his fingers. He didn’t want to end it all here. With just one thing on his bucket list, the abrupt realisation that he might not fulfil it, had him clenching his fists. His mind raced along with his heart.

He looked for his satchel. “Abigail!”

Abigail turned at the sound of Charlie’s faint voice and dashed to his side. His eyes were wide and fearful. “Are you okay?”

“Can you get my satchel, please?”

She reached across his body, careful not to touch him as she lifted the heavy satchel by its broken strap.

“My journal’s inside. Can you get it?”

She removed a leather-bound journal and was surprised by its weight. A thin strap wrapped several times around it kept it shut.

“Open it,” he urged.

She unravelled the bindings and as several pages spilled out the side, she had to counterbalance it to keep them in place.

“Go about three quarters in.”

Using her fingernail, she divided the book and opened to a page covered with masses of erratic writing. An intricate drawing of a leaf adorned the left-hand corner, and a scattering of words were underlined. She read a few of them: Obovate, Falcate, Rhomboid, but nothing made sense .

“Keep going, more to the back.”

She turned the pages, frowning at the array of words, hand drawn sketches, computer generated images, tables and photos.

“Stop! There it is!”

She placed her palm against the spine of the book, folding it open. At the head of the right-hand page the words ‘Filantaria minoxa’ were printed in large, handwritten letters. Underneath it was ‘Australia’s Antioxidant Answer AAA’.

A flurry of text interspersed with random collections of numbers and a couple of sketches covered the rest of the page. The left side displayed a hand drawn map, and she recognised the word ‘Kakadu’ but couldn’t make sense of anything else.

“What is it?”

“That, my dear, is the solution to our problem.”

Abigail studied the map again and wondered if Charlie could help them find a way out. But even if he knew where they were, how on earth did he propose they would travel? He could barely talk let alone walk. “Charlie, I don’t think?—”

He silenced her with his hand. “All we have to do is find that plant.”

Abigail frowned. “Um, what plant?”

“That plant. The Ozioxidant, as I call it. It’s the antioxidant I told you about. It’ll help me get better, so I won’t be a burden to you.”

“Charlie, you’re not a burden. You’re injured.”

He stared at her like she’d proposed marriage. “That’s the reason I’m here. Have you heard of the Goji berry from China?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Abigail flicked over a page but had no idea what she was looking at.

“Those little berries possess amazing antioxidant qualities and I believe my little berry—I call it the Noxa berry—will blow them out of the water.”

“How will you find it?”

“It’s taken me years to get to this point. My notes are all there. I’ve interviewed hundreds of Aboriginal elders and reviewed their cave drawings. I know it’s in Kakadu. Here. Let me show you.”

Charlie delved into a series of in-depth explanations about his notes, but after a while he must’ve realised Abigail had no comprehension of what he was saying. He sighed. “At the very least, I have information in here regarding other edible plants in this area.”

Her eyes lit up. “Can we eat the mushrooms?”

“Um … some of them.”

“Mackenzie ate some earlier. I told him not to. Anyway, he’s been acting weird ever since.”

“I have several pages on mushrooms, but believe me, if he was going to get sick, he would’ve already.” Charlie paused and then in an unrecognisable voice said, “He chose wisely.” He chuckled and then gasped in pain.

Abigail had no idea what he was laughing about. She looked away shaking her head. Their situation was dire. They had little food, limited water and she hadn’t showered in four days. Her hair felt like an alien creature was hibernating on her head and worst of all, she could smell her own body odour. Sitting back, she examined her hands. They were utterly filthy. Dirt embedded along the shallow creases of her palm like a human road map and dark brown stains were now visible below her fingernails, despite her red nail polish.

Mackenzie returned to the bedding holding a charcoaled can of baked beans with a T-shirt.

“Here we go, mate. The special of the day is a delicacy in these parts, fire roasted baked beans.” He smiled as he placed the can next to Charlie. “There’s a small fork on the army knife.” Mackenzie presented the miniature fork like a trophy and chuckled. “You’ll just have to eat them one bean at a time.”

“That’s probably best anyway.” Charlie popped a bean into his mouth and Abigail heard him swallow.

Abigail left Charlie and Mackenzie and walked to the gravesite. She folded her arms over her chest at the edge of the dark pit and stared into it.

Oh Spencer, what am I going to do ?

For sixteen years Spencer had been telling her what to do. He’d dictated everything, from what she wore to who she spent time with. Now, she felt completely lost without him. She hugged herself as tears stung her eyes.

Blinking the tears away, her chest tightened with each heavy footfall she made back to the plane.