Mister Cassowary Read online

  Dad’s spoon clinked against his eggcup. ‘No, he wasn’t a ranger. He was a banana farmer, remember?’

  ‘Then how come there’s a picture of you and Grandad and a cassowary? I saw it beside his bed.’

  ‘Sorry, mate. Probably gave you nightmares, did it? We can chuck it if you like. Ugly dinosaurs.’

  ‘They’re not ugly, Dad!’ I said more loudly than I intended. ‘They’re beautiful.’ I chewed my bottom lip. ‘Is that Big Blue in the picture?’

  ‘Big Blue? Where’d you hear that name?’

  ‘Abby said Grandad looked after a cassowary called Big Blue. She—’

  ‘Look, let’s just say your grandad was obsessed with those ridiculous birds.’ Dad stood up and grabbed his plate off the table even though he’d only eaten one of his two eggs. ‘He wanted to make the farm into some sort of cassowary reserve, for goodness sake. I mean, how would a paddock full of cassowaries pay the bills? I kept telling him, “We’re banana farmers, not greenies!”’

  I stared at Dad. His face was red and his voice was low and hard. There was no laughter now.

  ‘Anyway, that was a long time ago, and Grandad’s gone now, so it doesn’t make any difference.’ He looked down at his phone. ‘You should call your mum,’ he muttered, changing the subject, as usual. ‘She’ll be finished her night shift by now.’

  He passed me his mobile before heading down the hallway. ‘I’m going to take a shower,’ he called back. ‘Give me a shout when you’re done.’

  ‘Hey, Mum.’

  ‘Flynn! Perfect timing. I just got home. How are you, honey?’

  I placed my eggcup and glass on the kitchen sink and walked down to Grandad Barney’s room. ‘Good,’ I said, sitting on the bed. The picture of Grandad, Dad and the cassowary looked at me. ‘Mum, why did they call Grandad Barney “Mister Cassowary”?’

  ‘Who told you that?’

  I stood up and walked to the doorway, listening for the shower. It was still running. ‘There’s a certificate in Grandad’s room for Mister Cassowary,’ I said, keeping my voice hushed. ‘And I found a picture I drew for Grandad. An Easter picture.’

  ‘Oh, honey, what are you asking about that for? How’s your dad today? Have the two of you got a big day planned?’

  I scratched my ankle. Mum was worse at avoiding questions than Dad. ‘Not much,’ I muttered. ‘It’s raining.’ It wasn’t just raining. The gutters outside Grandad’s room sounded like waterfalls they were overflowing so much.

  ‘Oh well. Dad says the house could do with a clean-up, so maybe you could help him with that?’

  I checked again. The shower was still running. ‘Hey, Mum?’

  ‘Yes, honey?’

  ‘What’s a cassowary reserve?’

  ‘That’s another funny question.’

  ‘Grandad Barney wanted to make the farm a cassowary reserve, didn’t he?’ I glanced over the books in the bookshelf.

  ‘Did Dad tell you that?’

  The rain stopped. So did the shower. I lowered my voice even more. ‘Kind of. Walter said Grandad Barney wanted to plant a rainforest instead of banana trees. Dad seems pretty mad about it.’

  ‘Poor Dad. It’s tough for him being back at the farm, Flynn.’

  ‘I know, Mum, you already told me.’

  ‘So is he okay? He seem to be coping and everything?’

  I huddled in against the bookshelves, keeping my back to the door. ‘No, not really. Was it a cassowary that killed Grandad?’ I whispered.

  ‘Sorry, Flynn. What did you say? You’re breaking up. I think my battery is about to die. Can you tell Dad I’ll call later? I love you, honey.’

  ‘Love you, too, Mum. Bye.’

  I hung up feeling more confused than ever.

  *

  ‘I might keep sorting the shed till the ground dries off a bit,’ said Dad, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  ‘Mum ran out of battery,’ I said, passing him the phone.

  ‘No worries, she’ll call me later.’ He disappeared into his room. ‘Want to come help me in the shed?’ he called through the wall.

  ‘Mum said I could help by cleaning Grandad Barney’s room.’ I sat down on Grandad’s bed and picked up the cassowary photo. I was sure it was Big Blue. Why wouldn’t Dad just tell me what had happened?

  Dad appeared dressed in shorts and a long-sleeved work shirt. ‘Mmm. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. There’s lots that you won’t know what to do with. Now that it’s stopped raining, you could start on the garden. Do you know how to pull weeds?’

  I rolled my eyes.

  ‘Right,’ said Dad. ‘I forgot. You’re the man of the house while I’m away. Good at sweeping, mowing and weeding. Quite the catch, aren’t you?’ He gave my arm a punch. ‘Come on, there’s some old gloves and gardening tools in the shed. We’ll get you kitted up.’

  I opened my mouth to argue, but then quickly shut it again. Pulling weeds was perfect! The chicks might come looking for food in the garden after all that rain. I tried not to appear too keen.

  Once Dad had shown me where the tools were and reminded me to be careful, he slid under the tractor. I gathered what I needed, and quickly dropped back by the kitchen to pick up two apples and a box of sultanas. Then I set up the tools in the front garden to make it look like I was busy pulling weeds and, after peering over to the shed to make sure that Dad was busy, I sat down on a rock and crunched on one of the apples. I pulled a piece out of my mouth and threw it onto the grass.

  The sun peeped out from behind the clouds. I strained my ears, trying to block out the frogs croaking and a kookaburra cackling, but I couldn’t hear any peeps.

  ‘Chicks’ I called softly, throwing another piece of apple. ‘Hide-and-seek chicks? It’s me, Flynn. Are you there?’

  The cicadas began to buzz, as if they were trying to answer and a dragonfly skimmed over a puddle, its wings glistening in the sun.

  But there was no trace of the chicks.

  I blew out an exasperated sigh. I couldn’t wait any more. If Dad came to check on me, he’d expect to see some progress in my weeding.

  Crouching down in the soggy soil, I tugged at the thick grass choking the plants. Normally I liked gardening, but today my heart wasn’t in it. My arms and legs felt like cement in the sticky, after-rain heat, and my head was muddled with confusion. Why did Dad get so mad when I asked about Grandad Barney? What had happened on Grandad’s very last day?

  And if those questions weren’t enough, my mind was flipping out over the cassowary we had hit. Was he dead? Were my hide-and-seek chicks really his? And if they were, where were they now? Would they manage without their dad?

  I gave up gardening and sat cross-legged on my rock. I distracted myself by opening the box of sultanas. It seemed so unfair that no one would give me answers. It wasn’t like I was too young to handle the truth. If Grandad had been killed in a terrible accident, why didn’t Dad just tell me? And if the cassowary had died on the side of the road, why wasn’t Dad just honest about it?

  Feeling like I might explode, I tossed a sultana. It landed with a soft plop on the grass. I tossed another. And then another until I couldn’t stop.

  My arm was mid-fling when I heard a peep. I lowered my arm and listened.

  ‘Peep. Peep. Peep.’ There it was again!

  A yellow beak appeared from behind a palm tree near the driveway, and slowly one of the baby cassowaries crept out. All of a sudden, it ran over to the sultana and jabbed at it desperately trying to pick it up, but the sultana kept flipping up like a bouncy grasshopper.

  Poor thing. It looked so hungry. I flicked another sultana onto the grass. The chick dived at it, flipped into a somersault and landed on its back. Abby would have been proud. I laughed. ‘You’re a nutcase. A little pea-nutty nutcase.’

  ‘Peep. Peep.
Peep,’ the chick replied, as if it understood.

  ‘Peanut,’ I said. ‘It suits you.’

  Peanut tipped his head from side to side, then angled his yellow beak down. Finally he hooked the sultana. As he swallowed, he cocked his head at me.

  ‘Nice work,’ I crooned as the second yellow-and-brown chick burst from the bushes and ran onto the garden bed. Its legs were all a-jumble.

  ‘Jumble,’ I whispered. Jumble was slightly smaller than Peanut and, when he looked at me, he opened his beak wide, making a shrill cheeping sound.

  ‘Here, have some apple,’ I whispered. I bit into it and threw small pieces onto the ground around me.

  Peanut dived forwards and pecked greedily, making apple juice spurt in the air. Jumble watched for a minute, then started pecking, too. Before long they’d eaten all the sultanas and all the apple, and then they pecked at my laces looking for more.

  ‘Who’d be scared of you hey, Peanut?’ I asked as Peanut ran over my leg to chase a march fly. His claws left red scratches, but I didn’t care. ‘You can’t even catch a fly.’

  Jumble started digging in the soil where I’d just pulled out the weeds. He found a worm and tossed it into his beak. ‘That’s it, eat up,’ I encouraged, digging around looking for another. ‘Maybe I could help you find some proper food? The sort you’d eat if your real dad was here to show you how?’

  I found another worm and threw it out for Peanut. He gobbled it up, the end disappearing just as Jumble ran over to share. Jumble turned back, looking at me hungrily.

  ‘I know. I’m sorry. It must be horrible without your dad. At least I have my mum when my dad’s not around. And I’m old enough to look after myself these days.’ I dug my fingers into the soil. ‘You guys are only babies. You need your dad to show you what to do.’

  Peanut was in the middle of scratching his neck when suddenly he stopped and cocked his head. Two seconds later, he and Jumble darted across the lawn and disappeared under the side fence.

  ‘Don’t go!’ I shouted. I sighed and stared at my half-finished weeding. The sun was fully out now and, even though I was sitting in the shade, the temperature had quickly risen. Sweat prickled my forehead, and my left foot started to itch. I took off my shoes and gasped. Blood soaked my sock. I reached down to peel it off.

  ‘What are you doing?’ said a voice.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Abby cried, flinging her bike down and peering worriedly at my foot.

  Blood oozed from a small hole on my ankle. ‘I had this slug-thing sucking my skin,’ I explained. ‘But it’s fallen off.’

  ‘Show me,’ Abby commanded. ‘What slug?’

  I turned my crimson sock inside out. The slug wriggled free.

  ‘Oh, it’s a leech.’ Abby giggled, pushing her hair from her eyes as the leech flip-flopped onto the grass. ‘No wonder there’s so much blood.’

  ‘A leech?’

  ‘They look terrible, but they’re pretty harmless really,’ said Abby. ‘Where did it come from?’

  I flicked my sock, just in case there was another one hiding in it. ‘It was on my foot this morning. Maybe it crawled into my sock yesterday when I was over there in the swamp.’ I pointed to the trees past the lawn.

  ‘The swamp? I thought your dad didn’t let you out of his sight?’

  ‘Yeah, well, he doesn’t know everything. Is it really a leech?’ I poked the slimy body with the end of a nearby stick.

  Abby rolled her eyes, like the question wasn’t worth answering. ‘Duh. Don’t you people from Brisbane know anything? Course it is. We get them all the time.’ Abby slid her legs into the splits and once she was all the way down on the grass, she held her arms out in front of her, like a ballet dancer. ‘So, what were you doing in the swamp?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said, a little too quickly.

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ she insisted, her eyes narrowing. ‘Why’s your face red?’

  I turned to hide my guilt. Was she always this bossy? ‘I found something, that’s all,’ I murmured.

  Abby fell out of the splits and sat up, turning her head to me as if she were balancing a crown.

  Over in the shed, I heard the tractor start up. Good. Dad would be busy for a while. ‘What did you find?’ Abby demanded, bringing her face close to mine. She smelt like strawberry bubblegum and sunscreen.

  I chewed my lip. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share my secret. But then, maybe she could tell me more about caring for the babies. ‘Cassowary chicks,’ I admitted.

  Abby’s mouth dropped open. ‘Chicks? Are you sure? Where?’

  ‘In the swamp. And here. In Grandad Barney’s garden.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘I am telling you.’

  ‘How many?’ She pivoted around, looking in the long grass. ‘How big were they?’

  ‘There were two. And they were about,’ I held my hand above the ground at the height of a 30 cm school ruler, ‘this high.’

  Abby grinned. ‘Wait till I tell Pop. And Cathy. Did you see their dad?’

  The thud of the cassowary hitting our car echoed in my ears. My chest grew tight. ‘There was no dad,’ I croaked.

  ‘What? But the dad’s always around somewhere. You just didn’t see him, that’s all. Cassowaries can be very shy.’

  ‘Well, I saw them yesterday, and there was no dad then. And they were just here, and there was still no dad.’

  ‘What, they were here today?’

  ‘Yeah, a second ago. Pecking around my feet.’

  ‘You weren’t feeding them, were you?’

  My eyes fell to the ground. ‘No.’

  ‘You were so! Look, your face’s gone red again. You can’t feed them! What if a cassowary starts attacking you? You could get scratched to death over a rotten tomato.’

  I straightened my shoulders. ‘They won’t attack me,’ I replied. ‘They like me.’

  ‘Don’t you remember what I said about your grandad? Big Blue was probably cute when he was a chick, too. But when cassowaries get older, and they think everyone carries food, things go wrong. What do you reckon the other cassowaries will do when they discover that you’re handing out free breakfast?’

  ‘But the babies need me,’ I persisted. ‘I’m teaching them. They don’t know how to look after themselves without their dad.’

  ‘You can’t feed cassowaries, Flynn!’ Abby wedged her hands firmly onto her hips. ‘It’s against the law. We need to tell Cathy. She’ll look after them.’

  ‘But I’m looking after them.’

  ‘I mean properly. At the rehab centre. Cathy and the other rangers know what the cassowaries need. They look after orphans and injured cassowaries all the time. You can’t just feed them ’cause they’re cute.’

  My face grew hot. I loved Peanut and Jumble. I didn’t want them shipped off to some rehab centre. But then, a thought occurred to me. I glanced sideways at Abby.

  ‘So, at the centre,’ I began, ‘they look after injured cassowaries, right? All injured cassowaries?’

  Abby pursed her lips and looked at me as if I were an annoying puppy needing to be reminded not to bark. But then she nodded. ‘Uh huh.’

  ‘So, if the dad of my cassowary chicks is there, we could take his babies back to him, couldn’t we?’

  ‘Yeah, if he’s there. But what if he’s not? He could be in the forest somewhere, dead.’

  My heart lurched. Please don’t let him be dead. ‘What if he’s injured and can’t get back to the rainforest?’ I said, hating the pleading tone of my voice. ‘Wouldn’t the rangers have found him by now?’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Abby demanded.

  I took a deep breath. ‘It’s our fault the chicks have no dad.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  I couldn’t look Abby in the eyes. The words formed on my lips, but
the sound wouldn’t come out. ‘We … we hit one,’ I finally blurted.

  ‘You what?’

  ‘We hit a cassowary. On the way here. It ran into the middle of the road, and Dad couldn’t slow down in time.’ I crunched my hands into fists to stop myself from crying.

  Abby pushed her hair from her face. ‘Was it okay?’

  ‘I don’t know. Dad said it was too dangerous to get out of the car. But he called the rangers as soon as we got here, and they said they were going to look for it.’

  ‘Did they find it?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Don’t you know anything? Have you even told your dad about the chicks? If you do, he could call Cathy and ask if they’ve found the injured cassowary. If he tells her about the chicks, then she could—’

  ‘I haven’t told Dad.’

  Abby’s lips were thin. ‘How come?’

  ‘My dad’s funny about cassowaries. They’re not his favourite conversation topic. Anyway, I thought …’ My whole face grew warm. I hadn’t planned on sharing my idea, and here I was spitting it all out. ‘I thought, if Dad let me go to the working bee with you and Walter, then I could look for the cassowary we hit, and try to work out if he’s the dad of my chicks.’ There, I’d said it. I just wished my eyes weren’t feeling so prickly.

  Abby scratched her head. ‘How will you know he’s their dad just by looking at him?’ she said.

  I hadn’t thought of that. I shrugged while Abby brushed off her shorts and turned towards the swamp.

  ‘You said the swamp, right? Let’s go check the chicks are okay first.’ She sounded just like my teacher.

  ‘But Dad will be back any minute. He doesn’t like me to—’

  ‘Come on. It won’t take long.’ Abby took off, with me trailing after her, my stomach twisting. Dad would never trust me again if he found out I’d been feeding cassowaries. I’d only just convinced him I wasn’t five.

  ‘Wait!’ I raced around and stood in front of Abby. ‘If I show you, promise not to tell anyone? At least until we know for sure what’s happened to their dad?’

  The tractor throbbed in the distance. Dad was still busy. For now.