Crown Park (6 page)

“Will that fix await us?”

Fluoro chuckled. “As-phyx-i-ate.
It means to choke. And no, it won’t. There’s always a little breeze
to take it away.”

Jack nodded and took up his
position on the lounger. “OK,” he said. “If we’re not going to be
as-phyx-i-ated, then let’s go and find out what’s happened to
Chainsaw.”

This time Fluoro and Jack found
themselves on top of a ridge looking down at the clearing where
they’d been earlier. The adzebills had gone. So too had all the
other birds.

There was now much more steam
rising out of the lake. Rafts of dead pelicans were floating in the
water.

“There’s been an explosion,”
said Fluoro.

Jack gave a sad little nod. “We
better find Chainsaw quickly,” he said. “Where do you think we
should look?”

Fluoro pointed to a spit of land
that reached nearly all the way out to the steam. “There. Lucy’s
lot were going to The Source. I bet he followed them.”

“Then let’s go,” said Jack,
setting off down the ridge. “Let’s go find the Luce Crew.”

“More like the Loose Screws,”
said Fluoro as he fell in behind. “They’re all a bit crazy, aren’t
they?”

Jack didn’t reply. He wasn’t
sure that Fluoro was the right one to call other people crazy?

They found Lucy and Godfrey in a narrow
bay, surrounded by a group of purple birds. These had to be the
surviving moho.

“Fluoro!” shouted Lucy as the
humans approached. “And Jack! I thought we’d lost you all. Where
did you go?”

“We needed to take some time
out,” said Fluoro.

Godfrey nodded as if he
understood that. “Good to have you back.”

“Have you seen Chainsaw?” asked
Jack.

The animals looked at each
other. “No,” answered Lucy. “Not since he ran into the trees.”

“My word,” added Godfrey. “He
was lucky that The Source chose that moment to roar, or he’d now be
adzebill poo just like those poor moho.”

“Where are the adzebills?” asked
Jack.

“Gone,” said Godfrey. “And good
riddance to them. Horrible things.”

“Yes!” added Lucy. “And they
won’t be attacking moho anymore. Not now we’re here.” Her head
swivelled round to beam at the assembled moho. “Aren’t they such
beautiful birds?”

They were too, with their purple
breasts and thick, scarlet legs.

“And this is Morris,” said Lucy,
tilting her head towards the closest moho. “He’s their
spokesperson. Aren’t you, Morris?”

Morris gazed up at her as if he
was in love. “Yes,” he said in a goofy voice. “I am.” Then he
giggled. This started all the others giggling, with heads wagging
stupidly from side to side.

Jack rolled his eyes. Now he
knew why they ended up extinct — it wasn’t only their legs that
were thick.

“We’re all here to see The
Source,” continued Lucy. “This is about as close as you can
get.”

Fluoro and Jack followed her
eyes to the steaming water.

“I don’t think you should be
here,” said Fluoro. “That could explode at any moment.”

“Oh, we’re all right,” replied
Lucy. “Nothing will happen to us.”

“What about the pelicans?”

“Oh, them! Stupid things were in
the water. No wonder they got killed. You don’t get too close to
The Source, you know.”

The moho all nodded their heads
in agreement.

Godfrey looked to Fluoro. “Do
you think it’s going to get worse?”

“I
know
it’s going to get
worse.”

“How bad?”

“Very. Where we’re standing will
end up totally covered. I think you should get as far away from the
lake as you can. And quickly.”

“Oh,” said Lucy. “Is it really
going to get that bad?”

Jack and Fluoro nodded.

The moa gazed out at the lake.
“The Source usually looks after us land birds. But still, maybe
we’d better call Pat and Em back.”

“They’re down at the shore
feeding,” Godfrey explained.

Jack looked to the shore. Emily
was clearly visible standing on top of a dead bird. There was no
sign of Pat.

Lucy let out one of her loudest
“doofs”. Godfrey added a honk.

Emily looked up, and a short
distance away something else stirred amongst the corpses. A furry
head popped up. But it wasn’t Pat. It was Chainsaw.

Jack was unprepared for the
strong surge of emotion that swept his body. He began running
towards the shore.

Behind him he heard Fluoro
shout, “No, Jack!”

But nothing was going to stop
Jack from being with his friend.

“Look at the water!” yelled
Fluoro.

Jack looked up and saw a great
fountain of stuff rising from the lake. Then the sound hit him. A
blast that soon turned into a roar. Jack stopped and watched the
fountain climb into the sky. It reached a peak hundreds of metres
above the lake, hanging there for a moment as if frozen in place.
Next it began to collapse. Slowly at first, then with a rush as it
crashed back down with a mighty splash.

For a time it looked like it was
all over. Then Jack saw the swell of water coming towards the
shore.

“Wave!” he shouted, “Wave!”

He started running again.
“Chainsaw!” he screamed. “Get out of there.”

Emily must’ve heard the call for
she gave a squawk and took off. Chainsaw just stood.

“Chainsaw!”

Now the wave was getting ready
to break. At last Chainsaw noticed that something was happening.
But instead of moving towards the land, he went towards the lake.
Soon he was surrounded by water and foam.

“Jack!” yelled Fluoro. “Save
yourself!”

Jack turned and saw that Fluoro
and the birds were rushing towards the back of the bay. He tried to
follow but got caught by the surging water. Running was impossible.
He turned to check on Chainsaw. He was about twenty metres back,
swimming towards the shore. He seemed to be carrying something in
his mouth.

With a shock, Jack realized it
was Pat. The little bat was squeaking with fear. Jack looked away,
disgusted with his friend. How could he attack the bat in the
middle of a disaster?

He turned back to voice his
feelings, and that’s when he noticed that Chainsaw was working to
keep Pat above the water. He wasn’t trying to eat him at all. He
was trying to save him.

By then the water had reached
its peak and had started flowing back. Soon it was shallow enough
for Jack to move forward and help. But now the receding water was
pulling the pair out into the lake. The gap was widening.

A shout came from behind. “Look
out!” screamed Fluoro.

Jack turned to see that waves
had bounced off the sides of the bay and were coming at him. Once
again he was up to his thighs in water. Worse still, the rushing
water was pulling him towards the lake. There was nothing he could
do except go with the flow.

Out into deeper water he went,
fighting to stay afloat. And still the water kept moving, dragging
corpses and rubbish out of the bay and into the main part of the
lake.

Bit by bit the flow lessened and
Jack’s feet touched the bottom. Chainsaw and Pat were now a long
way from shore. The cat was struggling to keep them both afloat.
But it was too much for him. Gradually he stopped moving until both
animals were floating motionless in the water.

Jack gazed out over the lake with
unseeing eyes. He felt he should do something, but his mind
wouldn’t work anymore. So he just stood and stared at the
water.

It was Emily who spurred him
into action. She swooped down crying, “Come and help me! We’ve got
to save them.”

Before Jack could reply, she was
gone, flying out to where Jack had last seen Chainsaw and Pat. She
soon spotted what she was after and flew down to the surface. Her
claws extended into the water and grabbed something. With three
powerful wing beats, she lifted into the air dragging a black
shape.

It was Pat. His wings were
hanging down like black wrapping paper. As they cleared the
surface, Jack could see that there was still something left behind.
It had to be Chainsaw. Maybe he was still alive.

Jack plunged into the water and
began swimming.

Swimming through all the rubbish
would have been difficult for a strong swimmer, which Jack wasn’t,
and after a couple of minutes he knew he wouldn’t make it. He was
turning back to shore when a lump of floating pumice hit his head.
Thinking that might be the answer, he grabbed it and stuffed it
under his chest.

Yes, it worked! With his body
supported by the pumice he now had a chance. Then he saw that there
was pumice all around with some bits as big as his body. He chose a
chunk flatter than the rest and kicked towards it. Soon he was
lying on it and powering his way back out into the lake, the
ancient slab of pumice working just as well as a modern
surfboard.

Emily saw what was happening and
turned to meet him. She dropped down and dumped Pat on the front of
the surfboard, alongside Jack’s head.

“Look after him,” she ordered.
“I’m going back to help that other furry thing.”

“He’ll be too heavy,” said Jack.
But she had already gone.

Pat’s breathing was a mix of
gurgles and hisses. One of his wings lay over Jack’s face making
paddling difficult. Pat tried to fold it away, but no longer had
the strength.

“Are you all right, Pat?” Jack
asked.

“I think so,” squeaked Pat.
“Having a bit of trouble with the flying apparatus, though. It
won’t retract the way it should.”

Jack stopped paddling and sat up
on the pumice. “Here, let me help.”

Together they managed to get
Pat’s wings stowed away. Now the bat took up hardly any room on the
board. “How’s Em doing?” he asked, raising his head. “I can’t see
that far.”

Jack looked up to where Emily
was trying to lift the cat out of the water. “Not very well,” he
said. “Chainsaw’s too heavy for her.”

“We must help,” said Pat.

Jack went back to paddling.
Ahead of them, Emily was trying once more to lift Chainsaw. Again
she failed. After hovering for a time, she flew a short distance
away. There, she dipped into the water and came out lifting a block
of pumice.

Emily struggled back to
Chainsaw. There, she dropped the block and grabbed hold of him once
more. This time she managed to get his front half high enough to
lower it onto the pumice.

For a heart-stopping moment it
looked like he would slide off. But then Chainsaw did what he did
best. He dug his claws in. They gripped and the sliding stopped.
For the time being he was safe.

Now Jack had some hope that they
might be able to save his friend. He forced his aching arms to
paddle faster.

“Go, Jack, go,” urged Pat. “You
can do it.”

Emily arrived and perched on
Jack’s bottom. She started whistling in time with his paddling. Pat
joined in with his squeaks. Then from the shore came the doof-honk
that completed the rhythm. Jack glanced behind and saw that
everybody was lined up along the shore.

That was the moment when he knew
they would be successful. How could he fail when everyone was
behind him?

The welcome when they made it back to
land was incredible. Hundreds of birds had come to the shore. Even
some pelicans had flown in and were now sitting on the water
forming a lane down which Jack paddled his surfboard.

As they touched land, a huge
cheer went up. Honks, quacks, whistles, croaks… every noise that
could be made by a bird echoed around the bay.

“What a wonderful rescue!” said
Lucy as she led the welcoming party forward.

“Yes,” agreed Godfrey. “Well
done! Well done!”

Fluoro said nothing. He simply
stepped forward, squeezed Jack’s arm and nodded his thanks.

“It was Emily,” said Jack. “She
did all the thinking. All I did was paddle.”

“But a girl sometimes needs a
bit of muscle for support,” said Emily.

“Don’t forget what Chainsaw
did,” said Pat quietly. “I’d be at the bottom of the lake if it
wasn’t for him saving me.”

Everyone looked at Chainsaw. If
any cat looked less like a hero, it was him. He was lying on the
pumice looking like… well… like a drowned cat. Jack moved over and
patted his head. Chainsaw looked up and gave a little meow of
appreciation.

“We need to dry you off,” said
Jack.

“And you too,” said Fluoro. “I
think we should get back home, before it gets too late.”

Then everyone was aware of how
dark it had become.

Lucy looked around at the
assembled birds. “We need to find a roost for the night,” she
said.

“Not here” added Godfrey. “The
Source might speak again during the night.”

As if on cue a great rumbling
came from the lake.

“Yes,” agreed Fluoro. “And
tomorrow I suggest you head well away from here. The Source is
going to become so violent that it will be dangerous to be anywhere
near it.”

“All right,” said Lucy. “We’ll
head east a bit.”

Fluoro shook his head wildly.
“No! Not east. That’s the worst direction to go. The wind will
carry the eruption in that direction. West is the only safe area
and even then you need to go a long way.”

There were cries of dismay from
the moho.

“What’s the problem?” asked
Fluoro.

Morris stepped forward. “The
west is adzebill territory,” he said. “We can’t go there.”

Godfrey looked up at Fluoro.
“You’ve seen what the adzebills do to moho. Which do you think
would be worse for them? Staying here or going to the west?”

Without hesitation Fluoro
replied, “Staying here. If they are anywhere near the lake seven
days from now they will die for sure. In the west, at least they
have some chance of survival.”

“OK,” said Lucy taking control
again. “Then tomorrow we will go to the west.”