Kakadu Calling (2 page)

Then the dingoes started howling. At first it frightened him because they made an eerie sound, but he just sat quietly and they soon stopped. Then he heard rustling in the grass and he saw the shadows of bandicoots and a porcupine sniffing around. When it was too dark to see anything, he found a place under a rock ledge and fell fast asleep.

It was early in the morning when he felt
something sliding down his back, but he dared not move because when he opened his eyes, he could just see the head of a python slithering past. Terrified, Burrki felt a cold shiver ripple down his spine.

He desperately wanted to jump up and run, but he could hear his father's voice saying, ‘Don't move when a snake is near you. Stay quiet and it will go away.'

Trying to stay calm, Burrki closed his eyes and waited until he could feel the last of the snake's body slide down his back, and over his legs. He let out a big sigh of relief, but still he didn't move. When he thought enough time had passed, Burrki got up and followed the snake tracks across the sand to a low ridge where he could see it was
resting. The python had a big bulge in his stomach. ‘I think he had one bandicoot for his supper last night,' thought Burrki.

Burrki returned to his sleeping place and ate the last of his wallaby meat and yam. He set off again, and by early afternoon he'd climbed his way through the hills and had emerged out onto a rocky ledge. He sat down and looked across the plains. Dotted here and there were wild buffaloes. Burrki wasn't that worried about them, but they were huge animals, and he had once heard about a man being chased and gored in the leg.

He sat for a long time watching them graze. His father said that if the wind was blowing away
from the animals, they wouldn't be able to smell you, but Burrki could see that the buffaloes were in no hurry to leave their feeding place. He would have to find a way to make them leave. It was already mid-afternoon and he was getting worried.

Burrki knew that if he lit a fire the buffaloes would move on, but he didn't have a firestick, and there was no wood amongst the rocks. Then he remembered how his father had taught him to hit two stones together to make fire. First he looked for hard rocks, not soft ones, and then he collected a bunch of grass and rubbed it until it was soft. Burrki had everything he needed, but he still had to find a way to carry the fire to the plain.

He went searching for wood and came across a pandanus tree. One of its trunks was dead and had fallen over. Burrki could use the trunk as a firestick because there was soft fibre inside it, which would burn very slowly once it had been lit.

He waited until he felt the breeze coming in from the hills, and then he quickly got the stones and hit one against the other. Soon sparks landed on the grass below and it caught alight. He put some inside the pandanus trunk and blew and blew until the soft fibre began burning. Burrki carried his new firestick down to where the long grass grew and put the fire to it. Almost immediately it began to blaze and burn.

He climbed back up to the ledge and watched the fire move through the plain. The buffaloes saw the smoke and flames and the herd turned and ran away. Burrki was happy now that he didn't have to worry about buffaloes and snakes. He would be
able to continue his journey through the woodland and creeks. Although he was hungry, he would have to wait until morning to go hunting. The next day he was up before the sun and he looked out over the plain. The fire had burnt itself out and there wasn't a buffalo to be seen.

Burrki gathered his things and set off. He soon came to a creek with cool, fast-flowing water. He knew it was clean because he could see the sandy bottom and, without hesitating, he jumped in. First he quenched his thirst with a long drink and then he had a wash, rubbing sand against his body to get rid of the dust and dirt.

By now Burrki was ravenously hungry, so he climbed onto a log poking up out of the water and he stood with his spear ready. Before long, a catfish swam out from under the log. With careful aim, Burrki threw his weapon and speared the fish. Because he'd been so hungry, he speared a
second catfish to eat later. Burrki lit a fire with his firestick, and he soon had his breakfast cooking on the coals.

Carrying his firestick, Burrki walked along the edge of the creek. Every now and again he stopped to pick berries and quench his thirst. He knew that if he followed the creek it would bring him to where his mother's family lived. The country began to change and he moved into the woodland where the trees were tall. Here the jungle started to get dense and no sun could get through.

‘Now I must remember to keep the sun behind me or I'll get lost,' Burrki told himself.

Burrki walked and walked, and at last he could hear the sound of waves crashing against the shoreline. He emerged from the thick vegetation and came out near a beautiful beach. Burrki could hear the breeze blowing through the casuarina trees. It was as if they were talking to him and saying they were happy to see him.

Looking around, Burrki realised he wasn't far from his uncle's house — it was just around the point. As he walked along the beach, he looked down at the tracks of turtles that had laid their eggs above the high-water mark. He crossed a little creek — the same creek that he had followed for miles from the hilly country, except it was now running into the salt water.

Burrki also saw crocodile tracks. He cautiously looked around in case the crocodile was still around, but then he saw the slides in the sand where it had come up and gone back out to sea.

Burrki reached the point and walked around the rocks. A little way down the beach he could see mobs of children and dogs playing under the trees. Immediately the dogs started barking and came bounding towards him. He wasn't afraid because he knew most of them, and he yelled out for them to be quiet.

By this time all the children were running and calling, ‘Burrki! Burrki! Burrki!' Burrki's uncle was standing outside his house in the shadow of the trees. He didn't move, but stood and waited for Burrki to come to him.

‘How did you get here?' he asked.

‘I walked from Granny's place. I was lonely and I wanted to come home,' said Burrki.

‘Well,' said his uncle, ‘you're a brave boy to walk all that way by yourself. How long did it take you?'

‘I think it was four days because I slept three nights,' said Burrki.

That night there was a big corroboree for Burrki and he had to tell the story of his adventure over and over again. He had been right. Everyone was happy to see him and he was glad to be home. Burrki enjoyed all this attention, but he also knew that when his mother and father returned from their ceremonies, he would receive a punishment for running away from his grandparents.

Fishing Trip

N
amanji and Bulak were two brothers who lived on an island off the north coast of Australia. Namanji was the oldest. He was thirteen years old and Bulak was eleven.