Outback Hero by Sally Gould

Author:Sally Gould
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sally Gould

4. TROUBLE

I heard Mom scream and come running toward us. I didn't get up and neither did Charlie. We had no energy to do anything. Only then did I realize we'd be in trouble. BIG TROUBLE. I guess it had been pretty dumb to stand right on the edge of a million-mile drop. My insides were still shaking, but I had to come up with a plan. A good one.

The way I saw it I had three options. Option one - deny everything. Option two - say a gust of wind blew me off the cliff. Option three - say there was a big landslide.

Charlie and me were covered in red dirt, so denying everything probably wouldn't be smart.

Could a gust of wind blow me off a cliff? Maybe. But today there was no wind, so that mightn't be the best option.

A landslide, I decided, just as Mom and Dad kneeled in between us, was the best option. And it was sort of true. Mom held our hands. Her eyes were wet. She couldn't even speak; she was so upset. I felt sorry for her.

I managed to raise myself up on my elbow. "It's okay, Mom. We're fine. I was checking out the view when the ground underneath me disappeared and I fell. I grabbed the tree and then Charlie and those guys saved me. They're real heroes."

Dad patted us both on the shoulder and got up to talk to the guys who'd helped Charlie save me. Mom began to cry.

It was the third time on this holiday that she'd almost lost me forever. I guess losing your favorite son must be the worst thing ever.

A park ranger wearing a hat and a brown uniform appeared with a black bag. He acted like he was important. First, he checked Charlie's pulse. Charlie was real white, as though he'd seen his own ghost. The ranger asked him questions and Charlie barely answered him. It was weird. Wasn't I the one who'd almost died? Why was he carrying on like this?

A crowd of people had gathered close by. I stood up because now I felt okay, except my shoulders felt like they'd almost popped out of their sockets.

A few minutes later, the ranger had finished with Charlie, who was now sitting up. He spent thirty seconds checking me out and announced that I was fine. Then he asked us what had happened. Dad, Mom and the two guys who'd helped crowded round us.

I was sure glad Charlie didn't feel like talking. I said real fast, "Charlie and me were checking out the view - it's real good from just here - I was just standing there thinking how amazing the canyon was and how if Dad had been with us he would've been carrying on about water carving out the whole canyon millions of years ago - he always does that - when the ground beneath me disappeared and I fell down and down and I thought I was going to die

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