Rotto! Kylie and the Quokkas of Rottnest Island by J. Macpherson

Author:J. Macpherson [Macpherson, J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: www.jfmbooks.com
Published: 2018-04-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Kylie and Clancy followed Van Cleef into a tunnel in the grass, like the one they had taken earlier from Clancy’s clan. They came to a very well-hidden cave and he invited them in. Kylie thought it was about half the size of her classroom, and very cosy. To her surprise, he offered them cushions to sit on that, despite being very old and tattered, were quite comfortable. He invited them to sip from the water that sprung up from the centre of the floor and flowed down a natural drain along the wall of the cave. With Van Cleef’s permission, Kylie refilled her water bottle.

Van Cleef listened, stroking his sun-bleached orange and gray whiskers as Clancy explained what had happened, in quokka language. Kylie sat quietly, looking around the cave. She was fascinated to find it resembled a kind of museum, with all sorts of objects decorating the walls and nooks, many sitting on jutting out rocks that looked like shelves.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she got up and looked around, excited to discover that the objects seemed to be sorted into sections according to their age - just as she’d seen in the museums she’d visited. In the oldest section there were some old coats and hats that she was sure must have belonged to the early explorers of Australia; a brass compass; a world globe mounted on wooden legs; a telescope, and other objects she couldn’t identify.

The next section contained things that were far more modern, though they also looked old: an Australian Army water canteen; some old maps and a pocket knife.

Most striking of all was the collection of weapons, including a pistol with a smooth wooden handle and brass fittings - like the ones Kylie had seen in pirate books; a spear; a bayonet; even an old, rusty machine gun, that she knew must have been from World War II.

“You’ll have to go to the woodland to find your sister,” Van Cleef finally said in English, getting Kylie’s attention. She realised he probably wanted her to listen carefully.

“How do you know she’s in the woodland?” Clancy asked.

“Because battle cats are nocturnal, just like us, and they like to sleep in dark places during the day.”

“Battle cats?” asked Kylie.

“Wild cats, feral cats, whatever you want to call them. They live for combat, and they prefer dark places,” Van Cleef said.

“But there are lots of other dark places, under rocks and in tunnels.”

“Ah, but in the woodland they can stalk around in the trees at night, snacking on poor, sleeping birds. Trust me, young fellow, that’s where it would have taken her.”

“Do you think she’s still alive?” Kylie asked.

“Hard to say. If it were hungry, it would have eaten her as soon as it got out of your burrow. But you said it had already eaten a seagull, so I would expect it to sleep for many hours after that. Sometimes they sleep all day after a big meal.”

“It didn’t eat her straight away,” Kylie said, “we found the tracks.

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