Kipp The Kid Read online

  Jane was about to ask him to turn it back on when something strange happened. The tunnel, which had been completely dark, started to glow an incandescent green. Jane looked up to see hundreds, maybe thousands of little grubs glowing on the roof of the chamber. In that moment she forgot they were deep underground, she forgot her fear and her desire to leave.

  “They’re beautiful.”

  “Glow worms.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Most people don’t. This is the only spot they can be found. The rest of the mine doesn’t have the conditions for them. Not enough air and moisture. Come on, let me show you something else.” He pulled her along, by the hand and led her to the far side of the chamber. He had switched the torch back on and was looking for something in the dirt. He brushed the dust away a bit and grabbed hold of a plank of wood. He lifted it up and revealed a ladder leading down a very narrow opening. She followed him down.

  At the bottom was a freshly cut area. Kipp put the lantern he’d been carrying in his other hand down, got out a box of matches and lit it. The whole space was lit by a warm yellow glow. He turned off the torch. In the space was a rough table, with two crates as chairs. There was a shelf against one wall and some tin buckets and other implements underneath. Kipp put the lantern on the table and took off his ruck sack. Jane took hers off as well, thinking they would be here a while.

  “What is this place?”

  “Kipp’s Chamber,” came the proud response.

  “Do you sleep here?”

  “Can’t, it’s too…it’s not as safe as the camp site.” He was about to say dangerous, but he didn’t want to scare her off. He shouldn’t have been so concerned. Jane, despite her prudish demeanor plus the fact that she was a girl, appeared not so easily scared. Uncertain, maybe, inexperienced, definitely, but not timid. Not like other girls.

  “So, your own mine then? Wow! Have you found any gold?” she added innocently.

  Kip chuckled and Jane looked suddenly embarrassed. “No, no gold in these mines. No gold in this whole district in fact. Not like New South Wales. Isn’t that where you’re from originally?”

  “Katoomba.”

  “Well, mainly only copper here, plus a little zinc and the occasional gem stone, if you’re lucky. But the real prize are these.”

  Kipp produced a large glass jar with something like small bones inside it. He placed it on the table and the two of them sat leaning forward, gazing at the small creature inside.

  “What is it?”

  “A fossil. A bird of some kind I think. Complete. It’s actually just an imprint of the bird. The bones have dissolved. So what is left is just the shape of the original bird.”

  Jane was mesmerized. She peered at the fossil, fascinated by the find. “Do you have many more?”

  “Hundreds.”

  “Are they all from in here?” she asked.

  “Not all, but some. The rest are from other parts of the mine.”

  “Are they worth something?”

  “Priceless. But only if you’re a collector or a scientist…I’d reckon.”

  Kipp opened up a sack full of recent finds and poured them out onto the table and then grinned. “My latest find”. Jane grinned back and the two of them started sorting through the pile, placing each specimen on their own.

  When they were almost done, there was a sudden loud noise which seemed to fill the chamber and dust poured down from the wooden ceiling. Jane screamed, but Kipp grabbed her by the hand and they hurried out of the chamber and ran all the way to the end of the tunnel. Jane noted the red handkerchief, clearly visible in the beam of Kipp’s torch and the chalk arrow pointing the way out. Even though she was panicking, those two things were enough to reassure her they would be ok.

  “What happened?” she called out panting.

  Kipp didn’t answer. He just kept on running, dragging Jane behind him. He’s so fast, she thought and strong. When they got to the end of the second tunnel, they climbed up the rope ladder. Kipp made Jane go first. He didn’t have time to explain why. She was a little embarrassed, but there was no time to argue. Plus, she was sure Kipp was the perfect gentlemen.

  When they got near the top of the shaft, there was a second loud noise that sounded like an explosion. But it wasn’t coming from the mine, as Jane had thought. It was coming from the camp.

  Kipp didn’t take any time hanging around at the top of the shaft. Instead, he took off towards camp, with Jane hot on his heels. He was amazed she could keep up at all. Not bad, he thought, not bad for a girl at all. In his head he had made the point of making a mental list. Tests that Jane had to pass in order for him to consider her an equal. So far she had passed three of them and she had three more to go. Will take risks? Check. Is not afraid of the dark? Check. Is interested in everything Kipp wants to do? Hmmmm…check, I guess.

  The other three were simple enough. Is she pretty? Undecided. Can she cook damper? Unknown. Can she climb the Engine House? I don’t think any girl can do that.

  By the time they got back to the camp, the damage had been done. There was a large fire where the campfire had been and bits of burning wood and smoldering ash was strewn in all directions. Some grass had caught on fire and there was graffiti all over one of the chasm walls. If Kipp was angry, he didn’t show it. Instead he ran down to the camp and got a bucket of water and started dousing the flames in the grass. Jane arrived soon afterwards and was beating at the flames with an old sack. When the fire was out, the two of them stood panting, surveying the damage done to the campsite.

  “It’s fixable,” said Kipp through clenched teeth.

  Jane didn’t say anything right away. She just stood there silently taking it all in. In her heart she was growing fond of Kipp. At times he was annoying because of his endless demands. But she knew a kind and gentle soul when she saw one. She had seen one before. Kipp, for all his boyishness, for all his quirkiness, for all his obsessive behavior, reminded her of her own mother. She shed a quiet tear, meant for the memory of a mother she loved more than life. But she shed a second tear for the boy she wanted to love, but didn’t know how to.

  As she stood there, wondering where they were going to start, Kipp had already began raking up debris with a large stick shaped rather like a rake. Jane chipped in, washing the graffiti off the stone walls. It wasn’t too difficult. It was still fresh and hadn’t stuck very well to the rock. She used a straw brush and some soapy water and in the end was fairly satisfied with the result. Neither of them said much in the hour or so it took to clean up. It was getting late by the time they finished, so Kipp got a fire going and Jane set up for tea. It was after they’d eaten before they finally talked about it.

  “Who are they?” asked Jane.

  “Don’t know,” said Kipp in an unusually short way. This was another side to Kipp Jane hadn’t seen. Normally so confident and not very shy, Kipp was more thoughtful and withdrawn, keeping most of his thoughts to himself. “Must be out-of-towners,” he added, chewing on the last of the damper. Then, as if only just realizing who had made it, he added, “Not bad. Not bad at all. She can cook damper. Check.

  Chapter 6: the sounds of night

  Jane found herself wandering through the chasm. It was very late and Kipp had fallen asleep in his swag early in the evening. She’d been woken by strange noises and because she didn’t want to wake him, she decided to brave the night and investigate. She put on her boots and wrapped herself in her oversized jacket, grabbed Kipp’s torch and crept through the chasm towards the source of the sound.

  Even though she had been living in the country since she was five, she could never get used to the sounds of night. The unnatural squeal of a fox, a barn owl hooting its ghostly taunt, the relentless grunting of Koalas, which sounded like wild pigs in the dark and the occasional hissing of Kangaroos. They all sounded so alien at night. She used to lay awake in bed and tell herself she knew what each noise was. But on still nights, the sounds seemed to echo across the paddocks, finding their wa
y through her window and into her fearful heart.

  “The air is cooler and denser at night,” she remembered someone once telling her. “That’s why everything sounds different. A dog barking, cats fighting. The sounds are enhanced and magnified through cold air and with no other sounds, they can sound quite different.”

  She made her way almost to the other end of the man-made chasm. She looked back to see the distant flicker of the camp fire, which cast jittering shadows up the sides of the chasm walls. She heard it again. Low, almost mesmerizing. A cry, like that of a child, only deeper and strained. For a moment she almost turned around to head back. But then something moved in the shadows and she saw a flash of pale white disappear around the corner of the jagged rock face.

  She was drawn to it, fixated on it. Her desire to flee was overruled by her desire to know. A fearful voice deep inside told her it was a ghost. Since her mother died she had started to believe in ghosts. She had thought she heard her mother’s voice on occasions, as sure as if she were right there in the room. For the longest time she had hidden under her sheets, trembling, but as the months and years passed, she grew used to it, almost expected it. Other times she felt like someone was behind her, but when she swung around no one was there. If it had been her mother, her presence—as much as Jane wanted to see her again—was most unsettling.

  She hesitated, before creeping forward. “Anyone…there?” The shallow echo of her quivering voice was almost as haunting as the prospect of a ghost. “Hello?” The sudden touch on her shoulder made her jump and then drop the torch.

  “What are you doing?” demanded Kipp. Jane held a hand to her chest.

  “Don’t ever do that again, Kipp.” Then she thumped him quite hard on the arm.

  “Ouch!” Said Kipp, but he couldn’t help a smile. She fights like a boy, he thought. I’ll add that to my list. It was a plus as far as Kipp was concerned. That and the fact she was not afraid to brave the night on her own.

  “I thought I heard something.”

  Kipp peered into the dark. He had his torch on, but the light was dimming because the batteries were going flat. He whacked it a couple of times and it brightened momentarily. Suddenly a small fox shot out from the dark and Jane leaped out of the way. It ran between Kipp’s legs, yelping and squealing as it tore across the chasm, then darted left sharply and disappeared into a crevice.

  “You see, it was just a fox.” He straightened and gave her a knowing look. Jane grimaced.

  “Well it didn’t sound like a fox.”

  “And what exactly did it sound like?”

  “It sounded like…like a child. A girl in fact, or a young woman maybe.”

  “Really?” Kipp didn’t want to tell her about his dream and about the woman holding out her hands. He tried to play it cool, but Jane saw something like fear briefly in his eyes. He turned around before she could confirm her suspicions and started back towards their camp. Jane shrugged, rolled her eyes and was one step after him when she heard the noise again, louder this time and more like a groan. Kipp must have heard it as well, because he swung around suddenly.

  They froze as they both saw a pale light coming from around the corner. It was an iridescent green, with a ghostly white outline. It looked rather like what the negative of a shadow might. It moved with a steady, deliberate gait. Kipp came back over and grabbed Jane by the hand. Her hand was cold and she trembled uncontrollably, but she couldn’t move, like her feet were glued to the ground.

  “Jane. Jane. JAANNEEE!”

  The sudden calling of her name sent Jane into a panic and she broke Kipp’s grasp and legged it faster than Kipp had seen any girl run. Kipp was trembling too. But he waited to see who, or what, would come around the corner. He was almost disappointed when the sound stopped and the vision faded. And Kipp thought he heard the echo of laughter, distant, disarming, yet strangely familiar.

  He found Jane squatting in the dirt near the fire, doubled over, rocking back and forth. Kipp had never seen anyone in shock before, but he recognized it straight away. He took off his jacket and threw it around her. Then he held her tight to let some of the warmth from his body comfort her. Her hands were clasped together so tightly that Kipp saw her knuckles turn white in the dim morning light.

  For the longest time he held her. Kipp had never had a girlfriend, his cousins were too prudish and distant to ever make body contact and his mother had long since passed this Earth and he barely remembered her comforting embrace. So hugging a girl did not come naturally. But despite himself, he held her in a way he imagined a father might hold his daughter, gently stroking one shoulder and listening to the steadying rhythm of her uneven breaths as she struggled to return to something like normal.

  The sun was up before Jane finally moved her body, straightening up and looking up into the concerned face of her neighbor and now friend. She had lived next door to him for six years and barely knew him. But in the last few days she knew more about him than she ever could have in all those years.

  Kipp started to relax when she gave a weak, unwilling smile. Then she rested her head into the middle of his chest and exhaled a long, welcome sigh. In Kipp’s mind he wanted to capture this moment forever. He didn’t want to admit it, but somewhere in his heart, he was falling for this freckle-faced, fiery, red headed, beautiful, fragile girl and he suddenly decided he wanted nothing else in the whole world than feeling the warmth of her body against his. If this is love, thought Kipp, then it is the strangest, most unsettling and beautiful feeling in the whole world. Better than catching a fish, Better than making the climb to the top of the Engine House, better even than the love he had for Nip. No offense Nip. Nip cocked his head sideways and let out a gruff bark. Kipp reached out and rubbed him reassuringly on his head and Nip panted his satisfaction. Then Nip did something Kipp would never have guessed he would do. He snuggled in between Jane’s legs and rested a paw on her hand. With her free hand Jane patted him almost absentmindedly.

  If Kipp had been a photographer and had stumbled upon this scene, he would have taken a dozen photos, had them printed, framed and placed in a gallery devoted to love.

  Above them, three boys were whispering and giggling quietly to each other. One of them had an old box brownie and was busy snapping shots of the scene below them.

  “Did you get it? Please tell me you got that?” one of the boys asked excitedly.

  “I did,” he said grinning mischievously.

  “Can’t wait for those photos to come back from the shop hey?” said the first boy.

  “Yeah,” said the other two in agreement.

  But as they retreated backwards from their lying position at the top of the chasm, one of the boys dislodged a rock, which rolled out in front of them and over the edge of the cliff. It whacked hard into the ground beneath them and the echo was like a siren in their ears. They instantly ducked down and then shoveled backwards, before getting up and legging it back to their bikes.

  “What was that?” asked Jane, looking up.

  “Trouble,” answered Kipp.

  chapter 7: thrice the trouble

  Kipp had just managed to get a glimpse of the face of one of the boys and thought he recognized him as Trent Jansen. He had two brothers, all of them triplets. “Thrice the trouble,” his grandfather had once said when the boys were in the local paper because they had damaged a shop front by bombing it with stink bombs. Since coming to the area, Trent and his brothers, Arnold and Jake, were always getting into trouble at school and wherever there was a fight, they were involved. They had gotten the cuts more times than they had gotten D’s, which was quite an accomplishment.

  They were two year levels higher than Kipp at school, but they honed in on him and were always doing something to his bag or stealing from him or playing a practical joke. Kipp had tried to ignore them, but sometimes he lost it and ended up in trouble himself. It was a long walk home after school when you knew you would cop it at home for getting into trouble. But thankfully, his gran and grumps were
sympathetic, only punishing him with more chores. He knew his grumps did not like the Jansens.