Killer Ute by Rosanne Hawke

town.’
    â€˜Will we ever?’
    â€˜We’ll go down at night first. Then we’ll see how it goes.’
    I glance at Dev. A muscle in his cheek tightens. So we might be camping in the bush but we’re still ‘contained’. I pump faster, imagining I’m filling up the mattress with my frustration. If only it was that easy to get rid of.
    We finally get the campsite ready to live in. There’re two sleeping tents and a lean-to tent with the kitchen gear in it. I feel like an explorer I read about in school. All we need are camels and the scene would be set. At least there are lots of birds for Mei to sketch. She gets out her pencils and diary once the tents are up.
    Felicity draws up rosters. We’ll share in the cooking, washing up, putting rubbish in a huge plastic bin she’s brought, and we’re responsible for cleaning up our sleeping tents.
    â€˜We also have to keep a lookout at all times,’ Felicity says. ‘Report to me any vehicles you see. The public doesn’t usually come this far – it’s off the track. Sometimes hikers may walk around here, but tell me whatever you notice. And I’ll report it to the police. They’ll bring any supplies we may need, or help if there’s an emergency.’
    I don’t ask what she means by that. Snakebite? We won’t be falling off any rocks into the sea, that’s for sure, if we never get to go to the beach. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it: being so close to the sea and not being able to enjoy it. It’s like there’s this invisible rope between me and the water. If I don’t get to swim or fish, I feel like I’m being strangled.
    Then Felicity pulls out canasta cards. Dev brightens a bit. We teach Mei how to play, and we start the first of many tournaments. Sometimes we play individually and sometimes in pairs. I like that; usually Mei is my partner. We even gamble with our dish duty. Mei starts winning and Dev ends up with enough dish duty to keep him washing and drying for days.
    That night we don’t have a campfire. ‘Fire season,’ Felicity says, ‘and besides, we don’t want to advertise we’re here, do we?’
    I’m wondering how soon the excitement of being out here will be shadowed by that horrible feeling of being closed in.

19
    After a few days Felicity finally relents and lets Mei and me go snorkelling at dusk. We walk down through the mangroves until we come to the dunes. This end of the park has been quiet the whole time. I reckon no one knows we’re here. Mei’s not so sure. ‘It’s scary, Joel.’ Actually she’s right, but it’s the exciting kind of scary that I don’t mind, like riding my bike down Killer’s Gully. ‘Joel?’ Mei stops on a grassy dune. ‘Have you thought about what could happen if that guy gets you? Don’t you feel like a sitting duck?’
    â€˜Course not.’ I wave her question away with a grin, but actually I haven’t stopped thinking about that killer ute. We continue on to the firmer sand. I can’t get ‘sitting duck’ out of my mind. Why are we waiting it out in the park? And I wonder afresh if Felicity is up to protecting us. I must have convinced Mei better than myself for she starts jumping the little waves as they curl in front of her. She squeals – not the annoying squealing girls do at school – just happy ones.
    â€˜It’s almost warm,’ she says. ‘It’s so cool, swimming this time of night.’
    â€˜We only have an hour,’ I warn. We put on our masks and dance further into the waves. We smile at each other before we put the snorkels in our mouths and sink underwater. To the right of us are rocks and we swim towards them. With the light fading there isn’t a lot to see. I catch flashes of silver a few times and wonder if they are tommies or gar. Dev loves tommies. I’ll have to