Sydney Bridge Upside Down by David Ballantyne

‘Where would you get the gun-powder?’
    ‘My brother Buster could get it for me,’ Dibs said. ‘He works in a quarry. He uses a lot of gun-powder.’
    ‘Would he mind if you blew up the works?’ asked Caroline. ‘Think of the explosion!’ She straightened the other leg, but did not bother to straighten her dress.
    ‘Buster wouldn’t care if there was a big explosion,’ Dibssaid. ‘Buster likes big explosions and going fast on his Indian and everything like that.’
    ‘He must find Calliope Bay very quiet,’ Caroline said.
    ‘That’s why he goes away a lot,’ Dibs said.
    ‘Do you think it’s too quiet?’ I asked Caroline. Should I move closer to her? Could she tell I was staring at her knees?
    ‘I like a quiet holiday,’ she said. ‘I like this holiday, Harry.’
    ‘I can show you a lot of other places,’ I said, sliding across the cave. ‘You haven’t seen the waterfall yet, Caroline.’
    ‘I’m looking forward to the waterfall,’ she said.
    ‘Harry, can I tell Caroline about the pistol?’ asked Dibs.
    ‘What?’ I said. That was the moment when the light in the cave seemed to change and I saw more of Caroline and was certain she wore only the dress, the shoes, the lipstick. I looked into a blacker part of the cave.
    ‘Can I tell her about the pistol?’ asked Dibs.
    ‘Tell me about the pistol,’ Caroline said.
    ‘No,’ I said, realising what Dibs had said. It could be dangerous, I thought. ‘No, we haven’t got the pistol now,’ I told Caroline. ‘We found a pistol, but we threw it away. We knew we couldn’t keep it. So we threw it away, that’s what we did.’
    ‘That’s right,’ Dibs said. ‘I remember now.’
    ‘So you can’t show it to me?’ said Caroline.
    ‘We threw it away,’ I told her.
    ‘What a shame,’ she said. ‘I’d like to see a pistol.’
    ‘We’ll show you the next one we find,’ I said. It was toowarm near her now, I must leave the cave. I said: ‘Would you like to see the view from the cliff-top, Caroline?’
    ‘Mmm,’ she said.
    She followed me from the cave, then went ahead, straightening her dress as she went.
    Dibs, who was last out, nudged me and nodded towards Caroline, grinning. I took no notice of him. He had better not say anything cheeky about my cousin, I would fix him if he did.
    On the cliff-top overlooking the wharf, Caroline got excited because she could see Sam Phelps and Sydney Bridge Upside Down. She seemed to have to stare hard to see such a short distance.
    ‘Would they hear me if I shouted?’ she asked, running to the dead tree near the edge.
    ‘Sure,’ I said, wishing they wouldn’t.
    ‘Yoohoo!’ she shouted. But it was not a very loud shout. Even though he was just below us, Sam Phelps did not look up.
    I saw that Caroline had one hand on the tree. ‘Be careful of that tree,’ I said. ‘It might fall if you touch it. You could slip over the edge.’
    ‘You know what Harry did to me—’ Dibs began.
    I turned to him, my fist to my nose. ‘We have good fun up here,’ I said loudly. ‘So far no accidents.’ I took my fist from my nose as I turned back to Caroline. ‘What say we go home and have lunch? Or do you want to look at the view some more?’
    ‘Oh, I think that will do for the time being, thank you, Harry,’ she said.
    I led the way along the track. I made sure I led them away from the start of the other track, the one that went down to the clearing beside the railway line; I did not want Caroline to suggest that we visit the wharf. When I got to the last rise and had first look at the houses, though, I saw something that made me change my plans. I saw Mr Wiggins’ white van outside our house. I turned before the others could see.
    ‘I remember,’ I told Caroline. ‘You were asking about the other way. You know, the quick way to the railway line. Yes, we could go down it and maybe visit the wharf.’
    ‘What about your lunch?’ she said.
    ‘It’s early,’ I said. ‘We’ve got time to