Page 31 of Lost In Kakadu

Mackenzie cleared his throat. “It’s just a broken rib.” His trembling voice gave away his forced calmness, but he winked. “You’ll be fine. We’re going to take you back to our campsite. Okay?”

The man nodded with his eyes.

“Mate, I’ve forgotten your name.” Mackenzie was disappointed he had to ask.

“I’m Charlie, the botanist,” he murmured.

“Right, I’m Mackenzie and this is Abigail.” Mackenzie buttoned up Charlie’s shirt and rested his hand on the old man’s shoulder.

“You’re going to be okay. We’ll get a few things organised and be back in a moment.”

Tears trickled down Charlie’s dirt smudged cheek and Mackenzie turned away, swallowing back the emotional lump in his throat. He crawled backwards, exited the plane and breathed deeply.

Abigail stepped up beside him. “What’re we going to do?”

Mackenzie considered his options and once again a complete feeling of inadequacy overwhelmed him. Charlie’s immense pain was obvious and moving him would be agony, but he couldn’t stay here. Abigail’s bloodshot eyes urged him to have a solution.

He made a decision. “Let’s look around the wreck first. See if there’s anything useful, like a first aid kit.” Placing his hands on her shoulders he guided her back to the wreck and for the first time she didn’t withdraw from him.

The outside of the plane was relatively unscathed considering the circumstances of its arrival. It appeared to have avoided impact with the trees as it fell from the sky. It was a bizarre sight, as if it had been placed here on purpose, like part of a movie set. A scan of the surrounding area revealed Tom’s shattered camera, a backpack and a water bottle. No other items seemed useful.

Abigail unzipped the pack to reveal clothes and a bottle of Bundaberg Rum. Her eyes lit up as she held the bottle like a trophy and then handed the amber liquor toward Mackenzie. “Want some?”

He thought she was joking but the look on her face said otherwise. “No, thanks.”

Without a second thought, she cracked the lid and took a swig. Tears twinkled in the corners of her eyes as she wiped her lips and then held the bottle out to him again.

The distinct smell of the bitter liquid brought back an overwhelming image of his father. His thick, tobacco-stained hands splayed on the kitchen bench. His barrel shaped belly. The grey specks spotting his beard stubble like spittle. The foul body odour that poisoned every room his father entered. Mackenzie smacked the memory down. “I don’t drink rum.”

“Me neither.” Abigail swallowed another mouthful.

“Go steady. It might be the only medicine we have.”

She hesitated before screwing the lid back on and returning the bottle to the backpack.

“We should get Charlie settled before dark. I can come back for all this stuff tomorrow.”

“But how are we going to move him?”

“I’ll have to carry him, but I’ll need your help.”

He crawled back into the wreck and told Charlie their plan. “Are you ready?”

Charlie nodded.

Mackenzie slipped one hand beneath Charlie’s legs and one behind his back and pulled the frail body to his chest, surprised at just how light the old man was. In one motion, he lifted him off the ground and Charlie let out a shrill cry of agony. Mackenzie didn’t stop. He ducked beneath the jagged edges of the opening and out into the jungle.

“Here we go, Charlie. We can do this.”

Tears streamed down Charlie’s face and for a brief moment, Mackenzie thought he’d passed out. But Charlie opened his wrinkled eyelids and stared at him, hardly blinking. The old man’s skin had become even paler than when he first saw him, and dozens of spider veins were clearly visible on his cheeks.

“You’re going to be okay.” Mackenzie repeated the mantra every couple of steps along the arduous trek back to the campsite. His breathing was laboured, and his heart pounded in his ears, but he didn’t complain. As Abigail held back branches and helped navigate mossy logs, Mackenzie couldn’t help but wonder what they were going to do with Charlie once they got him back to the cabin.

A brilliant pink sky welcomed them back to the clearing and a warm breeze blew dried leaves along the ground ahead of them. Mackenzie’s leg muscles burned as he searched for the ideal place to put Charlie. It would be impossible to get him into the plane and he’d be too exposed near the fire. Charlie needed to be protected from the elements and the only obvious place was beneath the plane. “Abigail, empty my suitcase out under the plane. We’ll put him there.”

Abigail raced to the luggage, selected a large brown case and dragged it over.

“That’s not mine.”

---