Crown Park Read Free Page A

He need not
have been. Chainsaw was waiting for him on the path that went along
the bottom of the gully. He moved on as soon as Jack appeared.
    They followed the path that led
deeper into the park. Although Chainsaw was out of view at times,
he was always waiting around the next bend. Only when Jack caught
up, would he start moving again. Chainsaw was taking him to his
home.
    Jack tagged along, making up
stories about what Chainsaw’s mum might have to say when they got
there.
    “What’s that you’ve brought
home, Chainsaw?” he imagined her saying.
    “It’s a human, Mum. He’s so cute
and he doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
    “Oh, yeah! He seems well looked
after to me. What are you going to feed him on? We hardly have
enough for ourselves.”
    “I’ll go out and catch more.
There’re plenty of rats down at the dump.”
    “Humph,” would go the mother
cat. “I don’t see any humans eating rats. More like hamburgers and
chips. He’ll be real expensive to feed.”
    There would be a pause while
Chainsaw hoped his mother would give in, but she wouldn’t. Not yet.
“And there’ll be other costs,” she’d go on. “He’ll have to be
desexed, and that costs a fortune.”
    “I don’t think he’s old enough
to breed yet, Mum.”
    “Humph!”
    Again Chainsaw would keep quiet,
sensing he had almost won. Then he’d ask in a pleading voice. “Can
I keep him, Mum?”
    His mother would look at the
human and then back at Chainsaw. “All right. You can keep him, as
long as you clean up after him. Humans don’t bury their poos, you
know. And some of them make really big poos.”
     
     
    Chainsaw’s path took him out of the
bushes and into the geothermal area where steam was drifting across
the track. He continued until they reached a place where the steam
was so thick that it blocked the way. He turned to check that Jack
was still with him, before disappearing into the steam.
    Jack stopped. This could be
dangerous. The steam looked different to the rest. It seemed to
glow from within, as if there was a fire, or worse still, molten
lava.
    He waited a couple of minutes,
debating whether to follow or not. In that time Chainsaw did not
reappear, but nor were there any noises suggesting he’d got into
trouble. Jack took the first step.
    Immediately, everything was
hidden by the warm vapour. He stretched his arms out and crept
forward. The glow was getting brighter.
    When the steam thinned, Jack saw
that the glow was not molten lava. Nor was it a fire. Dug into the
wall of the crater was a room. The bank had been extended with a
lean-to of corrugated iron. Storage holes had been scooped out of
the soft pumice. The floor had been smoothed by sweeping.
    On one side there was a mattress
and a sleeping bag. In the middle of the space was an old La-Z-Boy.
And on it, in a patch of afternoon sunshine, was the source of the
orange glow: Fluoro Fred, mumbling to himself. At his feet was
Chainsaw.
    Jack stopped and eased back into
the steam, hoping that he’d not been seen. He felt betrayed.
Chainsaw had led him to the crazy man. But worse still was the way
that Chainsaw was rubbing against the man’s legs. There was no
doubting that they were friends. Then Jack spotted the food and
water containers beside the armchair and realized that the two were
more than friends. Chainsaw was the madman’s pet.

Chapter 4
     
    Jack hid in the steam listening to the
mumbling. It seemed like some sort of chant. On and on it went,
repeating over and over.
    Then it stopped and another
voice sounded. “Well, are you coming in, or are you going to stand
there all day?”
    Jack’s body stiffened. This was
not the voice of a crazy man. The words were clear and spoken with
authority.
    Jack moved forward a bit, but
not so much that he could be seen.
    “Well, Buddha,” said Fluoro,
stretching down and stroking the cat, “it looks like your friend
doesn’t want to be with us. Just as well. I’ve told you before not
to bring humans home.