Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle Read Free

fire.
    Soon Harry arrived to take Mum into Ardyaloon to meet the other artists. Mum grabbed her camera and her notebook. She wanted to take lots of photos of the artists and their work to include in the show.
    â€˜You’d better hurry up,’ Harry told Lulu. ‘Anthony is already making spears.’
    Lulu jumped up. She didn’t want to miss out.
    Mum kissed them all goodbye. ‘Have a fun day. I’ll see you this afternoon.’

    â€˜Bye, Mum,’ called Lulu. ‘Good luck.’
    Mum and Harry drove off in Harry’s four-wheel drive.
    â€˜Why don’t you and Rosie walk over and meet Anthony now?’ suggested Dad. ‘Gus and I can do the washing up. We’ll join you in a few minutes.’
    So Lulu and Rosie set off for the house. Jacob’s mum was sitting on the verandah drawing. Chilli the puppy was asleep at her feet.
    The boys were all gathered around the fire with Anthony. Each one had a long, straight stick.
    â€˜Hello, Lulu and Rosie,’ called Anthony. ‘We started without you.’
    Lulu looked around for Tam and Zalie. They weren’t there. ‘Where are the girls?’ asked Lulu.
    â€˜The girls have gone out with our grandmother,’ said Zac. ‘She’s showing them which plants to gather for bush tucker and medicine.’
    â€˜The boys have each chosen a sapling,’ said Anthony. He pointed to a pile of sticks leaning against the side of the house.
    Jacob explained how they had found the sticks. Anthony had helped them find long, straight wattle saplings in the bush. They had cut the saplings, stripped the bark and shaved off any bumps. The saplings had been left to dry for a couple of days.
    The boys were now rubbing the wood with sandpaper.
    Lulu and Rosie watched. Anthony showed the boys how to polish the wood to make it as smooth as possible.

    â€˜Then we heat sections of the wood in the fire like this,’ said Anthony. He showed them with one of the saplings. ‘This makes the wood soft so we can make it nice and straight. Then it sets hard.’
    Anthony bent the hot wood against the table to straighten out a kink.
    It was interesting to see the boys at work – polishing, heating and straightening. Dad and Gus arrived. Gus found a stick to draw in the dirt. Lulu asked Zac and Jacob lots of questions.
    â€˜What do you use the spears for?’ asked Lulu. ‘Are they for games?’
    Zac shook his head. ‘These spears aren’t toys. We hunt with them.’
    â€˜Hunt?’ asked Lulu. She wasn’t quite sure if she believed him. ‘What do you hunt?’
    â€˜Turtles, fish, stingrays,’ said Zac. He mimed striking his spear at the ground.
    â€˜Oh,’ said Rosie. ‘The poor turtles.’
    â€˜Most of our food comes from the sea, as it always has. And we gather fruit and berries and medicine in the bush,’ explained Anthony. ‘We never hunt more than we need to eat. Nothing is ever wasted.’
    â€˜I don’t think I’d like to eat turtle,’ said Rosie. ‘Don’t you buy food at the shop?’
    Anthony laughed. ‘Some things. There is a shop in Ardyaloon where we can buy extra things we need.’
    â€˜Like chocolate,’ said Zac. He rubbed his tummy and gave a cheeky grin.
    Anthony nodded. ‘Tomorrow I’m taking all the boys out hunting stingrays at the reef. You can come with us if you like.’
    Lulu turned to Dad. ‘Can we go, Dad? Pleeeease?’
    â€˜I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ agreed Dad.
    Dad and Anthony helped the boys to carve a point on one end of each spear with a sharp knife. One side of the point was flattened out. A deep groove was carved down the centre.

    Then they put a short steel rod in the groove. The rod was lashed to the spear using fishing line.
    â€˜And now it’s finished,’ said Anthony.
    Zac twisted his spear proudly. Gus reached for Zac’s spear. ‘Me