Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 They flew along the coastline, aquamarine water below and stretches of golden sand. Amy's head began to nod, and she fell asleep. No wonder, Dan thought. His sister had tangled with sharks and poison needles, all in one day. That could wear a dude out. After an hour, even a postcard view couldn't keep his attention. Dan got tired of looking for kangaroos out the window. He hadn't been this bored since Amy forced him to babysit her Barbies when he was five. He started to wonder about the Land Down Under. What was it under, exactly? He almost woke Amy up to ask her but decided it wasn't such a great idea. Shep's voice came over a speaker. "There are snacks in the cabinet under the sink." "Dude! You're speaking my language!" But Shep couldn't hear him. Dan got up and foraged.

By the time Amy woke up, they were flying over red ground, vast and empty, and Dan had struck up a beautiful friendship with Australian snack food. "How long has it been like this?" Amy asked, yawning. Dan was chewing on a potato chip. "Forever. But check this out." He held up a bag of chips. "These are chicken flavored! Is that genius or what? Are you hungry? I've got Tim Tams, Cheezels, Toobs, and Burger Rings. Can you imagine making a snack that tastes like a burger? Australians are our friends. And look, Violet Crumbles— the best chocolate bar in the world!" "Don't spoil your appetite, mate," Nellie called in her Aussie accent. She was now wearing the bush hat Dan had bought in the airport. "We might be stopping for a tick at a chew and spew." "Chew and spew!" Dan laughed and sprayed potato chips. "Love it!" "Try the chew part," Amy said. "Lose the spew." Shep stretched and yawned. "Want to take a break?" Nellie asked. "I can take

over for awhile." At Shep's inquisitive look, she said, "I've been flying since I was a teenager." "That wasn't so long ago. I'm not reassured." Nellie grinned. "Trust me. I've got a pilot's license. Five hundred hours. Instrument flying. Night flying." She and Shep started talking about wind shifts, thrusts, and passenger loads. Dan leaned over to Amy. "Did you know Nellie could fly a plane?" Amy shook her head. "I guess it never came up." "Lots of things don't come up with Nellie. Until they do." A flicker of doubt passed between them for a moment, but they shoved it aside. Nellie took over the controls. Shep watched her for awhile, then stepped back into the cabin to talk to them. He leaned against the bulkhead and crossed his arms. "Okay, something doesn't smell right," he said. "Did you know the person in that Hummer? Because it doesn't seem like a coincidence that it

showed up like that." Dan put on a look of innocence. "No?" "Is there something you want to tell me? About what you're really doing in Australia?" "Okay," Dan said. "I guess it's time we told you the truth." Amy gave him a no way look. "Back in Massachusetts, Amy and I broke into our school one night. No biggie, right? Except that our assistant principal, Mortimer C. Murchinson, is an alien. At night he takes off his face and turns into this eleven-foot-tall thing with eight arms…" "…who plays for the Boston Celtics," Shep said with a sigh. "I get it." His gaze was searching as it rested on them. Then he turned and started back to the cockpit. "If you see any stealth bombers coming our way, just give a yell, okay?" "You got it, Captain," Dan answered. Nellie flew the plane for the next hour, then Shep took over for the approach to Coober Pedy. "Where is it?" Dan asked, craning his neck. All he could see for miles and miles was red dirt. The

horizon was curved, as though he could see the edge of the earth. "See those pyramids?" Shep's voice came over the loudspeaker. "They look like little hills of salt," Dan said to Amy. "Those are the slag heaps from opal mining," Shep explained. "We're going to fly right over the opal fields. I reached my mate Jeff this morning. He'll pick us up." The plane eased down on the runway and rolled to a stop. The airfield was even smaller than the one outside Sydney. There were a few outbuildings and a couple of bush planes. They tumbled out and were hit by a wall of heat. Dan's throat felt as dry as the dusty hills. Shep jumped down, looking as fresh as when he'd begun. "Is it always this hot?" Dan asked Shep. "Oh, it's cool today. Only a hundred or so. Let me deal with a bit of paperwork and then I'm guessing Jeff will show up." Shep ambled into the office, emerging just as a dirt-caked four-wheel-drive truck roared down the

road to the airfield. A tall, slim man wearing the usual khaki shorts jumped out. "They let you land in that shonky orange crate?" he shouted in an Australian accent. "Next time, I'll land it on your head," Shep answered. "It's big enough." They clapped each other on the shoulders. Shep turned to them. "Let me introduce you to my long-lost cousins," he said. "Amy, Dan, and their au pair, Nellie Gomez. This is Jeff Chandler, best tour guide in the Red Centre." "Mates of Shep's are mates of mine," Jeff said. "What brings you to Coober Pedy? A little noodling?" "We just had lunch," Amy said politely. She fanned away an enormous black fly. "But thank you." He laughed. "No, noodling's what we call searching for opals in the slag heaps. Lots of tourists love it. Odds aren't good you'll come up with a valuable stone, but there's always a chance, isn't there?"