08 The Rainbow Serpent

Chapter 08 The Rainbow Serpent The mother kangaroo bounded out of the trees. She landed ten feet away from Jack, Annie, Teddy, and Joey. They all were still for a moment, as if they all were holding their breath. Then Joey tried to jump out of Jack’s backpack. “ Hold on, ” said Jack. He put his pack on the ground.

The little kangaroo leaped out. He leaped again … then again … and dived headfirst into his mother’s pouch! Joey turned himself over inside the pouch. Then he peeked out at Jack and Annie. “ Yay! ” said Jack and Annie together. They laughed and clapped with relief. “ He looks happy to be home, ” said Annie. “ His mother looks happy, too, ” said Jack. The mother kangaroo was gazing down at her joey. She patted his head with her small paws. Then she looked at Jack and Annie with soft eyes. “ She’s saying thank you to us, ” Annie said. “ You’re welcome, ” Jack said. “ It was no problem, ” Annie told the kangaroo. “ You have a great joey. ”

The kangaroo gave a little nod. Then she bent over and used a front paw to pick up a small piece of bark from the wet grass. The kangaroo held the piece of bark out to Jack and Annie.

Jack took it from her. “ Oh, man, ” he whispered. “ It’s our gift from a kangaroo. ” The kangaroo then sprang into the air. She bounded gracefully away through the charred forest. “ Thanks! ” called Jack. “ Bye! ” called Annie. “ Good luck! ” Arf! Arf! Teddy barked. The rain stopped as Jack studied the piece of bark. There was a tiny painting on it. It was just like the snake painting in the cave. “ I wonder what the snake means, ” said Jack. Jack opened the wet cover of the Australia book. He carefully turned the damp pages. He found a picture of the snake painting. “ Listen, ” said Jack. He read:

The first people of Australia are called “ Aborigines” (say ab-uh-RIJ-uh-neez). They have lived there for 40, 000 years. Their myths take place in a time they call “ Dreamtime. ” In Dreamtime, there is a Rainbow Serpent, who sends life-giving rain. Aborigine artists paint the Rainbow Serpent on cave walls or on pieces of bark. In special ceremonies, they sometimes honor the Rainbow Serpent by painting their handprints on the magic snake. “ See?” said Annie. “ That explains everything! ” “ Explains what?” said Jack. “ We put our hands on the painting of the Rainbow Serpent, ” she said. “ It was like a special ceremony. So the Rainbow Serpent sent the rain to put out the wildfire. ”

Arf! Teddy barked. Jack frowned. “ But it’s not a real creature, ” he said. “ It’s in Dream time. Not real time. ” Annie smiled. “ Then how do you explain that? ” she said. She pointed at the sky. The rain clouds were gone. The sun had come back out. A rainbow curved across the blue Australian sky. “ Oh, man, ” whispered Jack. Though the air was warm again, he shivered. “ Teddy led us to the painting, ” said Annie. “ We should thank him. ” “ How did he know about the Rainbow Serpent in the cave?” Jack asked.