Lost! (3 page)

Bindi and DJ both ran as quickly as they could towards the still figure.

‘Errkkk!' The cockatoo swooped down to the ground and strutted next to the still body as it waited for Bindi and DJ to arrive.

The friends knelt on the rough
ground beside the backpacker. Neither felt sure of what to do first.

‘Jonas?' asked Bindi, tentatively. DJ lightly touched the man's arm, trying to rouse him. He didn't look in very good shape. His face was pale and streaked with dried blood and his hair was matted in clumps.

‘Wake up, Jonas, please!' urged Bindi. She felt for a pulse on his wrist, but couldn't find one.

‘ERK!' cried the cockatoo, its beak pressed close to the man's right ear. The loud, piercing sound made Bindi and DJ wince.

‘If that's not enough to wake him, nothing is!' exclaimed DJ.

Jonas stirred with a soft groan. Bindi and DJ shared a look of relief. At least he was alive.

‘It's okay, Jonas. We're here to help.' Bindi began hurriedly searching through her backpack for her first-aid kit. ‘Offer him some water, DJ. He must be really dehydrated.'

DJ fumbled for the bottle and unscrewed the lid, holding the bottle up to Jonas's lips for him to drink. A little fluid trickled into his dry mouth. He let out another groan.

‘Jonas. Can you open your eyes?'

Jonas cleared his throat and slowly opened his eyes. It took a
moment for him to focus. ‘Children? They sent children to find me?'

DJ explained. ‘We're part of a larger search party.'

The cockie squawked, obviously not wanting to be forgotten.

‘A search party which also includes a loud bird!' said Bindi. Jonas looked even more confused. She tried to explain. ‘We're all helping Ines find you. She's been very worried.'

‘Ines!' At the thought of his girlfriend, Jonas shakily tried to sit up. Bindi restrained him. ‘We don't want you to move yet in case it makes your injuries worse. Can you remember what happened?'

Jonas grimaced at the memory. ‘So stupid. I wanted a good angle for my photograph and I took a step backwards and fell over. That's all I remember.'

‘Easily done, mate,' said DJ, self-consciously brushing his grazed elbow.

Bindi grabbed the first-aid kit and started to gently apply some antiseptic to the wound on Jonas's head. ‘Yes, you've got quite a lump here.'

Jonas grimaced as Bindi proceeded to clean up the rest of his cuts. ‘It's my ankle that really hurts. I think it's sprained.'

When Bindi was satisfied that the
wounds were looking cleaner, Jonas motioned for DJ to come over. ‘It's okay, I can move, I just need some assistance.'

DJ helped Jonas into a sitting position, leaning the injured man's back against a rock for support. It was then that Jonas noticed DJ's injuries.

‘You don't look so good yourself.'

DJ dismissed the comment with a laugh. ‘It's a long story.' He offered Jonas more water and a muesli bar to help him get back some energy.

Bindi looked up at the sky, realising it was probably close to midday. It was getting hotter and the sun was
packing some punch. They had better get moving. She quickly checked Jonas's injured ankle while he tucked into the food and drink.

‘We'll never get that boot on again.' Bindi pointed towards the swelling around Jonas's ankle. It was puffy and the bruising was a dark shade of purple. Bindi unravelled a gauze bandage and began to strap the ankle as well as she could.

DJ scouted the area, trying to figure out where they were. He noticed Jonas's camera lying in the dirt a little way away. He grabbed it, and put it into the backpacker's daypack, which he slung over his own shoulders.

By the time the ankle was strapped, Jonas already had more colour in his cheeks. Bindi packed up the first-aid kit. ‘We should get you back to the others, back to Ines.'

Jonas became restless. ‘Yes, I hate the thought of Ines worrying about me.' He tried to stand but nearly fell over as his injured ankle was too painful to bear any weight.

‘Whoa, steady on.' DJ grabbed Jonas around the waist and tried to hold him up.

‘I can walk,' insisted Jonas.

DJ handed him a large eucalypt branch that looked a lot like a crutch. ‘Use this. I'll support your weight as
much as I can on the other side.'

‘We need to start making our way back.' Bindi glanced around the trees, looking for the cockatoo. ‘Where have you gone?' she asked, searching the sky.

The bird was nowhere to be seen.

‘Looks like we're on our own,' muttered DJ. He tried not to appear worried.

Bindi glanced at DJ. ‘You know the way, don't you?'

DJ looked around him and made a quick decision. He pointed towards two tall bloodwood trees in the distance. ‘No worries, mate. That's where we're going!'

Jonas smiled for the first time that day. ‘I am very grateful to you both for finding me.'

Bindi smiled back. ‘That's okay, Jonas. DJ will get us home in no time!'

DJ braced himself for Jonas to lean on him as he took his first step. He mumbled to himself, ‘Let's hope so.'

‘How much further?' asked Jonas, as he paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It had been slow going and they seemed to have made little headway.

DJ felt two sets of expectant eyes focus on him. Looking around
at the surrounding bush, he cleared his throat and answered with a confidence he didn't feel. ‘Not far now.'

Jonas groaned. ‘You said that an hour ago.'

The scrub around them was thick. They had found their way back onto the wooded lowlands, covered with a range of grasses and wild flowers. Blue-winged kookaburras perched in the trees, lorikeets and honeyeaters feasted on the nectar of eucalypt flowers, and whistling black kites flew overhead. Bindi wished they were here under better circumstances. It really was very pretty.

‘The less we stand around talking,
the sooner we'll get back,' grumbled DJ, as he helped support Jonas as he walked.

Bindi agreed. ‘DJ is right. It can't be far now.'

They began their slow journey onwards. Jonas was being assisted on either side by Bindi and DJ. His ankle could bear little weight and when it did, the pain was intense. He was curious about his young rescuers. Conversation helped pass the time and distract him from the pain.

‘Do you live in Kakadu, DJ?' asked Jonas.

‘No, I live in Darwin. But we visit pretty often.'

‘You are lucky, it's an amazing place.' Jonas looked around him. ‘I wish I was more able to appreciate it. There are some flowers around here I'd love to photograph.'

‘You and Ines can always come back,' encouraged Bindi.

Jonas nodded. As he thought about Ines, the throbbing in his head grew worse. He tried to focus on the scenery. As his gaze drifted across their peaceful surroundings, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

‘I hate to seem ungrateful but are you sure you know where we are?'

The question was directed at DJ,
who immediately became defensive. ‘Why do you ask?'

Jonas pointed to a large paperbark tree coming up on their right. ‘I could swear we've passed that tree already.'

DJ's eyes flashed in annoyance. ‘What would you know, mate? There's like a million of them, we're in a paperbark forest!'

Jonas did a double take at the outburst. ‘Calm down, I'm just asking!'

‘You know, Jonas might be right,' suggested Bindi, gently. ‘I think we've passed this spot before.'

DJ rolled his eyes. ‘What? Now you're ganging up on me?'

Bindi and Jonas looked at DJ, unsure what to say. They hadn't meant to make him angry. There was a long silence before DJ gave a big sigh.

‘You're right, okay,' he finally said, frowning into the glare of the sun. ‘I have no idea where we are. I admit it. We're completely and totally lost!'

Elsewhere in the park, a tired and disheartened search party took an afternoon drinks break. The rangers had no good news coming through on the two-way radio. Not only had they not found Jonas, but they had also lost contact with Bindi and DJ.

Though worried, Terri felt reassured that Bindi wasn't out in the bush alone. ‘At least she's with DJ. He'll take care of her.'

Tommy stared into his mug of tea. ‘I hate to worry you, Terri, but I was about to say thank goodness DJ is with Bindi.'

Terri gave him a quizzical look.

‘DJ has a terrible sense of direction,' Tommy explained. ‘He's always getting lost. At the shops, at the park. If he steps out of a lift, he's the fella that'll instinctively head in the wrong direction …' He stopped when he saw Terri's worried expression.

‘But you guys come out to
Kakadu all the time, don't you?' asked Terri.

Tommy laughed. ‘Sure we do. I give visitors tours about our Indigenous heritage and the rock art, but DJ generally has his nose buried in his Nintendo DS. I was impressed this morning to hear he had actually picked up some knowledge about the area.'

Terri was becoming really worried. ‘So that means they're still out there on their own?'

Tommy looked up at the sky. ‘You're never on your own in this part of the country.' A cockatoo in the distance gave a reassuring squawk.

‘I'll have to take your word for it,' said Terri, grimly.

Nearby, Robert felt he was about to make a discovery. He had spied a breed of frog in the rushes that he couldn't give a name to, and Robert knew frogs. This one was definitely a species he wasn't familiar with. It was yellow with brown markings. He was already rehearsing names to call it as he stealthily crept closer.

‘The Yellow-Spotted Bob Frog –
I like it.' He nodded to himself as he moved even nearer. He was worried about scaring the frog away but he needed to have a good look at it.

Robert could already picture himself being introduced at a gala dinner for his outstanding research in discovering, naming and identifying Australia's fauna and flora. He might even win a Eureka Award for his contribution to science!

Just as Robert was about to gently pick up the frog, a group of people from the search party walked past, calling out for Jonas. Robert watched in horror as the startled amphibian hopped quickly away.

‘No, come back!' he called as he raced after his yellow-spotted treasure. ‘You haven't been discovered yet, come back!'