Devils in Danger, page 9
By early September, our class’s tourism expo was advertised on the school’s social media, with all our parents invited. Everyone in Grade Five and Six pitched in to prepare the hall, putting up posters to welcome our guests and stacking away the chairs so we could set up the various displays.
‘All going well here?’ asked Miss Bredlow on the day before the expo. So far, I’d managed to convince her that my project was a huge surprise that couldn’t be revealed until the big day. Which was part-way true. Only, the surprise was that I had nothing at all to reveal.
I had only one more day to come up with something.
I dropped in to Noah’s on the way home, hoping he’d provide some inspiration. Plus, he was the only person in our street, besides Mr Snibbler, who hadn’t seen Fern’s babies.
Noah was just in from school, wearing his blue-and-white striped school uniform, making himself a snack in the kitchen. His super straight hair was combed forwards, giving him an even geekier look than usual, especially with his gaming headphones slung around his neck.
‘Mrs Dwyer’s goddaughter came all the way from Melbourne to see the devils the other day,’ I said, trying to tempt him into meeting Fern and her babies.
‘Yeah?’ he murmured, stirring Milo into his glass of milk. ‘Cool. Want one?’
I shook my head. ‘Anyway, she said it was her first time in Tasmania and she was looking forward to seeing the unique attractions we have here …’ I stopped, my eyes wide. ‘Unique …’ I clapped my hands together. ‘That’s it!’ I shouted. Poor Bones, who’d been sleeping by my feet, jumped up and rushed to the door, mistaking my excitement for someone arriving at the house. ‘Tasmania! That’s unique!’
Noah finished off his Milo in one last swig. ‘You’re unique,’ he muttered, swiping a hand across his mouth. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘My project for school,’ I said. ‘We have to research a unique tourism destination, but I couldn’t think of anything unique enough. But you don’t get devils just anywhere.’ I thought for a moment. ‘We get fairy penguins. They’re unique. Cradle Mountain. That’s unique.’ I looked over to Noah. ‘What Tassie things are you an expert on?’ I asked.
Noah’s eyes glinted. ‘VERY ANNOYING neighbours, that’s what!’
‘No-ah!’
He grinned. ‘So, I’m guessing you’re going to present all this “unique stuff ” in a giant poster?’
I gave his arm a playful punch as he lowered himself in front of his computer. ‘How about a video?’ he suggested. ‘You know, like TikTok or YouTube. You could take some footage of the devils and say something intelligent about Tasmania being one of a kind, and ta-da, project done.’
I nodded. ‘I guess. But who’d be in it?’
Noah laughed. ‘You, you numbskull. Who else?’
I scratched my head. ‘But what would I say?’
Noah groaned. ‘Have you always been this annoying? You’d say how unique Tassie is and explain about the devils living under your house, of course. There’s so much you could cover. When did you say this was due?’
I mumbled something about tomorrow.
‘Tomorrow? Jeesh, what are we waiting for?’
Mum was on the laptop in the kitchen when Noah and I arrived.
‘Hey, Noah. Lovely to see you,’ Mum said, looking a little surprised. Our house was one of the few places Noah could actually be bothered to visit, other than school, of course. But it had been ages since he’d been over and now he stood with his iPad under his arm like it was a mini magic carpet, able to whisk him home any minute.
‘See?’ I pointed to Bella and Benjamin, both curled up fast asleep in their den.
Noah took a step towards the glass. ‘Cool. I like that little guy with the white paw.’
‘That’s a girl. Bella.’ She slept with her nose resting on her brother’s tummy, her head rising and falling with his breaths.
‘Yeah right, girl, Bella, whatever.’
‘And the boy’s Benjamin. Look. He’s awake.’
Benjamin must have heard our voices because he’d opened his eyes and stretched. He pushed his front legs out while his short hind legs pulled back, so that his body arched like a cat’s. Then he yawned a huge open-mouthed yawn, showing off his small but super strong jaws, before wriggling his body deeper into his comfy dirt bed and closing his eyes again.
‘They’re awesome,’ Noah admitted.
We stood at the glass a little longer, but with daylight fading, I was keen to get started on my project. Tomorrow wasn’t too far away. ‘Will you do the filming?’ I asked.
Noah nodded and opened up his iPad. ‘Sure.’
I looked around. ‘Where should I stand? How will I begin?’
Noah glanced down at the den. ‘What about by the glass here? We’ll have you spouting interesting facts about Tassie devils into the camera to start with, something good to hook people in right away.’
‘Wait there.’ I raced to my room and back. My journal was slightly ragged after nearly five or so months of entries, but that didn’t matter. It was jam-packed with devil information. ‘What about … Tasmanian devils are the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial?’ I suggested. ‘They store fat in their chunky tails and have whiskers on their faces and on top of their heads. Um … sorry, hang on. I can’t read my writing … um … Their whiskers help them locate their food in the dark.’ I looked up to see if Noah was listening. ‘How does that sound?’
‘Okay … ish,’ he replied. ‘But maybe start with more about Tasmania as a holiday destination and then, by the way, you can see devils here.’
‘Okay, so …’ I ran my finger along my words. ‘How about … Tasmania is a natural wonderland that supports a population of mammals, birds, frogs and reptiles, many of which are not found anywhere else?’
Mum, who’d been silently tapping on the laptop, looked up in surprise.
Even Noah raised his brows. ‘Where did you come up with that?’
I shrugged, my ears growing warm. ‘What if I stand over there, and you stand there?’ I pointed to the far wall of the kitchen. ‘No, maybe there. I could say my bit to camera, then you pan across to the devils …’
I paused. Noah was looking at me kind of funny. ‘What?’ I asked.
‘What’s that around your neck?’
Mrs Dwyer had given me a hand-knitted scarf last time she’d been in the salon, just like she’d promised. She’d made one each for Mum, Dad and me and one for every member of her family. I’d grabbed mine and wrapped it around my neck when I ran to my room to get my journal. Almost twice as long as me, the black fluffy scarf was embroidered with ‘I ♥ Tassie devils’ in red. I loved it. ‘It was a gift from Mrs Dwyer,’ I protested.
Noah laughed. ‘And you’re planning on wearing that in the video?’
I fingered the soft black wool, undecided.
‘I think it’s perfect!’ Mum said from over the laptop. ‘You want one, Noah? I’m sure Mrs Dwyer would need no encouragement.’
We ended up filming the segment twenty-three times. Mostly because I kept forgetting what to say, but also because, just when we thought we had it perfect, the young devil joeys would wake up and steal the show. Bella sniffed at the glass while I talked, listening a moment before hopping away sideways, like a tiny erratic kangaroo. Which made me laugh instead of saying what I was meant to. Then Benjamin would hide behind a house stump before darting out to tackle Bella or Fern, causing so much squealing and growling we’d have to start all over again.
It was dark by the time we were done, and since Mum was still working on the laptop, we took Noah’s iPad back to his place to do the editing.
‘You guys want some pumpkin soup?’ asked Grannie Annie from over by the stove. ‘I’ve got pumpkins coming out of my ears.’
‘No thanks,’ I replied, while Noah began downloading the footage.
‘Okay, so, no, we can’t use that bit,’ I said, staring at the screen. ‘Or … that.’ I scrunched my nose. Some of the clips were really bad. ‘Yeah, here, what about that one? It looks pretty good.’
‘Don’t worry, we can edit out the dud bits,’ said Noah, clicking the mouse here and there, dragging bits of footage from this place to that place and deleting chunks, until the video started to come together. I suggested adding in some music, then designed a red-and-black title page, the same colours as my scarf, before declaring the video done.
‘Oh, look at those cuties!’ said Grannie Annie, popping her head over our shoulders while we watched the video one last time. ‘Couldn’t you just snuggle up with them? Who can resist a devil?’
Mr Snibbler. That’s who. And Missy and Mario, Urasha, Katie and Alise. And Miss Bredlow. I’d convinced heaps of people that devils were cool, but I still hadn’t changed the minds of a few locals in Dodges.
Which gave me an idea. Our video was the perfect way to reach people still on my anti-devil list. Missy, Mario, Urasha, Katie, Alise and Miss Bredlow would be at the expo, but what about Mr Snibbler?
‘Um, Grannie?’ I asked. ‘You wouldn’t consider coming to my tourism expo tomorrow, would you?’ I took a breath, my face growing warm just anticipating what I was going to say. ‘And … would you bring a date?’
Noah snorted while Grannie looked at me in alarm. ‘A date? Why on earth would I want a date?’
I explained about Mr Snibbler and how I needed him to see the devil footage if he was going to be on their side.
Grannie Annie looked from me to Noah, as if trying to make up her mind.
‘He could drive you in his limousine,’ I tempted. ‘You could tell him you need a holiday and want help deciding where to go.’
Grannie Annie shook her head. ‘Goodness, what a proposition! The man’s at least twice my age.’
‘Please?’ I begged. ‘You don’t have to hold his hand or anything.’
That did it. Noah completely cracked up while Grannie Annie clasped her soup spoon to her chest. ‘Good grief, Killarney!’ But then she took a breath and relaxed. ‘Mind you, I’ve never been in a limousine.’
Chapter 18
I stared gloomily at myself in the mirror the following morning. My eyes were puffy and my lips pale. We’d had an extra noisy night with Fern’s joeys playing till the early hours, barking and growling and squealing, and I’d hardly slept at all. Any other day, I might have asked Mum for the day off. But not today.
Today was expo day!
I spent extra long cleaning and flossing my teeth, styling my hair in my favourite sideways braid and making sure my trainers were sparkling. For the first time since Fern arrived, I wasn’t thinking of our devils.
My mind was filled with my tourism project. How would the video look on the big screen? How would I look on the big screen?
All the students in our whole school were allowed to walk around the exhibits before the parents arrived. Loads of colourful demonstrations filled the hall. The air hummed with excitement.
‘Roll up, roll up! New Zealand is a must-see destination!’ One of Mrs Dwyer’s sons and his project partner sat behind the cardboard steering wheel of the model campervan they’d made to encourage people to drive around New Zealand. ‘Come to New Zealand!’ they beckoned, waving to me through the open cardboard window.
‘Great job!’ I said, waving back.
A little further along, Katie and Urasha were singing a catchy Japanese song to a backing track on Katie’s phone. From what I could gather, the song encouraged visitors to holiday in Tokyo, but I couldn’t ask, as both girls turned away when they saw me.
Over in the next stall, Missy and Alise were dressed up as penguins, advertising a cruise around Antarctica. I would’ve laughed, except seeing Missy doing a project without me made me sad. I kept walking.
I’d been so excited about my video last night, but now I wasn’t sure. I didn’t have a model campervan or a penguin suit or a catchy song. All I had was a tiny USB, clutched inside my clammy palm. ‘Can we plug this in, please?’ I stuttered when I found Miss Bredlow. Would my project be even half as good as the others? What if everybody laughed?
‘Sorry. What was that?’ Beads of sweat dotted Miss Bredlow’s furrowed brow. Maybe I wasn’t the only one nervous about the expo?
‘My project is a video presentation,’ I explained. ‘So, I’ll need the drop-down screen, if that’s okay, and I’ll need to plug my USB into—’
‘Oh, Killarney!’ Miss Bredlow looked around wildly, her face flushed. ‘Why didn’t you say so before? The tech guy’s gone home, and I’ve no idea how the projector works.’
I couldn’t let on that I had only started my project last night. ‘And I’ll need to dim the lights,’ I said instead.
‘Lights?’ Miss Bredlow almost shrieked. ‘You can’t turn off the lights. Everyone’s looking at the exhibits.’
And so I had to wait, hovering by the steps of the stage, unsure if my video would even work. One good thing: no-one else had chosen Tasmania.
Eventually, at four o’clock, Miss Bredlow opened the doors to allow parents and friends to stream in, filling the hall with chatter.
‘There she is!’ Mum cried as she and Dad jostled towards me.
I held up a hand to wave, then took a sharp breath. A tall slim man, leaning forward as he walked and wearing smart black pants and a chauffeur’s cap, was weaving his way through the crowd. Mr Snibbler! With Grannie Annie following close behind.
‘This is so cool,’ said Dad when he and Mum reached me. ‘Awesome way to choose our next holiday. What do you reckon, love? New Zealand? Japan? Antarctica?’
‘What? A holiday without fishing or football?’ Mum teased. ‘Goodness, Daz, whatever would we do?’ Then she slid her eyes discreetly across to Grannie Annie and Mr Snibbler, who stood listening to Katie and Urasha’s song. Grannie Annie tapped her foot happily, while Mr Snibbler kept fiddling to straighten his cap. It had been ages since Mr Snibbler had been to Mum’s salon and his normally smart moustache was long and lank, hanging like a mop past his mouth.
My heart thumped. This was it. Thanks to the expo and my video presentation, I’d finally get the chance show Mr Snibbler the devils. I should really go over and thank him for coming, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Best let my video do the talking.
‘Why don’t you show us your project, Killarney?’ Mum said. ‘I can’t wait to see what you’ve done.’
I swallowed. ‘You have to wait,’ I explained. ‘Miss Bredlow can’t work the projector.’
Mum shot Dad a knowing look, like she didn’t believe I’d really done it. I couldn’t blame her. It did sound like a classic Killarney excuse.
‘It’s true!’ I argued. ‘I have done the project! You saw Noah and me working on it last night.’ But it was no good. I could see by their faces they’d already made up their minds.
I was soon spared from further explanation by Miss Bredlow, who made a small speech and declared the expo open. I waited and waited while our guests checked out the exhibits until, finally, Miss Bredlow said we could dim the lights. ‘Just one last presentation, folks,’ she announced, ‘and then it’s time for a delicious supper.’
The hall darkened. The crowd grew quiet. Everyone waited in hushed anticipation while Miss Bredlow and I ducked behind the stage curtain and inserted the USB into the school laptop. I pressed start and then held my breath as the screen lit up blue. Then white.
Then flickered off entirely.
I felt sick. My knees wobbled. It wasn’t going to work.
‘Here, let me through. Thank you, excuse me. Yes, yes, I know what I’m doing.’
Anxious whispers filled the room as a figure lumbered to the front.
Noah?
My mouth practically hit the floor. He’d actually left the house? For me?
Noah checked the cords, both at the wall and then on the school laptop, pushing them in to be sure, then tapped quickly on the keyboard.
‘Thank you,’ I mouthed as the screen lit up and music filled the room.
Noah nodded to me as everyone stared towards the stage. My pulse raced. I thought I might explode. But when my slightly awkward face appeared on the screen, followed by my voice and the devils, I started to relax. The joeys were adorable. Fern was charming. Even I didn’t look too bad.
But best of all were the sighs around the room when the babies closed their eyes, and the laughs and giggles when they played their funny games. And then, when the video finished, the room erupted in applause.
‘Congratulations, Killarney. Job well done,’ announced Miss Bredlow once the lights were turned back on. ‘In fact, congratulations, everyone. All your projects are very impressive. Now, parents, come and help yourself to some refreshments. We’d love you to stay for a while.’
‘You nailed it, poss,’ said Dad, releasing me from a squeezy hug. ‘That was good. So good!’
‘Absolutely,’ Mum agreed, her eyes shining with pride. ‘I’d give you an A for sure.’
‘Thanks!’ My ears still echoed with the applause and my face hurt from grinning. I looked around for Noah, to thank him properly, but I couldn’t see him because Missy, Mario and Alise were huddling around me.
‘So, is that what they’re really like?’ Missy asked.
I chewed my lip. ‘Who?’
‘The devils.’
I frowned. ‘Yeah.’
Missy titled her head quizzically. ‘So, they’re literally that cute?’ She glanced across to Alise, who nodded in agreement.
