The Last Elephant Page 5

  We aren’t just two kids, he thought. We’re two kids and an elephant.

  That made him feel a bit better.

  Colt must have dozed off, but at some point the sound of voices snapped him out of it. Two men were talking. Opening his eyes, he saw tree branches silhouetted against the stars above him. The truck’s engine was still running. But they weren’t moving.

  Birdy’s head was lying on his arm, giving him pins and needles. He shook her gently and her eyes flew open. She nearly spoke, but Colt put a finger to his lips.

  ‘Shhhh! We’ve stopped,’ he whispered.

  A chain rattled, then there was a squeal of hinges. Colt pulled his arm out from under Birdy and crawled on his belly to the front of the container. He peered over the edge. The truck had stopped at the end of a narrow gravel road. There was an orange van parked next to it. All around them was bush. A man in orange pushed open a tall, pipe-framed gate. Coils of razor wire glinted evilly in the truck’s headlights, but what caught Colt’s eye was a big orange sign with the familiar DoRFE rat logo at the top:

  DANGER

  ANTI-CONTAMINATION CENTRE

  ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRY

  Colt shivered. He had heard about this place from his mother. When the rat flu pandemic first broke out, DoRFE raided thousands of farms, horse stables, dog kennels, bird aviaries, pet shelters and wildlife sanctuaries, and brought everything here to test for the deadly virus.

  Not a single ‘tested’ creature was ever seen again.

  DoRFE called it their anti-contamination centre. Everyone else called it Death Farm.

  Colt and Birdy lay flat on the container as the truck drove slowly through the gate into Death Farm. They had to keep their heads down because the van was following about fifty metres behind the truck. Its bouncing headlights flashed on the overhanging branches and made weird shadows in the foggy brown air. Colt could smell dust. There was another smell, too – something old and stale and rotten.

  He realised, with a shiver, that it was the smell of death.

  Birdy must have smelt it too. ‘What’ll they do if they catch us?’ she whispered.

  But Colt wasn’t worried about that. He was worried about Lucy.

  Would the rat cops wait for the results from their lab tests? Or would they simply save a lot of time and trouble by destroying Lucy straight away?

  And then they’d destroy the evidence. Colt’s mother said there were big furnaces on Death Farm just for getting rid of dead animals.

  Once that was done, nobody would be able to prove anything.

  Except Colt and Birdy.

  Maybe we should be worried, he thought. If the rat cops could make an elephant vanish, they could easily make two kids disappear.

  ‘We won’t let them catch us,’ he whispered to Birdy. ‘If they see us, run for your life.’

  They came out of the forest into a wide, treeless area. In the glow of the truck’s headlights, it did look a bit like a farm. There were fences and gates and stockyards, and three large buildings that might have been barns. They headed towards the largest of the three and stopped in front of its big sliding door. Someone jumped out of the truck, unlocked two padlocks and slid the door open. It hardly looked high enough for the container to pass through, let alone the two stowaways hiding on top. Colt and Birdy pressed themselves flat against the container as the truck inched slowly forwards. They made it with about two centimetres to spare.

  The truck stopped and its lights switched off. A door creaked open. Colt heard the driver walking along next to the truck. The van pulled up just outside the building. Its headlights shone in.

  ‘The eagle has landed!’ someone joked.

  Someone got out of the van. When she spoke, Colt recognised Officer Katt’s voice. ‘Any problems?’

  ‘Didn’t see a soul, boss,’ the driver said. ‘The roads were nice and quiet.’

  ‘It was a damn long drive though,’ said another man, yawning loudly.

  ‘It’s been a long night for everyone,’ Officer Katt said. ‘In the van, gentlemen. I’ll take you back to the motel.’

  ‘What about the elephant?’ asked one of the men.

  ‘It’ll be quite safe here,’ Officer Katt said. ‘Nobody will find it.’

  ‘I meant should we give it some water or something?’

  Officer Katt laughed. ‘Why bother? As soon as those results come back, we’ll be putting it out of its misery.’

  With that, the rat cops pulled the shed door closed and drove off.

  ‘Phew!’ Colt breathed, sitting up and having a stretch. ‘It was a bit of a squash coming in the door!’

  Birdy found his hand in the darkness. ‘Did you hear what they said about putting Lucy out of her misery?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Let’s get her out of here before they come back.’

  The rat cops hadn’t bothered to lock the sliding door. Colt cautiously cracked it open and stuck his head out. There was no movement outside, not even any rats. Even rats, it seemed, were too scared to come to Death Farm. Colt pushed the door all the way open. Now there was enough light to see what they were doing.

  The container had two big doors at the back. There were levers to open them. He and Birdy swung the doors aside and there was Lucy – well, Lucy’s backside. The rat cops had walked her headfirst into the container and it was too narrow for her to turn around.

  ‘How will we get her out?’ asked Birdy.

  It wasn’t something Colt had thought about. The container was on the back of the truck, about a metre and a half off the ground. Colt didn’t know that much about elephants, but he didn’t think they could jump. Especially backwards.

  ‘We need more light,’ he said. ‘See if you can find a switch, Birdy.’

  ‘Won’t someone see?’ she whispered.

  ‘They’ve gone to a motel,’ Colt said. ‘It’s probably miles away. And they won’t be back till morning.’

  Birdy found a switch near the sliding door and clicked it on. Four rows of neon tubes flooded the shed in light. Now they could see into the container. Colt climbed up behind Lucy. Before they tried to get her out, he wanted to make sure she was all right. He patted her on the backside.

  ‘Hey, Luce, it’s me.’

  The elephant turned her head sideways and tried to look at him. She made a rumbling noise – it sounded friendly.

  ‘Stay still,’ Colt said. ‘I’m coming to say hello.’

  Pressing his back against the side of the container, he squeezed slowly past Lucy. There wasn’t much room. One wrong move from his four-tonne companion and he’d be crushed. But she held herself still. She must have understood the danger. Ducking under a big leathery ear, Colt put both arms around her trunk in a kind of hug.

  ‘What have they done to you, beautiful girl?’

  ‘Is she okay?’ Birdy asked from outside the container.

  ‘I think so.’ Colt pressed his cheek to Lucy’s bristly skin. ‘She’s cooled down a lot and her breathing seems better than yesterday.’ He squeezed back past her. ‘All we have to figure out is how to get her off this truck.’

  ‘What about the chain?’ asked Birdy.

  Colt hadn’t noticed it until now. It lay in a big lumpy heap on the container floor behind Lucy, half-covered in elephant dung. The rat cops must have used bolt-cutters to get it off the tree, but they’d left the other end attached to Lucy. The iron ankle-clamp was locked around her leg with a big, high-tensile steel padlock.

  ‘We’ll never get it off her,’ Colt said. ‘She’ll just have pull it along behind her.’

  ‘Poor Lucy,’ said Birdy.

  ‘Poor us, too,’ Colt said, ‘if we don’t get her out of here before the rat cops come back.’

  Because no matter what happened, he wasn’t going to leave Lucy behind.

  They needed a ramp. There was nothing in the shed that would work, so they went searching outside. Birdy found a pile of heavy wooden planks stacked on the ground next to a cattle pen. They dragged them, one at a
time, into the shed and leaned them against the back of the truck. There were eight planks altogether and they made a ramp that was nearly as wide as the container. But it looked a bit steep for an elephant to walk down – especially backwards. Colt hoped Lucy would trust him if he guided her. And he hoped the planks wouldn’t break under her weight.

  He ran up the makeshift ramp and once again squeezed past Lucy and into the front section of the container. Placing both hands on the elephant’s massive head, just below her eyes, Colt began softly talking to her and pushing at the same time. Lucy resisted at first, but Colt kept talking and pushing. It was like trying to push a car. But his soft voice calmed her and, slowly, Lucy began shuffling backwards.

  ‘That’s it, Luce!’ Colt whispered.

  All went well until they reached the ramp. Instead of stepping onto it cleanly, Lucy’s left rear foot bumped against the raised end of one of the planks. It slid sideways, setting off a chain reaction. A series of loud bangs echoed around the shed as the heavy planks hit the concrete floor. Lucy squealed in fright and lurched forwards, nearly knocking Colt over. Luckily, he stayed on his feet, otherwise he might have been trampled. It was a close call.

  Colt spent a minute or two talking to the frightened elephant and stroking her trunk to calm her down. When she finally seemed okay, he squeezed back past her to see what had happened outside. All but one of the planks had fallen off. Colt jumped down next to Birdy. She was bouncing from foot to foot, looking agitated and scared.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ she cried.

  Colt turned and looked up at the truck. The single remaining plank had slipped sideways. One end was on the floor, but the other end had become wedged at the point where the big iron door was attached to the container. He noticed how the entire door was supported on two simple hinges made of iron rods that fitted into iron pipes welded to the end of the container.

  ‘Give me a hand, Birdy,’ Colt said.

  They lifted the plank and pushed it further under the door. Then they pressed down on the other end. It worked like a lever. The rods rose smoothly out of the pipes until the hinges separated and nothing supported the door except the plank underneath it.

  The door began to tip.

  ‘Stand clear!’ yelled Colt.

  He and Birdy jumped backwards as the huge, heavy door came crashing down. It hit the floor with a deafening bang. Colt held his breath – would Lucy freak out? But she seemed okay. Phew! The top of the door tipped back against the truck and stayed there.

  ‘Excellent!’ said Colt.

  Just as he’d hoped, the door had become a ramp – one that could support an elephant.

  But Lucy didn’t think so. When Colt backed her to the edge once again, she put one foot on the sloping door and refused to go any further.

  ‘It’s too steep!’ Birdy called from outside.

  Colt tried everything he could to persuade Lucy it was safe, but she was too scared to go backwards down the slope.

  ‘Swap ends,’ he said to Birdy.

  Birdy went into the container and started talking to Lucy, while Colt jumped down next to the ramp. He called her, but she wouldn’t come. In desperation, he grabbed the chain attached to her ankle and started pulling.

  ‘Come on, Luce!’ he pleaded. ‘It’s just a few steps!’

  Lucy must have sensed the urgency in his voice. And the ankle-clamp must have been hurting her chafed leg as Colt tugged on the chain. Slowly she shuffled back until both her rear feet stepped onto the door.

  But that was as far as she would go. Birdy was right, Colt realised – the ramp really was too steep.

  He could hear Birdy inside the container, pleading with Lucy to just go backwards. Colt called to Lucy and pleaded with her, too. Just two or three steps and she’d be down. It looked so easy!

  But Lucy wouldn’t budge.

  Colt pulled and pulled on the chain until her leg started bleeding again. It was horrible. But either she came down the ramp, or she would die. They had to get her out! In desperation, Colt gave the chain an extra-hard tug and a worm of blood ran down her foot and came trickling down the ramp towards him.

  It was the sight of the blood that did it. Tears blurred Colt’s vision. His skin began to tingle. Dropping the chain, he bent down. There was a small gap under the bottom of the ramp where it rested on one of the planks. Colt slid his fingers into the gap. He lifted.

  ‘Please, Lucy, walk backwards!’ he begged.

  Lucy’s two back feet were already on the big steel door. She must have felt it rise up. Suddenly there was a level surface behind her, not a steep, slippery slope. With both Birdy and Colt urging her on, Lucy backed slowly out of the container. Colt waited until all four of her huge flat feet were safely on the door, then he lowered it to the floor and jumped quickly to one side.

  Lucy felt the door tipping and tried to go back up. But it was too late – gravity took hold and she slid slowly down backwards until she was safely on the ground next to Colt.

  Birdy stood at the mouth of the big, empty container, staring down at Colt with a look of amazement. ‘What did you just do?’ she gasped.

  Colt shrugged. He couldn’t quite believe it himself.

  ‘I think I just lifted an elephant,’ he said.

  It was hunger that woke him. Colt felt so hungry it hurt! He fumbled in his pocket for a Power Bar.

  Huh? Nothing was there.

  Next moment, a small pale face bent over him. ‘Yay!’ Birdy cried, clapping her hands. ‘I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up!’

  ‘Did I black out again?’ he asked drowsily.

  She nodded. ‘You just fell in a heap.’

  Colt was lying on the shed’s hard concrete floor. Something soft had been pushed under his head like a pillow. His stomach rumbled. ‘Where are my Power Bars?’ he asked.

  Birdy looked guilty. ‘I got hungry,’ she said in a small voice.

  ‘Are there any left?’

  She reached into her hoodie pocket. ‘Only one. I saved it for you.’

  Colt ripped off the wrapper and scoffed it down. One bar wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy his raging hunger, but it was better than nothing. Joints creaking, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Now he could see why everything looked so bright. It was no longer nighttime. Sunlight came streaming in through the open shed door.

  ‘Any idea what time it is?’ he asked.

  Birdy shrugged. ‘It got light ages ago. I was so so scared the rat cops would come back here before you woke up!’

  Colt struggled to his feet. His legs felt like jelly and he ached all over. But there was no time to waste. If it had been light for ages, the rat cops could be back at any moment. He looked around the huge shed.

  ‘Where’s Lucy?’

  Birdy pointed at the door. ‘Outside. She went to get a drink.’

  Colt licked his lips. He needed a drink, too. ‘Is there a tap somewhere?’

  ‘I’ve got a surprise,’ said Birdy. She skipped over to a stack of wooden pallets next to the wall and came back with a large bottle of Pepsi. It was still half full.

  ‘Tah dah!’ she said, handing it over.

  Colt put the bottle to his mouth and tipped his head back. Glug, glug, glug.

  ‘Where did you get it?’ he asked finally.

  ‘In the truck,’ Birdy said. ‘They didn’t lock it.’

  Colt took another swallow of Pepsi. It wasn’t food, but it seemed to be doing something inside him. Something good. His aches and pains were disappearing, and he could almost feel himself growing stronger. ‘Was anything else in the truck?’

  ‘I found that stuff for your pillow.’

  He looked down at a knot of old rags lying on the floor where his head had been resting. ‘I mean was there any food?’ he asked.

  ‘Not exactly,’ said Birdy. ‘Just some scungy old french fries and half a burger.’

  Colt’s mouth watered. ‘Did you eat them?’

  ‘No way!’ Birdy pulled a face. ‘
The burger’s got teeth marks and the fries are, like, three days old!’

  Suddenly Colt found he was able to walk without wobbling. He pulled the truck’s door open and hauled himself up into the cabin. There was a McDonald’s bag on the floor below the passenger’s seat. He ripped it open and started on the half-eaten burger. Bonus! It was real meat, not the usual soy-substitute he was used to. He took another huge bite.

  ‘That is just gross!’ Birdy said, frowning up at him.

  Colt was too busy stuffing his face to explain. But he was beginning to understand what was happening to him. Well, not understand exactly – how could anyone lift an elephant? – but to notice how his body reacted after he did something super fast or super strong. He went into total shutdown. Even his brain turned off, causing him to fall asleep. It was as if there was a battery inside him that suddenly ran out of charge.

  The only cure was food – lots and lots of food.

  They found Lucy making firewood behind the ruins of an old house. Death Farm had been a normal farm before DoRFE took it over. The farmhouse had been left to fall down, but the fruit trees growing around it hadn’t been touched. Until Lucy came along, that is. Not only had she eaten the fruit, but she’d snapped off all the branches and stripped every last leaf off them.

  ‘She must have been hungry,’ Birdy said.

  Like me, Colt thought. ‘It shows she’s getting better.’

  Lucy greeted them with a deep, friendly rumble. She messed up Colt’s hair and clothes with her trunk. This time there was hardly any slime. The massive dose of RatVax his mother gave her must have worked.

  But the rat cops would still want to destroy her if the lab tests came back positive, Colt thought. They would probably kill her anyway. This was Death Farm. He and Birdy had to get her away from here. He looked over his shoulder at Birdy. She had stayed a few paces back, so she wouldn’t get slimed.