Bo Bo In The Outback

Bo Bo In The Outback

By Paul McCann

 

Bo Bo and Charlie were enjoying their holiday in Australia.

With little to do, they were watching a show on television about the early days in Australia when people came in search for gold in some outback areas .

 .“Hey Bo Bo… why don’t we give it a try?” said Charlie.

Bo Bo laughed.

“You’ve got rocks in your head Charlie. , Our holiday will soon be over and we’ll have to be heading back home in a month or so .”

Charlie paused  for a moment then he looked at Bo Bo and said

“You know what Bo Bo I’d like to bring mammy something special back from Australia.”

Bo Bo replied ,

“There are plenty of souvenirs, koalas, boomerangs and toy kangaroos ”

Charlie just shook his head and said ,

“Mammy always wanted to come here. I think it would be a great thing to bring her something real Australian from the bush.”

“What do you mean by real?”

Bo Bo asked.

“Well something just like what those early settlers were after , gold and even  opals.”

Bo Bo laughed again.
“Prospector Charlie… our chances are a million to one.”

Charlie hummed to himself.
“We might never be back here again… come on.”

Bo Bo kept watching the program, but something had changed. The stories of the old prospectors began to pull him in and he started to think differently and said .

“.Maybe it’s not that crazy after all Charlie “

:Now you’re talking Bo Bo

As they still had some money left. Bo Bo turned and looked at Charlie saying .

 “Ok first thing , we’ll need a vehicle and some equipment.”

Charlie smiled.

That day they hired a jeep for a month and bought some supplies . They picked up a guidebook on looking for gold and mapped out a way to travel to Maytown on a three-week journey and now their outback trip to a place where only sticks remain had begun..

When they arrived at their destination they set up a camp near an old abandoned gold mine near a very old graveyard with weathered headstones.

Scattered in the dust .

On their first morning Bo Bo was up early cooking a simple breakfast before they would go down into the abandoned mine.

Inside the mine, they found some old carriages and a cart.. As they went deeper into the mine they switched on there torches in the darkness trying to see their way along an old track deep underground .

Suddenly they heard a harsh voice call out to them ,

.“:You two gold diggers are a long way from home and I’d have to say I don’t think you’re going to get back there any day soon if not at all “

Bo Bo shone his torch directly at the spot where the voice was coming from .where the blurred shape of a man was standing holding a knife.

Bo Bo reacted instantly, running towards the armed man and knocking him off his feet . As he fell the knife fell out of his hand and  Bo Bo grabbed it before it hit the ground . Suddenly the ground under their feet began to give way and around where they were standing the mine began to collapse .

Dust was filling the air and then it stopped for a moment . The man who had been there had vanished . Bo Bo put the knife safely in his belt before they started to crawled away through the rubble and into a safe section of the mine and they had made it just in time.as the mine started to collapse .

Bo Bo and Charlie raced as fast as they could to get out before they were buried alive inside and luckily’

 they made it out alive . The whole mine collapsed before their eyes .

There was a sign at the front of the mine that said:’’

 Abandon hope all who enter here.

Suddenly this snake made itys way over to them and as it lunged. Bo Bo took the knife from his belt and struck first  One again they had had survived

They heard a strange sound coming from the graveyard nearby and went over to see what it was , They walked around they graveyard and saw an old  headstone with a message still readable .]It said 

 Here lies Jack Morgan and his sack of gold beneath ,  but if I were you I’d leave it alone for you don’t know what the future might hold :

The cold wind came and blew the dust off the grave and a crack opened up on the gave where they stood  and suddenly something underneath began to glow..

Bo Bo and Charlie went over to the jeep and brought back some shovels and spades and started to dug where in the spot where they saw something shining . They dug and they dug until they found a sack of gold . They took it and made their way back to the city, and yes they thought how lucky they were to have had an instant fortune.

On their way back, they took a turn toward an old town ghost town on their map at a place called Joadja. The parked the jeep and had a walk among the abandoned cottages . There was no sign of life anywhere . There was an old railway track and lots of buildings still standing with no one living inside They decided to leave but when they got back to the jeep the engine wouldn’t  start  The Jeep somehow had suddenly stopped working , All around them was a haunting silence . The had no signal for their phones and no way of sending for help .

Charlie looked uneasy.and said ,.
“Bo Bo what if Jack Morgan used to live here ?”

It felt as if time stood still and they had landed in a place between somewhere and nowhere.

They both has this same thought about paying a cost for taking something that wasn’t theirs…

A cold wind blew in and the dust on the streets rose up in spirals in the air and out from the dust a man appeared and walked towards them.

He stood right in front of them and in a whisper he said

“I’m Jack That gold you took was not meant for you but for building this town,”

Fix it… and the debt is cleared.”

Suddenly down at the railway track a train rolled in and Jack disappeared.

Bo Bo and Charlie now had a debt to clear before they could leave and luckily in some of the old abandoned sheds and buildings they found tools and materials to get the job done . Everything they needed was there.

“We’re here for a reason,” said Bo Bo.

The both of them worked day after day and ever so slowly the town came back to life. They had also changed too because they realised what they had taken was not a cost that needed to be repaid .

Thyt cost was something  that they had to give back..

Then as most of the work gad been dome a train returned on the t5rack and Jack got off with some others who came over and asked Bo Bo .

 

“What year is it?” .

“2026,”

Bo Bo replied.

Jack smiled. The train departed. The Jeep started.

They were free.to go ,’

They made their way back on the track they had left and stopped at the Iron Ridge Outback Pub on the way for some  food .

Inside, a man stood behind the bar who said

.“G’day… what’ll it be?”

Something felt… off and he continued

“The name’s Ocker the Clocker  and if you’re interested tonight is a big night here cause we’ve got for you the once a year rat races. Happening ”

Bo Bo and Charlie had some food and then they took a look around outside . It felt strange ..

Kangaroos jumped out and Charlie ran off,.

.“Rats!” he shouted.

Bo Bo burst out laughing .

Darkness came quickly.

“Too late to leave,” Bo Bo said.and so they stayed.

Pretty soon people arrived from everywhere .

.

The Pub Rules were set:

• no shortcuts
• no turning back …It wasn’t just a race.

At dawn, they began. back on the road again with many paths to travel and only one finish . The land tested them amd back at the pub, stories were shared.

“That’s the bush,” said Ocker.

“It gives you what you need.”

They raised a drink.

 

The End