The Way Home

By Mike Skillicorn

The Way Home is the third instalment in the Wobbly Wallaby series, following Death Of A Wallaby and the original, The Wobbly Wallaby. The Wobbly Wallaby is a tale of a wallaby who, facing drought conditions in outback Australia, decides to leave his mob to find a place where food and water is plentiful. He encounters a range of hazards in the outback and must keep hits wits about him to survive.

Peppered with subtle life lessons, the books also empathise with the survival challenges facing many animals in the world today.

Discover how Wally’s epic journey ends in the third and final adventure in the Wobbly Wallaby trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Skillicorn
• Release date: Apr 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9780994508843

Mike Skillicorn

Mike Skillicorn is an Australian author and software architect living in Sydney, Australia. Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and maintains a passion for the environment and animal conservation. He loves to travel, especially with his snowboard and when he can find a spare moment, enjoys playing guitar.

Book preview

THE WAY HOME

The Wobbly Wallaby III

MIKE SKILLICORN

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Copyright © 2019 Mike Skillicorn

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Skill Enterprises Australia P/L in 2019

Cover Design by Nieves Barreto. Instagram: @nievesbarretoart

ISBN-13: 978-0-9945088-4-3

www.thewobblywallaby.com

For Wally.

...and for Bongo

CONTENTS

I’m Wally

Lost

Darkness

Crash

The Hardest Thing

Spoils Of Vengeance

Blue Belly Joe

The Wooden Eagle

Swamp

Rapids

Kanandah

Tadpoles

Simple Words

Sailors

The World Of Payne

Those Nagging Fears

Mulloway

The Beach

The Spirit

Home

I’M WALLY

Peg set a cracking pace along a trail that led across the ridge and back down to the river beyond the waterfall. Although the path was wide across the ridge, it narrowed as it descended and soon the wallabies were travelling in single file along the trail. It became obvious that the Rocky Hill wallabies were not used to travelling at such speed and Peg soon found herself well in front of the group. She turned around to hurry them along.

Come on you lot! she cried. We haven't got all day!

Oh, what's the rush, Peg! called Jake, who was more than happy with the relaxed pace of the Rocky Hill wallabies. We've got a long way to go, can't we just take it easy for a while?

What's the matter Jake, can't keep up?

It's not just the four of us anymore, there's no need to go like a bull at a gate.

Fine. I'll take a breather if someone else wants to take the lead.

I'll do it, replied the big male from the Rocky Hill mob, sensing an opportunity to slow things down. He'd been struggling to keep up with Peg and was already breathing heavily.

Peg stepped aside and let him through.

You're Peg, aren't you? he asked as he passed her.

That's right.

It's good to meet you Peg, I'm Ned. The three of you seem to be a lot fitter than we are. It's been a while since we've travelled this far or this fast, he said. It might take us a little while to get back into shape, but we'll get there. We're used to spending most of our time just lying in the sun. He flashed her a smile as he moved to the front and started back down the trail.

Peg fell in behind him and followed him down the path. Come on now, not too slow, or we'll be on this trail forever.

Wally had been travelling towards the rear of the group and found his mind wandering as the trees flashed by, his thoughts going back to Gus, stirred by his words and the memory of his passing. He tried to fathom how the dingo could have crossed the Divide, there was no way he could have climbed the boulders and he seemed too small to have made the jump across the Leap. Not only that, it hadn't taken him long to figure out how to get across, so he was obviously clever. He had probably only been a day or so behind the wallabies the whole time and it occurred to Wally that things could have turned out a lot differently. They had let their guard down since crossing the Divide, assuming the dingoes were stranded on the other side and perhaps if they hadn't been so preoccupied with crossing the river, that dingo could have snuck up behind them and taken one of them in their sleep. And if one of the pack had been able to cross the Divide, what about the other two? Were they still stalking them? A dark thought suddenly flashed through Wally's mind. I should have killed that dingo while I had the chance. Then, as his mind focussed on the dingo and drifted into darkness, his knee misfired again. This time there were no acrobatics, he just flew off sideways into the bush and tumbled a short way down the hill, narrowly avoiding a collision with a thick tree. The two Rocky Hill wallabies that had been travelling behind him stopped immediately.

Are you alright?

Yeah, I'm fine, Wally replied, his irritation masking his embarrassment. His knee had been working so well until the fight at the rock pit.

What happened? One minute you were hopping along and the next minute you just flew off into the scrub. Did you trip on a rock or something?

There was no rock. I've got a tricky knee. It's been behaving itself for a while now, especially after all the distance we've travelled but I twisted it in the fight with Doogan. Now the misfires are back.

Misfires?

Every now and then and unexpectedly, my knee will do something odd and I'll go careening off in some random direction. Strangely enough, hopping seems to be the only thing that fixes it. It will get better, I'm sure.

Is that what happened when you flew over the top of those guards at the rock pit? We all heard about that.

Yep.

"So it's not always a bad thing.''

No, but I can't control it. That's the problem.

I thought you had an unusual jump. she smiled. Like you've got a pebble in your paw or something.

I know, I know.

Wally picked himself up, dusted himself off and hopped back over to the trail.

Come on, we'd better catch the others, he said. We don't want them getting too far ahead. I'm Wally, by the way.

Hi, I'm Wiru and this is Ellin. Why don't you go first again, in case you have another misfire?

I'll be fine, said Wally. You don't need to worry, I've come this far with my knee, I'm sure I can get to the end of the day with it. Ladies first, he said, extending his paw down the trail.

As Ellin and Wiru hopped passed him, Wiru smiled. Thank you, sir.

Wally watched the two wallabies hop away for a moment before he started after them. Travelling last would at least save him the embarrassment if it happened again.

It took the rest of the day for the wallabies to find a passage through the bush that would lead them back down to the water. The thick bush had slowed their progress but they finally emerged from the scrub and onto the stony banks of the river. Tired and thirsty, they were all happy to stop for the day. After a long drink, they retreated a short way back into the cover of the bush.

That was a long day, said Ned as he collapsed on a patch of grassy mulch.

You're not kidding, replied another of the Rocky Hill wallabies. I'm beat.

I think we all are, said Wally. Hopefully it will be a bit easier tomorrow. That bush was pretty thick. By the way, he continued, we never really introduced ourselves. I'm Wally, this is Jake and Peg. I've met Wiru and Ellin...

I'm Ned.

And I'm Agnes. This is my son Banjo, Agnes added, pointing to her joey. He's only three months old.

Not wanting to feel left out, Darcy piped up. And I'm Darcy. I'm Peg's joey.

You're not my joey, you silly thing! said Peg. Darcy gets a free ride in my pouch. He sleeps most of the day, she explained.

Darcy blushed.

Wally could see the confused looks from the Rocky Hill wallabies. We went through a fire before we got to the Divide and Darcy lost his home. He's been with us ever since.

"So you