Giants Foot

By Dave Bowles

Giants Foot.1 Get out of the way Harry P, things just got serious.
A small town, a close nit group of eight young teenagers that do everything together. Each learning more about the others with each day that passes. The best of friends. Unbreakable bonds. Encouraging and supporting each other to push past what they thought were the limits to their abilities.
Best of times camping under the stars, making a fire, cooking damper, heating tins of beans and other canned food, some tasty some not.
The Grandparents show up and tell a favourite story in a mystical place called Giant's Foot.
Secrets held there, secrets best not to be spoken. A world they enter and experience things that swirled through their dreams. If they want to survive they need to do what they always do, support each other and use the gifts they have.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dave Bowles
• Release date: May 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463256398

Book preview

CHAPTER 1.

Settle down, stop carrying on, ya sook. If you keep squirming around, the toxins are going to spread through your body that much quicker! Mawz insisted, trying to inspect the puncture marks on his foot and apply a homemade poultice before wrapping the spot in a compression bandage.

But it hurts Mawz; it's stinging like crazy and burning. Am I going to die? I hope not; I'm way too young.

Stop with the complaining! No one has died from a red belly black snake bite for more than a hundred years, Jock explained.

No recorded cases anyway, laughed Seb.

Up you Seb! I might become the first. Am I going to be ok, Mawz?

Only if you stop wiggling around and sit still, you might just survive.

I came over after taking the snake a safe distance away into the bush to release it. The snakes safe, guys.

Bloody hell is that all you worried about? It's your fault I got bitten Loti. I knew something bad would happen.

Hey mate, you should've checked first, I laughed.

Real funny Loti! Just stick your hand into the gap under the rocks you tell me. There might be treasure hidden in there; if there is, we can go halves. Why do I friggin listen to you! Worms moaned and threw a rock at me.

Sit still Worms! Mawz yelled, becoming increasingly frustrated.

I probably shouldn’t have got him to stick his hand in the hole. We had a treehouse to build and this put a damper on the build. It was my idea to build a treehouse, it was going to be awesome.

I often felt like the self-appointed leader of our group. It was usually up to me to come up with stuff to do. Silv reckons I’m super hyper, can’t sit still for five minutes. Always on the go. She is probably right. And reckons life never gets boring with the crazy activities we end up getting into.

We went through fazes, like for months we worked on building super cool souped-up billy carts. Once completed we’d race each other, then go make modifications and race again. there was a standing rule; no brakes, and as such there were plenty of crashes.

Another time, Worms suggested modifying our pushbikes into choppers one Saturday morning. This suggestion had us off to the garbage tip scrounging for bike parts and then back to my place and start replacing the existing front forks with bigger forks. When the bikes were finished, we went to the OP shop and brought old jackets to complete the picture of us as bad arses.

Seb’s dad was an electrician and one afternoon we started mucking around with a pile of offcut conduits. I found a smooth round stone and fired it through a conduit at Seb, Blowguns!

Within hours we had made blowguns for everyone and then went about making projectiles from wooden golf tees with needles inserted and glued to the tips.

When these babies hit you, they stuck. I thought the battles would be epic but none of the others was that keen to have unwanted acupuncture.

Always something happening to keep us amused.

Just like our treehouse, everyone was excited to be involved. Busy dragging timber and old rusty roof iron way down the back of Granma’s place into the scrub. Stockpiling before construction commenced.

It came to an abrupt halt when Worms got bitten by the snake.

When Mawz finished bandaging the bite and repeatedly emphasised that it was advisable not to move to prevent the poison from circulating quicker.

Everyone trusted Mawz. When it came to anything to do with the bush and nature, her knowledge of bush medicine, and identifying edible bush tucker when exploring, was better than most.

Much wiser than her years, she consistently blew the others away with her experience, knowledge, casualness, and coolness. Mawz was the type of person you instantly liked.

Mawz got me to go and grab the homemade trolley we’d previously made out of bits and pieces for the sole purpose of transporting an old timber canoe we came across back to my place. The canoe had been sunk in sticky mud up along the bank of the river years ago.

I hooked it to my bike and returned to the treehouse, Is the patient ready to go?

Yes, he is, Mawz replied.

Once Worms was manoeuvred onto the trolley, with some effort and a push from the others, I started peddling towards town.

So much for completing the treehouse. Typical of Worm's to stuff up a good day. You had to give him credit; he was consistent if nothing else.

He'd become delirious as he lay on the trolley and began talking gibberish to me.

Not right now Worm's, I panted in reply.

Arrived at the local hospital where the medical staff got into a frenzy upon hearing he'd been bitten by a red belly black, administering anti-venom almost immediately.

Worms was kept under observation for two days, then released, much to the nurse's relief. They'd no doubt been punished for long enough.

Dr Simpson reckoned the homemade poultice had drawn most of the poison out, probably saving his life.

Worms was back to his old self a couple of days later, and work continued on the treehouse.

The following weekend, the treehouse was put on hold and instead, we set off to go swimming at Giants' foot.

CHAPTER TWO.

It took some doing and time when we first went looking for Giants Foot.

At the campfire nights, we would pressure Granma to give up the location of Giants Foot. All she would divulge was cryptic clues and snippets to its exact location, she would explain, we had to find it for ourselves.

It took plenty of exploring and following false tracks that constantly led to disappointment before eventually, we came across the foot.

With a sense of great achievement, it immediately became 'our special place.'

It was like nothing anyone had ever seen. Sparkling clear water filled the foot, supplied by a small ribbon of water falling from the cliff. Splashing onto rocks and running through little crevices towards the foot.

Always appearing full, though strangely, it never seemed to overflow.

It was mesmerising staring at the water, which was crystal clear and appeared bottomless, changing from bright blue to gradually darker, descending into its depths. Difficult to tell just how deep.

This sunny Saturday, as usual, the foot simply enticed everyone to jump in, a swim was enough reward and had been for several years after we finally found it.

From the edge of the cliff looking down on Giant's Foot, it was easy to see why Granma and Granpa had told them numerous stories about the secrets it held.

Aptly named after the foot shape that was stamped in the rock that looked like a massively huge foot. Supposedly an imprint by a giant from centuries gone; or so Granma led us to believe.

The waterhole below, when looking down from above looked similar to the giant footprint.

Only this one was much bigger.

Such a special place with its history of secrets. When you find it, if the foot so chooses, it may well expose some of its secrets, only time will tell. you need to be accepted first. Granma explained with a grin.

Giant's Foot became our 'secret spot.'

Had been for several years after finally finding it.

That first time we found it everyone agreed it was well worth the effort after we pushed ourselves determined to find it after so many attempts.

Now it seemed so easy we forgot how hard and challenging it had been.

CHAPTER THREE.

We’d be covered in slick perspiration our clothes dirty and soaked from the treks through the bush, working hard along specific tracks and trails we memorised and could be easily missable if you didn't know the indicators of when and where to turn or which direction to take. Down gullies over ridges, across fallen logs, climbing down the sides of cliffs. Some sections traversed were quite dangerous; one mistake could result in injury or worse. Minor mishaps happened, thankfully, never too damaging.

To date, we hadn't needed help from anyone but themselves. Taking added precautions such as the use of ropes that, when necessary, are either attached around each other or secured to tree trunks or tied to rock outcrops.

Some spots had piton spikes ('borrowed' from Dulc's older brother who was right into his abseiling) They'd driven strategic pitons deep into crevices, remaining there for future use. Mostly positioned out of sight from 'trespassers' as Worms and his twin brother Gorilla repeatedly called anyone that might perhaps stumble upon them.

I loved the way gorilla’s mind worked, he thought himself a real commando.

He provided clips and climbing ropes; thrived on all this kind of stuff and seemed to have a never-ending supply of outdoor gear, always buying more stuff when he had money.

Along with using ropes, we found other ways to get down by using protruding rocks as foot and handholds, while moving further into the ravine, and using fallen trees, conveniently 'dropped' if no other way presented itself to cross. Like it was meant to be; the trees we chose, appeared to have grown specifically for our use.

Using the trees was a no-brainer as far as Gorilla was concerned. Smartly knowing how to cut them to fall exactly in the right spot. Still presenting a level of difficulty to cross and we had to draw the line between dangerous and 'really stupidly dangerous,' as Worm's called it.

Numerous other trees along the trail grew in such a way, that enabled us to climb up and access strategic branches to cross over deep gullies where the thick branches held our weight and other branches acted as handrails.

This in itself, was reasonably dangerous and scary, though decidedly quicker than climbing up and down every gap, chasm, and gorge.

Several in the group would have preferred to turn around and go back, but as soon as one of us made it, the rest naturally followed, quite often Dulc would go first without hesitation.

You have no fear girl! Mawz would yell on many such crossings.

'Dutch Courage,' Dulc would call leading the way, no one ever asked what she meant.

Several trees used along the track already had old ropes tied to them.

Interesting.

These ropes were hard to spot and usually tucked out of sight. It was only when Seb had climbed a tree to secure a rope of their own, that his hand reached around and found a hidden rope already in place.

That's when we began noticing more hidden ropes and hand and footholds that weren't natural to the trained eye. They had been made by someone.

Usually, we replaced any existing ropes found with a new rope, as some had been put there a long time ago and were old and frayed. Once the rope was secure, testing was customarily carried out by Gorilla. After all, he was the biggest and heaviest.

Once deemed safe, we would follow him, reckoning if it hadn't snapped under his body weight, it would easily hold the rest of us. Considering his size, maybe even support two at a time. All this testing took time and exerted a lot of energy, often nervous energy, breaks were needed after the more difficult sections were conquered, before continuing.

Since the first time, we’d started the mission to find the foot, slowly getting closer than the time before, we left hidden markings and only turned back when it became too late to continue.

We would stop at familiar outcrops where crystal-clear waterfalls cascaded, laying under the water to cool off, especially in summer when it was stinking hot.

Worms went so far as to fry an egg on a slab of rock to prove how hot it was, then ate it. You could hear the grit crunching between his teeth.

Laying out our sweat-soaked clothes which would be dry within minutes, little wisps of steam rose, on contact with the stone.

These breaks enabled everyone to wash the blood from cuts and grazes inflicted during the trek. We believed all the water holes were put there just for our use. Once cooled off and revitalised the group would start preparing to tackle the next section.

While I was putting my shirt back on Jock screamed out while pointing at my back, Oooooooh, what's that? it's huge, yuck!

What Jock. What! I had no idea what she was on about.

Worms laughed. It's nothing Loti, just a massive leech; sucking your blood. making a sucking sound through his teeth.

Get it off me!

Think of it as just another pet, Dulc replied.

Yeah, Loti, take him home, bet your mum would be stoked, Worms agreed.

CHAPTER FOUR.

The group was close to Giant's Foot. Currently being held up by my newly acquired 'pet.' sucking my blood.

Worm's tried several times to grab the leech attached to my shoulder. He tried to pull, twist and pry it free; unsuccessfully. Not only was it too slimy to grip, but it was also pretty well attached, merrily going about its business. And no matter how Worms tried to remove it, even digging his dirty fingernails under it, still had no luck.

Sorry mate looks like your new appendage is there to stay, he laughed, It's not going anywhere, you two are 'besties' forever.

Silv was a girl prepared for anything and probably the most level-headed, of the group. Who time and time again, has proven to be the least fazed or frightened by virtually anything they faced.

Foraging around in her backpack of goodies, pushing things around until nodding, Ah, here it is, fishing out a little jar of salt. I think it's fed for long enough, Loti.

You're like a girl scout Silv, remarked Worm's, again impressed by what she managed to carry with her, Be prepared, dib, dib, dobs, making the scout salute.

You seem to have more in that bag than it could hold Silvia, I knew the salt would dislodge the leech.

She did have all sorts of odd items, always something useful. Continually surprised everyone with the range of objects produced from within her bag.

Everything from, needles and all kinds of cotton and threads, to candles, bandages, balms, floppy hats, scarfs, pens, pencils, paper, magnifying glass, mirror, an old slide harmonica and even chopsticks; along with several loose ancient '303' army issue bullet's (no one could fathom why she carried them) a ball of thick string, elastic band's, several cans of fruit, a penknife that had a can opener on it, and so much other stuff it would take too long to recount.

Ask for something, and more often than not, she had it.

Mawz also carried a similar backpack. Hers had different contents. Ancient painted chipped pottery jars, feathers, along with heaps of stuff she'd collected or had been passed down to her from the elders.

Between Silv and herself, they had most things covered.

Full of 'hoodoo voodoo' stuff, Seb once commented of Mawz. She gave him a look that prevented him from bringing it up again.

Mawz also had an array of homemade bush remedies and potions, ready for anything and everything. Along with these concoctions she had old leather pouches and wrapped skins. The others apart from Silv didn’t know what was wrapped in them. These held a multitude of weird and unusual stuff, from dry plants and flowers, and a mix of wrinkly dry frogs and lizards. A handful of brittle old dry bones and knuckles, which were worn shiny and smooth from being held and rubbed over time.

Each item serves a different purpose Mawz would say if anyone was fortunate or unfortunate enough to glimpse inside her pack or be on the receiving end of one of her concoctions she'd mix up.

Her black dreadlock hair was always pulled back, and the gypsy clothes she wore added to her mystery.

She, along with Silvia, had the uncanny ability to freak people out.

Again, getting away from the story, though it's essential to get a feeling for the different members of the group.

Still sucking away happily, the leech seemed to be getting bigger right in front of their eyes.

He's twice as big as ten minutes ago, Lyle exclaimed, prodding it with a stick.

Hurry up with the salt Silv! I pleaded.

Keep still bitch boy, stop swinging your arms around if you want me to get it.

I submitted and let her work her magic.

She proceeded to sprinkle a small amount of pinkish salt onto the leech. Within seconds it started bubbling froth, before releasing and dropping to the ground.

It was now more prominent in size than anything they'd ever seen.

What's with the pink salt, Silv? Worms asked.

Himalayan rock salt, she replied, putting it away. Ancient.

Cool.

OK, enough with the fun and games; let's get going. Seb slammed down his foot hard on the leech with little effect except slipping off it and nearly falling over.

Hit that sucker with a bit more salt Silv!

No need that's plenty, his days are numbered.

Well, let's get going, I'm melting standing here, Seb urged.

Always impatient and in a hurry.

That was Seb.

Someone would be explaining something to Seb, and halfway through, he'd impatiently wave them off, Just get to the point, I've places to be, people to meet and important things to do.

Shoot first ask questions later that was Seb, a fiery temper and short fuse and as a result, he'd get into plenty of arguments and fights. Not one to back down and usually, up against someone bigger and older, and often, not only taking on one at a time either.

Extremely loyal to those close, always defending them no matter what. Unless, of course, he was arguing with one of our group. That thankfully was the only time he'd hold back and manage to keep his temper in check.

Because of how he was towards friends it was begrudgingly reciprocated. It was one in all in if, as usual, he had bitten off more than he could chew.

Time and time again they'd tell him it was the last time they'd help, although that never happened, they always helped.

Afterwards, the group would remain pissed at him for days for being such a dickhead.

That was Seb. Good old hard-headed Sebastian.

It ain't much further; I'm hangin to get to giant's foot. It was only a bloody leech! he barked, again jamming his foot on the leech, harder this time, without looking at the result he turned and set off, the rest followed.

That was one huge leach Loti. Remarked Silv as she stepped around it.

CHAPTER FIVE.

You may be wondering where my nickname originated. We all had a nickname for each other. Mine being Loti.

My mum gave it to me, it morphed into a shortened version of, the luck of the Irish. I was prone to repeatedly getting into tight jams, yet always managing to escape unscathed, freakishly, while also avoiding any real misfortune. For example, to be thrown off my skateboard while travelling way too fast, hitting a rock or pothole, lose control, get launched through the air and landing not on the road as would happen to anyone else in the same situation but instead, land on soft grass, executing a belly slide as if meaning for it to happen, much to my relief sustaining little damage.

Besides my uncanny ability to come out unscathed from many an inevitable disaster, I was a master at spinning lies and crap for whatever situation I was caught up in.

Call me a gambler, but in a good way and maybe a bit of a risk-taker. Quite often coaxing friends into doing stuff they'd never usually contemplate.

For example, I'll bet anyone twenty buck's ya can't eat thirty oysters in fifteen minutes off the rocks.

Like a moth attracted to the light, as expected, my good old mate Worms would take the bait.

Being the ravenous guts, whenever food was involved, inevitably he would take up the bet, sure I'll take that bet. But, show me ya money first! As you can no doubt imagine his nickname stems from his consuming appetite.

The group knew me well, whenever I put up a wager, they knew more often than I didn't have any money to pay up if I lost, trouble was I rarely seemed to lose.

Tinny arsed mongrel, they'd say. My nickname could have been, 'tinny arsed mongrel' rather than Loti.

On this particular occasion involving Worms, when putting up the bet to eat the oysters, I had money and waved it in his face, daring him; "Time's a 'wasting Wormsy! This money has your name on it.'

Considering the fact, that we'd already been opening and eating oysters, along with various other foods that morning, something Worms overlooked. He took the bet.

Worms started ploughing into oyster after oyster at a ferocious rate. Oyster lovers think they could eat them all day, but there's a limit.

Worms to his credit, was going pretty well, got down about seventeen before starting to slow up, he kept eating, desperately wanting to take my money.

'Even just this once' he kept mumbling over and over.

Staring at me with a look of hate, virtually forcing them into his mouth, half retching as each one slithered down his throat as he struggled to swallow.

He wanted that money.

I kept waving the twenty, egging him on, twenty bucks Wormsy, twenty bucks! Only ten to go.

I was becoming concerned that maybe I’d lose this bet. Worms was a vacuum cleaner when it came to food. He started pacing around, rubbing his stomach, trying to make more room, ignoring the feeling of being past full. I kept niggling him.

You had to give Worms credit, even trying to ignore my persistent details of vivid grouse putridness.

It all happened on the twenty-fifth oyster. Worms was forcing it down, struggling, using his fingers to push it down his throat, then clamping a hand over his mouth to swallow. He dry-reached; to his credit, he kept trying to push it down between retches, his eyes watering.

Babushka!

Projectile half-eaten oysters sprayed out between his fingers. Nasty.

As his convulsions subsided, I patted his back, close mate, real close, that's twenty you owe me.

Mongrel, Worm's cursed between stomach convulsions and wiping his mouth.

The girls thought Worms was an idiot for listening to my challenge and stupid for accepting it in the first place. All the same, they did enjoy watching my victim suffer.

CHAPTER SIX.

The Foot was calling, and the day was hot as stink.

Each time we arrived at the Foot it felt like the first time. Hard to explain, weird but obvious to all of them.

Granma reckoned that the area around Giants Foot continually changes, hiding it from the outside world.

She was right, when they arrived and looked over the edge at Giant's Foot and to either side were unsure where the spot was that they'd climbed down last time they were here. Looking for any tell-tale signs became pointless, and what they'd learned to expect was everything appeared completely different, again.

What say we jump and work out how to get back up later, Gorilla was keen to give it a go.

We've never jumped from this ledge; it's the only spot that seems to stay roughly the same and recognizable, we always climb down a bit further than here, this spots way too high! argued Mawz.

Has to be at least a hundred feet down to the Foot guy's, you go first Loti, and I'll go next, that is on the proviso you make it of course. Worm's laughed as he threw a rock out and counted as it dropped to the Foot below. One, one thousand, two one thousand, three one tho, yep the drops about one hundred and thirty feet, I reckon.

That's crap Worm's, what, you think you're a mathematician or something? laughed Dulcie.

Worm's is right for a change, that's definitely over a hundred feet down from here, rock or no rock, we've never jumped from this height, Jocelyn agreed.

You miss the Foot; you'll get splatted on the rocks. What if you misjudge the jump or a wind gust blows you off-course? added Velly.

Known as the quiet one in our group, Velly only spoke if she had to, more content listening to the constant chatter from the others. Secrets were often told to her by the group; for whatever reason, it was easy to let it out with her; it always felt good to confide secret thing's with her, she knew plenty of my secrets.

I leaned out for a better look, I reckon we can do it.

I'll never forgive you if you do, Velly turned and whispered to me.

I won't Velly. I was joking.

Yeah, not so brave now hey Loti! Worms taunted me.

"Look, we can get down to that lower rock ledge and