Jodie's Adventure on Driftwood Island: Book 3

By Diane Fagan

Twelve-year-old Jodie Jackson goes on a school excursion to Driftwood Island. They go on bush walks through the rainforest and swim in crystal blue lakes.

Jodie sleeps in a tent with her best friend Sarah Chan and one afternoon they spot a mother dingo with two pups. One of the pups is limping.

Jodie finds a t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publicious Book Publishing
• Release date: Jul 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645154023

Diane Fagan

Diane Fagan was born on the northern prairies in Canada-far from the ocean. When she came to Australia, she found a new passion for sailing. After retiring from teaching, she concentrated on writing short stories for children and adults.Jodie's Challenge at Kingfisher Bay is her fourth novel, following Jodie's seriesDiane lives in Sydney, Australia.

Book preview

Chapter One

‘Hey, Jodie! Come and look at this!’

Jodie shaded her eyes from the sun’s glare and saw her best friend, Sarah Chan, a few metres away, crouching by a rock pool. Jodie jumped from rock to rock and squatted down beside her.

‘What is it?’ Sarah asked, peering into the clear, still water.

Jodie reached in and carefully plucked a purple, spiny creature that was stuck to the side of the rock. ‘It’s a sea urchin,’ she said, turning it over. ‘Look, there’s its mouth.’

‘Ooooh,’ said Sarah, pulling back. ‘It looks so prickly. How can you touch it?’

Jodie didn’t answer, but carefully placed it back in the water, and pointed to some tiny shells that were stuck to the bottom of the pool. ‘Those are limpets. Little creatures grow inside them.’

‘You think you know everything!’ said Alice, coming up behind them. ‘You’re such a show-off!’

Jodie felt her face get red and she kept looking down. ‘I just like learning about nature.’

‘She’s smart, that’s what!’ said Sarah. Jodie heard the anger in her voice.

‘Only nerds are interested in science stuff,’ said Alice, wandering off. Jodie watched her sit down on a rock and fiddle with her hair.

‘I don’t know why she even came on this school excursion,’ said Sarah, as she stood up. ‘All she does is complain and look bored. Last night she screamed because she thought there was a spider in her tent, and it turned out to be a leaf!’

‘I think her dad made her come,’ said Jodie. ‘He’s a PE teacher and probably thought she’d learn something. Or get fit. We’ve done so much walking and exploring.’

‘That was so much fun, sliding down the sand dunes,’ said Sarah, grabbing Jodie’s arm and pulling her up. ‘Did you see Marna? She fell off the cardboard and rolled over and over down to the bottom.’

Jodie laughed and walked over to another rock pool and bent down. ‘Hey, Sarah, I’ve got a present for you.’ She reached in the pool of water and pulled out a string of round yellow balls. ‘It’s called Neptune’s necklace.’

‘I’m not touching that,’ said Sarah, backing away. ‘Too slimy!’

Jodie put it around her neck and the sea water dripped down her T-shirt. ‘I like it.’

‘Girls, time to go,’ called Mrs Bennett as she walked along the beach. ‘We’ll walk back through the rain-forest and then along the beach and back to camp.’

Jodie threw the necklace over her shoulder and saw it land on Alice’s head.

‘Whoops!’ Jodie covered her mouth with her hand and tried to stop giggling.

‘Agh!’ screamed Alice, as she stood up and frantically brushed her hair with her hand. ‘Jodie threw that slimy thing at me on purpose!’

‘I didn’t mean to!’ said Jodie.

‘Girls, girls, stop squabbling!’ said Mrs Bennett, as she frowned at Jodie. ‘We’re meeting our guide at the start of the track, and the other group has already left.’

Alice made a face at Jodie and stuck out her tongue.

Jodie ignored her and joined the rest of the girls that had started to follow Mrs Bennett, as she led them away from the beach, and up to a track at the edge of a rain-forest, where an older girl, maybe in her early twenties, stood next to a large palm tree. She wore khaki shorts, and a matching shirt, with a peaked cap on her head.

‘Hi, I’m Teela.’ Her eyes crinkled and a big smile spread over her face. The words Senior Ranger were written on the pocket of her shirt, which was neatly tucked into her shorts, and on her feet were scuffed hiking boots laced up to her ankle. ‘I’m one of the rangers that looks after the island, and I’m going to guide you through the rain-forest and show you some interesting things along the way.’

She headed off down the path, and the girls and teachers followed her, large trees towering over them, and filtered light slanting through the leaves. The air felt cool after the glare and heat on the beach, and Jodie took a drink from her water bottle.

Teela stopped and turned around and pointed. ‘These tall kauri trees were used for logging in the 1920’s.’ She indicated an enormous one with a massive trunk. ‘This one is maybe five hundred years old.’

‘Its trunk is really pretty!’ said one of the girls, running her hand over the bark. ‘Like a pattern.’

‘There’s something sitting on that branch,’ said Jodie as she pointed halfway up the tree, to a greyish brown shape half-hidden among the leaves.

They all turned their heads upwards, craning their necks to look. ‘Where?’ asked one of the girls. ‘I can’t see anything.’

‘Good spotting,’ said Teela. ‘That’s a tawny frogmouth.’ She pulled out her binoculars and passed them to one of the girls. ‘Here, take a look. One of my favourite birds.’

‘Show-off!’ whispered Alice from behind Jodie. Jodie bit her lip and tried to remember what her grandma had told her. When others try to hurt you, picture a beautiful wall of rainbow light around you, that no one or no thing can penetrate.

The girls took turns with the binoculars, and then the group continued walking. After a while, Teela turned off and led them down a small track and stopped. ‘See that white cross?’ She pointed to a faded white wooden marker next to a small mound. ‘That’s where one of the shipwrecked sailors was buried. There have been twenty-three shipwrecks around Driftwood Island over the years, and you’ve probably seen the Lady Charlotte, that’s rusting away on the beach near The Point.’

‘We’re going to see that shipwreck tomorrow,’ said one of the girls.

‘The story of this cross, is that one of the sailors shot a mother dingo near their camp, and when they went to look, they found a baby dingo hiding in the bushes nearby. One of the men looked after the baby and formed an attachment to it, but after six months a passing ship rescued them. The sailor wanted to take the young dingo with him but the captain wouldn’t let him, so the sailor decided to stay behind. He lived with the aborigines for a time and stayed on Driftwood Island, learning their ways, but eventually he caught an illness and died. Afterwards, they say you could hear his dingo howling at night by his grave. Strange thing is, you often see dingoes around here, more than anywhere else. Some people think it’s the spirit of the dingo ancestors honouring him and protecting the land.’

A cool wind blew through the trees and Jodie shivered, half expecting to see a dingo lurking in the undergrowth.

‘Funnily enough, this season produced quite a few babies. Must be because we’ve had rain and there’s a bit more food available.’ Teela smiled and looked at the group.

‘Oooo,’ said some of the girls, shuffling closer to each other, and peering over their shoulders, ‘that’s scary!’

‘Dingoes won’t hurt you if you stand up to them,’ said Teela. ‘Most importantly, don’t run! Stand there and fold your arms across your chest and look dominant. After all, you’re much bigger than a dingo!’

She led them out of the trees and back onto the path and into the sunshine- that filtered through the trees. ‘Fifteen more minutes and then we get to Lake Macpherson. We’re stopping there for lunch and a break, and if you want, you can have a swim.’

Chapter Two

Jodie walked with her classmates along a narrow track that meandered in and around the towering trees. Birds twittered in the bushes nearby, and the pungent scent of the eucalyptus trees, wafted in the hot summer air around them.

She ignored the chattering of the other girls and looked around her, noticing the tiny white flowers starting to open on a prickly bush, and a large spider web, strung across the branches above her, sparkling in the sunlight and gently swinging in the breeze. They all stooped to duck under a dead tree branch blocking the path, and Jodie ran her fingers across the soft green moss that was still growing on the underside.

Suddenly, the path opened up to a white sandy beach at a glistening, blue lake, and with shrieks of joy, she raced