Fire in the Tail: Bobby’S Adventure Continues Down Under

By Mary Randall

Hang on tight to your lucky baseball cap and get ready for an action packed adventure that will lead you on the journey of a lifetime! Join Bobby and his new pals as they take you to the mystical Queensland outback, the coastal plains, and discover prehistoric mysteries of the Great Barrier Reef. Come face to face with a mythical Aboriginal outback creature called a Bunyip. Hear the eerie sounds of ghosts of a long ago penal colony calling out to you as you ride your skateboard along the banks of the Brisbane River. Find out what was created after a falling comet struck the northern Queensland outback. Feel your heart pumping in your chest and the hair rising up on the back of your neck as you come up against evil creatures who want to become the great race. Enjoy secrets, magic, suspense, talking Aussie animals, and just plain fun as you wind your way along with Bobby and his pals way down under. You too may find yourself wondering just whats going to happen next! Its so-way-cool!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477158999

Mary Randall

Mary Randall who was born in San Francisco, California is now living in Carson City, Nevada near beautiful Lake Tahoe. She is bringing you the third and final story in the trilogy series of the adventures of Bobby. If you liked “A Walk Through The Woods” and “Fire In The Tail,” then you are really going to like “Red River And The Tree Of Enlightenment.” This third book will blow your socks right off as you travel by train across Russia and Siberia meeting native peoples, talking animals, and even coming face to face with very evil dark spirits. This story could change your life forever! You will come up against natural disasters that should not even be happening. Get ready to find out what Bobby’s final destiny is that will put things right in the 21st Century. “It’s the Coolest!”

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Mary Randall.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2012914673

ISBN:        Hardcover                               978-1-4771-5898-2

                 Softcover                                 978-1-4771-5897-5

                 Ebook                                     978-1-4771-5899-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

96549

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1  (The Long Flight Over)

Chapter 2  (The Touchdown)

Chapter 3  (Bony-Mo-Ronie)

Chapter 4  (What’s A Bunyip?)

Chapter 5  (The Jungo Out-Post)

Chapter 6  (Echo Bridge)

Chapter 7  (Mystic Rupa & Yolee)

Chapter 8  (The Magic Closet)

Chapter 9  (Jalalapop)

Chapter 10  (The Battle of the Fut’s-Lung) And   (The Caldron)

The Epilogue  (Bobby Tells It Like It Is)

DEDICATED TO

My wonderful mom, Margaret and My wonderful dad, Robert. Without their love, support, and encouragement, not to mention giving me the greatest childhood ever this story may never have come about.

My sweetheart and editor, Alan. Whose love, devotion, and hard work, also made this book possible.

My wonderful grandma, Elizabeth. Whose loving heart and kindness inspired me as a kid.

My wonderful friend and sister, Linda. Her enthusiasm, great thoughts, and good ideas are much appreciated in the making of this story.

My mother-in-law Venus. Whose wonderful outlook on children and animals was inspirational in the creation of this story.

My lovely friend, Theresa. Who told me about a great phrase that worked its way well into this story.

Acknowledgments

Zach Mueller, Book Cover and some Interior Illustrations

Cynthia Bunt, Great picture contributions

Claire Coleman, Aussie slang

Aaron Patridge, Picture subject for main book character

Jordan and Chase, Skateboard slang and Technical support

Ted Foley, Great marketing ideas

Carol Brodie, Good marketing strategies

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Chapter 1

(The Long Flight Over)

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My eyes bugged out as we rocked back and forth and bumped up and down on our flight across the mighty Pacific Ocean to Australia! I looked over at my mom and dad sitting next to me.

My mom said, Bobby, what you are experiencing is heavy turbulence, it will be over soon.

Mom, this is so-way-cool. I said. This reminds me of the roller coaster rides back home in Benton, when the Carnival comes to town on the 4th of July.

Jack, mom said, Our son Bobby is a regular Crocodile Dundee. His thirst for adventure never ends.

You got that right, Margaret. Dad said, laughing.

My mom and dad also told me that we were going to have an Aussie Vacation. Just the sound of Aussie made me prickle with excitement. To me, Aussie spelled Fun!

My mind raced as I imagined all the great things and the great adventure that awaited us there. I wondered what kind of animals they had in Australia and if they could talk, just like my animals did back home. I hope the kids there like to skateboard as much as I do, since I brought mine with me. Mom and dad suggested that the skateboard would be a lot easier to bring along than my BMX bike on this long trip. I figured they must be right, although, it would have been great to have brought my BMX bike along too.

My mom always said that I was born under a lucky star. This had to be true, especially after the awesome adventure I had this summer back home in Benton, Kentucky with my best friends: Abe, Molly, Billy, and Jake. Not to mention Boomer, Baldazar, and all my other animal friends. I missed my Grandma Lizzy and hoped she wouldn’t be too lonesome without me.

My dad said, Bobby, why don’t you grab those earphones in front of you and channel in on a movie on the big screen up there on the wall, just ahead of us towards the front of the plane.

I replied, Dad, I think I will after awhile, I just want to look out the window and check out the ocean below.

Even though we were flying at a very high altitude, the ocean was so big! It was easily seen from my great window seat.

I thought to myself as I gazed out the window, what kind of awesome creatures lurked beneath the surface of the deep blue water. Wow, what if I get to see a Great White Shark. Sweet!

All right! As I glanced over across the aisle of the plane, I saw a kid about my age sitting next to who had to be his parents, looking out his cool window! He was lucky like me to have the window seat.

Maybe we are both heading for the same place in Australia. Maybe we will become good friends. All of a sudden he looked over at me and grinned. I wanted to get up and go talk to him. He must be just as curious about me as I am about him.

My mom and dad noticed how the other kid and I were checking each other out.

My mom said, Bobby, why don’t you go introduce yourself to the boy across the way.

Mom, that would be so great!

I scooted out in front of my mom and dad as they stood up to give me more room. I walked up to where the kid and his parents were sitting and said, Hey Dude, my name is Bobby.

The other kid replied in a funny accent, G’Day Mate, my name is Barriemore. My friends call me Barrie.

His mom and dad introduced themselves also and started up a conversation with my mom and dad. Barrie got up and the two of us headed down the aisle to a large lounge area on the plane, where they had an area for kids to hang out.

As Barrie and I became acquainted, it turned out that he was from Brisbane, the same place I was going. Sweet! He began to tell me all about the great stuff that goes on in Australia. My ears perked up, as he talked about the Aborigines and their Walkabouts. I could feel the goose pimples on my arms springing up already. I wanted to hear more.

He talked of Bushwalking, the Daintree Rain Forest, and the Great Barrier Reef. Of course I wanted to know what kind of animals were there. He told me about the Crocs, they were Crocodiles. They also had Kangaroos, Koalas, Wombats, and other birds and snakes. Boy, they had it all. I couldn’t wait!

I asked if they had Great White Sharks there.

Sure we do mate, Barrie said. We call them White Pointers.

I could feel the adventure beginning already! He also told me all about the Boomerang. The Aborigines used this to hunt for prey. Barrie explained that the Boomerang when thrown for sport, while in flight, will return to the thrower. This was something I just had to see and try out for myself. Cool!

Just wait until I show Barrie my awesome magic tomahawk, mystical flute, and my slingshot that I brought with me. He will want to try them out for sure! I hope both the tomahawk and flute have the same magical powers in Australia as they had back home in Kentucky.

I also found out that Barrie was the same age as me, ten years old. This was going to be an awesome friendship. I could just feel it!

As Barrie and I played Ping-Pong in the kid’s lounge, I told Barrie all about where I came from. I told him about the great adventure my friends and I had experienced back home in Kentucky. I didn’t mention our talking animals, just yet. I wanted to get to know him a little better. I did tell him all about our caves, woods, valley, river, swimming hole and waterfall slide. And how Abe had became the best park ranger there ever was. Also I explained to him about the Civil War history and how it had taken place in our own backyard all those many years ago. I also told him about our mysterious Poponache Indian people that had lived in our woods and caves a long time ago.

I could tell by the look in Barrie’s sparkling blue eyes that he was soaking up all this great stuff that I had just told him.

Bobby, what a Rip-Snorter of a time you had back in your country during your summer season! Barrie said.

Barrie explained that their ‘Indians’ native to Australia were of course the Aborigines. They had different tribes throughout Australia. In northern Queensland the Aborigine tribe that lives there is called the NuNu Kapongi people. They still have their own language and live in harmony with their environment. It was said that the Australian Aborigines are thought to be the oldest race on earth.

They have lived on the Australian continent for around forty thousand years, mate. Barrie said.

Wow, Barrie, that is awesome!

Then Barrie began to tell me about something so real, but to someone else it might have sounded like a hallucination.

It was the legend of the Bunyip. It seems that according to Aboriginal Legend the Bunyip is a mythical Australian outback creature that flies by daybreak or sundown and can only be seen by the children and the animals.

This was beginning to sound very familiar, especially after all my encounters with Baldazar back home and all that had followed.

Barrie said that he and his little sister Abbie had seen the Bunyip in flight very early one morning crossing the countryside, outside of Brisbane. The Bunyip is believed to live in the outback in northern Queensland, but as legend has it, is said that he flies many miles out of his territory to watch over the many children and animals throughout the continent of Australia.

Boy, this is great I thought to myself! I can hardly wait to see the Bunyip! The suspense is killing me.

As Barrie was about to tell me just what the Bunyip creature looked like, the airplane captain’s voice came out over the loud speaker.

We are now approaching and preparing to land at the Brisbane Airport, all passengers take your seats, and buckle up. The captain said.

All of a sudden I looked up and there was my dad with his hand on my shoulder.

My dad said, Bobby, you and Barrie need to get back to your seats. You heard the captain.

My dad escorted both of us back to our original seats. As we all strapped in, the plane hit a few more air pockets, giving us a bumpy descent.

It was getting close to dusk, but I could still see the shoreline running along the land of Queensland, out of my great window seat. Since we were approaching the east side of Queensland, my dad told me it was bordered by both the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Then I began to see the dim lights of Brisbane, where we were headed. It wasn’t dark enough yet, that’s why the lights were not real bright.

Then, all of a sudden in the distance over the mainland, I rubbed my eyes twice to make sure I wasn’t seeing things in the sunset. There something very large, like a huge bird, was flying across the horizon.

Holy-Moly, I thought to myself. What if that is the Bunyip!

Chapter 2

(The Touchdown)

The airplane shuddered and shook as we hit heavy air currents rising upwards off of the ocean, pushing hard on the airplane. My attention was quickly taken away from the sight of the huge bird like creature that I saw flying across the horizon as we started our speedy descent on our approach to the runway of the Brisbane Airport. I felt the grinding of the wheels of the airplane as we hit the runway, at a much slower speed, Rurr~it~Rurr~it. It sounded as the wheels of the plane hit the runway. Sweet, touchdown!

As our plane came to an abrupt stop, the captain announced over the loud speaker that all passengers could now leave the plane and not to forget any smaller belongings stored on board or above their seats.

I looked over at my mom and dad seated next to me and said, Dad and mom, we made it, this is so awesome, we are in Australia!

Bobby isn’t this great, my mom said. You are going to have such a good time here!

I know mom, I can hardly wait to get to our place here. Barrie and I have already talked about some of the great stuff that we will be doing here!

My dad said, Bobby, I am so glad that you have already made a friend who lives here. We also have another surprise waiting for you at our home just northwest of Brisbane. You will really enjoy this place. It is out in the country with all kinds of animals near by.

Cool. I said.

As we all stood up to grab our belongings stored in the compartments located above our seats, we began to leave the plane and Barrie ran over to me to let me know he would be seeing me soon. His parents spoke with my parents and it was decided that his parents would bring Barrie by in the next couple of days after I got settled, for a visit. This was going to be great! I couldn’t wait to get started on this new adventure!

As my mom, dad and I gathered up the rest of our luggage, we left the airport and walked to the parking garage to retrieve our car.

How cool is that, I thought to myself as we approached our car.

Dad, you got a Range Rover. Those are so radical.

Bobby, your mom and I knew you would like one of these. They’re really a great little rig. Dad said.

After we loaded our Range Rover with our luggage and my skateboard, we piled in, with my mom and dad up front and me in the back. At last we were able to head off to our Australian home.

To my surprise, the steering wheel was on the right hand side of our car.

Wow, dad, you’re driving on the wrong side! Is this how they drive in Australia?

Bobby, they sure do. Since this continent was once part of the British Empire, we follow a lot of English customs over here. One of which is driving on the left side of the road, which is why the steering wheel is on the right side. Dad said.

Boy, this is so awesome, I thought. I can’t wait to e-mail Molly, Jake and Billy back home. I already have a lot of great stuff to tell them.

Dad, it sure was a long flight from Louisville, Kentucky to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I thought we would never get here.

My mom said, I know Bobby, it took us approximately twenty-four hours of flight to get here. We flew from Louisville to Los Angeles, California and then clear over the Pacific Ocean to Brisbane.

My dad said, That was nothing compared to the English who settled this continent back in the late 1700’s and the early 1800’s. They came over by sailing ships from Europe, not knowing how long it would be before they reached land and if their food and water supplies would last them the whole trip. Based on historical accounts, it may have taken those old wooden sailing ships, powered only by the wind, several months to get here. They would have had to take the route from England (United Kingdom) in the North Atlantic Ocean down through the South Atlantic Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope off the coast of South Africa. Then they would cross the Indian Ocean to the continent of Australia. If the Suez Canal had been in place back then, it would have made their trips a lot shorter. The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, runs between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and joins the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea. The same is true for the sailors who came around the tip of South America (Cape Horn) before the Panama Canal was built in the early 1900’s.

Boy, dad, it must have been a real adventure sailing into the unknown like that!

Bobby, it took a lot of courage back then to take that kind of chance. Not knowing what you would encounter along the way and if everyone on the ship would still be alive by the time they got here.

We all sat quietly, thinking about what my dad had just told us.

Chapter 3

(Bony-Mo-Ronie)

As we drove along in the dark night, leaving the