least two of Ken Hawley’s passengers were busy hatching plans. Xanthe was one of them.
‘Zanth?’ whispered Angel behind her hand.
‘What?’
‘Don’t go there.’
‘Dynamite, you mean?’
‘Yeah, dynamite! What do y’reckon?’
‘Not the kind you’re thinking of, dummy.’
‘You mean––’
‘Yeah. A video. It’ll be dynamite! These people who think they’re going to come over here and ruin everything. We’ll blow ‘em out of the water, you watch! They’ll be so ashamed when our piece hits Youtube and goes viral. They’ll be too scared to do anything but just go away and leave us alone.’ She looked to the reporter and the photographer sitting outside on the back deck. They were coaxing two adults to pose for them with the island as background. ‘Too easy!’ she said to the others. ‘You just watch. They’ll all want this one, all the channels.’
‘Do you really reckon we could get stuff on the news?’ asked Honey.
‘Or would it just be for film nights around at the fire shed?’ added Angel, her voice already betraying a sense of defeat.
'We’ll be interviewed,’ Xanthe grinned. 'Because of the big fight that’s coming.’
‘What big fight?’ Zoran called out to Xanthe in the new, deep voice that sometimes took them all by surprise; even Zoran. Lost in his music, he had only caught this last part of the conversation. He held his ear plugs away from him. ‘What big fight’s coming?’
‘Ours. We’re gonna fight, don’t you reckon,’ said Jack, digging in his bag and bringing out an orange to peel.
‘We’re going to fight, and what’s more, we’re going to win, guys,’ said Xanthe.
‘Are we? Going to win, I mean?’ Honey was only too aware that if her friend said they were going to fight, they would fight, for sure. She believed in Xanthe, who was older and knew a lot more.
‘Who are you kidding? Look at them,’ said Angel as she studied the excited, chattering passengers, some of them passing around the front page of the newspaper. ‘Listen to ‘em, will you? This lot thinks it’s a great idea.’
Xanthe, taking note of the higher than usual level of chatter aboard the Curlew this morning, let a deep frown crease her forehead as her eyes came to rest on the stranger sitting opposite. She could not say why, but the man gave her goose bumps. She turned to her friends and put a finger to her lips.
‘Zip it, for now, you lot, okay?’ she said, nodding in the stranger’s direction.
Angel shot a quick glance at her sister and both rolled their eyes. There was a feeling among the Fabs that Xanthe went around imagining problems just so she could get stirred up about things, just so she could be the one to boss them around. And because she was like that, the twins knew Xanthe’s ideas sometimes landed them in trouble. They looked at each other again and rolled their eyes a second time.
The look that had just passed between the sisters did not escape Xanthe. She scowled at them.
‘Look here,’ She shot another furtive glance across at the stranger and put her hand over her mouth, ‘We’re going to have to rush this thing through, right? Okay? There’s no time to lose. Beautiful Glencairn Island,the one we talked about doing last term? Our introduction to the island.
The wombats and pythons. Our king parrots. The rock art. How we love it, here. Get it made and get it on Youtube. We’ll get people talking.
Then we follow up with a proper movie for Kids Channel. That one will be about the bridge and the resort and how destructive they would be on Glencairn.
That’s what I mean by dynamite! The geckos, for instance. What would a bridge do to them?! Think about it!’
‘Geckos needs friends,’ said Jack, looking back at the island.
‘Hey!’ Xanthe was excited. ‘Jacko! That’s what we’ll call our movie! Perfect!’
‘Whatever.’ He knew that before the day was out, the title would be Xanthe’s idea.
‘But first, we have to get the Beautiful Glencairnvideo made, and a special web site. As a kind of promo, don’t we?’ said Honey. ‘You reckon we can do it this weekend, Zanth?’
‘We have to, don’t we?’
‘She’s right,’ said Jack. ‘I reckon we’ve gotta get them both done. And quick.’ He looked around the cabin, at the number of kids and the few adults aboard who had their faces stuck in the Star’s story. ‘Before the thing gets out of hand!’
Xanthe looked to the outer deck, to where the Star’s reporter was interviewing another smiling parent. ‘Real quick, I reckon, Jacko!’
Zoran shook his head. ‘Look at ‘em. We’re not gonna change this lot’s mind about anything? What’s a couple of dumb videos gonna do?’
‘We’ll show how much this place means to the birds and tiny creatures. Show how a bridge and a resort would ruin everything,’ said Honey.
‘Uh, uh. They’re dorks, this lot. They won’t care.’
‘So, you’re saying we just do nothing. God, Zoran, you’re such a––!’
‘Pessimist.’ It was Angel finishing her twin’s call, as she so often did.
Xanthe, meanwhile, stared out to the bay, the corners of her mouth beginning to twist into a knowing smile. ‘We will, y’know. We’ll fight them, alright. The wreckers. And we’ll win.’
The stranger stared at Xanthe from behind his reflective sunnies. His lips were also curling, but not in to a smile. He adjusted his gold cufflinks and turned his gaze back out the window to the island and then across the bay to the mainland.
‘Who’s the dude?’ Jack whispered to Zoran.
THE MAN FROM UGJECT
The conniving Dwayne B. Slew, the Sales Supremo of Ugject Developments, should be in his small office on the 8th Floor. This Saturday morning, however, he is sneaking around in his boss's lavish executive suite on the 33rd Floor of the CBD tower.
It was the 24-year-old's favourite place to be, these days. It was where he came to dream his big dreams. And to plot.
Before his 25th birthday, he planned to be the boss.
It was his destiny, Slew believed with all his heart. He would be President of Ugject Developments.
Like all men of vision, Dwayne Slew intended to seize control of the company. And it would all be due to this Glencairn Island project, his own baby, which made it so much sweeter.
His commissions on the sale of the resort condos alone would be worth tens of thousands of dollars and then there would be the bargaining
