BlackBerry villa a bed time story

Life lesions

In the valley of Hillside Ridge, the Comlie people train to keep their Ridge free of dangers; the ten-strong Comlie Army is a thing to see. They now have ironbark spears and foot bows, weapons the women of Comlie are the best at. It's a bow with stirrups for their feet. The ladies lay on mats and shoot arrows "twice" the distance of a regular bow; for their size, the arrows are longer than usual, and With the latest in Flint tips make people feel safer having them around, but when you're living in a state of fear with the reptilian folk of Lower Creek, you'll find it isn't nice; no, not at all. The Comlie people see it as an obstacle to trading, their main form of currency, but ever since Janice Goanna moved into Lower Creek, they've had problems. My name is Hue, and I am from the comlie people. My role now as the leader fell to me when my Dar vanished last year, Kim! I called. Have you seen my roo Quinn? She didn't come back today. Her food's still untouched, no, he said. I saw her on the ridge top last night, but not today; oh no, said my friend Des, who was sitting behind me; she never runs off. Hue, I'll do your rounds today on my wallaby, Willa. She's here, but I'll need to fix her harness first; the buckles are broken. Take Quinn's harness, I said, but be on alert out there; why said, Hue, do you think the strange happenings lately mean trouble for us? No, but take care, my friend. I turned back to my aide Kim. Can you please check if Quinn's in town? Des, tall for a comlie at 11 inches, but built solid and with browner than normal hair, had his uniform on today, it was made of yellow felt woven from the grooming fur of our resident family of brushtail possums, Des led his wallaby Willa out of the overhang we used as our bace, he climbed up and sat on her saddle, saying, I'll be back in an hour, I watched them hop to the top of the ridge, it levelled out and they raced out of sight, later that morning I saw my Mar coming down the track, she was with the ladies of the defence guild as usual, they call themselves that so they could stick their noses into Army affairs, oh boy I thought, what have I done now - she looks cranky, Hue, she called, we need to talk about this situation with supplies for the winter, the ladies all sat around my small veranda, whingeing that two crops of mixed grains were gone, but when they said, Lizards, destroyed by lizards, I looked up, one lady then said, and goanna tracks were seen, I scratched my chin, oh mar I said, can we get through this winter without it or do we need to contact the Drongo Ridge comlie for help, it's not good son if we lose one more paddock we are in for trouble, so you better put guards on the four crops we have left, I called the army in to plan the field's protection, I was hoping the crops would be safe until then, our large army meant only one soldier was possible per field, and with a volunteer to help them with the rotations for sleeping, it was all I could do thinking that I was only available on foot, I hadn't found Quinn yet, but we needed the grain, Hue I'm so sorry called Des, running in, I found her I found your Quinn!, I'm so sorry, she's dead, no, I said. How? I found her at the bottom of the cliff face leading up to Hillside Ridge! no, I said, she wouldn't go to the edge; oh, Hue, I'm sorry, that left us with only seven hoppers now in the Army; I had to train a new roo or wallaby - one to take Quinn's place, I can't do it I thought, Hue! yelled Kim, the water dragons have been seen in numbers over by the flats again, I think they intend to destroy the field of millet tonight, this is Janice goanna again, I yelled, if she wants war, then we will give her a war, I was mad, that night all four of our fields had fire pits burning around them, we even had spair torches piled high, but no attack came and next morning we only found the tracks of a goanna and twenty or so water dragons, I was scratching my head again as I walked into the store of Darryl wombat, Dazza I said, that cushion looks comfy, Darryl sat up on his cushion of spinifex grass and said, Ho soldier, what can't I get for you, Ho Darryl I said and smiled, I won't some yams and fruits, ah but I have some nuts and mangos in today; I didn't bring a wagon this time, Darryl so just the yams fruit, oh, and some nuts, not too many as my pack is all I have with me today, just then a ringtail possum family came in; Ho soldier, and to you, Mr Darryl, Ho Pook and you Dre, the kids look well today, said Darryl, yes they do, I said, Pook the father ringtail patted his kids who were ridding on mar's back, Dre, you do look happy today said Darryl, I try, she said, I tickled the youngsters under the chin, Dre have they grown a bit or is it me, yes soldier but three young do take a toll on me, Hue, said Pook, the yellow tail cockatoo flock told me while they roosted last night that over at the river bank Janice goanna's been sturring up the river rats, it's all about your grain farms they said, oh just great we can save some when it's just the lizards but the rats will take it all, thanks Pook, our only defence against the White tail water rats was to ask help from the two local families of quole but Cecil was a hard one to do business with but I was shocked when he said yes so quickly and then that his brother would help I realized I'd been played some how but when he said his family would stay with us, watching until the crops were in I was really surprised but found later that Mar had been in his ear, an alarm that night sounded and I was called back to the flats where ten white tail water rats were bailed up by four quole addolts and two of my mounted comlie soldiers, spears were pointed at them and our women foot bow had killed two rats that I could see, sir said Bin on his grey roo, I'm sorry about Quinn, what do we do with this lot then, I walked over saying, not good your very bad rats who speaks for you, a female rat came forward, me she said, I looked her up and down and said, you must promise on your life that no River rats will ever come back to bother our crops the rest can go then but I need to know what Janice goanna offered you, only the grain and access to Hillside Ridge, how could she offer you that, I don't know, I looked at her and said, well what do you say, the rats spoke amongst themselves then she said, we promise and turned to leave with the others, hold her she stays I said, what you said we could go, no, I said they can go but you stay as hostage and you will die if any rat bothers us again, ah no! Not me get Gaza, then she begged her friends looking at me and called to the other rats who quickly left, put her in the cage at the army base, I looked at the Quole's, thank you Cecil and Gree your families honour us again as always, you tell your Mar that, said Hue, and that Cecil and I are around if needed, back at the base I asked Des to put flags out for the wedge tail Eagle families to see then I asked him to call the kookaburra crews, the first to turn up was Gimpit with his crew of four kookaburra's, Ho Hue, he said, you called, yes thanks for being so prompt Gimpit I'm hoping to get an eagle trip to face Janice goanna and will need eyes all around us so I was hopping you could help pressure her and the water dragons, oh that's good there might be some youngsters to eat "I love water Dragons", can you ask the other Burra crews to send us some help, Hue only two crews are in the valley just now so will ten be enough, thank you Gimpit that's enough, a cloud of dust had me up and going out front of the army bace to see Henrix the wedged tail landing on the stump of an old gum he hopped down and bounce hopped to the rail We'd put up for our winged friends, Ho, Henrix I said as he jumped up onto the headquarters rail, Ho Hue, what can I help you with this time, oh don't be like that my Frend you know how we love you here but yes we do have problems, Janice goanna is at it again and I hope you can help us talk to her, no talk just tell me where she is, a nice goanna meal will feed my new son, oh, Henrix I don't want to harm her yet she has water dragons to help her but after our talks and once I've warned the dragons off - it's a free hand for you, you gimlie and your laws of conduct are noble but dangerous a clean kill can't come back on you and cause trouble, but yes when do you want to go, at sunrise tomorrow if that's ok with you I'll see you then but I will take a water dragon for my son, that will be fine yes thank you I said with a sigh, the kookaburra spy crew had spotted Janice with a large group of water dragons at Lower Creek just after sun up I climbed up and held tightly to Henrixes feathers then we braced as we rose up with our escort of kookaburras, Henrix circled high up and when he dived I had to closed my eyes until we hit the ground I looked up just as Janice ran to the closest tree I saw the kookaburras hitting water dragons around me pinning them to the ground I climbed off Henrix and saw the large male dragon bleeding in his claws, I looked around when Henrix said, don't go to close I can't save you if she grabs you, I walked forward and called to Janice, you only live because I wish it now! Why are you attacking my Ridge and our crops? Who me? You must be mistaken, no Janice, I have witnesses of your dirty work, so last chance, why, she growled in a gurgling way strange to my ears; it's my grandfather, your dar killed him to steal the land, what! No Janice I have the claw print on the bark to prove he sold it he did it so he could live free off our people's labourers we fed him he lived well up until old age took him, people saw him sign and witnesses still live who saw him give his mark so leave here Janice it's not your land go and don't return on your life, we returned with the bodies of five water dragons hanging from the claws and breaks of happy birds, all this did was drive Janice into hiding to scheme and await her chance, Gimpit with his crew were hunting around the bace during our first training sessions with my new wallaby jone she was doing well until Gimpit KaKooked and sent her into a spin throwing me off, just nice said Des, you did that deliberately, Gimpit larghed who me, leave it I said, she needs to learn about tricky kookaburra tricks anyway, I looked up as Mar came over, Son you aren't getting any better at riding are you, ha nice of you to say in front of my troops Mar, Hue I won't you to come to dinner tonight in blackberry villa Leader Jim of the drongo gimlie sent a spangled drongo named Mol over to set up a dinner, so don't be late, Mar is he bring his daughter you know his intentions! Mar please, no son its something else this time he and the trader Atar will be the only visitors, all day my mind ran wild with questions until I arrived at BlackBerry Villa on the flats, my family home since grandfather made the bargain with Janice's grandfather over fifty summers ago, Mar I yelled, I'm going to wash and change my clothes when will they arrive, soon son so hurry, Jim and trader Atar were sitting in the main room when I came downstairs so I pored BlackBerry tea for myself as Mar finished settling the men in comfort so she could get dinner ready to serve, Hue I come to you with the hope that you can help settle five of the ten families burned out by bush fire at Bunnyip, its the second time in eight summers fire has wiped them out so now they want a new home, when did this happen Jim, three days ago and trader Atar's sisters is one of the families in your five families - that is if you will help them, Mar was at the doorway with a tray I saw her looking at me with wide eyes, I said, we saw the smoke but thought it over the hills not near Bunnyip but yes we will help any gimlie in need, so how soon will they arrive, Hue, Mar said, leed our guests to the table dinner is served, Atar said he would help with supplies and building materials but the families have only the clothes on their backs no bedding or way of payment, Mar said, my ladies of the defence guild will take care of the families by billeting them to local homes and make extra felt for new clothes, Jim was a happy man he said as he left his daughter had told him that all would be fine with me in charge, I looked at Mar who smiled and said, gimlie must look after gimlie, my aid the brilliant organiser Kim told me that out of our five families four had Gimlie who were in the Army of Bunnyip and that it was a good thing for our community the job of housing was the hardest part because only one home at a time could be built and Atar's materials helped in four of the buildings but the fifth house took a lot longer as the barke had to be treated for its roof and walls, while our attention was on the work Janice goanna was sending her skinks in to spy on us, my friend Des came into the base's office saying that Jinks the gecko had asked to see me, I arcked why didn't he come in himself? A voice in my ear said? I did! Ho Hue. I jumped in surprise. Ho? Jinks nodded, then ran along the wall and onto the ceiling; his leaf tail held flat the whole time. I tilted my head as his big night eyes looked down at me. Jinks! what can I do for you? Hue, it's what I can do for you! Tell me, Jinks; Janice is still close by, and her golden skinks are looking for records of sails. Hue, I overheard two skinks talking. One said, no records, no proof, that's what they said, Hue; thank you, Jinks, I owe you for this. Our important records were all kept in the cellar of Darryl Wombat's shop, as It was one of the only spots where a basement could have been dug on the ridge that kept moisture out. Des I called, will you come with me? He looked hard-eyed at me. Over his desk, I smiled and said, but first, I'll need a sheet of paper bark to forge a fake bill of sale, Hue he exclaimed. That's a bit underhanded, but if it stops her, Des, all the better; Hue, she must know of the witness statements and that they're as good as his claw print. Janice is a hard case, Des, so anything is possible. Kim walked in, nodding to Jinks; he said, Hue, the families from Bunnyip brought their hoppers in today; they were all saved from the fire. Hence, we have three types of wallabies now: swamps, rock, and pretty face. All the Roos are Grays, so we'll need to train them faster, but we have an excellent force to work with. I entered Darryl's shop later that day and had to wait as he served two wood ducks, Darryl eventually got up from his cushion and groaned saying, my old wombat bones are getting stuck in a sitting position, I'm sure I need a thicker cushion, what can't I get you Hue, I only want to look in the archive boxes to see if everything's well, why wouldn't they be, that's exactly why Darryl, I just need to know, he opened the floor hatch saying, you go down then I'm to stiff, out front of Darryl's shop Des was sitting on Willa, and my new pretty face Jone sat grooming her fur, I climbed on, so, everything's good with the archive boxs, yes Des, I said, it's all good now, so let's go, we hopped along until a speed was reached where our wallaby's could levell out and we could sit up straight, we then lowered the loops for our feet to help stabilize us, the speeds we reached then were incredibl, we hit the track to the river where Dert, a White-backed Magpie flew up to us, he said, I win again, ha ha ha, I always win, Dert, I said, you are a marvel of speed, Des called over to us, we'll get you on the way back though Dert, because it will be dark by then, you won't even see me, but I will win, I always win, ha ha ha, leave him Des, you know how fast he is, we finished our circuit of the boundaries and returned to the base, only to find out that Darryl wombat had been requesting our help, skinks had dug under his wall and stolen some of the land deeds, he said he heard a noise and opened the trap door, where he saw two golden skinks, my aid Kim had done all the report so I only had to see Darryl now, then follow up for his insurance, oh yeah we now have the Ned Fox insurance agency, his office is in the overhang of bladdy grass by the great grey gum, and our bank is now run by Sally brushtail, her and her sister are both possoms of class, Sally is never at work without her vest of dark blue felt and Joy her sister, with her visor made of gum leaves, yes our town is growing now.