Forest Spirit by David Laing

her. ‘Where is it?’ he yelled in a shrill voice. ‘Where’s the snake?’
    A wide grin spread across Snook’s face. ‘There,’ he said, pointing to the ground. ‘There’s your snake. A great big skink!’
    They watched as the lizard, no longer than a pencil, hurried towards the tent’s opening. Snook laughed. ‘The poor little thing. I reckon you gave it a right scare.’
    Quenton tightened the cord on his pyjamas then wiped his eyes. ‘You don’t have to laugh. It’s not funny. I could have died.’
    Snook tossed the stick to the ground and waved a hand in the air. ‘Ah, can it, you were just lucky we were around to save you.’ Then, eyes still laughing, he added, ‘And by the way, I like what you’re wearing. What do you reckon, Jars? They suit him don’t they?’
    Jars stepped back and looked at Quenton. She couldn’t help smiling. His pyjamas were silk, bright red and dotted with pictures of tiny brown koalas. Suddenly, her face became serious. She walked over to Snook, grabbed him by the arm and pushed him outside. ‘There’s just one thing I want to know, Snook Kelly, and that is how that lizard got into Quenton’s sleeping bag?’
    â€˜Uh?’
    â€˜You know what I mean.’ Jars met Snook’s eyes. ‘Did you put it there?’
    â€˜No, I wouldn’t do a thing like that.’
    â€˜But you laughed.’
    â€˜Well, you gotta admit, seeing that little skink and Quigley in his flash pyjamas was a funny sight. But you know, I can’t help thinking about something else.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜Have you ever heard of karma?’
    â€˜No,’ Jars said, ‘I don’t think so.’
    â€˜Dad told me once. It means when you do something bad, something bad will happen to you. The same goes for doing something good.’
    â€˜So, because Quenton told lies about me, this karma thing punished him for it?’
    â€˜That’s what I reckon. Anyway, I gotta go get some wood for the fire. Dad’ll be awake soon.’
    Jars watched as he strode towards the forest. She couldn’t help smiling. She had to admit, it was funny. As long as Quenton doesn’t think it was Snook who put the lizard in his bed, she said to herself. He’d be seriously ticked off if he did. Then there would be more trouble.

Jim Kelly came out of his tent. He ran a hand through his hair and walked over to where Snook and Jars were coaxing the fire into life. ‘Morning, you two. Ready for some breakfast?’
    Jars waved some smoke away from her eyes then turned to her uncle. ‘I found some footprints in the camp this morning that don’t belong to us.’
    â€˜Footprints? How do you know they’re not ours?’
    â€˜I just know. They were made by two people, both wearing heavy boots. One set of prints goes deeper into the ground than the other, so I’d say one of the two was big. I also heard some strange sounds last night. I thought it might have been some wild animals. But now I’m not so sure.’
    Jim frowned. ‘Okay, you’d better show me.’
    Jars, followed by Snook and her uncle, led the way. ‘There,’ she said, pointing to the prints.
    Jim bent over, peering at the ground. ‘Darned if I can see anything. Are you sure you’re not just imagining things, Jars?’
    She shook her head. ‘No, they’re there, but you’re looking from the wrong angle. The sun has to be behind you.’
    Changing position, he bent over once again, nodding. ‘Yes, I see them. You’re right. It looks like we did have a visitor last night.’
    Snook looked over his shoulder at the forest. ‘Two visitors,’ he reminded his father. ‘There were two of them.’
    Snook’s dad walked slowly back to the fire, rubbing his chin, as though thinking. ‘What time of night did you hear noises,