Whispering in the Wind Page 15

  The crown glowed with a light of its own and all the lakeside was bathed in radiance. Lowana’s lovely face was lit by an inner glow and the trees grew silent. They ceased rustling their leaves as if the slightest movement would detract from their delight in her.

  She had the Magic Leaf hidden in a locket round her neck and its power gave her a new dignity and poise. She was a little girl no longer. She was the Princess Lowana.

  Peter, too, changed under the glow of the crown. He gained two inches in height and his shoulders broadened until he looked like a powerful Prince. He turned to the giant and, looking upwards, said, ‘Lowana and I thank you. Soon we shall be able to visit you—I would like to show Lowana your kitchen.’

  ‘You’ll always be welcome in my castle,’ said the giant. ‘Pick a day when it’s fine weather in the kitchen. Now I must say goodbye. I have a long way to go before the sun rises.’

  He strode away and they could hear his crashing footsteps in the bush. After he had stepped over the first range of mountains the sound of his walking faded away.

  The witch was also anxious to leave. She had a lot of sweeping to do before morning.

  ‘Listen, Peter,’ she said. ‘When are you and Lowana getting married?’

  ‘The day after tomorrow,’ said Peter. ‘We hope you can come.’

  ‘I’ll come. Of course I’ll come. But what I want to know is, have you engaged a photographer yet? I’d like to be the official photographer, if you don’t mind. I have the finest collection of cameras in the world. Some of them are only suitable for taking stars and things like that, but I could dash up to the moon and take a long shot of you and Lowana crossing the drawbridge. It would be a most unusual picture.’

  ‘We’d love you to be the official photographer,’ said Lowana. ‘And I would like a photograph of us taken from the moon.’

  ‘Well, that’s a deal,’ said the witch.

  She left a blue streak of flame behind her as she took off for the moon.

  ‘That’s the fastest broom I’ve ever seen,’ said the Bunyip, who had been quietly asleep beside the lake. ‘It’s a real sports model and has terrific acceleration.’

  He looked round and found he had been talking to himself. Peter and Lowana were walking back to the castle. He followed, grumbling.

  They had nearly reached the big tree when Crooked Mick came galloping up. Firefax was wet with sweat but still he held his head high.

  Crooked Mick was anxious to know if the giant and the witch had arrived. While he was grooming Firefax Peter told him of their experiences and how they had found the crown.

  ‘Now all your tasks are completed,’ said Crooked Mick. ‘All that is left is your wedding and I need a good long sleep before attending that.’

  He stabled Firefax and rolled himself in a blanket beneath the stars, undisturbed by the snoring of the Bunyip. Peter took Lowana to her room, then he too crept into the sleeping bag Greyfur had provided for him and was soon asleep.

  21

  Peter Marries the Beautiful Princess

  It was the day of Lowana’s and Peter’s wedding and all the people from the surrounding countryside were walking or riding towards the castle, now decorated with flags. There were all sorts of flags—flags of scarlet and gold, of blue and yellow—and they all fluttered madly in the breeze as if they were tongues singing a song of joyfulness to the Princess Lowana.

  She was busy in her room preparing for the wedding. Ladies-in-waiting surrounded her, tugging here and smoothing there. Her gown of priceless ivory silk twinkled with jewels. She wore a locket of gold and precious stones and inside it was the Magic Leaf. The beauty of her face filled those who looked at her with wonder.

  Lowana was no longer a sad Princess, frightened of examinations and of what the King and Queen might say to her. She was now happy and free, and she was going to marry the man she loved. No more unjust lectures from the Queen, no more selfish orders from the King…

  The King was sitting in his study working out the value of all his possessions. They added up to forty million dollars. Then came the terrible part—he had to deduct the value of Firefax and the value of the diamond and gold crown. He had included them in the list of his possessions; now he was going to lose them and it upset him to think about it.

  No one could have been more surprised than he, when Peter had come to him carrying the crown which he imagined was hidden in the bottom of the lake for ever. Lowana had cleaned and polished it, and the glitter of the priceless diamonds which encrusted it was so dazzling that the King had to put on his sunglasses to look at it. He’d longed to keep it and he’d hummed while he tried to think of some other task he could give Peter, a task that he couldn’t possibly do.

  But Peter said sternly, ‘I had the word of a King that there would only be three tasks to perform to win the Princess Lowana as my bride.’

  The King hit the table with his fist in rage. ‘Darn and blow it!’ he shouted. ‘Can’t you take the word of a businessman and leave the King out of it?’

  ‘Certainly not,’ said Peter.

  ‘Oh, dear!’ said the King. ‘You’ve cost me more money than any suitor I’ve ever met.’

  ‘Since you had all the other suitors killed,’ said Peter, ‘of course I cost you more. And you stole all their money after you’d had them destroyed. The Bunyip told me.’

  ‘The Bunyip is a notorious liar,’ growled the King. ‘I’ll have him destroyed.’

  ‘I don’t think you will,’ said Peter. ‘He is our friend.’

  The King had nothing more to say. He gave a last envious look at the crown and went to tell the Queen all about it.

  She had been peeping through the keyhole and was most impressed by Peter’s appearance. He looked so magnificent that she was quite sure he was well-bred and would make a good impression on the neighbours. So she stood up very quickly when the King opened the door, and rushed over to Peter with her arms outstretched to embrace him.

  ‘My dear,’ she said. ‘You look simply fabulous. I must see my darling daughter and find out what she is going to wear. Excuse me’—and she was gone before the King could growl at her for looking through the keyhole.

  So now Peter and Lowana had received her parents’ consent and they hastened with their wedding plans.

  On the day of the wedding Peter groomed and saddled Moonlight ready for the journey home. Lowana had picked the finest mare in the castle stables for her mount. The mare was also white and the same size as Moonlight. Her saddle was set with precious jewels and made from leather of priceless quality.

  Crooked Mick would ride Firefax. He had placed a stockman’s saddle upon him as he said he had no time for ‘fancy’ saddles.

  The three horses were now tethered underneath the big tree. They had nosebags on and were busy eating chaff with which the bags were filled.

  People were moving across the drawbridge and into the courtyard where the wedding was to take place. The biggest room in the castle was not large enough to hold them all. The farmers who lived on the wide castle lands were very poor so the crowd that gathered was plainly dressed, but amongst them were Knights and Princes from other kingdoms, drawn to the wedding by the news that a suitor had at last achieved the tasks set by Lowana’s father. They envied Peter as they came into the castle courtyard, mounted on fine horses and carrying banners.

  None of them spoke to the Bunyip, who was acting as Master of Ceremonies and ordering the people about. ‘No pushing, please. There’s no hurry. Take your time. This way, please.’ The Bunyip was longing to try his skill and tip them off their horses with squirts from both nostrils but, since Peter had given him the Magic Leaf, he couldn’t hurt people any more.

  A platform had been built at one end of the courtyard and, here, a number of thrones had been arranged facing an altar. Bishops in long white gowns wearing mitres on their heads stood in a group, discussing the poverty of their parishes and the meagre collections handed in each Sunday.

  Trumpeters stood on ea
ch side of the platform and, when all the crowd were gathered, they blew a blast so loud that some people had to hold their hats on.

  They blew another blast and the Bunyip bellowed, ‘The King and Queen.’

  One of the Knights, who had been squirted at by the Bunyip but got away, fell off his horse in fright.

  The King and Queen entered from a doorway behind the thrones and sat on the two best ones. The people cheered half-heartedly, and the King acknowledged the applause by clasping his two hands above his head and shaking them in a businesslike, dignified manner.

  Then the Bunyip bellowed again, ‘Princess Lowana and Prince Peter!’

  This time the people yelled their heads off as the couple sat down on the two second-best thrones.

  ‘Greyfur and Crooked Mick,’ bellowed the Bunyip, and in came Peter’s friends. Greyfur had a hibiscus flower behind one ear and looked extremely well-bred. Crooked Mick was wearing spurs and riding trousers and, though he didn’t look well-bred, he really did look the greatest rider in the world. They sat down on two rickety thrones that should long ago have been tossed on the rubbish heap. This wasn’t Lowana’s or Peter’s fault. It was the King who had organised the wedding and arranged the thrones.

  The Bunyip was just going to declare the meeting open when there was a flash of light. The witch came sizzling in with some of her hair alight and made a wobbly landing in front of the platform. She was so weighted down with cameras that the broom could hardly carry them all. She had already taken a distance shot of the courtyard from the moon; now she was anxious to get close-ups. Rigging up two or three cameras on tripods in front of the platform, she started taking flashlight photographs as fast as she could. The flashes were king-size and made loud pops every time she took a picture. They were so bright they made the sun look pale in comparison. A lot of people complained they couldn’t see anything for five minutes after each flash, which meant they saw nothing at all since the witch worked with great speed.

  The Bishops ignored her. They raised their hands and moved from here to there and back again, while Peter and Lowana stood side by side in front of the altar. Each Bishop wanted to marry them, because an opportunity for marrying a Prince and a Princess rarely occurred. They got in each other’s way and bumped each other, and some people claimed Peter and Lowana were married twice.

  When the ceremony was over Peter made a speech. He said, ‘I want to give a present to everyone here. Will you all walk past the platform, please. But first of all I will give the King and Queen their presents.’

  He walked to the foot of each throne and gave the King and Queen a Magic Leaf. At first the Queen was disgusted and didn’t want to take it.

  She kept saying angrily, ‘You’re making a farce of the whole thing,’ but Peter forced it into her hand and she suddenly changed her tone.

  ‘Oh! You are the kindest man!’ she exclaimed. ‘Thank you very much.’ She started to smile and blow kisses to the people and became most charming, but the leaf had a different effect on the King. He really suffered. He had loved hoarding money. Now, because he was loved and needed, he wanted to help people with his wealth. While he was screwing up his face in anguish, Peter and Lowana handed out the leaves as fast as they could. Soon every person had a leaf and their faces were radiant with happiness.

  In front of the platform there were several women holding babies; the King suddenly stepped down from his throne and started to kiss all the babies. This pleased the mothers immensely but the babies didn’t enjoy it much.

  Then he climbed back onto the platform and called his guards. ‘Take these keys and unlock my strongroom. Bring me two of the chests filled with gold. I’m going to make a present of five hundred dollars to everyone here.’

  The guards dashed off in great excitement, and the King flopped down on his throne and said to himself, ‘What the devil has happened to me? I must be mad!’

  When the guards came back with the chests, the King opened them with a key he had in his pocket and handed out five hundred dollars to everyone in the courtyard.

  The poor people were amazed. Some of them cried with happiness because they wouldn’t have to worry about the price of fruit or vegetables any more. They had money to buy just what they needed.

  The King was becoming happier every minute. He made another speech to his kitchen hands. ‘Go to the kitchen and cut a roast of beef for everyone here for their Sunday dinners.’

  Even the Queen thought he had gone too far. ‘Make it half a roast,’ she hissed behind her hand.

  ‘Make it two roasts for everyone here!’ cried the King, ignoring the Queen.

  The kitchen hands ran off and soon they were handing out roasts as fast as they could.

  Lowana watched them for a time, then bent down and whispered to Greyfur, ‘Could you go over and get me two pounds of sausages for Peter’s and Crooked Mick’s tea tonight. I want to grill them.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Greyfur. ‘We don’t have to worry about food. I can get anything you want from my pouch.’

  ‘So you can!’ exclaimed Lowana with delight. ‘I’d quite forgotten.’

  ‘It’s time for us to go now,’ said Peter, who had been shaking hands with people.

  When the crowd saw they were leaving they followed them out to where the horses were tied. Everyone was there—the King and the Queen, the Bunyip, and all the servants who had looked after Lowana. She kissed them all, and the King and Queen were very sad that she was leaving them.

  ‘I’ll visit you once a month,’ she told them.

  Peter helped her on to the back of the white mare, then mounted Moonlight. Crooked Mick was astride the snorting Firefax and led Peter and Lowana along the bush track. Firefax tossed his head and arched his neck—a flaming chestnut leading two beautiful people on horses as white as snow. Behind them bounded Greyfur.

  So, in the end, they came to Crooked Mick’s hut in the bush. Cows mooed a welcome, goats bleated, hens clucked and the dogs ran out and barked, and Lowana was happier than she had ever been in her life.

  She cooked their meals and tidied their home, and went galloping through the wild bush with Peter. The two white horses went like the wind and Lowana’s long hair blew back from her head in a stream of gold.

  And so they lived with Crooked Mick and Greyfur and they were the two happiest people in the world.

  Text Classics

  Dancing on Coral

  Glenda Adams

  Introduced by Susan Wyndham

  The True Story of Spit MacPhee

  James Aldridge

  Introduced by Phillip Gwynne

  The Commandant

  Jessica Anderson

  Introduced by Carmen Callil

  A Kindness Cup

  Thea Astley

  Introduced by Kate Grenville

  Reaching Tin River

  Thea Astley

  Introduced by Jennifer Down

  The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow

  Thea Astley

  Introduced by Chloe Hooper

  Drylands

  Thea Astley

  Introduced by Emily Maguire

  Homesickness

  Murray Bail

  Introduced by Peter Conrad

  Sydney Bridge Upside Down

  David Ballantyne

  Introduced by Kate De Goldi

  Bush Studies

  Barbara Baynton

  Introduced by Helen Garner

  Between Sky & Sea

  Herz Bergner

  Introduced by Arnold Zable

  The Cardboard Crown

  Martin Boyd

  Introduced by Brenda Niall

  A Difficult Young Man

  Martin Boyd

  Introduced by Sonya Hartnett

  Outbreak of Love

  Martin Boyd

  Introduced by Chris Womersley

  When Blackbirds Sing

  Martin Boyd

  Introduced by Chris Wallace-Crabbe

  The Australian Ugliness
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  Robin Boyd

  Introduced by Christos Tsiolkas

  The Life and Adventures of

  William Buckley

  Introduced by Tim Flannery

  The Dyehouse

  Mena Calthorpe

  Introduced by Fiona McFarlane

  All the Green Year

  Don Charlwood

  Introduced by Michael McGirr

  They Found a Cave

  Nan Chauncy

  Introduced by John Marsden

  The Even More Complete

  Book of Australian Verse

  John Clarke

  The Tournament

  John Clarke

  Introduced by Michael Heyward

  For the Term of His Natural Life

  Marcus Clarke

  Introduced by Rohan Wilson

  Dancing with Strangers

  Inga Clendinnen

  Introduced by James Boyce

  Diary of a Bad Year

  J. M. Coetzee

  Introduced by Peter Goldsworthy

  Wake in Fright

  Kenneth Cook

  Introduced by Peter Temple

  The Dying Trade

  Peter Corris

  Introduced by Charles Waterstreet

  They’re a Weird Mob

  Nino Culotta

  Introduced by Jacinta Tynan

  Aunts Up the Cross

  Robin Dalton

  Introduced by Clive James

  The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke

  C. J. Dennis

  Introduced by Jack Thompson

  Careful, He Might Hear You

  Sumner Locke Elliott

  Introduced by Robyn Nevin

  Fairyland

  Sumner Locke Elliott

  Introduced by Dennis Altman

  The Explorers

  Edited and introduced by

  Tim Flannery

  Terra Australis

  Matthew Flinders

  Introduced by Tim Flannery

  Take Me to Paris, Johnny

  John Foster

  Introduced by Peter Craven

  Afterword by John Rickard