Free Smooch & Rose by Samantha Wheeler

shorts would normally have looked funny, but nothing was very funny today.
    â€˜Rosie, I promise you. Uncle Malcolm will make the developers stop. We’ll get this whole koala thing sorted out. There’s no need for you to guard that tree anymore. Now come on, love. Down you get.’
    I didn’t move. Adults always say stuff they don’t mean when they want you to do something. How did I know the men with the chainsaws had stopped for good? They were probably just having smoko. Any minute now the roaring could start again.
    â€˜Rosie, now that’s enough, love,’ pleaded Gran. ‘Come down and I’ll make us some sandwiches. There’s a girl.’
    I still didn’t move. Uncle Malcolm was probably over-the-top mad because I’d held up the developers. Mad because I’d made the bulldozers stop when it was him who’d sold the land to them in the first place. Who knew what he’d do if I got down from Smooch’s tree.
    â€˜Rose, do what your grandmother says! Get down from that tree! This minute!’
    So I was right. Uncle Malcolm was mad. I was definitely not getting down now.
    Smooch was still rocking back and forth on his branch and looked ready to move away. What if he decided to find another tree to hide in? I couldn’t spend the rest of my life following him around, protecting every tree he climbed. But I couldn’t leave him here either. What should I do? I looked down at Gran. She was still waiting below me, her face growing more anxious by the minute. Uncle Malcolm was crouched beside her, making call after call on his phone. The ground suddenly seemed a long way down. I suddenly seemed a long way up. Why was Gran’s face going wavy and in and out of focus? I clasped my branch more firmly and made myself count to 100.
    â€˜Ro-ose? Ro-ose? Are you there?’ The bushes along the creek began swaying and snapping, like someone was trying to get through. They needn’t have bothered. The bulldozer had left a thick ugly scar from the road – they could have easily followed that. Whoever it was, I could hear them talking and calling and arguing all the way, and I craned my neck to have a look. They didn’t sound like chainsawers at least. Eventually, five brightly dressed ladies untangled themselves from the vines and creepers and headed towards Smooch’s tree.
    â€˜Rose! Can you hear me?’ Carol sounded out of breath. She and four other women crowded around the base of the tree and stared worriedly up at me. ‘We’ve done up a roster. Me and the other carers. We’ll watch over the creek. At least until we can get some guarantees from the developers about the trees. You can come down and go with your gran. Leave it to us, okay?’
    â€˜But what if they come back?’ I called out, trying not to sound hysterical. ‘They could clear the lot by tomorrow.’
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ Carol insisted. ‘Take a look at us. No-one will sneak past us in a hurry. We promise we’ll keep Smooch safe. Now come on, I think your uncle wants to talk to you.’
    I looked at Smooch and then at Carol. She’d been right about everything else so far, and she loved Smooch just as much as I did. Well, nearly as much as me. I knew for sure she wouldn’t let anyone hurt him.
    â€˜Be brave,’ I whispered to Smooch before slithering down the tree. I stood with my head bowed in front of Uncle Malcolm and Gran, waiting for the worst. But there was no worst. Instead Gran took my hand and said gently, ‘It’s nice to have you back, Rosie.’
    At the house I changed out of my pyjamas and met Gran in the kitchen for lunch. ‘What does Uncle Malcolm want to talk to me about?’ I asked once we’d sat down to eat some sandwiches. Uncle Malcolm was out on the verandah, pacing up and down with his phone pressed to his ear. But Gran wouldn’t tell me a thing. It was hopeless trying to