Free Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice Page B

of their hands, and taking out rags covered in dirt to blow their noses into. The preacher raised his hand and pointed out at the crowd. He turned up the volume on his voice:
    And there are some of you here today who have not
believed! You have not believed in the invisible,
because it does not shine forth from the earth and sell
for thousands of dollars! And there are many of you
here who have not believed in Pobby and Dingan.
But
God believes in them. And he believes in you. Yup. He
sure believes in everyone here. Oh, yes, indeedee. And
we are invisible. We are invisible and transparent and
shallow and yet God believes in us. And God believes
in Pobby and Dingan and he is in every single one of
those lollies they sucked and was with them on the
school bus, and when they played rigaragaroo and
when they danced in the lightning, and even, I tell
you, when they went missing so tragically out at the
Wyoming claim, where Kellyanne and her brother
Ashmol and their honest dad Rex Williamson went
looking for them. God was with Pobby and Dingan and is still with them in heaven. Amen.
    Well, thank God the preacher didn’t go on for too long after that! He just said some things about Kellyanne and what a brave girl she was and he said I was a plucky kid for sticking up for Pobby and Dingan and fighting for them to have a proper burial. And there was more clapping and my dad slapped me on the back so hard he almost knocked my teeth out. And then the preacher gave himself a more serious look and shouted out something about how if anyone had any reason why Pobby and Dingan should not be buried in the cemetery for them to step forward and say it now. And there was a long silence and I held my breath. And during the silence I was looking around at all these people trying to fix them with my eyes so they wouldn’t budge. But then a bloke called Andy Floom stepped forward and everyone turned and looked at him. And the preacher said, “Well, Andy Floom, speak up!” But Andy Floom, who was a few stubbies short of a six-pack, looked confused and said: “What? Oh, sorry everyone, I was just, like, stepping forward to squash a spider.” And people started laughing everywhere. And the preacher said okay, now he’d go on with the burial.
    So me and Dad and Mum and a few others got down and lifted the coffins into the grave and Kellyanne watched us silently and totally wide-eyed. And only when we had the coffins all lined up in the dark hole did the preacher say, “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,” and tears start glimmering down her face. And then I pushed Kellyanne forward in her wheelchair and she placed in the grave a whole pack of Cherry Ripes and Violet Crumbles, a couple of books and things. And Mum put in some flowers and then we stood in silence while two miners shovelled in some soil like they did when they filled in a mine shaft that wasn’t being used no more. And when the coffins were covered and buried the preacher led a prayer, and after that everybody started walking slowly home, sniffing into their sleeves. And I walked out last, with my dad resting his hand on my shoulder. And on the way out someone stopped us at the gate. It was Old Sid and he was holding out his fists and swaying in the road and shouting: “Come on, Rex Williamson! Come and fight me, you fucking ratter! You’re not going to get away with this! Turning the whole of the Ridge against me, you piece of shit! You ever come trespassing on my claim again and I’ll, I’ll, I’ll k-kill . . . !” But then some kids ran up to him and started shouting, “Lizard eater! Lizard eater! Old Sid is a lizard eater!” and Sid turned away and we watched them hounding him back up the road as he swiped at them with drunk arms.
    Dad and I caught up Mum and Kellyanne on the road. Well, Mum was suddenly smiling and singing out that it was about time we menfolk got back to mining, because she reckoned it wouldn’t be too long before we found something. And me and Dad