Forest Fire by J. Burchett Read Free Book Online Page A

helpful wind to take us north now.”
    â€œThis is sure to bring the tourists in,” said Ben. “You’ll be so busy, you’ll be recruiting more staff.”
    â€œMaybe,” laughed Mat. “I’ll manage with Daud and Talib for the moment.”
    Zoe caught Ben’s eye. “Have they worked with you for long?”
    â€œDaud and I were at school together,” Mat told her. “Talib works for Mr Ostrander – has done for years. Pieter’s lent him to me for a short while. He suggested I’d need more help with the reservation opening up for visitors and sent him over.” He stepped to the other side of the basket to check the balloon’s position with his map.
    â€œI don’t understand,” Ben hissed in Zoe’s ear. “Mr Ostrander said he didn’t know Talib.”
    Despite the heat Zoe felt a chill run up her back. “Why would he lie?” she whispered back. “He’s a friend of Mat’s.”
    Ben suddenly grasped Zoe by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin. “That’s what he wanted us to think. But don’t you remember – Mat said Mr Ostrander wanted to buy Adilah when he first bought his plantation. It all makes sense now! When Mat wouldn’t sell up he decided to get it another way.”
    â€œSo you think Ostrander’s the one behind the cancellations, the broken walkway and scaring off the orang-utans – and probably the logging that frightened Kawan away, too?” said Zoe in a shocked whisper. “All that stuff about helping Mat was just a cover. He sent Talib to work for him and secretly carry out his horrible plans.”
    â€œHow clever.” Ben nodded. “Ostrander appeared to be a hero when he had the loggers chased off. But I bet he’d sent them there in the first place. All the time he’s been trying to make sure that the reservation fails. I suppose he’s intending to step in as soon as it does and nobly buy the land off Mat.”
    At that moment the flame above them puttered and flickered. Mat turned the ring on one of the propane cylinders and frowned. “It’s run out of gas. I thought I asked for them all to be filled.” He shrugged. “I expect the other two are OK.” He quickly opened the valve on another cylinder, but there was no burst of fire from overhead. Ben and Zoe could see that Mat was beginning to look worried. “I don’t understand it,” he muttered. “I told Talib to top them up – and the gauges are showing full.”

    â€œTalib?” shouted Zoe. “Talib filled the cylinders?”
    Ben quickly knelt down by one of them. A tiny blob of chewing gum had been squeezed in under the needle.
    â€œLook inside the glass!” he shouted. “He’s used his gum to wedge the gauge so it shows full.”
    Mat twisted the third valve open, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. “This one’s the same. They’ve been tampered with! Why would Talib do this?”
    The children stared at him, white-faced. Over their heads the flame spluttered – and died. Horrified, Ben and Zoe felt the wind throbbing in their ears as the balloon began to drop through the air, gaining speed. The sides of the nylon envelope, no longer filled with heat, flapped loudly in the downward rush and the dense green of the forest below raced up to meet them.
    â€œGet down as low as you can!” shouted Mat above the din. “Brace yourselves for the impact. With luck we’ll hit the canopy and our fall will be broken.”
    Ben and Zoe could see how close they were to the open land of the oil palm plantation. If they crash-landed there, they didn’t stand a chance.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN
    Zoe gave a shriek as she felt the basket smash down on top of the trees, throwing her against Ben. All around was the deafening crack of breaking branches. The basket tumbled down through the canopy, almost