Chapter 4

The celebrations had been carrying on for a while, and the sun had just begun to rise when Jack was tackled by his little sister.

"Jack! Jack! I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

Aibhlinn shuffled her feet and bowed her head in shame. "I didn't gather wood for the outside pile yesterday and the pile in the kitchen is running low…"

Jack frowned for a moment, it was light enough that going to the forest shouldn't be too much of a problem but they were still dangerous to an extent. Granted, with all the noise the villagers had been making it should be fine as long as he took the small bow and arrows he had…

The boy smiled brightly, "Don't worry, I'll go get more wood! Go have some fun!"

The relief on his sister's face made it worth it. No one wants to get in trouble on Easter Sunday.

….

Jack easily snuck away from the village, totting the small sled they used to gather wood in one hand and his bow in the other, a quiver of arrows hanging at his belt. Due to the recent snows, most of the wood was wet, but Jack knew of an old dead tree deeper in the forest that would have dry wood nestled beneath it. He quickened his steps as to counteract the chilly air, keeping an eye out for obstacles in the early dawn light.

The bushes ahead of him began to rustle. The boy froze. Slowly and quietly he set down the rope that attached to the sled and notched an arrow in his bow. He began to cautiously approach the source of the noise silently. The natives who came to trade at the village on occasion had taught him how to do that in exchange for him teaching their children how to play hopscotch.

When he was close enough Jack peered through the bushes and saw the strangest creature he had ever seen. It was huge and gray with strange dark markings dancing across its pelt. The large ears reminded Jack of a rabbit but the limbs were too long and the creature too large.

Jack cast about for what the animal could possibly be; perhaps it was the kangeerow animal that Father Nicolas-Raoul had heard about from the sailors on his way to the New World! He said the were found in a far away place called uh-straw-lee-a, but if the boogieman could show up and play riddle games with him at night then a kangeerow could show up in Hawthorn! What's more is that a kangeerow that size could feed his family for a month! His Pa would be so proud of him for catching it!

Jack took a careful aim, after all he only had one chance at this, kangeerows might be very dangerous when angered; and let the arrow fly.

"YEEEEOOOOOWCHHH!" a terrifyingly human voice screamed in pain as the arrow dug itself deeply into his shoulder—inches away from his vulnerable neck.

The boy gasped in shock and stumbled back, frozen in shock at first. Jack quickly recovered and darted forward to the creature.

"I'm so sorry! I thought you were just an animal! Father Nicholas-Raoul didn't tell me that kangeerows could talk!"

The kangeerow proceeded to run off in a language unlike any that Jack had ever heard. It was more musical then French, softer then English, and more earthy the various native tongues had had heard when the occasions arose; regardless jack knew profanity when he heard it. Despite the alien syllables, he managed to pick one word out of the rest—Lanjakoda. Jack wondered what it meant; maybe he could ask Pitch next time they played together!

Jack clambered up the struggling animal's back—he had to be as tall as the nightmare king—and grasped the arrow firmly.

"Stay still for a moment please." He gasped as he hung on tightly.

The kangeerow stilled.

"I'm going to count, I will pull out the arrow on three. Sound good?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, here we go! One! Two!" Jack wrenched the arrow out of the creature. "THREE!"

The Kangeerow let out another near scream of pain.

"I thought you said three!" It snarled.

"I did! My dad did that to me too when Jean accidently shot me with an arrow! He said it hurts less to pull it out on two."

"Crickey mate! You bloody shot me! You don't get to be ordering me around! Now get off!"

Jack slide to the ground nimbly. He glanced back at the kangeerow's bleeding shoulder guiltily. Jack reached up and touched his scarf. His mother had spent hours making it for him using wool that could have gone to giving Aibhlinn an extra pair of stockings instead; but the person he had shot and injured was bleeding—badly. Jack nodded firmly to himself; he would take the scolding. Whipping off the soft scarf he held it up to the giant animal.

"You're still bleeding, here, you can use this as a bandage."

"Bloody right I will! Honestly, what were you thinking?!"

"My family could eat for a month."

The Kangeerow stared at him for a moment, demeanor softening ever so slightly.

"Of course of all the people to believe in me, you would be one of them." He growled as he wrapped up his arm.

"I really am sorry."

"Just, don't go expecting anything from me anytime soon!"

After the Kangeerow was all patched up, he took off with some choice muttering and a snarled comment on how much work he was now behind on.

Looking at the sun told Jack that he had spent far more time away from the village then planned and he would have to hurry to get the wood so he could slip back unnoticed… However it was more likely he had already been missed and that everyone would be looking for him now. The chaos of Easter celebrations could only cover so much in a small village like theirs.

He quickly grabbed his fill of wood and rushed back. However sneaking in was not meant to be, as Father Nicholas-Raoul was waiting for him at the forest edge.

"Jack, your sister was beginning to worry about you. Fortunately she told me what happened and so I came to look for you instead of raising the village to arms the way your parents would have. You shouldn't scare her like this. At this rate she won't need the boogieman to give her nightmares."

"Sorry father, I didn't mean to take that long but I saw a kangeerow and in all the excitement I lost track of time."

"See that you don't do that again Louvel." Father said gravely before his tone switched to something far more jovial. "I believe young Aibhlinn will need your help! There are some beautiful little eggs that she's spotted but they have been tucked under the goose and I believe we are both aware of how your sister feels about geese."

Jack chuckled, "I thinks her fear of geese is why when the boogieman turned her dream into a nightmare it became a goose actually!"

"Really! He did that!" Father's eyebrow's shot up.

"Yes! And it doesn't like to listen to him and causes lots of trouble!"

"Well, better it be a hindrance then a help when it comes to the Boogieman!"

Jack beamed at the Priest, "My thoughts exactly!"

A/N: So a couple things really. Firstly, sorry about the format change, my computer got all weird towards the end of this chapter. Secondly, I would like to apologize about the Australian accent that I attempted here. My only experience with Australia is animal planet, Crocodile Dundee, and my great uncle's Emu ranch. Lastly, I couldn't find any Pooka curse words but I did find a language called Telugu. No idea where that language hails from, but I borrowed it for now. It might change as the story is more developed but point stands. The word I used means SOB incidentally. Also, I don't know if Australia was even colonized or explored at this point and I am too tired to care at the moment so that will be that. Again this is a fast post and will be edited later.