buried, Ashmol. I’d do it myself, but I can’t because I have to go to the hospital in Walgett for a few days.”
She looked at me again with those tired eyes. I wasn’t too sure the hospital would be able to get rid of the dark rings around them.
“You can pay for it with the bellybutton,” she said. “That’s what Dingan would have wanted. That’s what she always said. ‘When I die,’ she said, ‘pay for my funeral with my bellybutton stone.’”
“How much does a funeral cost?”
“A fortune, I think, “ Kellyanne replied. “But the opal should just about cover it.”
My heart sank when I heard this. I never knew death was so expensive. I had reckoned on buying a new house and getting my mum an air ticket for a holiday in England, and all kinds of other stuff, with the money from that opal. But I made up my mind there and then that the most important thing was getting Kellyanne well again, and if that meant trading an amazing opal for a grave for Pobby and Dingan, then that was what I was going to do.
“I’ll only do it if you get better and stop worrying the hell out of Mum and Dad,” I said, all firm. “And only if you promise not to go dying, because then I’ll have another funeral to arrange and that’s going to be a real chore.”
“I promise,” said Kellyanne. “Thanks, Ashmol. And now you promise me something too. Promise you won’t tell Mum and Dad about finding Dingan’s opal.”
“Okay. Okay.”
“And that you won’t go showing it to anyone except the funeral director.”
“I promise.”
“And don’t go trying to get any money for it. This isn’t your opal, and it’s not Dad’s opal either, Ashmol. This is Dingan’s bellybutton. It isn’t some ordinary stone you can go making a heap of money from.”
I thought about this long and hard, and I thought what a shame it was that I was going to be giving away my first red-on-black. And then I said:
“I promise not to go making any money on it.” And then I left the room, almost worn out with promising.
11
So the next day, after Mum and Dad had gone off with Kellyanne to take her to the hospital, I walked out on the road that goes past the golf course and out to the cemetery. I walked past the sign which says
Lightning Ridge
Population—?
And the question mark is there cos of all the people who pass through, find nothing and give up and go back home. And because of all the folks out hidden at their mines in the bush. And all the criminals and that who don’t care to register themselves down on the electoral roll. My mum said she reckoned there were around eight thousand and fifty-three plus Pobby and Dingan, that’s eight thousand and fifty-five residents out at the Ridge all together. But now Pobby and Dingan were dead I guess it was back to eight thousand and fifty-three.
As I walked I turned Dingan’s bellybutton around in my fingers. I had been so busy I hadn’t had a hell of a lot of time to look at it. It was pretty incredible. A mixture of black and greens, and when you turned it a flash of red went shivering through it from side to side. And it was wrapped up cosy in a doona of white-and-brown rock. It had good luck written all over it, that’s for sure. And it was warm from the Lightning Ridge sun.
I finally got to the cemetery and I had a good look around. I’d never been there before. It’s a small, quiet place not far at all from some mines and about the size of two claims strung together. If you look hard you can see the tops of drilling rigs peeking over the trees like dinosaurs or skeletons of giraffes. Well, you could tell which ones of the dead people had struck opal and which hadn’t, because some of the signs were cut out of stone and marble, and some were just two bits of rotting wood crossed over. Kellyanne was right. Death looked like it was just too expensive for some people. Plus it was weird thinking of all those dead people under the ground, especially when you thought about how
She looked at me again with those tired eyes. I wasn’t too sure the hospital would be able to get rid of the dark rings around them.
“You can pay for it with the bellybutton,” she said. “That’s what Dingan would have wanted. That’s what she always said. ‘When I die,’ she said, ‘pay for my funeral with my bellybutton stone.’”
“How much does a funeral cost?”
“A fortune, I think, “ Kellyanne replied. “But the opal should just about cover it.”
My heart sank when I heard this. I never knew death was so expensive. I had reckoned on buying a new house and getting my mum an air ticket for a holiday in England, and all kinds of other stuff, with the money from that opal. But I made up my mind there and then that the most important thing was getting Kellyanne well again, and if that meant trading an amazing opal for a grave for Pobby and Dingan, then that was what I was going to do.
“I’ll only do it if you get better and stop worrying the hell out of Mum and Dad,” I said, all firm. “And only if you promise not to go dying, because then I’ll have another funeral to arrange and that’s going to be a real chore.”
“I promise,” said Kellyanne. “Thanks, Ashmol. And now you promise me something too. Promise you won’t tell Mum and Dad about finding Dingan’s opal.”
“Okay. Okay.”
“And that you won’t go showing it to anyone except the funeral director.”
“I promise.”
“And don’t go trying to get any money for it. This isn’t your opal, and it’s not Dad’s opal either, Ashmol. This is Dingan’s bellybutton. It isn’t some ordinary stone you can go making a heap of money from.”
I thought about this long and hard, and I thought what a shame it was that I was going to be giving away my first red-on-black. And then I said:
“I promise not to go making any money on it.” And then I left the room, almost worn out with promising.
11
So the next day, after Mum and Dad had gone off with Kellyanne to take her to the hospital, I walked out on the road that goes past the golf course and out to the cemetery. I walked past the sign which says
Lightning Ridge
Population—?
And the question mark is there cos of all the people who pass through, find nothing and give up and go back home. And because of all the folks out hidden at their mines in the bush. And all the criminals and that who don’t care to register themselves down on the electoral roll. My mum said she reckoned there were around eight thousand and fifty-three plus Pobby and Dingan, that’s eight thousand and fifty-five residents out at the Ridge all together. But now Pobby and Dingan were dead I guess it was back to eight thousand and fifty-three.
As I walked I turned Dingan’s bellybutton around in my fingers. I had been so busy I hadn’t had a hell of a lot of time to look at it. It was pretty incredible. A mixture of black and greens, and when you turned it a flash of red went shivering through it from side to side. And it was wrapped up cosy in a doona of white-and-brown rock. It had good luck written all over it, that’s for sure. And it was warm from the Lightning Ridge sun.
I finally got to the cemetery and I had a good look around. I’d never been there before. It’s a small, quiet place not far at all from some mines and about the size of two claims strung together. If you look hard you can see the tops of drilling rigs peeking over the trees like dinosaurs or skeletons of giraffes. Well, you could tell which ones of the dead people had struck opal and which hadn’t, because some of the signs were cut out of stone and marble, and some were just two bits of rotting wood crossed over. Kellyanne was right. Death looked like it was just too expensive for some people. Plus it was weird thinking of all those dead people under the ground, especially when you thought about how
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