LP pulled into the car park at Bells Beach. Now all he had to do was win the contest. The swell was between eight and ten feet, with perfect barrelling waves – just as he liked it.
Brownie and Bear arrived on the bikes, and let the boys know there would be no more trouble from the Bad Meadows bikie club.
“You could say they’ve been disbanded.”
Brownie and Bear laughed.
LP entered the water with the other surfers, and paddled out to find the best spot for the perfect wave.
George and Cassa talked about how they could have won the contest, except for injuries. They both agreed that the two thousand dollars prize money would come in handy when they split up.
“Do you think LP took any notice of what was said in Mason’s vision back at the Bora Ring?” asked George.
“Remind me,” Cassa said.
“Look for guidance from the sea, and you will achieve your aim to be the best.”
LP lined up for his first wave, and started paddling for it. He dropped down the face of the wave and positioned himself to be tubed, which should score highly. Out of nowhere, a dolphin appeared on the wave with him.
“Look at that. I’ve never seen that happen before,” Bear said.
The dolphin was finding the sweet spot for the most power in the wave.
LP clicked, and thought, all I have to do is follow the dolphin.
That wave was the longest tube he had ever been in. The judges’ scores went up. Nine points out of ten.
There was some talking. “Did the dolphin make a difference in LP’s top wave ride?”
From a distance, the judges had no problem with it.
The scoring was pretty close as the competition progressed. LP needed another nine or a ten from the five judges to win. It was going to be a hard call. Again, LP dropped down the perfect wave, and again there was a dolphin leading and finding the most power in the wave. He followed it up and down the wave, then the tube covered both LP and the dolphin.
The guys on the beach crossed their fingers and held their breath. Would he make it out of the tube? Fifteen seconds went by.
“He’s not going to make it,” complained George. “There goes the cash.”
“Don’t give up yet,” said Mason.
Covered by water, with the sun shining through, LP thought there was no way out. The crushing weight of white water was about to end his dream of winning. Just then, the dolphin made a noise, and LP thought, whatever the dolphin does, just follow. The wave was about to close down, but, before it did, the dolphin took a sharp vertical turn and punched through the top of the wave. LP followed. The dolphin had made an exit in the lip, and LP flipped out and over, still standing.
Everyone on the beach applauded, except for supporters of the local guy they had expected to win. Someone in the crowd said, “That LP cheated. He had help from that dolphin.”
The judges looked at each other, and said, “There are no rules banning dolphins from a surf contest.”
With that, all judges held up their score cards: ’10; 10; 10; 10; 10’.
LP was the winner!
When LP ran up the beach with his surfboard under his arm, all the guys gave him high fives.
“You beauty!” said Bear. “I didn’t think you had it in ya.”
“Let’s collect the cash and get out of here,” Red said. “We need to be back for work on Monday. This time, no short cuts, LP.”
All the guys laughed, knowing that they had finished what they had started. They had overcome bad weather and flooding, kept one step ahead of the Bad Meadows’ bikies, and made it to the contest on time. They also reflected back on what had happened at the Bora Ring that could not be explained away. The numbers and coin were yet to reveal their true value.
“One problem,” said Red. “There’s no way we’ll make it back over the border in time for work. You know what bosses are like; they’re going to be pissed off if we don’t turn up on time.”
LP said, “Look, we’ve got enough cash to fly back and have money left over. Plus, we still have four hundred dollars from the pokie win. George can fly back down next week, get the Kombi and drive back. We’ll leave it where it is in the car park. It’ll be okay till then.”
“Okay,” Bear said. “We’ll travel light; take the surfboards and whatever we can fit in our backpacks.”
Brownie wasn’t leaving his knife and boomerang behind.
“I’ll take the horns,” Mason said.
“I’ll carry on the goat hide,” said LP.
“Well, I’m not leaving the coins behind,” George said. “I can sell them as souvenirs at the local flea market at home.”
“I’ll take the scroll,” said Red.
Bear decided to take the guns.
“Are you sure?” asked Red. “Think about it. You don’t have a Victorian permit for those guns. Leave them behind.”
“Okay,” Bear agreed.
“Right, let’s get everything we’re taking and hurry up,” said LP.
“What about Wal?” asked George. “We can’t leave him locked up here for a week.”
“Put him over beside those rocks. He’s one tough cane toad. He’ll fend for himself.”
“Okay,” said George.
“Make sure all the doors are locked, and we’ll be off to the airport.”
Luck was on their side once again, and the guys and Kat got standby tickets. They were booked on the 6:15 p.m. flight to Brisbane.
After checking in, Red and Kat walked away from the others and sat, arms around each other, cuddling up and being passionate.
Red re-assured Kat, “Everything will be fine when we get back up north. Doctors, dentists and vet surgeries will be a distant memory. We’ll start a new life after we cross the border, I promise you.” He hugged Kat tightly as song lyrics played on his thoughts. “Baby, it’s breaking my heart, I can’t get by without you, I’m nothing without you.”
Nutter and his bikie mates walked into the Bells Beach car park.
“Over there; that’s the Kombi.”
“Yeah, but where are those surfie bums?”
The bikies surrounded the Kombi.
“Try the back hatch, and see if the coin is still there,” said Nutter.
Tiny grabbed the handle and turned it, but it was locked.
Some of the bikies rocked the Kombi from side to side.
“Porky, get a rock. Smash that side window,” ordered Nutter.
The bikies continued pushing the Kombi from side to side, and almost rolled it.
“What’s that smell?” Nutter asked.
“There’s smoke coming from the back of the engine.”
“Shit, it’s on fire. Run!”
As they ran from the Kombi, it erupted in a huge fireball, with an explosion that lifted it ten feet into the air. It came down with a huge bang.
The bikies watched until all that was left was a burnt-out shell. Nutter looked at Porky. “Well, we’ve got no bikes, no money, and nowhere to go. We can’t go back over the border. They’ve got warrants for our arrest unless we can come up with the fifty red ones, and that isn’t going to happen for a while.”
Porky reminded Nutter about his old mate in Melbourne. “He said if you want to make easy money, Melbourne is the place to be.”
“It sounds like our kind of city. Well, it looks like there’s no choice.”
“It won’t be long before everyone down here will know the name Bad Meadows Motorcycle Club, and the money will be flowing in,” said Tiny.