AVALON

Chapter 45 - just playing

"I'll go now." I tested him.

'What?" Dave exploded fear saturating his voice. "No you don't need to!"

Oh yeah, I had thought. We had a trickster here.

"I'll do it, no biggie. It will save you going through the swab and stuff. I'll be quick," I pushed through into the bush. The type of bush we were walking around in right next to the creeks and stuff I'm pretty sure it will definitely have a snake residing somewhere close. I heard Dave yelling for someone to tell me to stop but no one came after me. Shock horror. I wished he'd quiet I down some the racket he's making he'll scare off any bloody snake in the area.

Ah ha. There curled in a little patch of sunlight was a big red belly, which I was delighted with because browns can get really agro quick. I won't deal with tigers at all, Nathan reckons it's because we have similar personalities, they don't bluff they just go you. Red belly's don't hark up so badly, they are usually pretty cool characters and try and bluff you out of whatever you're thinking if you get to close to them. We don't find many of these at home unless we are near a river or dam, they like the wet. I'd prefer these guys over browns any day.

This bloke was just under two meters long, enough to scare Dave from pulling another prank. I couldn't wait to see his face.

I don't relish handling snakes but I'm used to it. We have to move along snakes that hang near the dams and watering areas before the cattle come through, not that there's much danger to them, the snakes normally take off but there has been occasion where we've lost a cow to a snake bite on the face. They also love to hang in our feed sheds to catch the rats, pythons are allowed but anything else has to go.

This guy luckily was still sleepy when I cautiously grabbed him behind the head and his tail; I slowly lifted him letting him slide to a comfy position before starting back to Dave, who I might add was still crying out like a baby.

Nathan got bitten by a snake once, not a bad one still he said it hurt like hell, like boiling hot water had been injected into his leg. He didn't cry out like Dave did though but to give it some truth Nathan never really expresses pain at anything. He had thrown the snake about hundred meters though so I knew it must have hurt.

I had snuck up quietly behind Dave with the snake, which incidentally had become a whole lot more active with each step I took. Seth's eyes widened but he'd stayed quiet.

Sam bit his lip and moved back slightly.

"Right," I said as I'd knelt next to Dave. "Let's see if we have a match!"

Amanda had threw herself on the ground away from Dave, yabbering as if she couldn't get a breath in to scream out properly and did the bolt on her hands and knees as I put the snakes head closer to Dave's bandaged leg. Dave himself had let out a squeal that would put any girl to shame and jumped up so quickly that the rush of wind raged against my face.

"Don't move around mate," I said seriously. "The venom will circulate faster."

Dave started to splutter and back backwards as I advanced with the red belly extended out toward him. "We have to see if it was this snake, mate. Sit down so I can see if it matches the bite spread!"

I could already tell it wouldn't as I said the dots of blood on his legs were over two inches apart.

Dave didn't move instead he started to make funny choking noises as I came closer, his hands were waving frantically and his eyes were as wide as a wild, cornered brumby's.

"No-o-o-o," he spluttered.

"Not this one you reckon?" I say shrugging the snake in my arms. "I agree, the fang spread on your leg indicates one much, much bigger. Hold this one for a tic and I'll have a look for a bigger one."