Episode Transcript
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Speaker (00:32):
Jack's woke up and it
was one of those blue sky
scorches where the dirt turns topowder and the trees shimmer in
the heat.
Jack's fired up his bike andheaded off into the bush,
flicking dust up as he waited atthe edge of the paddock for his
mate.
Hendricks was Jack's buddy fromschool and they decided that
their afternoon activity wasgoing to be exploring a new cave
(00:54):
they just recently discovered.
You ready to send it?
Jack's yelled over the enginenoise.
You know it Hendricks grinkicking his bike to life.
The boys bumped knuckles withtheir gloves and took off like
rockets across the track.
They rode through the forest andup through some private property
hitting ruts, launching offsmall berms, dodging gumtree
roots, and flying through drycreek crossings.
(01:15):
The air was thick with dust andlaughter and the sound of two
strokes echoed off the hills.
Jack's waved Hendricks over.
I wanna check out the back fenceline.
I reckon there's a new trailthere and I reckon that's where
we're gonna find this secretcave.
Mitch said he cleared the scrublast week, so we should be able
to get through.
(01:35):
Sure thing.
I'll race you, Hendricks said,already turning his bars and
pulling the throttle.
They boasted on the pegs andshot towards the trees at the
edge of the property where thepaddocks gave way to wild bush.
The boys pulled up panting anddripping in sweat.
Alright, you in this one, Jacksaid, pulling off his goggles,
but before Henry's could gloat,Jack's pointed to something in
(01:55):
the distance.
What's that?
Nestle between two mossyboulders was a thin crack in the
hillside, partially hidden byvines.
It looked like nothing fromafar, but the closer they crept,
the more it resembled andentrance.
Looks like a cave.
Said Hendrix crouching to Pinside.
Jack squinted.
(02:16):
I've never seen this before, andwe've ridden here like a hundred
times.
This must be the entrance to thecave I've heard about.
They stared at it in silence fora moment.
The air coming outta, it was icecold, and it smelled like wet
leaves and something older,something ancient.
It was dark and scary.
Should we go inside?
(02:38):
Hendricks asked.
Jack's hesitated, Mitch's backat the shed fixing Bonnie's
bike.
He'll be ages if we have to waitfor him.
Let's just go in for a quicklook.
Hendrick said already pulling atorch out of his bumba.
We just won't go very far in.
So no one takes our bikes whenwe are not here.
Jack's nodded.
Pulling out his own flashlight.
(02:58):
Alright, but if it looks dodgy,we're out inside.
The air was cooler than a fridgeand thick with moisture.
The cave walls dripped in placesand the boys boots squished in
the mud.
With each step they creptforward beams of light bouncing
around the cave, twisted andturned.
Every sound echoed, drips, footfalls breathing.
At one point something scuttledacross the wall and Hendricks
(03:20):
jumped.
Ah, oh, it's just a lizard.
Said Jacks trying to keep hisvoice steady.
The tunnel narrowed into achamber where strange rock
formations hung from the ceilinglike teeth.
That's when they heard it gr alow gurgling growl that seemed
to come from deeper inside.
Did you hear that Hendrickswhispered his eyes wide?
(03:40):
Yeah.
Said Jacks.
I think it's just wind throughthe rocks, but neither of them
believed it.
They pushed on hearts pounding.
The next chamber was lit by thereflections of tiny minerals
that sparked like glitter in thecenter, sat something weird, an
old dirt and crusted helmet.
Jack's picked it up carefully.
Across the inside brim.
(04:01):
Written in, faded black pen.
Were the words.
Snake Bite Steve.
1989.
No freaking way, Hendricksbreathe.
Snake.
Bite Steve from those old bags.
Dad has jack's nodded slowly.
He disappeared years ago on aride.
No one ever found him.
People reckon he vanished intothe bush.
A sudden chuckle echoed throughthe tunnel.
(04:23):
You boys are so nosy.
They froze.
Something shuffled behind therocks.
Then came thump, thump, thump.
Something big.
Ron Jack said Quietly.
They bolted, slipping,stumbling, ducking under rock.
LEDs, climbing over boulders.
Mud slashed up their modo pantsas they sprinted blindly behind
them.
Came a voice closer.
(04:43):
This time you've got no businessin here.
This is my track and cave.
Just as their torches started toflicker and run outta battery,
they spotted it a beam ofdaylight ahead, high up at the
end of a steep muddy shaft.
The tunnel had opened up into aslope, but it was steep as a
skate ram and slick with gooeyclay.
No way.
We are making it up.
That said Hendricks.
(05:04):
We have to.
Jack said, eyes locked on thelight.
Remember the hill climb behindyour house?
It's just like that.
Keep moving.
Don't stop.
Stay centered.
We have to get to our bikes toescape from whoever it is that's
chasing us.
Jack's went first.
Slipping his way up the slope.
He made it halfway beforegrabbing onto a root and hauling
himself up to the lip.
(05:24):
He turned around and reached athis hand.
Come on, Hendricks.
Hendricks scrambled behind him,slipping on the slime, but
Jack's caught his wrist andpulled together.
They tumbled out into thesunlight, gasping for air.
From below came the sound ofcrunching footsteps and a
furious voice.
Has it chased him.
You come back here, I'll makesure I catch you.
(05:45):
They didn't stick around.
The boys jumped on their bikes,kickstarted them, and Ro took
off.
I started bouncing their waythrough the trees, pulling
wheelies over tree roots andjumping through muddy puddles.
Jackson was in the front kickingup dust and Hendricks.
Could see the scary personcoming outta the cave and
chasing them on his own Bigbike.
(06:07):
Go Jacks go faster.
He's coming.
Jack's twisted the throttle asthey headed downhill.
His brakes were squealing asthey ran out of pad.
You've gotta stay with me,Hendrix.
He's catching up to us and helooks scary.
The boys held onto theirhandlebar, bouncing across the
rocks and dodging tree roots.
Just then out of nowhere, akangaroo jumped in front of
Jack's.
(06:27):
He skidded to a stop Hendricksjust pulled up behind him.
Did you nearly hit that KangarooHendricks said I did, but
luckily I was just able to avoidit The boys couldn't see the man
chasing them, but they couldhear his bike coming.
I didn't waste any time and tookoff again, doing a burnout as
they rode.
Jack's yelled out through hishelmet.
Come on, Hendrix, follow me.
(06:48):
They kept slicing through singletrack, popping their way over
tree roots and over big jumps.
Then all of a sudden they cameacross a big canyon.
They pulled to a stop.
What do we do now?
The man behind us is catchingus, and we're not on the same
track we used to get here.
Where did this canyon come from?
Hendricks looked at the canyonand then saw a big jump off to
(07:09):
the side.
Jax, I reckon we can jump overthis canyon, but we're gonna
have to go all the way back upthe hill and pin it over.
That jump.
Jax agreed.
Alright, follow me.
They rode back up the hill andjust as they turned around, they
saw the scary man approachingthem on his big dirt bike.
They took off as fast as theycould, full throttle pinned.
(07:31):
They hit the jump.
Boom and went sailing throughthe air.
The canyon was hundreds ofmeters down below them.
They were both side by side.
As they landed with a thud,they'd made it They skidded to a
stop, looked back across thecanyon, and the big scary man
who was chasing them, couldn'thit the jump fast enough, and he
(07:52):
fell short, falling down intothe canyon Phew.
That was close, Jack said I knewthe cave would be scary, but not
that scary.
Hendricks said, oh man, that wasone hell of a ride.
I'm glad we were able to jumpacross that canyon.
The boys rode back to thepaddock in stunned silence.
Their jerseys were soaked in mudand sweat.
(08:14):
Their boots full of dust andtheir minds racing.
Mitch waved as they pulled in..
Where have you been?
Just exploring Jack's.
Bumbled.
They didn't say much else.
Not until later when they sat bythe trailer eating crackers and
sipping on some water.
We shouldn't have gone in therewithout telling anyone.
Hendricks said That was dumb.
Yeah.
Jack's agreed.
We're lucky we got out.
(08:36):
Shouldn't have gone in whereMitch said oh, we went in that
cave and you wouldn't believewhat we found.
Jack's pulled something from hisgear Bagg and placed it on the
ground between them.
Snake bite Steve's helmet.
Hendrick stared at it insilence.
Alright.
He said That's wild.
Mitch looked at it and said,well, I told you never go in
there, but I'm glad you got out.
(08:57):
How'd you get away from Steve?
He's a crazy rider.
We had to jump a huge canyon,Hendrick said then Jack smiled.
Yeah, and he nearly caught us.
The boys looked at each otherwide eyes, the sun setting
behind them.
Well, some legends don't die, Iguess Mitch said and even though
you nearly got caught by snakebite, Steve, just remember any
(09:18):
day on a dirt bike is a goodday.