Lost Girl Diary
Page 31
Chapter 29 – Trip to Nowhere
Next morning they headed away early. They stopped late morning at Top Springs for a beer with the bartender, Mick, before driving on. Mick was a fey Irishman, always good for a yarn. They chatted and exchanged stories for half an hour over the cold drinks before heading on.
Mick, always one of the sharp tongue, said as they were leaving. “Well it is good to see you back with another pretty girl on your arm, Mark. It has been long months now since you brought one this way.
“This one is a kindred spirit to you I see. You should take good care of her. Or otherwise she could be nearly as dangerous to the world as you are. So treat her right if you want her to stay nice.”
Somehow the words jarred with Mark even though Josie gave Mick a bright smile and blew him a kiss.
Their trip was mostly enjoyable and Josie proved to be both a capable camp cook and good company. She also went out of her way to pleasure him with her body, arousing in ways he had not yet discovered. He found he treasured her company, not love like for Belle, but she was a good and practical companion.
But, whereas before she had been a bright smile and pleasure to be around, now there seemed to be a dark place in her soul that sat next to the emptiness in his.
He wished he could take it away. It was as if that part of him that had become one with the crocodile had also created a dark place in her. He wondered if it was jealousy, that she had grown attached to him and now resented there being a place in his heart which he had reserved to love others. Once or twice he tried to go there in midnight conversations, but she always moved the subject on, as if unwilling to confront this part of the person that was her.
On the fifth night, a day on which they had travelled north through Rosewood, stopping for a few hours to do some work there, they came to secluded camping spot in Keep River National Park, a few kilometres north of the main road, the Victoria Highway between Katherine and Kununurra.
Tomorrow they would drive into Kununurra for a half day of work and an afternoon of shopping. Then he told Josie that he planned for them to have a night together sharing the best room in the best motel in town before they returned to Katherine for a final night together, before Josie returned to Sydney and Mark went down to the Gulf for other work.
Mark’s affection for this girl was undiminished. He knew he would really miss her once she was gone. It was not love, but it was a bond between two people who had a dark place in their souls and yet could share life’s pleasures together, or so he thought.