Spinning on my heel I sprint to the tree line. I saw something back here, something big. Solid. Fuelled by anger I run to where I remember seeing it. I was looking so hard at the ground I can’t have been wrong!
More whacking sounds as fists met flesh. I have wings on my feet and my heart in my throat as I spot the massive tree limb that’s been brought down by a lightning strike. The tree looks dead but it’s recent enough that the shattered limbs are still whole and strong. Using my entire weight, I wrench a thick limb off. I blink and am back in the clearing. Sam’s on the ground, the two men laying into him with their massive boots. Rhi is screaming. Eric spots what I’m carrying and jumps off the car. Too late. I race up behind Mick, lining him up like a softball, and swinging for home. There’s a sickening sound like a watermelon hitting cement and he drops.
Dan is on me, tackling me to the ground. I cop a mouthful of gravel and land on top of the branch. He tries to rip it away, grabbing my hair and wrenching it. I jerk my head back, cracking his nose with my skull. He lets go of the branch and raises his clenched fist. I brace as Rhi comes screaming in. I feel her hit Dan, see her hand grab his arm and hold on. I let go of the branch and land an elbow to his gut. His breath rushes out and he rolls further over, holding me with his full weight while he tries to deal with Rhi. I can’t see what she’s doing but it must hurt because he’s swearing a blue streak.
Dan’s weight lifts and I immediately flip over onto my back, legs raised and ready, searching for Rhi. Sam has her wrapped in his arms, while Eric holds Dan back. I can’t look at Mick’s still form.
Dan wrestles with his brother, still swearing, although not much of it makes sense. I find my feet but stay crouched, waiting. Sam gives me a look that says to stay down, but fuck that. I am a Thomson woman. I pull the branch to my side and grip it double-handed, ready to swing.
‘Fuckin’ hell, Dan, we gotta get Mick to the hospital!’
Eric’s shout finally reaches Dan and he stops fighting to get to me. We all look over at their stockman. Dan turns back to me, and I’m grateful for Eric. ‘You little bitch! You wait.’
‘Wait for what?’ I stand, ignoring the pain and how I wobble a bit on my feet. ‘You attacked a bunch of underage kids ya silly fuckin moron. Not even the cops could help you on this one.’
It was a blatant lie. The cops can and had ignored a lot of bad shit. Dan isn’t exactly smart, but he’d figure it out if I give him time.
‘But it’s not the cops you wanna worry about. It’s our mobs.’ I nod at Sam. We’re the two biggest families in town, everyone knows it. ‘Word gets out you did this and it won’t matter what the cops say, you won’t be able to step foot off your place again. Who knows, maybe revenge on you will be what ends the war between the Millers and the Thomsons.’
And there it is. The fear of us, of what we can do as a people when we put our minds to it. Community politics and infighting aside, we back each other.
‘Dan, she’s right! She’s the fucking golden girl of the Thomson mob; you’ll have ’em all out for us. And Toni’s fucking psychotic about her boys.’
Sam smirks with pride at that one. ‘Don’t forget my brothers and father.’ That they mentioned the mother first tells you how unhinged that woman can be.
‘Fine!’ Dan yells. He shrugs out of Eric’s loosening arms and gives me the evil eye. Eric goes straight for Mick and checks him over. I hold back my concern as they lift him up and drag him to the Dodge. He’s a massive man, and they struggle to get him in the back seat. Rhi, Sam and I stay frozen in place, watching.
They pile into the car, Eric behind the wheel, and chuck a U-turn. As they drive past Dan’s eyes never leave mine.
We watch the Dodge bounce along that excuse for a track. As it crests a rise and disappears, a sigh goes around the clearing. Then we’re sprinting as one for the car, jumping in and taking off.
‘Slow down, Sam, we don’t want to catch up to em.’
He eases off the accelerator. We stay tense and watchful. There are a few tracks along here that they could’ve veered onto, a few places they could be waiting. We bounce and watch. Sam’s knuckles stand out bright white against his brown skin.
Only after the tyres hit pavement, only after we find our way onto the highway again, does it hit. Rhi’s quiet sobs from the back cut me. Sam squeezes the wheel harder, like he’s trying to crush it. My hands start shaking, the tremors spread up my arms and through my whole body. I double over my knees and force myself to take slow even breaths.
‘You okay?’ Sam’s question comes out through clenched teeth.
I nod my head with no clue if he saw it. ‘You?’
‘Yeah.’
I snort. And the award for biggest liar goes to …
I take a final deep breath and count it out before forcing myself to sit up.
‘We need to get cleaned up. Head to the river.’ He nods and I turn to check on Rhi. Her sobs have stopped but she’s still shaking. ‘You okay, cuz?’ Her tear-bright eyes look at me blankly. Her teeth are chattering.
‘I thought you’d left me,’ she whispers. I reach over the back and grab her hand in mine, looking her dead in the eye.
‘Never! You hear me Rhiannon Louise Thomson, not ever!’ My answer is absolute and unshakeable. She sobs again but a laugh is mixed in with it. She squeezes my hand and lets go. We head to the safest place any of us could think of – our river.
Day 4, Twilight
I start cataloguing my injuries as Sam drives. My cheek is aching, I have gravel rash around my mouth and I’ve bitten my tongue. There are scrapes along my hands and arms where I landed, and my scalp is hurting from the hair-pulling. Everything is stinging, but there’s nothing too drastic. My clothes fared better, they’re dirty but no rips or holes that I can find yet. There are a lot of marks that will need to be explained. The man-sized problem that’s probably at the hospital by now is a worry for later.
I did what I had to.
We make it to the river with no further assaults.
The spot Sam picks isn’t one I’ve been to before, but I’m glad. It’ll mean less chance of running into anyone out doing some fishing or swimming. The sun is setting in full red glory as we pile out. I go straight to Rhi and look her over.
‘Did he hurt you?’ My question starts her sobbing again. I cuddle her close and watch Sam move carefully over to the riverbank.
‘Sam?’ He finds a spot he seems happy with and lowers himself down. ‘Sam, you’re startin to freak me out.’
‘I might need help gettin this shirt off,’ he mumbles.
Cupping Rhi’s chin I pull back and peer into her face. ‘Ya right, cuz?’
She nods between hiccups, but I still do another once over. A few scrapes and dirty clothes is all I see, thank God. But there are fresh bruises forming that make me want to cry. I go to the car and pull out my port. I’d dropped it there just a few hours ago, but it feels like a month. I pull out the little pack of tissues I keep around for my hay fever, and my water bottle. Stepping up to Sam, I look him over. His face is a mess and I can see bruises and marks on all of his exposed skin. His eyes look a bit glazed. He’s in pain. My guilt ramps even higher.
Crouching in front of him, I wet down a few tissues and start wiping at the blood and dirt I can see. ‘Where’s it hurt worst?’
Grabbing my wrist he stops my gentle wiping and looks me in the eye. ‘Are you really okay?’
I manage a smile. ‘I think Mick got the worst of it.’ My voice breaks a bit but I cough it back and we pretend I have a scratch in my throat. Sam stares at me for a while longer, before letting go and looking down at his hands.
‘I managed to protect my head, it’s probably just bruising.’
I nod. ‘Let’s take a look anyway. Lift your arms.’
Taking hold of the bottom of his shirt, I lift it off him as gently as I can. Looking down
at his chest I can’t help the sympathetic wince. His dark skin is covered in rapidly rising bruises, new ones forming fast over yellowed older ones. I stand and circle around to his back. It’s even more mottled here where he hadn’t been able to protect himself. He’s right about there being no cuts but there is plenty enough. I place a careful hand on the least bruised area on his shoulder.
‘I’m so sorry, Sam.’
He covers my hand with his own and squeezes. ‘It’s not, you know.’ He glances at me over his shoulder and smiles at my confusion. ‘It’s not your fault.’ Then he seems to get uncomfortable and turns back around, dropping his hand. ‘Can I get some of them tissues, Tace?’
I set him up with a heap before heading to the water’s edge. I squat down to splash water over my face. The stinging gets a lot worse, but I make sure to get everything. The river water isn’t as pure these days; Pop says it’s all the weirs and dams they keep building upstream. But it will do till I get home and find some disinfectant.
I splash over my hands and arms as well, getting as much of the dirt off as I can. Sam joins me. At some point Rhi’s sobs dry up. I hear her stand and come up behind me, figuring she needs a wash too.
Hands on my back shove me headfirst into the water. It’s deep enough I go all the way in and come up spluttering and coughing. Rhi stands, hands on hips, laughing her susoos off. She should’ve known to run. I grab her around the ankles, yanking her in before she can scream. I hold her head under for a bit as punishment.
‘Oi!’ She splashes at me once I finally let her up.
‘Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it, cuz,’ I mock.
Sam is laughing and groaning in pain. Rhi and I share a look, before grabbing one leg each and dragging him in.
We end up wrestling for a bit like that, splashing and carrying on. Laughing out our relief at having made it through. There’s something so normal about it, playing in the river. We might not have done it together before, but it’s what every mob does. Sam’s too sore to do much, so it’s only a short play. We stay in a bit longer to rub ourselves clean and get the mud out of our shoes.
Semi-presentable we climb out, squeezing out as much water as we can. My energy is draining fast and the last of the light is fading. The mob will be home soon. How’re we gonna explain this?
If the sun had been out in force we’d have been dry in minutes. As it is, the humidity will keep us damp for a while yet. Sam says it’s cool for us to get in the car still damp so we climb back in.
Bruises have begun to bloom brightly on all of us. We’ll all have pretty body art tomorrow.
‘So what’s the story?’ Rhi sits forwards between our seats and checks our faces.
I chew on my lip. ‘You and me were swimming all afternoon. I guess we all … got in … a fight?’
Rhi giggles. ‘Do ya really wanna send our mob after Sam? They’d kill im!’
‘Not if I started it!’
Sam opens his mouth to protest but Rhi lifts a finger and shushes him. ‘You’re such a goody-goody, no one would believe you started a fight so it’d end up all Sam’s fault. This is why you suck at lying – we need something close to the truth. Why can’t we just say that the Potters started it?’
Sam shakes his head. ‘The only way they’ll keep their mouths shut is if we do. If we let it out that they did this, they’ll have Tace charged with assault, and you know whose side the cops’ll take.’
We go silent for a bit.
‘Okay, Plan B,’ Rhi crows. ‘Sam, you were out lookin to go for a swim. Tace, you and me were off doin our thing when we got charged by a bull. We got marked up trying to get away from it.’
We’re that desperate I think her idea sounds decent.
‘I guess … if we maybe had to crawl through barbed wire. And if I fell face first. But what about Sam’s face and bruises?’
‘Most of those are on his back and that right?’
‘And his arms.’
‘Right, so if he doesn’t go swimming or take his shirt off, then we only have to explain the bruises we can see. Sorry Sam.’ Rhi gives his shoulder a sympathetic pat. Not swimming in this weather is pure torture.
He shakes his head at us. ‘You don’t need to worry about me.’
‘What do you mean?’ Rhi asks.
‘It won’t matter if I show up like this.’ He says it like it’s nothing, but he won’t look at us.
Rhi’s eyes go wide. She opens her mouth and I am terrified about what’s going to come out.
‘Alright Sam, if you’re sure?’ I beat her to it, but I still feel bad. It’s like we’re only worrying about ourselves when he’s the one that has taken the worst of it.
‘I’ll tell Mum I got into a fight after school, and no one at school will ask.’ His voice gets all tight, so I sit back and shut my mouth. It’s true too. No one at school even mentioned his black eye. Rhi hasn’t asked either, and I can see her thinking about it now. Guilt tightens her jaw. I turn to stare out the window until we come to the edge of town.
‘Both of you better duck down,’ Sam says. ‘I’ll take you to the back of the town hall and drop you there. I’d drop you closer to your place, but …’
‘No worries, thanks Sam,’ Rhi assures him.
We make it without any problems and Rhi gets out of the car. I stop with my hand on the door, before turning back.
‘Sam.’ I can’t think of what to say. ‘Thanks.’
He nods and I follow Rhi out. There aren’t any words that’d do it anyway.
As he drives off I turn to face Rhi. She’s smirking at me.
‘What?’ I know I sound defensive.
‘Stacey and Sammy sittin in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.’ She finishes with a squeal as I go to grab her. She dances out of reach. ‘First comes love, then comes marriage.’
‘Then comes the floggin from the Millers and the Thomsons.’ My sarcasm gets through where my horrible rhyming doesn’t.
‘Yeah true,’ Rhi muses.
That’s all I need. Rhi is an eternal romantic, falling in love as fast as she falls out of it and never regretting anything. She’s always after me to open myself up to ‘possibilities’. I usually say something about keeping away from the ‘possibilities’ of getting an STD or ‘possibly’ getting with someone who turns out to be related to me. I can wait till I’m out of this town to get a man, there are just too many relatives and racists here.
‘Come on, Mum and them will be home soon. You can get into some of my clothes.’
We head up the street and into the house. As always it’s unlocked with all the windows wide open to let the heat of the day out. What shocks me is the note on the table.
Babe, we stopped off to get food. Gone back out. Left some chicken and salad in the fridge for you. Stay safe and INSIDE. Love you xox
‘Holy shit, you are one lucky cow.’
‘Ya mean “we”? I wouldn’t be the only one in trouble ya know.’
Rhi gives me her trademark cheeky grin and I pretend not to notice it’s still a bit wonky.
‘You get in the shower first, I’ll get us some clothes.’
When she’s finished I toss her a fresh towel and my most comfortable pyjamas. My cousin has gone above and beyond for me today, and the guilt is catching up. I pull out dinner while she dresses. As expected, there’s heaps. My throat closes and I blink back tears while I divide up the food and set the kettle off. Thankfully Rhi is quick so we dive in.
‘Want to stay over tonight?’ I ask between mouthfuls.
‘Yeah cool.’
After we clean up the kitchen I go for my shower. Despite the heat, I turn the water to hot. I need to beat some of the aches out of me.
Still, I never linger in the shower. I can hear Nan going off about water wastage even now. I dry off, dress and call out to Rhi to help me with the Savlon. While I wait
I stare at the bruises and scrapes all over me. Mum is going to kill me.
Rhi busts in and takes over. She does the clucking thing a lot better than me, so I let her fuss. It feels nice. She checks that each cut is clean before pasting me up. I can’t help but wonder who’s helping Sam with his cuts.
‘Ya could always go help im,’ Rhi says sweetly. ‘I’m sure he’d love that.’
I roll my eyes and damn myself for saying my thoughts out loud. ‘You’re a dickhead.’
She laughs at me but lets it go.
As soon as she’s happy we go to my bedroom, crawl into my double bed and lie on our sides, whispering to each other like we used to.
‘Were you scared?’ she asks.
‘Yeah. You?’
‘Yeah, but ya didn’t seem scared.’ She hesitates. ‘I … I’m not a coward normally.’
My heart softens. ‘I know that and ya still aren’t.’
‘But—’
‘But nuthin. Ya jumped on Dan Potter’s back for me, nough said. What’d ya do to him anyway?’
Rhi blushes and my eyes go wide. Rhi never blushes.
‘I … I um, I poked im in the ring.’ There’s a long pause.
‘What?’
She cringes. ‘I poked my finger up his ring.’
Laughter rocks the bed as I lose my mind. Tears stream down my face and I roll around, clutching my stomach. Rhi whacks me on the side in offence, but it isn’t long before she joins in. We laugh long and hard till our sides and throats ache.
‘It hurts, it hurts,’ Rhi groans through her guffaws.
‘You’re a mad bitch,’ I gasp. ‘You wanna go wash your finger with Dettol.’
‘Nah, I already found Aunty’s bleach.’
That sends us off again.
I fall asleep with my cousin, both of us chuckling, sometimes sending us off into more laughter. I can’t wait to tell Laney.
Ghost Bird Page 15
