Vanishing Point

by Alan Moore

  Alec did not take any time off from his work at the University. On the contrary, he threw himself into both his teaching duties and his research, often working late into the night. Dr Jones, normally somewhat aloof from the personal affairs of his students, became concerned about Alec’s state of mind and strongly recommended a break. However, Alec ignored the advice.

  Even on Christmas Day he excused himself from the unusually sombre family gathering and went to the Mawson Laboratories to spend the day looking down his microscope and crushing rocks for chemical analysis. The entire time he thought of his missing family, recognising that this would have been Carolyn’s first Christmas, their first as a ‘real family not just a couple’ as Katherine used to say.

  Now, as dull skies blanketed Adelaide and a wintery drizzle settled in for the day, Alec turned into the University. He walked past the grey-walled, ovolo Elder Hall that looked more like a bishop’s residence than a university building, and down the steps to the Mawson Laboratories. He entered the familiar main entry of the geology department and turned left, stopping only to collect his mail from the pigeonholes next to the secretary’s office. Alec was early and, apart from one of the cleaners whom he greeted with a curt ”morning’, there was no-one else in the corridor. He went slowly down the stairs to his office in the basement. At his desk he picked up the picture of his wife holding Carolyn. It was one taken in the hospital some hours after the birth and Katherine was glowing, in spite of her unruly, damp hair.

  Alec gazed at it for a while and sighed deeply before returning it to its usual place on his desk. The photograph faced him so he had their images in front of him all the time. He looked at it frequently while he worked, as if to give him inspiration or courage to continue.

  Initially Alec determined he would spend the rest of his life looking for Katherine and Carolyn or, at least, trying to find out what had happened. That changed only after extensive discussions with his family, a grief counsellor recommended by Amy and the police, who persuaded him that his best course of action was to get on with his life and let the experts find his wife. His initial approach to private investigators had similarly persuaded him that the results of going down that avenue most likely would cost a great deal in both emotion and cash, and was likely to be unsuccessful in the end. Alec telephoned the police weekly, partly to find out if there was any news but also because he felt that if he kept reminding them the police would be more active. Detective Sergeant Finney worked tirelessly trying to unearth what had happened, but the case remained unsolved. It was one of many ‘miss per’ cases that they dealt with every week.

  After another long look at the photograph, he took a deep breath to try and ease the tightness in his chest, before taking out some microscope slides and his notebook. The microscope was under the high windows where the light was better. He went across to it, placed a thin section of rock under the microscope, bent his head to the eyepiece and started examining the translucent fragment, ground to only a few microns thickness.

  * * *

  For Katherine, the first months seemed the worst. It was so difficult trying to come to terms with what had happened to her. She feared the uncertainty of her own and Carolyn’s futures. Once the first month passed and Benjamin did not assault her, she started to relax slightly. She constantly worried about Alec’s state of mind. Conversation with Benjamin was non-existent and they remained in a state of constant tension.

  She had few clothes for herself and fewer items for her baby, only those taken when she thought she would be a couple of nights in Ceduna. Most of her lower garments were shorts and slacks and Benjamin destroyed those. She had two skirts, both short but somehow Benjamin seemed to think they were better than trousers even though they exposed more of her flesh. She had only half a dozen shirts and even fewer underclothes.

  It was clear from the food stores that her abduction had been a spur of the moment decision and Benjamin had not planned for company. They ate very sparsely, and always tasteless, canned food. She lost weight, although she ensured that she drank plenty of the available water to keep up her milk supply.

  Carolyn was thriving, the change in diet and environment seeming to have no impact on the infant. Because of the limited supply of both water and nappies, much of the daytime Katherine left her child, near-naked, outside. Every time Benjamin saw the nappies drying in the sun he complained about the shortage of water so it became a choice between washing nappies or having a shower. Sometimes she combined both tasks.

  Katherine tried to work out how far from Kalgoorlie she was. Plans for an escape or some method of contacting the outside world all came to nothing because she realised that to get anywhere she would need a vehicle. Not only did Benjamin keep the keys on his person all the time, but also he never left the Land Rover at night without fiddling under the bonnet. And he made sure she saw nothing that would help her.

  For the most part Benjamin left her alone and went about his business as if she were not there. She tried passive resistance by refusing to make a meal from the stores. When she failed to prepare a meal he told her she would not eat and he made his own food, leaving her nothing. After two days of hunger she gave in; for the sake of Carolyn she had to keep up her strength.

  At night, before she left the main room, he made her kneel while he mumbled a prayer. Katherine never quite understood what he said as he seemed to be speaking a different language. However, he always finished by loudly saying, ‘Thank you God for me life, for me work, for me woman an’ the bubs. I pray to lead us on in the ways of the Lord. Amen.’

  For a while Katherine tried to keep a calendar by scratching marks on the underside of the timber veranda. Time passed exceedingly slowly as she had no books, no radio and no way of entertaining herself other than with her baby. She eventually lost track of dates and daily time was guessed by the position of the sun, although time didn’t seem to matter after a while. Her best measure of the passing weeks and months was her child. Carolyn grew into quite an active and apparently happy and healthy toddler. When Katherine’s milk supply stopped she was weaned on cereal with honey and canned foods. When she started to talk Katherine ensured she did not learn the word for ‘daddy’.

  Katherine sat on the veranda steps and looked at Carolyn playing in the sand. With a start she realised that it was probably close to two summers since her abduction. Carolyn’s birthdays were recognised, rather than celebrated, by the season. In the early days she made a couple of attempts to escape. Once, after about two months at the Factory, she took a chance and went through the gates with Carolyn when Benjamin had forgotten to lock them. Carrying the baby she started walking down the track but after an hour in the summer heat she was exhausted. It came as an ironic relief when she heard Benjamin’s Land Rover driving slowly behind her, following but making no attempt to stop her. She was too exhausted to run or even try to hide. Eventually she stopped walking, stood with slumped shoulders for while then turned and got into the Land Rover. Neither spoke. It was a reluctant admission of defeat on her part. She realised then that her prison was not just locked gates and perimeter fence but also the endless, hot and waterless land surrounding the compound.

  In spite of their limited diet both Katherine and Carolyn remained remarkably healthy. Katherine put this down to their isolation and realised that for her child this was both good, because of their situation, and bad, because she was not building up any natural immunity. She worried in case either she or Carolyn became seriously ill but when she raised the possibility with Benjamin he said, ‘RFDS an’ telegrams on the radio in the mornin’. Can always check there.’

  He was referring to the Royal Flying Doctor Service that serviced the needs of all outback Australia. It gave her an idea. If she pretended to be ill he might have to call the RFDS. Somehow she might be able to get a message out to the world. It didn’t work. Benjamin transmitted the ‘symptoms’ and received advice back on how to treat her, including the suggestion that his ‘daughter’s‘ illness was not
serious and easily treatable. The Factory medical chest contained basics, mostly geared to possible injuries, snakebite antivenin and some analgesics.

  After that their relationship became almost domestic with the tasks allocated by Benjamin taking up most of Katherine’s time. She kept the buildings clean and tidy, prepared food and cooked, darned his socks and mended all the clothing. She ensured the generator was running when needed. They rarely spoke and Katherine found the vacuous boredom almost unbearable. Had it not been for Carolyn, she felt she would break out and walk and, if she died, so be it.

  Benjamin busied himself with the bees and maintaining the buildings and the water supply. He was confident to leave Katherine alone at the Factory for short periods. After her long walk down the track, he knew the isolated compound would keep her at home. After all, she was promised by God and that promise would not be broken.

  * * *

  Benjamin and Karl sat drinking on the veranda and watched Carolyn playing with the doll Katherine had made from scraps of cloth and string.

  ‘Now Karl’s ‘ere mebbe he can git bubs some toys. Mebbe a nice doll next time he comes,’ Benjamin said to Katherine, who was standing at a distance from the men.

  ‘Thanks, but I really would like some children’s books. Carolyn’s big enough for me to start teaching her the alphabet. She’s got no books.’

  ‘She’s a girl. Ya can teach ‘er all she needs ta know,’ was the terse reply.

  Katherine stepped forward. ‘She’s a child all alone and growing up. She needs something to stretch her mind and she needs to learn to read. Please.’

  Karl saw an opportunity to ingratiate himself further with Benjamin and butted into the conversation. ‘Yer right, Benjamin. Women don’ need ta read. An’ she’s not much of a wife ta ya, is she?’ He bobbed his head towards Katherine. ‘So why bother with ‘er kid. Ain’t ya kid, ain’t ya problem, is she?’

  ‘What do you mean, not much of a wife. I am not a wife but I behave like one. I cook all the meals, clean the place, wash all the clothes, pump water and —’

  ‘But ya don’ sleep with him, do ya?’

  ‘I won’t do that, never ever,’ Katherine vehemently responded.

  ‘Wives sleep with their men, don’ they, Benjamin?’

  ‘Yeah, but I won’ make ‘er. God told me she’ll come when she’s ready and willin’. To force ‘er is against his will.’

  ‘And against mine,’ thought Katherine angrily but said nothing, grateful at least for this component of God’s will. She had fully expected to be assaulted after the first month.

  Karl wheedled. ‘So she ain’t a proper wife, is she?’

  ‘Naw, s’pose not.’

  ‘Well, mebbe if she was a real wife then mebbe ya could git a coupla books fa the kid, eh?’

  ‘Yeah, mebbe we could do summit like that.’

  The men looked at each other but Katherine went to Carolyn, picked up both her and the cloth doll and left them to their conversation. She was just as pleased to be away from the sweetish smell of Karl’s cigarette smoke.

  * * *

  The worst part of life at the Factory was the loneliness and the boredom. Even if he had not been her abductor, she recognised there would be an inability to relate to Benjamin at all. She craved adult company, intelligent conversation and being able to read newspapers or books. She missed a radio, or a record player.

  Carolyn benefited from the very close relationship with her mother but Katherine worried about her future. She was seriously concerned about her future ability to socialise with other children. She was growing up not only as a child with no sibling, but as a child with no peers.

  The only book in the entire complex was the Bible. It had a prominent place in Benjamin’s main room and Katherine had never been allowed to touch it. After the conversation about books Benjamin handed it to her one evening after she’d cleaned up the meal.

  ‘Ya whingin’ ‘bout summit to read. Read this. Aloud. Ta me. I’ll tell ya when ta stop.’

  So it was that Katherine read the Bible every morning and evening to her child and captor. He always handed it to her open: always a book of the Old Testament.

  ‘Can’t I read something else, something from the New Testament?’

  ‘No, read what I give ya. When I was a kid in Queensland, me stepdad read ta me every night. I ‘ad ta learn them stories off by heart. If I got ‘em wrong, even a word, he’d belt me.’

  ‘That’s terrible —’

  ‘But I learned me Bible real good, every word,’ he laughed mirthlessly. ‘But I won’t be beltin’ ya, woman, or ya bubs. Ya’ll jist read them stories ta me, God’s truth, quiet like, an’ ya bubs will learn too.’

  * * *

  After two lonely, slow years Katherine knew her time at the Factory was permanent. She reluctantly accepted her lot but never lost hope that some day, somehow, she would be able to find a way to escape. Initially she hoped Alec and the police would find her but, as the days turned into months and years, she acknowledged she would not be able to get away except through serendipity or her own efforts.

  In spite of his religious fervour and strange ways Benjamin proved to be as good as his word in that he never tried to physically molest her. She always waited until he was outside the perimeter fence to wash under the primitive, open shower. Not once did he make any effort to see her there. His anger was limited to times when she failed to obey his rules and though he grabbed, pushed and occasionally flung her to the ground, he never struck her.

  Eventually a form of limited conversation began to emerge between them. Initially it was at meals when he gave permission for her to sit at the table and eat with him but only after first serving him. He told her about the bees, the honey production and how he transported swarms for pollination of crops. After so long in his company she found herself even thinking that perhaps he wasn’t so bad. It frightened her that she could even begin to think this way.

  Katherine mentally listed her priorities for survival. First came Carolyn: she needed food, clothing and education. They were both surviving on a limited variety of food, typically dried or tinned. Fresh vegetables, fruit and meat were scarce and greatly appreciated when either Karl or Benjamin brought them. The Bible and a few simple toys allowed some education. As time passed Benjamin allowed her to use a pencil and paper.

  Clothing was the issue that now became critical. After two years her supply was threadbare in spite of constant mending. At night she slept naked, preserving the pyjamas in case the cloth could be used elsewhere. Somehow she had to persuade Benjamin that both she and Carolyn needed clothes, especially for the cold winter nights and mornings.

  Karl’s visits were irregular but on each occasion he brought fresh food, often including longed-for fresh meat, and sometimes those items asked for by Katherine. Once he even brought fresh milk, a treat most welcome. Katherine noticed it had come from a supplier in Kalgoorlie and, since it was fresh, she decided the compound must be reasonably close to the town.

  Sometimes she let herself feel abandoned by Alec and all those who should be looking for her and her child. Surely they should have worked out what had happened and found her by now? She looked at a future that was bleak, especially for Carolyn.

  In her lonely moments she thought if I could fool Benjamin into thinking that I accept that I’m now his wife, I might persuade him to take me into Kalgoorlie. Once out of here and where there’re people I’d stand a chance of getting help to escape.

  * * *

  In Kalgoorlie, Petri successfully convinced Spex management that his idea might work. However, it was clear that to advance the concept into a working hypothesis that could be tested in practice, he would need to carry out some basic research.

  His enquiries at the University of Western Australia and the Geological Survey all directed him to La Trobe University in Melbourne, on the opposite side of the continent. There he would be able to source the technical expertise he required.

  So, eager to
get started on his new work, Petri organised to travel with Fred Cooper to La Trobe’s geology department.

  In Melbourne it is said that if you don’t like the weather wait for an hour and it will change to something more to your liking. Or not. Certainly that seemed to be the case as August 1970 drew to a close.

  Alec rose at his usual time, rode his bicycle to the station and caught the train to McLeod. His life in Melbourne was starting to become routine. A routine that blotted out unpleasant memories, at least most of the time. Although not officially graduated, he was advised his doctoral thesis had been accepted. The formal award of his degree would be at a special ceremony in the Elder Hall of Adelaide University in December. The letter advising him of the thesis acceptance should have brought a sense of excitement and completion but for Alec it was just another letter. Without being able to share the news with Katherine there was no sense of the effervescent excitement that his success should have brought.

  Soon after submitting his thesis for examination, he had started looking for academic positions or post-doctoral fellowships all over the world, anywhere away from Adelaide and its memories. He did not want to remain in Adelaide, an environment where every day as he walked down North Terrace he was painfully reminded that he used to do that with Katherine. He hated the phrase ‘used to’.

  One of his many applications for a post-doctoral fellowship had been to La Trobe University, which had opened as he was putting the final touches to his doctoral research. The geology department there had, as its foundation professor, a man well known for his interest in the geology of granites, the topic of Alec’s own research. It seemed a good place to start an academic career. The response to his application for a post-doctoral fellowship surprised Alec as instead he was offered a lectureship, an offer he accepted with alacrity. It was clear that his few publications, the support of Professor Jones and his experience as a Tutor all counted in his favour. And the fact that the continuing minerals exploration boom was draining the country of geologists. Most were moving into careers as exploration or mining geologists. These paid significantly higher salaries than those offered in academia.