By the time she’d finished and placed the folder to one side, she found her attention had wandered to the scene outside her window. It was an interesting landscape; one that she had only seen on documentaries of the Australian outback. At the time the diverse desert had little interest for her, but now, since this was the terrain that had almost killed Martin, she was drawn to the desolation.
Watching the spasmodic outcrops of spinifex pass by below was a mesmerising experience. She had no idea till now what Martin must have gone through: flying over the same scene one minute and being down there the next.
So this was the Sandy Desert, she thought; not at all what she’d envisaged. Although it was the colour of sand, it bore no resemblance to deserts like the Sahara. Instead of rolling dunes, it looked more like an ocean of scrub.
The unfriendly environment went on and on, with the only relief being the changing colours. Martin would know what the different shades of sand meant: from the rich coppery-orange to the varying hues all the way down to the common ecru. Yet it was a desolate place. No sign of life except the sparse vegetation; not even a kangaroo. And Martin had to run across a godsent Aboriginal boy. Kate was looking forward to meeting the one who’d saved Martin’s life.
“Mrs Dexter…Mrs Dexter,” Chris Isles called out, as he gently nudged her shoulder. He had to nudge her again.
It took a moment, but Kate slowly turned her head and opened her eyes.
“Oh dear,” she said, blinking her eyes and shaking herself awake. “I must have dropped off for a moment there.”
Chris Isles laughed. “I think it was more than a moment, Kate,” he said. “We’ll be landing in ten minutes.”
“Are we there already?”
“It’s not big enough to see from here,” he commented. “You won’t know you’re there until he starts to land. That’s why I woke you…so that you won’t get a shock.”
“Thank you,” Kate said. “I can ready myself.” Then she realised. This was only the first leg of the journey. “Oh my…I’m not getting off here, am I?”
“I hope not,” he said, leaning over her seat and looking out of the window. “There, you can just see it now. I’d better get back to my seat and buckle up.”
Janet looked out of the window at the small collection of buildings. She had no idea what Site 21 stood for. She should have paid more attention to what Martin was talking about. She only knew it was south-east of Broome, with the crash site somewhere between this place and the cattle station further west. It hardly made any difference. All the jargon she’d overheard about headings and bearings left her more confused than Martin’s simple explanation had that morning in the kitchen.
It was all to do with the points of the compass. Once you knew where north was, all you had to do was turn left for east and right for west. And knowing the sun rose in the east, the rest was dead easy.
As the plane circled the small airstrip, she could see by the long shadows pointing away from her that they were landing towards the west. She closed her eyes and waited. Once again she was gripped with a sickening panic. It started as soon as she heard the whirring noise of the wheels lowering, then a different sound when the flaps dropped into place. And after an excruciating pause, the thump as the wheels touched the ground. Only then did she feel easy again.
CHAPTER 17
There was that high-pitched engine sound again as the plane turned around and started to taxi back towards a vehicle parked near the runway. She saw no reason to open her eyes; the ramshackle mining site Martin described was of no interest to her. Once the engines stopped ringing in her ears, she just sat listening to the scuffing sounds of the young men leaving the plane.
She heard voices outside. She heard doors banging and the sound of a vehicle driving off. Then, just as quickly there was a variety of scuffs, scrapes and metallic clunks; people were working under the plane and she just had to look. She stood up, opened the locker above her head and took out the bottle of water and started unscrewing the cap as she checked the windows.
“They’re checking the plane before we take off,” Chris said, walking back down the aisle. “It won’t be long now.”
Kate glanced at her watch. She was surprised: it was only eight-fifteen.
“I had the feeling it was much later,” she said, removing the cap and taking a drink. “What time will it be when we arrive at the cattle station?”
“Oh, it’s only about another hour.”
Chris was stretching his legs. He smiled and continued back up the aisle. Kate had satisfied her curiosity and returning to her seat she prepared herself for the next onset of panic. She heard Chris buckle his safety belt and she did the same; then she heard the thump of the door being closed, followed by a metallic click. Next was the ear-splitting noise of the engines starting up, the jolt as the brakes were released and the plane slowly taxied to the end of the runway, did an about-turn and started its high-speed run. With her eyes closed and her jaw stiffened, she clenched her teeth; then before she knew it they were airborne again and heading west.
Being all alone at the end of the plane, Chris wandered down to where Kate was and stood with his hand on the seat next to her. She had just opened her eyes and although she was aware of his presence, she was still surprised at his closeness. She looked up and realised they were the only ones left on this second leg.
“Do you mind if I keep you company?” he asked politely.
“Of course not, Chris…why don’t you sit down?”
Kate undid her safety belt and thought this would be a good opportunity to find out as much as she could about the young man who was going to look after her husband, and, according to the report, have a lot to say about the time that Martin left for home. She soon found out how informed he was when he gave her an immediate explanation of what she was to expect when they arrived at the cattle station.
She found herself unwittingly drawn to his personality. He was certainly enthusiastic, all the time giving her the impression he was an old hand at this sort of procedure, when she guessed he could hardly be old enough. More likely this field trip was as new to him as it was to Kate. He looked too clean. His skin looked as if it had never been exposed to any harsh desert sun. There were no squint lines on his brow or around his eyes and his uniform looked as new as the day it was handed to him. No, she thought. His carefully rehearsed bedside manner was straight from his training programme and she was his first opportunity to practise.
“I gather you work for AMINCO,” she commented.
“Yes, I do. There are six of us: four on site at any one time and two on standby like me. We get all the interesting jobs instead of being locked down for four months on one assignment.”
“That seems an awful expense to go to,” Kate replied. “I mean, six full-time medics and all the supplies you must need.”
Chris tilted his head to one side in acknowledgement.
“That’s the Americans for you. They seem paranoid about being sued. Apparently it’s become a way of life in the States. And would you believe I have to sign a waiver every time I enter what they call a designated area?”
“What’s that?”
“Your husband would know. They have this enormous chart of north-western Australia on the wall in the operations room. They probably have one of each state they mine in. Anyway, ours is broken into different-coloured sectors. Each colour representing a safety hazard category: red for extreme and blue for low; you get the picture I’m sure. And along with that goes a thick folder, laying down all the risk factors, the liability allotted to that and the appropriate action to be taken should an accident occur. My section is in there, and I have to know it by heart.”
Kate laughed at his casual acceptance that he may only be employed as a protection against the workers taking the company to court.
“They sound very mercenary,” Kate remarked.
“Oh no, don’t misunderstand what I just said. They’re a great company to work for: they pay top wages, the
y go to great lengths to keep their workers happy and as I just explained, if you have an accident, you get the best care.”
“Why shouldn’t they?” Kate commented. “I mean, who’s going to work in the middle of nowhere for months on end?”
“There is that, I suppose,” he had to agree.
Kate turned back to her window. The desolate landscape looked just as desolate as it had fifteen minutes ago and she tried to imagine what it was like down there for Martin. She knew almost nothing about Martin’s ordeal; it was going to be one of her first questions, but her acute imagination was enough for her to sense it had to have been unbelievable. She turned back and looked at Chris.
“It looks so desolate down there,” she voiced her fears.
“I know…I’ve often thought that myself,” he agreed sympathetically. “I wouldn’t like to be stranded down there…” Then he realised what he’d said. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Kate. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s all right. I know it was a casual remark. I was thinking the same.”
“Yes, well, it’s all over now. He’s safe. Thanks to that Aborigine.”
“Yes. I must find out who he was and thank him.”
It was an awkward moment. A silence followed when they were both trying to find some way of changing the subject and Kate spoke first.
“I bet it’s a tedious job for you.”
“It can sound like that, but really I don’t get the time to worry about the isolation. It’s usually non-stop all day and when it’s finished I just want to have a good meal and drop into my bunk.”
“Is that so?” Kate commented, wondering if she had misjudged him.
“Oh yes. The mining sites and rigs are dangerous places. You’d be surprised at the amount of accidents I have to deal with every shift.”
“I can understand the companies need to make sure they look after their men.”
“Now you can understand the reason for all the insurance procedures.”
“I assume you’re going to be looked after on the cattle station?”
Chris had to cast his mind back to what Philip had said.
“I’m told the pilots and I are going to bunk in one of the chalets. Apparently they’re rented out for jackeroo holidays.”
“I haven’t heard of jackeroo holidays,” Kate laughed. “I haven’t heard of jackeroos. Are they kangaroo hunters?” she said as a joke.
It was Chris’s turn to laugh now. “No. A jackeroo is a junior stockman, just as a jillaroo is a female one. I don’t know much about it, but it seems young people actually like the idea of a holiday working cattle on a real station. I’ve seen the ads on the Internet; they’re not cheap. You fly to the cattle station, stay in one of these chalets and chase cattle about just like the real stockmen.”
“Are they trying to learn ranching or is it just a bit of fun for them?”
“I have no idea…perhaps I’ll find out.”
Kate was grateful for Chris’s company. After sleeping through most of the flight to Site 21 she was wide awake and eager to find out more about her companion. Just as she turned to speak to him she felt the plane bank slightly. They headed west when they took off and she naturally expected that was the direction to the cattle station, but now the pilot had made a correction to the right, which meant he was turning north. It was only a small correction. Before she had a chance to see the sun start its run back along the right side of the plane this time, it was levelling off again. They were now heading north-west.
Now she had the bright sun cascading across her shoulder from the window behind her. Chris could see it was catching her right eye and he stood up, crossed in between the seats behind her and closed the blind.
“Oh, that’s a lot better,” she said. “Thank you, Chris.”
“We can’t have that bothering you for the rest of the journey,” he said, sitting down next to her again.
Kate had decided the site must be further south than the cattle station.
“Is this our final direction?”
“To be honest with you, I haven’t the vaguest idea. I’m hopeless with directions. If I went for a walk on one of the sites I’m sure I would get lost.”
“Has that happened?”
“No. That’s why I never leave the site precincts.”
Kate let out a low chuckle and once again, as she turned to say something, she was distracted by a folder on his lap, much like her own. “Are you boning up on your exams?” she asked, nodding at the folder.
He looked down. “Oh no. That’s all finished, thank goodness. No, this is a company manual I grabbed before we left this morning to do with transportation procedures.” He picked it up and waved it in the air. “One of those dreaded policy edicts I was telling you about.”
“You mean when we take Martin back to Broome?”
He nodded his head as he flicked through the pages.
“Exactly. I already know the procedure for transporting a patient in an ambulance, but this is my first time in a plane.”
“Is it that different?”
“I don’t know…that’s what I want to find out. Either way I will have to be led by the doctor’s wishes. He’s the one who will ultimately decide if your husband is fit to travel. I doubt whether it’s much different from an ambulance, except…” He suddenly stopped and checked the index for something that came to mind.
“What is it?” Kate interrupted.
“Oh, it’s nothing really. I just wondered if there was a problem with him travelling in a pressurised cabin.”
“And is there?” Kate asked, as curious as he was.
It was a long index but he soon found what he was looking for.
“According to this, apparently not; unless your husband has a problem with his lymphatic system,” Chris said, shaking his head. “He doesn’t, does he?”
Kate had a blank look on her face. “I have no idea. He obviously had no problem flying out on other occasions.”
“It doesn’t matter; that’s the doctor’s province. I only have two areas to worry about: first to make sure I have detailed everything that happened to your husband during and after the crash, and second, to follow the doctor’s instructions, maintain him in a stable condition and keep him secure during the flight.”
“Well, let’s hope the folder will do that,” Kate commented.
“To be truthful, it’s more about covering the company’s assets.”
“You certainly seem to know a lot about those,” she said. “By the way are you a natural Australian or a resident like us?”
“No, I’m an immigrant, but I can’t remember much about it. I seem to have been here all my life; I only have vague memories of England.”
“Where was that?”
“Northumberland, I think. I’m not sure where; maybe Durham, that strikes a bell. Yes, I remember my mother talking about the cathedral once.”
“That’s odd. We came from Yorkshire, just below Durham,” she commented, thinking how small England really was, “And how old were you?”
Chris pursed his lips. He had to think, showing how little his heritage meant to him. “I think I was five or maybe six. I know we were on the plane for an awfully long time. We stopped in Singapore. My mother wanted to see what Asia was like. All I can remember was how hot it was…even in the night.”
“I know what you mean,” Kate replied, casting her mind back to their terrible experience and another long trip across Australia. “And that journey across the centre of Australia to Melbourne. All we could see was masses of orange; no green.”
“It was different for us. We went to Sydney.”
Kate could not help letting out a stifled laugh.
“Isn’t that amazing. Just about everyone I’ve spoken to in Broome said they came from Sydney. Apparently it’s the most common place for immigrants.”
Chris laughed, “Except for the Greeks and Italians.”
“You know about them?”
“Oh yes. When I took up my studies to
be a paramedic, I went down to Melbourne. And before you ask, why Melbourne, I met my girlfriend in Fiji on holiday. She was from Melbourne and she was studying to be a paramedic. I was at a loose end in my career, so I thought, why not; it sounded a good occupation and what I saw of Melbourne when I went down to a game, I liked.”
“I like that,” Kate said. “You have a spontaneous spirit.
“So I’m told. It gets me into trouble at times.”
“And did you marry your girlfriend?”
“No. It didn’t work out in the end.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe you were just meant to meet so that you could find out about being a paramedic. Life’s like that.”
Chris turned and studied the expression on Kate’s face. “You know, you’re just like my mum. I don’t mean age-wise. I mean in the way you view life. She’s always analysing what I do; saying this was meant to be, I may not know it now but I will in time and all that stuff. I bet you’re into horoscopes as well.”
Kate laughed, Chris sounded just like her Adam; in fact, looking at Chris, there could not be much difference in their ages. “Yes, I am…and tarot cards, runes, clairvoyants and just about anything about the future. Martin goes mad.”
“I bet you didn’t see this coming? Sorry. There I go again.”
“You’re right. But I prefer to say I missed the signs.”
Kate’s strategy worked. The next hour went by before she knew it as Chris occupied his need for information by reading his manual, all the time conversing with Kate on certain points that had a direct bearing on her husband; and her thoughts wandering each time, inwardly contemplating what Martin would say or do.
The landing at the cattle station was much different; the airstrip seemed softer than the mining site. As the plane touched down, a cloud of red dust filled the air, obliterating any sign of what the cattle station looked like, except Kate occasionally caught sight of a large vehicle keeping pace with the plane. It was only a short contest; the car stopped and the plane continued on to the end of the runway, turned like it did at Site 21, then slowly taxied back to the waiting car.
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