Desolation Boulevard

by Mark Gordon

  Chapter 38

  An Offer Refused

  Matt woke up to the smells of coffee and bacon wafting from the kitchen. The sounds of Kate, Montana and Gabby fixing breakfast sounded so normal that he wished he could stay in bed. Perhaps if he didn't get up, then this calm, contented moment might last forever. He sighed and sat up on the couch. Outside the sun had risen, but it wasn’t high enough in the sky yet for its warmth to break through the rainforest canopy, so the house was chilly despite the fact that Kate had relit the fire. He stretched and headed to the kitchen.

  “Good morning sleepyhead,” Gabby offered cheerily, as she scooped scrambled eggs onto three plates, under Montana’s close supervision.

  “We were wondering when you’d finally get up,” said Montana, smiling at him. “It’s nearly eight o’clock.”

  “That couch is really comfortable. I slept like a log. I’ll just use the bathroom before breakfast. Good morning Kate.”

  “Morning Matt. How do you like your coffee?” she asked without turning around.

  “White, one sugar please.”

  “Coming up. Now hurry up and go wash before your eggs get cold,” she demanded, as she filled his coffee mug from a copper pot.

  Ten minutes later as they sat sipping their coffees (juice for Gabby) in front of empty plates, Matt broke the comfortable silence. “That was a great feed. Thank you. I feel like you’ve spoiled me.”

  “Yes, we probably have,” quipped Kate,  “but that’s okay. You can help me with the dishes while Montana and Gabby take Elvis outside for a run.”

  “Sure. No problem,” he replied, sensing that Kate wanted to speak to him alone.

  “Hey Gabby did you know that boys could wash up?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her comically.

  The little girl, who was now dressed in clean clothes with her hair styled in cute pigtails, looked at Matt witheringly. “Of course they can! Do you think I’m silly?”

  “Of course not sweetheart. You’re very smart. I was just teasing.”

  He went over to the girl and gave her a hug. “I have to go and help Kate now. Are you going to help Montana take Elvis for a walk?”

  “Yes, but Kate said we’re not allowed to go into the forest. We have to stay near the house, even if Elvis runs away. It might be dangerous.”

  “I think that’s very good advice,” said Matt. “I’ll call you inside soon, okay.”

  “Okay,” she said, as Montana appeared from the bedroom dressed in jeans, boots and a white t-shirt.

  “Right, let’s get that dog outside. He must be busting to pee!”

  Gabby giggled and called to Elvis, “Come on boy! Pee time!”

  Matt smiled at Montana and when beamed back at him, he marvelled at the change that had come over her since she decided to leave Brock back in Carswell. It was as if she had gotten some of her innocence back. He wondered if she would be able to maintain that outlook, given the situation they found themselves in. Come to think of it, could Matt keep his own spirits high? After all, he’d had a huge responsibility thrown upon his shoulders - he had others that needed him. Maybe if he surrounded themselves with good people, like Montana, Kate and Gabby, he might just be able to create something worthwhile from the ashes of the old world. His parents would certainly not want him to give up, and he knew that if they could see how he had handled himself in the last few days, they would be proud of him. He went to the kitchen to help Kate with the dishes.

  “It’s about time,” she joked, from the sudsy sink as he entered the kitchen. She threw a cloth at him. “Make yourself useful and dry the dishes while we chat.”

  “What are we chatting about?”

  “Your plans, for one thing. What happens to you three now? What do you plan on doing?”

  Matt looked at Kate. His plan had always been to return to the family farm, but now he realised that Kate was implying that there was another option.

  “Well, were heading home to 'Two Hills', that’s my dad’s … I mean my farm. I thought you might come with us. You know, safety in numbers. The girls really like you and there’s plenty of room and we all get on really well. It’s dangerous here and I think we need each other."

  Matt knew immediately from her body language and the determined look on her face that Kate would not be leaving her rainforest home.

  “I’m staying right here Matt. But I really appreciate your offer.”

  “How can you stay here?” he asked, confused and disappointed. “Especially after what happened yesterday?”

  She responded with a question of her own, “Why are you going home?”

  He frowned. “What do you mean? That’s a silly question. That’s my home. I belong there. I can look after Gabby and Montana. My parents built that farm up from nothing. I can’t just walk away from it!”

  She smiled at him.

  “Oh,” he said. “I get it.”

  “That’s right, I feel exactly the same way about this place as you do about your farm. I’ve got a lot of memories here. Mostly good ones, but not all. Despite that, though, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I love Gabby and Montana. And you, but I feel like I’m not needed in your future except as a good friend. You finding Gabby wasn’t just a fluke Matt. I don’t know what it is, but she’s important for some reason. Montana can sense it too. You three need to be together, at the farm. I don’t know, maybe it’s just as simple as starting over, but whatever it is, you don’t need me for that.”

  “What about the feeders?" Matt asked. "Will you be safe here?”

  Kate smiled. “I think so. My ex-husband’s the only one I’ve ever seen and he’s dead now. I’m miles from anywhere, so why would the feeders come all the way out here? I have my shotgun, and this house is very well built. I don’t think they could get in without a great deal of effort. I think I’ll be fine. I’m very resourceful, and you could come and visit every now and then, couldn’t you?”

  “Absolutely. It’s only a forty-minute drive. I could bring the girls.”

  “See? We can stay in touch. You can have sleepovers. It’ll be fun.”

  Kate looked to the front door as Montana and Gabby came inside with Elvis.

  “He did a pee!” Gabby yelled jubilantly. “And a poo! He smiled after he did it! Montana said he must have been holding on all night!”

  Montana looked at Matt’s face and could tell that something was wrong. When he told the girls that Kate wouldn’t be travelling with them, there were tears and they hugged the woman who had saved their lives, begging her to change her mind. She returned their hugs and repeated what she had already told Matt. Eventually, the girls realised that Kate wasn’t going to budge, so they accepted her decision with long faces and began to pack their things into the back of the car. Matt noticed that Kate had thrown a shovel into the back of the car, alongside the chainsaw and guessed what it was for. When the packing was done they travelled back down the bumpy road to the spot where Matt had crashed his car.

  The body of Kate’s ex-husband was still lying on the road where it had been left the night before.

  “It’s weird how they come home,” Matt said, thinking about his father.

  “Yes,” Kate replied, “They seem to have some memory of their previous lives don’t they?”

  “One good thing, though,” Matt said, pointing at the corpse, “He hasn’t been eaten by other feeders, so I’m thinking he was the only one around. You might be okay up in the hills, after all.”

  “When I kicked him out he didn’t want to leave the area. He bought a caravan and found a little spot about five kilometres away, near the creek. I hadn’t seen him until the event. If I did I might have shot him anyway.”

  She smiled sadly and changed the course of the conversation. “Matt, grab my chainsaw and get to work on that tree; I’ll attach my winch to your car and get it out of the ditch. Hopefully there’s no serious damage.”

  She took a plastic tarpaulin out of the back of the car and went and laid it over the body o
f her ex-husband. “So Gabby doesn’t have to look at it,” she said softly.

  It took Matt three hours to cut the tree into enough pieces to clear a space for his car to get through, then Kate winched it from the ditch. In the meantime, Montana had dug a shallow grave in the soft, loamy soil and the feeder, which had once been a husband, was buried unceremoniously and in silence, while Gabby played on the road with Elvis. Now they all stood together on the sunlit bitumen not knowing how to say goodbye.

  “Well, we should go,” Matt started. “The chickens will be wondering what’s going on.”

  “Yes. Go. I’ll be fine. You know where I live now, so I expect a visit.”

  “Of course we’ll visit,” said Montana. “How does every two weeks sound?”

  “That sounds terrific, but you can come more often if you want. You know I’d love to see you all. You’re my family now, aren’t you?”

  “Absolutely,” said Matt, hugging her tightly. “Thanks again, you know, for saving me and everything.”

  “You’re a good man, Matt. You look after those girls, okay?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will.” She released him and went to Montana and Gabby who were crying again. “Get over here you two and give me some love!”

  They hugged each other in silence. When they finally broke free, the tears had stopped and they smiled at each other. A bond had been formed that would never be broken, Matt realised.

  “Okay Elvis! Let’s go!” Matt commanded, and they headed towards Matt’s car. Just as he was about to climb into the driver’s seat, however, he realised that Elvis hadn’t moved from his position at Kate's feet.

  “Come on boy! Get in the back!” he ordered.

  The dog whined and looked up at Kate.

  “Elvis, get in the car!” she said, but the Labrador was going nowhere. He moved closer to the woman and sat staring up at her with his big brown eyes.

  Gabby was the first to point out the obvious. “He wants to stay. He loves Kate!”

  “I think he does,” agreed Matt. “Do you want him to stay Kate? He’s not really my dog anyway.”

  “Well, if you guys don’t mind. He is a beautiful boy.”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” said Matt. “After all, we need to trust our intuition, don’t we?”

  “Absolutely,” said Kate smiling, as she rubbed the top of Elvis’s head.

  Matt, Gabby and Montana walked to the ute and squeezed into the front seat in silence.

  “Okay,” said Matt, as the girls buckled up their seat belts beside him, “Let’s go home.”