The place was pretty empty, except for a couple of truckies who were gulping down big mugs of coffee and hunched over plates topped with sausages, bacon and eggs. My mouth was watering. I hoped the woman behind the counter had a heart. She reminded me of Rafe’s dead wife—my Aunty Klara—with shiny brown hair in a bob, and big eyes.
I checked my reflection in the window near the door, and quickly smoothed my messy hair and brushed down my clothes. My face had copped a few scratches, but it wasn’t too bad. As long as no-one recognised me as the State’s Most Wanted Juvenile, I was happy. I didn’t think they would. I hardly even recognised myself.
I was too tired to try anything sneaky, so after easing my backpack off and dumping it on a chair I went straight up to the counter and put all my change down.
‘Excuse me,’ I said. ‘If I give you a few dollars, would you please let me use one of your power points for a little while? I really need to recharge my phone.’
I pulled out my mobile to show her. She looked at me curiously for a moment, and then scooped the money up. ‘Is that all you have?’ she asked.
I still had money hidden in my shoe—money I owed to Repro for helping me out back at Oriana’s—but I wasn’t about to bring that out.
I nodded.
She stared at me again, like she was trying to work me out, trying to figure out what I was doing there, in the middle of nowhere, on my own, and with a dead phone battery. ‘Where are you headed?’ she asked.
‘To my brother’s place, just another hour or so up the highway,’ I lied, being careful not to mention Mount Helicon or my great-uncle again. ‘I’m hoping to get some … work with him,’ I said. ‘I need to make a couple of phone calls, though, so it would be great I could just charge my phone for half an hour or so …’
‘You know there’s a public phone just out there near the big ice-box,’ she said.
‘Thanks, but I’m also expecting a couple of calls, so I really need this,’ I said, holding up my phone again, ‘charged.’
She dropped the money back on the counter, and then pushed it to me. ‘There’s a power point just over there, on the wall near the heater.’
I hesitated. She was actually going to let me do it. And she’d given me my money back.
‘Go on,’ she added. ‘And I’ll shout you a milkshake, too.’
I felt all mixed up. ‘Thanks so much,’ I said. I’d been running and hiding for so long that I’d forgotten that some people could be kind, just because they wanted to.
The milkshake tasted like heaven and took my mind off my hunger for a bit. I decided not to use up the last of my change on food. There was nothing on the menu that I could afford with that amount anyway—but I could get some bread, or a bag of potatoes … and if I could find some way of cooking them … The thought of Mum’s awesome mashed potato made my stomach churn. I felt a sudden rush of grief and pain when I thought of my mum and my lost home, and tried to think of something else instead.
While my mobile was charging, I went to call Boges, but was stopped by a flood of voice-mail messages and text messages from him. I ignored them because I wanted to talk to him right away. I was dying to tell him how we’d got hold of the Riddle.
I dialled his number and waited, scraping the foam from the sides of the milkshake glass with my straw. I felt almost safe here in this sunny dining area, with the kitchen staff bustling from the doorway behind the counter and the kind woman nearby taking someone else’s order. Kelvin was a long way away, I hoped.
I couldn’t get through to Boges immediately so I thought I’d wait for the moment and call again. Meanwhile, I spread out the other map I’d taken from the army hut. This showed that Ridgetop, where I was sitting now, was located somewhere between the coast where I’d come from and the mountain range further west where my great-uncle lived.
Our home suburb of Richmond was marked, back towards the city. I thought about Mum. And Gabbi. I hoped she was getting better. She was young and strong. Surely she’d pull through and be herself again soon, I told myself.
I pulled the Riddle out hoping that this morning, after the sugar-hit of the milkshake, my brain would have been boosted. Slowly, I read it through again.
My brain-boosting theory didn’t hold up. The Ormond Riddle was a total non-starter. I swore under my breath.
I redialled Boges’s number. If anyone was going to get what it meant, it would be him.
‘Boges!’ I said, so glad to hear him pick up.
‘Dude! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been ringing and ringing! I left heaps of messages for you. You OK?’
‘I’ve been completely out of range, and then completely out of battery,’ I said. ‘Now listen up! I found some really, really important stuff at Oriana de la Force’s place. Repro helped me bust in and search her study. And guess what I’ve found! You won’t believe what I have right here in my hands!’
I had the strong feeling that Boges wasn’t paying a great deal of attention to what I was saying.
‘Something’s happened,’ he said.
‘You bet something’s happened! I have it right here in front of me!’ I was just about to mention the Riddle when I realised Boges wasn’t listening at all.
‘Cal,’ he said, seriously, ‘you’ve gotta come back home.’
‘Tell me what’s going on,’ I demanded, quickly feeling sick with anxiety.
Boges paused. I could hear him sigh, before saying, ‘They’re talking about switching the Gabster’s life support off.’
‘What?’ I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. It wasn’t possible. ‘What the hell are you talking about? Why? Why would they do that? It’s only been, like, not even three months!’
‘I’m so sorry, but you heard me right. Apparently if she doesn’t respond soon, they’re going to switch the machine off.’
‘But they can’t do that!’ I said. ‘Mum would never let them! It’s not right!’
Boges sighed deeply again. ‘I’ve been desperate to contact you!’ he continued, now more urgent and commanding. ‘You’ve gotta do something to stop them! I’ve been trying to let you know, to tell you to come back! Things have changed a lot in the last twenty-four hours. They did some major scan of her brain and it looks like she has this damage that means—well—it means that she’s never gonna be right and that she could be in pain. It’s bad, dude. Unless a miracle happens—or someone stops them—they’re turning her life support off. Your mum says she doesn’t want her to suffer any more …’
I tried to speak, but my voice wouldn’t work.
‘Whether it’s right or wrong, you’ve gotta come back if you want to see your little sister alive again,’ Boges urged me. ‘If Gabbi could hear your voice it just might make all the difference. I bet she senses that you’re not around. If you talked to her, you might be able to help her wake up, and come out of it. Your voice might just be the miracle. You’ve gotta go and see her! You’re the closest person in the world to her. If you do that, and there’s some improvement in her condition, they’ll stop talking like this! Come back now! The Gabster’s running out of time!’ Boges’s voice cracked; I could hear he was almost crying. ‘I wish I could do something, Cal, but you’re the only one that can save her.’
For a few seconds shock made me blind. I blinked to clear my head. I felt dizzy and when I looked around the dining area it seemed to be swirling. If Gabbi’s life support was turned off, she would die. My sister would die. I would never see her again. I felt my entire strength spill out of me like water. Solving the Ormond Riddle right now meant nothing.
‘When?’
‘I don’t know exactly when, but your mum said she wants to give her one more week.’
‘I’m coming home,’ I said. Then I remembered I didn’t have a home. ‘I’ll come straight to the hospital. I’ll hitchhike, I’ll steal a car, or I’ll walk if I have to. I’ll be there!’
I hung up and ripped my charger out of the power point. My heart was racing. I shoved everything in
to my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and looked out at the speeding traffic on the road outside. I ran out the door without a sideways glance. Change of plans again. I had to get to the hospital. I had to get to the city. ASAP.
I’d wandered around the side of the petrol station to the public phone that the lady at the diner had mentioned earlier. I had to call Mum. I was such a long way from her and Gabbi, and I needed to see if I could talk some sense into her.
My heart nearly fell out when I heard her voice. There were so many things I wanted to say—to tell her—to ask her, but this wasn’t the time.
‘Mum, it’s me. I’ve just heard the news about Gabbi—that you’re talking about switching off the life support! You can’t! You mustn’t!’
‘Cal! Darling! Is it really you? Are you all right? Where have you been? Why haven’t you called me? Would you please just come home to me? I’ve been out of my mind—and now with Gabbi the way she is …’
‘You can’t do this!’ I cried. ‘You can’t switch off her life support system! You have to stop it! Are you crazy? You have to let her live!’
‘Cal, you’re not here! You don’t understand the situation! You don’t know what it’s like seeing her day after day like this—so thin and wasted. The doctors say she could well be suffering and not able to let us know. I just can’t let it go on …’ Her voice trailed off, taken over by sobbing. ‘I’d be selfish to want to keep her alive in this state …’ she added. ‘I keep talking it over with Rafe. He doesn’t know what to do either, but he’s leaving the decision to me. If she’s suffering, Cal, then I don’t think we have a choice. I can’t bear to think of her being in pain. And not being able to tell us!’
My mother’s voice broke once more, and she sobbed loudly into the phone. I thought about what she’d said. I knew it would be terrible to be helpless and in pain but unable to tell anyone.
‘Can’t they just try giving her painkillers?’
‘It’s not as simple as that, Cal. Drugs could kill someone in her condition.’
‘But you’re going to kill her anyway, so what does it matter!’
‘How can you say that to me!?’ Mum screamed. ‘You’re the reason for all of this! You put her in that hospital bed! And now you’re just running around like a madman! Give yourself up already!’
Her words ripped my heart out.
‘I’m sorry,’ she pleaded, seconds later, through hopeless tears. ‘I’m just so upset, Cal, I didn’t mean to say that to you. It’s all too much. I know it’s not your fault you’re the way you are!’
‘Mum,’ I said, using all my strength to ignore what she had said. I couldn’t waste my time getting upset by what she thought of me. ‘I’m coming back. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just promise me you won’t let them do it—not until I get there. I have to see her. I’m her big brother. Promise me?’
A dark blue car pulled up alongside a pump. It wasn’t the Mercedes I’d come to know so well; it was a big six-cylinder job with lowered body and fat wheels, and the driver wasn’t looking for petrol. Straight away I knew what it was.
An unmarked police pursuit car.
They were on to me. When I saw the driver getting out of it, I panicked, looking around for somewhere else to run. I had a tall fence behind me that was way too high for me to get over.
‘Just promise me you won’t do anything until I get there!’ I shouted to my sobbing mother, before hanging up. I slipped out of the booth and headed for a door that looked like it led to the toilets.
I flung the door open, and as it swung closed behind me I dashed into the male toilets.
They were empty. I raced into one of the cubicles which had a window high up on the wall. If I climbed on top of the cistern and heaved myself up, I might be able to get out to the rear of the building and back to the cover of the bushland.
I closed the door and was about to climb up when I heard someone enter the bathroom. Someone with heavy footsteps. Was it the cop?
It was. I could see his bulky, state-issued, general-purpose boots over near the wash basins. His portable radio chattered away. Was every police car in the area looking for me?
‘Copy, base,’ he said.
I heard the sound of running water in the wash basin. He must have just been freshening up, washing his hands.
He continued talking into his portable radio. ‘I’ll wait here and then we’ll coordinate the search when the other cars arrive. We might have to widen the perimeters.’
I remained frozen, hunched up on the closed toilet seat. I was petrified, just wanting to get out of there! Get on the road, get to the city, and get to my little sister. Instead, I was stuck in a rural washroom.
It seemed an eternity before the cop turned off the water, dried his hands and finally walked back out.
The window was fixed, so I had no option but to break it. I waited until I heard a huge and noisy rig going through the gear changes as it slowed and parked near a pump. Using the noise as a cover, I wrapped my hoodie around my fist and punched hard into the glass. The first blow broke through, but then I had to waste more time knocking out the jagged edges of glass that remained stuck in the timber frame.
Standing on top of the cistern I shoved my backpack out through the broken window and then heaved myself up to follow it. Once I got my head and shoulders through, I saw that I was looking down onto the back of the service station, as I’d hoped, and there was no-one around. I hauled myself all the way through the window frame, and then dropped heavily to the ground several metres below, rolling with the fall.
I grabbed my backpack and took off past the rubbish bins and a stack of large oil drums, into the bush once more.
I had to stay under cover and follow the road. For all I knew, there could be roadblocks set up, and even if I hitched a ride, there was always the danger that we’d be pulled over and my identity would be discovered. Even though I was so gutted from my conversation with my mum, and I could hardly see straight, the thought of Gabbi lying in such danger spurred me on.
I’d jogged several kilometres—stumbling through the scrub not far from the road—before reassuring myself that there were no roadblocks in place leading away from the service station. The cop in the washroom had talked about waiting for the others to get there, and widening the perimeters of the search. That could take time to put in place. But for now it looked OK.
I thought of Gabbi again. My exhausted body ached and I knew I wasn’t thinking quite clearly. But I had to take the risk.
I stuck my right thumb out into the traffic as I hurried along the road, signalling that I wanted a lift. My legs were trembling, but I forced myself onwards. I had to get to the city. I had to get to the hospital. I knew it was dangerous to hitchhike, but what else could I do?
I’m coming, Gabs, I kept saying under my breath. I’m coming. Those words somehow kept me going. I broke into a run.
I was so shocked when a car finally pulled up for me that I’d opened the passenger door and was halfway in the car before I saw who was driving it!
I was out of there like a flash, leaving the door swinging, running like hell away from him! His door slammed shut and I knew he was coming after me.
I had to ditch the backpack—it was so heavy, and if he caught me he would have the drawings! I had no time to do anything like dig around and find the capsicum spray or a detonator—but the weight of it was slowing me down. As I ran, I kept scanning for a safe place to hide it—throw it if necessary.
He was gaining on me. He’d hesitated once before, back in Oriana de la Force’s study, giving me the chance to escape through the window, but he wasn’t giving me any chances now—Kelvin with his teardrop tattoo was set on capturing me!
Fear gave me a lot of speed, and I climbed over a high fence that blocked the way. It was a serious fence with triple strands of barbed wire running along it. To get over, I had to use my jacket, wrapped around my hands, but I still snagged my jeans, tearing them as I dropped to my feet on the other side.
Just ahead of me was a large tree with spreading branches and thick foliage. Best of all there was a hollow at shoulder height, so I swiftly pulled my backpack off and tossed it into the cavity. I heard Kelvin swearing and shouting behind me, and glanced back. He hadn’t seen anything—he was snagged on the fence, struggling and making it worse. For once, I’d been given a lucky break—spared some time—so I retrieved my bag and continued running, with it back over my shoulder.
I raced past the tree and split sideways, running across a paddock. Not slowing my pace, I chanced to look backwards to see where Kelvin was up to. His small, far-away figure was still stuck on the fence, flailing and cursing. I kept going.
There had to be a way for me to get back to the city—back to my little sister. Back to save her life. I headed towards a little house I’d noticed, nestled under flowering trees. I was hoping that out here, people mightn’t have heard of the crazy kid the whole state was looking for.
Black smoke rose from the chimney like a smoke signal.
I edged closer. A small car was parked outside and as I watched, hidden behind a tree, I saw two elderly ladies, one carrying an overnight bag, heading towards the car. I could hear their conversation quite easily.
‘It’s been so lovely visiting, Rhonda, but I must get back to Timmy. And it’ll take me at least a couple of hours or so to get back to Valley Heights.’
Rhonda stood near the car while her friend opened the boot and put the overnight bag in. ‘I keep thinking I’ve left something behind,’ she added, standing beside the open boot.
Valley Heights was a couple of hours closer to the city. But I gave myself a reality check. I couldn’t imagine a sweet old lady giving a lift to a street kid like me. She’d probably have a heart attack at the sight of me.
‘Goodness me,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Now I remember. My new lipstick. I’ve left it in your bathroom.’
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