Outback Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 1)

by Stoker, Susan

  “Uh, so, Courtnee…you must have gotten a lot of fish yesterday in order to be in the top eight, huh?” Alex asked, pretending interest.

  “Yes, although I would have gotten more if Jennie hadn’t pushed me out of the way of the barrel at the last second!” Courtnee exclaimed. “It really wasn’t fair. I’d reached the barrel first!”

  “What about Sammi?” Alex asked.

  “What about her?” Courtnee responded. “She didn’t have nearly as many fish as we did, so it didn’t matter if she got that last fish or not. It wasn’t my fault that she fell in the river. If she wasn’t so clumsy she wouldn’t have.” It was obvious Courtnee knew exactly what he was asking about. If Alex wasn’t mistaken, he could detect a hint of defensiveness in her tone.

  Alex couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. She honestly thought it wasn’t her fault, or at least felt no remorse at knocking Sammi into the water.

  “Mmmm.” Alex couldn’t think of anything else to respond to Courtnee that wouldn’t come out as totally inappropriate.

  That didn’t seem to matter to her. She just kept on talking. Finally it was time for Alex to have a one-on-one with another contestant. She leaned up to Alex’s ear and whispered, “I had a great time, and I think you’re really hot. I know we can be red hot together…see ya later, sweetheart.” With that Courtnee reached up and kissed Alex right on the lips.

  As she walked away Alex ran the back of his hand across his lips. It was going to be a long afternoon.

  * * *

  There was a lot of speculation back at the camp. The women from the day before wanted to know what went on in the meet-and-greet and it seemed like everyone was trying to one-up everyone else in their stories about what went on in their individual meetings. Camp was actually quite boring. There wasn’t a lot to do, and it was hot during the day. It was really too hot to sit in the tents, but it was too hot to sit out in the sun as well. Finally, about three o’clock, Robert and Eddie sauntered into camp.

  “Gather ‘round, ladies,” he said pompously. “It’s time to see who the next contestant going home will be.” And with that, Al was brought out from behind some trees. They were told they were going to be walking a bit to get to where the competition would be. So they all trudged along after Robert and Eddie. Nikki and Kathi did their best to monopolize Al’s attention. They were on either side of him and grabbed onto his arms. Sam followed along near the back of the pack. She wasn’t sure that she was up to much physical movement because her side felt like it was on fire. It started to hurt more as the day went on. She figured she’d play it by ear and see what happened when they got to wherever it was they were going.

  They came upon a large clearing that had been set up to look like a rodeo circle. There was a little platform on one side with chairs set up. The circle was about a hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by large boulders. The women were instructed to stand in two lines in the middle of the circle while Al was seated on the podium. This can’t be good. Sam thought.

  “Welcome to the first challenge where the loser will be saying goodbye to Al and goodbye to Australia,” Robert bellowed as if they were all standing on the other side of the circle rather than right in front of him.

  “Today’s challenge involves your wits as well as speed and strength.” With that the producers freed two large pigs into the circle. Immediately Courtnee and Missy started screeching at the top of their lungs. The pigs ran around the outside of the circle, snorting and grunting. When Sam looked closer it looked as if they were drooling too. She suppressed a smile. Finally Robert got everyone’s attention again.

  “There are now fifteen of you left. There will be fourteen pigs released into the circle. The object is to grab a pig and get it to the chute at the side of the circle. Once you’ve gotten a pig to the chute, you can’t go back into the circle. The lady left without a pig will be the one who has to go home. You have ten minutes to figure out a strategy before the pigs are released.”

  With that, most of the women immediately started complaining. They didn’t know they would be pig wrestling today. Many wore totally inappropriate clothes and shoes. Katie was even wearing a pair of heels! Sam laughed to herself. This ought to be good. She wasn’t altogether sure that she’d be able to hold on to one of the pigs with her side hurting like it did, but she sure wasn’t going to let some of those other women make her look like a loser on national television!

  Alex looked on from the platform. His thoughts were running along the same lines as Sam’s. He figured it’d make for great TV to see the women running around in their heels and fancy clothes, trying to corral a pig. While the pigs didn’t weigh much more than twenty pounds each, it’d be interesting to see their strategies for corralling them.

  Alex looked at Sam. He once again noticed that she certainly wasn’t as model pretty as the other women, but she also wasn’t as “made up” as they were. She was wearing sensible shoes with jeans and a T-shirt. He watched as she stood in one place and surveyed the circle, the chute and even the two pigs that were still in the circle. She seemed stiff, but Alex knew it was because of the scrapes on her side. Not once did he see her talk to Eddie or Robert. Al knew this challenge would probably hurt her side, but he knew with one hundred percent certainty that she would suck it up and not say anything to anyone about how she was feeling. How he knew her so well when he really didn’t even know her, was baffling. Her penchant to keep her thoughts to herself concerned him because he didn’t want to see her lose. She was, so far, one of the main reasons this farce of a show was bearable.

  Finally, Robert climbed up the short set of stairs to stand on the platform with him. There were also several camera operators on the platform as well as roaming around the circle, filming the women from all angles. The women were all placed at one side of the circle. At Robert’s “Go” the rest of the pigs were released and the women were off and running…well, some were running. Some of the women immediately ran toward the pigs, screeching, and others just kinda stood still as if in shock and not knowing what they should do.

  For a few minutes it didn’t look like anyone would be able to get any of the pigs into the “end zone,” but finally Jennie from Montana coaxed/pulled/pushed one into the zone. She let out a whoop of joy and was escorted to the outside of the circle. The race was on. Slowly, one by one, pigs were corralled. Ashley, Candi, Lori, and Brandi all corralled a pig. Alex’s attention turned to Sam. She was slowly walking toward a pig. She’d gotten it close to the chute when Courtnee came up next to her and “tripped,” shoving Sam to the ground. Courtnee then got behind the pig and pushed with all her might until the pig went running toward the chute, squealing the entire way. Courtnee had gotten her pig…at Sam’s expense.

  Alex surged to his feet. He’d seen the whole thing and knew that Courtnee had definitely cheated. Of course, Eddie and Robert said nothing. Alex clenched his teeth and silently cheered Sammi on. He willed her to look at him, to see that he was rooting for her. To try to give her the strength to corral another one and stay in the game. He glared at Courtnee and didn’t care if she saw it.

  Sam was furious. Her side hurt, she was dirty, had a horrible headache and now that bitch Courtnee had stolen her pig and was laughing, laughing, at her. She almost called it quits right there. This wasn’t worth it. Why did she want to fight over some guy who probably was laughing at her right this minute? Sam reluctantly looked toward the podium and at Al. He was no longer sitting, but standing and it looked like he was scowling at her. Sam did a double take, why was he mad at her? What did she do? Then she looked a bit closer and it seemed like Al wasn’t looking at her after all, but watching Courtnee greet the other women on the other side of the circle. Then he turned his eyes on her. Seeing that she was looking at him, he gave her a small smile and nod of his head. Sam sighed. Shit, I guess I have to get one of these stupid pigs after all. She wasn’t going to let Courtnee win and have the satisfaction of knowing she’d gotten her kicked off the show. So, ignoring
the pain in her side, Sam set out to capture another stupid pig. She had no doubt she’d succeed. She had quite a bit of motivation.

  With Sam’s success, finally it came down to one pig left in the circle, and two women. Kimmie and Kiki were fighting for all they were worth to try to make sure they weren’t the loser. It seemed to be an even match. Finally, it seemed as if the pig was getting tired of the game. He wanted to join his buddies on the other side of the circle. He took a sharp turn and started running right for the corral. Kiki was closer to the chute and managed to grab onto the pig as it ran past her and right into the corral. Kimmie was left without a pig.

  “That’s not fair!” she screeched. “She didn’t capture it, it ran right by her!” Kiki was grinning like a ninny while Kimmie continued to complain.

  Robert told all the women to line back up in their original spots. Al came down off the podium and stood next to Robert. He spared a quick glance at Sammi and managed to give her an inconspicuous head nod.

  “It looks like you’re the only one without a pig, Kimmie,” Robert began, “you’re going to have to say goodbye to Al and the other women right here and now. Your belongings will be brought to you later. Do you have anything to say?” Darn right Kimmie had something to say…

  “You’re all a bunch of losers. You’d cheat and lie to your own mother if it’d serve your purpose. If you were dying of thirst I wouldn’t give you a drink of water!” And with that she flounced away from the group toward the waiting car.

  Sam couldn’t help it. She laughed, out loud. It was too much. It was too much like the first season of Survivor when the one contestant said practically the same thing to the finalist. What drama, what flair…but she also knew it’d make great television.

  Robert seemed to finally come out of the trance that he was in after Kimmie’s departure.

  “Okay, ladies, you’ve earned the right to stick around another day. It’s time to go back to camp, and you’ll meet with Al later today.”

  With that, Al, Eddie, and Robert left, and the women walked back to their camp. Of course, once they got there it was a free-for-all as the women all tried to fight for the shower. It seemed they didn’t mind there wasn’t any hot water anymore. They all wanted to get the pig smell off and get ready for their meet-and-greet with Al later on that day.

  Sam was finally able to take her turn in the shower. It seemed like she’d been wet more in the last few days than she’d been in her “real” life back in Albuquerque. She didn’t mind. She’d always been a good swimmer. She’d been on the water polo team in high school, so she felt comfortable in and around water, even if it was cold. When Sam walked out of the little bathroom building, she didn’t see much movement around the camp. The women were mostly in the tents just hanging out, waiting for Robert or someone to come and get them.

  I can’t believe them. Sam thought to herself. They’re in Australia and they’re sitting around in tents, waiting to hang out with some guy, whatever. And with that Sam decided she’d take a walk back up the rise. It wasn’t a long walk, and she could still see the camp from where she was. It was simply beautiful. How she’d love to explore a bit, Sam felt like she was “tied” to the camp. It wasn’t fair, here she was in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and she was waiting with thirteen other women to meet the guy they were supposed to be “dating.” She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him and that he was hot, but it was depressing that she was in competition for him.

  Sam sighed and tried to put the whole show out of her mind, then looked behind her and saw the ever-present Kina with the camera and smirked. She’d make Kina earn her keep today. There certainly wasn’t much to film back at camp. That had to be why Kina was following her. Sam noticed she wasn’t filmed nearly as much as the other women were, but it didn’t bother her in the least. Let them have all the camera time. Sam started off down the hill. She didn’t know how long it would be before they were supposed to go and visit with Al, but she needed this. She needed to get away from the other women for a while. Most of them weren’t bad, but they did grate on her nerves. They were just so different. For about the hundredth time Sam wondered how she had gotten on the show. She convinced herself that it was either a mistake or they needed some comic relief.

  The sun was hot, but it really was pretty. Sam walked on, almost oblivious to Kina trudging along behind her. Every once in a while she heard Kina mumble to herself, but Kina didn’t stop her or talk to her. After all, that was against the rules. Eventually, after about twenty minutes of walking, Sam stopped under a large tree, sat down, leaned against the trunk and shut her eyes, just breathing in the clean air and enjoying the fact that she was in Australia. After a few minutes Sam heard Kina sit down next to her. Sam peeked out of one eye and saw Kina had put down the camera and was looking at her.

  “What?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t get you,” Kina responded. Sam couldn’t help it, she laughed.

  “I know. I’m a loner, what can I say? Look around, look at how beautiful all this is. I’d choose this over sitting around talking about how much I miss the mall any day.”

  With that, Sam put her head back against the tree trunk and shut her eyes again, not waiting to see how Kina reacted to her bluntness.

  Finally, she heard Kina say, “I like you, Sammi.”

  Sam smiled, but didn’t say anything. At least one person seems to like me.

  Sam and Kina sat under the tree for about thirty minutes. Sam was half asleep when she heard Kina’s voice.

  “You’re missing it, you know,” Kina finally spoke up again.

  “Huh? What am I missing?” Sam asked absently.

  “The meet-and-greet,” Kina responded. “They left ten minutes ago.”

  With that Sam leaped up.

  “Oh, shit, I can’t believe they left without me!”

  She looked at Kina again and saw she was back to her camerawoman mode. The camera was up and pointed at her again. Sam figured it wouldn’t make any sense to go running back to camp, especially if the women had truly already left. They obviously knew where she was, Kina had some sort of communication with them since she knew they’d already left. Screw it. Sam thought. If I’ve already missed the bus I might as well explore some more. And she set off walking again. I won’t go far, just a bit more.

  Chapter Nine

  The bus pulled up to the clearing where the producers had set up a sort of “living room.” There were tree stumps around for seating and a few tables set up around the clearing. Alex watched as the women climbed off the bus. He was immediately surrounded by all of the women who seemed to all be talking at once again.

  I can’t wait until more of them are gone, Alex thought and immediately felt guilty. It’ll be much easier to talk to them and get to know everyone when there are fewer of them! Soon enough they were sitting around and having a pretty good conversation. He was, of course, the center of attention and he allowed the talk to flow around him. The women were definitely on their best behavior today and they all looked gorgeous. He wasn’t sure how they accomplished it out here in the wilds of the backcountry, but somehow they all looked like they were sitting down at a party in New York or something.

  After about forty minutes of talking, Alex could identify most of the women, he could even tell most of them apart. He knew who Courtnee was, of course, and Missy was also pretty forward, so he knew her. He actually was beginning to like Amy and Jennie. They seemed a little less harsh and spoiled than the others. They weren’t quite as “citified” as Katie or Kiki. Of course, he knew Sammi as well…as soon as the thought crossed his mind he realized he hadn’t seen her. Before he could stop himself he found himself asking the group, “Where’s Sammi?” The other women looked around and shrugged, then continued their conversations. They didn’t seem to care. All they cared about was that they were here with him and trying to get his attention.

  Alex started to worry. Why wasn’t Sammi there? Had they kicked her off and hadn’t told
him? He couldn’t believe it had taken him so long to realize she wasn’t there. She really did stick out, not in a bad way, but she stuck out nonetheless. The next hour was the longest hour he’d spent in the Outback. He couldn’t stop worrying about why Sammi wasn’t at the meet and greet. Finally, the visiting time was over and the women got back on the bus to return to their camp. Upon arriving at the production site, Alex found Eddie.

  “Where’s Sammi?” he asked impatiently. He’d spent the last hour and a half worrying about where she might be. Was she hurt? Was she gone? If she was gone how would he be able to find her again?

  Eddie looked at him and said, “She missed the bus at camp, so we left. Thought it’d be a good lesson for the other women and for her. She just can’t wander off. She’s here for the show, and besides, someone could get hurt.” Alex couldn’t believe it. Eddie was trying to teach her a lesson?

  “What do you mean, wander off?” Alex asked in a low voice.

  “Just what I said,” Eddie said in an annoyed tone. “Look, she decided she wanted to go for a little walk. Kina is following her. Nothing is happening.”

  “What did she do when she realized she’d been left behind?” Alex asked.

  “Don’t know. They’re still out there. I’m in touch with Kina. I let her know that the bus had left. I don’t know if Sammi knows she missed the bus or not, but it doesn’t matter. She’ll come back in her own time. She can’t get lost, Kina is filming her and we can watch the tapes. Calm down, Al, there are fourteen women left. You’ve lots of time to make your choice.” And with that, Eddie was called away.

  Alex wondered where the hell Sammi was and what the hell she was thinking wandering around by herself. If he was honest with himself, he was upset that he’d missed a chance to see her and get to know her.