‘Wonder who that is?’ Karl craned his neck to see.
‘We’re not expecting visitors,’ added Emmie.
Hazel waddled out to them. ‘Excuse me, that chap who works for the Winters is at the door. Will I bring him through?’
Win looked up and felt an instant pang of dread wash over her.
‘Oh… Yes, Hazel,’ Emmie answered.
As Hazel approached the veranda with Mick, Karl stood up. ‘G’day mate. What brings you here?’ He extended his hand in greeting.
Mick shook hands, acknowledged everyone and then answered Karl’s question.
‘Well, I’m beggin’ favours actually! I spoke to Mrs Winters the other day about the fences around her property. They’re in pretty poor shape. Trouble is, it’s a helluva big job and there’s a couple of other jobs need doin’, but it would take two blokes. Bit o’ liftin’ involved and Mrs Winters suggested I ask you fella’s about gettin’ a bit of a hand.’
Karl rubbed his chin, thoughtfully glancing at Digger. ‘We can sort some help out, can’t we Dig?’
Digger was still stretched out in the chair. ‘Yeah, course we can,’ he grunted and stood up, stretching his arms. ‘How about we have a beer and talk about it?’
‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ Win sputtered. ‘After the way you felt this morning?’
He grinned sheepishly. ‘Hair o’ the dog, love!’
‘Well it’s your head!’ she warned.
Digger went inside to fetch a cold bottle of beer. Karl and Mick strolled to the end of the veranda and leant on the railing.
Win watched them as they talked. She could see Mick’s profile. ‘There is something about that bloke,’ she thought. ‘It’s his eyes – they scare me. There’s something else… but what?’
Digger returned with three glasses and a cold bottle of VB and poured the beers. ‘C’mon over here and have a cold one.’ He indicated to the chairs closer to the table. ‘How about it, girls? Em?’ he asked, holding up the bottle.
‘You know, I think I’d like a shandy, thank you, Dig,’ Emmie replied. Ellie and Win also agreed they’d enjoy a shandy. He went inside for more beer and lemonade. Mick settled himself in the chair opposite Win. He caught her staring at him and smiled at her. An uneasy feeling snaked over her.
‘Nice day for a beer. Where do you come from, mate? You’re not from around here are you?’ Karl asked.
‘Oh, I’ve drifted ‘round, never really made my home in one place,’ Mick said off-hand.
Digger passed the beer around and they all toasted for a Merry Christmas.
Mick noticed Win staring at him again. She had paled considerably. She couldn’t look away. He stared back at her with his cold grey eyes.
‘Well, down the hatch cobber!’ Karl downed his beer. ‘We’ll have a word with Sam about this work out at Mary’s. I reckon Eric and Des might be the blokes to give you a hand. We should go up and ask them and you can meet them as well.’
‘Yeah, that’s the shot. C’mon, we’ll take the ute.’ Digger stood up to leave and Mick turned to Emmie to say goodbye, then to Ellie.
Win sat as if cast in stone. He stared coldly into her eyes. ‘Nice seein ya’s again.’ Then he turned and followed the others.
***
Kathy parked her mini in front of the tech college in Albury. ‘C’mon Beth, help me with these two!’ She gestured to Tammi sitting beside her and Eileen in the back, singing happily and very out of tune with the car radio.
‘Don’t be cross, Kath. We’ve had a ball!’ Tammi leant across and planted a kiss on her sister’s cheek. ‘Let’s go for a walk through the Civic Centre.’ Tammi reached for the door handle.
Eileen scrambled out after Tammi, stumbling against her, sending them both toppling over onto the footpath.
Beth looked at Kathy and shook her head, a grin spreading across her pretty face. Kathy suppressed a smile and bent down to help her sister.
‘Beth, can you help Eileen? C’mon Tam, we’ve got to get you sobered up before we go home!’
‘What’re we going to do with them?’ Beth asked, amusement in her voice. ‘Maybe those extra cans were not such a great idea. Glad I stopped when I did.’
‘Well, I’ll help you get them to the Civic Square. There’s some seats there, then I’ll nick over to the Hume Café and get some coffee… gallons of it! C’mon, let’s get these two over there and sit them down. If Mum and Aunty Dawn find out about this, they’ll be livid. Those damn UDLs are stronger than you think!’
Once they had them seated, Beth stayed to watch them and Kathy hurried off to get coffee.
‘What a great day we’ve had!’ Tammi said happily. ‘I feel wonderful!’ She jumped up from her seat and twirled around in a circle.
‘Careful Tam, you’ll make yourself giddy and then you’ll feel sick,’ Beth cautioned her. But Tammi wouldn’t take any notice. She kept twirling and laughing.
Eileen had curled up on the seat and was dozing, much to Beth’s relief. She had enough on her plate with Tammi. ‘Hurry back, Kath,’ she called out.
‘No Tam, not in the garden!’ she yelled just as Tammi stumbled and sat bang in the middle of the nearby flower garden. She smiled up at Beth, a little crookedly.
‘You cross, Bethie?’ she asked innocently. ‘Don’t be cross. Here, have a flower!’ She picked a flower and handed it to Beth.
‘Oh Tammi, you are going to feel awful tomorrow!’ Beth laughed.
Kathy arrived back with a couple of milkshakes and two large coffees. She looked at her sister sitting happily in the flower garden. ‘Tammi, get out of that garden right now before you get in trouble. Look, there’s a sign there saying to keep off the gardens!’
‘Oh, don’t fuss, Kath. Here, you have a flower too!’
‘Get up, you nut.’ Kathy dragged her to her feet and handed her a coffee. Beth roused Eileen and urged her to drink her coffee as well.
‘I’ve had an idea, Beth. I’ll ring Mum and tell her we’ve decided to have our tea out and go to the drive-in. That way we’ll have extra time to sober these two up. I’ll ring Aunty Dawn as well.’
‘Good idea. One thing though, I’d get your mum to ring Dawn. She’ll get suspicious if you talk to her and not Eileen. Just ask Win to pass the message on because you’re out of coins for the phone right now.’
‘Yes, you’re right, damn! I wish I’d refused to stop for that last lot of cans.’
Beth giggled. ‘You have to admit, we’ve had a really beaut day though.’
Kathy looked at Beth, then Eileen and finally Tammi, who grinned up impishly at her and poked out her tongue. Kathy burst out laughing.
‘Tam, you’ll regret all those cans tomorrow, but we have had fun. C’mon, better ring and get this little white lie over with.’
***
‘Win, what is it dear? You’re as white as a ghost!’ Emmie asked.
‘I think I’ve seen one,’ whispered Win.
‘What did you say dear?’ Emmie leant forward. She looked across the table at her, concern showing clearly on her face.
‘I… uh… I said I feel a bit sick. I’m sorry, Mum, I have to go inside.’ Win jumped up and hurried inside.
‘Oh dear, Ellie, there’s something wrong… I’d better go and see.’
‘No Mum, you stay here. I’ll go after her and find out, okay?’
Emmie nodded slowly. ‘She seemed to change when that Mick fellow came. What a strange man he is.’
‘Mmm, she did go a bit quiet.’ Ellie gave her mother a hug. ‘Don’t let it upset you; I’ll get to the bottom of this.’
Ellie went inside to find Win. ‘Win?’ Ellie peeped around Win’s bedroom door.
‘Come in,’ Win said flatly.
‘What’s up love?’ Ellie had seen Win’s reaction to Mick today and several times before.
‘You saw him Ellie… It’s him. My God… Ellie, it’s him!’ Win dissolved into tears, trembling from head to foot.
‘For heaven’s sake, who do you
mean?’ Ellie asked, puzzled by this outburst.
‘Ellie, it’s him! How could you ever forget him?’ Win’s eyes were wide with emotion.
‘Win, calm down. Now, you’re saying “him”, you can’t mean…?’
She got no further as Win interrupted. ‘Ellie, you know who I mean. Him! For crying out loud, this can’t be happening!’
‘Don’t be absurd! How can it be? He was taken care of years ago!’
‘It is, Ellie! It is! I’d know those eyes anywhere, those cold horrible eyes! It’s him alright. He’s back, Ellie. He’s back!’ Win was shaking badly. She could hardly get the words out of her mouth.
‘Now you’re being ridiculous. Of course it’s not him. I admit he’s a bit weird, and you’ve let him get to you, that’s all. Now pull yourself together; Mum’s out there worried about you. We can’t let her get upset too, she’s had enough.’
Win sniffed and took a breath. ‘No Ellie, I’m sure. I tell you, I should know. You know that… I should know… It is him! What will it take to make you believe me?’
***
‘Strange bloke, that.’ Digger commented to Karl after driving Mick back to Kia-Ora to pick up his car. He thanked them for arranging Des and Eric to give him a hand and they now stood watching him drive away.
‘Yeah, a bit queer I s’pose, but he works hard out there for Mary,’ Karl replied.
‘C’mon mate.’ He slapped Dig on the shoulder. ‘Let’s go have another cold one!’
It was good to see Karl getting back to normal. His face was healing well and the doctors were pleased with him.
‘Well well,’ he thought as he sat behind the wheel of his car. ‘That’s a turn around if ever I saw one. Not so uppity now, are we? That sexy little body… It gets me goin’ every time I see ya’. He felt his crotch with one hand, the other on the steering wheel. ‘Shit… I need you right now!’
‘You bitch!’ he shouted. ‘You’ll pay… You’ll pay!’ He wiped saliva from his mouth. ‘You’ll pay bitch.’
***
‘Okay Eileen, out you get. And remember, if you’re sick tomorrow, you better tell Aunty Dawn that it was something you ate at the drive-in, okay?’ Kathy was parked outside Dawn’s front gate. Eileen thanked her for a great day out. She walked up the path to the front door, a very subdued Eileen, different to the rowdy girl of that afternoon.
‘She’ll have a headache tomorrow!’ giggled Beth.
‘Uh huh, and so will somebody else we know! Serves them both right!’ Kathy laughed, glancing at her sleeping sister in the back seat. ‘We had a terrific day, even if they did both get stonkered.’
‘We sure did. That Eileen’s a card, isn’t she? I’m glad I came along,’ Beth said, ‘I’d like to do it again sometime!’
‘Well, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t, except… maybe Francis.’ Kathy’s voice trailed off.
‘I can’t see why he’d mind,’ Beth replied.
‘Maybe he might; everyone’s under the impression that you two are a couple.’
Beth was silent for a few minutes. ‘I hadn’t really thought of that. I do like him… a lot, but anything more serious than that… I just don’t know.’
‘I don’t think he thinks that way. I’d say as far as Francis is concerned, you’re his girl, Beth. It stands out a mile!’ Kathy changed down gears and the mini minor slowed, ready for the turn into Kia-Ora’s gravel drive.
Beth thought for a minute and then she asked, ‘Kath, perhaps I should step back a bit. Why don’t we go to the club this Wednesday night? Johnny is singing there and he told me Wednesdays are getting as popular as Friday and Saturday nights.’
‘That would be okay but Francis will want to come along as well, you know. Since when has he not wanted a night out dancing?’
‘I’ll say we’ve planned a girl’s night out.’
‘Don’t be too hard on him, Beth. He really seems keen on you.’
‘Kath, I really like him too, but I’m not sure I want things to move quite as fast as he does. I have a great time with him, but if he thinks we’re serious, I’ll have to slow things down somehow. I don’t want to lead him on. I’m not ready for a serious relationship just yet. You do understand that, don’t you?’
Kathy turned the engine off and flicked the headlights out. ‘Yes I do. If that’s how you feel then you would be doing the right thing by slowing it down before he gets too wrapped up in this whole thing. I think he was smitten with you from the minute he met you. Good old Francis, loves a pretty girl. He’s a beaut bloke and he falls easily, silly bugger. C’mon, help me wake up bugger lugs… We’ll have to get her up to bed.’
After several minutes of gentle shaking and prodding, they managed to wake Tammi and go up to the house.
The shadow of a tall dark figure went unnoticed within feet of the three girls. With a scowl on his face, he hissed his hatred into the black of night. ‘Little upstart, just like the rest of em!’ His face contorted with rage. ‘Bloody Masons – all the friggin’ same.’ The backdoor clicked shut, the outside light went out. Gradually, silence enveloped the valley as one by one, each household settled for the night.
Still, the dark figure stood watching Kia-Ora.
He emerged from the seclusion of the huge mulberry tree.
***
‘What’s up, Win?’ Digger rolled over as she got out of bed.
‘It’s okay, I’m just going to get a bex. I have a bit of a headache,’ she answered.
Dig snored in reply. Win pulled on her robe and padded quietly from the room.
Downstairs, she got the bex powders from the drawer and decided to make a hot chocolate as well. She filled the jug and sat at the big kitchen table waiting for it to boil, deep in thought.
‘I’m certain I saw that look in his cold eyes. Dear God, what now? What else can go wrong? she thought, her mind whirling. A terrible thought flashed into her mind. ‘All these fires, oh my Lord!’ She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. The jug boiled and she filled her mug. ‘It can’t be. Like Ellie said, I must be mad,’ she thought as a flicker of light caught her eye, causing her to glance at the window. She leaned forward and pulled the blind back to get a better look.
‘No!’ she cried out. ‘No… No!’ She dropped her mug in the sink. Hot chocolate spilled everywhere.
As she ran up the stairs to the bedroom, she clasped her hand over her mouth to stem the need to cry out, thinking of her mother sleeping in a nearby room.
‘Digger wake up… Quick, wake up!’ She shoved him as hard as she could.
‘What… What’sa matter?’ He was finding it hard to wake from his sound sleep.
‘A fire out the back. Hurry, get up… quick!’ Win stammered, her eyes growing wide.
‘Shit!’ He leapt out of bed and stumbled to the stairs in his pyjamas.
‘You wake Karl, love… Try not to wake Emmie.’ He was immediately worried for the old woman as well.
Win was heading for Karl’s room when Ellie opened her door.
‘Win!’ she whispered. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Another damn fire…’ Win burst into Karl’s room and shook him awake, telling him about the fire. He bolted out of bed and ran downstairs clad only in his pyjama bottoms. Ellie and Win followed close behind.
As they reached the mulberry tree, a furious Digger met them. ‘It’s Kath’s mini! The fuckin’ mongrel’s burned her car!’ The little car was a mass of flames. Black smoke belched into the air.
‘Run and call the fire brigade, Ellie! Our hose can’t cope with this… Come on, stand back, the petrol tank’ll go any second.’ The words had barely left Digger’s mouth when a huge explosion rocked the ground under them. Flames leapt higher in the air followed by smaller explosions.
The noise brought Francis and the girls running out. ‘Good grief!’ was all Francis could utter.
Hazel and Ted stood huddled together. Hazel was shaking all over.
‘Dad… Dad… My car!’ Kathy screamed. She ran towards
the burning vehicle. Ellie grabbed her, pulling her back. Kathy struggled, crying hysterically.
‘My car… My little car… Why?’
‘Ssh, sweetheart, come here.’ Win pulled her sobbing daughter into her arms, stroking her hair. She couldn’t stop her own tears from streaming down her face.
‘I’ll have to go and tell Mum. She’ll have heard the commotion by now. I want to get to her before the sirens come screaming up the road!’ Ellie said, turning and heading back to the house.
The sirens were already wailing in the distance.
Tammi and Beth came to stand with Kathy. Francis was helping to dampen the grass and sheds nearby.
‘The bloody stinkin’ arsehole. What a dirty rotten thing to do.’ Digger was ropeable. ‘To burn the kid’s new car. The fuckin’ lousy bastard! If I could just get my hands on him, I’d rip his throat out!’ Dig’s face was dark with rage.
‘Mongrel gets sick pleasure from doin’ this. He’ll burn anything!’ Karl raised his arm to the fire brigade as it hurtled into the yard and the siren wailed to a stop.
Hoses were dragged from the truck and Frank Smith shouted questions at them.
Ten minutes later, Kathy’s mini stood a blackened shell. The sirens had woken the residents of the valley. Several people arrived in the yard to see what the firebug’s latest conquest had been.
‘Kathy?’
Kathy turned as she heard the deep voice behind her. ‘Eddie!’ she said, sniffing and wiping tears from her eyes. ‘I thought you were in Wagga?’
‘I came back yesterday. Kath… I’m so sorry!’
Tears kept running down her face. ‘Oh Eddie, my car. I only just bought it. Why?’ She sniffed and wiped at the tears again.
Eddie moved closer and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. ‘Here.’ He dabbed at her face. As fast as he dried her eyes, the tears would flow again.
Win looked at him. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. She knew that Kathy had said it was over between them, but watching them together now, she wasn’t so sure.
‘What a terrible thing to happen, Mrs Miles.’
‘Yes Eddie, Kathy’s distraught. She loved her car. It’s not fair at all. Whoever did this is a sick, sick coward.’ Her own tears threatened again. Win had to turn her head. She was finding this, on top of everything else, just too much to handle.
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