by Ben Onslow
I go across to the Ruger still lying on the ground. Lean my gun against a tree, and take the sling off the rifle. Unload it, take the bolt out, put the shells and bolt in my pack.
One less weapon that can be used against us.
I use the sling to tie Henry’s legs just in time. Henry is starting to groan slightly and try to move. He’s regaining consciousness.
I consider hitting him again. It would give me a lot of pleasure, but I want to talk to him and need Henry conscious for that.
I go back to Ela, shrugging out of the Swanndri as I walk across the clearing.
I take the rifle she’s holding. Keep it pointed at Charlie, and hand her the Swanndri.
“Put this on so you warm up.”
I wait while she does up the buttons on her dress. Then she gets into the Swanndri. She turns up the cuffs so they don’t fall over her hands.
“What now?” she asks. Even with the coat on she’s shivering a bit. Maybe stopping for a chat with the Willises isn’t a good idea.
“When I’ve got them tied up we’ll get out of here.”
She goes and gets my rifle and covers Charlie again.
“If there’s any problem, I’ll shoot it,” says Ela.
I slide the bolt back on the Ruger Ela was using. Unload it, take the sling off. Stroll across to Charlie, holding the unloaded rifle loosely in my hand.
“You have a choice,” I say to him. “You can take off your belt, crawl over by your brother, and then lie on your stomach with your hands behind your back so I can tie you up, or we can do it the other way.”
He starts with the, “Fuck off Frazer.”
All those F’s are pretty difficult with a broken nose.
I lift the Ruger planning on using the butt on his head the way I did with Henry.
Charlie shuts up, takes off his belt. Crawls to his brother, lies down.
I tie him up. Sit him up. And there they are sitting side by side, trussed up like pigs. I relax a bit. Line up the two torches so they shine directly on my prisoners. Mon has already positioned himself just away from them and is watching intently.
I know Mon will warn me if either of the Willises move.
Henry starts to groan.
Mon growls and bares his teeth.
Henry shakes his head, groans, and vomits down the front of his t-shirt.
He tries to move his arms and legs. When he can’t, he opens his eyes enough to glare at me. He looks uncomfortable, like the belt’s cutting into his hands, and he isn’t feeling well.
I watch him struggle.
He eyes me. Charlie’s the stupid one in this pair. Henry’s got enough brains to be planning to try and stay alive by now.
But, what is the next step? Can’t really see them walking out at gun point. Don’t really want to shoot them now Ela is safe.
The Willises struggle again.
“I told you to keep still.” I move the rifle again.
“You won’t shoot us,” says Charlie, like he’s reading my mind. “You’re too scared of going to jail.”
“Take your chances if you like.” I hold the rifle more deliberately. “I know a few mine shafts too. You’d just vanish.”
Ela glances at me, as if she’s wondering how long I was watching her and Charlie and Henry. As if she would have felt a lot better if she’d known I was there.
“That’s when I turned up,” I say. “I was trying to work out how to attack both of them at once and then I saw you hit him.”
There’s a long pause. Nobody moves or says anything.
I’m still sure Henry wants to get out of this alive, and he knows I’ve seen enough to work out their plans for Ela.
Probably remembers the whole Jess saga too.
He stays still and quiet.
He’ll probably remain that way for exactly as long as me or Ela have a rifle aimed at him. After that his priorities will change.
I make a decision. Stand up and put Henry’s and Charlie’s rifles over my shoulder. It’s time to go.
“See you later,” I say.
“You can’t leave us here.” Henry, struggles against the belt holding his wrists.
“It’s a lovely night.” I pick up one of the torches. “Enjoy yourselves.”
Ela puts my rifle over her shoulder and we walk slowly to the edge of the clearing, a real good imitation of a casual stroll from both of us. Then I turn and look back at the Willises. Not a pretty sight.
30.
Going Home
Tuesday 21st Feb 2051
9:30 p.m.
Ela and I start walking down the creek bank with Mon following. Mon keeps looking back at Charlie and Henry, as if not sure what’s going on.
I can hear Henry and Charlie cursing and struggling behind us.
Once we’re far enough away and they won’t hear, I start moving faster.
All the pretence of a leisurely walk back to the Land Rover disappears.
“What was that all about?” Ela’s hurrying to keep up.
I slide down a bank, then stop. Hold the torch and the rifle straps with one hand. Hold her hand with the other to help her down the bank. Those little shoes she’s wearing weren’t made for walking through the bush.
“Just buying time.” Ela half-slips, half slides down the bank. “I couldn’t risk moving them, didn’t want to shoot them.”
“Why not shoot them?” When she’s on flat ground again, she brushes the leaves and dirt off the Swanndri. I’m a bit cold. Never remember to bring a spare coat.
“Do you want it back?” she asks.
“No, I’m fine. Really? You wanted me to shoot them?” And she actually has to think about that before she answers. So much for Sweet and Elite.
“Okay, shooting them probably wasn’t a good idea. Tempting though.” We start moving again, following the beam of the torch. I keep hold of her hand, keep her close. “What will they do?”
“I think they’ll get loose.”
A fern frond brushes the barrels of the rifles, then bounces back.
“What then?”
“Fitzgerald can look after them.”
“Are we going to the pub now?” Ela’s still struggling to keep up with me. I remember the bloody little shoes and slow down a bit again.
The track is narrow and rough. It’s a balance between keeping Ela on her feet, and moving fast enough to make sure Charlie and Henry don’t catch up with us.
“Yeah, we’ll go to the pub. Warn Patsy what’s going on. Then I need to find Fitzgerald and talk to him again.” I walk as I talk.
“Why have you been talking to Fitzgerald?” asks Ela, walking fast beside me, nearly jogging, puffing a bit as she talks.
“Lucinda’s sick. I needed a doctor. I figured he’d know who to call.”
“How sick?”
“Really crook.”
“Is she going to be all right?”
“Don’t know yet.”
We get back to the Land Rover, throw the gear in and shut the back as soon as Mon is inside. I turn to Ela. She’s watching me. Looks exhausted now. The bruise on her cheek is black in the moonlight.
I put my arms around her, lean against the back of the Land Rover. Pull her closer, hers arms slide around my waist. She tucks her head under my chin.
I hold her tight. I can’t believe how close I came to losing her. But right now the first priority has to be to get out of the camping ground fast.
“We’ve got to keep moving,” I say into her hair. “I have no idea how long it will take the Willises to get free.”
Ela nods, and I let her go. She goes round the Land Rover, opens the door of the passenger side and gets in.
I get in the other side. Doors slam and we leave at the speed of light. I slow down when we’re well away from the camp, start driving back to town a bit more normally.
“Charlie hit me,” Ela says when the trees aren’t flashing past quite so fast.
“I heard that, it was on the Com.”
“I’ve neve
r been hit before,” says Ela. “It was terrifying.”
I reach over and touch her cheek. It feels hot, must be sore.
She pulls her head away a bit.
“It still hurts,” she says.
“Sorry.”
“You could kiss it better.”
“Not funny, I shouldn’t have let the Willises get to you.”
“It was my fault,” says Ela. “I should have listened to you.”
“What happened? Why were you at the house?”
“I was already at Jacob’s when you made the Connect, so I thought I’d put the food in the fridge before I went to find you.”
That’s Ela, she’s not great at doing what she’s been told to.
“You were supposed to go back to the pub.”
“Yes, that is what I was going to do, but I went inside first and Henry and Charlie were already there. The house was all the way it should have been, except Henry Willis was sitting at the table, big and dark and menacing, and smoking a cigarette and looking at the fake map. He had the rifle lying across the table in easy reach.”
“I should have been there, you shouldn’t have been alone.” I have to change gear, go round a corner.
Once we are going straight again, Ela changes the subject.
“So Fitzgerald knows about the raid to rescue Lucinda?” I can see her face reflected in the glass, watching the dark flash by.
“Yeah.”
“How did he take it?”
“Not real good.”
“Is that an understatement?”
I give a bit of a nod.
“So Jacob will know too?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“That’s not good,” says Ela.
“No, the fallout from that is going to be interesting.” I flick a glance at her, wave my hand at her cheek and her damaged wrist. “And that.”
“I’ll protect you.” She looks over at me and grins.
“I’m going to need it.” I change gear again, slow down, stop at the turn off to the main road, pull my Com out of the glove box, hand it to Ela. “Txt Fitzgerald. Tell him you’re safe. We’ll have service now.”
Ela starts tapping away at the screen and I get moving again, see the Connect flash. She puts the Com on the dashboard. Then as we drive back to town Ela tells me the rest of what happened with Henry and Charlie.
“As soon as I saw Henry,” says Ela. “I slid my thumb across my Com to reconnect with you.” She sounds a bit frightened, but mostly she sounds really annoyed at letting herself get caught.
“Doing that probably saved your life. At least when I came looking for you, I knew what had happened and where they were taking you.”
“That’s what I was hoping.” In the dark she looks over at me, all hair and eyes. “I just hoped you were listening.”
“I wasn’t listening.” An old ute comes towards us, lights on full beam, nearly blinds me, goes past. “I put my Com in the pannier.”
Another stupid mistake, that one nearly cost Ela her life.
“I’m glad I didn’t know that.” The Com on the dashboard flashes. Ela picks it up, reads the Txt.
“Fitzgerald?” I ask and she nods. “What does he say?”
“He’s at the station. Meet him there.”
“Okay.”
Ela slides across the bench seat so she’s closer to me. I put my arm around her, drive one handed.
“How are you going to change gear?” Ela asks.
“I’ll figure something out.” I just feel like pulling over to the verge, stopping the Land Rover and holding her. Not an option with Fitzgerald waiting in town for us and the Willises behind us trying to get free, I should have taken Henry’s keys so they had to walk into town, just another mistake in a long list of them.
I hold her tighter and drive on. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you knee Charlie.”
“That was very satisfying,” says Ela and smiles up at me.
31.
Pub
Tuesday 21st Feb 2051
8:00 p.m.
We get to the pub, go up the stairs. Patsy appears behind us.
“I thought I heard something. What are you doing here, weren’t you picking up Jacob and staying the night with him?”
“We got the day wrong,” I lie. “He isn’t coming home until tomorrow.”
Mum looks like she doubts I would get the wrong day, but lets it pass.
“Fitzgerald called. He wants you at the station now.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Why does Fitzgerald want to see you in the middle of the night?”
I shrug. Mum lets that pass too.
Then she stares at the bruising on Ela’s cheek, and takes in her raw looking wrist. “What happened to Ela?”
“The Willises got her. Charlie hit her.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Soon.” I turn and go down the staircase again. “If Henry or Charlie turn up before I get back, Connect to my Com. I’ll come straight here.”
Me and Ela get out of the Land Rover at the station.
“What about Monsanto,” Ela asks.
“Leave him there.”
We walk to the light in the doorway, go in.
“What happened?” Fitzgerald asks, looking first at Ela, then at me.
“The Willises had her. Listen to this.” I hand Fitzgerald my Com.
Fitzgerald takes it and listens, turns the Com off, holds it in his fist.
“Are they looking for the Vault?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I flop onto a chair. “Haven’t found it. Ela took them to another waterfall.” I rub my forehead. “What happened with Lucinda?”
“Doctor’s with her. He’ll stay with her until the morning. Then we’ll decide what to do.”
“Will she be all right?”
“Yeah. She needed antibiotics. Johnson says it was lucky you called for help when you did.”
One thing he approves of. “Are Lucinda and Joe still at the Vault?”
“No. They’ve been moved to a safe house, where they should have been taken right from the start.” Then Fitzgerald moves on. “Where are the Willises now?” he asks.
“You got those maps of the mountain?”
Fitzgerald nods and goes into his office. Comes back with a map. Sits down on the chair beside me and spreads the map out on the table. Ela moves to the other side of me, leans over to see the map better.
“Here.” I point at the fake site.
“That’s nowhere near the Vault. Why would they believe it was there?”
“We made a map to trick them,” says Ela, looking over at Fitzgerald.
“You made a map?” Fitzgerald looks pretty shitty. He’d warned us off enough times. “What was that meant to achieve?”
I interrupt to take the heat off Ela. “I was trying to keep them away from the Vault, and give you time to sort out Vincent.”
“But it didn’t go quite to plan?”
“Not quite.” I rub the side of my mouth. “I didn’t think they’d go after Ela.”
“It didn’t occur to you to make a Connect with me again when you found they had her. Get some more help?” asks Fitzgerald.
“I didn’t have time. And I knew you were busy.”
“Not that busy. Call for help when you need it.”
“Okay.” I sound exhausted.
I think Fitzgerald heard the tiredness and backed off. “So how are Henry and Charlie?”
I give Fitzgerald a sidelong look.
“That good?”
“Yeah. I split Henry’s skull. Ela broke Charlie’s nose.”
Fitzgerald looks at Ela, a bit surprised. “That right?” She nods.
He leans forward, his elbows on the table, arms still folded.
“So now I have to clean up after you.” Fitzgerald uses that tone of voice teachers use when they’re trying to sort out a problem kid. “What I hear is Henry and Charlie are in the bush tied up, one with a broken nose an
d the other with a split skull, waiting to be arrested. Is that right?”
“No,” I say. “I think they’ll get loose, pretend nothing has happened.”
Fitzgerald looks doubtful. “Why would they do that?”
“They’ve messed up. They just abducted someone so they’ll know you’ll be after them. And they’ve let Vincent down and they’re already scared of him. I think they’ll disappear.”
Fitzgerald leans back in his chair and gives that some thought. “Yeah. Maybe they’ll do us a favour and leave. So what are you doing now?”
“We’ll go back to the pub. If I’m wrong, and they come after me, I don’t want Mum on her own. I’ll Connect with you if there’s a problem.”
“Make sure you do, and we’ll keep an eye out for them too,” says Fitzgerald. “In the morning go visit Jacob; tell him what’s been going on.”
Yeah, right, I think. Telling him anything about today is something I’ll put off for as long as I can. Even when we pick him up, I’m not planning on mentioning any of it unless he does.
Fitzgerald catches the silence. “You’re going to have to face him some time,” he says.
Jacob is watching Ela. He’s sitting in his arm chair in his lounge. The arm chair is slashed. His crutches are beside him. Mug and sausage roll on the side table. We’ve just picked him up from the hospital. We’re sitting on the couch. Ela’s curled into me, all tiny skirt and shiny red boots and long cloak. I have my arm around her, looking after her. Those hours in the bush yesterday frightened her more than she’s saying. Made her quiet again.
“You two getting on then?” Jacob doesn’t look happy about that.
Ela nods, and leans further into me. Jacob doesn’t look too happy about that either. He watches us, I’m watching back, waiting for the broadside.
He’s just gathering up ammunition.
His first move is to nod at the bruise on Ela’s cheek, then move his eyes to me. “Jack, why was Ela alone in the house and not with you?” he asks.
Before I answer, Ela jumps in with a jumbled explanation of me working, and her arriving back early after visiting him, and deciding to wait for me at the house.
