by Mark Stewart
WADE SPRINTED up the stairs holding the empty wine bottle in his hand. He stood on the deck searching the entire area. Beyond two young boys fishing, he found the silhouette of a woman leaning on the second pylon in from the start of the wharf. He stopped running when he closed to talking distance.
For a long time, both stared at each other. The only sound came from the water lapping under the wooden boards.
“Before you go out of my life I have something to show you.”
Anneli felt surprised at Wade’s determination to keep searching for her. “I’m not interested,” she mumbled.
“I’m going way out on a limb here. I have to insist you look at what I’m holding in my hand.”
“Why take the chance? It won’t get you anywhere.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
“Okay, show me what you have so we can call it a night.”
Wade squared himself to Anneli and produced the wine bottle.
“I’ve seen a wine bottle before,” she jeered looking totally uninterested.
“I believe what is inside the bottle will tantalize your thoughts.”
Wade upended the bottle. The handwritten note fell into the palm of his hand. He watched Anneli’s expression alter dramatically from a non-caring attitude to eye-popping interest in a micro-second.
“Where did you find it?” she managed to whisper.
“I’d been trying to familiarize myself sailing Charlotte. We were ten nautical miles from the entrance to Port Phillip Bay when I spied the bottle in the sea. Do you know anything about it? The person who signed the note was Anneli. At a guess, I reckon there aren’t too many other ladies who have the same name as you.”
“I wrote on the paper I wanted a handsome prince to sweep me off my feet to rescue me. I sealed the note inside the bottle and threw it overboard from my father’s yacht twelve months ago.”
“Can we have a good friendly talk?” asked Wade.
Anneli sat, pulling Wade down to a sitting position. Their feet were inches away from the surface of the water.
Wade reached out to wipe the tears from her face. “I’m no Prince. I’d love a chance to live up to your expectations and to be the hero; you’re longing for.”
“I’d love to give you that chance.”
Wade placed his arm around Anneli’s waist.
She leaned in. Slowly her heart started to warm towards Wade. She’d give him his chance to be her hero. She didn’t have anything to lose by waiting. Wrapping her arms around him, she closed her eyes to the warm feeling surging through her veins.
The couple sat in the dark cuddling, looking out across the ocean. The breeze started to strengthen causing the waves to increase in size. The temperature quickly dropped at least three degrees. The sliver of moonlight shining across the calm sea vanished.
“I know of a great place,” hinted Wade. “Please say you want to see it.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“Correction, it’s two in the morning. The place I’m thinking of has a great view at sunrise. If we leave now, we’ll be in time to see the first rays.”
“It sounds like a wonderful way to see in Christmas day.”
Dragging Anneli to a standing position Wade led the way back to his yacht.
“Charlotte looks more appealing every time I see her,” confessed Anneli, stopping momentarily to absorb the yacht’s appearance. “She still smells new.”
“I told you there’s something unique about this boat. It seems to draw you in. I need you to stand exactly where you are. I’ll be one minute.”
Wade opened a hatch cover on the deck near the stern of the boat. He clasped a strap around each of his wrists so he could heave a motorbike onto the deck. A minute later he wheeled the craft off the yacht. He winked at Anneli before scurrying back into Charlotte. In seconds, he came back carrying a small blue plastic container. Wade dived back down the stairs. When he returned, he brought a fifteen-foot long green canvas bag. He jumped onto the wharf, placing it next to the bike.
“Do you want to tell me what’s in the bag?”
“Five aluminum poles,” confessed Wade. “I’d like to keep their use for a secret until later.”
Scrunching her nose, Anneli decided to hide the fact she felt a little awkward over not hearing the answer to her query.
Wade quickly tried to smooth things over by changing the subject.
“I think I should motor Charlotte out to deeper water. I’m not sure if the old timer is correct or not. At any rate, I think there’s heavy rain on the way. If I leave her tied up at the wharf, she might be damaged. What do you say to a two-minute cruise before we start our short trip?”
“I love the idea,” shrieked Anneli.
She helped untie the ropes tethering Charlotte to the pylons and scrambled onboard. Wade turned the ignition key. Under their feet, they felt a vibration. Wade revved the engine and turned the wheel, easing Charlotte away from the wharf.
Two hundred feet from the shoreline Wade cut the engine, dropping the anchor overboard. He stood looking at Anneli, showering his memory in her radiant beauty. She seemed to have enjoyed the freedom of being the only other person around. She broke into a smile at the same time the sea breeze teased the tips of her hair. She looked picture perfect. It was as though the artist fussed over the exact colours to capture every minuscule detail.
Anneli looked his way which heightened the electricity flowing through his body.
Wade walked over. “You are indeed a beautiful woman,” he declared. “Your eyes outshine the brightest diamond.”
Anneli’s cheeks flushed red at the compliment. She’d never heard someone say anything so nice before. She decided to shelve the words in her mind. If she wanted to she could recall the words whenever she felt the need.
Wade took one last tour of the lower deck before walking back up the stairs. For the first time since he bought the yacht, he forgot to glance at the barometer. If he did alarm bells would’ve rung in his mind to alert him of the danger forming further out at sea.
The two-motored back to shore in the small dingy. Wade tied the tiny craft to the wharf. In less than a minute he brought the motorbike to life.
While Anneli wrapped her arms tight around Wade’s waist, he navigated the bike towards the only mountain which overlooked Darwin. Almost the entire length of the long poles strapped to the side of the motorbike trailed behind them.
The two riders failed to see the storm clouds ahead of Cyclone Tracy blinking out the stars a few dozen at a time.
Only eight hours remained before Tracy hit land.
Wade expertly followed the double line in the middle of the road as he navigated the thirteen-dry bends to the top of the mountain. He parked next to a miner’s hut in the middle of the plateau. The area of flat ground looked no larger than an average house block. He unstrapped the long rigid canvas bag from the side of the motorbike, placed it on the ground and helped Anneli off the bike. Immediately she turned in slow circles, admiring the view.
“Darwin looks magnificent from this height,” she said. “The view of the street lights takes your breath away.”
“Six hundred feet above Darwin certainly has a grand view. Where you’re standing is almost the perfect place to watch the sunrise.”
“Almost,” echoed Anneli, sounding puzzled.
“There’s a plateau the size of a car on the small rise directly behind you. To me, it’s the perfect view. The grass is a mirror image of the seventeenth green at the Flinders private golf club. Before you see the view, please allow me to give you a free guided tour of the hut.”
Wade didn’t wait for a reply. He walked over, opening the door.
Anneli stepped to the threshold, looking inside.
“You can go in; I won’t bite.”
“I know you won’t. If whoever owns this place finds us inside, I reckon he might call the police.”
Wade chuckled mischievously. “I promise I won’t prosecute.”
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br /> “You?” questioned Anneli turning her head to look at him.
“Not many people know I own this mansion. The land around here belongs to me too. Once you step inside the hut, I’ll be able to prove it.”
Wade sidestepped to the corner of the hut. He stooped under a ‘lean-to’ made of tin, hovered over a small generator and clicked the start button. The machine coughed a few times before sinking into a noisy rhythm. In the center of the hut, a single light globe slowly brightened.
Wade coaxed Anneli to enter. He walked her to the adjacent wall where she stood gob-smacked. Hanging on the wall, she saw a photo of Wade standing in front of Charlotte. She turned to face Wade who held for hand firmly. She stared at him through protruding eyes.
“So, it is true, what you said about owning this hut?” she whispered.
Wade puffed out his chest, his lazy luring smile enveloping his face.
“Yes. I want everyone to believe I’m a humble man, so I don’t spread it around I bought this place.”
Anneli giggled. “I’m sorry to announce you resemble a proud man in the photo.”
“It happened to be a happy occasion. I took possession of Charlotte and this place on the same day. The local constable volunteered to take the photo.”
The guided tour of the single room miner’s hut lasted no more than five minutes. In one corner Anneli saw a small brick fireplace. Cobwebs hung from every corner nook and cranny of the hut. In their hay-day, the exposed wooden beams could have been a talking piece. Anneli felt sad at seeing deep fissures on the dry surface. In the center of the hut, the two main posts were almost vertical. Both held up the cross beams which supported the rusting sheets of corrugated iron which covered the roof cavity. The metal sheets had been taken off several times over the decades so the rafters could be swapped and the original tin put back. Compacted dirt made up the floor. A horizontal crack ran through the middle of the only window. Dirt smothered the surface making the glass semi-transparent.
Wade saw Anneli’s expression of jubilation slowly vanish.
“A little elbow grease and lots of money will see the hut fit for living. I believe it could be a great place to get away from everything.”
Anneli created a nervous laugh.
“Come on; time marches fast. It stops for nothing. If you want to see the first rays of the sunrise we’ll have to climb onto the plateau,” coaxed Wade. Taking hold of Anneli’s hand, they walked towards the door.
Wade swiped a cast iron plate the size of a concrete stepping stone from a closed draw under the only bench. He walked over to the motorbike and took out the small plastic container from a bag which he tied to the side of the bike back at the wharf. He led Anneli around to the rear of the miner’s hut and helped her climb the twenty-seven steps to wonderland.
Wade helped Anneli to hurdle a low rock wall before walking about gathering twigs. He quickly constructed a pyramid style fire between four bricks and struck a match.
Wade easily got the fire started then placed the cast iron plate on top of the four bricks; two at each end of the plate. Using cooking oil from a small bottle he had placed in the plastic container, four pieces of chicken were soon sizzling. Wade poured a small amount of marinade over the chicken. The aroma wafting through the air made them feel hungry.
“All we need is the champagne,” taunted Anneli.
Her short giggles were contagious. Wade was still chuckling when he pulled a small bottle from his pocket. Two-shot glasses were in the other pocket.
“You’ve thought of everything,” stated Anneli, settling onto the green grass.
“I hope so. The only thing missing is a perfect sunrise,” whispered Wade squatting.
“We don’t have to wait long. The horizon has started to lighten.”
Wade stood staring at the sky. The red billowing clouds looked to be on fire. The birds chirping frantically in the nearby trees suddenly took flight, vanishing over the other side of the mountain.
“What’s the worried look for?”
“Have you ever heard of the old saying; red sky in the morning sailor’s warning?”
“No, I never have,” confessed Anneli.
Wade again studied the clouds. “The red sky can’t be any angrier. The fact the birds have flown away means there’s a storm building.”
“Any idea how many hours will fly by before the storm hits?”
“If I were to make a guess, I’d say three or four hours.” Wade made a half-hearted shrug of a shoulder before sitting. Using a magical swipe of his hand two paper napkins and two forks appeared. Acting all professional, he served up the chicken.
“This is my best Christmas day ever,” announced Anneli.
“Merry Christmas,” said Wade. He lifted his small glass full to the brim of champagne to eye level. Anneli mirrored his move, letting a giggle seep between her lips when the glasses clinked together.
“Merry Christmas,” replied Anneli.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Three hours and twenty-five minutes before Cyclone Tracy crosses land.