Summer Down Under

by Pensy, Alison

  “You?”

  “Same,” Becca replied. “Had to see the world before I settled down and ended up with a family. Then it would be too late, hey?”

  The two girls sat and watched the surfers for a while. Becca was right, they really were very good. Sam was astounded at the way they held the waves. It was as if they were on some kind of mechanical device keeping them above the water. She cringed at the thought of trying it herself, though. With the grace she possessed, she’d be lucky to stay upright on a surfboard if it was planted firmly on the sand.

  “What are you up to tomorrow?” Becca trilled over the sound of crashing waves, obvious excitement in her voice.

  “Umm…”

  “Well, that settles it,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “You’re coming with me. I am going to show you around Sydney. There are some really cool places to visit. I’ve been here for two weeks now so I’ve managed to see quite a bit. It will be fun showing someone around.”

  “Great,” Sam accepted with a smile.

  Chapter Seven

  Sam stayed in Sydney for a couple of weeks and after having the main attractions under her belt, she got itchy feet to move on. She decided to see some of the country first before settling down to get a job. She bought a bus pass that was valid for a year. Unfortunately, it gobbled up a large chunk of her cash, but she figured she had enough to last her another month before she needed to find work.

  With all her belongings neatly packed away in her backpack, she hopped on a bus heading north up the east coast of Australia, stopping at several spots along the way for a day or two here and there.

  Her trip was allowing her to meet the kindest, most generous people, and she was only a few weeks into it. All along, though, the thoughts of Daniel were never far from the forefront of her mind, but what happened in Bali started to seem like a distant dream now. She’d had some surreal moments in her journey so far and it was becoming harder to think of him as reality and not just a figment of her imagination.

  After riding the bus for many hours, it eventually pulled into a town that she’d originally decided to stop at, but as the bus meandered its way through the town to the station, she had an uneasy feeling about it. It may have just been the eerie mist hovering in the air because they were driving through town very early in the morning, and the sun was just starting to peek above the horizon. Even still, she just felt uneasy.

  One thing Sam was learning on her journey was to listen to and react upon her gut instincts. Her number one rule had become if something didn’t feel right she didn’t do it, no exceptions. It had kept her out of trouble several times. Being a young single female in a strange country there were precautions to take to stay safe. She had grown accustomed to the little voice in her head telling her what to and what not to do. Right now it was screaming at her to stay on the bus, so stay on the bus she did.

  The next stop, several hours up the coast, was a town called Mackay. This town looked very inviting as the bus drove through it to the bus station. Sam decided to give it a go and staggered off the bus feeling travel weary as she grabbed her backpack, which had been off loaded by the driver and placed on the sidewalk.

  By this time she was incredibly tired and feeling homesick once again. The feeling seemed to affect her more when she was tired. If she could have gotten on a plane right at that moment, she would have gone home. But she kept telling herself she’d feel better, and she was certainly not about to go back home and look like a failure for only lasting a month.

  She found an ad for a backpackers called Bazza’s pinned on the station notice board. It was just a block away from the bus station. Without hesitation she wandered down the road and through the entrance. The manager greeted her with a big bright smile.

  “Welcome to Bazza’s,” she said, as Sam all but crawled through the door on her hands and knees into the reception area. “My name is Sophie and I’m the manager.”

  “Hi, I’m Sam,” she said, pulling the backpack from her sagging shoulders and plunking it on the ground in front of her feet. “Got room for one more?”

  “Sure do,” said the cheerful manager, gesturing to the hallway. Sam picked her pack and slung it over one shoulder before trudging after the slim brunette to her room. This place, Sam noticed, was actually built to be a backpackers, unlike most of the others she had stayed in; the majority of which were converted houses.

  The room Sophie showed her to had four bunks in it. This time, though, Sam could tell that she would be the only person to occupy it.

  “We don’t have a same sex policy here as lots of couples travel and they don’t like being separated into different rooms. It just so happens we don’t have any couples staying here right now, and for the time being, you get this room all to yourself,” Sophie said. “Come on, let me introduce you to everyone, we have a great bunch of people staying here right now.” She waited while Sam unloaded her backpack onto one of the bunks and led her down the hall to the kitchen.

  Sam stopped dead in the doorway.

  “Hey, everyone, meet Sam. She’s just arrived. Make her feel at home, won’t you.” Sophie announced in her bubbly voice.

  They all stopped what they were doing, turned to look at Sam and smiled. They were all men!

  “Th-there aren’t any women staying here?” Sam whispered anxiously to lady standing at her side.

  “Ah, don’t you worry, girlie,” Sophie said sensing the unease in Sam’s voice. “These guys are all teddy bears. You’ll be fine. Besides, you get the shower room all to yourself. Now, I have to go and finish up in the office.” With that, she patted Sam on the back and left her standing in the doorway, like a spare part at a wedding, in front of a room full of men who were still looking at her.

  “Er, hi,” Sam squeaked. “Well, it’s been a long day, I’d better hit the sack.” Just as she was ready to turn tail and run for her room a voice called out.

  “Hey, Jensen. Grab Sam a beer, she looks like she needs one.”

  Sam stopped in her tracks. A beer did sound tempting. She was famished and thirsty from her long journey up there.

  The voice sounded American and she looked in the direction from where it came to see a tall, stocky guy with curly black hair and a cheeky grin.

  Another guy, the one called Jensen, approached her with a smile and a beer.

  “Here you go,” he said with a strong Scandinavian accent, handing Sam her beer. “This’ll make you feel better.”

  She wondered if she had the words ‘homesick and lonely’ tattooed on her forehead.

  “Thanks.” She accepted the can being held out to her

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” another man called. “Come in and take a load off. We won’t bite, honestly.”

  Sam took a hesitant step over the threshold into the kitchen and decided that none of them outwardly looked like mad ax-murderers. She decided to take her chances.

  Within minutes she was glad she did. They treated her like a long lost sister. Each and every one of them was a perfect gentleman. They all made her feel so at ease. Some of them had been in Oz for several months; others had only just gotten there. They all swapped stories, told jokes, and Sam laughed so hard her stomach hurt. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the homesick and lonely feeling that plagued her earlier had all but disappeared.

  Several hours, some tall stories, and more than a few cans of beer later, the stocky guy with curly black hair escorted Sam to her room. It turned out that he was Canadian, and everyone called him “Moose”.

  “There you go,” he said as he watched her walk, or more accurately, stumble to her bed. “Goodnight, Sam. Sleep well. We’ll see you in the morning.” Just as he was about to turn and leave, he looked back in her direction and continued. “If you need anything or get worried in the night, just call. One of us will come and see what’s up.” He gave her a warm smile.

  “Thanks,” Sam whispered.

  “Not a problem.” He smiled again and left.

/>   Sam raised her eyebrows as she wandered towards her bed. Nice guys, what a concept. Maybe she was just really unlucky with her first and only choice of boyfriend. Maybe not all men are complete asses, after all. Sam contemplated that thought for a moment, conceding that she hadn’t met one unpleasant man on her trip so far. Certainly none of them had made her feel threatened.

  Thankfully, none of the guys sparked any unwanted feelings in her, not like Daniel had. They just fell effortlessly into the roles of big brother. She still had feelings for Daniel she couldn’t explain. Thoughts of him haunted most of her waking hours until she fell asleep and he was there in her dreams, too.

  It had been six weeks since their encounter in Bali. Yet even though she knew they would never see each other again, he still kept creeping into her thoughts on a regular basis, and she couldn’t keep them suppressed for long. It was hard for Sam to understand why someone she only knew for three days would stay with her for so long.

  Yet again she pushed the feeling aside and fell blissfully into a very deep sleep.

  ***

  “Morning,” a faint voice echoed through Sam’s head.

  “Huh?” Her groggy, sleep-fogged brain responded.

  “Had one too many beers last night, did we?” the bubbly voice continued.

  “Ooh, ow.” Sam brought her hand to her head. Did it have to pound like that? She cracked an eye open to see to whom the offending voice belonged. Her eye eventually focused in on Sophie smiling down at her. Sam wondered if she was always so chipper, or if it was just part of the job description of being Australian.

  Sam groaned. Then kicked herself for getting drunk. Samantha Gallagher! How stupid was that? She inwardly screamed. Did you not learn a thing? Anything could have happened...Anything! Sam closed her eyes on her inner diatribe and brought her palm up to her forehead.

  “I told you they were a great bunch of guys, didn’t I? You look like you had fun last night,” Sophie shouted.

  Actually, she wasn’t shouting, but anything more than a whisper seemed that way to Sam’s very delicate head at that moment in time. She opened her eyes and gave the friendly manager a weak smile.

  “We’re all having breakfast in the kitchen, do you want to join us?” Sophie asked.

  “Um, okay. Thanks,” Sam croaked through dried up vocal chords. “Just give me a minute to get dressed.”

  The door made a soft click behind Sophie as she left the room. Sam dragged herself out of bed and threw on some clothes. The smell of bacon was wafting in through the door and it smelled delicious. Sam’s stomach thought so, too; it growled in anticipation.

  “Okay, okay, I’m going,” she said to her belly button. She was desperate for a glass of water, too. Her mouth felt like the bottom of a birdcage. Not that she knew that from personal experience, but she imagined the bottom of a birdcage would probably be as gross as her mouth felt right now.

  She arrived at the kitchen a little worse for wear from the night before, but thought she put a brave face on it.

  A chorus of ‘Hi, Sam, how ya doing?’ resonated from the table.

  Sam put up a hand up in recognition. “Hi, guys,” she responded weakly.

  “Here, drink this. You’ll feel better,” Jensen said, offering her a cup of black liquid.

  “That’s what you said last night and look where that got me,” she replied.

  The laughter around the table made Sam grimace a little at the spike being driven into her skull. She vowed at that moment to never to drink again.

  Chapter Eight

  “Penny for them?” Sophie interrupted Sam’s thoughts later that day as she sat by the pool staring into space. She was thinking of the one person she could not for the life of her get out of her head.

  “Hmm?” Sam responded absentmindedly.

  “What are you daydreaming about? Whatever it is it must be good, you’ve been sitting there looking into space for ages now.”

  “Sorry? Oh, hi, Sophie, I didn’t hear you walk over.” Sam said coming back to reality with a bump.

  Sophie raised her eyes heavenward at Sam’s response. “Exactly. What on earth is holding you so captivated?”

  Sam sighed. “A guy I met in Bali.”

  Sophie had become a friend in the short time they’d known each other, and for some reason, Sam felt comfortable talking to her about Daniel.

  “Well, he must have been some guy,” Sophie responded.

  “Yeah, he was,” Sam mused. “Probably the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He kept turning up unexpected and uninvited at my hotel, but he really got under my skin. I had a wonderful time with him. Now, I just can’t seem to get him out of my head, which is stupid because I’m never going to see him again. He lives in the middle of nowhere on his parent’s sheep station.”

  “Really?” Sophie said. “And would this Prince Charming have a name, by any chance.”

  “Uh-huh,” Sam sighed again, slipping off into another daydream. “Daniel. That was his name. Daniel Miller.”

  “Hmm, interesting. It sounds like he enjoyed your company, too, otherwise why would he have turned up more than once?”

  Sam pondered that statement for a second. “Guess you have a point there. But it doesn’t matter anyway, he’ll just have to stay in my dreams. It was nice to start off my travels like that, though.”

  “Well, I’ll leave you to your daydream. Who knows, maybe you may even see this Daniel again one day.”

  “Doubt it, Soph. I can’t imagine why I would travel to the outback. It’s not exactly brimming over with touristy things to do, is it?”

  “No, maybe you’re right. Maybe he’s best kept in your dreams after all. Well, I have some paperwork to finish up.”

  “Yeah.” Sam sighed, pushing herself up from the chair she was occupying. “And I have some job hunting to do.” She had felt so at home there that she decided to stay for a while and find work.

  ***

  “Brilliant! You’re back!” Sophie squealed with excitement as soon as Sam stepped foot in the door several hours later. The job hunting had taken up most of the day. Nothing had presented itself thus far, but there were some promising leads. Her sights were set on getting a job on one of the Whit Sunday Islands; it was a huge tourist destination. The lady in the recruitment center said that the season was about to start and they would need people soon.

  “What happened? Did someone win the lottery?”

  “Not quite, but I think you’re going to really enjoy this.” Sophie was positively brimming over with excitement.

  “What?” Sam waited for a response, smiling at her friend’s exuberance.

  “How would you like to go sailing for four days around some of the Whit Sunday Islands and the Barrier Reef?” Sophie asked.

  “Would I?” Sam exclaimed getting caught up in the excitement. “Of course, I would. That’s a silly question.” Then reality hit her and Sam’s smile fell from her face. “Hold on, Soph. I’m running out of money. I don’t have the funds to go sailing; it sounds like it would cost a fortune.”

  “Not a penny.” Sophie announced smugly.

  Sam narrowed her eyes. In her experience, no one ever gave anything away for free.

  “How come?”

  “These two brothers go on fishing trips and invite people from the backpackers to go with them. They love the company and meeting people from around the world. They have one space left, and I instantly thought of you.”

  “No way! Are you kidding me? I’m not going!” Sam exclaimed.

  “Why ever not?” Sophie asked, dumbfounded.

  “I’m not getting on board a boat for four days with two guys I’ve never met. Of course, it’s free, they’ll expect payment in other ways.” Sam stated incredulously.

  “Oh, is that all?”

  Sam goggled at her. “What do you mean is that all?”

  Sophie put a reassuring hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Hun, these guys are old enough to be your father. They have taken loads of travelers out with them, male
and female. They just love the company and want to give people a trip they wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to experience.”

  Sam looked unconvinced prompting Sophie to add. “Sam, I would never send you anywhere, or with anyone, if I thought you would come to harm. These guys are great, they would never do anything to hurt anyone. All I have ever heard back from people who have gone with them is the wonderful time they had.”

  Sam chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. Her gut was telling her that Sophie was right. Sam knew the friendly youth hostel manager that had taken Sam under her wing when she showed up a week ago, homesick and alone, wouldn’t let Sam get involved in anything that may hurt her.

  Sam smiled. “Okay. Of course, I’d love to go.”

  “Great. I’ll give them a call and let them know. They sail tomorrow.”

  Morning eventually made an appearance after a sleep deprived night. Excitement had gotten the best of her. Sam was waiting at the entrance to the backpackers when the two men arrived to pick her up. There was another lady in the car with them who smiled at her as she opened the back door and got in.

  “Hi, you must be Sam?” a gruff looking man in his forties asked as she got in the car. “Glad to have you along. My name’s Bert, this is my Brother Graham,” Graham nodded his welcome. “This is Donna, she’s a traveler, too.” The lady named Donna smiled and shook Sam’s hand as she got in the back seat beside her.

  “Pleased to meet you all.” Sam said. “Thank you for inviting me.”

  “No worries.” Bert and Graham said together.

  “We do this all the time,” continued Bert. “We’ve met some great people over the years, and a few we would have liked to feed to the sharks!”

  They guffawed.

  They must have seen Sam’s horrified look in the rear-view mirror and both started laughing again. “We were only joking, Sam. You’ll be quite safe with us.”