They drove a few miles to the marina and pulled up in front of a beautiful catamaran named Grace. Grace was bobbing rhythmically against the side of the dock she was moored at. Sam glanced around to see many more boats and yachts bobbing in time with her, too. The marina wasn’t huge but there was an interesting array of watercraft in all shapes and sizes. Sam looked at Grace again and decided it was probably one of the larger of the boats there.
“She’s beautiful,” Sam breathed as they all got out of the car.
“Isn’t she just?” agreed Bert.
“She’s our baby,” added Graham.
Donna and Sam spent a little while unloading the supplies and handing them to Graham and Bert while the two brothers stocked Grace with all the provisions needed for their trip. Needless to say, there were several cases of beer. If it’s one thing Sam now realized about the Aussies, they certainly loved their beer.
Bert held out a hand for Sam as she stepped on board and showed her to her cabin. It was tiny but comfortable. She certainly wasn’t complaining; they were taking her sailing around the islands free of charge. What an experience. She could hardly contain herself, she was so excited.
About half an hour later, the supplies were all stowed away safely, and most importantly, the beer was in the cooler and they were ready to set sail. Sam watched while Bert and Graham undid the mooring ropes and pushed the boat away from the dock. The engine roared into life; white sea-foam bubbled behind the boat as the propeller spun under the water.
There was a warm breeze blowing. The sun was out, and there was not a cloud in the sky. Sam leaned against the back railing, watching the other boats in the marina bobbing up and down next to their moorings as they faded into the distance. Grace made her way into the open ocean. The water sparkled in the sunlight, the wake behind them making crests of white on the aqua blue water. The breeze blew through her hair and she felt on top of the world.
“You don’t want to be doing that,” Graham said, appearing beside her holding a can of beer. He leaned over and rested his forearms on the railing.
Sam turned to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, not that she knew of. She didn’t want to get into trouble the first five minutes on board.
“Don’t want to be doing what?” she asked, wondering what she could have possibly done wrong staring out to sea.
“You shouldn’t ever look back,” he stated.
Sam’s expression turned to one of confusion and she raised an eyebrow at him in question.
He added. “It’s bad luck to look back. You should only ever look forward, in every aspect of your life.”
Sam wondered if the man could read her mind. The past couple of years had been spent constantly looking back on what had happened to her, knowing that she could have done something to avoid it; but by the time she realized her mistake, it was too late. Was it doing her any good to keep dwelling on the past? Absolutely not. But so far, it was just something she didn’t seem to have the power to let go of. It annoyed her that she was allowing something to have that kind of power over her. But, whenever she asked herself why she couldn’t let it go, no answers presented themselves.
She looked up at Graham and smiled, then took his advice. Sam turned around and leaned against the railing to look forward on their journey. The open ocean lay in front of them, full of hope for a safe and enjoyable trip. Maybe Graham had a point. She was sure that was a wink he gave her as he turned and walked toward the galley.
Chapter Nine
The weekend flew by far too quickly, and Sam couldn’t believe they were driving her back to the backpackers already. Boy, did she have some tales to tell. She couldn’t wait to tell Sophie about all of her adventures sailing around the islands. She shuddered as she remembered being chased by a shark whilst swimming back to the boat from an uninhabited island. It had felt surreal being on the island and knowing she was the only one there. But on her swim back to the boat that was moored in the bay, she had become aware of Donna standing on deck waving at her and shouting.
Wanting to know what all the commotion was, Graham had joined her and he had started waving, too. When Sam had gotten within earshot of them, she realized, with a sickening feeling in her gut, what they were shouting. SHARK!
Sam couldn’t remember ever swimming that fast in her life, but she managed to make it back to the boat before the shark made it to her. No sooner had her hand touched the swimming ladder, Graham and Bert leaned over the railing, grabbed her hands and launched her out of the water. She was amazed her arms had stayed in their sockets. Sam turned around just in time to see a slick gray fin slip ominously back under the surface.
She had also stayed on an island that was owned by a friend of Graham and Bert’s. He was a colorful character who lived alone on the island with his two dogs, Rum and Whiskey.
“Did you have a good time?” Sophie’s bright and cheery face greeted Sam as she wandered into the backpackers.
“Fantastic.” Sam replied. “Graham and Bert were lovely, they caught loads of Coral Trout and even gave one to me. Look.” Sam held up her fish with pride and sheepishly added. “I have absolutely no idea how to cook it. Got any tips?”
Sophie’s eyes grew wide as she looked at the fish Sam was holding up. “Wow, that’s a big fish. One that size would cost a fortune if you bought it in the store. And, yes, I can show you how to cook it.” She took hold of Sam’s arm and headed her off towards the kitchen.
A little while later, the smell of cooking was wafting through the building and several of the lads had started to follow their noses.
“Hey, girl, good to have you back.” A big friendly giant swooped upon her.
After he’d finished hugging the life out of her, Sam looked up at the Canadian.
“Hey, Moose. How are you? From the size of that hug, I’d be tempted to say you missed me just a bit.”
Color rose in his cheeks and he cleared his throat.
“Did we ever! This place is just not the same without you,” a distinct Scandinavian accent cut in.
“Jensen. Great to see you, too.”
Jensen wandered over to give Sam a hug, then a couple more of the lads followed suit.
“Still no girls here, then?” Sam said with a giggle.
“Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?” Sophie grunted from where she stood by the stove.
“Now come on, Soph. You know as well as we do, that you’re one of the lads.” Sam teased.
“Yeah, you’re right.” she agreed.
“Well, dinner’s nearly done. Are you guys going to join us? There’s plenty for everyone.”
The lads didn’t need to be asked twice. They swarmed around the long dining table like bees around honey. In the backpacking world, getting a free meal that you didn’t have to cook was like striking gold.
Sophie helped Sam dish out the food. She had given her step-by-step instructions on how to cook the fish and had supervised her through the whole ordeal, but Sam could proudly state that she had done all the hands-on cooking. From the pleasurable moans coming from the lads, she figured she had done a pretty good job. Feeling smug just couldn’t begin to describe it.
After they had finished eating and were cleaning up the mess, Sophie turned to Sam with the same excited look in her eyes that she’d had when telling Sam about the boat trip.
“What now?” Sam asked hesitantly. “Last time you had that look on your face, you sent me sailing around some islands in the Barrier Reef and I had the most incredible weekend of my life.”
Sophie smiled, trying hard to disguise the smugness she was feeling. “I have a proposition for you, and I think that you’ll enjoy this just as much.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“Well, I grew up on a sheep station. My parents own one. A friend of their’s, who also owns a sheep station, needs some help for the lambing and shearing season. I knew you were running out of money and wanted to experience the true Australia, this would help you wit
h both. I thought you would like to consider it. I told my Mum that I would ask you and let her know tomorrow, before they look elsewhere for someone.”
“Wow, that is a proposition. I hadn’t even thought of doing something like that. I just assumed I’d get a job serving in a restaurant or something. But being a ranch hand didn’t even enter my head. Don’t you need some kind of experience for that kind of thing?”
“No, not really,” she said. “They’ll show you how to do everything. It basically involves working with sheep on a day to day basis, and maybe some cattle.”
“Let me think about it,” Sam said, forcing a smile.
That night, Sam lay in her bunk thinking of nothing but Sophie’s proposal. A knot was tying itself in her stomach, the same fearful knot she had experienced while being chased by the shark. If she had to admit it, she felt terrified.
She had come to think of the backpackers as her home, she felt safe there surrounded by Sophie, Moose, Jensen and the others. But money was running low and a job had to be found in the near future. Nothing had turned up in the town and time was growing short. If a job didn’t present itself soon, she would have to go home; Sam was determined that was not going to happen just a couple of months into her adventure.
Sam also reminded herself that staying in one town for the whole year would be silly. The whole objective of her trip was to travel around the country and see as much of it as she could. How easy it had been to slip into a comfort zone, and now it was terrifying her to think of leaving.
She mentally slapped herself while telling herself to suck it up and take a leap of faith. Hadn’t she come to see the real country, not just the touristy places that everyone else sees? Didn’t she want to do things that are not common place for people to do? Things she could never do back home in England? Working in a restaurant could be done anywhere in the world. Sam should know, she had spent the previous year working in several to earn enough money for her trip. Serving tables would not make for interesting story telling, of that she was certain.
She remembered the way Daniel had described what he did on his parent’s sheep station. Riding around on horses and motorbikes, herding sheep, and goodness knows what other kinds of exciting jobs she’d experience. Now that would definitely make for some interesting tales.
Sam didn’t get much sleep that night. Excitement, fear of the unknown, anticipation; they all played a hand in her restlessness, but first thing in the morning, she would tell Sophie that she’d take her parent’s friends up on their offer. Sam was going to be a jillaroo.
***
Sophie was excited when Sam gave her decision and she got on the phone to her mother straight away.
“Mum told them to expect you next Monday,” Sophie said, and then proceeded to make arrangements for Sam to be met by the people she was going to work for.
Several phone calls later, she was handing Sam a piece of paper with the name of the hotel to meet her new employers, the time she had to be there, and their names.
A few days later, Sam was being seen onto the bus by the group of friends she had grown very close to. Sophie, Moose, and Jensen had come with her to the bus station. Several hugs later, she was ready to board.
A lump was building in the back of Sam’s throat, knowing she would likely never see any of these people again. Goodbyes were not her favorite pastime, but they were part of the job description of a traveler. She bit back the tears as Sophie handed her a ticket to the middle of nowhere.
“You’ll do great, kid. Just see if you don’t,” Sophie said.
“Thanks for everything,” Sam said. “I had the best time of my life here in Mackay. I’ll never forget any of you.”
Sam gave everyone one last hug before turning and climbing aboard the bus.
As the bus pulled out of the station, Sam returned the enthusiastic waves of her friends. She wondered what the next leg of her adventure would have in store for her as she watched her friend’s faces fade into the distance.
It was a long journey to the middle of nowhere. Sam was fourteen hours into the eighteen-hour drive it was going to take to get to the town where she was to be met by Sophie’s friends. From there, the family lived about an hour’s drive from civilization.
She couldn’t comprehend it. That truly was the middle of nowhere. In England, you are never more than seventy-five miles away from the coast anywhere in the country.
Sam pondered that thought while looking out of the window at the countryside going by. It hadn’t changed much for several hours now, just a whole lot of nothing as far as the eye could see. The earth had turned deep terracotta red, and, as far as dirt goes, it was very pretty. The repetitiveness of the surroundings must have made her tired. She eventually drifted off to sleep.
Upon waking a few hours later, she looked at her watch and guessed that her trip must be coming to an end shortly. Sam huffed out a sigh, relieved to be on the tail end of such a long journey. It wasn’t a bad guess, either. Some buildings came into view on the horizon. As the bus drew closer to it, the town started to take shape.
The bus pulled down a road that looked like it must be the main street. The town seemed fairly small, but the main street was lined with the essentials needed for people who lived in the country. There was a big grocery store, a few shops which included a clothing store and a shoe store, a couple of bars and restaurants, a bank, a small hotel, and even a one screen cinema.
Her prospective employers were to meet her in the reception area of the only hotel. The bus rolled to a stop outside the hotel. The air brakes hissed as Sam stepped down onto the sidewalk. Feeling tired, and probably looking just a tad bedraggled, she collected her backpack from the baggage that had been off loaded by the bus driver. She took a deep breath to try and stave off the mixture of nerves, and the homesick monster that was threatening to creep out of his hiding place and strangle her. She looked up at the hotel, took another deep breath and headed towards the entrance.
Once inside, the couple there to meet her spied the weary traveler instantly. Sam came to the conclusion that she was probably not that hard to spot. She suspected a town like this didn’t have an abundance of travelers, if any, and it wouldn’t surprise her if she stood out like a sore thumb. They made a beeline for her and she realized it was now too late to cut and run. That would just be rude, so she steeled her nerves and smiled as they approached.
The lady, probably in her late fifties, was tall and rather well built. She was a matronly figure, with silver blonde hair and kind eyes. The man with her was strikingly opposite in his stature. He looked older and was shorter and more wiry than his wife. His face was weather worn, and his eyes were much stricter looking. The look he gave Sam made her feel as if he were eyeing a piece of prized livestock that he was considering buying.
Holding out a hand as they got closer, the man introduced himself.
“G’day, I’m Paul and this is my wife Julie,” he stated. “You must be Sam.”
Sam gave the man a nervous nod, what had she gotten herself into? “Pleased to meet you,” Sam said, trying to push down the quiver in her voice. Paul made her feel a bit uncomfortable. He had very stern features, and she didn’t like the way he kept looking at her with a critical eye. She wondered if she should moo or bleat, or something.
Julie, on the other hand, looked very kind and motherly. Sam thought the lady must have been able to tell she felt uncomfortable with her husband. She placed her hands on Sam’s shoulders and guided her towards the restrooms, suggesting that she might like to freshen up after such a long journey. Sam nodded her agreement, relieved to have an excuse to get out of Paul’s line of sight.
Stopping short of the doors, Julie whispered. “Don’t worry about Paul, his bark is much worse than his bite.”
Sam forced a smile and carried on walking towards the ladies room, not quite sure if what Julie had disclosed was supposed to make her feel better or not. With a heavy sigh, she put her hand up and pushed through the restroom door.
>
Once inside, she looked around. This was not familiar territory. Sam’s shoulders slumped. She had just walked into the men’s room right in front of her new employer. A man’s laughter erupted outside. Sam closed her eyes and hung her head.
“Way to go, Samantha,” she chastised herself. “That’s just great.” Knowing her luck, he was probably the type of person who would never let her live it down.
Much to her relief the restroom was empty, or so she thought, until she heard the toilet flush in the only stall.
“Oh, buggar,” she cursed under her breath. “That’s all I need, to get laughed at from both sides of the door.”
She spun around to reach for the exit when she heard the sound of the bolt sliding across on the stall door. Footsteps resounded on the hard tile floor.
“Too late.” Sam closed her eyes and waited for the response she was expecting.
“Sam?”
Her eyes flew open. That was not the response she was expecting. A familiar voice caressed her ears, stopping her dead in her tracks. Her heart started pounding so hard she could hardly hear herself think.
It couldn’t be him, could it? Australia is such a big place, what are the chances? She wanted so much for it to be the person who had haunted her thoughts and dreams for the past couple of months, but dared not turn around and have her hopes shot to the ground by a cruel twist of mistaken identity.
“Samantha?” the voice repeated. His warm timbre just as she remembered it. “Is that you?”
Sam felt sure he could hear her heart pounding over the noise of the cistern filling up. Finally, she started to turn. Her body was screaming at her to move faster, but her brain was reluctant to send it the right signals to do so. After what seemed like an eternity, her eyes finally met his. Those beautiful blue eyes. She’d recognize them anywhere. It was him.
“Daniel?”
Summer Down Under Page 6