‘What?’
Abbie glanced up. ‘Nothing.’
‘You looked weird just then.’
‘I was thinking about Kaelee’s boyfriend. He said something similar about it being isolated out here.’
‘He’s right.’
‘I asked Rupe to get onto the phone company again and insist they fix my line. It’s hopeless the way they don’t do anything.’
‘They’re all much the same, telcos.’
‘But this is infrastructure. It’s ridiculous how they get away with it. I’m going to get some work done before lunch.’
‘Me too. I’ll go out and sit in the sun. I have an assignment to finish.’
***
Abbie was deeply immersed in capturing the light falling through leaves when voices broke her concentration. Frowning, she wiped her brush and moved to look out the window to where Georgia had set herself up at the outdoor table with her laptop. She was on her feet, nearly out of Abbie’s line of sight, and whoever she was talking to wasn’t visible at all, obscured by the laundry wall.
Rita? Most likely; in fact, she was the only possibility. Connie, and any other visitor coming down the drive on foot because the gate was locked, would go to the front door and Jet hadn’t barked so this visitor had to have come through from the side paddock. Rita must have recovered from her illness and feel strong enough to go on a complaining trip, which meant the illness hadn’t slowed her down for long. Rupe had only called in on her yesterday.
Abbie went to the back door but Georgia was already on her way inside with a peculiar expression on her face. Rita would do that to the unwary.
‘Who’s there? Is it Rita?’
Georgia shook her head at the same moment Kaelee appeared behind her with an overnight bag in her hand. She either had a supply of blue T-shirts or she was wearing the same one as before, rumpled and stained. The jeans had dirty knees.
‘Hello, Abbie.’ A smile flickered on her lips then gave up. She looked close to tears.
‘Kaelee. What a surprise. Are you on your own? Where’s Aaron?’
‘We had a fight.’
Her back to Kaelee, Georgia caught Abbie’s eye and raised her eyebrows.
‘But where is he? How did you get here? I thought you were going home to Sydney.’
‘He wanted to stay a bit longer and do some bushwalking.’
‘Is that what you fought about?’ How stupid. But maybe they were the people Rita saw trespassing. The timing would be right for when they left her place but that was days ago—the middle of last week. Hard to imagine Aaron bushwalking …
‘No—it was something else, something …’ She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
‘But where is he?’
‘I … I don’t know. Not exactly.’
‘But he has the car, doesn’t he? Did he drive off and leave you?’ Wouldn’t put it past him, the weasel.
‘Sort of.’
‘Come in and have a cup of tea and we’ll work out what to do,’ said Georgia. ‘Mum, stop interrogating her.’
‘I just wanted to find out what’s happened.’
‘It’s okay,’ Kaelee said. ‘I know I surprised you. I’m sorry. I should go.’
‘Don’t be silly. Come in,’ said Georgia. ‘Your bloke will most likely turn up and apologise for being a dick.’
That degree of self-awareness on Aaron’s part sounded highly unlikely to Abbie but she smiled and said, ‘Georgia’s right, Kaelee. Come in and we’ll work something out. Worst comes to worst we can take you to Wagga to catch the train or the bus to Sydney.’
‘Gosh, but that’s so much trouble for you. I know you have lots of work to do.’ She looked Abbie directly in the eye when she said that. ‘I’d hate to interrupt something so important.’ But she stepped into the kitchen and put the bag down.
‘I can take you,’ said Georgia smoothly. ‘Don’t worry.’
Kaelee ignored her, maintaining her focus on Abbie.
‘Abbie, I know this is the most awful cheek, but would you mind terribly if I had a shower?’
‘Oh. All right. Were you camping?’ She needed a wash. Now that she was closer it became more obvious.
‘Sort of, that was part of what we argued about.’
‘You know where the bathroom is. Do you need a towel?’
‘Yes, please.’ She picked the bag up and headed for the bathroom.
Georgia shrugged at Abbie and began filling the jug for the tea. Abbie hurried after the visitor.
When the bathroom door closed and the shower started up, Abbie said quietly, ‘What do you think? Is this really peculiar or is it just me?’
‘Peculiar how?’
‘Come on! Kaelee turning up like this. Coming in the back way. Saying Aaron drove off and left her in the bush.’
‘He might have. You said you didn’t like him much, that he was weird. Maybe that’s the type of thing he does.’
‘Possibly. But that whole bushwalking story sounds wrong to me. He wasn’t the outdoorsy hiking type and they didn’t have any gear that I saw, so what were they doing? Sleeping in the car and walking aimlessly around all day? Why not go back to the motel and use it as a base?’
‘Maybe they don’t have enough money for a motel, maybe they moved around. They might have a tent. I don’t know, do I?’ The jug clicked off. Georgia spooned tea into the pot and added the water.
‘Does she seem different to you?’ Abbie took three mugs from the shelf.
‘Yes, actually. She’s not as shy as she was before. And there is one odd thing. When she walked across the paddock just now, it was almost as if she was acting surprised to see me but wasn’t really. It was kind of as if she already knew I was here.’
‘She couldn’t have known you were coming. I didn’t know until the other day and that was after they’d gone.’
‘I know.’
‘Did she come across the paddock? Not down from the mountain on the track through the yard gate?’
‘Yes, from the side across that open bit of land. She climbed through the fence.’
‘Did you see which direction she came from before that?’
‘No. Does it matter?’
‘Not really, I suppose. I wondered if she’d come through from next door or over the back from the national park.’
‘No idea.’
‘They must have been the trespassers Rita was complaining about.’
The shower stopped. Abbie took the milk from the fridge and put it on the table. She sat down. Ten to eleven. What a nuisance the girl was, appearing again. Georgia could hardly spare the time either. Especially not wasting half a day taking Kaelee to Wagga.
Which reminded her—Louise was expecting those watercolours. If they all went to Wagga she could get that done. She’d get them ready when this cup of tea was over and make the trip more worthwhile.
‘How’s the assignment going?’ she asked Georgia.
‘Slowly. What about yours?’
‘Not bad. When’s yours due?’
‘End of next week. You?’
‘I have a few months yet.’
The bathroom door opened and closed. Abbie said, ‘When you drive Kaelee to Wagga, I’ll come. Louise wants some watercolours. I promised to send them last week but I haven’t had a chance to do it.’
‘We can go as soon as you’re ready. The sooner the better,’ she added in a lower voice.
‘Good.’
Kaelee came in and sat at the table. She’d pulled her newly washed hair into a ponytail. Damp spots darkened the neckline of her fresh T-shirt. Lemon yellow this time, and she had black jeans instead of the denim. Georgia pushed a mug of tea across to her.
‘Feel better?’ asked Abbie.
‘Yes, thanks. Would it be okay if I did some washing? These are my last clean clothes.’
‘We thought we’d take you in to Wagga today so you could get home,’ said Georgia.
‘You don’t need to do that. I’m not in a rush.�
�� She bit at her lower lip. ‘Aaron might turn up. I want to be here when he does.’
‘Is that likely?’ Georgia asked.
‘He might. I’d like to wait a bit and give him a chance.’
‘If you stay you’ll have to sleep on the couch in the living room,’ said Abbie. ‘Is he worth waiting for?’
‘I think so. I know he’s not … that you didn’t … like him much but … he can be difficult and he tells lies sometimes. I know that.’ She fiddled with her mug of tea, turning it around and back. ‘I don’t mind the couch.’
‘What sort of lies does he tell?’ Abbie frowned. She knew he was a liar and thought that was okay?
‘He isn’t really an art student. He was at art school but he dropped out.’
Hardly surprising. ‘Are you at art school?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why did he lie about that?’ asked Georgia.
‘He wanted to impress Abbie but he thought she wouldn’t think much of him if he told her the truth.’
‘I wouldn’t have cared. If he wants to be an artist he can go about it anyway he wants.’
‘That’s what I said but he doesn’t listen to me. He has strong opinions about things.’ The little smile appeared. ‘He’s very intelligent.’
‘Did he lie about anything else?’ Abbie asked.
Kaelee nodded. She licked her lips and rubbed them together for a few moments before replying. ‘You’ll be upset about this and I don’t blame you. I thought it was a terrible thing to do but he said …’ She stopped and took a quick sip of tea. ‘He thought you would need us to stay and look after you but then you didn’t and you wanted us to go. It made him angry. He gets angry sometimes. Really angry.’
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Georgia. ‘What did he do?’
‘He put something in my food, didn’t he?’ asked Abbie slowly. Icy bands tightened around her chest. ‘To make me sick.’
‘Yes. I’m so sorry.’
‘What sort of lunatic does that? Why didn’t you say something, you idiot?’ Georgia glared at Kaelee whose head was bent, eyes fixed on her mug. ‘That’s unbelievably stupid. And dangerous. What was it?’
‘Eye drops. He said Abbie would throw up but it wouldn’t hurt her. And it’s not dangerous.’ She looked up with a flash of defiance. ‘I’m not an idiot, Georgia. Despite what you always thought. You and Sophie and that crowd.’
Eye drops? Who knew that? Had he come prepared with them and the knowledge of their secondary use? Why? Who was this boy?
Georgia shook her head. ‘Kaelee, we never thought that. I’m sorry if you felt we did. You stopped hanging out with us. We thought you were just interested in different stuff—your art. You were always really good at that whereas we …’ She shrugged. ‘What can I say? I don’t know. I’m sorry.’
Kaelee didn’t appear to be as sorry as she said, having successfully turned defence into an attack on Georgia.
Abbie said loudly before either of them got going again, ‘That’s one of the nastiest things I’ve ever had done to me. And after I’d invited you to stay! I can’t believe anyone would do that. He must be a bit nuts.’ Was Kaelee as bad as her boyfriend under that meek-girl face she showed the world? She’d certainly stored up some resentment against Georgia, but why come here to harass Abbie? ‘He hasn’t been prowling about, has he? Slashing tyres round the place, shooting possums?’
‘No. He’s not that prowler,’ meek-girl Kaelee said, and added, ‘The motel manager told us about him.’
‘Have you known this guy long?’ asked Georgia.
A tinge of pink brightened her cheeks. ‘He’s my first proper boyfriend and he really likes me. I never thought I’d find someone who liked me for me.’
‘So where did you meet?’
‘At a party.’
‘But not the one where I wasn’t?’ said Georgia with a raised eyebrow. ‘What was that about? Another lie?’
‘We didn’t think Abbie would talk us to us, and when Aaron found out I knew your family he suggested we say we’d spoken to Georgia.’
Kaelee was besotted, that much was true if nothing else she’d said was.
‘How did you know I lived out here?’
‘My mum told me. My little sisters go to the same school we went to. Christa and Ivy. Do you remember them, Georgia?’
‘Christa, I do. She was in year eight when we left. Ivy was still in primary school.’
Abbie nodded. Of course. The mother’s gossip network. If Kaelee had younger sisters at the same school, no doubt word got around almost as fast as in the Taylor’s Bend version. She stood up. She wanted this girl out of her house.
‘Let’s get that washing on, Kaelee. We can go to Wagga tomorrow.’
‘Kaelee, if that bloke turns up, I think you should think very hard about going with him,’ said Georgia. ‘He sounds weird to me.’
‘He’s not weird, he’s just not at ease with people he admires. It makes him say and do things he doesn’t really mean. He had a tough childhood. His father beat him and his mother up.’
‘That’s horrible. Poor kid.’
‘Does he hit you?’ asked Abbie. Was that was this was about?
Kaelee squeezed her lips together, rubbing them against each other. She nodded but burst out with, ‘He doesn’t mean to. I just make him angry sometimes.’
‘Oh for god’s sake! Ditch the guy,’ said Georgia. ‘For all his horrendous faults, my father never did that.’
‘No, he saved that up for strangers,’ said Kaelee. ‘At least that’s what it said in the newspapers.’
‘Your washing,’ said Abbie firmly.
Kaelee scrambled to her feet and ran to fetch her dirty clothes.
***
Rupe watched the accident investigation team from Wagga drawing marks on the road and measuring distances. Now that the ambulance had come and gone with the two car occupants, Doc Jensen had taken the truck driver and followed the ambulance to hospital; he was in charge of directing traffic around the scene and waiting for the tow truck. The fire department had sent a unit to neutralise the fuel spill, and white foam lay in drifts around the wrecked sedan.
He’d been able to move the truck off the road and clear one lane for the trickle of cars coming by, but it’d be an hour or two before he could leave the scene. He’d head in to the hospital then, to take statements from those who were able to give them, although he’d already had a chat to the truckie. The poor bloke said he’d come round the sharp bend onto the straight bit and the other car had suddenly swerved into his path. Nothing he could do, although he’d wrenched the wheel to the left in a vain attempt to avoid the crash.
‘Suicidal,’ he said. ‘Or the driver had a heart attack or something.’
Unfortunately the couple who were first at the scene hadn’t witnessed the accident. The medical report might be able to fill in a few gaps.
One of the accident investigators said. ‘Doesn’t look like the car tried to brake at all. the truck driver did. You can see.’ He pointed at black skid marks clearly visible on his side of the road and veering off to the side. ‘It’s too narrow for him to get right out of the way.’
‘So you think the other driver might have collapsed or something? Mechanical failure, perhaps?’
‘More likely he blacked out for some reason and lost control. Brakes and steering rarely fail these days and that car is only about five years old.’
‘Okay, thanks.’
Ten minutes later the tow truck roared up. Barry jumped down from the cab.
‘G’day Rupe. Looks like a bad one. Anyone hurt?’
‘The couple in the car have gone to hospital. The driver is in a serious condition. The truckie is okay but he’s in shock.’
‘Okay. I’ll get this on board.’
‘Thanks, mate.’
Rupe didn’t arrive home till late afternoon and spent the next couple of hours filing reports. Two cups of coffee kept him going and when he finally finished it was time to
start thinking about what to have for dinner. Lunch had been a salad roll from the hospital cafe many hours ago and his belly was complaining. On investigation, his fridge was as empty as his stomach. Making the trip to the supermarket followed by cooking made him feel tired just thinking about it. A glass of wine and a meal cooked by someone else held more appeal after the day he’d had. A nice thick steak, chips and salad with maybe something fruit pie shaped, with ice cream, to follow.
He locked up and headed for the pub.
By the time he was halfway through his steak, the bar was buzzing. The accident was the main topic of conversation and speculation so Rupe had plenty of questions directed his way but was only able to give the basic facts as he knew them. The couple in the car weren’t locals, they were passing through on a driving holiday, the truckie had made a delivery in Willoughby and was heading for his next stop. The wife had serious injuries, the husband not too bad. Both were in hospital. The truckie was fine. The preliminary medical report said the man had suffered a minor heart attack.
‘Were they speeding?’
‘No evidence of that. In fact, the opposite. Both drivers said they were going slowly because of the bends in the road. If either vehicle had been speeding someone would have died.’
‘That’s the third bad accident on that bend,’ said someone. ‘The council needs to do something about it.’
‘Yeah, before someone gets killed.’
‘Don’t see what they can do,’ said someone else and the discussion veered away into a retelling of the failings of the local council and their total neglect of the Taylor’s Bend citizens and their environs.
‘Hey Rupe, have you caught the prowler yet?’ Ben from one of the outlying farms.
‘Had any problems?’ Rupe put his knife and fork together on his empty plate and reached for his wine.
‘Nah, but Frank’s barn had graffiti sprayed on it.’
‘What did it say?’
‘Nothing much. Just those—what do they call ’em? Tags?’
‘Sounds like kids,’ chimed in Graham. ‘Happened to my cousin and his neighbours in Bindubi.’
‘Did they report it?’ asked Rupe. Bindubi, Willoughby, Taylor’s Bend.
‘No point.’
‘Taylor’s Creek’s had trouble, too,’ said Ben. Which put Taylor’s Bend in the centre of a fifty-k diameter circle.
The Secrets that Lie Within (Taylor's Bend, #1) Page 13