by Magro, Mandy
‘What’s happened, Judy? We don’t know anything except that there’s a huge ball of black smoke out there,’ Daniel said, glancing to the sky, which was turning blacker with each passing second.
Judy’s face changed and she took a few deep breaths. She stood back from Sarah, still holding her hands, and was clearly searching for the right words. Sarah could feel Judy’s hands trembling as they held her own.
‘Brad crashed the chopper. He was flying a bit too low and the blades clipped a tree, bringing the chopper down on its side. Stumpy saw it all happen, and he and the boys raced over to Brad to help. The chopper had already caught on fire by the time they got there. Liam and Patrick have quite bad burns to their arms from dragging Brad out. He’s unconscious but still breathing, and I’ve just called the flying doctors. Once they arrive we’ll have a better idea of his condition. Matt and Brooke have already gone out there. Steve and Georgia are heading out now, and you can jump in the back of the ute and go with them. I was going to come over and tell you as soon as I could. I only found out ten minutes ago myself when Stumpy and Chris came tearing over on the horses to tell us. Our two-way radio has been playing up lately and they couldn’t get through to us, so they rode over as fast as the horses would carry them.’ She paused and looked deep into Sarah’s eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, Sarah, to be the bearer of bad news.’
Sarah’s face had drained of all colour and her mouth was so dry she didn’t think she’d be able to speak. Her mind was on loop, replaying the scene Judy had described, and she felt like she was in the middle of a horrific nightmare.
Before she knew what had happened, Sarah collapsed into Lily’s arms, tears flooding her face. Daniel rubbed Sarah’s back while her whole body shuddered with sobs.
Steve shouted over to the group from the ute, ‘We’re going now. Are you lot coming? Jump up in the back, quickly!’
Sarah lifted her head and gave him a nod. She whistled for Duke to stay put with Judy. He let out a whine but sat down on top of Judy’s feet in his eagerness to do the right thing. It was enough to lift Sarah’s heart up off the floor and give her courage for what lay ahead.
Sarah, Lily and Daniel ran over to join Slim, Stumpy and Chris, who were already in the back of the ute. Once they were all safely in, Steve planted his foot and headed in the direction of the billowing cloud of black smoke.
Slim rubbed Sarah on the shoulder. ‘He’s gonna be okay, mate. He’s in a bit of a state now, so try and stay strong when you see him, but at least he’s alive. I was too far away from the crash to get to him quick enough. I’m sorry, mate.’
Sarah just nodded in reply. She didn’t trust herself to speak. She needed time to take in what was happening.
Stumpy smiled weakly at her. It was clear he didn’t know what to say but his eyes told a thousand words. His face was covered in black soot and his left arm had ugly-looking burns on it. His shirt was torn all the way down the front, leaving his grazed and bloody chest bare. He sat against the back of the ute and hung his head in his hands. Sarah wrapped her arm around his shoulder.
‘Thanks for helping Brad, Stumpy. I know you would have done your best to stop him from getting hurt.’ Up close she could see just how bad his arm was and she winced at the thought of how painful it must be.
‘I tried so hard to pull him loose, mate, but his legs were jammed in there and I think … I think they broke when the three of us finally pulled him free. He was screaming for us to get him out cos the chopper was going to blow. He had fuel leaking all over him. His feet were on fire when we got him out. I tried my hardest, mate, I really did. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to him quicker.’ Stumpy was not a man to show his emotions but he had tears running down his weathered, filthy face. The shock of it all looked like it was beginning to hit him hard and Sarah tried to hold in the tears that were threatening to appear yet again.
‘You did what you had to do, Stumpy. He wouldn’t be alive at all if you hadn’t been there to drag him out. Be proud of what you’ve done and don’t beat yourself up over not having done more. He’s lucky to have you as a mate.’
‘Thanks, Sarah,’ was all Stumpy could muster. They sat there in silence for the rest of the trip.
Brad was lying under a tree on a blanket that Matt had laid out for him. He was conscious now, and screaming in pain. Wet towels wrapped with ice were lying on his burns. Liam and Patrick had wet towels draped across their arms. Sarah could see Brooke sitting beside Brad, crying as she held a towel to his head.
Matt looked over in her direction as she climbed off the back of the ute and the compassion in his eyes enveloped her. He was kneeling beside Brad, trying to soothe him. Brooke stood to one side, giving Sarah room.
Sarah ran to Brad’s side, and the reality of the accident came crashing down on her properly. Brad’s face was badly wollen, with shards of broken glass sticking out below his left eye. There was blood oozing from cuts all over his body. His right leg was lying at an unnatural angle. He looked like he had been tumbled around by a group of angry bulls.
Sarah fell to the ground and touched Brad gently on the hand. She was filled with a wave of compassion and love. Despite what had happened between them, she loved Brad, and to see him in such pain was agonising. She prayed silently that he would be okay. Brad looked up at her and tried to grip her hand as another wave of pain came crashing down on his bent, bloodied and broken body. He screamed out in agony, and it was all Sarah could do to stop herself from screaming with him.
She stole a glance at his legs and quickly looked away; Brad’s boots had melted on to his feet. It was a horrific sight. Steve and Georgia were busy attending to some of Brad’s smaller wounds with their medical kit, while the rest of the mustering crew stood back and gave them some space. Sarah wondered if Brad was even going to make it to the hospital.
Thirty long minutes later, the flying doctors’ plane came into view. Relief flooded through Sarah as she watched the doctor and nurse come running. Within minutes the doctor had given Brad strong painkillers and was getting him loaded onto the plane to be taken to the Mt Isa hospital. It looked like Brad had two broken legs, quite severe head injuries and suspected internal bleeding. The burns to his feet could not be properly assessed until his boots were removed. Meanwhile, the nurse had dressed Liam, Patrick and Stumpy’s burns and told them all to take it easy over the next few days.
The shocked group stood near the smoking wreck of the chopper and watched the plane take off. The fire in the chopper was slowly burning itself out and there was nothing more to be done for the time being.
The sun was just setting when Steve’s ute pulled up out the front of the homestead. The exhausted and smoke-blackened group sat silently in the back. Judy came running out to hear how Brad was, and insisted that they all stay for dinner. Sarah thought she might never be hungry again, but couldn’t bring herself to say no to Judy, who was only trying to help. Duke ran to Sarah’s side and rested his head against her thigh. He gazed up at her like he knew exactly what she’d been through. She scratched him behind the ears and told him it was all going to be okay. She just needed to believe that herself.
Chapter Eleven
THE next four days went by in a blur. Questions flashed through Sarah’s head day and night, and she found herself wondering whether Brad might’ve crashed because he was upset about their fight, or whether it was just a horrible accident. She tried to banish these questions from her mind, but they wouldn’t go away. She knew she shouldn’t blame herself, but it didn’t make the accident any easier to come to grips with.
Judy had insisted she stay on as cook, much to her relief. Sarah had wrestled with her conscience, wondering how much to tell Judy and the men about what happened the morning of the accident. Finally she settled on telling them that she and Brad had decided to break up the night of the party. She couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone about Brad smoking pot. It felt like she’d be kicking him when he was down.
Sarah had been ringing the hospital
twice a day to see how Brad was going. Amazingly, he’d suffered no internal bleeding but had two broken legs and a shattered cheekbone. As expected, his feet were badly burnt, but given time they would mend with minimal scarring. Apparently the thick work socks Brad had worn underneath his boots had saved his feet from irreparable damage – just. It could be quite some time before he’d work again, though.
Lily and Daniel were leaving tomorrow, and Sarah knew it was going to be hard at the station without them. She reminded herself that she wouldn’t be alone. Over the last few days, she’d got to know Georgia more, and realised she was a great chick. And Judy had been checking in on Sarah throughout each day, making sure she was doing okay. Sarah knew she’d have support when she needed it.
The phone rang just as the men were leaving for work. Sarah dried her hands on the tea towel she had tucked in the top of her jeans and picked it up
‘Sarah, love, it’s Dad. Your mum wanted to ring and see how you’re coping. She’s been having sleepless nights worrying about you out there after all that’s happened.’
Sarah couldn’t help but smile a little, knowing that Jack was really talking about himself. ‘I’m doing okay, Dad. I’m a Clarke, remember – we don’t quit when the going gets tough.’
‘I’m glad to hear that you’re all right, love. Have you heard any more on how Brad’s doing?’
Sarah could hear the tension in Jack’s voice. Her parents were the only people, apart from Daniel and Lily, who knew that Brad had been smoking pot. Jack had just about blown the phone to pieces when he heard.
‘Yeah, he’s going to be okay. All in all he’s a lucky man. I’m going to see him tomorrow after I drop Daniel and Lily at the airport in Mt Isa. I’m still angry at him for hiding it all from me, but I really want to see him.’
‘You’re doing the right thing, love. But don’t let him off the hook just because you feel sorry for him – remember, a leopard doesn’t change his spots,’ Jack answered seriously. ‘I’m proud of you, Sarah, deciding to stay out there and follow your dreams. Give us a call tomorrow to let us know how you go, okay?’
‘Okay, Dad. Love you.’ Sarah was gobsmacked to hear her father say he was proud of her, and her heart ached to reach out and give him a hug. But his words confirmed her decision – staying at Rosalee was the best thing for her to do.
Chapter Twelve
DANIEL threw the bags in the back of the Land Cruiser as Lily said her goodbyes to Duke, who was sulking on the porch. He knew he wouldn’t be coming with them. He tried one last time to win Sarah over with his sad eyes, then wandered over to his rug with his tail between his legs. Sarah knew he’d be over it by the time she’d left the driveway.
The last twenty-four hours had been a frenzy of sorting and cleaning as Sarah packed Brad’s clothes to take to the hospital. She was desperate to spend some time with Victory, but there had been too much to do. She’d mentioned to the men that she was hoping for a day out riding soon, and they’d invited her to come mustering when she was back.
Sarah, Daniel and Lily chatted quietly on the way to Mt Isa about the tumultuous events of the last week. Sarah was nervous about seeing Brad. Her heart was broken, but her feelings for Brad had changed the morning of their terrible fight. Even so, that wasn’t going to make it any easier to see him in such pain in hospital.
Sarah sat in the car park of the hospital for ten minutes, doing some deep breathing to calm herself down. She’d just said a tearful farewell at the airport to Lily and Daniel, and now she was facing another round of emotional turmoil. All the sadness she’d felt the morning of the fight was resurfacing, and Sarah didn’t want to break down in front of Brad. She finally plucked up enough courage to step out of the security of her Land Cruiser and walk towards the hospital, Brad’s bag of personal items thrown over her shoulder, her boots clip-clopping on the bitumen. She dusted her jeans off before she stepped through the automatic doors, and as she asked at the front counter for Brad’s room number, she noticed her voice was quivering a little.
She took note of the floor and room number and stepped into the lift. Sarah hated hospitals. Unless she was going to the maternity ward to see a cute bundle of new life she detested coming anywhere near them. The smell of disinfectant in the corridors made her throat feel like it was going to seal over.
Reaching Brad’s room, she tapped lightly on the door, and without waiting for a response walked in. Sitting in the chair beside Brad was Matt. Sarah felt her belly do a 360, and she tried to regain her composure quickly before Matt noticed. He had a weird effect on her.
‘Hey, Sarah. I was in town with a load of cattle so I stopped in to check on Brad,’ Matt said, holding Sarah’s gaze.
Sarah quickly found her voice and gave him a smile. ‘That was thoughtful of you, Matt. Has he woken up while you’ve been here?’
Matt shook his head. ‘Nah, not yet. I was hoping he’d come to but I think they have him pretty bombed out for the pain.’ He stood up and placed his hat on his head. ‘I reckon you should wake him, Sarah. He’d probably like to see a familiar face. I’ll take off now, anyway, as I have to get back and do a few things on the station before dark. Tell him I said g’day. I’ll see you back there, mate.’ He gave her a quick smile and a nod and left before Sarah could say a word.
Sarah came closer to the bed. Brad looked better than she’d thought he would, apart from the drip in his arm and the cuts and bruises on his cheekbone. He mumbled something under his breath and his eyelids flickered open.
‘Hey, Brad. How’re you going?’ she whispered as she leant closer.
He smiled weakly. ‘As well as to be expected, I guess.’
Sarah sat down beside him. ‘I’m so sorry about the fight we had, Brad. I’ve been killing myself thinking I might be partly to blame for the crash.’
‘I’m sorry too, Sarah. But the accident had nothing to do with you. I shouldn’t have been smoking the night before – I was tired and hungover and I stuffed up.’ Brad took a sip of water from the cup on his bedside table.
Sarah breathed, a sigh of relief. She felt absolved by his words, and a weight lifted from her shoulders.
Brad continued. ‘It’s just, I dunno, I would be lying if I said I was going to stop smoking pot. Do you think you can look past it? I’ll make sure I don’t smoke around you.’
Sarah paused. ‘I’m deeply sorry about your accident and the pain you must be going through, but that doesn’t change the way I feel. I can’t be with a man who takes drugs. I know it’s really bad timing to be telling you this, but I think we both know it would never work. We need to let go now, otherwise we’ll ruin a brilliant friendship too.’
Brad closed his eyes and Sarah felt her heart sink. She rushed on. ‘These are your things from the cottage. I think I’ve packed everything for you. I spoke to your sister yesterday, and she’ll be arriving late tonight to be with you. Your mum will be here tomorrow morning, so you’ll have support here. I just can’t be the one for you, Brad. Under different circumstances you know I would’ve been, but I think we need some space.’
There was a long pause. ‘We just weren’t meant to be, hey?’ Brad’s voice cracked a little. ‘I hope we can remain mates. You look after yourself out there on the station, and keep in touch, okay?’
Sarah squeezed his hand. ‘I promise I’ll keep in touch.’
Brad smiled sleepily in response as his eyelids fought to stay open. He was drifting off again. As Sarah let go of his hand she realised this was the end of the road for her and Bradley Williams. All the emotions she’d been pushing down rushed up with full force. Almost gasping for air, she got out of the building as fast as she could. She held it together just long enough to make it back to the car, where her emotions erupted. She sat in the driver’s seat, sobbing her heart out by herself. She cried for what seemed like hours, until her tears dried up and she could no longer cry. A quick glance in the rear-view mirror showed her a face that looked like it’d been stung by a thousand bees. It was ti
me to get a hold of herself.
She popped a CD into the stereo, turned it up full blast and hit the road. Before long she found herself singing her heart out. By the time she arrived at the station gates two hours later, she felt a hundred times better than she had at the hospital. The stillness of the outback was just what she needed to clear her mind.
Duke ran up to the door of the Land Cruiser as she pulled in and she smiled down at her loyal pal. ‘I’m home, mate. And I’m here to stay.’
Chapter Thirteen
THE alarm on Sarah’s mobile sang out merrily and she rolled over to slap it off. Four-thirty a.m. and time to start the day. It had been almost three weeks since the chopper accident, and Sarah was slowly getting into the routine at Rosalee. It was still a weird feeling waking up in what had been Brad’s room but it was definitely her space now. There were photos of her family up on the walls and her prized country music collection was displayed on the rickety timber shelf she’d found abandoned behind the shed. Thanks to a can of trusty Mr Sheen it had emerged from layers of dust with a rustic charm that Sarah loved. Old furniture had a certain character about it that new furniture just didn’t have. Judy had given her a nice doona set as a welcoming gift last week, with matching curtains that she’d made herself. Sarah had only got around to decorating the room with them yesterday and she loved the rich, deep red colours of them. It wasn’t exactly the Hilton, but it was comfortable. She took a few moments to breathe in the new day peeking in at her from behind the curtains before bounding out of bed to start her morning.
After breakfast there was not a dirty plate in sight, and Sarah hadn’t even started the washing up. The men had polished off the food in a matter of minutes, leaving their plates scraped clean.
‘That was a breakfast fit for a king!’ Stumpy said whilst licking the last of the tasty meal off his knife and fork, a habit Sarah was not too fond of.