by Magro, Mandy
Patrick sat down beside her on the bed. ‘Sarah, you can tell me to mind my own business if you like, but I know there’s something wrong. It’s just not like you to up and leave so suddenly, and last night you looked like you’d been crying.’
Sarah couldn’t contain her emotions; fresh tears ran down her cheeks as she saw the concern in Patrick’s face. ‘You’re right, Patrick,’ she said through her tears. ‘There is a reason, but I’m afraid you might judge me horribly if you hear it.’
Patrick smiled warmly at Sarah. ‘You’re one of my best mates here, Sarah. Nothing is gonna change my opinion of you. Trust me. Unless you’ve had sex with a horse or something – then I might have to rethink our friendship!’ His feeble attempt at a joke made Sarah smile.
Patrick listened intently as Sarah filled him in on all the details of what had transpired with Matt the day before. Sarah felt her face go red as she explained that she’d realised she was in love with Matt, and it was just going to be too painful to be around him after his reaction yesterday.
Patrick wrapped his arm around Sarah’s shoulder. ‘Oh, mate. You poor bugger. You should’ve talked to me about it last night. It might have made you feel a bit better rather than keeping it all to yourself. I can understand you wanting to leave now. I just wish it was different, though. You and Matt would be a match made in heaven. Brooke doesn’t deserve him, and we all know it.’ He paused for a moment, lost in thought. ‘Matt’s got pretty strong morals when it comes to cheating, though, and it must be killing him to think about what happened. Whatever you think, it’s not your fault, Sarah. He can’t blame you for the kiss. And after all, that’s all it was – a kiss.’
Sarah shook her head. ‘I’m not so sure, Patrick. He jumped back from me like I was a venomous snake, leaving me there on the ground, and said it had been a mistake kissing me. And then he didn’t say a word to me all the way home. I felt like I was the one who’d done something wrong.’
Patrick put his arm around Sarah’s shoulder and gently kissed her on the forehead. ‘Well, we all love you, mate. If you can, don’t worry about Matt. He’ll sort himself out and hopefully come to his senses. Whatever you’re feeling, don’t blame yourself. Go home and have a great time with your family back in the tropics. But don’t forget us all now, will you?’
Sarah sniffed and gave Patrick a smile through her tears. ‘How in hell could I forget you blokes? You’re all one of a kind!’ Not for the first time, she realised how lucky she was to have good mates to look out for her.
Sarah threw the last of her things in the back of the Land Cruiser and whistled for Duke to jump up in the back. Victory was happily munching away on his hay in the float. She hoped he’d travel as well back to Mareeba as he had on his way to the station. Jimmy was packed too, and they were set and ready to go. Stumpy, Slim, Patrick and Liam gave Jimmy a firm handshake each before turning to Sarah and giving her a quick hug. She couldn’t help letting a few tears fall once again. ‘Now you boys be good, or be good at it!’ she said, hoping to put a smile back on their faces as she hopped up in the driver’s seat.
‘I think I’d rather be good at it!’ Liam joked back.
‘See you all round like a rissole!’ she called out her window, with Jimmy waving from the seat beside her. The men waved back until she couldn’t see them any more. As the Land Cruiser approached the gates, Sarah found herself involuntarily slowing down, not wanting to say her final goodbye to the station that had given her so much. She whispered a private farewell as she looked in her rear-vision mirror, watching her life of four months disappearing in a cloud of dust, her heart splitting down the middle. So much for holding it together – the tears started again, and she wept openly as she drove. Jimmy tried his best to console her. It was going to be a long, sad journey home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
CHRIS walked out of his bedroom and straight past Patrick, Liam, Stumpy and Slim in the lounge room without bothering to say a word. Patrick watched him with dislike. Now that the season was almost over, it wouldn’t be too much longer he’d have to put up with him. The front door closed behind Chris as he headed outside. Patrick took a swig from his beer bottle, his curiosity screaming loudly in his head. It hadn’t been a great day – Sarah and Jimmy had left in the morning, and the mood at the cottage was low. Patrick couldn’t shake Sarah’s story out of his head, and he missed her already. What he needed was something to take his mind off things.
‘Who’s up for a bit of fun then?’
Stumpy squinted to see the time on his watch. ‘Bit late for fun, isn’t it? Whatever it is, count me out, I’m afraid. This old bugger needs to get to bed. I need my beauty sleep.’
‘I’m always up for some fun!’ Liam said eagerly. ‘What exactly would you be proposing?’
Slim put his hands up in the air and stretched. ‘Anything would be better than this crap on telly. What did you have in mind?’
‘I wanna know what that bugger is up to at night.’ Patrick pointed towards the front door.
‘Ah, you’re going to play Sherlock Holmes?’ Slim smirked.
‘Seriously, he’s been disappearing out there most nights, and I reckon it’s about time we knew what he was up to, don’t you?’ Patrick asked.
Liam bounced on the couch. ‘God, yeah! I’m up for it!’
An amused look crossed Slim’s face at the thought of snooping around in the dark. ‘Me too.’
Stumpy laughed and shook his head. ‘What are you gonna do? Run around in the dark and hope you bump into him? You lot are gonna look like right criminals.’
Slim, Liam and Patrick rugged up in preparation. The days were still fiercely hot but the nights were often icy cold. It paid to be warm, and the men had no idea how long they’d be outside.
They painted each other’s faces black with a tin of old boot polish they had found in the back of the laundry cupboard. It was a bit over the top, but it was worth the laugh it gave them all. It was Patrick’s idea but Slim and Liam were willing participants, although most of the boot polish ended up on their jeans. Stumpy took a photo, teasingly saying that he was going to get it enlarged and then hang it on the wall in the lounge room as a reminder of what loonies the three of them could be.
‘So, are we right to go then?’ Slim said, still chuckling at the sight of them, his big belly bopping away with his laughter.
‘We sure are. Let’s get a move on. We don’t even know where to start looking and there’s a lot of ground to cover out there,’ Liam whispered mysteriously, trying to keep a straight face. As they were heading out the door, he grabbed his camera from his room and hung it around his neck.
‘I think I know where to start, you two. Just follow me!’ Patrick said once they were on the porch, putting on his best commando voice. That set them off again.
Stumpy grinned from the door. ‘Will you lot piss off? I can’t look at you any more without laughing.’
The three headed in the direction of the stables to begin with, and the darkness and cold was surprising after the warmth of the cottage. Suddenly the whole excursion didn’t seem as much fun. Patrick pulled the hood of his jumper over his head. ‘It’s that windy out here it could blow a dog off its chain.’
Slim shivered at the cold breeze that whistled through the trees eerily. ‘It’s bloody cold too.’
Liam scoped out the area as they snuck about, wearing his head torch as their light.
‘You look like right idiot, Liam,’ Slim said.
‘Yeah, but it was a bright idea to wear it. Get it – ha ha!’ Liam laughed.
Patrick smirked at his brother. ‘You should’ve been a comedian. I’m sure you could even make a cat laugh.’
‘I second that,’ Slim added.
There was no sign of Chris in the stables, and it wasn’t getting any warmer.
‘Let’s go and check out the hangar next. What do you two reckon?’ Liam was trying to look serious but not succeeding with the light mounted on his head. He resembled a glow worm.
He switched the head torch off and they walked up to the hangar in the dark. It was no good trying to sneak up on Chris with the torch announcing their presence. They searched around in the dark, bumping into fuel drums and each other, but it was soon obvious that Chris wasn’t there, or if he was, he was hiding somewhere pretty good. The absurdity of their excursion struck the men and Liam started to chuckle a bit. Once he’d started Slim joined in, and soon Patrick joined them too in roaring with laughter in the darkened hangar. No matter whether they found Chris or not, at least they were having fun again.
Liam let out a ripper of a fart that broke the silence of the night like thunder. He broke out laughing again, crawling fast along the ground to get away from the stench. It was so bad he had to hold his breath.
‘Shit, Liam! Any more choke and you would’ve started. It stinks that bloody bad!’ Slim chuckled, trying his best to get away from the odour.
‘Sorry about that, guys … but Fluffy wanted to be let off the chain!’
Patrick rolled his eyes at his larrikin of a brother while holding his nose.
‘So where are we gonna look next, Patrick?’ Slim enquired once the laughter had settled.
‘I’ve got a bit of a hunch, lads. Just trust me – but we’re gonna have to be extra quiet, because we’ve gotta sneak around the back of the homestead,’ Patrick said.
‘Shit, Patrick. I don’t know about going up near the homestead. I don’t wanna get the sack if we’re caught,’ Liam said nervously.
‘If we’re extra quiet we’ll be all right. Where are those big tough-man balls of yours you always talk about? Let’s add some spice to the adventure.’ Patrick was smiling, but on the inside he was as edgy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
‘I’m keen, mate,’ said Slim. ‘I love a good adventure. But remember to take into account I’m not the easiest body to hide, given these curves of mine.’
‘Just stand still if anyone spots you – they’ll think you’re one of the bottle trees,’ Liam said.
‘Oh, hardy ha, Liam. Always the kidder!’ Slim retorted.
The plan was decided, and the three snuck up to the homestead, hiding in the shadows of the trees whenever they thought they’d heard something. Once they reached the fringes of the main property they went right into commando mode. Using simple hand gestures to point the way, Patrick led. He knew exactly where he was heading, manoeuvring his way around the house like a panther, avoiding any spots where light was seeping out from a window. Finally he motioned for the guys to join him at a sheltered spot behind an old molasses tank, lowering his voice to a whisper. Liam and Slim had to lean right in to hear what he was saying.
‘I’ve had my eye on Chris for a while, and I reckon my hunch is just about to be proved right,’ he said. ‘I bet you that Chris is in there with Brooke.’ He pointed to the granny flat out the back of the homestead.
‘Are you serious? How in hell did you come up with that one?’ Liam whispered, clearly shocked.
‘Well, where do I start? Matt’s gone to Mt Isa for a few nights because he and Brooke had a fight last night. And obviously he’s in Mt Isa a bit anyway, delivering cattle. Isn’t it funny how Chris stays out late on the nights when Matt’s away? And I don’t know if you guys noticed at the rodeo? Brooke and Chris couldn’t take their eyes off each other. I reckon Chris’s been paying Brooke a few late-night visits, and we can only hope it’s more innocent than it sounds,’ Patrick explained.
Slim sat deep in thought for a few moments before nodding his head in agreement. ‘Now that you mention it, yeah, I did notice them at the rodeo. And there have been a few other things too. You might just be right.’
It was clear from Liam’s voice that he wasn’t convinced. ‘Okay, big brother. I hope you’re right, cos if Matt hears about us spying on his missus for no apparent reason he’ll have our balls on a dinner plate.’
They went from tree to tree near the fenceline, sticking like glue to the shadows until they reached the granny flat. Short of walking up to the front door and heading on in, Patrick wasn’t sure how to check whether Chris was there. But then he spotted a sliver of light falling on the ground from an open curtain. He pointed it out to Liam and Slim and they nodded in agreement. They eased their way around to the window, trying not to step on any twigs. All around they heard the scurry and whisper of night animals and the occasional call of an owl. Eventually they found themselves sitting on the ground below the window. Patrick decided to do a quick recon, and knelt up slowly. He was right, the curtain wasn’t fully drawn, and he put his eye level with the windowsill to peer in.
Brooke was on all fours on the bed, completely naked, with Chris behind her, holding her hips with his hands as he pumped into her rhythmically, his white arse bobbing backwards and forwards. Brooke was thrashing about like a croc with prey in its mouth.
Slipping back down from the window, Patrick’s face told the story. Liam and Slim carefully peered through the window while Patrick sat below them, shock twisting his features. As quietly as he could, Liam brought the camera around his neck up to the windowsill and pressed the shutter a few times until he couldn’t take it any more.
The men snuck back the way they’d come to the safety of the dirt track that led to their cottage, none of them saying a word. Once they made it to the track, Patrick broke into a run, and Liam and Slim followed suit, the three of them sprinting until they reached the front door.
Patrick grabbed three beers from the fridge and handed one each to Liam and Slim as they went to the back patio, trying to process what they’d just seen. Slim was still trying to catch his breath. ‘Shit. I don’t know whether I’m just unfit or still in shock!’
‘What are we gonna do now?’ Liam asked, before taking a long scull of his beer.
‘Well, we’ve gotta tell Matt as soon as he gets back, I reckon. That’s the only decent thing to do,’ Patrick said, his face clouded with worry. ‘I can’t believe he’s in Mt Isa worrying about a little kiss when Brooke is doing the wild thing with Chris under his own roof!’
‘What kiss?’ Slim asked, curiosity written across his face.
Liam looked equally puzzled. ‘Yeah, what kiss?’
‘Oh shit, me and my big mouth. Well, I s’pose I have to tell you both now I’ve just stuck my foot in it,’ Patrick huffed. He filled the guys in on what Sarah had told him yesterday.
‘I always thought there was something between those two. You could see it when they were around each other,’ Slim recalled, shaking his head.
‘All that aside, I’m gonna have to break the news to Matt about Brooke. You know what they say about being the bearer of bad news.’ Patrick sighed.
The men were on the patio having breakfast, filling Stumpy in, when they heard the crunch of tyres at the front gates. Patrick knew it’d be Matt, and felt his stomach do a 360 at the thought of having to tell him the horrible news. Chris was still asleep.
Patrick ran for the front door, hoping to catch Matt on his way down the drive. The camera was burning a hole in his pocket and he had to say something to Matt before Chris woke up. Spotting Matt heading towards the homestead, he knew it was now or never. He waved the truck down and Matt came to a halt, winding down the window as Patrick approached.
‘Morning, Patrick. What’s up, mate? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost,’ Matt said, a smile on his face.
Patrick felt the colour drain from his cheeks as he cleared his throat. ‘Mate, um, I have some shitty news to tell you. I don’t know how to break it to you gently, so I’ll just put all the cards out on the table.’
Matt’s face immediately changed to a look of grave concern. ‘Right. This sounds serious. Is anyone hurt?’
‘Not yet, buddy,’ Patrick answered warily.
Matt looked confused. ‘Okay, mate. Lay it out for me without any sugar coating. What’s up?’
Patrick cleared his throat again. ‘Matt, I found out something about Brooke.’
Matt’s jaw clenche
d and his hands rolled into fists on the steering wheel. He didn’t utter a word and sat deadly still, his breathing becoming audible. He looked as though he was about to do his block.
Putting his hand through the window and touching Matt gently on the shoulder, Patrick said, ‘Mate. Brooke’s been cheating on you with Chris.’
Matt reacted instantly, punched the steering wheel hard enough to draw blood on his knuckles. ‘How do you know?’ He turned to Patrick with eyes ablaze.
Patrick hesitated before answering, his voice quivering. ‘We’ve got proof, but are you sure you want to see it?’
‘Of course I do!’ Matt growled.
Patrick pulled out Liam’s camera and turned it on. He grimaced as he saw the first photo briefly. The shots of the naked bodies were even more graphic in the light of day. Matt swallowed hard as he flicked through the photos, shot after shot of Brooke and Chris doing things in his bed, under his roof. His hands started to shake so much that it was hard to stay focused on the camera screen.
Finally Matt looked up at Patrick. ‘Thanks, mate, for coming and telling me about this. It means a lot to me. I know it would’ve been hard. But of course I want to know how in the hell you got these photos.’
Patrick screwed his face up like a naughty child. ‘Do you really want to know?’
Matt stared back at him, steely-eyed.
‘Well, I had a funny feeling that Chris has been up to something for a while. He was going out after dinner some nights and not coming back until all hours of the morning. After a bit, I realised it was on the nights that you were away driving the cattle to Mt Isa, or out shooting with your dad. I didn’t put Brooke into the picture until that day at the rodeo, when she and Chris were stuck together like glue. Last night the lads and I were a bit bored, and I finally decided to see whether my hunch was correct. Of course I hoped I was wrong. When Slim, Liam and I got to the granny flat, one of the curtains was slightly open, and we were able to look in without them even knowing. What are you gonna do now, Matt?’