by Janene Wood
“How bad is it?”
“Category 3, but that could change.”
“Bad enough.”
Sam, Jack and Simon arrived home en masse just before seven thirty. Cabot's had closed early due to the inclement weather, but the garage and general store had stayed open later than usual due to the rush of customers topping up fuel tanks and stocking up on last minute candles, batteries and canned goods.
“What does the latest weather report say?” asked Simon as he tucked into a bowl of steaming Macaroni Cheese. The boys were all famished after their late finish and the old favourite had never tasted so good. Fortunately, Kate had cooked enough to feed an army.
“Still Category 3 but it's heading further south now,” said Kate.
“Damn. Did you remember to move everything off the verandah and stow it under the house?”
“Yes, Simon,” said Kate testily. “And the windows are all taped and secure.”
“I'm just making sure we haven't forgotten anything, Kate,” he said, responding to the snark in her voice. “What about water?”
“We filled every container we could find, as well as the sinks and bath,” answered Tayo.
“Good. There's plenty of canned food in the pantry so we should be okay. I'm more worried about the storm surge than anything.”
“There's nothing we can do about that,” said Sam reasonably. We'll just have to hope it doesn't get too high.”
Still hungry, Simon and Jack went back for a second helping of Macaroni. Tayo followed after them to get a drink. Sam remained where he was seated, nursing his half eaten bowl of pasta, seemingly lost in thought. Kate was trying to pick up the storyline of the show she had been waiting all week to watch, having missed most of the first half when the boys came home and started talking over the top of it.
Rousing himself, Sam spoke at last. “Has Heather seemed a little weird to you lately, Kate?”
“How do you mean?” She was listening with only half an ear; the other half was focused on Simon Templar's latest exploits.
“She came into the garage this morning, wandered around for ten minutes, then asked me if I loved her.”
Mr Templar suddenly lost some of his appeal. “That’s weird. Heather's not usually the clingy type. What did you tell her?”
Sam looked uncomfortable. “A customer came in and interrupted us before I could say anything. When I looked for her again she was gone.”
“Have you guys been fighting?”
“No! We've been getting along great. She's so easy to talk to and we think a lot alike,” he said shyly.
“You didn't forget your anniversary, did you?” Last night marked twelve months since Heather and Sam started going out and Heather had been talking about it for weeks. Kate supposed it must be exciting to have reached such a milestone, especially as Sam was her first boyfriend, but as Kate herself had never had one, and there were no likely prospects in sight, it was hard to be enthusiastic.
“No, I didn't,” he denied emphatically. “I bought her a silver necklace and took her to see Cool Hand Luke at the movies last night.”
“How romantic,” murmured Kate dryly.
“She cried when I gave her the necklace,” said Sam pointedly, “and she barely spoke a word all night.”
“I don't know what's going on, Sam,” said Kate regretfully. “You should ask her.”
Sam sighed in resignation. “I knew you were going to say that.” He sat gloomily for a minute before confiding, “I think she wants to break up with me but doesn't want to hurt my feelings.”
“And you don't want her to?” asked Kate curiously.
“No! I love her!”
“Then why didn't you tell her that when she asked?” God, boys could be so stupid!
He grimaced and Kate could see how much he was hurting. “I don't know; I should have. I was embarrassed, I guess. It's not an easy thing for a bloke to talk about his feelings.”
Kate shook her head in exasperation. “Talk to her, Sam,” she urged him. “Tell her how you feel. Girls like to know where they stand.”
Sam nodded thoughtfully and stared for a long time at the television without speaking. Kate slowly let her breath out, hoping that was the end of the conversation. It hadn't gone too badly, considering. She didn't like keeping secrets from her brother, but it wasn’t her place to tell him about the baby.
Kate didn't envy Heather her situation one little bit. It was pretty much the worst thing that could happen to a teenage girl, and she couldn't help worrying how Heather's parents would react to the news when she finally got the nerve up to tell them. Not as calmly or as reasonably as Jane would have done, she was fairly sure. But at least she had good friends to lean on. And Sam of course. Kate was confident he would stand by her, whether or not she decided to keep the baby. But they were both so young; it was a lot to deal with.
Kate wished she could talk to Jack about the baby but Heather had made her promise not to tell another living soul. And besides, Jack had his own problems to deal with. Simon had been riding him hard lately, and Jack had been morose and moody in response. Whenever she tried to broach the reason for Simon’s intransigence with either one of them, they clammed up completely. As a result, the atmosphere was tense whenever the two of them were in the same room together.
Sighing, Kate tried to focus on the TV, but her thoughts kept returning to Heather and Sam. It was the worst possible timing, but she couldn’t help being a little bit excited. She was going to be an auntie!
Cyclone Imelda turned north again just before midnight and by then everyone was asleep except Kate and Tayo. Simon and Jack had been in bed for hours and Sam had dropped off on the lounge, lulled into oblivion by the tempest outside. The constant howl of wind and rain had gradually decreased to a dull roar; likewise, the trees and shrubs in the backyard weren’t being buffeted about quite so violently, though it happened so gradually, they didn’t even notice until the music was suddenly too loud.
Both TV stations had shut down for the night so they were taking turns picking songs from the McDermotts' eclectic record collection and playing them on Jane’s ancient stereo. The conversation was sporadic but easy, consisting mostly of exclamations of derision or delight as each new song started up. A scattering of vinyl discs, cardboard covers and paper sleeves were strewn untidily across the floor. The Easybeats’ Friday on My Mind was playing on the stereo – Kate's choice, but Tayo seemed to like it. She was singing along enthusiastically, if not exactly melodiously, when a low-pitched, subterranean growl, rose up from the depths of her belly, loud enough to be heard over the music.
Tayo was sitting on the floor at right angles to Kate and he snorted with amusement, remarking, “I think your stomach's trying to tell you something, Little M.” He had been singing along quite uninhibitedly, looking so relaxed that Kate did a double-take every time she looked at him.
“I think you're right. What about you, Frog-boy?” she enquired, imbuing the nickname with a touch more affection than disdain for a change. “Are you hungry?”
Grinning, Tayo shrugged economically. “I could eat.”
Stupid question really; he was a teenage boy. In Kate's experience they were never not hungry. “So what do you feel like? Cheese on toast? Scrambled eggs? Pancakes? That's about the limit of my late-night culinary repertoire, I'm afraid.”
“Pancakes,” he replied without hesitation. “With lemon and sugar.”
“Of course,” she agreed reasonably, as if there was no other way to serve them. She climbed to her feet and stretched languidly to ease the kinks in her shoulders. “You’ll have to be DJ for a while. Do you think you can keep the rubbish to a minimum while I'm gone?”
“Just make the pancakes, Little M,” he grinned up at her from the floor. “I'll muddle through somehow.” A minute later, the title track of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band started playing.
“I love this song!” exclaimed Kate as Tayo joined her in the kitchen. Pausing in her preparations, s
he remarked, “Somehow I didn’t picture you as a Beatles fan, Tay.”
“I’m not particularly,” he replied casually, “but I knew you liked them.”
“Oh,” she said, taken aback. Flushing pink, she averted her face. “That was sweet of you.”
Tayo snorted. “Yeah, that's me, a real sweetheart.”
“Well, maybe not,” she said with an impudent smile. “Still, it was a nice thing to do.”
Brushing aside the compliment, he asked, “So what’s the secret to making pancakes? I made them once for Allie, but they didn't turn out so great. She ate them, but it was a piss-poor effort.”
“Watch and learn, humble student. The secret is to sift the flour so they're light and fluffy.” Kate pointed him toward the pantry and asked him to get the flour and salt, all the while watching him surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye. There were so many layers to this boy-not-quite-man, and each time she thought she was getting close to figuring him out, he surprised her with some new, hitherto unsuspected aspect of his personality.
“What's she like, your cousin?” she enquired shyly as she began mixing the flour and egg together. “We're the same age, aren't we?”
Tayo nodded, watching her carefully, his expression unguarded for once. “She's slow,” he said bluntly, “but as long as she gets her own way she's a happy little thing. We spoil her, I suppose, but we're all she's got.” He hesitated before adding, “I see bits of you in her sometimes.”
“Really?” Kate glanced at him, disconcerted. “Like what?”
“Just the way she looks at me sometimes, so serious, as if she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Most of the time, though, she's got a smile on her face. Not that she doesn't have a temper! She could try the patience of a saint at times, but generally she's sweet. I get so mad whenever I think of everything she's missing out on. School, friends...love... She's stuck in her own little bubble, and life is passing her by. Even if she grows to be a hundred, she'll always be the same little girl she is now.”
Kate didn't know what to say. She was not unaccustomed to loss, yet she couldn't image what it must be like to live with the ghost of what might have been; the promise of a normal life, destroyed by the thoughtlessness of a complete stranger. She supposed, like everything else, you just got used to it.
“It must be hard for you and your aunt,” she said at last, knowing it was a hopelessly inadequate expression of empathy. “You know, it's possible I might be able to help her,” she offered tentatively. “I can't say for sure, but...”
Tayo shook his head, cutting her off before she could say any more. “I suggested it to my aunt when Sam first explained what you can do. I was so excited, thinking our prayers had finally been answered, but Auntie didn't see it that way. She's got it into her head that it's God's will Allie’s the way she is. Nothing I say will change her mind. God and that bloody priest have a lot to answer for,” he said sharply.
Kate didn't have to ask which priest he meant. Father Peter might have been sent away from Fiddlers Creek, but his legacy of intolerance remained. He had turned his congregation into a flock of stubborn, small-minded sheep, unwilling to think for themselves. People in town still looked at her queerly sometimes, like she was the devil's hand-maiden, despite the clear and unwavering support of the bishop, whose intervention should have made them take a good, hard look at themselves.
Hours later, long after the pancakes were finished and Kate's brothers were awake, the wind finally stopped blowing. It still sprinkled intermittently but the dreaded storm surge never eventuated – although when Kate went for a walk along the beach later in the afternoon, a large section of the dunes had been washed away by the abnormally high tide.
All in all, Fiddlers Creek had been lucky. Simon drove into town after breakfast to offer his assistance to whoever might need it, but was back an hour later, reporting that a few trees had been uprooted and there was some localised flooding, but there was little overall damage. Cabot's was even opening for dinner that night, which meant he would be working as usual.
By the time Kate finished her history assignment, she was feeling a little stir-crazy from being cooped up inside for so long. A long walk along the beach, breathing in the fresh, clean air, cleared out most of the cobwebs but she was still feeling edgy. To take her mind of things, she busied herself in the kitchen, cooking up a large pot of spaghetti bolognaise for tea, even going to the additional effort of baking an apple pie for dessert. Tayo was still hanging round like a bad smell, but she was used to him being around all the time. Besides, he didn't seem to annoy her the way he used to. After the washing up was done and the dishes were put away, the four of them made themselves comfortable in front of the TV, determined to make the most of the last few hours of the weekend.
“This is rubbish,” remarked Sam disgustedly after staring disinterestedly at The Andy Williams Show for fifteen interminable minutes. It was Sunday night, meaning school and work in the morning, and he wasn’t the only one feeling restless and out of sorts.
“It’s either this or Four Corners,” said Kate irritably.
“Great,” replied Sam dispiritedly.
“We could play Monopoly,” suggested Tayo. With no siblings of his own, he always wanted to play interactive games. Kate found it sweet.
“Nah,” said Sam. “I’ve had enough Monopoly to last me a lifetime.”
“We could go check out McAllister's Falls,” suggested Jack. Simon said the creek's up after all the rain and the falls are spectacular.”
“If it means getting out of the house for a while, I’m in,” said Kate.
Sam nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Cool,” said Tayo, as usual going along with whatever Sam wanted.
There was no need for further discussion. Excited by the prospect of going out and doing something, they raced each other downstairs and clambered into the Anglia. The rain had finally stopped and the clouds were gradually breaking apart. It was almost as if the wild weather of 24 hours ago had never happened. Every now and then the full moon was revealed in all its shining brilliance, before the billowing clouds conspired to hide it away once more. Sam mentioned offhandedly that he wanted to make a stop on the way and Kate wasn’t surprised when, ten minutes later, they pulled into the Colacino's driveway. He ran up to the house in the near dark, returning a few minutes later with Heather laughing happily at his side.
“You guys are crazy!” exclaimed Heather excitedly as she climbed into the front seat of the Anglia. Tayo squeezed himself into the back next to Kate; Jack was on her other side.
“You’re in a good mood,” remarked Kate, wondering what, if anything, it signified. A false alarm, perhaps? She crossed her fingers, hoping that all Heather’s worry of the last few days had been for nothing.
“How did you get out of the house without your parents noticing?” asked Jack curiously. “I can’t imagine they gave you permission to drive aimlessly around the countryside so late on a Sunday night.”
Heather sat sideways, with her back to the door, so she could see the others in the back seat. “It was easy actually; they were already asleep. I just crept downstairs and walked out the back door,” she explained glibly. “I'm surprised you didn't hear Dad's snoring all the way out here!”
“So that's what that was,” said Jack sardonically. “I thought it was Imelda coming back for another shot at us.”
Sam reversed out of the driveway and they headed back the way they had come until they reached the turnoff to McAllister's Falls, which was about 15 miles further on. Not wanting to end up in a ditch, he drove slowly, turning his high beams on to see the steep, windy road better.
“I'm glad you came,” remarked Kate to Heather. “I've been stuck inside with these smelly boys all weekend.”
“That sucks. I've been listening to my parents' nagging all weekend,” countered Heather. “They’ve been going on and on about my poor study habits, my bad attitude, my unrealistic expectation
s...blah, blah, blah. I've been telling them for months I have no intention of going to uni, but they refuse to listen. By tonight I'd had an earful. I was so sick of it all I almost told them about the b–” Heather swallowed abruptly, almost choking on her words. “You know...about the, er, plan... To, er, move to Brisbane at the end of school and get a flat together.”
“Oh, right, the plan...” mumbled Kate noncommittally.
“You never said anything about moving away!” interjected Sam. “Why on earth do you want to go to Brisbane?”
“Lots of reasons,” replied Heather primly. “There are loads more opportunities down there. What is there for me to do up here, in the middle of nowhere?”
Sam was clearly agitated by the prospect of Heather moving away. “I thought you were going to business college and then getting a job as a secretary until we... until you got married.”
“Yes, well, maybe there's more to life than just getting married and having babies! Maybe I want to be a...a... model! Or an air hostess! I could, you know. People often tell me how pretty I am.” Heather seemed to have forgotten there was anyone else in the car. She stared at Sam fiercely, her voice abnormally high-pitched.
“Or I could be a nurse!” she went on, her words spilling out of her mouth in a rush. “There's always a big demand for nurses in the city. Or maybe I will go to uni. I could become a teacher and look after other people's brats. See! There's lots of things I could do. The whole friggin' world is my oyster!”
Kate leaned forward and placed her hand on Heather's shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. Instead of calming her, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Heather abruptly burst into tears and turned her face away so no one could see her crying.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the car, punctuated by Heather’s muffled sobbing in the front seat. Sam kept his eyes glued to the road, while Kate and Jack looked at each other helplessly, not knowing what to do. Jack might not know the reason for Heather's meltdown, but it was obvious something was wrong.