Red Hot

by Cheryl Alldis

  ‘Karl… Maybe Win has been right all along!’

  Karl shook his head. ‘Nah… It’s not possible, is it?’

  Hazel came bustling out. Ellie looked up at her. She seemed very agitated. ‘What is it, Hazel?’ Ellie asked, concerned. Poor Hazel was trying to keep the house running despite being almost at her wits end.

  ‘There’s two policemen at the door, Ellie. They say they want to see Mrs Mason!’

  Karl stood up. ‘Send them out here to us, Hazel. Under no circumstances is Mum to be disturbed.’

  Hazel bustled away, twisting her hands in her apron.

  Ellie looked at Karl and felt her heart plummet to her stomach. ‘What could they want? …Dear God! Francis… Beth…Win?’

  Karl put his arm around her, feeling distraught himself and very helpless.

  Ellie glanced at her wristwatch. It was two in the morning. Seven hours ago she had sat at the dinner table enjoying a meal with everyone. Since then, all hell had broken loose. The bushfire, the phone call that sent Win goodness knows where, and now this.

  ‘Has Francis been involved in an accident?’ He was unusually late for a weeknight as well. She had thought maybe Beth and Francis were somewhere together. ‘Beth, Win, what is going on?’ she thought. It was almost too much to cope with. She looked anxiously at the policemen as they walked on to the veranda.

  Karl extended his hand. ‘G’ day, mate,’ he said. ‘What brings you blokes here?’

  They introduced themselves as Sergeant Brian Carter and Constable Tony Jones.

  ‘Does a Miss Beth Lowe live here?’

  Ellie’s heart missed a beat. Karl nodded. ‘Yes… Yes she does… Why, what’s happened?’

  ‘Has she been hurt?’ Ellie asked, afraid of what they were going to say next. Her fists were clenched by her sides.

  ‘This was found this in the laneway behind Coles Supermarket. Is Miss Lowe home?’

  ‘Beth’s bag… Where’s Beth?’ Ellie stammered, her voice shaking with fear.

  ‘Beth hasn’t come home as yet, Sergeant,’ Karl told them. ‘She hasn’t phoned either to let us know where she is. Could she have dropped the bag…?’ Karl’s voice trailed off as he realised how flimsy his reasoning sounded.

  The big police sergeant shook his head. ‘No, we don’t think the bag was dropped. Everything seems to be in it: money, identification. If Miss Lowe had dropped it accidentally, she would have picked it up. You said she’s not home and hasn’t phoned. Was she due in at a specific time?’

  Ellie shook her head. ‘She’s a young woman, she can come and go as she pleases but she usually is home pretty early during the week. If she goes anywhere, she always lets us know not to keep tea for her. Oh dear… Something terrible has happened… I know it… Karl… Win… The phone call .. !’

  Karl put his hand on Ellie’s shoulder. ‘Calm down, Sis… This has nothing to do with the phone call.’

  The sergeant looked from one to the other. ‘What phone call? You had best tell me everything because if there is foul play here, and it’s looking that way, any little thing may help.’

  Karl told him about the phone call and how Win had rushed out.

  ‘Okay, we’ll note that down but it probably has nothing to do with Miss Lowe.’

  Ellie was desperately trying to interrupt. ‘But it has… It has everything to do with Beth!’

  ‘Ellie, calm down…’ Karl tried to silence her, as she was sounding hysterical.

  Ellie pushed him away. ‘That phone call… Win rushing off… Beth not coming home… Don’t you see, Karl? …I told you I recognized that voice and I was right! It was Mick’s voice and I believe now that Win was right too. He’s Merv!’

  Karl tried again to calm her, but she kept on.

  ‘Oh, Karl, we should have said something before but we just didn’t find the right time. We wanted to protect everyone. What have we done?’

  Karl looked completely confused. ‘What the hell are you on about?’

  Ellie glanced at the police. ‘It’s Beth, Karl… She’s Win’s daughter! Beth is the baby Win had to give away, Karl. Beth is the result of that rape!’ Ellie was crying now, her voice came out as a pleading whisper.

  Karl was speechless.

  The sergeant looked from one to the other. ‘Can someone please tell me what exactly is going on here?’

  Karl shook his head. ‘I’m not sure myself. Ellie, you had better start at the beginning.’

  Ellie sat down and indicated for the policemen to do the same. She then explained how Beth had told them that after her adopted mother had died, she decided to come to Albury to search for her biological parents. One thing led to another and Emmie had been the one who had first realised that Beth was the baby Win had adopted out so long ago. It was evident when she had shown them a baby photo and Emmie had compared it with some she had kept.

  Ellie explained that they had kept it a secret from everyone because Win needed time to be absolutely certain before she brought it all out into the open. There was so much to deal with; the firebug, Dave’s death, the court case for Eric, Emmie having a heart attack. Then, she had been concerned about Mick’s resemblance to Merv Spencer, the mongrel who had raped her back in 1946.

  Ellie went on to explain what Win was thinking.

  ‘She wanted that sorted out and if he was Merv, then he had come back to Hamilton Valley with one thing in mind… To get even with Win for having him locked up in the asylum.’

  ‘This phone call tonight, you say you think it was from this Mick bloke?’ the Sergeant asked seriously.

  Ellie nodded. ‘I’m sure of it now. Why else would Win rush out like that? She hasn’t driven a car for years. It all adds up: she gets the call and rushes out… Beth is missing… I bet Mick… or Merv, or whatever he calls himself now, has got Beth and he phoned Win knowing she would rush to help Beth. It’s his way of luring her to him. He’d know she would go to Beth.’

  ‘Shit! Ellie, that’s some story. How would Mick, I mean Merv, know about Beth?’ Karl questioned.

  ‘I don’t know, but I bet I’m right! And when you think about it more, you’ll see it too!’

  Ellie was sobbing in between trying to talk. The more she explained, the clearer the whole thing was becoming for her as well. Fear gripped her heart for her sister and her niece… Beth.

  ‘His mother only died a few years back, who knows what she knew and told him. She always defended her son… always,’ she added, looking at the police with pleading eyes. ‘You have to find them… You have to… He’s insane!’

  The sergeant interrupted. ‘Tell me about this Mick.’

  Ellie sighed, controlling her tears as well as she could. ‘Win had a bad feeling about him when she first met him. As time went by, she noticed things that reminded her of Merv. She went out with Merv many years ago. She was only a young girl. He wouldn’t accept it when she told him she didn’t want to go out with him anymore. It was only a couple of weeks that she did go out with him. He pestered her for months and would get drunk and threaten her.

  ‘Merv became insanely jealous of any bloke she spoke to. He seemed to always be around wherever she went.’ She stopped and the policeman urged her on. ‘One night, Win and I had gone to the pictures. Merv must have followed, and when the pictures finished, he must have been watching for us. We had to walk from the bus stop and he must have followed.’ She paused for a breath.

  ‘We thought we’d be safe being together. He came out of nowhere near the bridge as we crossed over it. He must have been hiding under it. He was drunk and too strong for us. He… he grabbed Win and started kissing her. She struggled and I tried hitting and kicking him. I tried to drag him away. He hit me… hard… and knocked me to the ground. Win fought but he knocked her down too. She begged me to run for help. Oh God! …I ran for help, but while I was gone, the mongrel… he raped her! …He violently raped her.’

  The policemen were silent as they digested all Ellie was telling them. She took a breath and conti
nued.

  ‘There was a court case and he was declared mentally unbalanced. They committed him to the Mayday Hills Mental Asylum at Beechworth.’ Ellie looked at them and went on with the rest of the story, tears running down her face.

  ‘Win had his baby. She was traumatized and on medication for months afterward. Because of the circumstances surrounding the way she had conceived, Mum and Dad decided it was for her own good, and the baby’s, if it was adopted out. Win agreed, as she was in no shape to be a mother, that was for sure. No one liked the idea but everyone was shocked, and back then it was inconceivable for an unmarried woman to have a baby. Win’s reputation would have been in tatters. So it was kept a family secret. It was all just a huge nightmare.’

  Ellie paused for breath before continuing.

  ‘Win had been seeing Digger for a couple of weeks before the attack. After the rape, she refused to see him at all. Then she found out she was pregnant and that was the start of her breakdown.’ She ran her fingers through her hair and fought back tears.

  ‘Go on, please,’ the policeman asked.

  ‘Win didn’t think he would want her after Merv had done that and especially as she’d become pregnant as a result of the attack. Dad had a talk with him and he began working full time in our orchard. He still did a bit of bricklaying around about but mainly worked the orchard. Anyway, after the adoption, Dig was there and finally, after months of persuasion, Win went out with him again and it all went well from then on. She never really got over it or the fact she had a daughter out there somewhere, but she knew she had to get on with her life and was sure she had done the best for the baby.’

  Ellie got up and walked to the edge of the veranda.

  Karl added, ‘I remember the hard time Win went through with all that. Never thought the mongrel would resurface though.’

  Ellie turned around to face them. ‘Digger was and is the most kind and understanding man. He helped her to recover from that awful time. They never forgot the baby she gave up. Lord knows how it would have been if she had kept her, but everyone thought it was the right decision at the time.’ Ellie sighed deeply.

  ‘Now this. Hell, we were told Merv had gone off his rocker completely and last we heard he would never be released. Knowing that has helped Win get on with her life. Now this Mick is on the scene and she’s convinced he’s Merv,’ Karl said, frustrated and angry.

  ‘My God, if he is and he’s got them both…!’ Karl added, almost in tears himself.

  The sergeant held up his hand. ‘We’ll get onto this immediately. Pity your sister didn’t do or say something sooner; it might have prevented all this.’

  ‘What are you going to do now?’ Karl asked, trying to regain some composure.

  ‘I need to use your phone, mate. I’ll get onto Detective Bennett and I think he’ll have a few more questions for you and Mrs Fraser. Also, I think I’ll give Mayday Hills a ring!’

  Two phone calls later, and they had it confirmed. Merv Spencer had been released back in 1964!

  Detectives Bennett and Simpson had been out surveying the bushfire scene, but went straight to Kia-Ora when they received the radio message.

  Ellie repeated everything for them and they made careful notes. After she had assured them that she had told them everything she could, they looked seriously at her and Karl.

  Detective Bennett spoke firmly. ‘Mrs Fraser, this should have been reported to us when Mrs Miles first became suspicious of this Merv alias Mick. Seeing as he’s such a dangerous character, she was silly not to report her suspicions. Even if they had been wrong, we still should have been informed. He could be the firebug! As it is now, it looks very much like we have a double abduction on our hands!’

  Ellie started crying and Karl put his arm around her. ‘What’s the next step?’ he asked the detectives.

  ‘We’ll go back to the station and organize a search party. Trouble is where to start. Did you happen to see the direction Mrs Miles went when she drove off?’

  They both shook their heads. The detectives asked a few more questions and then left.

  ***

  ‘Simmo… would you be thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?’ Bennett asked.

  Detective Simpson nodded. ‘Yep, mate. I reckon I am!’

  ‘It adds up. The time he was released, the first fire… the whole bloody thing right down to motive… revenge! Simmo… I reckon we know who the firebug is!’

  Simmo nodded. ‘Now all we have to do is catch the lunatic!’

  ***

  ‘What happened here, Mr Winters?’ the fireman asked sternly.

  Harvey didn’t reply. He just stared blankly in front of him. ‘C’mon now, snap out of it. This woman is dead! What happened here?’

  ‘Mary… dead… So drunk…! Mary so angry…! Mary… Mary quite contrary!’

  They glanced at each other.

  ‘Was she your wife?’ the fireman asked.

  ‘So drunk… So annoyin’… She laughed at me… So drunk ..!’ Harvey kept rambling.

  ‘Come and sit in the truck, Mr Winters. The police and ambulance are on their way.’

  Harvey was led to a fire truck where he sat with his head in his hands.

  There was nothing left of Mick’s cabin. Only parts of Mary and Harvey’s lovely home were still standing. Most of it was nothing but charred rubble.

  Mary lay on the ground. The firemen had covered her naked body with their yellow coats.

  The wind was calmer now. It sighed mournfully as if somehow it knew a death had taken place.

  The sleeve of one of the coats flapped gently and a wisp of long blonde hair fluttered from beneath.

  The wind moaned softly

  Lifting a wisp of your long blonde hair

  Tears glistened on your pale cheeks

  Farther away, on the other side of the valley

  A man will cry

  He will mourn you, Mary

  This man whose heart will break

  ***

  ‘Frank wants us all to get the hell outta here!’ Jeff Hickson shouted, racing up the hill where Digger, Sam and the others were. ‘He says we can’t do anymore up here. The army’s gone right in the guts of it and he says all we can do now is wait. He wants us down at the bottom of the hill… now!’

  ‘Hopefully with all their equipment they’ll get it before it gets us, then,’ Sam croaked through dry blistered lips.

  ***

  ‘He’s in there!’ Win gasped. ‘Beth’s in there!’ Her heart racing, she moved slowly forward and almost jumped out of her skin as a hand was placed firmly on her shoulder.

  She turned and stifled a scream as she looked into the face of the one person she feared most… Merv Spencer!

  ‘Oh God… Merv… You bastard… I prayed I was wrong.’

  The cold grey eyes of the man everyone knew as Mick looked into the blue eyes of the woman he’d dreamed about every night. The woman whose photo he’d carried in his breast pocket for years.

  ‘Yeah, it’s me. I’ve come back for me blue eyed beauty. I’ve come for you, Winnie!’

  Win backed away from him. ‘Beth… Where’s Beth? Have you hurt her?’ Her voice trembled. She was weak with fear.

  ‘Aah, yeah… our Beth! You shoulda told me about her, Winnie!’ he snarled, using his pet name for her. ‘She belongs to you an’ me, Winnie. I’m her father, aren’t I?’

  Win cringed as Merv went on, sneering. ‘Ya kept her from me, Winnie. That wasn’t nice. Ya had me locked up too an’ that wasn’t nice either!’ He came closer to her.

  ‘I hated that place, Winnie, an’ you put me there! But… ya beautiful bitch, I never forgot ya an’ I’ve come back to get ya!’

  Win moved further away from him. ‘What are you going to do, Merv? Has everything that’s happened in the valley these past four years been your doing? Are you responsible for all the fires…? It’s been you terrorizing the valley all these years, hasn’t it?’ Her voice came out raspy and she gulped as the thought occurred to her once more
that Merv had taken revenge on her by torturing innocent people with fire.

  He laughed insanely. ‘No… No, my love, I wasn’t smart enough to think of that one. Wish I had. There’s someone else out there that hates the Mason clan more’n me. Well, just as much, maybe! Bloody clever bastard if ya ask me! Hope the whole valley goes up this time!’

  Win felt sick. Merv had saliva trickling from his mouth and he was looking at her insanely.

  ‘Now, me beauty… I’ve gotcha here and I’m never gonna let’cha go! Here, me darlin’.’ He reached out to take a trembling Win in his arms. She scrambled backwards and lost her balance. She fell and in a flash Merv was on top of her.

  ‘I’ve dreamt of this moment, darlin’.’ He lowered his bearded saliva-drenched mouth to hers. She twisted her head from side to side, frantically trying to escape his slobbering lips.

  She retched violently as his arms tightened around her. A scene from so many years ago became vivid in her mind. She screamed and begged him to stop. He laughed and held her wrists with his filthy rough hand as he ripped her dress open with the other. ‘No use fightin’ ,Winnie. You’re gonna get it real good this time!’ He lowered his mouth to her exposed breast and sucked on the nipple hungrily, then he pulled back and stared at it before bending down and licking her mouth, while staring straight into her eyes. He hadn’t had a woman for so many years and he was now completely out of control. His free hand pushed her dress thigh high and felt for the warmth between her legs. Win sobbed and begged, feeling violently ill from his putrid breath.

  Her screams for mercy filled the air. ‘Dear God!’ she thought. ‘…It’s going to happen all over again?’

  ***

  Inside the old shack, Beth had spent the last nine hours trying to free herself from her bonds. The ropes had loosened with her persistent attempts but her wrists were red raw from the friction of rubbing. Now she could hear the screams and pleading from outside. She recognized the voice as belonging to Win. Desperately, she twisted her hands and a determination so strong took hold of her. She increased her frantic struggles, this extreme determination lending her strength she didn’t know she possessed.