Burning Lies

by Helene Young

  He stopped for a moment to get his bearings. Another 25 metres and he’d be on flat land. It spurred him on through the stitch in his side and the pain in his feet. Once he finally pushed through the last stand of trees and onto the Scotts’ property, the following wind buffeted him. At this height it was roaring. Glowing spot fires danced and flared on the short grass, leaving charcoal patches as they failed to take hold. The giant gum tossed in the frenzy, showering leaves and bark around it, but even those failed to do more than smoulder when they hit the ground.

  Ahead of him, the house looked deserted. It took a moment to work out what was different about it. The house was locked up tight, with metal roller blinds covering the windows. He walked towards it, shaking his head. If Julia was home, she knew him so it would be an easy thing to talk his way inside.

  The ground underfoot was wet. ‘Clever. She thinks she’s clever,’ he murmured, his mouth turning down as his eyes darted around the property, looking for movement. He faltered when he saw the fine mist being sprayed along the roofline. The heat from the fire was evaporating much of it, but it was like a fine-mesh protection shrouding the whole building. He grunted in disbelief. She really thought she had it all figured out.

  That meant she was inside. If he cut the power to the property then that would stop her pump. Was she smart enough to have her power box enclosed?

  He jogged around to the right of the house. Nothing on that side, so he kept going along the roadside and to the left. Bingo. The protective metal box was bigger than your average meter box, but it wasn’t locked. It opened easily and he scanned the switches.

  ‘Shit. It can’t be.’ The power was already off. None of the dials were running. By now the roar of the fire was getting closer and he tried to block it out. Did she have a generator somewhere?

  ‘Hello?’ A female voice came from the front of the building and he slammed the cover closed. ‘Hello?’ the woman repeated. ‘Do you need some help?’ A muscular, compact dog shot around the corner and then slowed to a stiff-legged walk. ‘Nero. Nero, come back.’

  Speedy knew he’d need to keep his story straight. ‘Nero, hey. Good dog.’ He waggled his fingers at it, but only got bared teeth in return. He gave it a wide berth.

  Julia was peering out of the half-closed doorway.

  ‘Sorry, ma’am. I’m Speedy from the Rural Fire Brigade. I’m Dan’s bus driver too. Didn’t realise anyone was still here. We’ve evacuated the area.’

  She was nodding as he spoke. ‘Yes, I know who you are.’ The door closed all but a crack. ‘We’re staying put.’

  ‘It’s a nasty fire front coming up the hill. I’d strongly suggest you leave while you still have time.’

  ‘No, we’re fine.’

  ‘We?’

  She nodded. ‘Kaitlyn will be here soon.’

  Speedy shook his head, his throat constricting. Was Dan home, not safe at school? ‘No, ma’am, they won’t be letting anyone else through. The roads are blocked off. You need to come with me.’

  Daniel pushed through the narrow opening at his grandmother’s side. His bright red hair was the only colour relief against the thick black clothes they were both wearing. Their faces were white, the tension in them obvious.

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ Dan said as Nero shot between his legs and stopped beside him, ears pricked, hackles raised.

  ‘Hey, Dan.’ He had to get the lad away to safety. He tried again. ‘It would be better not to stay, ma’am.’

  ‘No, leave us alone. We don’t need your help.’ Her shoulders squared off and even Dan stood taller. Her tone was positively regal and it scraped like fingers on a chalkboard over his nerves. Who did the fuckin’ cow think she was? He was risking his life telling her to get out and she knew better?

  ‘In fact, we’re calling the police.’ Julia’s voice rose. ‘I know you’re an imposter, and so does Kaitlyn. You killed my husband, Kaitlyn’s husband. You’re a murderer!’ Suddenly she was screaming accusations at him as she tried to drag her grandson and the dog inside.

  Speedy started towards them, but the stupid mongrel darted in and grabbed his ankle. The overalls protected him, but Speedy kicked out, swinging the dog through the air. Its teeth let go at the top of the arc and the dog flew up against the side of the house. It hit with a thud and a yelp then gathered itself and leapt at him again.

  ‘No, no, Nero!’ Julia screamed.

  Before he could protect himself completely the dog had latched onto his thigh. He reacted the only way he knew how and punched it in the head. It dropped and lay still, but then a whirling dervish of flailing arms and legs fell on him. Daniel’s kicks landed solidly on his shins. Little bastard was a fighter, he’d give him that, Speedy thought with a glimmer of admiration as he grabbed Daniel’s thin arms and hauled him off the ground. His shins had endured so much on the journey to the house that they were almost impervious to pain. The kid could kick as much as he wanted.

  ‘Put me down!’

  ‘If you stop kicking me, you little shit,’ he managed to grunt.

  Julia was trying to get to Daniel, but was in danger of being kicked herself. She was shrieking at Speedy to put the boy down. He kept them positioned like that right up until he tripped over the dog and went sprawling. Daniel was on him again, his tight fists peppering Speedy’s arms and stomach.

  ‘Enough!’ Speedy roared, backhanding the kid across the face and sending him flying. The lad landed awkwardly and looked winded.

  ‘Fuckin’ enough!’ He hadn’t counted on the old lady having any fight in her, so when she grabbed the shovel he stared in disbelief. A friggin’ seven-year-old boy, a half-grown dog, and an elderly woman thought they could best him?

  ‘Look, lady, I’m going. Okay?’ He got to his feet, keeping clear of the dog this time.

  ‘Oh no, you’re not.’ She nodded at the embroidered name badge on his overalls. ‘You’re not Speedy. You’re not Chris Jackson, either. I know who you are and I know what you did.’

  ‘Bullshit, lady. You’re nuts.’

  ‘No.’ She shook her head, the fight going out of her. ‘No. What you did to my family, what you took from us …’ Tears filled her eyes. ‘What do you want from us now? How much more can you do? Why did you follow us here?’

  A series of sharp cracks followed by a crashing sound came from the other side of the house. The fire had arrived. He enjoyed seeing the spark of fear in Julia’s eyes as he grinned at her, licking his lips. The shovel trembled in her hands and a super-heated gust of wind hit, sending a shower of sparks billowing past them.

  The kid sat up, clutching his arm, but Speedy could see he wasn’t beaten yet.

  ‘Daniel, go and phone the police. Tell them we need them here. Go. Now,’ she ordered.

  Speedy couldn’t let that happen, but when he moved to block the boy the old lady charged at him.

  ‘Don’t you touch him again!’ she yelled, swinging the shovel at his legs.

  She was easy pickings and he grabbed the handle with his right hand, twisting it. Gamely she hung on, even though there was no weight to her at all.

  He’d had enough. Time to leave. He took two steps forwards and shoved her back through the doorway. Without stopping to look at the result he started loping towards the driveway.

  ‘Stop, or I’ll shoot!’ The yell took him by surprise but he didn’t slow down, even as he felt the bullet whistle past at the instant he heard the crack of a small-calibre gun.

  Chapter 47

  THE fire front had already moved through the dirt trail, leaving charred and broken trees smouldering in its wake. The under-growth had been incinerated; the earth was blackened and steaming. Kaitlyn pushed on, knowing that while she skirted to the north and the west the fire was still headed straight for her house. She feared for the tyres on the vehicle. It would only take a sharp piece of burning debris and she’d be running on rims. In these conditions that would be impossible.

  She changed down a gear as the incline increased. She only had one
more gear to go and the heavy diesel was making hard work of it. With an impatient flick she turned the air conditioner off. She needed all the power available. The top of the trail was the steepest. By her reckoning it could only be a kilometre or so further on.

  Cresting this section, she could see the hill stretching up again after another short downhill. This was it. She gave it everything. The old car lurched and bounced as it hurtled down the hill, almost shaking her hands from the wheel. She hit the rut at the bottom and got airborne before the wheels bit in again. Then she started the long slog up. Beside her, fresh flames licked the undergrowth as the fire reached the top of the escarpment. It would be on her boundary by now.

  ‘Please, please, let Julia and Dan be somewhere else,’ she pleaded. ‘It’s only a bloody house and my stupid pride. Please, God.’

  With only a couple of hundred metres to go, the back of the car started to slip. The wheels spun as she hit soft dirt and the car almost broached. Stopping wasn’t an option because she’d never get it going again on this incline. She doubled the clutch, revving the engine to keep the torque high. It worked for another 50 metres and then the engine started to shudder as it simply ran out of power.

  ‘No,’ she cried, her frustration overflowing. ‘No. You can do this.’

  It stalled. She realised the car was sliding backwards, and all she could do now was swing the wheel, minus the power steering, so the back end ran into the low banking. The car stopped sideways across the track. It wasn’t going anywhere.

  ‘Right. Leg it, woman.’ Kaitlyn dropped open the glove box, looking for anything useful. She was shocked to find a small handgun. For an instant she hesitated. It was six years since she’d fired anything, and that had been a yearly weapons retraining she’d barely passed. ‘I can do it.’

  A clip of ammunition was hidden further back and she weighed the bullets in her palm as she gingerly unlatched the door. She was now on the downhill side of the car and the door flung open, rocking the vehicle on its precarious perch. She pushed the gun and bullets into the back pockets of her flight trousers.

  It was a long jump down on that side of the car and she felt her knee twinge as she hit the ground. Her eyes watered and her throat closed with the choking smoke. She reached in and snagged an old shirt from the floor of the back seat. It smelt only marginally better than the smoke-filled air, but she wrapped it around her head. The Border Watch uniform was fire retardant, so she just needed to protect her nose and mouth.

  Edging past the front of the car, she headed up the hill. The heat sapped her energy. Her last drink of water had been in the aircraft and right now she’d kill for a litre or three.

  By the time she reached the top road, her legs were shaking and she had a painful stitch in her side. Ignoring her complaining body, she pushed on. Ahead, she could see the smoke swirling and eddying. Up this high the wind was strong, and the rain of embers and ash was continuous. She could smell her hair singeing.

  Staggering along, she risked a glance behind her. Jerry’s place was unscathed for now. Her lips compressed. Ryan knew what he was doing. If the wind shifted then it would be in jeopardy again, but for now it was safe.

  Bastard, she thought, her anger rearing again. Ryan had helped light the bloody thing and it was her house that was in danger. It gave her renewed strength. He’d only been playing some kind of sick, sick game.

  Well, no more. They had him and Speedy, one way or another, and she was not going to let them destroy anything of hers. She would stop them.

  An explosion down the slope was deafening, even over the thundering rumble of the fire. She baulked and almost rolled her ankle as she hit soft dirt. She swore to herself, lurching back to the middle of the track. Get a grip, Kaitlyn.

  She figured she only had half a kilometre to go and it was a slight downhill run from here. Her legs were currently in danger of over-running themselves and her arms were flailing to keep her balance. Swimming was her choice of exercise, not running, and she hardly got any time to do even that.

  The familiar shape of her house was now visible through the trees and she squinted, sure she could see the fine mist of the sprinklers. One part of her was ecstatic that the system was on and working. The other half was crying in pain because it meant Julia and Dan were most likely inside. She did not want them here while she battled a bushfire.

  Her pace picked up as she called on reserves she didn’t know she had. She drew level with her boundary fence and the front of her house came into view. She slid to a stop, gasping for breath. Julia was in the doorway, brandishing a shovel, Nero was motionless on the ground, and a man was looming over Dan.

  Speedy.

  A tree exploded down the slope and she saw the noise distract them momentarily. She was desperate to get to them but knew she’d only get one chance with the gun. Fighting off the urge to run screaming at him she dropped to the ground, and crawled along the fence line, grateful that the grass was fairly short. The parade of animals fleeing across the road ignored her.

  She got to the gateway and scrabbled to undo the flap on her pockets. She heard her mother’s voice, shrill with panic, just as she rammed the ammunition into the gun, thumbing off what she thought was the safety catch.

  Testing the pressure on the trigger, she decided it felt spongy, ready to shoot. She’d just have to risk it.

  ‘Don’t you touch him again!’ Julia screamed. Her words brought Kaitlyn to a half crouch, the gun steady in her hand.

  She almost squeezed the trigger when Speedy pushed Julia through the doorway, but the fear of hitting her son stayed her finger. The moment Speedy ran towards her, she came to her feet.

  ‘Stop or I’ll shoot!’

  He didn’t even hesitate, just kept running straight at her. She pulled the trigger but was unprepared for the recoil and the shot went high. Next one she aimed ahead and low. It hit mid-thigh and he dropped.

  In an instant she was on him, kicking with all her might, oblivious to his cries. She knew she was out of control, but opening the tap on five years of pain had released a deluge. This man had killed her father and her husband, and she had no idea why.

  ‘Mummy, Mummy.’ Daniel’s sobs got through to her. ‘Nana.’

  She whirled towards her son. ‘Baby? Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes, but Nana and Nero …’ Tears were streaming down his face. Her little soldier who never cried, who hadn’t called her Mummy in three years, was sobbing his heart out while she kicked the shit out of a man she’d just shot. ‘Julia?’ She still had the gun trained on the groaning man and risked a glance at her mother. Julia was struggling to sit up, using the doorframe.

  ‘I’m okay,’ her mother croaked, making it to a sitting position. ‘I’m okay.’

  Kaitlyn could only take her at her word. ‘Honey,’ she said to Daniel, ‘I need you to get Nero’s lead.’ It was all she could think of.

  ‘But, but … Nero can’t walk. I think he’s dead.’ His voice broke on the last word.

  ‘I know, Dan, I know, but we need to tie Speedy up. Then I can fix Nana and Nero. Can you get it for me? Quickly now.’

  He turned and bolted inside.

  Speedy lay still, but she was sure he was pretending. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  ‘Roll onto your front, arsehole, or I’ll shoot your other leg.’

  He didn’t move. She was convinced he was bluffing. Steadying the gun, she fired a shot into the ground next to him and this time he jerked. She didn’t have time for his bullshit.

  ‘I’m not messing. Next one’s for you. Now, move!’

  This time he rolled over and she could see the exit wound in his overalls. It looked relatively small and the blood was a trickle rather than a flow. It wasn’t going to kill him. Good. She wanted him to rot in jail for the rest of his miserable fucking life.

  Dan returned, dangling the lead. She squeezed his hand hard as she took it from him. Courage, she wanted to say, courage, but she didn’t.

  ‘Hands behind
your back,’ she snapped at Speedy.

  He obeyed her this time, but she stayed clear of his legs. Injured didn’t mean incapacitated when he had as much at stake as he did. ‘Dan, you remember the lessons you had with guns, last Christmas?’ She was nodding at her son, her eyes wide, trying to convey her true meaning. He’d held nothing more than a water pistol that he’d used to good effect last year.

  Understanding flashed across his face and he followed her lead. ‘Yeah,’ he said, his voice firmer, his chin up.

  ‘You need to keep this trained on the middle of Speedy’s back while I tie him up.’

  Flicking the safety back on, she handed the gun to her son, who took it in both hands and pointed it as she directed, looking like he’d done it a hundred times before.

  She looped the dog lead around Speedy’s wrists, tying them as tight as she dared. The lead was long enough to loop it down and around his ankles as well, bending them back to his knees. She had to punch the wound on his leg twice to get him to cooperate. Every time she stole a glance at her mother, it helped her to ignore the niggling disquiet that she could be so brutal to another human being. Time was critical. She gave the leash one last, vicious tug that made him hiss through gritted teeth.

  ‘You’re not going anywhere. Not until the police get here.’

  She grabbed her son’s shoulder. ‘Come and stand here and don’t take your eyes off him. If he moves, yell for me.’

  Daniel nodded, his eyes dark with fear.

  Kaitlyn ran to her mother, who was half lying in the doorway, her head resting on the door jamb, eyes closed. A trickle of blood ran down her neck and she was clutching her shoulder.

  ‘Mum? Where does it hurt?’ Kaitlyn’s fingers shook as she searched through Julia’s fine hair for the wound on her head. It wasn’t difficult to find. The gash on the left side was nasty and very close to her temple. Kaitlyn hoped she was imagining it, but the underlying bones felt compressed.

  ‘It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.’ Her mother opened her eyes slowly. It looked like it took a huge effort. ‘Just a silly cut, and maybe my shoulder.’ She was slurring her words and looked disoriented.