Outback Ghost

by Rachael Johns

  ‘Yeah, bout time you pulled your weight,’ Frankie teased, ducking just in time to avoid being flicked by Adam’s wet towel.

  Feigning a scowl, he threw the towel over one shoulder, stooped to pick up the rest of his soggy attire and then paused to speak to Heidi. ‘Next time you want to go swimming, remember to ask your mum, okay?’

  Clutching her towel around her, Heidi giggled at him. ‘Okay, Mr Adam.’

  He straightened again and Stella tried to get another look at his tattoo but the damn towel covered all. ‘Bye,’ she said, her head too full of questions to manage anything more.

  With another irresistible grin, he turned and whistled to Mutton. The puppy, who’d somehow managed to sleep through all the excitement, sprang to life again and tore after his master round the front of the house. Less than a minute later, Stella heard Adam’s ute rattling away over the gravel.

  ‘Well, you gave us all quite a fright there.’ Esther spoke warmly to Heidi as she rubbed the little girl’s arms with a towel.

  Heidi looked to the ground and her lower lip wobbled.

  ‘Hey, don’t stress,’ Simone reached out and curled some of Heidi’s wet hair around her finger. ‘I think it was quite funny watching Adam dive into the water fully dressed.’

  Heidi giggled.

  ‘If only we’d had a video camera,’ Frankie added wistfully.

  ‘I’m glad you didn’t,’ Stella said. ‘I feel terrible enough as it is.’

  ‘Ah, relax.’ Frankie wrapped an arm around Stella’s shoulders and whispered so the others couldn’t hear, ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy the view.’

  Smiling but pretending to ignore Frankie, Stella took Heidi’s hand. ‘Come on, young lady, I think it’s time to get you back to the cottage.’

  ‘Want to stay with Esther.’ Heidi stamped her foot.

  Heidi rarely made a scene and generally Stella felt she handled them quite well, but today she didn’t know if she had it in her. Luckily Esther stepped in before the tantrum erupted.

  ‘I’ve had a lovely time with you today, Heidi, but I’m old and I get tired in the afternoons. I think I need to take a nap. You can come swim in my pool with your mum another day if you like.’

  Heidi’s eyes lit up. Her disgruntlement forgotten, she looked to Stella for approval.

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Stella said. Esther couldn’t be that old but she appreciated her efforts to help. ‘Thanks for lunch,’ she told the others. ‘I hope we see you again soon.’

  ‘If you don’t come visit me at the café in the next couple of days,’ Frankie said, tossing them a look of mock-disapproval, ‘I shall be extremely offended.’

  Stella laughed. ‘We wouldn’t want that.’

  ‘And,’ Simone added, ‘Don’t forget my offer of my girls to babysit. They’ll look after her.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Stella smiled. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hand over Heidi’s care to anyone else even if only for a few hours but she appreciated the sentiment of these ladies she’d only just met. She missed that about the country – the way people cared and looked out for each other.

  Stella collected her bag from inside the house while the others escorted Heidi to the car. It had seemed silly to drive such a short distance but she’d chosen to do so because she didn’t want to carry salads while they walked. Now she was glad as it meant she could get Heidi home and changed as soon as possible.

  ‘Thanks again,’ she told the other women as she buckled Heidi into her car seat. ‘We both had such fun.’

  ‘So did we,’ said Frankie and Simone at the same time. Esther merely smiled.

  As Stella drove to the cottage, she couldn’t stop thinking about Adam’s tattoo. ‘Heidi,’ she asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror, ‘you know Lily-Blue?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Heidi replied, sounding sleepy.

  ‘Where did you hear the name Lily-Blue? Did Adam or someone else mention it?’

  ‘No,’ Heidi answered forcefully as if Stella had asked the most ridiculous question ever. ‘She told me.’

  Normally Stella would think nothing of such a reply. In the past if she hadn’t recognised one of Heidi’s imaginary friend’s names, she’d just assumed it was something she’d heard at school, but this time she wasn’t so sure.

  By the time they arrived back at the cottage, Heidi was almost asleep. Too tired to walk, Stella carried her inside and settled her on the couch. She didn’t even stir when Stella took off her wet clothes and placed a big towel over her. After a few nights of disturbed sleep, Stella could do with a nap herself but her mind wouldn’t allow it. Pouring herself a big glass of orange juice, Stella set her laptop on the kitchen table but instead of opening the document she needed to edit, she found herself connecting to the internet and logging in to Google.

  Then she typed ‘Lily-Blue’ into the search engine.

  Chapter Eight

  Adam’s stomach groaned, alerting him to the fact it was time to take a break. He hadn’t eaten anything since the barbecue at his mum’s place, almost eight hours ago. Once upon a time he would have pushed on past the hunger and fatigue, desperate to finish the harvest as soon as possible but lately he found it difficult to summon such dedication. Deciding to stop for food and to catch a few hours sleep, he ruffled Mutton – who’d been snoring in his lap – awake, halted the header and they both trekked over to his ute, which he’d parked on the edge of the paddock.

  He had to drive past the cottage to get back to his place and when he saw the veranda light shining, he slowed the ute. Staring into the night, he caught sight of Stella sitting on the love seat gently swinging back and forth and he lifted his hand to wave. When she returned the gesture something inside him urged him to stop, to go and talk to her. She looked so lonely sitting there all by herself and the idea of going back to his place where he’d also be lonely appealed about as much as dyeing his hair pink.

  Telling himself it was only right he go and ask how Heidi was after falling into the pool earlier that day, he parked in front of the picket fence, clipped the lead he kept, for rare occasions, onto Mutton’s collar and made sure the door didn’t slam when he shut it. He didn’t want an excited Mutton to wake Heidi who’d surely be asleep at ten o’clock at night. As he trekked across the garden path, it crossed his mind that Stella might not welcome him at this time either but when he reached the veranda the smile on her face told him she didn’t mind.

  ‘Hey,’ he said as he climbed the steps to join her on the veranda.

  ‘Hey yourself.’ Still sitting on the love seat, she drew her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, giving him the most tantalising view of said legs. She wore the tiniest cotton shorts and a pale pink singlet. It was obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra and his mouth went dry at the thought. Such a sight shouldn’t flummox him so much when he’d seen her in a lot less. But it did.

  He turned and looped Mutton’s leash around a veranda post, which gave him a moment to pull himself together. ‘Stay,’ he told the pup firmly.

  ‘Been working hard?’ she asked, when he turned back.

  He shrugged. ‘Something like that. I saw you sitting out here and thought I’d come check that Heidi was okay after the pool incident.’

  Stella chuckled. ‘More than okay. She’s been asking me all afternoon when we can go back and have a proper swim.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  And then, all hints of conversation died. Only the swish of the trees moving in the wind and the distant noise of crickets sounded between them. Shifting from one foot to the other, Adam couldn’t recall ever feeling so awkward in his life. Just when he’d decided perhaps he shouldn’t have come, Stella broke the silence.

  ‘Would you like to have a drink with me?’ she asked. ‘I’m having trouble sleeping. Maybe a nightcap will help.’

  ‘I’d like that,’ Adam said, the tension in his body easing.

  Stella swung her feet to the decking and stood. ‘I’m afraid I’ve only got white wine.
Will that do?’

  ‘Perfect.’ Half an hour ago he’d been struggling to keep his eyes open in the header, but now he found himself awake and not wanting to face an empty house. This time of the year was always draining, but in previous years he’d had Monty around to keep his spirits up. ‘Can I help?’

  ‘It’s okay. You take a seat. I’ll be back in a moment.’

  Adam stared at the love seat. It was the only place to park a bum on the veranda but he wasn’t sure sitting next to Stella would to be sensible, so he perched himself on the top step.

  When she emerged a few minutes later, relief and disappointment filled him at the realisation that she’d thrown a lightweight jumper over the top of her singlet. She joined him on the steps and although they still sat close, somehow it didn’t seem intimate in the way he imagined the love seat would. Maybe because he and Monty had sat on his own top step numerous times over the last few years discussing the problems of the world, or rather farming, and he’d never had any inclination to try something with Monty.

  ‘Here,’ she said, holding out a wine glass. He took it and she clinked hers against his. ‘Cheers.’

  ‘Cheers,’ he echoed. ‘I also wanted to thank you for taking Heidi over to see Mum today. I haven’t seen her that happy in a long time.’

  She lifted one shoulder and smiled. ‘Heidi had a ball. She adores your mum and Simone and Frankie are great. Heidi was in her element being the centre of attention. I’m sorry about the pool incident, but at least it evened the score between us.’

  ‘How’d you figure that?’ he asked as he took a sip of wine.

  Her lips twisted wickedly. ‘Well… now we’ve both seen each other topless.’

  He struggled to stop from spluttering his wine all over the steps.

  She laughed along with him and when they’d both composed themselves, she said, ‘I couldn’t help but notice your tattoo. A flower seems a strange choice for a man.’

  He quirked one eyebrow at her. ‘Are you questioning my masculinity, Miss Reynolds?’

  ‘I wouldn’t dare.’ Her words were sincere and a blush crept up her neck and blossomed in her cheeks as she shrugged. ‘I was merely curious. I’ve actually always wanted to get a tattoo – I’d like Heidi’s name tattooed around my ankle – but the thought of the pain stops me.’

  He smiled. ‘You’ve given birth, haven’t you? My guess is that’s a hundred times worse than the needle of a tattoo artist.’

  ‘Maybe. But I had doctors and nurses present and a hell of a lot of pain relief.’

  ‘It’s a tribute to my sister.’ The words were out before he could contemplate whether he wanted to share such a huge part of his life with her.

  Just like that the light-hearted tone of their conversation evaporated. Stella lowered her glass to the step and met his gaze. ‘Did she die?’ she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  ‘We don’t know.’ He licked his lips as he failed to swallow the lump that had lodged itself at the back of his throat.

  ‘Oh. I see. Well, not really but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,’ she said softly.

  ‘I’m surprised you’ve been in town over a week and still haven’t heard.’ He closed his eyes, ran a hand through his hair and then opened them again as he lifted the glass to his lips. After downing almost the entire contents, he shifted slightly so he was facing her properly. ‘Twenty years ago my sister and I were playing in a paddock not far from here. It was harvest time too and so my parents were really busy and the two of us would run amok down by our favourite dam. I was dead keen on making my own catapults and shooting rocks up into trees. My sister spent most of her time on the edge of the dam building – that year had been quite wet and the dam still had plenty of water in it. One minute she was playing happily and I got distracted fixing my latest catapult…’ He took a breath. ‘The next minute I looked up and I couldn’t see her.’

  Stella didn’t say a word but the sound of her regular breaths comforted him.

  ‘I screamed and shouted for her, at first thinking she was playing hide and seek, but pretty soon I got a sinking feeling in my stomach and I started to freak. I ran home to tell Mum that I couldn’t find her. She calmed me a little, radioed Dad and he, our workers and nearest neighbours spent the next few hours scouring the farm. When they couldn’t find her they called the police but it didn’t do any good. They looked everywhere; even drained what was left in the dams, but nobody could find her. They never did.’

  Adam heard his voice break and realised he couldn’t recall the last time he’d shared this sad story with anyone. His closest friends had also lived in Bunyip Bay since they were kids. Although they didn’t talk about it much in his presence he bet Faith, Monty’s wife, remembered that time almost as well as he did. Her parents had taken part in the futile search and he knew the locals still talked about the Burton mystery whenever they got a few drinks into them. He never had to explain himself to anyone in town and his habit of not dating any woman more than a couple of times meant he’d never gotten into deep-and-meaningful territory with any of them either. Yet here he was slicing open his heart for Stella whom he hadn’t slept with and had known barely a week.

  ‘That’s terrible. I can’t imagine losing Heidi like that.’

  He nodded. He’d never forget the pain he’d felt when he realised something really bad had happened to his sister. He’d never forgiven himself for being irresponsible and not looking out for her and he never wanted to risk getting that close to someone and going through it all again. ‘It near on destroyed us all,’ he admitted. ‘Dad hasn’t smiled properly since and Mum, well, it affected her the worst. She hasn’t left the farm in twenty years.’

  Stella’s eyes widened. ‘What? Not at all? Not even to go to the doctor or buy some milk?’

  ‘No. When she’s sick, the local doctor comes to her and Dad, me, Frankie or Simone do the food shopping and she orders anything else she needs from catalogues or online.’

  ‘Wow. Is she scared of leaving?’ Stella asked.

  ‘In the early years, she had a bit of grief counselling and the consensus was she wouldn’t leave in case my sister came back, although Mum’s never actually admitted this.’ He shrugged. ‘But I think it’s become habit and now she’s terrified of the prospect of having to interact with people she doesn’t know well. It’s just been too long, which is why her behavior towards you and Heidi is both surprising and a relief.’

  Stella picked her wine glass up again and pointed it towards his chest. ‘Why the flower? Did your sister like lilies?’

  ‘It was her name…’ He stumbled because for some strange reason he always found it difficult to refer to her using it. ‘Lily-Blue.’

  Stella tried hard to hide the shock on her face by taking a long gulp of her wine. Hadn’t she been expecting something like this? She hadn’t found anything on Google and now she knew that was because it had all happened too long ago. The fact her little girl had an imaginary friend with the exact same name as Adam’s long-missing sister sent shivers down her spine. But did it mean anything? Or was it just some really strange coincidence? She’d have to tell Heidi not to say the name around the Burtons but then what reason would she give her? The last thing she wanted to do was tell her innocent little girl the story Adam had just told her.

  Until he’d revealed his sister’s story Annadale Farm had seemed a beautiful, peaceful sort of place, but now she knew its sad history, she’d never be able to look at it the same way again.

  ‘It’s a pretty name,’ she said eventually, ‘and unusual. I’m guessing she’s the little girl in the photos at your mum’s place.’

  ‘Yeah.’ He sighed. ‘Sometimes I think it’s been harder on us all not knowing what truly happened to her. It’s not like I want to forget her or expect Mum and Dad to but I’m not sure the hope Mum still carries around is healthy either. Lil’s bedroom is like a shrine – nothing has been touched since that day. Surely that can’t be healthy. What do
you think?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know.’ Shivering more from their conversation than the evening breeze, Stella drew her knees up against her chest and covered them with her jumper. Whenever Heidi did this Stella told her off for stretching her clothing but it brought a strange comfort now. ‘I don’t even want to think about the mess I’d be if I lost Heidi. I can understand not wanting to throw away anything that might remind me of her.’

  ‘Understandable or not, Mum’s behaviour hasn’t just dragged her down,’ he said a little bitterly. ‘Dad and I have tried to uphold Lily-Blue’s memory but we’ve also tried to keep on living. Sometimes I think Mum holds that against us. Dad couldn’t stand it any longer. That’s why he left.’

  ‘That’s a big burden to leave you with,’ she said, resisting the urge to reach out and take his hand in a show of support. She felt a desperate need to offer comfort but didn’t want to give Adam the wrong idea.

  ‘I’ll cope.’ He met her gaze in the moonlight and offered her a resigned smile. ‘Now I’ve told you my pitiful life story, why don’t you tell me yours?’

  ‘What?’ His suggestion caught her by surprise. ‘What do you mean?’ As far as Stella was concerned there was lots more about him she’d like to know. And she had more questions about Lily-Blue too. How long had they searched? Did they suspect foul play? But she didn’t want to push too hard when it was clear in Adam’s voice and demeanour that telling her that much had been difficult.

  ‘What’s Stella’s story?’ he asked, his eyes serious and full of interest.

  She laughed. ‘We’d need more wine and a few hours to even scrape the surface. I wouldn’t want to bore you.’

  He lifted his empty glass. ‘Was that the end of the wine?’

  ‘No but…’

  ‘Do you think you’ll be able to sleep yet?’

  That was doubtful after what he’d just told her. Add that to the strange noises she’d been experiencing at night and she likely wouldn’t sleep well in the cottage ever again.