She was gone barely long enough for him to think about what they might be about to find.
‘Here.’ She thrust a pair of bright pink washing up gloves at him and proceeded to slide identical ones onto her hands. When they were both protected, they worked together to lift the box out of the dirt.
‘Is it locked?’ Stella’s voice shook.
‘I don’t think so,’ Adam said, glancing round the edges.
‘Maybe we shouldn’t open it. Maybe we should call the police first?’
But Adam barely heard her words. Not thinking about what he might find, he wrenched open the slightly stiff lid. The sight made his stomach revolt.
He turned and stumbled to the ground as the contents of his lunch were hurled back up his throat. Stella’s shadow fell over him as she knelt in the dirt beside him.
‘You’ll get your dress dirty,’ he said, when he finally stopped vomiting.
‘Adam, my dress is long gone. I don’t give a damn about the dress.’
‘Oh shit.’ He crawled away from his mess on the ground as tears filled his eyes. His hands were shaking, his whole damn body was shuddering with the realisation of what he’d just done. ‘It’s her,’ he said, looking up at Stella. The box had protected, almost mummifying, the body so that despite the years he could still identify bits of bone, hair and nails. Small bones. Hair the colour of Lily-Blue’s.
Stella shuffled on her knees to join him and wrapped her arms around his body. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to find comfort in her embrace. He’d never cried in a woman’s presence before – aside from his mum’s when he was a little kid – but he couldn’t fight the tears now. Twenty years she’d been gone. Twenty years his family had been in limbo, half-grieving, half-hoping. All that time Uncle Tom had to have known there was no hope. He was the only one who could have done this.
That thought sent bile shooting up his esophagus again and he tore himself out of Stella’s embrace, but he wasn’t sick, not in his stomach anyhow. His head would never be the same again.
‘What do we do now?’ Stella asked.
Adam had murderous thoughts. Problem was the man he wanted to kill was already dead.
‘Do we call the police or tell your mum?’ she pressed.
‘Tell me what?’
‘Shit!’ Adam spun round at the sound of his mum’s voice and his nausea threatened again at the sight of her and Heidi holding hands on the back veranda.
‘Sorry,’ she said, glancing down at him and Stella. ‘But you’ve been gone a while and Heidi was getting a little anx—’ Her voice broke off as her gaze trekked behind them to the jacaranda tree. She frowned. ‘What are you doing digging up Lily-Blue’s tree?’
Chapter Twenty-one
Trying to ignore the look of extreme anguish on Esther’s face, Stella rushed onto the veranda to protect Heidi from their gruesome discovery. She snatched her daughter into her arms, making sure her head wasn’t facing towards the tree.
‘I’m taking her back to the homestead,’ she said, already making her move. As Heidi squirmed and squealed to be let down, Stella held on tight and shouted to Adam. ‘Do you want me to call the police?’
‘No. I’ll do it,’ Adam replied, still kneeling on the ground. Esther stood like a statue staring at the toolbox, her face clear of all expression. Stella’s heart broke for the other woman and the horror still to come but she had to put her own daughter’s needs above all else.
‘Okay.’ She broke into a jog as she wrestled Heidi round the side of the house and over to her car. On autopilot, she buckled a still struggling Heidi in and drove across the gravel farm tracks back to Esther’s place, trying to ignore the wailing protests from Heidi in the back. Mutton bounded to the car to meet them and Stella, thankful that he’d distracted Heidi from her near tantrum, let him follow them inside, uncaring about usual farm rules. Christmas carols blasted from the stereo in the lounge room and Stella immediately went to turn them off. The last thing she needed to hear right now was songs of good cheer.
‘Go back, Mummy,’ Heidi stamped her foot and placed her hands on her hips, angry at Stella. ‘Now!’
It appeared Mutton couldn’t distract Heidi today. Instead he was licking the dessert plates that still sat on the coffee table and Heidi was glaring up at Stella, looking as if she was about to burst into tears. Stella didn’t feel far off herself but she tried to put herself in Heidi’s spot. She’d been having a lovely day and then suddenly all the adults had gone crazy. How could she explain all this to her daughter when she didn’t understand any of it? The truth about Lily-Blue would be hard to accept for an adult but for a child like Heidi, who believed Lily-Blue a friend… she shuddered to think about how this discovery would affect her.
‘I’m sorry, honey, but…’ She sighed and opened her arms, forcing her restless legs to lower themselves onto the couch. ‘Can you trust that I know best and we need to stay here?’
Heidi deliberated on this and Stella’s heart raced as she waited for her to come round. They rarely had disputes over anything and Heidi was generally a compliant child but she was also hugely aware of other people’s emotions. She wouldn’t have liked leaving Esther and Adam at all.
‘Please come here, honey,’ she pleaded, blinking back tears. Finally Heidi walked forward, climbed into Stella’s lap and rested her head on her shoulder. Stella slipped her fingers into her daughter’s hair and massaged the back of her head, unsure whether she was trying to comfort Heidi or herself. She racked her brain for what to say, for how to start this difficult conversation, but Heidi spoke before she’d figured that out.
‘Lily-Blue gone now,’ she said in the smallest voice ever.
Stella wasn’t sure whether it was a question or statement. ‘Yes, she is,’ she said, slowly, still searching for how to go forth with this. Her heart halted as she asked, ‘How do you know?’
‘She wasn’t at cottage now.’
‘Right.’ Should she tell Heidi Lily-Blue’s relationship to Adam or Esther?
‘Watch movie?’
It took a moment for Stella to register Heidi’s question. ‘You want to watch TV?’
‘Yes,’ Heidi said simply, crawling out of Stella’s lap and lying down on the couch, leaning her head against the armrest. Totally subdued now, she put her thumb into her mouth, something she hadn’t done for a couple of years. Feeling entirely unsettled and unsure whether she should leave things be or press the issue with Heidi, Stella leaned forward and scooped the remote off the coffee table. She flicked on the television and scrolled through the channels until she came to ABC 2, which appeared to be screening a Giggle and Hoot Christmas special.
‘Perfect,’ she said, as she endeavored to make herself comfy beside Heidi. That should have been an easy task considering the plushness of the couch but Stella struggled not to fidget as she fought the intense urge to get up and pace the room. She didn’t know if in turning on the TV she was taking the easy way out, but at least she would stay with Heidi and be here if any further questions arose.
She desperately wanted to know what was happening over at the cottage. It felt wrong deserting Adam after such a discovery and she felt sick every time she thought of Esther. Had he called the police yet or was he not in the right frame of mind to do so? Maybe she should call them herself and check; after all, it was her fault all this had happened. If they hadn’t come to Bunyip Bay, Heidi would never have interacted with Lily-Blue’s ghost or whatever it was and she’d never have felt compelled to turn the Burtons’ world upside down.
All these thoughts swirled in her head and she decided she needed to find painkillers before her brain exploded. She glanced down at Heidi and noticed she’d fallen asleep. Poor darling – was it from all the emotional turmoil or relief at somehow knowing Lily-Blue would finally get her peace?
Esther stayed unnervingly quiet, staring at the rusty toolbox, while Adam explained why he’d decided to dig up the jacaranda tree and what he’d
discovered when he did. She didn’t cry, she didn’t raise an eyebrow in skepticism at the ridiculousness of the situation, she didn’t say a word. Maybe she was in shock. Adam didn’t know whether to try to comfort her with a hug or leave her be. Should he get a heavy blanket from inside and wrap it around her? It was over thirty-five degrees but wasn’t that what you were meant to do with shock victims?
He guessed he must be in shock too for his hands were shaking and he felt freezing despite the heat and the physical exertion. He’d never be able to erase the image of delicate bones and what looked like strands of fine blonde hair lying sadly in the rusty old toolbox.
‘Mum, do you want to sit down or something?’ He reached out and touched her lightly on her arm. They were still standing on the back veranda where she’d arrived with Heidi. He had no idea how long ago that was – time seemed to have stopped the moment his shovel hit something hard.
‘Call the police, Adam.’ She nodded towards the tree and the toolbox, which was now in the full afternoon sun. ‘We can’t leave her out there in the heat and I’m guessing we shouldn’t disturb the scene any more.’
What she said made sense but her clear headedness didn’t. For years she’d been living in hope of someone finding Lily-Blue alive. Even if she’d been kidnapped and had spent twenty years living with another family but was safe. That possibility was the only one Esther had ever allowed herself to entertain.
‘Shall we go inside out of the sun?’ he asked.
‘I’m not setting foot inside that filthy cottage ever again,’ she snapped. And then she turned to look at him. ‘How could my brother do this to my baby?’ Her eyes were suddenly pools of tears.
‘Oh, Mum.’ Stepping towards her he pulled her into his arms and let her sob onto his shoulder. He realised that coming to terms with Tom’s betrayal would perhaps be just as difficult as accepting that her little girl was never coming back. Like him, it looked as though she couldn’t see any other explanation for this grim discovery.
She clung to him for a couple of minutes and then she sniffed, pulled back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Call the police, please. I want this over with.’
He nodded, retrieved his mobile phone from his trouser pocket and then put a couple of metres between them. For some reason he didn’t want her to hear this phone call. As it was Christmas Day and he had Drew and Ruby’s home number, he bypassed the station and went straight to the source.
‘Hello and Merry Christmas.’ Ruby answered after three rings.
‘Hi Ruby. Is Drew there?’
‘Is that you, Adam? Has something happened? I’ll just put him on.’ Adam was grateful Ruby didn’t require him to answer any of her questions. He heard muffled voices and then Drew came on the line.
‘Adam? How can I help?’
He took a deep breath. ‘You know how you mentioned digging under the jacaranda tree?’
‘Uh huh.’ Drew’s tone was wary.
‘I did.’
Less than fifteen minutes later, the Bunyip Bay cop car screeched to a stop at the front of the cottage. Having heard it coming, Adam was waiting out the front. Drew, his underling Mike and Ruby spilled out of the car. Only in the country would the police bring their fiancées on such callouts.
‘Oh, Adam.’ Ruby got to him first and threw her arms around him. ‘I’m so sorry. Where’s your mum? How is she?’
Adam sighed. ‘She’s round the back. She hasn’t moved one inch since we made the discovery.’
Ruby patted him on the arm. ‘I’ll go to her.’
Knowing Ruby would look after his mum felt like a weight off and he psyched himself up for the questions Drew would have to ask.
‘You couldn’t wait till after Christmas,’ were Drew’s first words as he and Mike followed Drew around the back.
‘Sorry.’ Adam wondered if there’d ever be a good time for this.
‘Hey.’ Drew squeezed his shoulder. ‘It’s fine.’
They turned round the side of the house and even though Adam had been the one to yank the toolbox from the ground, the sight of what he’d done – mountains of dirt beneath the tree and the toolbox sitting open amongst them – turned his stomach again. He placed a hand against his gut, determined to keep it together. The quicker they got this over the better.
He’d gone over what he’d done and his discovery on the phone but Drew and Mike needed to look for themselves. ‘You stay back,’ Drew instructed. Adam wasn’t sure whether that was protocol or whether Drew knew how close he was to losing it and mightn’t be able to cope with actually seeing the tiny skeleton again.
‘Oh fuck!’ Drew and Mike cursed as one as they peered over the box, careful not to touch or disturb anything. Drew looked grim but Mike stumbled back and doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach in much the same way Adam had.
‘Get the tape from the car,’ Drew ordered over his shoulder, ‘and cordon off the area.’ Then he stepped back to Adam and said, ‘I’ll need to call the detectives in from Geraldton and notify Major Crime. They might not get here till tomorrow so Mike and I will remain on guard until they arrive. This place will be swarming after that – the Forensic Crime Scene Unit will need to be involved and even though the suspected crime took place a couple of decades ago, they’ll scour the area with a fine-toothed comb.’
Adam nodded, not sure how much he was taking in but grateful that Drew wasn’t softening things for him. He wanted to be fully informed about the whole investigation. Even though, if he were right about Uncle Tom being the murderer, no one would ever be punished for this, his family needed the closure.
‘Missing Persons will be notified, although they won’t be able to officially close their case until pathologists have examined the remains and the coroner confirms the death.’ He paused. ‘All this could take quite some time and it’s not going to be easy on your family.’
Adam nodded. ‘I understand. Oh, shit. I need to call Dad.’
‘Is he far away?’
‘Who knows?’ Adam shrugged. ‘He’s on a cruise somewhere.’
‘If you need help contacting him, let me know.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Right.’ Drew looked back to the tree where Mike was fixing up the police barrier. It was good to see he’d recovered from his stomach upset quicker than Adam. ‘We’re going to take some photos now and I’ll need to talk to you as well. Was it just your mum here when you found the toolbox?’
‘No. Mum and Heidi were at her place.’ He paused a moment. ‘Stella helped me dig though.’
Drew nodded. ‘I’ll need to talk to her as well.’
‘Will Heidi need to speak to you or any other officers?’ Adam asked, feeling protective of the little girl.
Drew frowned slightly. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure. Maybe not because the whole what led you to digging is a little airy-fairy. Us cops prefer to work on facts.’ Seeming to sense Adam’s anxiety about involving Heidi, Drew added, ‘I promise to keep her out of it as much as we can.’
Stella lifted Heidi’s legs and slipped out from under her. Her own legs were stiff and she realised a couple of hours had already passed since they’d returned. In the kitchen, she located Panadol in a top cupboard and downed two in quick succession. Then she sighed as she surveyed the mess left from lunch. She and Adam had barely scratched the surface of tidying up when Esther had demanded dessert.
In the absence of anything better to do, she began the clean up. She collected the bowls from the lounge room and melted at the sight of Mutton curled up at the bottom of Heidi’s feet on the couch. He hadn’t taken long to steal her seat.
‘Do you want some turkey, little guy?’ she asked. He’d looked dead to the world but perked up at the mention of food. Animals were so much smarter than people gave them credit for. He followed her into the kitchen where she scraped the leftovers into two plastic containers and took them out onto the veranda to share between Mutton and Goldie. Then, she went back to her task. She washed the dishes,
put away the crockery, took the decorations and cloth off the table and then put a load of tea towels and the tablecloth into the washing machine. Although she kept busy, nothing could distract her thoughts from what must be happening at the cottage.
For the first time in her life she contemplated leaving Heidi and driving over there, but the thought of Heidi waking and finding Stella gone stopped her. Instead she picked up her phone and dialled Ruby, thankful once again for the friendships she’d developed over the last few weeks.
‘Hi Stella.’
Relief flooded her at the sound of another adult’s voice. Her internal thoughts were sending her insane. ‘Have you heard?’ she asked.
‘I’m at the cottage now,’ Ruby replied, then lowered her voice. ‘With Esther.’
‘What’s happening?’
‘Geraldton CID have just arrived.’
‘Oh. How’s Esther? And Adam?’
‘As well as can be expected.’ Stella had no idea what that meant.
‘I feel like I should be there,’ she said.
‘No, this is no place for a child. I’m going to try to convince Esther to come home in a moment. Maybe put the kettle on.’
‘Yes. Great. I’ll do it right away.’ She relished the opportunity to do something helpful.
But when Ruby and Esther arrived ten minutes later, Esther politely declined the offer of a drink. Stella and Ruby watched, both feeling utterly helpless, as the older woman walked like a zombie towards her bedroom and then closed the door behind her.
‘Do you think we should just let her be?’ Stella asked.
Ruby shrugged, but before she could say anything Heidi appeared in the hallway rubbing her eyes. ‘Hungry, Mummy.’ She noticed Ruby and smiled. ‘Hello, Ruby.’
‘Hi, sweetheart.’ Ruby bent down and gave Heidi a hug. Stella couldn’t help but think how in normal circumstances Heidi would have almost knocked Ruby over in her effort to hug her. ‘Did Santa bring you some good presents?
Heidi nodded. ‘Want see my tea set?’
‘I’d love to.’
Outback Ghost Page 27