Purple Roads

by Fleur McDonald

  The phone rang.

  Swearing, she sat up quickly and fumbled for the phone next to the bed.

  ‘Hello?’ she said, her voice croaky.

  ‘You sound terrible,’ said Kate. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Ah, Kate! Ella was sick last night. She woke up at about eleven and I don’t think she went back to sleep until about four am.’ She glanced at the clock. It was now eight o’clock.

  ‘Poor little thing. What’s wrong with her?’

  Anna tried to get out of bed carefully so she didn’t wake the sleeping girl. Ella let out a small cry then settled again. Cradling the phone to her ear, Anna reached out to touch Ella’s forehead and was relieved to find it was cool. Obviously the Panadol, cool flannels and hours of rocking her gently had helped break Ella’s fever.

  ‘She had a very high temperature and was terribly clingy and sad. There wasn’t really anything else wrong – it’s probably just a twenty-four-hour thing. Hopefully she’ll sleep for a while ’cos I’m exhausted!’

  ‘Oh, what a bugger I have to go to Adelaide today. I’d come and help otherwise.’

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ Anna said, yawning. ‘What are you doing in Adelaide?’

  ‘My cousin Dave and his family are coming over from Perth, so I’m heading down to catch up with them. It’s been ages since I saw his family.’

  ‘I hope you have a great time.’ Anna was distracted by Ella, who had woken up and immediately started to cry. Anna shushed her and stroked her head, but it didn’t make any difference. She felt hot again, too. Anna wondered how her temperature could have risen again so suddenly and tried to calculate when she had last given Ella some Panadol.

  ‘I can’t hear you, Kate,’Anna said as Ella’s screams grew more frantic. ‘I’d better go. Drive safely.’ She hung up the phone and turned to Ella. ‘Oh, you’re all hot and bothered again, sweetie.’

  Ella’s large eyes were glassy and her cheeks were wet with tears.

  ‘It’s okay, I’m here.’ Anna stroked her forehead and Ella’s tears started to subside. Her breathing deepened and her eyes began to close. Finally she was asleep again. Anna sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, her head in her hands. Coffee. She needed coffee.

  Out in the kitchen she switched on the kettle, threw heaped teaspoons of coffee and sugar into a mug and slumped over the bench, her head resting on the cool laminex. So this was what it was like to be a single mum. Exhaustion blurred her thoughts, her temper was frayed and still she had to keep going. She had to make sure there was food on the table, that Ella was bathed and played with, when all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. Frustration coursed through her. She wasn’t a single mum, damn it. She had a husband, but he was too busy on his long runs and too tired when he came home to help. Or he didn’t want to.

  As she poured boiling water into her mug, a sleepy Ella appeared in the doorway, a teddy bear tucked under her arm, thumb in her mouth and tears threatening. Anna briefly closed her eyes, wanting to scream, but took a deep breath.

  ‘Hi there! Do you want some juice?’

  Ella nodded and spoke around her thumb. ‘I hot, Mummy.’

  Anna leaned over and gently took the girl’s thumb out of her mouth. ‘Pardon?’

  Ella frowned. ‘I hot, Mummy.’

  Anna brushed her fingers over Ella’s forehead on the way to the fridge and realised she was hot. Very hot.

  ‘Mummy has run out of juice. How about I just run across to the shop and get some more? Can you watch TV while I go?’ She turned on the ABC and was distracted by Jay, who used to be on Water Rats, jumping around singing ‘Five Fat Sausages Sizzling in a Pan’. She shook her head. He had been one of the sexiest men on TV and now here he was on Play School.

  She grabbed her purse and slipped out while Ella was occupied. Running quickly across the road she pushed open the door.

  The shop was always welcoming. Maggie had installed a potbelly stove near the back corner to dispel the winter’s chill, and an air conditioner for when the summer heat got too stifling.

  Anna loved coming in here. Maggie stocked things you just couldn’t find these days – it was almost like stepping back in time. On the counter sat an old-fashioned cash register and large clear jars crammed with humbugs, liquorice allsorts and boiled sweets. The walls were lined with shelves stacked with tins of vegetables and long-life products. There was even a small display of local talent, with paintings and handicrafts from artists working in the region.

  Maggie herself sat in the same spot every day – she had probably sat for decades on the tall stool with a cushioned top, her ankles hooked under the cross bar, her hands busily knitting.

  Her smile was warm and, like any good shopkeeper, she was aware of most happenings in the small town, although she never partook in any gossip.

  ‘Good mornin’, Anna,’ Maggie said in her soft Irish lilt. ‘You’re lookin’ a wee bit peakish today.’

  Anna tried to smile, as she walked towards the refrigerator at the back of the store to grab a bottle of orange juice. ‘Ella’s been sick most of the night and it’s just me at home. I think I might have managed three hours’ sleep.’

  ‘Eh, ye poor love. It’s difficult to cope with young ’uns on your own.’

  Anna placed the juice on the counter and asked for a packet of Panadol – for herself. ‘I’m probably coming down with it, too,’ she grumbled.

  ‘I know young Fiona Lay has been sick, as has the wee Contrall boy. So there is somethin’ goin’ around town. When is your fella due home?’

  ‘Not for another a day or so. I think his run was to Sydney this time. I’ve begun to lose track of where he goes he’s on the road so often.’ She broke off, surprised by the bitterness in her voice.

  Maggie rang up her purchases. ‘Ah, pet,’ she said sympathetically. ‘Sometimes life with a man can be hard, but as you’re seein’ now, it can be harder without. Just know you’re loved.’ She reached across the counter and held Anna’s hand in hers.

  Mortified at the prick of tears, Anna snatched her hand away, gathered up her items and walked quickly out of the shop. She was angry with herself for letting her emotions show. It didn’t matter what she did behind closed doors, didn’t matter if she wept floods of tears, but she had to hold it together in public.

  Running back to the house, she saw Sam’s ute in the driveway. Inside, Sam was sitting on the floor next to Ella. When he saw Anna, he stood up, smiling. ‘Ah, I thought you must have been at Maggie’s,’ he said he as nodded towards the empty container on the bench.

  Anna held up the full bottle she was carrying and waved it about. ‘Hi, Sam, what are you doing here?’ she asked, grabbed a plastic cup out of the cupboard and poured some juice into it. She measured out some Children’s Panadol, mixed it in the juice and handed it to Ella. ‘I’d just run out of orange juice, so I ran across to get some. Ella won’t take any medicine unless it’s mixed in with the juice.’

  ‘Kate said Ella was sick and asked me to bring round some soup she had in the freezer. I’ve put it in the fridge.’

  Anna smiled at her friends’ thoughtfulness.‘Thank you.’ She pushed two white tablets out of the box of Panadol she’d bought for herself and washed them down with orange juice straight from the bottle.

  Sam frowned. ‘Hard night?’

  ‘You could say that.’

  ‘Do you want to have a shower while I’m here to look after Ella? I’m told it’s the hardest thing to do when you’re a mum.’ Sam looked slightly embarrassed mentioning it, but Anna was flooded with gratitude.

  ‘Did your sister tell you that?’ she asked. ‘Well, she’s right. I haven’t managed to have one yet. Are you sure you’re okay with Ella?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘We’ll read some stories, won’t we, Ella?’ he said. ‘My nephews love it when I read them stories when they’re sick,’ he told Anna.

  Ella looked at Sam solemnly then disappeared into the lounge and came back with a book.

&
nbsp; ‘Hmm, Belinda. I don’t think I’ve heard of this one. It looks good! What’s this on the front?’

  ‘Cow,’ said Ella.

  ‘A cow? Are you sure? I thought it was a horse! Come on, let’s go and find a chair, then we can read it.’

  Anna bolted for the shower, thankful that Ella wasn’t crying. There were times when her head felt like it was going to explode from Ella’s screams.

  In the bathroom she stared at her reflection. Her face was pale and she had large black rings under her eyes. She could honestly say she had never thought her life would pan out the way it had. She sighed and let her head fall gently onto the mirror and stayed like that for a very long time.

  Later, emerging from the steaming shower, she found her headache gone and, amazingly, even with the lack of sleep, she felt as if she could handle the day on her own. Anna could hear noises from the kitchen, and remembered she hadn’t given Ella her breakfast yet. When she went out, Ella was sitting at the table, her face smeared with Vegemite. Ella gave her a toothy grin as Anna dropped a kiss on her head.

  ‘Thank you, Sam,’ she said, then added guiltily, ‘I should be looking after you! You’re the guest.’

  Sam held out a steaming cup to her. As she took it her fingers brushed his and she felt a rush of energy run through her. Her face flushed at her reaction and, embarrassed, she turned away, hoping he hadn’t noticed. But Sam caught her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

  ‘Anna,’ he said, looking her straight in the eye, ‘you don’t have to be everything for everyone or do everything by yourself. You’ve got friends who will help.’

  Chapter 21

  Matt checked his rear-view mirror and noticed a car coming up behind. He looked ahead, knowing what he would see – a large hill with a corner at the top.

  As the car drew closer, Matt frowned. He took his foot off the accelerator and started to brake; he wanted to hold this idiot up. Surely he wouldn’t pass now. Not with a hill you couldn’t see over.

  The rig started to slow just as an insistent flashing caught his eye. Glancing in the mirror again he saw the black car was right on his tail, flashing its lights. Matt couldn’t make out who was behind the wheel, but his first instinct was to pull over. There must be something wrong. He changed down a gear and watched in horror as the car pulled out, trying to pass, then pulled back.

  Matt’s eyes flicked from the road in front and back again to the mirror.‘You dickhead,’ he muttered as he tried to work out what to do. Seventy-five kilometres per hour and dropping.

  The man in the car was getting more agitated, his front bumper looked like it was nearly touching the back of the single trailer, and the next thing Matt knew the car was veering sharply into the righthand lane.

  Alarmed, Matt saw a glint of silver coming towards him. Another car. Bloody hell!

  The black car shot past him, horn blaring, then swerved back into the left-hand lane just missing the nose of the truck. It accelerated away just as the car coming from the opposite direction ran off the road into the gravel.

  With rising horror, Matt realised he recognised the silver car. He saw a flash of blonde hair and Kate’s terrified face as her car hurtled off the road. Matt’s eyes were pinned to the rear-vision mirror when he felt a bump. As he struggled to keep the truck on a straight path, he realised he’d knocked over a yellow sign and perhaps taken out a few of the white posts on the side of the road.

  After what seemed like an age, he finally brought the truck to a standstill, flicked on the hazard lights and leapt out of the cab.

  He ran along the bitumen, desperate to get to the car, which had come to rest on the side of road, somehow avoiding a tree and a fence. ‘Kate? Hell, Kate?’ The fear made his voice high. Yanking open the door, he saw she was conscious. Relief coursed through him. Her frightened eyes met his and he saw the terror leave her face to be replaced by recognition and relief.

  ‘Kate, are you hurt?’ He reached in to touch her shoulder.

  ‘Um, no. I don’t think so.’ She unbuckled her seatbelt and with Matt’s help struggled out of the car, shaking.

  Matt watched as she raised her trembling hands to her mouth then suddenly sank to the ground. Matt squatted beside her. ‘There now,’ he said gently. ‘It’s okay. It’s over now.’ He tried to ignore the flashes from his own truck accident that had forced their way to the forefront of his mind.

  ‘Who was that?’ she gasped.

  ‘A bloody idiot. He roared up behind me, started beeping his horn and trying to overtake. I don’t think he even saw you coming.’

  Kate took a few deep breaths then gave him a tremulous smile.

  ‘I’m so glad it was you in the truck. Far out, what a maniac. What was he thinking?’

  ‘I couldn’t guess.’ Matt shook his head grimly. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To Adelaide. My cousin Dave is over from Perth. We’re having a bit of a family get-together.’

  ‘Are you right to drive? Do you want me to ring Sam and get him to pick you up? Or you can come with me in the truck, if you want.’

  ‘No.’ Kate paused. ‘No, I’ll be fine. Sam’s got a meeting with the accountant. I’ll just take it steady. I’m only an hour or so away.’

  Matt said, ‘I wish I could report the bastard, but I didn’t catch the make of the car or the licence plate. It was something sporty though. Did you?’

  Kate shook her head. ‘No. It all happened too fast.’ She reached out to Matt for a hug. ‘Shit. Scary stuff.’

  Matt gave her a tight squeeze then said, ‘Let me check the car for you and get it back on the road.’ He jumped into the driver’s seat and turned the key. Carefully he manoeuvered the car back onto the bitumen and left it idling.

  ‘Well it all looks okay, and I can’t hear anything to worry about in the engine. Temperature seems fine.’ He got out.

  ‘Thanks, Matt. I’ll see you soon.’

  ‘Drive carefully, Kate.’

  He watched as she got into the car and closed the door. She wound the window down and stuck her head out. ‘Have you spoken to Anna today?’ she asked.

  ‘No, I’ve been away for a couple of days. I’m heading home tonight.’

  ‘I rang her this morning and Ella was sick. She sounded exhausted.’

  ‘I’ll give her a call.’

  ‘She loves you so much, Matt.’

  Matt looked off into the distance. ‘I know.’

  Kate lifted her hand. ‘See you.’

  ‘Yep, see you later.’

  Back in the truck Matt cursed the driver of the black car. What on earth would possess someone to pass on a bend and a hill? Could the man have been suicidal? A flashback of a car tailing him into Spalding hit him.

  His fingers dialled Sam’s mobile number and he listened to the dial tone on open speaker. When Sam answered, he told him Kate had already rung, but at least Matt could reassure his friend that his wife was fine.

  He then tried his own home number and listened as a mechanical Anna asked him to leave a message. Matt hesitated for a moment, then pressed the disconnect button.

  Matt parked the truck in the darkened depot and slowly climbed out. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was just after eight. He glanced towards Jimmy’s ATCO hut, expecting to see the door open but, unusually, it was shut. He could hear Jimmy’s voice, and he sounded angry. When there was no answering voice, Matt realised the boss must be on the phone. He shrugged. He could catch up with Jimmy when he returned from holidays. Collecting his gear from the truck, he made his way towards the car park where his ute was waiting.

  He was just climbing in when he heard the hut door slam and Jimmy call out his name. Matt sighed. It had been a long day and now he was heading home he really didn’t feel like recounting it all.

  But Jimmy was already crossing the car park to where Matt was standing under the bright spotlights.

  ‘Matt, me lad, how did you go? Did everything run smoothly?’

  ‘Yeah, all the deliveries were
fine, truck purred along. But I did clean up a few of the white posts and a sign, and broke the spotties while I was at it.’

  ‘I see. What happened?’

  ‘An idiot in a black car is what happened.’ Matt felt his anger return. ‘You wouldn’t bloody believe it, Jimmy. He roared up behind me, tailgated for a few k, then tried to pass on that bend just outside of Peak Town. You know, Jimmy, I’ve had something similar happen before. Not long after we lost the farm. Some clown in a powerful car – I could hear the engine – tailed me and even rammed into my old ute. It scared the shit out of me and I never understood why it happened.’

  ‘Really? Oh shit.’ Jimmy shut his eyes as Matt continued.

  ‘Yeah, I slowed down, tried to get out of his way, but he passed me just as a car came around the corner. I was trying to get off the road so I wouldn’t be involved in an accident when I took out the sign and posts. Sorry about that.’

  ‘No, Matt, no. Not your fault. You did a good job. What a bugger of a thing to happen.What happened to the other car?’

  ‘She ran off the road and was fairly shaken, but otherwise she’s okay. She’s a friend of mine, as it happens. She’s fine though.’

  ‘Ah, that’s good, that’s good.’ Jimmy’s face was grim. ‘Probably some young bloke who’s just got a new car and is testing it out. Jeez, some people only exist to make your blood boil. Well, Matt, you’d best be off home. Drive safely, won’t you?’

  ‘Goodnight, Jimmy. See you again in a couple of weeks.’

  ‘Oh you’re off on holidays. Is it really twelve months since you started here? Well enjoy them, Matt!’

  As Matt pulled out of the depot, he saw that Jimmy was still standing in the car park. He looked old and beaten.

  Matt pushed open the front, door and was met with a blast of heat. He could smell what he thought was lamb stew and the house was quiet.

  He smiled. This was what he liked to come home to.

  Throwing his bag on the floor, he went in search of Anna. He’d thought of nothing but her arms around him tonight, knowing she would be able to banish any thoughts of the black car and fear he had felt earlier today.