Little Girl Lost

by Gover, Janet

  He had no regrets. He’d done the right thing, although perhaps gone about it in the wrong way. And he had come to love Coorah Creek and its residents. He appreciated their community spirit. He loved the colours of the sunset. He loved the smell of the first drops of rain as the wet season arrived. He was happy dropping by the pub occasionally for a beer. If this was punishment, he was happy to accept it. There was plenty of time to reboot his career in the future, if he wanted to.

  But if he prided himself on his honesty in his work, he was going to have to be honest with himself too. His desire to find out a bit more about the red-haired girl wasn’t entirely work. There was a personal angle as well. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. She was a beautiful girl … woman. Coorah Creek seldom saw the likes of her. But it was her haunted air that kept him awake at night. That and her late night rides on a very noisy motorcycle.

  He had to know more about her.

  Next morning, Max drove to the mine.

  Chris Powell greeted him as he entered the office. ‘What brings you out here? I hope one of my boys hasn’t been causing trouble?’

  Max shook his head. ‘Not this time,’ he said. ‘Actually, it’s a woman I’ve come to ask you about.’

  Chris raised an eyebrow and indicated that they should go through to his office, away from the interested ears of the general office staff.

  ‘I guess you mean Tia,’ Chris said as he closed the office door.

  Tia. Until now Max hadn’t even known her name. It suited her. He wondered what, if anything, it might be short for.

  ‘Yes. What do you know about her?’

  ‘Not a lot. Tia Walsh. She’s only just got her licence to drive the Cat 793. But she’s good. She’s got a trailer in the accommodation compound. Keeps very much to herself, I think. If you want I can get her personnel record.’

  Max was about to say yes, but caught himself. This wasn’t right. The girl … Tia … had done nothing wrong. He had no right to use his job to check up on her. No right at all. It would be an invasion of her privacy. Much as he wanted to say yes, he shook his head.

  ‘No. It’s fine.’

  ‘If there’s something I should know …’

  ‘Absolutely nothing.’ Max felt a pang of guilt. The last thing he should be doing was giving Tia’s boss any reason to doubt her. ‘Nothing at all.’

  Chris raised a questioning eyebrow which Max tried desperately to ignore. That and the knowing smirk that accompanied it.

  ‘I’m off,’ he said, making for the door. ‘See you around, Chris.’

  Walking back to his car, Max looked across the gravel car park towards the giant hole in the ground that was the source of the rare ore that had brought prosperity to the town. Some distance away from the office building, huge gantries clustered around the railhead, conveyer belts reaching into the sky like giant skeletons. A train was loading, and the mineral ore crashed down into the open ore wagons, sending a cloud of dust into the air. As he watched, another of the massive earth moving trucks appeared rumbling slowly up the path from the open cut working. It was huge. Every time he saw one Max was fascinated by the size of them. They towered over the mere men who worked the mine. The diggers that loaded the ore into the tray backs were even larger. He knew the enclosed cabs were air-conditioned and noise protected. The best possible hydraulics aided the drivers who guided the giants up and down the face of the cut. But still Max marvelled at the sheer size of these earth-eating giants.

  And he marvelled at the thought that a slender slip of a girl named Tia Walsh drove one. Perhaps that very one. Sunlight glinted off the glass cab. Max squinted. He could see a dark shape inside, but he was unable to tell who it was.

  He slid behind the wheel of his car, and backed out of the car park. At the gate, instead of driving forward towards the town, he turned right. The mine accommodation compound was a few hundred metres away. He drove slowly, the police car kicking up a cloud of dust that followed him. He reached the open entrance to the compound and pulled up, his motor still running. He could simply go inside. He was the town’s policeman. No one would query what he was doing. He would no doubt find the Harley parked beside her trailer. It would be a simple matter to take down her reggo and then enter it into the police system. He’d be sure to find out something about her that way.

  He gently tapped his open palm against the steering wheel. Then shook his head, his decision made. This wasn’t right. Using his job to check out a woman for no reason other than because he found her attractive. That was wrong.

  He slipped the car back into gear, dropped a U-turn and headed back to town.

  From inside her trailer, Tia watched the car disappear behind a cloud of red dust. She waited for a few minutes as the dust settled slowly back to earth. The cop was checking up on her, she just knew it. How much did he know? Had there been some sort of a bulletin from the east coast? Perhaps something to do with the hog? She shouldn’t have kept it. But when she walked away from Andrew Kelly, she had wanted to hurt him just as much as he’d hurt her. So she’d taken the things that mattered most to him. The hog was one of those things. Had he reported it stolen? She doubted that. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was even more threatened by the police than she was.

  The cloud of dust outside was gone and the road was empty. Tia heard voices and movement from the other side of the camp. A handful of men walked into her line of vision heading for the mine. It was time for the start of the next shift. She was due to start work with them. She glanced at her watch.

  She could leave now. Jump aboard the Harley and head through that gate, away from this town to some other place and try again for a new start. She turned away from the window. Her leathers hung behind the door. Her helmet sat in its customary place on the end of the table. She had all her wages in cash. The wages were pretty good. She had enough money to get a long way from here. Maybe she should head south into New South Wales, then cut across to Western Australia. Kelly would never find her there. It would be so easy to get on the bike and go. She reached out to retrieve her helmet, and as she did, her eyes fell on the glass casserole dish drying next to her sink. Last night she had used her new casserole dish to cook up a tuna pasta bake. The recipe had been on the tuna can in the store, and she’d purchased all the ingredients on the spot.

  It was the first meal she had ever cooked in an oven. By most people’s standards the tuna bake had probably been a pretty poor attempt at a home-cooked meal, but to Tia it had tasted wonderful, partly because of the satisfaction of using ingredients bought with money she had earned. Not only that, she knew the name of the girl who had delivered those ingredients. Sarah. She had felt able to open the door to her when she knocked. And, most importantly, the meal had been eaten at her own table … well, the mine’s table, but hers for now. It was just like being a normal person.

  Nothing she had eaten had ever tasted that good.

  Tia stood stock still in the middle of her little home and made a decision.

  She wouldn’t run. Not yet. She would make sure she was ready to go, but she’d wait and see what the cop did.

  She nodded to herself. That seemed like the best thing to do. She grabbed her work gloves from the bench beside the door and stuck them in the back pocket of her jeans as she walked out the door, enjoying the feeling of locking the door behind her.

  Chapter Six

  ‘Gettin’ old mate, gettin’ old!’ The hearty slap on his back caused some of the beer in Pete’s glass to slosh over onto his hand. He put the beer on the table and shook off the liquid before clasping the hand of the newcomer.

  ‘Glad you could make it, Mick.’

  ‘Wouldn’t miss this for the world. Let me buy you a beer.’ Mick set off towards the bar without noticing either the glass Pete had just set down, or the other full glass queued next to it.

  Pete let him go. He didn
’t know whether he would be drinking much beer that night, but it wouldn’t be wasted. With six of his driving mates already here, and a couple more expected in later tonight, there would be plenty of people willing to drink whatever was going.

  ‘Happy birthday, mate.’ Mick was back, holding his beer high.

  ‘Cheers, Mick.’ Pete raised his own glass, but barely took a sip of the cold amber liquid.

  Behind them the clatter of a ball and a chorus of rousing cheers indicated that the most recent pool challenge was over.

  ‘Want a game?’ Mick asked.

  Pete shook his head. Mick deposited his beer on the table and picked up a cue. Pete left him to it. He left his beer on the table and walked towards the back of the pub. Instead of going into the Gents, he quickly slipped outside into the darkness.

  The Overflow Pub sat on the Barclay Highway on the outskirts of Mount Isa, just a short walk from the trucking depot where Pete and the other drivers were based. Thus it was their regular watering hole. It was a little like the men who frequented it, a bit rough around the edges, but basically all right. And tonight it was the venue for Pete’s thirtieth birthday party.

  Thirty! Pete shook his head. How the hell did that happen? He couldn’t be thirty. He didn’t feel much different to the day he was handed his MR licence – his passport to driving medium-sized trucks and the first step towards the combination licence he now held as a road train driver. He was a better driver now, of course, after that many years on the road. Older, too, of course. But thirty? He couldn’t be thirty.

  Where had the years gone?

  There was a wooden table and chairs behind the pub for the smokers to use, but they were empty at the moment. Pete leaned back against the table and looked up at the sky. He could see the stars, but not enough of them. Many were lost in the refracted light of the houses and cars and street lights. It was one of the things he didn’t like about living in a town even this big. He liked the vast open skies at night, with so many stars a man would need a lifetime to count them all.

  ‘Hey, birthday boy. What are you doing out here all alone?’

  The scent of perfume cut through the night air as Linda approached.

  ‘Just getting a breath of fresh air, Linda,’ Pete replied.

  ‘Do you mind if I join you?’ It was a rhetorical question. Linda had already taken up position next to him, leaning against the same table, her leg gently touching his.

  ‘I hope you’re enjoying the party,’ Linda said.

  ‘Yeah. You’ve done a great job. Thank you.’

  ‘No worries. Anything for you. You know that.’ Her voice dripped with meaning.

  They sat in silence for a few moments. Linda was pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair and a trim figure. She looked terrific in a tight T-shirt and even tighter jeans. She was funny too, and kind. All the drivers liked her, but none of them had ever made a move on her. Because she was Pete’s girl.

  Pete felt pretty bad about deceiving her tonight. It seemed cruel to pretend all was well between them, when he’d already decided to call it quits. But surely it would be even more cruel to end it now, when she’d gone to all this trouble to set up the party? Let her have tonight. He was heading out on a run to Birdsville tomorrow, stopping off at the mine near Coorah Creek. He’d be gone a couple of days. When he got back, he’d tell her.

  He didn’t think she’d be too upset. At least, he hoped she wouldn’t be. In Pete’s mind the relationship had never been more than casual. He thought she felt the same way and no doubt spent time with other men when he was away. That thought didn’t bother him at all. He made no claims upon her – nor she on him.

  ‘I have a present for you,’ Linda said softly.

  ‘You didn’t have to. I mean, all the work you put into the party. That was enough.’

  ‘That was nothing,’ she said. She was looking at him intently now. He could see the emotion on her face. She looked uncertain. That was rare for Linda. She normally exuded confidence. It was part of her appeal.

  He didn’t say anything, he waited for her to go on.

  ‘We’re going to have a baby.’

  Pete froze. The world around him did to. He struggled to understand what he’d just heard.

  ‘A baby?’

  ‘Yes. I’m pregnant. Isn’t that wonderful!’ Her voice held a slight tone of desperation.

  ‘But we … always used … How?’ Pete fought to get the words out.

  ‘Just one of those things. It really doesn’t matter now. We’re going to have a baby. I love you, Pete. And I’m so happy.’

  She stopped speaking, obviously expecting him to reply in a similar way. He struggled to find some words.

  ‘How far? I mean … when …’ he stammered.

  ‘I’ve only just found out. I’m only a few weeks along. Please don’t tell anyone. Not yet. I want to wait.’

  Linda stopped speaking and stared into his eyes. Hers began to well with tears. ‘Oh, Pete, tell me you’re happy about this. That you and I …’ She started to step away from him. ‘You’re not going to dump me, are you? You can’t.’

  The fear in her voice snapped him back. He reached for her and pulled her tight against his chest. Not because he wanted to hold her, but he had to get away from the accusing look on her face.

  ‘Of course I won’t,’ he said. ‘I’m shocked by the news, that’s all. I’m here for you. And for the baby. I always will be.’

  ‘I love you, Pete.’ Her voice was muffled against his chest.

  He knew the answer she was expecting, but he’d never said those words before. Not to Linda. Not to anyone. He couldn’t do it now because it would be a lie.

  ‘Have you seen a doctor?’ he asked instead. ‘Had a check-up. Made sure … that everything is all right.’

  ‘I did this week,’ she said. ‘He says everything is fine. He says I’m healthy and so is our baby.’

  Pete wondered just how much they could tell about the child this early. His mind went back to the last time he and Linda had been together. She hadn’t looked any different. Even now she still looked as slim as ever. But, he suddenly realised, she hadn’t been drinking tonight. Linda had always liked a couple of glasses of wine at a party. Or something stronger. But tonight he’d seen her drinking orange juice.

  She really was pregnant.

  Linda took a step away from him and her eyes searched his face.

  ‘I’m happy about this, Pete,’ she said slowly. ‘I’ve always wanted to be a mother. And you’ll be a great dad. You will be there, won’t you, Pete?’

  ‘Of course I will,’ he said. ‘And the baby …’ he couldn’t bring himself to say our baby ‘… couldn’t have a better mother.’

  Linda brushed a tear from her eye and kissed him. He kissed her back, although at that moment it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

  ‘It’s a shame we can’t tell everyone yet,’ Linda said. ‘But we should wait for the end of the first trimester. That’s what everybody says, anyway. Just in case.’

  It was a whole new language, and a little bit more than he could cope with right now.

  At that moment a yell from the direction of the pub told them they had been missed.

  ‘We’d better go inside,’ Linda said, tugging gently on his hand.

  ‘You go,’ he said. ‘I think I need to take a couple of minutes.’

  Her face fell.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he hastened to assure her. ‘This has just been such a surprise. I want to digest it properly before I go back in. I don’t want to accidentally let the secret out.’ He forced a smile onto his face.

  Linda looked uncertain. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘But don’t be too long. People will think there’s something wrong.’

  Something wrong? Pete watched her walk awa
y. That wasn’t exactly the right term for it. But in the space of a few minutes his whole world had been turned on its head.

  A baby?

  He had always been careful in his sexual encounters. In fact, there was always a condom in his wallet. Condoms weren’t guaranteed, of course, but he couldn’t remember one breaking.

  But he was going to be a father. Put like that, he felt a small quiver of pleasure. A father. That had a nice ring to it. He’d always assumed that some day … Well, some day was here. Linda might not be the woman he would have chosen, but he liked her. She would be a good mother. They could make a good life together.

  There was no way he was going to abandon his child.

  The pocket of his jeans began to vibrate, and he fished out his phone.

  ‘Hi, Mum,’ he said.

  ‘Happy birthday, darling. How did you know it was me?’

  ‘Caller ID.’ Pete’s mother wasn’t known for her technical skills.

  ‘Isn’t that clever. Anyway, where are you, Peter?’

  ‘Back at the Isa. I’m having a few drinks to celebrate.’

  ‘That’s nice. It’s a shame you couldn’t have come here. Thirty is, after all, an important milestone.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum, but it’s busy at the moment. I think I may be doing a run down your way soon. If I do, I’ll drop by.’

  ‘That’d be lovely. Will you stay the night? We could have a small gathering for your birthday. Invite some friends. Maybe the Hoopers from down the road.’

  She was matchmaking, again. That was an irony. For a moment he was tempted to tell her about Linda. And the baby. But he’d given his word. And besides, his mother would be on the next train west to come and visit. He definitely wasn’t ready for that.