Queen of the Road

by Tricia Stringer

  Coop then sat close to Angela, putting an arm across her shoulders and pulling her gently closer. ‘Feeling warmer?’

  ‘Perfectly toasty,’ she said and leaned over Claudia to kiss him.

  Jilly came and lay down at Claudia’s feet and for a while they all watched the flames contentedly. Angela could feel her eyes getting heavy, and by the way Claudia had slumped down, she knew she must be asleep.

  ‘I’ll tuck Claud into bed,’ she murmured.

  ‘Let me carry her.’

  Before Angela could move, Coop had scooped the little girl up in his arms. They worked together to nestle her into the makeshift swag. Jilly followed them and placed herself a little distance from Claudia. It was cold away from the fire and Angela was glad when Coop put his arm around her again and led her back to the flames.

  ‘Thanks for this, Coop. It’s been a great evening. Claudia’s had so much fun.’ She kissed him. ‘And so have I.’

  He pulled her in close and her head rested on his shoulder. ‘I wanted to bring you out here again. It’s one of my favourite spots on the property. Alice loves it too.’

  ‘I’d like to meet Alice some time.’

  ‘I hope you will.’

  ‘Have you heard any more news? Will she be home soon?’

  ‘Knowing Alice, it won’t be long now, but I haven’t heard anything since yesterday.’

  ‘Was it only yesterday we were in Adelaide?’ Angela said, trying to stifle a yawn. ‘It seems so long ago.’

  They watched the flames a moment. The breeze had all but dropped out and the smoke from the fire swirled away from them.

  ‘But I had another call,’ Coop said. ‘From Jeff.’

  Angela thought she heard a note of concern in his voice. ‘Is something wrong?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s my mother. She’s not well.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘She’s in hospital again. In Townsville.’

  ‘Is it serious? Will you go and see her?’ Angela tipped her head. Even though his face was side on to hers, she could see his anguish. Why did she always ask so many questions?

  Finally he broke the silence. ‘I can’t leave right now. There’s too much to do here. I made a promise to Alice. She’ll be home soon and she’ll need someone close for a while. Jeff will keep me posted. I might need to go if she gets worse but …’ He picked up a stick and poked the fire. ‘But I don’t want to let Alice down.’

  Angela watched him while he spoke. His explanation left her feeling that there was something he wasn’t saying. The more time she spent with Coop, the more she felt she didn’t really know him at all.

  But then he turned towards her and took her hands in his. ‘I wanted to bring you here because I don’t know what the future holds.’ His eyes fixed on hers. ‘Once Alice gets back, I’ll be working and looking after her and … well, it may be that I have to go to Townsville in a hurry. I wanted to spend some time with you and Claud when we weren’t driving trucks or chasing sheep or worrying about anyone else.’

  Angela’s heart was flip-flopping and her mind was racing. It was exactly what she wanted too. His eyes held hers for a moment longer, then he slowly leaned in and kissed her. Any doubts she might have had about Coop, and what she did or didn’t know about him, were promptly swept away.

  Chapter 43

  Angela’s pocket started beeping as they neared Munirilla. She was beginning to understand why Coop didn’t bother with a mobile. She got absolutely no signal on Alice’s property.

  She rolled her shoulders. The swag Coop had made for her and Claudia had been very comfy except for one spot. But it hadn’t kept her awake. Neither had her desire for Coop. When they’d finally come up for air, Jilly barked at something in the night, Claudia stirred, and they both retired to their respective beds. Coop laughed softly and murmured something about their chaperones. As Angela pulled the blankets around herself and snuggled up with her daughter, this was the last thing she remembered until the smell of breakfast cooking this morning.

  ‘Can we go to Coop’s place again, Mummy?’

  Angela looked across at Claudia. Once again her face was covered in the remains of her meal: the eggs and bacon Coop had made for them. Her hair was a tangled mess – that was going to take some work. Angela wasn’t looking forward to the clean-up, but after the fun they’d had, it was worth it.

  ‘Coop’s going to be busy for a while, Claud, and so are we.’

  ‘Oh.’ Claudia didn’t whine this time, there was genuine sadness in her response.

  Angela felt the same. ‘But maybe he’ll come into town and eat with us one night.’

  ‘Will you make pizza?’

  ‘Maybe,’ Angela said as she pulled the truck to a stop in front of their flat. The gate was open. She usually shut it on her way out.

  She glanced at the flat – the screen door hung open. Its closing mechanism was broken but Angela always took care to latch it on her way out, and she remembered doing just that yesterday. Maybe someone had stopped by and not closed it when they left.

  She looked around. Their flat was on the industrial side of the highway. It was one of a pair; the other was empty and looked even more dilapidated than theirs. Over the fence was a crumbling cottage where she’d seen an old man on the verandah a few times. On the other side was an empty block and beyond that, one more house. Sometimes there was a car in the drive and lights on at night but otherwise she’d seen no sign of life there. Across the road there was nothing until Berls’ truck and stock yards. Angela shivered. She’d never really thought about their isolation before.

  ‘Come on, Claudia,’ she said. ‘We both need a shower, then we’ve got work to do.’

  Inside, Angela paused and glanced around the small living area. Everything was where it should be. She ran the shower, and while Claudia stripped off her clothes, Angela checked the bedroom. The beds were neatly made up, just as she’d left them. They hadn’t slept here for two nights.

  The phone in her pocket beeped again. There were a couple of missed calls from her father, a voicemail saying he’d try her again later and finally a text message. She smiled as she read it.

  Loss freight to sick up pt augusta sing me when free

  There was obviously something he wanted her to pick up in Port Augusta. She decided she’d ring him later. She wanted to make sure her ideas made sense, at least in her own head, before she talked to him about them.

  She washed Claudia’s hair and helped her dry and dress, then set her up on the couch with a DVD. Angela was eager to get her thoughts down on paper. She moved to the kitchen end of the room. The dishes were still in the drainer where she’d left them yesterday morning and there were assorted toys scattered about. Nothing different, except the window over the sink was open just a little. The old wooden frame was swollen, the lock didn’t work, and it had been hard to open the whole time they’d been there. Usually Angela just left it shut.

  She shrugged her shoulders. All the goings-on with Berls were making her second-guess everything. Maybe she had left the window open. It’d been a busy couple of days. She put her head down and started to write.

  ***

  By the time she’d finished, she was excited. Claudia was still watching her DVD. Her clean hair fluffed around her face in soft curls and her cheeks were a healthy pink. Angela looked back over her notes. Once again she was making plans that would impact on Claudia. Was this the right thing to do?

  Angela knelt down beside Claudia and pressed pause. Before her daughter had the chance to complain, Angela faced her and said, ‘I need to talk to you for a minute. Then you can finish the movie.’ She took the little girl’s small hands in her own. ‘How would you like to stay in Munirilla?’

  ‘Forever?’ Claudia’s eyes were wide and round.

  ‘Not forever but …’ Angela tried to find the words to explain the period of a couple of years to a four-year-old. ‘We’ll see how it goes.’

  ‘Will we still see Grandpa and Janice?�
��

  ‘We’ll visit them in Melbourne and they’ll come visit us.’

  ‘Can Kate come and visit us too?’

  ‘Maybe.’ Angela thought wistfully of her good friend. Out of everyone and everything in the city, she missed Kate the most.

  Claudia thought it over. ‘I can play with Josh lots and Amy and the other kindy kids.’ She pulled back her hands and clapped them. ‘And we can go to Coop’s farm every day!’

  ‘Slow down, Claud. We can’t go every day.’

  ‘Coop will let me.’ Claudia folded her arms across her chest. ‘Can I watch my DVD now?’

  Angela gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and flicked the movie back on. Claudia didn’t appear to be bothered in the slightest by not returning to Melbourne, and she hadn’t even mentioned Nigel.

  She cast her eyes over her scribbled notes one more time. The laptop was at the office. She’d set the proposals out properly on Ranger Transport letterhead if her father was happy with them. To her, they made good business sense. She’d need to get their customers to agree, of course, but first of all, she had to convince him. She made herself a cup of tea and picked up her mobile.

  ***

  By the time she’d finished the call her battery was nearly flat. Claudia had wanted to talk to her grandpa and tell him all about their overnight camp with Coop. When Claudia handed back the phone Angela could sense that her father wanted to know more about Coop, but she wasn’t ready to say too much about him yet. They were good friends and nothing more at this stage. Well, maybe a little more.

  She sent her father the picture of Claudia toasting marshmallows and then went to find her charger. She noticed the unmistakable spring in her step. Her father had been excited about her decision to stay on as the Munirilla driver and had suggested he do the Melbourne–Adelaide run more often so they could catch up regularly. He liked her plans to get the business on a firmer footing but he’d hesitated when she mentioned her concerns about Berls.

  ‘I don’t want you involved in anything dangerous,’ he’d said. ‘Some operators will do anything to keep their trucks on the road. I’ve run up against a few in my time.’

  Angela had reassured him that Berls weren’t that bad, hoping her voice conveyed a confidence she didn’t quite feel.

  ‘I’m going to be interstate most of this week,’ he’d continued. ‘If you need anything, just contact the Melbourne office.’

  A truck rumbled past outside. At the same time, the day became dimmer. Angela peered out the bedroom window to see a large cloudbank spreading across the sky. The morning had been full of sunshine but now she was beginning to feel cold.

  ‘Get some toys to take to the office, Claudia,’ she called. ‘We’ll be there a while.’

  She rummaged through her things looking for Ken’s card. She tried his home number first. It rang out and there was no answering machine. She tried his mobile. It went straight to message bank. She left a quick message and asked him to call her back. She wanted Ken to be the first to know that Ranger Transport was here to stay.

  As soon as they pulled into the office yard, Angela knew something was wrong. The screen door was lying on the ground and she could see gouges in the wood around the lock of the old wooden door.

  She told Claudia to wait in the truck and went to investigate. Someone had made a mess of the lock. Not that it would’ve been difficult. The timber was warped and partly held together by coats of paint. She doubted whoever had broken it would still be inside, but thought she should call someone just in case. Then she remembered she’d left her mobile charging back at the flat. The only other phone was on the desk, beyond the broken door in front of her. For the second time today, Angela felt the cold reality of her isolation.

  ‘Mummy!’

  Angela turned back to see Claudia leaning from the driver’s window.

  ‘I need to go to the toilet.’

  ‘Hang on, Claud.’ Angela took a deep breath and shoved the door open with her boot. At first glance everything in the office looked as it should be. She pushed the door right back. There couldn’t be anyone behind it. She darted her head forward and checked the corners of the room: there was no one there. The only other place someone could hide was in the little kitchen or the toilet at the back. She picked up one of the old wooden chairs. Holding it in front of her, she moved cautiously towards the kitchen.

  ‘Mummy, what are you doing?’

  Angela jumped at the sound of Claudia’s voice right behind her.

  ‘Stay there, Claud!’ she hissed and moved quickly into the little kitchen. There was no one there either, nor in the toilet. ‘You can come in now,’ she called.

  Claudia walked past with a frown on her face.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Angela said. ‘Someone broke our door. I was just checking they didn’t break anything else.’

  ‘Why’d they break our door?’

  ‘I don’t know. You go to the toilet.’

  Angela looked along the row of assorted small packages that were yet to be collected. Nothing appeared to be missing but she’d need to check her freight list to make sure. She turned to the desk and her heart sank. From here, she could see exactly what she hadn’t noticed before. All the drawers and doors were hanging open. She bobbed down and looked behind one of the doors. It was where she’d shoved the laptop before she left yesterday. It was empty.

  ‘Damn!’

  She sat in the chair and looked at her desktop. Nothing appeared to have been moved. She should be thankful that whoever broke in hadn’t trashed the place.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ she said and pushed the door shut with her toe. There was so much saved on that laptop. It had been a quick decision to leave it in the office; she should have kept it in the truck.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ echoed a small voice behind her.

  Angela spun in her chair and pulled Claudia into her arms. ‘You shouldn’t swear, Claud,’ she said.

  ‘You did.’

  ‘We,’ Angela corrected, ‘shouldn’t swear. I’ll get your things out of the truck, then I’ve got some calls to make.’

  Claudia pulled away from her. ‘I can get my things. You do your jobs.’ The little girl turned on her heels and marched back out of the office towards the truck and the open driver’s door.

  Angela watched her a moment. Where was this coming from? All of a sudden her four-year-old seemed much more mature. She sighed and reached for the phone book. The first thing she’d have to do was report the theft. There was a local police number for non-urgent business. She left a message then tried Ken’s numbers again.

  ***

  The sun had barely set but Claudia was already asleep and Angela could feel an early night coming on herself, ready for her run to Adelaide first thing in the morning.

  She’d brought the remaining freight to the flat and shut the office door as best she could. The screen had fit back on and she’d wired it shut so it wouldn’t come open easily.

  It was a pity she hadn’t been able to contact Ken. She’d tried him several more times during the afternoon. She was puzzled. He’d insisted she call him today. She resigned to trying him again once she got to the city depot. She’d also have to use Shell’s computer to type up the new business terms for their customers. Her mind raced as she prepared for bed. If she could lock down the freight for the Munirilla town business, she’d have plenty for Ranger to do, then she could start working on the farmers.

  Just as she was drifting off to sleep she heard a thud outside. She sat up and listened, but heard nothing further. She got up and checked the doors were locked and the windows latched. Everything was secure, all except the kitchen window – she’d managed to shut it but couldn’t force the lock. She shivered. The night had come in cold and she only had light pyjamas on.

  She gave the kitchen a last look and hurried back to the warmth of her bed. If someone tried that window, they’d make a lot of noise, she thought and pulled the quilt over her head.

  Chapter 44


  Coop leaned against his ute, shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then glanced up the street again. The bus was late and he was worried. Mary had phoned him to confirm that Alice was definitely aboard. It was an earlier return than they’d thought, but there’d been no dissuading her. Mary had offered to drive her but Alice had predictably refused.

  The late afternoon air was cool and Coop was the only person waiting at the bus stop. He’d rung Joan to thank her for cleaning and to let her know that Alice was on her way. She’d offered to bring over a meal but he’d declined. He’d already taken out a container of mutton stew from the freezer, ready to reheat. Alice would be tired after her long trip and mutton was her favourite. He hoped the meal would be a fitting welcome home.

  The thought of mutton reminded him of his last meal with Angela. He was glad he’d organised that camping trip. He was worried Angela might find it a bit too rustic – she always looked immaculate, even when she was driving the truck, and she certainly had a taste for the finer things in life. But both her and Claudia seemed to have enjoyed their night under the stars as much as he did.

  He was pleased Angela hadn’t brought alcohol with her either. Not that he thought people couldn’t enjoy a drink without ending up like his mother, but he’d seen Angela with a few too many under her belt once and didn’t want to see it again.

  He’d been so close to telling her about his mother, but had stopped himself at the last moment. He was embarrassed by his mother’s drinking and ashamed of his own actions because of it. It wasn’t something he chatted about lightly and not the best topic of conversation with the woman you were trying to impress.

  Headlights beamed along the darkening road and Coop stood up straight as the bus rumbled to a stop across from him. He reached the door as it opened. The driver was busy with someone and blocked the aisle. As he moved back Coop could see it was Alice gripping the back of the seat for support.

  ‘She’ll need help getting off,’ the driver said as he stepped down. ‘I’ll get her bag.’

  ‘Alice?’ Coop took a tentative step forward. Now that he could see her properly, he was shocked. She looked gaunt and barely able to support herself.