Rain Music

by Di Morrissey

  ‘Nah, I’ve got a better idea,’ said the man in the blue shirt. ‘Why don’t you get the booze we came for. That Carlo, whoever he is, makes a mean drop. Then we’ll get out of here, but we’ll take her with us.’

  Bella went cold as she saw the expression on his face when he made this awful suggestion. ‘Leave me alone. Just leave me. I’ll make sure that no one goes after you.’

  ‘Well, they won’t find us if they do. No one can find us,’ the man with the blue shirt said with a nasty grin. ‘Get something to tie her up with,’ he demanded.

  Bella began screaming at the top of her voice, but he slapped her, hard. She whimpered, feeling as though her jaw had nearly been broken and her teeth loosened. Now she was terrified and she started to sob as her arms were tied behind her with some twisted plastic shopping bags.

  ‘Now, get the stuff we came for. Get going.’ He shoved Bella towards the river while the other man carried a box, hastily filled with Carlo’s homemade alcohol, down to two waiting kayaks.

  ‘Where are you taking me? Why? Oh, God, help me . . . just leave me here . . .’

  ‘Well, slut, it’s like this. We’ve been out in the bush for a long time and this is our last night. Thought we’d stop by and grab some of the booze for a bit of a party, and then there you were. Just the right sort of guest to help the night along. Hope you’re a real party girl. Now shut up and get in,’ he ordered as he pushed her into one of the two-man kayaks. She wanted to kick and lash out, but with her arms tied behind her and her body wedged in the kayak, she realised that struggling could tip the kayak over, and even in the relatively shallow water, she would have trouble saving herself.

  The men said very little as they paddled down the still river for what seemed like hours, except for the odd comment from the man in the blue shirt, who made several suggestions as to what he would do with her when their party started. Bella was terrified. Once or twice she screamed for help, but the man in the blue shirt just laughed. ‘Go for your life, slut. No one around to hear you,’ he said.

  What sort of animal was this man? She heard his heavy breathing as he paddled and wondered how she would ever survive this nightmare. They passed the place where she had made the U-turn earlier that day. Was it only this morning? she thought. So much had happened that day, and now the sun was beginning to sink in the sky. Soon it would be dark. How long before Ned and Brendan returned home and found her gone? Why on earth had she sent Ned and Brendan away to visit the dam?

  I don’t want to die, she thought. Is that what will happen to me? Maybe they will let me go. But if they let me go in this bush, how will I ever find my way out? Terrible thoughts ran through her mind. Please, Ned and Brendan, find me soon.

  The dark comes quickly in the far north, and the light was very dim as the two kayaks moved towards the river bank. There was a scrape as she felt the kayak run aground on the river’s sandy bottom. Ignoring her, the two men leaped out of their kayaks and began to unload them. In the half dark she could make out the shape of a third man coming out of the bush and down the bank to help them.

  ‘You here already, mate?’ she heard one of the men ask him. ‘Have you stored your kayak yet?’

  ‘No, not yet. We’ll have to move them all straight away. Don’t want to keep the boss waiting. Who the eff is that in your kayak?’

  ‘Just a souvenir,’ said the man in the blue shirt. ‘We were passing the weird Italian place and we stopped to get some more booze. There’s quite a stock of it there and I thought we could have a bit of a celebration, this being our last night out and all. She was there, so we took her. She’s the entertainment.’

  Bella sat there in the kayak as the gloom gathered around her, quite helpless and filled with a fear that she had never known before. She knew now, with absolute certainty, that if Ned and Brendan didn’t come, she would not leave this place alive. If only she could free her arms from behind her back. They were aching from being in such an uncomfortable position for so long, but she couldn’t even seem to loosen them, let alone untie them.

  ‘I’ll get the girl.’ Even in the dark, she recognised the harsh voice of the man in the blue shirt.

  ‘She’s a liability, why’d you take her?’ said the third man, obviously angered by Bella’s presence. ‘You’ve done some pretty crazy, stupid things, mate, but this is the worst.’

  ‘Like I told you, she’s the entertainment.’

  ‘She could also be nothing but trouble. You should’ve just left her at the house.’

  ‘Maybe you don’t like women. Is that your problem?’

  ‘And maybe you’re mad.’

  Footsteps came towards the kayak and Bella was yanked roughly out of it. She stumbled as she tried to maintain her balance. She certainly didn’t want to fall into the river. She was sure that she would be left there.

  ‘Please, let me go. I won’t say anything. I promise.’

  ‘Forget it and shut up,’ said the man with the blue shirt as he pushed her to the ground and then walked away, leaving her there. She tried to rest her head on her knees, but it was far too uncomfortable. Even though the sun had gone down it was still hot, although a light breeze had sprung up, giving her a little relief from the cloying humidity, but not from the mosquitoes, which were attacking her furiously.

  Sitting there on the rough ground, Bella could hear the three men talking in the shadows.

  ‘I tell you, the boss isn’t going to like this when he comes to pick us up,’ said the third man.

  ‘Mate, the boss will be okay.’

  ‘No, he won’t, and you’re a bloody idiot.’

  ‘Do you want me to fetch her?’

  ‘No, I don’t want you to bloody fetch her. I want you to think of a way to get us out of the mess you’ve landed us in.’

  There was silence for a few minutes until Bella heard one of them say, ‘Well, it’s no use sitting around and bitching. We have to get the kayaks stored up in their usual place. Want to get that done right away. Don’t want to hold the boss up.’

  ‘What time did you say the boss would be here?’

  ‘Before dawn, and we’ll want to be ready.’

  ‘Okay, but after we’ve got rid of these boats how about we sample some of the stuff we got from the house?’

  ‘I’ll tie up the girl’s legs before we go. Don’t want to have her scarpering off.’

  ‘Nowhere much to scarper to, but go for it, it will save one of us having to stay and watch her.’

  Bella was shivering with fright as the man in the blue shirt came over and roughly tied her feet together with a bit of rope.

  ‘Wait for us to get back, sister, and don’t go wandering off,’ he said nastily.

  Several minutes later, Bella heard the men go off into the bush. One of them was carrying a torch and the other two seemed to be carrying one of the kayaks.

  Bella kept still and silent. She had no idea where she was and no idea if she would be found. How could she save herself all trussed up the way she was? Unbidden tears began to trickle down her cheeks. As the half moon rose, a glimmer of light allowed her to see where the river bank ended and the bush began. She saw she was sitting on a tiny strip of beach. The rest of the river bank was lined with thick scrub. She could hear the men’s voices as they receded into the distance and she could still see the light from their torch. She wondered how long it would be until they returned for the other craft. Could she try to get away without their noticing? She rested her head on her knees, feeling her warm tears run down her face. Bella lifted her head. They wouldn’t leave her unmolested, she was sure of that.

  She sat there for some time, trying to think of a way out of her predicament. Then she heard the men returning, noisily barging their way through the bush, the torchlight indicating where they were. They stayed only briefly before marching off into the bush once more with another kayak.

  Be
lla knew that they would be gone for some time, so now was her chance. As frightened as she was, she had to make a move.

  With her arms and legs still tied, she began to slither and roll very slowly towards the sanctuary of the bush, the rough ground cutting into her. As she moved into the undergrowth, she suddenly slammed against something sharp. She bit her tongue rather than cry out in pain. She fell over onto her side, exhausted by her efforts, and then noticed that her hands were resting against the end of a low broken branch. The break was an old one, for the end had sealed itself into a hard jagged point. Maybe this pointed end would tear through the plastic bags around her wrists. With an intake of breath, she managed to position herself on her knees with her back to the tree and began to drag her wrists over the rough end. After several goes, she managed to get the short spike to tug at the plastic. She worked steadily, feeling the plastic bag tear bit by bit. As her pace quickened, the point of the stump suddenly cut into her skin. Gasping but ignoring the pain, she forced herself to work more slowly. She knew that with time the sharp point would do the trick. But how much time did she have? Her ears strained for any sound of the three men returning. She was terrified that they would come back before she had finished her task. Bella felt a sob of fear and frustration well up inside her as the plastic seemed to take forever to shred.

  But suddenly she felt the ties give way and her arms were free. She rubbed her wrists for a few seconds, and then quickly untied her legs. She still couldn’t hear the men and, not wanting to waste precious time, she hurriedly hid the plastic and rope under some dried leaves so that the men wouldn’t realise that she had freed herself. Although she had no idea which direction would lead her to safety, she crept off further into the bush, but as she moved through the dense scrub that lined the river, she realised that her progress would be painfully slow. On the other hand, she knew that if she moved away from the river, into more open ground, the men would have little trouble spotting her in the moonlight.

  So she battled through the scrub by the river, bushes scratching at her arms and face, as she searched for somewhere to hide. Then she saw it – an ancient gum tree at the edge of the river with huge exposed roots where the soil had been washed away so that a shallow cave had formed around its base. Bella stumbled towards it and fell into one of its root hollows, hoping that she wouldn’t encounter any nasty creatures already in residence. It was dark and smelled of rotting leaves and dank earth. She lay there for a few moments, not moving, then slowly she began to burrow backwards into the rotting vegetation, trying not to rustle leaves or snap a twig, pushing herself further into the hollow beneath the tree trunk.

  When she could burrow no further she stopped and huddled there, trying to quieten her rasping breaths. Bella was overcome with fear and exhaustion. She tried to stay awake, but she could feel herself slipping into blackness.

  With the sudden feeling that she was falling, she jerked her head up and opened her eyes, realising she must have nodded off. Had it been minutes or hours? It was still dark, but then she heard them; shouting voices and crashing undergrowth. Bella held her breath.

  ‘How far can she get with her bloody arms and legs tied?’

  ‘Well, there’s bugger-all out here, nothing but thick scrub. And it’s as dark as pitch. She won’t have gone far.’

  The other man raised his voice. ‘We’re coming after you. Don’t make it worse for yourself, girlie. Be nice or we’ll get pissed off.’

  A rifle shot cracked, echoing through the scrub, ricocheting off a tree.

  Bella shivered.

  ‘Stop with the gun, for Chrissake, could be anyone around.’

  ‘Out here? Bullshit.’

  ‘Well, there might be someone out looking for her.’

  ‘Have to know this place pretty well to find us, mate.’

  ‘Let’s go. Leave the bitch. The boss will be here soon and he’ll be bloody upset if we keep him waiting.’

  Bella stayed huddled in her tree-root cave, barely breathing. Trembling with fear, she heard one of the men come very close to where she was hiding, but then he moved away.

  ‘Come on. I can hear the boss coming.’

  ‘You gonna tell him?’

  ‘About the girl? He’ll shoot our balls off. Or shoot her if he finds her. We’re on a deadline to meet the big boat down at the cove.’

  ‘She knows who we are. What we look like.’

  ‘Who’s she gonna tell out here?’

  Filled with relief, Bella could hear them walking away. She didn’t move. A short time later, she heard the large engine of a four-wheel drive in the distance. She could hear voices, and then a while later the car took off.

  Bella lay still in her sanctuary. After an hour or so, when she was convinced they really had gone, she hauled herself out from under the leaves and cautiously made her way towards the river. She peered guardedly out from the cover of a large bush, in case any of the men were still there. But there was nothing to indicate that anyone had been there at all, save for a couple of empty bottles. The men and the kayaks were gone. She was all alone in the middle of the bush with no idea where she was and no way of getting out.

  Bella shivered, for she knew all too clearly that her troubles were far from over. Should she stay here by the river or struggle on, looking for a track that lead to goodness knows where? She rubbed her sore wrists. Maybe there were crocodiles in this area, she suddenly thought in alarm. Although Ned hadn’t ever mentioned them, Bella didn’t want to take the chance of staying too close to the river. She turned back towards the bush and began to clamber as far as she could away from the river. She wandered aimlessly for some time, having no real idea where she should go and then, in the pale glimmer of the setting moon, between some trees Bella saw the silhouette of a strange shape. It looked like an old-fashioned train engine. Stumbling across the rocks, she made her way to where a rusting heap of metal was set in a rough brick wall. In the pale light she could see that it was an old boiler, like a giant oven, with its metal door hanging open. She hit it hard in case there was an animal or a snake asleep inside. The metallic thud echoed in the empty bush and she froze, but there was no sound or movement. She felt around for a stick and poked around inside. Finding no wildlife, Bella clambered in and curled up, breathing in the smell of rust and charred wood. She laid her head on her arm and prayed that, when dawn came, things would seem better.

  They had to.

  9

  They were laughing as they got out of the car, Brendan carrying a bucket containing a couple of good-sized fish.

  ‘I’ll leave the rods in the back in case we want to throw a line in there again,’ said Ned.

  ‘Can we have fish on the barbie for dinner?’ asked Brendan. ‘They were so easy to catch. I don’t think many people ever go to that old lake.’

  Ned nodded in agreement. He’d enjoyed Brendan’s uncomplicated company and was pleased they’d both caught something. He didn’t want to pry, but hoped that Brendan and Bella would sort things out.

  ‘I’m glad the fish were so obliging. I didn’t mean to leave Bella alone for so long, though; it’s almost dark. You’d better show her our prizes and apologise. I’ll go and lock up the chooks.’

  As he went to round up the hens, he heard Brendan calling out to Bella, but before he even came inside Brendan raced up the steps to meet him.

  ‘Bella’s not answering. I can’t find her.’

  ‘Is she asleep in her room?’

  ‘No. I’ve looked there and all over the house. It’s empty and all the lights were off. I called out to the lower terrace in case she was down there, but there’s no answer,’ said Brendan, his brows knitted.

  Ned decided to remain calm. ‘She can’t be far away. Give me the fish and I’ll put them in the kitchen. Cleaning can wait till we find Bella. Why don’t you check under the big poinciana tree? She might have fallen asleep in the hammock and not h
eard us get back. Or maybe she’s gone up to the wood pile to get some wood for the fire pit. You look around and I’ll check inside again.’

  Ned took the bucket and went into the kitchen and turned on the lights. The house was very still. He put the fish into the fridge, and as he went over to the sink to wash his hands, he felt something crunch beneath his feet. When he looked down he saw the tea canister lying on the floor, the tea leaves spilled everywhere. Ned went cold. Dropping the empty bucket, he sprinted through the house, shouting Bella’s name.

  At the same time, Brendan’s worried voice called out, ‘Ned, I can’t find Bella anywhere out here.’

  Ned raced about looking for any sign of his sister and, finding nothing, he went outside to join Brendan. ‘Maybe she’s had an accident. I’ll get some torches. Something isn’t right.’

  The pale beams from the torches revealed little.

  ‘She wouldn’t have gone swimming and . . .’ Brendan couldn’t finish the sentence.

  The two men raced down to the edge of the river.

  ‘Nothing to show she was here. No book or towel, not even a glass,’ said Ned, looking around. ‘Wait, what’s that?’ He shone his torch at the water’s edge, then knelt down, looking intently at the gravelly bank.

  ‘What? What is it?’ asked Brendan. ‘Bella wouldn’t have taken out the canoe this late, would she?’ he added fearfully.

  ‘No, she didn’t – there’s Carlo’s old canoe still up under the trees where Frederick put it this morning. Anyway, look at those marks. Carlo’s canoe didn’t make them. Someone else was here. Some other craft has been dragged up onto the bank. Those marks over there could be footprints, too, although it’s hard to tell on this dry ground.’ Ned pointed to some smaller marks further down the bank.

  ‘I think they are footprints. They seem clearer when you get closer to the water’s edge. What does this all mean?’ Brendan’s voice was raised and shrill.