The Opal Desert

by Di Morrissey

  ‘I just never wanted to be carted off to a hospital to die among strangers. I saw it too often. I swore it wouldn’t happen to me.’

  ‘It won’t. Next time we’ll just leave you to it in your bed alone in your bloody cave!’ Kerrie suddenly felt close to tears.

  ‘I hate losing control. I want to make my own decisions. I have my reasons for staying put. This is very traumatic. I never thought I’d have anyone looking out for me.’

  ‘Interfering, you mean,’ said Kerrie, dabbing at her eyes.

  Shirley tried to smile but caught her breath. ‘When you’ve been alone, without family, you come to certain conclusions.’

  ‘Shirley, I felt the same. After Milton died I saw myself dying a lonely old woman under God knows what circumstances. But now I have a great relationship with a man who says he loves me, I’ve made new friends and I’ve had an art exhibition. I feel like a whole new chapter of my life is opening up. And it’s thanks to you! So I count you as family, too.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ Shirley managed a smile. ‘So be it, bossy boots.’

  Kerrie leant over and kissed Shirley’s softly creased cheek. ‘Get some rest. I’ll stay with you as long as I can, and then I’ll check in to a motel.’

  ‘You must be tired, all that driving.’ Shirley’s eyes drooped and she was quickly asleep.

  Kerrie was suddenly exhausted. She was overwhelmed by the long day and the stress of driving back and forth to Broken Hill, tired from the excitement of the previous night and worried about Shirley’s health. It staggered her how much this woman meant to her and how much she wanted Shirley to be part of her life. She wished Tim was here so she could talk to him. She just prayed the procedure was straightforward and that Shirley would be all right.

  *

  It felt odd to Anna knowing that Shirley wasn’t in her dugout. ‘The observer atop the hill’ as someone had once called her. The person who kept her finger on the pulse of Opal Lake. Anna slowed to a jog as she wound around the top of Old Tom’s Hill. Today Shirley was having her operation. Kerrie had phoned Mick and let them both know that the doctor would be performing keyhole surgery and they didn’t think there would be any problems.

  The town felt empty. Ingrid was still away, so were Pam and Doug, and the couple looking after the Golden Dome rarely appeared.

  Anna turned the corner at the peak, heading towards Shirley’s dugout. The dawn was hazy, a diffused light at the hatching of the day. She paused, taking a deep breath, still fascinated by this eerily beautiful landscape. A slight movement down the hill, a lizard, or a small marsupial perhaps, caught her eye in the stillness. Anna always felt she was imposing on this landscape, that she should be tiptoeing and not pounding through it.

  But as she was ready to sprint downhill to the main street, a further sound made her pause. She sensed a presence close by. As quietly as she could Anna walked around the circuit to Shirley’s dugout, a place now as familiar to her as her own home. She stopped in surprise to see the door ajar, but then noticed the dripping pot plants and realised that someone had come by to care for them.

  She was about to call out when she heard a scratching noise in Shirley’s office. Her body tensed; something didn’t seem right. By the dim light from the skylight Anna quietly padded into the kitchen and reached for the torch that was always on top of the fridge. But she saw that the light was on in Shirley’s office and peered in. To her surprise someone, wearing a hooded top against the morning chill, was rifling through Shirley’s filing cabinet. A folder of papers was scattered on the floor.

  Suddenly she realised who it was.

  ‘What are you doing in here, Davo?’ demanded Anna, stepping into the room. ‘Why are you going through Shirley’s things? They’re her private papers. Nothing to do with you.’

  ‘Why are you sneaking around?’ Davo demanded, dropping the papers onto the floor.

  ‘What are you doing?’ repeated Anna as she stepped closer to him. She saw Shirley’s toffee tin on top of the filing cabinet and a package wrapped in a cloth beside it.

  ‘I’m doing some stuff, like Shirley asked me.’ He picked up the tin and the parcel.

  ‘When did she ask you? When did you speak to her?’

  ‘Don’t be so nosey. What’s she to you anyway? You’re new here. You don’t know Shirley like I do!’

  Anna stared at him in shock. This outburst sounded childish, petty, to the point where she almost laughed at him. ‘I know she gives you money.’

  ‘None of your business. Anyway, who do you think you bloody well are?’ he shouted.

  Anna stared at him, now seriously concerned. ‘I’m Shirley’s friend, that’s who.’ Then she remembered that the toffee tin held Shirley’s opals and she froze. Obviously Davo knew that too. ‘What are you doing with Shirley’s things?’ she asked as calmly as she could.

  ‘Hiding them for Shirley, somewhere safe. Now piss off, or else . . .’

  ‘You don’t have to hide them anywhere. They’re safe here. She had them hidden . . .’ Anna’s voice trailed off. Instinctively she made a move towards him to take the toffee tin. ‘Are you stealing them?’

  Davo reacted swiftly and vigorously, shocking Anna as he lunged at her then grabbed her. Too late she realised it had been a mistake to accuse him.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she shouted. She started squirming from his grasp, but the more she struggled the tighter he gripped her.

  Furious, Anna reached out, swung her arm and tried to hit Davo.

  This was the wrong move. Enraged, he slapped her face, dropping the toffee tin and wrenching Anna’s arms behind her back and twisting them high until she screamed out in pain. Half dragging her, he lurched through the doorway, pulling her along the dark tunnel to a back room Shirley used as a storage room. Anna thought he was going to lock her in there where no one would hear her screaming.

  With one hand Davo turned on the light. He held Anna tightly and grabbed a length of rope, swiftly tying her wrists together, looping the rope down to her feet and securing her ankles together so she was hobbled hand and foot.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? C’mon, Davo, what have I done to you? Why are you doing this?’

  ‘Because you came in,’ he muttered.

  ‘But you can’t steal from Shirley! After all she does for you.’

  ‘Shut up. It’s nothing to do with you, bitch.’ He ripped an old rag into a strip and leant over Anna.

  ‘What’re you doing? Davo! No!’ For a moment she thought he was going to strangle her, but he savagely pulled the rag across her face and tightened it over her mouth, gagging her.

  Anna was wondering how long she would have to endure being tied like this and left in Shirley’s back room before anyone found her. But to her horror Davo picked her up, slung her over his shoulder and hurried through the tunnel to the back entrance where Shirley parked her car. He bundled her into the back seat of an old Land Rover he sometimes drove and then raced back into the dugout.

  Anna started throwing herself around in the back seat, banging her feet against the doors.

  Davo was back in a few minutes carrying a shopping bag and a roll of wide tape. Her heart sank as he ripped off a length of the tape and stuck it painfully over her eyes.

  As he began to drive away with her in the back seat, Anna started to panic. She felt she was suffocating, not just from the claustrophobic tape but from fear. All she could think was, ‘Oh, my God, what’s going to happen to me?’

  12

  THE HOSPITAL WINDOW FRAMED a wispy eucalypt. Shirley lay against the pillows staring at the sky, watching the clouds and thinking that the movement of the leaves in the sunlight, looked as though the tree was breathing. The bright airy room was so different from her snug, dim dugout. She felt very exposed. Staff came in and out to monitor her and there was chatter in the hallway. She could hear the passing cars on Thomas Street.

  ‘How do you feel, Shirley?’ asked Kerrie, who was sitting by the bed.

  Slow
ly Shirley turned her head from the window and focused on Kerrie. ‘I feel like a turtle without its shell.’

  ‘The doctor is pleased with how it all went. He says ten days or so to recuperate and you’ll be home, good as new. Better, actually.’

  ‘Why can’t I recuperate at home now? I just want to get back to Opal Lake.’

  ‘Shirley, you know you have to be monitored. You can’t go home too early, especially to a place where there’s no medical backup. It would be dangerous.’

  Shirley sighed. ‘I know. I just hate being out of my routine. I feel so dependent, and that’s making me feel old. I never for one moment saw myself leaving Opal Lake. After all those years in my own space, this is not where I would have chosen to come,’ she said tartly.

  ‘You had the Riviera in mind?’ asked Kerrie. ‘Just be glad that you didn’t have to go to Sydney for your operation. Now that would have been a shock to your system!’

  ‘I suppose so. Thank you for looking after me and coming to see me, but please don’t feel you have to stay here. How’s Tim? When is he coming? You’ll want to spend time with him.’ Shirley smiled.

  ‘This might work out very well. Tim still wants to come up and see the art show, and I’ll be here when he does.’

  Shirley reached for Kerrie’s hand. ‘I’m so glad I sent you to Roth and you met Tim. Has he proposed yet?’

  ‘That’s a leading question, Shirley! Yes, he has, though we’d come to the conclusion we’d be together, anyway. We just feel so happy and comfortable with each other. But I loved that he asked me to marry him.’

  ‘Comfortable!’ exclaimed Shirley. ‘You don’t want to be comfortable with a man at your age! You want sexy, exciting, passionate!’

  Kerrie laughed. ‘That’s part of it, as well. He’s so attentive and caring.’ She didn’t want to draw comparisons with Milton but she was finding it very enjoyable to have a man in her life who spoiled and looked after her instead of the other way round. ‘I really feel like I’m in my twenties again.’

  ‘But you’re still young, Kerrie. Have you thought about having children?’

  ‘Shirley, I’ll be forty-three next birthday. I know it’s not uncommon for women of my age to have a baby, but I don’t think it’s going to happen for me. But the fact that he agreed to try is lovely.’

  ‘You regret missing the boat with Milton,’ said Shirley gently. ‘He was selfish.’

  ‘Well, I went along with what he wanted and anyway, it’s all water under the bridge now. I’m getting closer to Alia, and I hope the other girls will see me differently too. Who knows, they’ll probably have children one day. I have a pink baby dress put away . . .’ Kerrie stopped, recalling how she’d impulsively bought it in Paris. ‘Maybe one of them can use it, if I don’t need it myself.’

  ‘Get on with your life, Kerrie. Make the most of every day.’ Shirley turned back to the window. ‘I sometimes wonder what my life might have been like if . . .’

  ‘If Stefan hadn’t disappeared?’ asked Kerrie gently. ‘Shirley, I wanted to . . .’

  Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor, flanked by a resident and a senior nurse. Before they examined Shirley, Kerrie excused herself to get a cup of coffee. She decided to call Mick to let him know Shirley was doing well and to ask him to let everyone else know, too.

  ‘Hi, Mick, it’s Kerrie. Good news, Shirley is doing great. The op went smoothly . . .’

  ‘Great, great. I’m pleased the old girl’s fine. But listen, we’re a bit worried here. Anna’s gone missing.’

  ‘Are you sure? Where would she go? Are her things there?’

  ‘Yes. She seems to have gone for an early morning run, like she always does, but she hasn’t come back. We’ve searched everywhere.’

  ‘She hasn’t taken that old car of Shirley’s for a drive, has she?’ Kerrie asked.

  ‘No, she hasn’t, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. I’m a bit concerned that she’s gone for a run out of town and had an accident.’

  Kerrie glanced at her watch. ‘Mid morning, and she hasn’t shown up for work? Maybe give it till lunchtime and then what? Who can you call? The police?’

  ‘There’s a sergeant in White Cliffs. I’ll give him a bell and alert the Broken Hill police as well. Give Shirley our best. Tell her we’ll have a party for her when she gets back.’

  ‘Thanks, Mick. Let me know as soon as Anna turns up.’

  Anna was terrified. The silence from Davo as he drove was scarier than his ranting. She knew that there was no way anyone would have seen him put her into his old Land Rover or heard the ineffectual banging of her feet on its door. She was so afraid that she started to hyperventilate. She wanted to vomit but she knew that if she did she’d choke, so she calmed herself by trying to work out the direction the car was taking.

  She realised that he was driving a long way out of town and thought that he must be heading to his camp, which she’d heard was well out of Opal Lake. Was Davo, whom everyone thought of as the affable tour guide, some weirdo serial killer? Had he decided to steal from Shirley as soon as he’d heard she’d gone to hospital? Or had he gone to water her plants and seen an opportunity? Had he always planned to rob Shirley, or was it just a spur of the moment decision to take the opals? He’d been so aggressive when she’d confronted him. Why hadn’t he tried to bluff his way out of trouble when she caught him stealing? Surely he could have made up some innocuous story to explain what he was doing? He was in and out of Shirley’s place all the time. But then, thought Anna, he’d have had to think of something fast, and Davo didn’t strike her as being quickwitted.

  She had no way of knowing what was behind Davo’s actions, but whatever it was, she was in a very dangerous position and no one was coming to rescue her.

  Anna was grateful when the car stopped; anything was better than being trussed up in the back seat of the Land Rover and thrown around as it drove over some very rough tracks. She hoped that Davo would see sense. But whatever happened, she knew she would have to stay calm, keep her wits about her and find some way of escaping.

  The car door opened and Davo pulled her roughly out. She fell onto the hard earth, cutting her knees on the sharp stones. When Davo went to lift her up, Anna struggled with him and he swore at her. There was a momentary silence and then she felt the rope around her ankles being cut, but then he tightened it around her wrists.

  ‘Walk,’ he commanded. Grabbing her shoulder, he propelled her forward.

  ‘I have to get him to take the tape off my eyes and get rid of the gag,’ Anna thought to herself. Suddenly she stopped walking and bent over, shaking and gagging. He shoved her forward again and she fell, her shoulders lifting as though she was struggling for breath.

  ‘Okay, then,’ said Davo.

  She felt the cool smoothness of a knife against her cheek. ‘He’s going to kill me,’ she thought in horror.

  Then the knife ripped through the cloth across her mouth. She coughed and gasped, spluttering.

  ‘Please, Davo, get the tape off my eyes.’

  ‘Shut up.’

  He pulled her to her feet and pushed her forward again. She realised that she now felt cooler than before, and guessed that he’d brought her into some sort of building. He pushed her down, onto the floor. She could hear him moving around as she tried to get comfortable. Her arms, still wrenched behind her, were aching and she felt as though they were being pulled from their sockets. She squatted silently, trying to work out where she was. She’d read about people using all their senses to do this, but all she could glean was that she was on a dirt floor. The momentary sensation of coolness had worn off and now it was stifling. Then she smelt petrol. The horror of fire and of being burnt alive in some bush shack flashed into her head.

  ‘Davo, please, my eyes.’

  She heard him move closer.

  ‘Why should I do anything for you? Huh? You were never very nice to me. You and that snooty Kerrie bitch.’

  ‘It wasn’t like
that, Davo. You were chatty and happy and joked with all your tourists but you came on a bit . . . strong, with me. Perhaps we could talk about it. Why are you doing this? What would Shirley say? C’mon, Davo, you just panicked cause I came in on you unexpectedly. I won’t say anything. It’s not too late. Just take me back, put the opals back, nothing will change. I promise I won’t say anything.’ Anna tried to lighten her strained voice, ‘I mean, who’d believe this? Everyone likes you.’

  There was a brief pause and just as she thought her babbling argument might have worked, Davo shouted, ‘You’d better believe it!’

  Anna felt herself becoming icy calm as her fear was replaced by a strange numbness. The phrase ‘Is this all there is?’ leapt into her mind. Then, as if another person had joined them, there was a loud scream, ‘No!’

  It was her own voice.

  Davo hauled her to her feet and wrenched the tape from her eyes, pulling some of her hair out by its roots and taking her eyebrows and skin, too. His red, furious face was pushed close to hers. ‘Why’d you have to mess things up, eh?’

  Her eyes were streaming from pain, but she could see that they were in a shack with rough walls, a dirt floor and very basic amenities. A piece of hessian hung crookedly from a small window and she saw a flash of daylight outside. Despite the burning pain around her eyes, she tried to focus on the man standing over her.

  ‘What’ve I messed up, Davo?’

  Slowly he leant towards her and, reaching out a hand, squeezed her breast. She wanted to hit him, hard. She wanted to scream at him. But she was numb, frozen. Then she saw a shock of fear in his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done.

  ‘This is all getting out of control,’ thought Anna. ‘I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do with me.’

  For an instant he closed his eyes, his face crumpling, but in the next moment he flung a wild punch, an aimless angry gesture as if he could push away all that confronted him and obliterate what was happening. Instinctively Anna ducked and kept silent, hunched and cowering.