Shadows of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘Hold on.’ She answered, listened. When she hung up Mia was putting the ice cream in the freezer. ‘I’m so sorry, but I have to do a quick call-out.’

  ‘Don’t be sorry. Isn’t Nick taking care of the night ones?’

  ‘He is – he’s already out on a horse emergency but he’s run out of Norocillin and he needs a tetanus booster. Damn it – Louise is supposed to keep the containers stocked. I have to take some out to him.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’ Mia shoved the food in the fridge, grabbed the Maltesers and was back down the stairs before Ebony was.

  ‘Nick didn’t quite seem himself this evening,’ Ebony commented as they drove back to the surgery. ‘Very quiet.’

  ‘Probably pissed off about the lack of stock.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s probably it,’ Ebony replied. ‘That or the mouthful you gave him. I’m guessing Lee’s recount was a summary of a much more intense dialogue?’

  ‘Actually, I was very restrained.’

  Ebony shot a look in Mia’s direction but her face was passive. And then it wasn’t.

  ‘Ebs, pull over!’

  Ebony’s foot hit the brake so quickly both women lurched forwards. ‘What – why?’

  ‘Just park. There he is.’

  Ebony pulled off the road. ‘Who?’

  ‘Martin – parked at the pub.’

  ‘Shit, Mia, I could have caused an accident.’

  Mia was staring thoughtfully at the car park.

  ‘Hello? Mia?’

  ‘Have you still got my GoPro in the car?’

  ‘Yes, it’s – no.’

  ‘Which one is it – yes or no?’

  ‘That shall remain a mystery until you tell me what you want it for.’

  ‘Pretty dark over there, isn’t it?’

  Martin’s car was nosed into the pub’s paling fence. The car park was lit, but not well.

  ‘Yes, so?’

  ‘So don’t we want to know where that dog food is going?’

  ‘It might already have gone.’

  ‘Doubt it, but get me that camera, Ebs. I’ll be able to tell you sooner rather than later.’

  ‘No. Absolutely not. No way. You stay away from that car – Mia, what are you doing?’

  Mia was already scrambling into the back for her camera case. A moment later the GoPro was in her hands and she was back in the case looking for something else – Cam’s cable ties.

  ‘Hopefully the battery has enough charge.’

  ‘Are you insane?’ Ebony hissed.

  Mia blasted her with a grin. ‘If you don’t know the answer to that by now …’

  ‘It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘Worked on your car. Back in a minute.’

  Ebony jumped from the car to grab her. ‘What if he comes out?’

  ‘I’ll hide.’

  ‘Where? Mia –’

  ‘Shh. Someone will notice you making a fuss. Get back in the car.’

  Mia strolled across the road and into the car park before disappearing behind Martin’s car.

  Ebony held her breath.

  The seconds felt like hours. Every time the pub door opened, her heart lurched. What if he found the GoPro? What if he found Mia? Her hand hovered over her phone. She should call the guys. She was looking at the keypad considering doing just that when she heard a small riot. Martin and a group of loutish types were leaving the bar. Shit. Where was Mia?

  Petrified, Ebony watched Martin climb into his car and start it up. Shit! He idled for several nerve-destroying seconds, chatting to someone, before reversing out and tearing off down the street.

  Of Mia there was no sign. Ebony released a slow breath of relief. As the others dissipated she caught a movement – Mia slipped out from under the car that Martin had been parked next to. She got to her feet, brushed herself off and walked innocently back to the car.

  ‘I could kill you for that! You almost gave me a heart attack.’

  Mia shrugged. ‘Meanwhile we’ve got a video rolling under his bull bar.’

  ‘What if he sees it?’

  ‘He won’t. His headlights are too bright for him to notice it. It’ll be fine as long as we take it off before morning.’

  Ebony’s hand went to her head. ‘How are we going to do that?’

  ‘He has to sleep eventually.’

  ‘He lives out the back of beyond! There’s no way we can just drive in unnoticed.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to hope he sleeps soundly. Look, I’m not completely mad. Worst-case scenario – I lose the GoPro. I’m not going to retrieve it if it looks too risky.’

  ‘You are mad. We should tell the guys.’

  ‘And get in trouble for nothing? Let’s go eat and watch that DVD. We’ve got a few hours to kill.’

  At two in the morning, Ebony sat in her car on the road outside Martin’s property as Mia prepared to retrieve her camera. ‘If he finds you, I’m calling Cam,’ she threatened.

  ‘If he finds me – I’d appreciate it.’ Mia managed a quick grin, but it was a little strained. There was some measure of sanity there, then. ‘Turn off the auto light, I don’t want it coming on when I open the door. Right. I’m going in.’ She put her hand on the door handle, paused. ‘Not that anything is going to go wrong but if it did, could you make that call getting your arse out of here? I’d rather risk death by Martin than by Cam and Lee if something happened to you.’

  She stepped out and closed the door. Martin’s small fibro house was set off the road, down a dirt driveway behind an old cattle grid and what used to be a wire fence. Roughly twenty or thirty metres from the house was a corrugated iron shed backed by a couple of tough old gumtrees and a patch of scrub similar to others that dotted the property. Martin usually parked outside that shed. The house and shed stood on acres of grass paddocks with only the slightest undulations to break the monotony. Nowhere to hide. Ebony knew all this from driving past it many times in the daylight, but in the darkness it was difficult to make out many details. Mia didn’t have that mental image. Ebony couldn’t let her go in alone. She quietly got out of the car, pressing the door shut gently and racing to catch up.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Mia whispered desperately. ‘This is not how to keep yourself safe.’

  ‘There’s a cattle grid here – just up ahead. If you didn’t know, you could have done some damage.’

  ‘Thanks. Get back in the car.’

  ‘I’m coming. Martin’s car will be over near that shed.’

  ‘Yeah, I see it.’

  Just getting down the driveway was nerve-wracking enough. It was actually a relief to reach the car and have something to hide behind. The house remained perfectly dark and silent.

  Mia crouched down to cut the ties on the GoPro.

  A snarl had them both on alert barely a second before a massive dog lunged from inside the shed. Ebony fell back into Mia and both women landed in the dirt. A heavy chain stopped the dog’s attack a metre short of where the girls were crouching.

  ‘Guess at least one of the dogs is back,’ Mia muttered. ‘Friendly little thing.’

  ‘Mia, let’s go!’

  ‘Almost.’ She wrestled with the camera, then it was in her hand. ‘Right, let’s move.’ Even as she spoke, veranda lights jumped to life, temporarily blinding them. Both women hit the ground again. From under Martin’s car, Ebony saw him framed in the doorway. The savage dog ceased to exist in her consciousness.

  ‘Shut up!’ he yelled at the dog.

  Yes, shut up, please, shut up.

  Instead it kept barking, kept straining against the chain. Martin took a few steps out of the house, disappeared back inside.

  ‘Mia …’

  ‘Don’t panic. Move a bit further away from the big nasty set of teeth, head for the back of the car.’

  The sound of a screen door banging had them both taking another look. Martin had reappeared. He was holding a rifle.

  ‘Behind the shed. Go.’

  When Ebony didn’t move, Mia gave her a sh
ove. She struggled over a log that framed the driveway and crouched in the scrub behind one of the tall gums, cringing at every noise. At least the dog was loud enough to cover their sounds. Hopefully. Spider webs and scratching branches caught on her face and in her hair. Mia pushed her to keep going.

  She almost couldn’t conceal the scream when something large scuttled out in front of her. A brushtail possum, upset by the pair, bounced up into a tree. Ebony moved further around behind the shed followed closely by Mia until a gunshot made them freeze.

  The possum’s limp form dropped at her feet.

  Mia quickly grabbed it and tossed it further away from them.

  ‘Now maybe you’ll shut up.’ Martin chuckled and crashed into the scrub.

  He was so close, Ebony couldn’t breathe. For a moment she thought he might have been looking right at them. But he scooped up the carcass and tossed it at the dog, who by the sounds it was making, attacked it with enthusiasm. With another laugh, he slung the gun over his shoulder and made his way back to the house. The light flicked off.

  ‘Go,’ Mia ordered.

  ‘Shouldn’t we wait just a –’

  The dog stopped ripping into the carcass to growl.

  ‘Ebs. Go!’

  Somehow her legs took her back to the car and she slumped inside it, grateful to be alive.

  ‘Okay, maybe that wasn’t one of my best ideas,’ Mia conceded.

  ‘You think?’

  ‘But at least we know the dogs are back.’

  ‘There was only one. That’s his big old hunting dog. Probably Jasper’s dad.’

  ‘I’m gonna have to make those extensions to the cottage.’

  ‘Is the camera okay?’

  ‘Yeah, should be. And hopefully it’s had an interesting trip.’

  ‘He might have just come straight home. And can we even use that video? We were trespassing.’

  ‘So was the possum, apparently.’

  Ebony started giggling, couldn’t seem to stop. ‘It’s not funny, it’s not. I’m just …’

  ‘Hysterical?’ Mia asked, her expression only setting Ebony off again. ‘We should move before we end up as doggie’s dessert. I want to see what’s on the video, don’t you?’

  Ebony stopped giggling. ‘Of course I want to see what’s on it. I just risked my life to see what’s on it! I should warn you, if there’s nothing on it, I’ll kill you myself.’ She turned on the engine, saw Martin’s veranda light come back on. ‘But we’ll talk about this later.’

  Half an hour later they were back at Ebony’s. Ebony made strong coffee while Mia downloaded the footage and they sat down to watch.

  ‘Well, I can see a lot of road, but not much else,’ Ebony commented.

  ‘What are you, the film police? He’s pulling up. Oh gross.’

  ‘He’s picking up roadkill. Why?’

  ‘Who knows? Maybe he’s feeding it to his dogs, like he did that possum. I’m going to fast forward.’

  ‘That would explain why he had a decent load on hand to drop at my doorstep. Wait – I can’t keep up with where he’s going – oh, that’s still the main road – no, he’s pulling off. Now what – he’s heading to the mine. I didn’t think he was working tonight.’

  They watched him drive through the gates, keep going.

  ‘Now where’s he going?’

  He drove out onto the long stretch of road leading to properties bought up by the mine.

  ‘It’s pretty dark, so I could be wrong, but I think I know where he is. An old lady by the name of Betty Drayton used to live here. She had a cranky old Chihuahua I had to come out and vaccinate for her because she couldn’t drive.’

  ‘I’ll fast forward again. There! He’s stopped. Is that her house?’

  Ebony did her best to figure it out. ‘It could be. Hard to tell from this angle in the dark.’

  ‘Well, he’s going in with the dog food. We should get in touch with the authorities.’

  ‘Don’t you think we should make sure they’re there first? He could just be storing stuff or –’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘You never know. Hey – a light just went on in the house.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘There’s not supposed to be any power to those places.’

  ‘Maybe it’s a lantern or something.’

  ‘I wish we could see more. The camera’s too low.’

  ‘Well, sweetie, if I’d stuck it on the dash he might have objected.’

  A black shape moved across the camera. ‘He’s leaving again. He didn’t even have time to feed.’

  ‘There’s two people there,’ Mia commented as another shape blocked the light.

  ‘Maybe that person is feeding the dogs. I wonder who it is? Martin got back in the car at the pub on his own, didn’t he?’

  Two figures moved back, and the head and ears of a dead rabbit swished past. ‘And there go the dead animals.’

  A minute later one figure moved in front of the camera, then the car was moving.

  ‘Whoever the second person is, they’re staying. In an abandoned house at the back of a mine that is somehow set up with power. Probably looking after Martin’s dogs.’

  ‘What if it’s Rob?’

  ‘I hope so. Ready to get in some serious trouble?’

  CHAPTER

  18

  ‘I just don’t know what to say. I can’t even … I can’t even.’

  Cam raked fingers through his messy hair and paced up and down while Ebony and Mia sat on the lounge and waited it out. Ally was in her dressing gown, making tea. Lee watched on quietly, feeling a lot like Cam looked.

  ‘I feel like I should ground the pair of you. Or lock you up. Ben might just try. Especially you, Mia.’

  ‘Do you think he’ll be quite as condescending while he turns the key?’

  ‘I’m not being condescending, I’m – all right, maybe I am! Ebony’s my little sister and by marriage, so are you. So suck it up. You’re getting a lecture.’

  Lee saw the light of battle in Mia’s eyes and finally jumped into the conversation. ‘Is there any way at all he could know you’ve done this?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ Mia said. ‘I put the GoPro on when he was in the pub, you remember how easy it was to attach to Eb’s car? Then I disappeared when I heard him coming. If he’d noticed it on the car when he got home I don’t think he would have left it there, running.’

  ‘That simple, huh? How did you get it off?’

  ‘We waited a few hours and drove out to Martin’s and got it back,’ Ebony answered.

  Cam’s hand hit his forehead and Ally swore more creatively than Lee had ever heard her swear before.

  Mia’s hands went to her hips. ‘Did you see that footage or not?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lee replied, ‘but do we know where he was?’

  ‘I reckon it’s old Betty’s place,’ Ebony said, ‘at least, it used to be. We just need to find out for sure if the puppies are there.’

  ‘You even suggest making another move and I’ll bury you up to your neck in a nice safe hole in the backyard somewhere. This is Ben’s department. I’ll call him.’

  Mia got up and walked out to the pool. Ebony was busy talking to Ally, so he followed. She smiled at him and sat, and he took a chair beside her.

  ‘You do some crazy things, but this one’s up there.’

  ‘So Cam said.’

  ‘He worries about you – and Ebony. I don’t know what Martin would have done if he’d caught you, but this is a guy who we think hunts women for sport. Surely you understand that?’

  ‘But we’re fine. Yes, I’ll admit it was stupid, but if this foot-age shows he’s hiding Rob, something might finally happen. He’s threatening Ebs in the street, telling her Rob’s coming for her. Lee – I can see that same look coming into her eyes I’ve only ever seen in Ally’s. It’s not good. We need to find him.’

  ‘You need to stay safe. Cam might be overprotective but he loves you both. And Ebony –’

  ‘Went wi
th Mia of my own free will!’ Ebony snapped at Lee from the doorway. He wondered how much she’d heard. ‘Why does everyone seem to think this is all Mia’s fault? I’m sick of this overprotective macho bullshit. I kind of understand it from Cam, but you’re not my brother. You’re not … anything.’

  ‘I’m your friend. I care about you,’ Lee said quietly.

  Cam reappeared. ‘Ben’s on his way. His reaction to your little stunt was … entertaining. By the time he’s stewed over it all the way out here, it’s bound to be epic. Prepare yourself.’ He wrapped Ebony in a hug, stared over the top of her head at Mia. ‘I know why you did it. Maybe you’ve even managed to find those dogs. If anyone other than my sister and my sister-in-law had done it, I’d probably be able to admit it was pretty cool. But it’s my job to worry – and I’m a bit peeved I was left out of the loop. So sorry for the attitude, but we do things together, remember?’

  ‘Okay. When you put it like that – sorry,’ Ebony said.

  Mia nodded.

  ‘Let’s just hope something good comes out of it.’

  ‘In the meantime, I need to get to the surgery.’ Ebony yawned.

  ‘I’ll take you,’ Ally offered.

  ‘I should head too,’ Mia said.

  ‘Home? No. Go have a proper sleep,’ Cam said. ‘Ben is going to want to talk to you when he gets here.’

  ‘Can’t you just show him the video? He can drag me in for interrogation when he’s back in the city.’

  ‘Mia, please cooperate. I don’t want you driving all that way when you’re so tired.’

  ‘That’s what got me into trouble in the first place.’ She sighed, which turned into a yawn, then kissed his cheek as she passed in the direction of the spare room. ‘You’re so bossy.’

  ‘I’ll wake you up when Ben arrives.’

  ‘There goes any hope of sweet dreams,’ Mia said. ‘Oh wait, my car is at Ebs’s place.’

  ‘I’ll drive Ebs out in her car and bring yours back,’ Ally offered. ‘See you later for the showdown.’

  ‘Hi Carla, Nick,’ Ebony said as she and Ally walked into the surgery. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘The computer’s stuffing round again. Nick’s taking a look at it.’

  ‘Thanks, Nick. By the way, have you met my sister-in-law, Ally?’