Rural Dreams Page 8

  ‘My phone’s not working,’ Nicole was saying, walking around and holding a phone up high. ‘I left a message for Tyler but I want to talk to him before we head off.’

  Louise was leaning against the car, reading some notes from a paper file.

  ‘Not much signal here,’ Anna answered. ‘And none once we get on the trail. Try to walk up the road a little and see if it works there – otherwise, we have the satellite phone, but strictly only for emergencies.’

  ‘Just like checking in on him,’ Nicole said. ‘Not really an emergency.’

  ‘Not really,’ Anna was firm with the phone’s correct usage. ‘Try a little bit up the road, it should work.’

  She watched as Nicole began walking – head down and arms folded in front of her. The woman was so thin it looked as if a strong gust might blow her off the track. For the first time, Anna truly regretted her decision to come. Far better to do this walk on her own, as she had in her youth. Young days hiking up here with her two younger sisters in tow. Hours spent lying among the moss beds and eating sandwiches under snowgum woodlands. They’d almost run the whole track, Anna remembered now with wonder. They’d run along the ridges and into the valleys with little care for injury or safety. How wonderful to be a child in the Australian bush she thought, before remembering that her own 18-month old daughter suffered allergies and asthma and was warned against playing in grasses or being exposed to cold air.

  Coming up here again was like coming home. The farm was sold now, back to the Government as part of the National Park buy back in the early 90s – but Anna couldn’t help but believe that the land just north east of here, the land with the sweeping views of the Bogong Valley and of the Precipice to the East, was hers still. The little homestead, all verandah and rooms tacked on over time and chimneys, was torn down, the garden her mother planted now taken over by native bush. When they were first married, Anna took her husband there. They found the spot easily enough by the old orchard still thriving in among the snowy gums. Crab apples, a wizened pear and two fig trees. They stayed a night in the old house, listening to the possums and bush rats; warming themselves by a fire in the back yard and drinking port from the bottle. It would only be an extra hour from the track to get there. If she was on her own, she could do it easily enough.

  Louise hoisted her overlarge pack onto her shoulders and walked over toward her.

  ‘It’s so uncomfortable,’ the she said. ‘I only bought it yesterday.’

  Anna closed her eyes and wished herself away. Already, she could hear the whining about blisters and the delays that would surely follow. New equipment, every guide’s curse. She reached out for Louise’s pack. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Let me have a look.’ Louise wriggled out of it and passed it to Anna. While Anna undid and redid the shoulder and waist straps, Louise unwrapped and wrapped the piece of paper she’d been holding.

  ‘Anna,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I’ve read the latest court reports from Clinton’s trial – they were sent through to me this morning on request.’ She looked up to see Nicole walking back toward them. ‘There’s a lot in here, but the gist of it is, two days ago they let him out on parole – highly restricted of course – but on parole nonetheless. Can you believe it?’

  Anna finished working the straps and passed the pack back to Louise. ‘You haven’t been in law long enough if you don’t believe it. This happens all the time.’

  ‘But he threw her out of a moving car and then tried to run her over.’

  ‘I’ve heard worse. Remember to use your stomach strap – that’s the one people forget, and it offers you the most support – takes the weight off your shoulders.’

  ‘Jesus, you’re not much of a cynic are you?’ Louise said, half in admiration.

  ‘Realist you mean.’ She was a realist. In her time as a social worker she’d had to take countless women to hospital. Broken jaw bones, slashed faces, acid attacks, violent rapes, and all done in the family home. Nothing surprised her anymore. A dragon could fly up over the mountain and spurt up fire out its arse and still she wouldn’t blink. In her job she was known as being the practical, responsible one – always capable of making the right decision. After twenty years in the job, emotion no longer clouded her thoughts. Justice did. Doing the right thing.

  ‘Should we tell Nicole? About Clint? I don’t think she knows yet – they only notified the most recent victims.’

  That’s right, Anna remembered. After throwing Nicole out of a car, Clint had gone on to beat up some guy outside a nightclub. The guy had to be put in an induced coma. It was that crime he was in jail for, not throwing a woman out of a moving car a year prior.

  ‘So, should we? Tell her?’ Louise was hanging on, trying to find answers. Give her a few years, Anna thought. A few years in the system to dull the empathy urge.

  ‘No. Not yet. Let’s walk first.’ The last thing they all needed was Nicole having panic attacks on the walk, and if they decided to call it off and all go home then nothing would be achieved anyway.

  Nicole walked over, a smile on her thin face. ‘Got hold of Mum,’ she said. ‘Tyler’s fine and they’re off to Ocean Grove tonight, staying in a caravan. He’ll be surfing and that the whole time, never mind the weather. Bloody fish that kid.’

  Louise made enthusiastic sounds while Anna held up the satellite phone. ‘Well from now on, there’s no reception for your mobiles. Best to turn them off and save the batteries for when we get back in range. We’ve got this, but as I said to Nicole, it’s only for emergencies.’

  ‘Ordering a six pack of bundy cans count as an emergency?’ Nicole was in a better mood. ‘Friday night and all.’

  ‘Not on this walk,’ Anna said. ‘Let’s get moving.’

  The three women began walking; specks on the top of a mountain range, the valleys and peaks engulfing them in their midst. Above and beside them was the sky – an endless blue with small puffs of white cloud and below them a great mountain with dirt path leading them along the great divide. For an hour they walked along the exposed ridge; sweeping views either side and all mountains and valleys and sky; mountains and valleys and sky. Toward midday the path traversed through a woodland of drooping gums and the three women stopped to eat their lunch. Louise took off her boots and massaged her toes through her socks.

  ‘How far to go?’ She asked.

  ‘About 8 or 9ks, a bit of uphill,’ Anna said, lying backwards. ‘Not too bad.’

  ‘My feet are starting to get a bit sore.’

  ‘You’ve got new boots on. Big mistake.’

  ‘Well they didn’t tell me that when I signed on. Bloody hell! These boots cost $300!’

  ‘What did they tell you? About this walk I mean?’

  ‘Just that we’d have time to mingle with people who have been victims of abuse and workers in the field.’

  ‘What, and have a few cocktails and that?’ Nicole gave a dry laugh.

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that. I spose they thought that rather than just being in our privileged positions in Melbourne we should meet people at the coal face.’

  Anna looked across the mountains, she hated this type of talk. ‘I don’t know about any coal face, it feels pretty privileged to be here right now.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Nicole said. ‘You can keep your dingy city office.’

  ‘And you know what?’ Louise said. ‘Maybe we don’t need to talk about our lives or work at all.’ Anna closed her eyes, felt the sun on her face. Louise stood up in bare feet.

  ‘It’s great here,’ the lawyer continued. ‘I feel like singing!’ She spread her arms wide and slowly circled. ‘The hills are alive!’

  Nicole and Anna laughed. Louise was easy to like.

  ‘Everything’s so green up here!’ Louise picked some leaves from a drooping gum and held them close to her face. ‘Or sort of green. Olive-green.’ Small clouds raced like chariots across the blue sky. A bird circled above. The sun was warm. ‘Honestly, I could live here,’ Louise gazed over the mountains, picked up the bi
noculars Anna had lent her and peered through them, moving in a slow circle. ‘It’s so beautiful. I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages.’

  Anna grinned. City people always said this when they came here. Compared to the gridlocked roads, the hot alleyways and multitudes of people, the mountains must seem like some sort of arcadia.

  ‘I really think I might look into real estate in this area.’

  ‘No high paying jobs, no corporate lunches.’

  ‘Wouldn’t worry me,’ Louise said. ‘Who needs them?’

  ‘Snakes?’

  Louise mimicked a shovel spearing motion, ‘I’d kill them.’

  ‘Spiders?’

  ‘Not scared of ‘em.’

  ‘Bushfires?

  ‘Not afraid.’

  ‘Bushfires? Think, Black Saturday, Mallacoota – every decade.’

  ‘I’d fight them,’ Louise stood like a WW1 recruitment poster.

  ‘Well that’s not a good idea.’

  ‘That’s what you do don’t you? Communities banding together to fight the flames, blokes in thongs and singlets with a hose?’ She was half joking. ‘Isn’t that what happens? She’ll be right mate.’

  ‘God no. Mum, Dad, my sisters – every time there was a fire, we packed up as much stuff as we could and we got the hell out. Bushfires are bloody scary.’

  ‘I don’t know. All I’m saying is, I could live in a place like this, or in a place near this.’

  ‘Clint used to be in the fire brigade,’ Nicole said. ‘He fought in Black Saturday.’

  The other two didn’t comment. Nicole didn’t elaborate. Anna looked at her watch and Louise took the hint, pulling her boots back on. They continued on the path. By mid-afternoon they were still walking at a good speed and Anna calculated they’d be at the hut well before sunset. They stopped briefly for a drink. Nicole rubbed her calves. They talked for a while about work and study, listening as Louise told amusing stories about her office. Two hours passed and the women spoke less, muscles beginning to ache. Anna felt more tired than she normally would at this point and she longed to put her feet up. They’d been walking at a slow incline, so when they first saw the man – coming in the opposite direction, it appeared as if he was bearing down upon them at a faster pace than he actually was.

  ‘Someone’s coming,’ she said.

  Through the low scrub 400 meters away, a man was walking quickly toward them. Or running. She stopped and turned to the other two.

  ‘Probably a jogger.’

  ‘Probably.’ Louise looked either side of her.

  ‘Who would go for a run here?’ Nicole muttered as they shuffled off the path in single file.

  There were joggers who ran this track, Anna knew. Hyper fit types training for endurance marathons or people on the last leg of their walk who decided to jog the last downhill stage and make the early train from the nearest town. Red faced and out of breath, the man bore down on them and once arrived, he paused on the track beside them, resting his hands on his knees. The three women looked at each other over his bowed head.

  ‘You ok?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Got any water?’ the man asked. ‘I’ve run out.’

  Louise fumbled about in her pack and passed a drink bottle to him.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, and drank deeply.

  ‘Where’ve you come from?’ Anna asked. ‘The Snow Road?’

  He put the drink bottle down beside him and spoke without looking up, chest still heaving. ‘No, he said. ‘Same way as you. I started out this morning, ran to Baynton’s and now on the home straight. Might be dark by the time I’m finished.’

  ‘With no water?’

  The young man lifted his head and flicked his hair. ‘Rookie error, left it at the hut. One thing’s for sure, I am so glad to see you ladies.’ He looked at Louise, ‘you on your way to the hut?’

  ‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘then we’re walking the rest of the track.’

  ‘You must be fit,’ he said, eyes moving the length of her frame.

  Louise gave a short laugh and Anna rolled her eyes. Nicole fidgeted with a stick and looked to one side.

  ‘Not too fit,’ Louise said.

  ‘Well, we’re off,’ Anna said. ‘Got to get there by sunset.’

  The man stretched his calves and nodded. ‘The track’s a bit run down,’ he said. ‘Be careful just ahead – that recent rain has really churned it up in parts.’

  The women watched him. ‘Seen the pig hunters yet?’ he asked. They shook their heads.

  ‘Ferals. You know the type.’

  Somewhere in a low shrub on the path ahead a bird gave a long, drawn out cry. The baby in Anna’s womb dragged low and deep.

  ‘We know the type,’ Nicole was brusque.

  ‘They stab the pigs before shooting them,’ the man looked side to side before leaning in. ‘Something about the quality of the meat.’

  Louise took a step back and Anna cleared her throat. The man gave a half smile, stood there.

  ‘Well, gotta keep moving,’ Anna said before signalling the other two to continue walking. The women turned once more up the hill, Louise tripping a little in her haste. Anna continued for half a minute before half turning back. The man was still standing in the same place, watching them. She gave him a hard look and he gave one back, before smirking and turning around. Once more he began running down the dirt track, away from them. Anna exhaled and turned toward the other two, legs shaky. The women walked on for a few minutes before Louise spoke up.

  ‘Was that weird?’ she asked.

  It took a while for Anna to answer. ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘There’s runners here all the time. He was just a bit of a daft one, that’s all.’

  ‘It was weird.’ Nicole said in a flat voice that made them all go quiet.

  ‘Creepy,’ Louise added. ‘The pigs…’

  The man was right about one thing – the track became harder to navigate as they continued. Recent rains meant the track was spread wide and thin – at times veering off the side of the mountain to the steep sides. The women tread carefully, eyes down, the joy of the walk diminished. After a while, Louise asked them to stop while she took off her boot and inspected her foot – she could feel more blisters. The three of them threw their packs down and sat on the low grass beside the track. The views were magnificent, but Anna knew they couldn’t dawdle. Darkness fell fast on the mountain and she wanted to be safe inside Baynton’s before it did.

  ‘It really pisses me off,’ Louise was saying. ‘One weirdo and we’re all on tenterhooks. It’s not fair. If it was the other way around and we were three guys it would be the woman running on the track who’d be afraid. I mean – why are we all so bloody scared?’

  ‘I’ve got a fair idea,’ Nicole said.

  ‘Shit, sorry,’ Louise said, contrite. ‘I know you’ve been through hell with your ex. But why am I scared? The only men I’ve ever known are good ones.’

  ‘Lucky.’

  ‘It just annoys me, you know? Like now, after that weirdo, I’m always looking behind me – wondering if we’re being followed or if someone’s hiding in the bushes. He’s kind of ruined the walk.’

  The other women knew what she meant, every woman on earth would know what she meant. Anna felt a surge of anger. ‘Well, don’t let him win. We’re almost at Baynton’s hut and we’ll have a great night. That skinny prick. Don’t let the bastards get you down!’

  Nicole gave a low laugh. ‘I like it,’ she said.

  Louise gave her foot a final rub, shook out her sock and put her boot back on. ‘Ok,’ she said. ‘Message received. Let’s move.’ She stood and cupped her hands beside her mouth calling, ‘skinny pricks in lycra don’t scare us!’ Her words echoed down the valley, distorted and strange.

  Anna clapped her hands together. ‘Soon enough we’ll be in Baynton’s beside a warm fire cooking up a storm. Let’s move.’

  They began walking again, somewhat cheered. Nicole took the lead, walking at a good pace and turning her head sideways
every now and then to talk. She was telling them about her son’s schooling when out the corner of her eye, Anna saw a black coil thicken to the side of Nicole’s left foot. Before she could shout out, the long coil unwound and slid fast across the path, its sleek narrow head darting.

  Nicole gave a yelp and hopped sideways, slipping off the path, landing on her backside and skidding down. The others rushed to help as she turned around and continued the slide on her stomach, reaching out, arms barrelling and yelling for them to help. Anna threw down her back-pack and kneeling on her haunches, reached out to grab Nicole’s wrist. Behind her, Louise rushed to assist, sliding on the dirt and reaching out to grab Nicole’s other hand. In her haste, small rocks from the side of the path raced down the mountainside, gathering speed. ‘The bag!’ Nicole shouted, but too late, Anna’s back-pack went tumbling down the mountain to the side of them in a hurl of stones and dirt, too far and too fast to reach. Down it went, leaping and bouncing over rock faces and into the dark bush, far below. Anna swore as Nicole strengthened her grip on the other two and scrambled up to her feet.