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Katherine, half running out of the building, led the girl and carried a smaller child in a blanket. She now wore a long, loose kaftan-like dress but remained with bare feet, as did the children.
‘Carolyn, wait here with Isaac while I get something to climb on to get over the fence,’ she said. Carolyn took Isaac’s hand and nervously looked through the fence at Petri. Katherine turned to go.
‘No, wait.’ Petri was now convinced she was telling the truth. The way in which she dealt with the children convinced him she certainly was not crazy. ‘I’ll break the gates with my ute.
Just move right back.’
He put the Toyota into four-wheel drive and, using the substantial ‘roo bar, pushed gently against the gates. They put up little resistance and, with a grinding noise of metal, bent then parted as the chain snapped. Petri had hardly moved forward when Katherine was opening the passenger door and thrusting the children into the cabin.
‘Go, go, just go,’ she cried even before she was completely inside. Her foot was bleeding where she had caught it on the damaged wires of the gate but she seemed unaware of either her pain or appearance. Petri started to reverse for a three point turn, hoping to reach the main road before the dogger, who was obviously the cause of the woman’s distress and intense fear, decided to return down the track.
Less than five hundred metres from the Factory compound driving became difficult and Petri stopped. ‘Hang on a sec, there’s something wrong. I think we’ve got a puncture.’ In reversing over the gates some of the broken metal had put a stake through the tyre. ‘Gotta stop and fix it. Sorry.’
The woman groaned painfully, then quickly said, ‘I’ll help.’
Leaving the children in the ute the two of them got busy with the jack. They worked in silence, conserving energy to change the tyre fast. She was putting the flat tyre back into its cradle under the vehicle and Petri tightening the last of the nuts on the spare when they heard it: the sound of an approaching vehicle.
‘Quickly, get inside and put your head down. Keep the children down too. If it’s your Karl he may not realise what’s happened. Once he’s passed I’ll get in. Meanwhile I must get this jack down. Hurry.’
The three were almost invisible, huddled down together on the passenger side. Katherine made herself as small as possible but it was very cramped with the three of them almost under the dashboard. To make space she shoved all of Petri’s maps and things on to the driver’s side.
She had just organised herself and ‘shooshed’ Carolyn when she heard Karl pull up. Isaac kept silent. He had already learnt the consequences of not being quiet when a man was around.
Karl leaned out of his window. ‘It’s you agin, eh? Thought I told ya ta bugger off. Wadda ya doin’ down this way eh? Shit, don’t ya city blokes listen to anythin’ we tell ya?’
‘I thought I’d see if this track went anywhere past your camp. I thought I could get to the creek without going through your place. It doesn’t seem to go beyond where you’ve got your ‘roo skins drying, so I was just on my way back. Big place you got there, for a camp. I got a puncture so I was just fixing it. I’ll be on my way and —’
Karl turned and was just about to drive off when he leaned out of the window again. ‘Bloody stickybeakin’ I reckons. Don’ let me see ya aroun’ these parts agin or I’ll shoot ya, just like the fuckin’ vermin ya is.’
Petri waited for the dogger to drive off. He did not want to get into the vehicle in case the others were seen when he opened the door.
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The dogger’s engine revved as he prepared to drive away. Then unexpectedly it quietened. Why was he stopping again? Petri turned to see what had caught the man’s attention.
There, bounding down the track, was the dog.
W hat the bloody hell!’ Karl looked at his excited dog, so pleased that he had found his missing master that he started barking between bounds.
Petri made a rapid move and opened his door, hastily trying to get into the seat only to find a heap of maps, books and papers. He watched he dogger turn in their direction. He must have seen the three fugitives. Petri tried to grab the falling clutter and climb into the vehicle.
Petri gasped with the sharp blow to the back of his head. As he slumped to the ground he vaguely heard screaming, children crying and a dog barking. Then all went quiet as a velvet blackness enveloped him.
* * *
Petri found himself lying in a darkened room. His hands were tied tightly behind his back. It took him a while to recall what had happened. His head ached but since he could both see and remember he felt that probably not too much damage had been done. It was hot, the walls of corrugated iron were almost too hot to touch. Light filtering through small holes revealed it was a storeroom. Boxes of tinned food lined the walls.
He went unsteadily to the door and tried to push it open with his shoulder. It didn’t budge. From the pattern of shadows he could see there were a couple of bolts on the outside. He knew he was in trouble. In all of the situations he had faced in his life, he had never experienced anything like this.
He could hear the man shouting and the woman responding. He never did find out her name or the full story behind her claim to be a kidnap victim. He wondered if it was all true or just some sort of set-up. Perhaps to steal his four-wheel drive?
No, that was unlikely. She seemed genuine enough, and genuinely terrified of the dogger. He needed a plan.
* * *
White-faced, Katherine crouched in the corner, shaking, with her knees tucked under her chin. Her back was bruised from the whipping Karl had administered when he saw the broken gates.
‘Wadda ya think I’m gunna do now, ya stoopid bitch? Ya’ve really fucked up this time.’ Karl paced across the room. His eyes were wild.
