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Karl rolled over from his supine position on the floor. He felt groggy and his head hurt. He felt his scalp. Caked blood had matted his hair. Like a movie played in slow motion, the events of the previous night came back. He stood up shakily, rubbed his eyes and staggered out on to the veranda where stood on the edge of steps and urinated into the sand.
How good it had been telling that bitch what to do and she’d bloody well done it. Jumping, seeing those tits bounce around until he wanted more. She tried to talk him out of it, but he was the boss. No woman was going to mess him around any more. The more she suffered and cried, the more he enjoyed it. Then it struck him, the memory of how he sat waiting for her. He saw her crawling towards him, crying and defeated.
Then something went wrong. What was it? He recalled the pleasure of watching her nakedness and humiliation. He so enjoyed watching her pathetic show that it was only at the last minute he saw her hand reach out and grab the bottle he’d left close to the chair. He couldn’t believe this crawling bitch’s lightening move.
In disbelief at what she’d done he started to stagger to his feet when a second blow struck him on the temple. That was the last he remembered; that and the sound of the generator sputtering to a standstill. Darkness descended on the buildings as he simultaneously faded into unconsciousness.
‘That aint gunna ‘appen again.’ He spat in the sand. ‘I’ll keep the bitch an’ teach ‘er a lesson.’
Karl went across to Katherine’s room. He opened the door and stepped into the dark interior. ‘Wakey, wakey bitch. Ya gunna pay for that. Hittin’ me ain’t very nice now, is it?’
Silence greeted him.
He felt his way across to the bed. He leaned forward, feeling with his hands. Empty.
‘Where the fuck is ya, bitch? C’mon out. Ya can’t ‘ide from me. I’ll find ya.’ Karl went back to his room to dress. There was no hurry. The one thing he knew how to do well was hunt.
* * *
Weak, pre-dawn light made the shadowy shapes of the surrounding bush form an army of silent ghosts, waiting to engulf the group around the Toyota. Petri was working fast to repair the damaged tyre. Finally he stood and said, ‘That’s it. Fixed.’
He gave the wheel nuts one last turn then threw the jack into the tray. ‘Let’s go.’
Even as he spoke Katherine pointed down the track and cried out, ‘Look! Look!’
In the grey morning light they saw a vehicle. The array of bright lights meant it could only be Karl. There were no other possibilities.
‘Quick, get in. Hurry!’
They scrambled into the vehicle. The still-warm engine fired into life and Petri started off down the track. By now Karl was only a short distance behind.
Keeping one hand on the wheel he leaned back and took hold of his favourite toy, his loaded Lee Enfield.
‘Reckon I kin git the bastard, jist like a fuckin’ ‘roo.’
He pulled down the knob on the right of the dashboard and felt the accelerator respond under his foot. Once the hand throttle was fixed in the bottom notch it was on full and he had free movement of his body. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he swung the door open. The vehicle maintained a reasonably straight course, although it bucked across the uneven track surface. This was Karl’s skill, years of practice chasing fleeing dogs and kangaroos in his speeding vehicle. He half stood, hanging on to the steering while with one hand and raised his rifle over the swinging open door. He took aim at the outline of the driver’s head in the vehicle in front.
There was a bang and a cloud of dust exploded off to the right of the Toyota.
‘He’s shooting at us!’ Petri increased the speed. ‘Keep the children down.’
Katherine spread her body along the seat, covering Isaac and Carolyn.
Petri glanced in the rear-view mirror. Petri turned his full attention back to the road.
The rifle fired again.
Karl cursed, muttering to himself, ‘Gotta git closer.’ He knew he had another ten shots but he couldn’t afford to waste them. He increased speed, clos
ing the distance between the two vehicles.
A lec and Shelly settled into their seats. After a few checks, the airline ensured they were given seats on the first available flight, flying via Singapore to Perth. They found themselves unexpectedly sitting in first class on the upper deck of the Boeing 747B. The rush of departure had left little time to talk. Now, as the adrenalin decreased, they felt a degree of anticlimax, made worse by the uncertainties of what lay ahead.
Shelley was unhappy with herself. She felt guilty for feeling selfish. She knew in her heart she should be pleased that Alec, after all this time, had news of his wife. And good news. She glanced at Alec. He was staring straight ahead, obviously engrossed in his own thoughts. She quietened the questions revolving in her head. They would either go unanswered or be answered with the passage of time. Instead, she looked out the window. As the aircraft climbed to cruising altitude, there was nothing to see but blackness and the reflected regular flash of a red light against the wing.
* * *
The glass of the back window shattered, scattering fragments over those cramped into the front of the speeding Toyota.
