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The driver pulled back, almost knocking Katherine over. ‘Sorry. I’m Benjamin. Benjamin, not Ben.’
Katherine took the extended hand. ‘Oh! Sorry. I should have introduced myself. I’m Katherine, Katherine Thompson.’
His hand was calloused and hard. He shook hands firmly before she slid hers out of the grasp, almost too quickly. She realised how rarely she had ever shaken hands with strangers and felt unsure of how long the handshake should last.
‘So, what do I call ya, woman? Katie?’
‘Most people just call me Kath or Katherine, but Katie’s fine.’
‘Okay, Katie for the time being, eh?’
They lapsed into silence. Benjamin looked hard at Katherine, almost as if summing her up. ‘Well, what are ya gunna do?’
‘I don’t know. I guess I’ll just wait here til my husband comes back. Are you on your way to Ceduna?’
‘Nope. I’m goin’ all the way to the west. I plan to pick up the Highway just t’other side Ceduna, then on to WA.’
There was another long silence and Katherine was about to make a comment when he continued. ‘But I tell ya what. I’ll try and give ya a tow to Ceduna. We’d probably be there ‘bout same time as ya man. Could save ‘im comin’ out to look for ya an’ there’d be a bloke there what can fix ya van.’
Katherine hesitated. Ever since a child she had been warned about taking rides with strangers and her instinct was to stay put. However, what Benjamin was saying made sense. She’d be in her own vehicle and if they could get to Ceduna sooner it would make it a lot easier for Carolyn, to say nothing of Alec and herself. The stranger seemed alright and in her own vehicle she would be safe enough. Certainly as safe as standing here chatting in the open in the middle of nowhere. ‘Okay. Let’s give it a try.’
Benjamin’s trailer was filled with white wooden boxes. He unhitched it from the vehicle and set it in the sand. Then he attached the Kombi to a towing cable but it took several manoeuvres to pull the van from its awkward position and line the two vehicles up one behind the other in the track.
‘I’ll leave me trailer here an’ pick it up later,’ Benjamin explained when Katherine asked what he was doing about the trailer.
‘It really is very kind of you. You’re going to a lot of trouble for us.’
‘Just ya steer carefully in the track. If ya see me brake lights come on then jist brake, otherwise jist steer. Ya’ll be right.’
The Land Rover took up the slack then Katherine heard the engine tone change as it strained to pull the Kombi. She gripped the steering wheel readying herself to steer the towed Kombi. Carolyn lay in her bassinette on the back seat happily making little chatty noises. Katherine found holding the Kombi on a straight course far more difficult than she expected. The effort of holding the wheel straight hurt her arms. No matter how hard she battled to hold the Kombi steady behind the Land Rover, with the wheels straddling the central ridge of the track, the van had an uncanny need to veer away from the tracks and into the ridge. The more she tried to correct the steering, the more it seemed to pull into the centre.
Each time this happened the tow rope formed a sharp angle with the back of the Land Rover and Benjamin stopped, came back to the Kombi and turned the wheel hard in the opposite direction.
‘Now hold it there, jist hold it, until ya’re back in the tracks, then straighten up. Use both ya arms!’
‘But I am using both arms! I don’t have strong arms.’ Her smile belied her frustration that was equalling his.
It was clear at this rate the journey was going to be unacceptably long. Each time Benjamin came back there was more frustration in his voice. Finally the Land Rover brake lights came on. Benjamin climbed out, slammed the door and walked back to the Kombi with a determined stride and a stern look. He tapped on the window. Katherine wound it down and looked out, knowing she had again failed to keep the two vehicles in line.
‘It’s no good. We can’t tow. Look, either I can leave ya both here with the Kombi or, if ya like, we’ll put ya van off the track and I can give ya a ride into Ceduna. We should be there soon after dark. I’ll go back and get me trailer. What d’ya say?’
It seemed the logical thing to do and Katherine found herself nodding her head in agreement. ‘Yes, okay. I guess it makes sense to take up your offer and go on to Ceduna. If it’s not too much trouble, that is.’
‘Okay. Gimme a ‘and an’ we’ll get this thing orf the road.’ Benjamin straightened up the Kombi’s wheels so the van faced into the scrub and said to Katherine, ‘D’ya think ya can hold it on course until we’re into the scrub? I’ll leave it there an’ go back for me trailer.’
‘Yes, I think I could manage that. I’ll give it a try. Why into the bushes?’
Benjamin gave no reply, walked away and resumed his seat in the Land Rover. With a grinding of the gears, he pulled the two vehicles over the ridge at the side of the track and into the scrubby bushes to the south. He towed the Kombi in about thirty metres while Katherine gamely struggled to keep the vehicles in line. When the brake lights came on she breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank goodness for that. I thought he’d never stop! I thought he might be trying a short cut to Ceduna!’ She shook her arms by her sides to take away the strain.
It was dusk by the time Benjamin had undone the tow rope and driven his vehicle back to the track. By then Carolyn was crying continuously.
‘Time for a feed,’ Katherine said to herself. She called across to Benjamin, ‘I really need to feed Carolyn.’
‘No worries,’ Benjamin shouted back as he went about cutting down a few bushes and stacking them up against the Kombi.
‘Why are you doing that?’
‘Coupla good reasons. It’ll keep the van from getting too hot tomorrow an’ it hides it from the track jist in case a bunch of abos come this way. They don’t call ‘em ‘borrow-johns’ for nothin’, ya know! If they found this they’d help themselves to everythin’ in sight.’
