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“I scraped my knee and elbow when he pushed me to the ground. That’s when I hit my head, as well. But nothing major. I did worse riding on the yellow devil the other day.” Her attempt at humor didn’t lift his mood, however. He nodded, keeping his eyes on the winding track ahead.
The plan had been for them to stop by the local grocery store, so Kee could stock up, and then Wazza was to buy Kee and Benni lunch and they were going to sit and eat it in the local picnic area next to the river, before they headed off. It was now well past lunchtime and Kee’s stomach rumbled. Benni must be starving, as well, but for now she wasn’t complaining.
Nearly an hour passed before Wazza finally decided it was time to pull over. By then, Benni had started to grumble that she was hungry. Wazza found a stand of tall, straggly acacia trees and pulled up in the shade. They both got out and stretched their legs. The heat hit her like a sledgehammer. The countryside hadn’t changed at all since they’d left the main road, just more open woodlands, with patches of shrubby bushes Kee couldn’t name, and the occasional sparse tree, branches reaching toward the blue sky, as if begging for clouds to cover the relentless sun and send down some much-needed rain. Kee didn’t think she’d ever seen country as desperate as this before. Not a blade of green grass. Wazza had told her that in the wet season everything was lush and verdant, but Kee was having trouble imagining that. Funny, but when she’d been living—and working—at Stormcloud, she’d been aware of the dry country surrounding them, but it hadn’t seemed to bear down on her like it did out here. Here it felt so desiccated and scorched, and slightly menacing. You really had to know what you were doing to survive out here. It suddenly hit her as to exactly how lucky she’d been that Wazza had come along when he did and found them at the bore. Perhaps if she’d left it until she was desperate for help, it might well have been too late. She shivered at the thought, in spite of the heat.
Kee opened the rear door and unclipped Benni from her child seat. The girl bounded out, glad to be released from her prison, just as Wazza deposited the wicker hamper he’d thrown in the car earlier and an old blanket in the shade of a tall bottle tree, its bark pockmarked with age.
Suddenly, Wazza was standing in front of her, touching her forehead with care. Her reaction to his presence was instant. She wanted to stretch her arms around his waist and pull him in closer, as her blood pounded through her veins.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “It’s not too bad. It’s stopped bleeding. I’ll clean it and put a bandage on it after we finish lunch.” His fingers lingered longer than they should on her face as he gazed down at her, an unreadable emotion flickering across his face.
“Come and get some lunch,” he called loudly to Benni, who was hunkered down in the middle of the gravel road, watching a line of ants march across it. Then he backed away, and it was as if the moment had never happened, striding over to the little picnic spot he’d set up in the shade.
“Skylar packed a few things to see you through,” Wazza said by way of explanation, as she wandered over to where he was setting out plates and boxes of food. “Some of this needs to be eaten today,” he continued, pointing at a container of miniature quiches and another of roast beef sandwiches. Kee saw that there were ice packs at the bottom, to keep the food cool.
“That was so thoughtful of her.” Kee went over and tapped Benni on the shoulder and shooed her into the shade, then sat down next to Wazza. Everyone had been more than generous during her stay at the station.
Wazza pointed out the foods that’d keep for a few days, half a dozen fresh eggs, tomatoes from Skylar’s own garden, a couple of avocados, two loaves of her wonderful, seeded bread, a jar of homemade dill pickles, bags of nuts, small cans of tuna and some granola bars—made by Skylar, of course. Skylar had gone overboard, as usual, and Kee was flabbergasted by the abundance of delicious things, none of which she would have ever thought to pack. Which reminded her she hadn’t had time to stock up on any foodstuffs before they left Dimbulah in such a hurry. Wazza might be right, they may have to risk a trip into Normanton to replenish. But this should see them through the next couple of days. Right at the bottom, there was even a bottle of white wine. Kee wondered when they’d ever find the time to drink that.
Kee handed Benni a plate with two bacon and chive quiches and a bottle of water that Wazza had produced from the rear of the car. Benni bit into the little pasty with gusto. Less than a week ago, Benni would’ve looked at the quiche with distrust and probably refused to eat it. Kee owed a lot to Skylar for broadening her daughter’s palate.
She glanced over at Wazza, who hadn’t touched his plate. He was staring at the vehicle, as if it were guilty of some heinous crime, muttering something under his breath. She thought it might’ve been, “We need to get rid of this car,” but she couldn’t be sure. She’d paid good money for this car. She knew it might make it easier to track them, but a lot of her equity was tied up in the vehicle. It might be a little old and have rust in some places, but it was doing a great job of handling these dirt roads. If they dumped her car, she’d have nothing to live off later on. There was no way she was letting him get rid of it.
