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“This is great! Let me get my things,” I said to Macca and then turned to Bessie to retrieve my tote and backpack. “Hush, it’s fine,” I whispered into my headphone mic.
“You’ve told them roadside assistance is hours away and that you’re alone and now they know your van too!”
“This isn’tWolf Creek, Jet!” I gritted out.
“How do you even know he’s roadside assistance?” Jet demanded as I turned back with a plastered smile.
Macca looked at me like I was certifiably insane. “Are you on the phone?”
“Yes, to a friend.” I sighed. “He doesn’t want me to go with you.”
“Get his licence plate and give it to me!” Jet yelled.
I winced. “He wants me to send your licence plate details to him.”
Macca shrugged. “All good. I’d do the same if you were my missus.”
I rattled off the numbers and letters to Jet. “I’m going now. I’ll be fine.”
“Text me, call me. I’m not happy about this, Ari.”
“I can tell,” I grumbled. “Of course I’ll let you know. I’ll be fine. Goodbye.”
I hung up and got into the ute. The guys in the back were drinking rum. They all gave me big, cheesy grins. I didn’t even want to think about how they were drinking before shooting at wild pigs.
The dogs barked excitedly, and the lone guy on the tray held on with the lazy confidence of someone who’d done this many times before.
“Lucky we found ya, ’ey?” Macca said, revving the engine and pulling out onto the road.
I smiled nervously and gripped my phone. “Absolutely. Lucky me!”
Jet
Five hours later,Ari finally called.
“Ari! Where?—”
“Bessie is tucked in for the night at a petrol station that has a mechanic, and we are both safe.”
“You don’t just get in a car with strangers, pig dogs and guns!”
“But Macca was the roadside assistance, and he showed me his ID in the ute when we drove off, and it was his rostered day off, but he and his friends weren’t going to leave me by the highway. And yes, they had guns, but they had them locked up and not loaded, and they are hunters in their spare time, and they take their dogs to properties to hunt for pigs.”
“What the actual hell, Ari?” I blurted, breathing hard.
“The driver. Like I said, one of two roadside assistance chaps in town.” Ari hummed with excitement. “And he’s getting married in five days. And Davo, he was sitting in the back, he’s having relationship trouble with his missus, hence the rums they were drinking, and the rest of them were sweeties, really.”
“Rum? They were drink driving?”
“No! Macca was sober as a pig dog. Anyway, Davo isn’t a hunter and was along for the ride to moan about his woman troubles.”
I was going to burst a blood vessel. “Where the hell are you right now?”
“Cloncurry, in a motel. Macca and his friends are going to the rodeo too and are giving me a lift.”
“Five random blokes drinking rum who own firearms are taking you to a rodeo.” My heart rate was hammering away. Was this how you got a stroke?
“Jet, I was fine! They’re nice. Besides, did anything come from his licence plate?”
