Blood & Dust (36 page)

Kevin begged. 'Don't - please - just let her go. Let them both go. You've got what you wanted.'

'Trust me, this is most definitely
not
what I wanted. Well, let's go have a chat with
young Meg.' She wrapped her cape around herself. 'And here's me, all out of carrot. Just the stick
left.' She bent slowly, her face ruddy with his blood, and picked up something from the floor.
'Here, something to remember me by.' She stuffed her knickers in his mouth and sauntered out. The
door shut. The lock turned.

Kevin rode the black horse of despair through the fragments of lifestream that
tried to enfold him. He had failed utterly;
had given up the Night Riders, had caused his mother and
Meg to be captured, had left Kala in the bush to face Mira's hounds. Mira had broken him and taken
everything. Why had Meg come out to Whitby Downs? What would Mira do to her? And how much time had
she already had to do it? He had no idea how long he'd been here. How much frustration would Mira
want to take out on them all now that she knew Taipan wasn't coming? The phrase 'cut and run' kept
cycling through his mind.

Again, he jerked against his bindings.

Useless.

'Pale, ain'tcha?'

It took a moment for Kevin to realise Taipan wasn't just some splinter of past life memory, but
was actually standing by the bed, staring at his naked body. 'And cold, too, by the looks,' the
biker said with a full grin.

After a bit of huffing, Kevin managed to spit his impromptu gag on to the table. 'What are you
doing here, you bastard?'

'In maybe a minute, that door there is gonna open and you're gonna get a chance to get outta this
place. Thought you'd like some warnin' so you could make yourself presentable.'

Kevin shook his chains.

'Oh well, as nature made you then.' He walked over, sniffing. 'Glad to see you bin enjoyin'
yourself, though. I reckon that Mira, she's taken a shine to you. Our little secret, eh?'

'Fuck you.'

'You sure you got the energy after all that moanin' and thrashin' you bin doin'?'

'Why are you even here?'

'That Mira, she was right 'bout one thing, eh. I did reckon you'd get nicked. So I hitched a ride
in ya blood here so I could take a good gander 'round the place.'

'You arsehole. You set me up.'

'I think of myself more as one of them
opportunists
. Anyways, I got some stuff I gotta do.
Oh, there was one thing that bloodhag got wrong, but. If it does all go to shit, we
are
all
meetin' up at the gorge. Kala knows the one and I reckon you do, too. I'd like to say I was bein' a
clever dick, tellin' you mob the truth and expectin' that psycho bitch to think it was a lie, but
the truth is, I just kinda fucked up. No matter. Mother'll be gone soon as you can spit, so it's
just us if ya new girlfriend decides to take a look.' He winked, chuckled again at Kevin's nudity,
and walked through the wall.

Kevin blinked, trying to work out if the biker had even been there at all or if it was just some
weird hallucination.

The door opened and Kala entered. Behind her, Acacia stood beside Nigel, a hand gripping his arm
at the elbow, a handgun pressed to his nape. He didn't look happy.

'Jesus, Kev, are you all right?' Kala asked.

'No,' he said, aware of his soiled nakedness.

She picked the panties up between thumb and finger and raised her eyebrows at him.

'Not mine,' he mumbled.

She laughed and threw them on the floor. 'I didn't think they were your size.'

Underneath the levity, he could see her concern, her doubt. What could he say: it was torture,
honest? Covered in hickeys and his spent cock still glistening and sticky pink.

'C'mon,' Acacia said, 'time for a group hug when we're outta here.'

Kala began undoing the shackles. 'You can tell me about it later.'

'I'd rather not,' Kevin said, sitting up and rubbing his wrists. 'What the hell are you doing
here?'

'Was hoofing it back to town when I saw a car comin'. Took a risk. Turned out it was your girl
and, amazingly, she didn't run me down. Gutsy, that one; comin' out to see for herself what you were
on about. Drove me back to town so I could call Mother, only to find that this mob' - she jerked a
thumb at Acacia - 'had been followin' us. Your girl agreed to sneak us in.'

'A set up,' Kevin said.

'A back-up,' Acacia said. 'Besides, I wanted to make sure this girl here didn't do anything
stupid.'

'Didn't do a very good job, did you? Lucky for me.' Kevin slid off the table, his knees weak.
Mira had taken more than she'd given.

Kala hugged him, her body warm and reassuring. He gripped her tightly and nodded over her
shoulder at Nigel. 'You found a friend, I see.'

'He's been very helpful,' Acacia said. 'Your mum and young Meg are in a room at the far side of
the house.'

'Let's hope Mira hasn't got to them yet.'

'You gonna go like that?' Acacia asked.

He turned to Nigel. 'You're about my size, eh?'

They stripped the surfie - his pants and shirt fitted Kevin reasonably well but the shoes weren't
happening - and threw him on the table, then snapped the cuffs shut. Nigel whimpered, offering no
resistance, but gave a little gulp as Acacia threw the keys out the window.

'You're not gonna - you know?' Kevin drew a finger across his throat.

Acacia sniffed. 'He's made his bed.'

'You were almost right, back at the Crawfords',' Kevin told Nigel as he forced Mira's knickers
into his mouth. 'It is easy to work out the difference between master and servant. It's all about
who wears the panties.'

Kala grabbed Kevin's arm. 'Sorry to break up the reunion but we're on a kind of schedule here.'
She held up a set of car keys with a miniature surfboard hanging from the ring. Nigel stared painful
death at them.

'Surf's up, eh.' Kevin followed the women to the homestead's back verandah.

'This way, I think,' Acacia said, jerking her head toward the right. She listened at a closed
door. Shook her head.

They crept around a corner where the verandah had been enclosed to make more rooms. Light shone
from under a door. Kevin heard voices; Meg's, definitely, as nervous as hell if the quaver was any
indication. He took a breath and turned the handle as Acacia kept watch. Kala pressed close, her
pistol poised.

He pushed the door gently, the gap revealed Meg, sitting, legs pressed together, hands clasping a
tea cup, looking every bit the debutante. His mother came into view, looking exhausted in a chair,
her face drooping, eyes dark, skin waxen. Jeans and cardigan, tea on a table beside her, hands in
her lap. Neither of them had noticed him yet, they were staring at the wall Kevin couldn't see.
Relief washed through him. They were both okay.

The door swung open to reveal the rest of the room; a small one, crowded with two chairs, a
sewing machine and - Jasmine Turner.

She stood by a curtained window at his mother's side, looking, if anything, impatient as she
placed a hand on his mother's shoulder.

'Well don't just stand there in the doorway, young man. Come in.'

'Kev!' Meg's cup crashed to the floor. 'Run! It's a trap!'

His mother looked at him, trying to focus, her expression one of pure confusion. What the hell
had they done to her? 'Kevin? You're back already. Did you win?'

Kala pushed Kevin from behind. He stumbled into Meg as she stood, an awkward bump of groping
hands and overbalancing. Kala levelled her pistol. Jasmine lunged, a blur in the corner of Kevin's
vision. Kala cried out as the sound of the slap cracked across the room. The gun thumped against a
wall, then bounced across the floor. Jasmine pushed Kala in the chest. It seemed the slightest of
gestures, but Kala flew backward out of the room.

Jasmine slammed the door shut, then grabbed Kevin by the throat and spun him around. The door
shuddered with his impact. 'Does Mira know you're out? She promised me no hassles.' Her eyes
narrowed.

'Let them go,' he said, his voice barely escaping her grip.

'That was never going to happen.' Jasmine slammed Kevin into the door again, drew back a hand
that glinted as though her fingers were tipped with diamonds.

Meg threw tea in Jasmine's face. The woman spluttered. Her backhand smacked against Meg's cheek
like a whip. She reeled over the chair and crashed into the wall.

Kevin punched Jasmine. And again. Like hitting a sack of flour.

Gunfire sounded from outside.

The door pushed against him as someone tried to open it. Jasmine forced him hard against it.

Jasmine's face filled his vision, her eyes blazing with fury, lips pulled back to reveal her
rottweiler fangs. He just got his hands up in time to stop her from tearing out his throat. It was
like pushing against a steamroller.

'I like your mother,' she told him. 'She tastes of sunshine.'

An explosion deafened him. Blood sprayed his face.

Jasmine stared through him, the slightest wrinkle of confusion dimpling her forehead. Her grip
relaxed and she crumpled at his feet.

His mother stood to one side, Kala's handgun in her grip.

'Mum! Mum!' He crushed her to him, feeling bones. How had she lost so much weight? Over her
shoulder, he saw Meg, sprawled and moaning.

'She was not a nice woman,' his mother said. 'Did she hurt you, son?'

'I'm fine, Mum.' He knelt beside Meg, found a pulse. Started to lift her.

Acacia and Kala burst in and slammed the door.

'We heard a shot,' Kala asked. 'Is she-'

'Just knocked down. Mum did for Jasmine.'

'Nice going, Mrs Mum,' Acacia said, then prodded at a wound in her own shoulder. 'Fuck, that
stings.' She ejected the clip of her handgun and replaced it with another from her jeans pocket.
'You right to go, handsome?'

'Meg's hurt,' he said.

'Can she walk?' Kala asked, then said to his mother, 'How about I take that?'

'Be careful, dear,' his mother said as she handed the weapon over. 'They aren't toys.'

'She'll be all right,' Kevin said as he helped Meg to her feet. 'Let's get outta here.'

Acacia hauled the sewing machine table in front of the door, then shared a glance with Kala.
'Window.'

'Nailed shut,' Kala reported after giving it a shake.

They smashed it with a chair and cleaned off the glass. Kala glanced out. 'Short drop. No-one out
here, yet.'

Shoulders rammed the door. Acacia fired three rounds into the timber.

'You first,' Acacia told Kala.

'I'll hand Meg to you,' Kevin said. 'That all right?'

'Sure. Of course.' Kala clambered out and dropped to the ground. 'Pass her down.'

With Meg deposited, he got his mother to the window. 'Kevin? I was worried about you. They asked
about you, sometimes; but mostly they just did things. And gave me tea.'

She frowned in confusion, as though cruelty and politeness should not go together, as though of
all her unspoken trials, that was the thing that offended her the most.

'You'll be all right, now, Mum. Jesus, what've they done to you?'

'Blood bag,' Acacia answered. 'Get a move on, eh.'

Automatic fire ripped through the door. He folded his mother under him as they huddled against
the wall. Acacia returned fire and was rewarded with a shriek.

'C'mon, Mum, we have to skedaddle, okay. Can you get through here?'

'Hurry up!' Acacia glanced at Jasmine. Her hands were twitching. Acacia shot her again.

Kevin's mother winced. 'It's very loud here, Kevin. Sometimes they come and they - they kiss me.
Your father wouldn't like it.
I
don't like it.'

'Get down there, Kevin,' Acacia told him. 'Kala's got her hands full; I'll pass your ma down.'

'Sure. Don't worry, Mum. This will all be over soon.'

He hopped down. Kala knelt nearby, keeping a nervous eye on the corners of the house. Meg leaned,
dazed, against the wall.

Shoulders thumped the door again. The sewing table screeched against the floor.

'Pass her down,' Kevin said, reaching. Acacia stood by the window, trying to help his mother
through.

A raw tearing sound, the splintering of wood.

Acacia swore and turned to face the door.

A machinegun barked.

Acacia toppled backward, half diving, half falling through the window, tearing down the curtain
and nearly taking Kevin with her as she landed in a boneless heap.

Kala shouted her name, but she didn't respond.

Kevin jumped for the window, got his elbows over it, only to see two men in the doorway in black
uniforms, silver flashes at their lapels, brutish snub-nosed guns in their hands. His mother huddled
on the floor, hands over her head. He reached for her, one-handed and desperate. The jackals fired
and he dropped back as timber splintered from the sill where he'd been hanging.

He grabbed Acacia's pistol and got it pointed up in time as a man ducked out of the window, a gun
poised. Kevin fired and the man spun away out of sight.

'Mum!' he shouted, but there was no answer.

'Go, go,' Acacia said, her words bubbling. Her chest was a mess of blood and cloth. 'Help me up,
damn it.'

'My mum-'

'She's gone, boy, for now, and we will be, too, if we don't get our arses out of here. Out the
front - get to Nigel's wagon.'

'What's happening?' Kala yelled. She was firing a shot or two at a time to stop jackals from
coming around the corner of the house.

'Kevin?' Meg looked groggily at him.

'Get her up,' Acacia shouted, and took her pistol off him. 'Let's roll.'

'I can't leave!'

'You have to.' Acacia grabbed him around the shoulders. 'Now help me. Across to that garage,
first. Then we'll try for the Sandman. Run! And don't get shot!'

Kevin supporting Acacia, Kala helping Meg, they crossed the house yard to the split-rail fence in
a shambling three-legged race. Kala and Acacia snapped off shots to try to cover their flight.

Earth spouted. Wood splintered. Rounds thudded into the garage on the other side of the fence.