Lauren's Dilemma (25 page)

“It doesn't
matter; no one can see us in the dark.” She heard him removing his clothes.
“Come on.” He grabbed her hand.

“Dick,
please, my clothes.” She shrieked as he started pulling her towards some wooden
steps leading down to the sand-covered water’s edge. “Don’t,” she laughingly
pleaded.

“Come on,
take your dress off and leave the rest on if you want.”

“I
couldn't.” It was tempting though, as the dark velvet water looked very
inviting. Dare she? Under Dick's urging, she gave way. This would be her first
swim of the summer. An omen, perhaps? She could never really love Dick, because
she had given her heart to Blair, but she liked him.

“Hey, come
on, slow coach.” He released her hand, and she heard him splashing about.
Slipping out of her dress, she hesitated. How wicked, swimming naked, but who
would know? With shaking hands, she disposed of her undergarments before her
nerve gave out and she changed her mind.

The warm
water lapped against her bare skin. “Dick!” she shrieked as he made a grab for
her leg. “No, please! The baby…”

“Sorry, I
forgot.” He scooped water into her face and they started frolicking around like
carefree children. Their laughter floated on the still night air.

“This is
fun. We swam in the Aegean Sea on Gallipoli
and didn't even worry about the artillery shells raining down on us.”

The water
reached to her waist. When he rested his hands on either shoulder, she tried to
pull back.

“No.” His
fingers tentatively moved over her breasts, before fanning out across her
slightly swollen stomach.

“You're
beautiful; your baby will be, too. Can you feel it moving around yet?”

“Sometimes.”

“I've given
you a hell of a time, haven't I?”

“Sometimes,
but we've been happy, too.”

“Laurie, if
something happened to me, you'd be free.”

She had the
strangest sensation he was trying to convey a message. Fear shivered all the
way through her. He must have felt it, because he said, “You're getting cold.”

“I am, a
little.”

“Let's go
back.” His hand still clasped hers as they left the water and made for their
clothes. They did not speak, and she heard him dressing as she fumbled with her
own garments. “Ready?” he queried.

“Yes.”

They walked
side by side, but he made no effort to touch her again. When they came to the
verandah, Dick handed her a white rose bud without saying a word. She held it
in her palm, inhaling the perfume. The light spilling out from the house fell
onto his face. It looked as white as the bloom in her hand.

Chapter Twelve

One morning
a few days after her shopping trip, Laurie awoke and found herself alone in
bed. This was not an unusual occurrence, as Dick often woke early and went
riding.

After
eating breakfast with Mrs. McKinlay, she wandered towards the stables. Even
though riding was out of the question now, each day without fail she took
Bolinda Vale a treat. One of the young grooms exercised her, and he, like
Laurie, was the little filly's devoted slave.

Not being
able to ride was one of her greatest regrets. How she envied Dick, who went out
regularly, sometimes staying away for hours at a time. None of them begrudged
him this, the only thing that eased his troubled mind.

By
dinnertime her worry escalated to frightening proportions. He never missed
their evening meal. Some of her anxiety transmitted itself to George.

“I’ll ride
out and search for him one we’ve finished eating.”

As they
prepared to sit down to a meal she wouldn’t be able to eat, urgent hammering on
the door interrupted them.

“Can’t a
man eat his dinner in peace? George growled as he left the room to see who it
was. He returned within a couple of minutes. His face was white and ravaged. He
seemed to have shrunk in stature. In seconds he had aged twenty years.

“There's
been an accident.”

“Dick!”
Laurie and Mrs. McKinlay screamed his name in unison.

“One of the
Coolibah men came over.
 
They say Dick
killed Helen Sinclair.”

Mrs.
McKinlay fainted completely away.

To stop
herself from screaming, Laurie pushed her fist into her mouth up to the second
knuckle and bit down hard.

“Look after
her, Laurie. I have things to do,” George said as he carried his wife to the
bedroom and laid her on the bed.

Hettie came
rushing in, wild-eyed. “What happened, Mr. McKinlay?”

“From what
I can gather, they're saying Dick killed Helen Sinclair and then ran off and
disappeared into the bush. The Coolibah men are out hunting for him now.”

“Let me
come with you. He might need me,” Laurie begged.

“No, stay
here. They've gone after Dick with guns. Blair's out of his mind with grief.
I've got to go over. They'll shoot my boy down like a dog if I'm not there,” he
gabbled. He was so upset the words came out in a guttural whisper. He hurried
off, leaving Laurie moaning like a tortured animal, while Hettie tended to an
unconscious Mrs. McKinlay.

Why had
Dick gone over to Coolibah? Why would he kill Helen, when he barely knew her?
What of Blair? He would be devastated, and so would Uncle Richard and Aunt
Jane. She wrapped her arms across her body and rocked backwards and forwards
with grief.

Poor Dick!
Had something made his mind snap completely? What could Helen have said or done
to push him over the edge? Perhaps in his crazy, mixed-up mind he thought he
was helping her. Remembering the other night, and the white rosebud, she
trembled.

“Oh, God,”
she moaned, holding her head in her hands.

The hours
dragged by and only sheer exhaustion allowed her to doze off now and again in
one of the armchairs.

“Laurie,
Laurie.” Dick called out to her. No, it wasn't Dick. It was Danny. He stood so
close she could almost reach out and touch him, but her arms were weighted down
with lead. His face was shrouded in a swirling mist, and as he started drifting
away, he raised his hand in a farewell salute.

Her clothes
were drenched with perspiration; she felt as breathless as if she had run a
mile. Perhaps she was also losing her mind?

When Hettie
brought in some breakfast, the smell of the fried eggs and bacon had vomit
rising up in her throat. There was also a strong aroma of thyme permeating the
room.

“Just tea,
thanks. I couldn't eat anything. Do you always use thyme in your cooking?”

“Thyme?”
Hettie stared at Laurie as if she were mad. “Not since the war started. Mrs.
McKinlay won't allow it in the house.”

“Why ever
not?”

“It grows wild
on Gallipoli.”

“Oh.”
Laurie did not drink the tea because her hands shook so much they couldn’t hold
the cup.

When George
returned in the mid morning, he had turned into a haggard stranger.

“What
happened?” Laurie rushed at him. “Did you find Dick?”

“Not yet.”
His voice sounded flat and muffled. He was a broken man.

“Where is
he?”

“He would
have taken to the mountains. I hope they never find him.” He slumped in a chair
and tears rolled down his cheeks. It was terrible, watching this strong man
cry. “They said, they said...”

“What did
they say, Mr. McKinlay?”

“Helen
was…” His face contorted. “Raped.”

“No,”
Laurie screamed. Her legs buckled, and she sank to a kneeling position on the
floor. “Dick couldn't.” Bile rose up in her throat until her mouth turned sour
with it. “He couldn't. Dick couldn't.”

“Blair
found her raped and beaten.”

Laurie
tried to speak, but nothing came out as George babbled like a lunatic.

“With her
dying breath, she accused Dick. The war turned my boy into a savage. The police
and black trackers are out searching for him now, with some of the locals. I
have to get back. I came home for a fresh horse and to gather up some men.” He
staggered to his feet. “They'll hunt him down like a wild dog if I'm not
there.”

“Let me
come, too.”

“No, you
mustn't, Laurie. Remember your condition.”

“Please, I
have to do something. I can't stand around waiting like this. I'll go out of my
mind.”

After he
left, it was impossible to stay at the homestead doing nothing. She must find
Dick. Where would he go? Born and raised in the district, he would know all the
best hiding places and could live off the land for weeks.

She forced
herself not to think of Helen, so willful and beautiful, having her life so
brutally snuffed out. Rape. The very sound of the word was horrible, yet it
proved Dick’s innocence.

She saddled
Bolinda Vale herself. She had to find Dick before the others did. Against a
rampaging mob, hunting him down like a rabid dog, he stood no chance. Instinct
led her towards the waterfall where he had taken her months before, in what
seemed like another lifetime. His favorite place, where he sought refuge from
the rest of the world. Hunted and desperate, would he go there?

She urged
Bolinda Vale into a fast trot. The daisies and everlastings were trampled
underfoot as she cut straight through the bush. The spiky red bottlebrush
scraped her face as she passed by, but the pain of this couldn’t be compared to
the agony in her heart.

She met up
with George and the men from Coolibah. Gaunt and haggard, Blair was hardly
recognizable.

“You
haven't found him yet?”
 
She directed the
question to Wally Morgan, but
 
Blair
answered.

“No.” His
voice sounded so flat as to be dead. Except for his eyes and the dark stubble
on his cheeks and chin, his face appeared colorless.

“Dick
didn't do it. He couldn't, Blair. He just couldn't.” He did not answer. “What
about Uncle Richard? Has he been notified?”

“Yes.
Everything needing to be done has been, except for catching that mongrel you
married.”

Gunfire in
the distance had them urging their mounts forward. They came to Dick's special
place, where several horses were already tethered.

“We've got
him bailed up.” The police constable brandished a rifle, and Laurie glanced
around fearfully. Armed police and civilians milled around. A shot came from
near the waterfall, immediately answered by a volley from the police guns.

“Stop it,
stop it.” She dismounted and rushed up to the Sergeant in charge. “Let me talk
to him.”

“Won't do
any good, miss. He's gone completely off his head.
 
Won't listen to reason.”

“Tell him,
Blair. Tell him Dick will listen to me.”

“She's his
wife.” The three words were grated from between clenched teeth.

Wally
Morgan held Bolinda Vale's reins. “Take care, Miss Laurie.”

“Dick
wouldn't hurt me.” Such a pretty place, water tinkling over shiny rocks, dog
roses, tangled and wild, covering the creek bank in places, yet it could well
be the scene of a massacre.

“Don't come
any closer or I'll shoot! I mean it.”

“Dick, it's
me, Laurie.” She started climbing up the boulder-strewn hill.

“Go away.”

“Please,
Dick, talk to me.”

“Only you,
Laurie, no one else.”

“All
right.”
 

She
scrambled upwards towards a towering monolith of rock hanging precariously over
the waterfall. From here Dick could keep an army at bay until he ran out of
ammunition. His blond hair gleamed like a golden halo in the sunlight, and as
he knelt on the ground, his eyes were wild, desperate. He cradled a gun in the
crook of one arm and a cartridge belt lay close by.

“I didn't
kill her.” His face had gone so white the blue veins showed through his
transparent skin.

“Of course
you didn't.” She inwardly shuddered. The front of his shirt was soaked in
blood. “Come down and tell them. No one wants to hurt you.”

“She was
already dead.” His face crumpled. His stutter became so bad Laurie could barely
understand him. “She lay so still, all covered in blood. I tried to help. I
didn't do it. I didn't.”

“Give me
the gun.”

“No.”

“Please.
You'll only make things worse.”

“They'll
shut me away, Laurie. I couldn't stand it.” He rubbed at his cheek. “I wouldn't
be able to wash the blood off.”

“Dick,
please. I promise no one will hurt you.”

“Blair
will.”

“No, he
won't.
 
What a terrible thing to say.”
Laurie shivered. Demented with grief, he was capable of anything.