Queen of the Road (28 page)

‘Come on, Mummy.’ Claudia tugged insistently on her hand again.

They followed the road with the playground and clubrooms on one side and a fence lined with gums on the other. Claudia began to skip but Angela pulled her up as Clifford rounded the corner of the building ahead. She didn’t want to speak to him just yet, and certainly not here. She searched the grounds beyond the playground, to the canteen, then smiled. Claudia was right, Coop was here. He was standing side on to her, looking towards the oval, but to reach him they’d have to pass Clifford. Angela took a firm grip of Claudia’s hand and strode forward.

‘Nice to see you again, Ms Ranger.’ He moved from the building towards her.

‘Clifford.’ She nodded in his direction but didn’t slow her pace.

‘And this must be your daughter.’ His face split in a jeering grin.

Claudia stared up at Clifford then turned away. ‘There’s Coop, Mummy. I told you I saw him.’ She pointed to Coop, who was now walking towards them.

He gave a small wave and Claudia dashed ahead. Angela followed and smiled as she watched her daughter grab hold of Coop’s hand, leaving the hulking frame of Clifford Junior behind her.

‘I was hoping I’d find you here.’ Coop smiled shyly.

The heaviness lifted from her shoulders. ‘I’m glad you did.’

‘I saw Clifford Berl talking to you. Is there a problem?’

She glanced back but there was no sign of the burly truckie. ‘Not now.’

‘Can we go to your farm, Coop?’

‘You wanted to come to the football, Claudia,’ Angela said.

‘I like Coop’s place better.’

Angela’s eyes met Coop’s and she laughed. ‘So do I.’

‘This is wonderful.’ Angela sucked the last of the flavour from the bone. ‘Thanks for dinner.’

‘Mutton chops from the farm are better than anything you can buy in a supermarket, and Jilly will enjoy the bones.’ Coop poked a stick at the fire he’d made to cook their barbecue. In the last rays of the setting sun he removed the plate and put some more wood on.

Angela held her hands towards the flames, glad for the warmth.

‘I like sausages,’ Claudia said.

‘And sauce,’ Angela laughed. Her daughter’s face was smeared with sausage grease and tomato sauce. She’d even managed to get some on her forehead.

Jilly sat up from her position on the other side of the fire and watched them closely.

‘Save some room for marshmallows, ladies,’ Coop said. ‘We’ll toast them next.’

‘Can we do it now?’ Claudia dropped her crust and turned expectantly to Coop.

Angela opened her mouth to speak but she was too late to stop Claudia from wiping her greasy hands down her clothes. Angela relaxed and leaned back against the rock. What did it matter? They were camping, this was no time to be fussy.

Coop took the bones and scraps and gave them to Jilly. ‘Right,’ he said, turning back to them. ‘Marshmallow time.’

Claudia clapped her hands in delight and Angela smiled as she watched Coop instruct her daughter in the finer points of toasting marshmallows. Claudia’s eyes shone in the firelight and she listened carefully to Coop’s every word. He was having fun too – joking, yet careful and patient at the same. He had a natural ability with Claudia and she lapped up the attention.

Angela had only hesitated briefly when Coop asked them to camp overnight at the rock. She had a big day planned for tomorrow and she really needed a good night’s sleep. But the prospect of spending the night with Coop was so appealing, and Claudia had been so excited, there was no way to say no.

Angela now felt a small pang of regret. Coop had made no secret of his desire to move on from Munirilla, while she was on the verge of staying on indefinitely – providing they could get this business with Berls sorted out. She shivered and held her hands towards the fire again.

‘Are you cold?’ Coop asked.

‘Not really.’

‘I’ll build the fire up again once we’ve had our marshmallows.’ He put a restraining hand on Claudia’s arm. She was wiggling the marshmallow on the end of her stick towards her mouth. ‘Careful,’ he warned, ‘the inside will be very hot. You blow it and take a little bite, like this.’

As he demonstrated, Angela helped Claudia. The little girl soon had gooey pink strands all over her. Angela dug out her phone.

There was no signal, but she could take a picture and send it to her father later.

By the time they’d toasted a few more marshmallows, Claudia wasn’t the only one who was a sticky mess. Coop put some water in a bowl and topped it up with hot water from the billy. He passed it to Angela along with a cloth. She wiped Claudia’s sticky fingers and face and then her own, impressed again with Coop’s ability to manage with so little. When she told him they didn’t have sleeping bags or swags, he’d created a bed for the two of them to share under a tarpaulin. He’d put it together while the meat cooked and lay his own swag on the other side of the fire. As much as Angela longed to be in his arms and enjoy the pleasure of his kiss again, she appreciated that he was being discreet around Claudia.

Angela trembled as she imagined his mouth on hers.

‘You’re still cold,’ Coop said, putting a coat around her shoulders.

Claudia cuddled into Angela and together they watched Coop put a large log on the fire. Sparks crackled in the dark night.

‘Fairy lights,’ Claudia said.

‘It’s a magical night.’ Angela kissed the soft but slightly sticky top of her daughter’s head.

Coop then sat close to Angela, putting an arm across her shoulders and pulling her gently closer. ‘Feeling warmer?’

‘Perfectly toasty,’ she said and leaned over Claudia to kiss him.

Jilly came and lay down at Claudia’s feet and for a while they all watched the flames contentedly. Angela could feel her eyes getting heavy, and by the way Claudia had slumped down, she knew she must be asleep.

‘I’ll tuck Claud into bed,’ she murmured.

‘Let me carry her.’

Before Angela could move, Coop had scooped the little girl up in his arms. They worked together to nestle her into the makeshift
swag. Jilly followed them and placed herself a little distance from Claudia. It was cold away from the fire and Angela was glad when Coop put his arm around her again and led her back to the flames.

‘Thanks for this, Coop. It’s been a great evening. Claudia’s had so much fun.’ She kissed him. ‘And so have I.’

He pulled her in close and her head rested on his shoulder. ‘I wanted to bring you out here again. It’s one of my favourite spots on the property. Alice loves it too.’

‘I’d like to meet Alice some time.’

‘I hope you will.’

‘Have you heard any more news? Will she be home soon?’

‘Knowing Alice, it won’t be long now, but I haven’t heard anything since yesterday.’

‘Was it only yesterday we were in Adelaide?’ Angela said, trying to stifle a yawn. ‘It seems so long ago.’

They watched the flames a moment. The breeze had all but dropped out and the smoke from the fire swirled away from them.

‘But I had another call,’ Coop said. ‘From Jeff.’

Angela thought she heard a note of concern in his voice. ‘Is something wrong?’ she asked.

‘It’s my mother. She’s not well.’

‘What’s happened?’

‘She’s in hospital again. In Townsville.’

‘Is it serious? Will you go and see her?’ Angela tipped her head. Even though his face was side on to hers, she could see his anguish. Why did she always ask so many questions?

Finally he broke the silence. ‘I can’t leave right now. There’s too much to do here. I made a promise to Alice. She’ll be home soon and she’ll need someone close for a while. Jeff will keep me posted. I might need to go if she gets worse but …’ He picked up a stick and poked the fire. ‘But I don’t want to let Alice down.’

Angela watched him while he spoke. His explanation left her feeling that there was something he wasn’t saying. The more time she spent with Coop, the more she felt she didn’t really know him at all.

But then he turned towards her and took her hands in his. ‘I wanted to bring you here because I don’t know what the future holds.’ His eyes fixed on hers. ‘Once Alice gets back, I’ll be working and looking after her and … well, it may be that I have to go to Townsville in a hurry. I wanted to spend some time with you and Claud when we weren’t driving trucks or chasing sheep or worrying about anyone else.’

Angela’s heart was flip-flopping and her mind was racing. It was exactly what she wanted too. His eyes held hers for a moment longer, then he slowly leaned in and kissed her. Any doubts she might have had about Coop, and what she did or didn’t know about him, were promptly swept away.

Angela’s pocket started beeping as they neared Munirilla. She was beginning to understand why Coop didn’t bother with a mobile. She got absolutely no signal on Alice’s property.

She rolled her shoulders. The swag Coop had made for her and Claudia had been very comfy except for one spot. But it hadn’t kept her awake. Neither had her desire for Coop. When they’d finally come up for air, Jilly barked at something in the night, Claudia stirred, and they both retired to their respective beds. Coop laughed softly and murmured something about their chaperones. As Angela pulled the blankets around herself and snuggled up with her daughter, this was the last thing she remembered until the smell of breakfast cooking this morning.

‘Can we go to Coop’s place again, Mummy?’

Angela looked across at Claudia. Once again her face was covered in the remains of her meal: the eggs and bacon Coop had made for them. Her hair was a tangled mess – that was going to take some
work. Angela wasn’t looking forward to the clean-up, but after the fun they’d had, it was worth it.

‘Coop’s going to be busy for a while, Claud, and so are we.’

‘Oh.’ Claudia didn’t whine this time, there was genuine sadness in her response.

Angela felt the same. ‘But maybe he’ll come into town and eat with us one night.’

‘Will you make pizza?’

‘Maybe,’ Angela said as she pulled the truck to a stop in front of their flat. The gate was open. She usually shut it on her way out.

She glanced at the flat – the screen door hung open. Its closing mechanism was broken but Angela always took care to latch it on her way out, and she remembered doing just that yesterday. Maybe someone had stopped by and not closed it when they left.

She looked around. Their flat was on the industrial side of the highway. It was one of a pair; the other was empty and looked even more dilapidated than theirs. Over the fence was a crumbling cottage where she’d seen an old man on the verandah a few times. On the other side was an empty block and beyond that, one more house. Sometimes there was a car in the drive and lights on at night but otherwise she’d seen no sign of life there. Across the road there was nothing until Berls’ truck and stock yards. Angela shivered. She’d never really thought about their isolation before.

‘Come on, Claudia,’ she said. ‘We both need a shower, then we’ve got work to do.’

Inside, Angela paused and glanced around the small living area. Everything was where it should be. She ran the shower, and while Claudia stripped off her clothes, Angela checked the bedroom. The beds were neatly made up, just as she’d left them. They hadn’t slept here for two nights.

The phone in her pocket beeped again. There were a couple of
missed calls from her father, a voicemail saying he’d try her again later and finally a text message. She smiled as she read it.

Loss freight to sick up pt augusta sing me when free

There was obviously something he wanted her to pick up in Port Augusta. She decided she’d ring him later. She wanted to make sure her ideas made sense, at least in her own head, before she talked to him about them.

She washed Claudia’s hair and helped her dry and dress, then set her up on the couch with a DVD. Angela was eager to get her thoughts down on paper. She moved to the kitchen end of the room. The dishes were still in the drainer where she’d left them yesterday morning and there were assorted toys scattered about. Nothing different, except the window over the sink was open just a little. The old wooden frame was swollen, the lock didn’t work, and it had been hard to open the whole time they’d been there. Usually Angela just left it shut.

She shrugged her shoulders. All the goings-on with Berls were making her second-guess everything. Maybe she had left the window open. It’d been a busy couple of days. She put her head down and started to write.

***

By the time she’d finished, she was excited. Claudia was still watching her DVD. Her clean hair fluffed around her face in soft curls and her cheeks were a healthy pink. Angela looked back over her notes. Once again she was making plans that would impact on Claudia.
Was this the right thing to do?

Angela knelt down beside Claudia and pressed pause. Before her daughter had the chance to complain, Angela faced her and said, ‘I need to talk to you for a minute. Then you can finish the movie.’ She took the little girl’s small hands in her own. ‘How would you like to stay in Munirilla?’

‘Forever?’ Claudia’s eyes were wide and round.

‘Not forever but …’ Angela tried to find the words to explain the period of a couple of years to a four-year-old. ‘We’ll see how it goes.’

‘Will we still see Grandpa and Janice?’

‘We’ll visit them in Melbourne and they’ll come visit us.’

‘Can Kate come and visit us too?’

‘Maybe.’ Angela thought wistfully of her good friend. Out of everyone and everything in the city, she missed Kate the most.

Claudia thought it over. ‘I can play with Josh lots and Amy and the other kindy kids.’ She pulled back her hands and clapped them. ‘And we can go to Coop’s farm every day!’

‘Slow down, Claud. We can’t go
every
day.’

‘Coop will let me.’ Claudia folded her arms across her chest. ‘Can I watch my DVD now?’

Angela gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and flicked the movie back on. Claudia didn’t appear to be bothered in the slightest by not returning to Melbourne, and she hadn’t even mentioned Nigel.

She cast her eyes over her scribbled notes one more time. The laptop was at the office. She’d set the proposals out properly on Ranger Transport letterhead if her father was happy with them. To her, they made good business sense. She’d need to get their customers to agree, of course, but first of all, she had to convince him. She made herself a cup of tea and picked up her mobile.

***

By the time she’d finished the call her battery was nearly flat. Claudia had wanted to talk to her grandpa and tell him all about their overnight camp with Coop. When Claudia handed back the phone Angela could sense that her father wanted to know more
about Coop, but she wasn’t ready to say too much about him yet. They were good friends and nothing more at this stage. Well, maybe a little more.

She sent her father the picture of Claudia toasting marshmallows and then went to find her charger. She noticed the unmistakable spring in her step. Her father had been excited about her decision to stay on as the Munirilla driver and had suggested he do the Melbourne–Adelaide run more often so they could catch up regularly. He liked her plans to get the business on a firmer footing but he’d hesitated when she mentioned her concerns about Berls.

‘I don’t want you involved in anything dangerous,’ he’d said. ‘Some operators will do anything to keep their trucks on the road. I’ve run up against a few in my time.’

Angela had reassured him that Berls weren’t that bad, hoping her voice conveyed a confidence she didn’t quite feel.

‘I’m going to be interstate most of this week,’ he’d continued. ‘If you need anything, just contact the Melbourne office.’

A truck rumbled past outside. At the same time, the day became dimmer. Angela peered out the bedroom window to see a large cloudbank spreading across the sky. The morning had been full of sunshine but now she was beginning to feel cold.

‘Get some toys to take to the office, Claudia,’ she called. ‘We’ll be there a while.’

She rummaged through her things looking for Ken’s card. She tried his home number first. It rang out and there was no answering machine. She tried his mobile. It went straight to message bank. She left a quick message and asked him to call her back. She wanted Ken to be the first to know that Ranger Transport was here to stay.

As soon as they pulled into the office yard, Angela knew something was wrong. The screen door was lying on the ground and
she could see gouges in the wood around the lock of the old wooden door.

She told Claudia to wait in the truck and went to investigate. Someone had made a mess of the lock. Not that it would’ve been difficult. The timber was warped and partly held together by coats of paint. She doubted whoever had broken it would still be inside, but thought she should call someone just in case. Then she remembered she’d left her mobile charging back at the flat. The only other phone was on the desk, beyond the broken door in front of her. For the second time today, Angela felt the cold reality of her isolation.

‘Mummy!’

Angela turned back to see Claudia leaning from the driver’s window.

‘I need to go to the toilet.’

‘Hang on, Claud.’ Angela took a deep breath and shoved the door open with her boot. At first glance everything in the office looked as it should be. She pushed the door right back. There couldn’t be anyone behind it. She darted her head forward and checked the corners of the room: there was no one there. The only other place someone could hide was in the little kitchen or the toilet at the back. She picked up one of the old wooden chairs. Holding it in front of her, she moved cautiously towards the kitchen.

‘Mummy, what are you doing?’

Angela jumped at the sound of Claudia’s voice right behind her.

‘Stay there, Claud!’ she hissed and moved quickly into the little kitchen. There was no one there either, nor in the toilet. ‘You can come in now,’ she called.

Claudia walked past with a frown on her face.

‘It’s all right,’ Angela said. ‘Someone broke our door. I was just checking they didn’t break anything else.’

‘Why’d they break our door?’

‘I don’t know. You go to the toilet.’

Angela looked along the row of assorted small packages that were yet to be collected. Nothing appeared to be missing but she’d need to check her freight list to make sure. She turned to the desk and her heart sank. From here, she could see exactly what she hadn’t noticed before. All the drawers and doors were hanging open. She bobbed down and looked behind one of the doors. It was where she’d shoved the laptop before she left yesterday. It was empty.

‘Damn!’

She sat in the chair and looked at her desktop. Nothing appeared to have been moved. She should be thankful that whoever broke in hadn’t trashed the place.

‘Bloody hell!’ she said and pushed the door shut with her toe. There was so much saved on that laptop. It had been a quick decision to leave it in the office; she should have kept it in the truck.

‘Bloody hell,’ echoed a small voice behind her.

Angela spun in her chair and pulled Claudia into her arms. ‘You shouldn’t swear, Claud,’ she said.

‘You did.’

‘We
,’ Angela corrected, ‘shouldn’t swear. I’ll get your things out of the truck, then I’ve got some calls to make.’

Claudia pulled away from her. ‘I can get my things. You do your jobs.’ The little girl turned on her heels and marched back out of the office towards the truck and the open driver’s door.

Angela watched her a moment.
Where was this coming from?
All of a sudden her four-year-old seemed much more mature. She sighed and reached for the phone book. The first thing she’d have to do was report the theft. There was a local police number for non-urgent business. She left a message then tried Ken’s numbers again.

***

The sun had barely set but Claudia was already asleep and Angela could feel an early night coming on herself, ready for her run to Adelaide first thing in the morning.

She’d brought the remaining freight to the flat and shut the office door as best she could. The screen had fit back on and she’d wired it shut so it wouldn’t come open easily.

It was a pity she hadn’t been able to contact Ken. She’d tried him several more times during the afternoon. She was puzzled. He’d insisted she call him today. She resigned to trying him again once she got to the city depot. She’d also have to use Shell’s computer to type up the new business terms for their customers. Her mind raced as she prepared for bed. If she could lock down the freight for the Munirilla town business, she’d have plenty for Ranger to do, then she could start working on the farmers.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep she heard a thud outside. She sat up and listened, but heard nothing further. She got up and checked the doors were locked and the windows latched. Everything was secure, all except the kitchen window – she’d managed to shut it but couldn’t force the lock. She shivered. The night had come in cold and she only had light pyjamas on.

She gave the kitchen a last look and hurried back to the warmth of her bed.
If someone tried that window, they’d make a lot of noise
, she thought and pulled the quilt over her head.