The Outback (4 page)

‘I’ll toast to that,’
said Colin.

He looked around for his
beer, but he had left it back at the campfire. Instead he raised the joint.

‘To new beginnings.’

‘New beginnings,’ the
other two echoed.

Colin knew exactly how
he would be spending his free time over the coming months and he could not have
been more pleased with his prospects.

***

Jonas was sat on one of
the steps leading into his caravan smoking a cigarette when Matt approached
with the girls.

‘Hey man, you don’t
waste any time,’ the German said. ‘Who are the beautiful ladies?’

Rose smiled, but Jenny
rolled her eyes skywards. Being less experienced than her sister she did not
feel as comfortable with such comments.

‘This is Rose and
Jenny,’ said Matt. ‘They’re our new neighbours and soon to be co-workers.’

He extended the
introduction to Hiro who was sat on his bed playing the guitar. The Asian had
earlier impressed Jonas with his infusion of Japanese gothic poetry and death
metal. It was a performance that he repeated for the benefit of the English
trio, who were not so easily won over. This was largely due to the fact that
his music resembled the sound of a geisha giving birth on a runaway bullet
train. The Japanese man had very little confidence in his ability to speak
English and preferred to listen, so he kept on playing as a way to distance
himself from taking an active role in the conversation.

Matt, meanwhile, took
the opportunity to cast a glance around the interior of the van to see how it compared
to his own. If anything he found it to be in even worse shape.

‘Are the ladies quarters
as classy as this?’ he asked the girls.

‘You have to be
kidding,’ replied Rose, her eyes taking on a faraway dreamy expression. ‘My
sister and I insist upon only the most opulent 5 star luxury. We each have four
poster beds covered with the finest silk and Egyptian cotton. There is also a
diamond chandelier for optimum illumination and a mini bar stocked with only
the most expensive Kristal champagne. Our butler makes sure that it is all kept
in tip top shape too, may I add.’

Jenny shot her a frosty
look.

‘Our van is exactly the
same as this,’ she insisted. ‘Everyone is equal here.’

Matt noticed that the
younger sibling had stopped drinking following Stephen’s earlier teasing. He
now wondered if maybe Jenny was the more reserved of the two. Luckily, any
resulting tension was avoided as they were soon interrupted by Colin, who was
returning along with Niall and Stephen.

‘I hope you all aren’t
having a party without us,’ he said. ‘What have I missed?’

‘Jenny was just
explaining how we all are equal here in Birribandi,’ said Matt.

‘That is something I
simply cannot agree with,’ said Colin, placing an arm around each of the girls.
‘You two are far more beautiful than the rest of us put together.’

Jenny shrugged away his
arm, but Rose welcomed the attention.

‘It’s a real shame to
waste a good fire. Shall we take this social gathering to somewhere a little
warmer?’ suggested Colin, who had read both girls’ body language and was now
clearly directing his conversation toward the elder sister.

They all returned to the
campfire, where Matt noticed that Colin was quick to disengage Rose from the
rest of the group. The Irishman certainly wasted no time, but Matt did not
fancy his own chances with the sister just yet. Her earlier tipsiness had been
misleading, as he could now tell that she was unlikely to be a pushover. It did
not deter him from trying though.

‘I never pictured
travelling to be quite like this,’ he said, ‘but I think that I may grow to
like it here.’

He hoped the statement
would be sufficient to invite a response from Jenny. She briefly glanced
directly into his eyes, as if searching for something. If she was trying to
gauge his intentions they did not betray him.

‘I suppose it’s not so
bad,’ she said. ‘You would probably be wise to hold your judgement until after
work on Monday though. The guys you are replacing couldn’t stick it out.’

‘You seem to be coping
okay. Or are you just dead set on extending your visa?’

She laughed, but to a
private joke that he was not privy to.

‘You men are all the
same. Only thinking about what you can gain from something. I may return
someday, but I’m not planning on extending my stay during this trip.’

‘So why are you here;
surely not just for the love of stick picking?’

‘Would that be so bad?
With the skills that I acquire here I am hoping to set up my own timber
disposal business back in the UK.’

The lack of familiarity
made it impossible for him to discern with any certainty whether or not she was
just messing with him. She could seem at one moment playful and then
confrontational the next. There was, however, always a detectable trace of
defensiveness in everything that she said. This made her come across as more of
a reluctant optimist than a cynic, which he found appealing.

‘If you are always this
gullible I shall have to keep my sister away from you or she will torment you
night and day,’ she added.

‘Luckily I’m not always
this drunk. So why did you come here if not to work?’

‘I came to work. Rose
has no conscience about spending our parents’ money, but I am determined to pay
my own way during this trip.’

‘So why did you choose
Birribandi? I’m sure a smart girl like you could earn a lot more money in the
city.’

Jenny’s features lit up
instantly. The question seemed to be the one she was waiting for.

‘I came for the stars.’

Matt found the opening
too hard to resist.

‘Do you get many
celebrities here?’

She shook her head,
pityingly.

‘I shall definitely have
to keep Rose away from you. The stars I am talking about have much more
longevity than the ones that live in Hollywood.’

She looked up to the heavens
and Matt craned his neck to follow, but his eyes had yet to adjust from the
light of the campfire. The sky appeared no different to any other that he had
seen before.

‘Your eyes may need a
little time to acclimatise to the darkness,’ she said.

He was a little
impatient and worried that this was another of her games.

‘Maybe tonight is not
the best night,’ he replied and instantly regretted it.

She glanced away and
crossed her arms over her chest as if suddenly aware of the cold.

‘You’re right,’ she said.
‘It’s getting late. I should go to bed soon.’

He inwardly cursed his
own stupidity and lack of tact. It was now obvious that she had been opening up
to him, but she may have now misread his nervousness as apathy.

‘It’s not that I don’t
want to see them. I’m sure they’re spectacular, it’s just that my eyes aren’t
really focusing as best they can right now.’

He held up his beer
bottle as evidence of his visual impairment. The moment was clearly lost, but
he was determined to reassure the girl that it was not down to anything she had
said or done.

‘That’s okay,’ she
replied. ‘We have many nights ahead of us and the sky is not going anywhere.’

He offered her a feeble
smile as she turned and left. When he reclaimed his seat around the campfire he
was frustrated to see that Colin had fared much better with the other sister.
The pair of them were smiling and giggling amongst themselves like teenage
lovers.

‘You, my friend, look
like you need another beer,’ said Niall.

Matt took a fresh bottle
from the crate.

‘It’s ironic, but when I
signed up for this job I was actually worried that I would not know when I
would get my next taste of alcohol.’

The Irishman laughed at
the suggestion.

‘That certainly won’t be
a problem for you here. After three months you’ll view the return to
civilisation as an opportunity to detox. There are three things you will never
be short of in this town.’

‘And they are?’

‘Sand, beer and...’
Niall glanced towards the budding couple seated opposite, ‘...disappointment,’
he finished.

‘Some of us are just
lucky, I guess,’ said Matt.

‘In that case, let me
propose a toast to those who aren’t,’ replied Niall.

They clanked their
bottles together before consoling themselves on the contents. Matt thought that
just maybe, the next three months were not going to be so bad after all.

Chapter 3

Sundays in Birribandi
were no different to any other day in Birribandi. The harsh conditions of the
outback did not allow time to devote an entire day to rest. For the residents
of the caravan park it was laundry day, and with just one washing machine on
site it paid to be an early riser.

Morning had usurped the
night long before it was welcome, and as a consequence it was midday by the
time that anybody set about their daily chores. Since the four new arrivals were
still fresh from the coast they could afford a more relaxed day ahead of them.
Matt was the last to wake and it was with great reluctance that he left his
bed. Without the luxury of air conditioning his sleep was not settled, leaving
him feeling hollow and tired.

‘Remind me why I do this
to myself,’ he said to Colin, before taking a substantial drink from a water
bottle, which he kept by his bed.

His throat was coarse
and the fluid dislodged some dried phlegm, forcing him to suppress a gag
reaction.

‘It’s the English
weakness,’ replied his friend. ‘Your bodies aren’t as well adapted to cope with
the effects of alcohol as those of your better cousins across the sea.’

Infuriatingly Colin did
not display even the slightest indication of as much as a mild headache.

‘Well, this is the last
time. Back in Cairns I had a part time job at the hostel. Bar work was one
thing, but I don’t fancy spending a day lifting wood with a head like this.’

‘That’s the spirit. Now
what are your plans for the rest of the day?’

‘I thought I’d check out
the town. That should take all of five minutes and then back to bed.’

He was now sat on the
edge of the mattress with his eyes shut and his head in his hands. His roommate
sat opposite and did not appear at all sympathetic to his condition.

‘I’m going into town
soon if you want to tag along,’ offered Colin. ‘Joe came around while you slept
and dropped off our weekly provisions. We now have two loaves of bread, some
processed cheese and a packet of Tim-tams.’

The mention of the
chocolate biscuits perked Matt up a little.

‘Well, isn’t he pushing
the boat out. What more could we possibly need?’

‘Sunscreen for a start.
The rays out there are relentless. Whatever factor you used on the coast, I
would consider doubling it here.’

Matt glanced down at his
bare arms. He put a lot of effort into getting his tan just right, but was now
beginning to realise that vanity had no place in the outback.

‘Anything else?’ he
asked.

‘I didn’t want to be the
one to tell you this, but you may want to think about investing in some
deodorant,’ Colin paused for a moment before adding; ‘especially if you want to
impress that Jenny bird.’

Matt looked up at his
roommate inquisitively.

‘Something tells me that
this is more than just neighbourly advice. You wouldn’t happen to have a vested
interest in my love life at the moment, would you?’

‘Don’t worry about me.
Just you keep little sister occupied and everyone’s happy.’ He stood up. ‘Now
hurry up and get some clothes on, will you.’

Matt quickly threw on a
pair of board shorts and a plain t-shirt. Beach wear, desert wear; it was all
the same. He was a thousand miles from the coast, but he still had the sun on
his back and sand between his toes.

‘Is anyone else coming?’
he asked.

‘I told Jonas and Hiro
that we would call on them once we were ready. The others are all pre-occupied
with their laundry. If you have any clothing that you don’t want to turn
orange, you may want to refrain from wearing it in these parts.’

***

The town, if that is what
you could call the ramshackle collection of houses that made up Birribandi, was
located about one kilometre from the caravan park. It had a population of just
three hundred and fifty two. Forty percent of the inhabitants were indigenous
and it was not uncommon for family groups to extend into double figures. The
average household had just one bread winner and in total the workforce
accounted for only fifteen percent of the population. Many of these worked out
of town, sometimes travelling up to 300 kilometres for their daily commute.

Main Street was yet to
be appropriated by the large retail chains and was composed of a small
collection of locally owned businesses. Despite the seemingly endless expanse
of space the town was set within, commercial real estate was at a premium,
meaning that every business had to fulfil more than one purpose. This led to
some unusual bespoke combinations. The supermarket was also a bank. The post
office doubled as a pharmacy. The barber’s shop was a laundrette. Only the
police station stood alone, but given the low crime rate in such a close knit
community it would often be called upon to cater to more than just the
upholding of the law in order to justify its existence.

There was a group of
Aboriginal teenagers loitering on a street corner. They laughed and whispered
amongst themselves as the four strangers approached.

‘This is one crazy
town,’ said Jonas, as he took in the antiquated store fronts. ‘In Germany, this
is like theme park.’

‘Well, then, that
explains why Disney chose to build in France now, doesn’t it,’ said Colin,
whose humour was less direct, but no less caustic with the foreigners. ‘I’d
choose a rollercoaster over this place any day.’

‘You’ve been to Euro
Disney?’ asked Jonas, not quite grasping the crux of the Irishman’s wit.

‘Never mind him,’ said
Matt, choosing to lend the German a helping hand. ‘He’s just on the defensive
because he’s strayed a bit too far from his comfort zone.’

The Irishman turned to
face Matt, throwing his arms up into the air in feigned astonishment.

‘You wouldn’t be
suggesting that I’m out of my depth now, would you?’ he protested, clearly
relishing the challenge. ‘I’ll have you know that I’m more than capable of
handling myself in a dustbowl like this.’

‘Are you kidding me,’
said Matt. ‘You stick out like a bald Irishman at a Rastafarian convention.
Even Hiro blends into this town better than you do. He’s got the cowboy look
down to a tee. Isn’t that right, Hiro?’

The Asian responded by
forming a gun with the fingers of his right hand and then firing a mimed shot
at one of the youths as they passed, whilst repeating the word “cowboy”. The
gesture seemed rather creepy.

‘If we get attacked by
marauding Indians I’ll be happy to let the Kyoto Kid here take charge,’ said
Colin, ‘but right now you’d all be wise to follow my lead. I’ve spotted a
supermarket just ahead and I can suggest a purchase or two that you’ll
definitely thank me for later.’

They entered the shop to
which they brought the only custom. Its shelves were stocked with all of the
usual luxuries that would be found in the coastal cities, but the price tags
differed greatly. The inflated economics of rural life were immediately picked
upon by the outsiders.

‘$5 for fucking milk,’
said Matt. ‘Maybe Joe wasn’t being such a tight arse after all.’

‘Wait until you see the
price of Tim-tams,’ replied Colin.

The Irishman was the
only one to be taking anything from the shelves. He had several packets of
tobacco papers, a pair of gardening gloves, a 2lt bottle of water and some
insect repellent.

‘Why are you buying
gloves?’ asked Matt. ‘Surely we’ll get them provided tomorrow.’

Colin took a second pair
from the rack and handed them across to Matt.

‘You will, but from what
the guys told me last night they’ll have dissolved by first break. It would
definitely be a smart idea to get a heavy duty pair like these. Of course, even
they will probably need replacing by the end of the week.’

‘I’ll take your word for
it. What about sunscreen? I didn’t see any with the pharmaceuticals or the
cosmetics.’

‘It was the first thing
that I noticed when we came in.’ He beckoned Matt to take a look over toward
the checkout. ‘I guess that’s what you could call the cancer section – cause of
and prevention.’

Behind the service desk
was the usual display of cigarette brands with several bottles of sunscreen
nestled on the shelf above.

‘Are they expecting them
to be stolen or have you got to be of a certain age to protect yourself from
the sun in this town?’ asked Matt.

‘The way that your man
has been keeping his beady eyes trained on us the whole time we’ve been here,
I’m going to go with your first guess,’ replied Colin.

A bell rang to indicate
that another customer had entered the shop. It was one of the youths they had
passed earlier. He walked with a cocky swagger and Matt noticed that he was
taking things from the shelves and stuffing them under his top. He tapped Colin
on the elbow.

‘Check out the five
fingered discounts over there.’

Colin shrugged.

‘That’s not our problem.
Let’s just pay for this stuff and get out of here.’

Matt glanced again at
the thief. It was so blatant that he actually felt guilty having witnessed it.
It was not his place to say anything more, so he just decided to ignore it.
They took their baskets to the counter. Matt was the first in line and he was
horrified to see that the sunscreen was priced at $30 for a standard bottle.
This was a mark-up of almost one hundred percent on the amount he was
accustomed to paying. It was a price that he would rather avoid.

‘Do you wanna go halves;
fifteen bucks each?’ he asked, turning to Colin.

‘No chance,’ replied the
Irishman. ‘I got mine before coming here. Besides, if you don’t pay for your
mistakes how can you expect to learn from them?’

Matt begrudgingly handed
over the cash and waited for his change. Then as he was about to leave the
shop, a security guard stepped in front of him, blocking the way. Before then
he had not even been aware of any other store employees.

‘Can I see inside of
your bag, please?’ the security guard asked.

‘Er, sure,’ Matt
replied.

The guard rummaged for a
moment before handing it back, satisfied that nothing had been taken. The
interaction annoyed Matt and he left the shop feeling frustrated.

‘I hate that,’ he said,
when the others joined him outside. ‘For such a supposedly laid back nation
they’re certainly paranoid about people nicking stuff. Even in Sydney I could
never go into a shop without having my bag searched.’

‘Tell me about it,’ said
Colin. ‘Do you remember all of that weed I showed you back at the caravan. I
went into a shop in Brisbane with that in my bag just before getting the bus
here.’

‘How did you avoid
getting searched?’ Matt asked.

‘I didn’t,’ replied
Colin. ‘If I refused, they’d obviously think that I’d stolen something so I
just showed them what I had in my bag; a half empty water bottle, a couple of
battered old paperbacks and a shit load of weed. None of which they sold in
that store, I pointed out.’

‘Well, you’ve certainly
got balls, I’ll give you that. I just hope I’m not around when they finally
land you into trouble that you can’t talk your way out of.’

As he finished speaking
he noticed the Aboriginal boy was leaving the shop. The security guard was
nowhere in sight. This annoyed Matt further as he watched the boy walk back to
meet up with his friends, where he distributed the illicit goods that had been
hidden under his shirt. He could not be certain, but he thought that the boy
actually looked back at him at one point and appeared to be gloating.

They took their shopping
back to the park, where after leaving Jonas and Hiro they bumped into Rose and
Jenny returning from the laundry room. It was the first time either of them had
seen the girls since the previous evening.

As soon as Colin’s eyes
met with those of the elder sister a shared secret passed between them, which
at once made the atmosphere seem a little uncomfortable for the other two.

‘Are you boys ready for
work tomorrow?’ Rose asked.

Her eyes remained locked
on Colin’s, searching for the answer to a different question entirely.

‘We’re as prepared as we
can be,’ the Irishman answered, matching the intensity of her stare, and in
doing so telling her everything she needed to know.

Matt was eager to cut
the tension and felt relieved when Jenny did it for him.

‘So what did you think
of Birribandi?’ she asked.

It was fair to say that
the town had not made the best first impression on him. However, since he could
tell that the girl was quite sensitive, the answer he gave was very different
to the one he would have given to the males in the park.

‘I liked it.’

‘Really?’ she asked,
sceptically.

‘Yeah, really,’ he
glanced downward to avoid looking her in the eye. ‘It’s good to experience a
different pace of life.’