The Outback (8 page)

‘I’m yet to meet the
famous Pierro,’ said Colin. ‘How come he isn’t out here dirtying his fingers
with the rest of us?’

‘Pierro does not do
manual labour,’ she replied, condescendingly, ‘he is the camp chef.’

‘That explains it then;
I didn’t realise he was camp. Nancy boys are always into baking and things. I
prefer to do a man’s job myself.’

He noticed that Rose was
smiling. His banter was most likely lost on the Canadian girl, but it seemed to
amuse Rose no end. She obviously liked it when he stood up to Celeste, which
was all the encouragement he needed.

‘Will Pierro be coming
to the party?’ he asked.

‘Of course,’ she
replied. ‘He will be there.’

‘I’ll have to see if I
can tear him away from your side long enough to have a drink with the lads.’

‘Pierro can drink any of
you little boys under table.’

‘If he wants a
challenge, we’ll certainly provide him with one. The three foreign boys here
are not much cop, but us Irish can out drink anybody.’ He paused briefly before
adding; ‘especially Stephen.’

Rose was now biting her
bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. Celeste, however, ignored the
insinuation.

‘My Pierro is more of a
man than all of you put together and he will prove it.’

Colin decided that he
could now take his foot off the pedal as he had toyed with the girl long
enough. He knew that he would have plenty more opportunities to make fun of her
later; especially after the proposed drinking contest.

‘We’ll see,’ he told
her.

***

Following lunch, Rhett
took up a perch atop the back of the tractor. With his burning gaze analyzing
their every move, the workers were spurred on to completing their required
number of lengths ahead of schedule, but they did not get to finish any earlier.
The Australian insisted that they kept working until exactly three o’clock.
Although the work rate was more productive with him in charge, it was certainly
a lot less fun. The girls in particular felt uncomfortable in the old man’s
presence.

‘That guy really
unsettles me,’ said Rose, as she and the others made their way back to the bus.

‘Tell me about it,’
replied her sister. ‘The only time that he stopped staring at us was when he
was shouting at the guys for not working fast enough.’

Rose nodded.

‘I cannot believe that
Joe would hire such a creep.’

If there was any
lingering doubt about the character of the man that had been placed in charge
of the backpackers it was irrevocably removed during the drive back to the
caravan park. What should have been a straightforward journey back to camp
proved to be anything but. The complications began when the usual subdued hush
of the tired workers was abruptly broken by a loud thump and then a screech as
Rhett roughly applied the brakes.

‘Fuck!’ the old man shouted,
with more venom than a taipan.

Everybody was shaken by
the unscheduled and extremely jerky stop. They each looked to one another for
clarification of what happened.

‘We’ve hit something,’
said Stephen.

‘What do you mean?’
asked Jenny. ‘There is nothing for us to hit; we are in the middle of a
desert.’

Colin and Stephen
exchanged an awkward look. Neither of the men wanted to be the one to explain
what had happened to the girl, who was quick to pick up on their apprehension.

‘What are you not
telling me?’ she asked.

‘Well, you must have
noticed that there is an awful lot of road-kill around these parts and it has
to come from somewhere,’ replied Colin.

Jenny covered her mouth
with revulsion. She tried hard not to think about what ghastly scene may be unfolding
on the roadside. Whilst Stephen and Colin got out of their seats and made their
way to the front of the bus, Rose put her arm around her younger sister to try
and offer her comfort. Rhett, meanwhile, had already dismounted and the two
Irishmen joined him outside.

‘What did we hit?’ asked
Colin.

The old man looked back
at the backpacker with a scowl as if inconvenienced by the question.

‘Kangaroo,’ he replied,
bluntly.

The animal lay still by
the side of the road. The force of the collision had knocked it a good distance
from the vehicle. Rhett, however, was more concerned by what damage might have
been inflicted on the bus than the kangaroo. He crouched down to examine the
impact point and fortunately for him he could see that the bull-bar had fulfilled
its role effectively. Apart from a small spatter of blood there were no visible
signs of the accident.

‘Come on,’ he said,
‘luckily there’s no harm done so we can get going.’

‘No harm done,’ repeated
Colin, incredulously. ‘What about poor Skippy over there; shouldn’t we check
for any signs of life?’

For once Rhett smiled.
The gesture did not make him any more endearing.

‘Be my guest,’ he
beckoned.

Colin edged tentatively
towards the stricken animal. As he neared he could see its chest rise and fall
and hoped that it had not sustained too serious an injury. When he got to
within just a couple of feet of the animal it violently bucked, launching
itself up into the air with its powerful legs. Colin fell onto his backside and
instinctively raised his arms to fend off any subsequent attack, but the
kangaroo merely dropped back to the ground before rolling onto its side.

‘Jesus!’ exclaimed
Colin. ‘The little bastard scared the life out of me. I guess we didn’t hit it
as hard as we thought we did.’

Stephen was shaking his
head as he helped his friend back to his feet.

‘Look again,’ he said.

This time when Colin
looked at the animal the full extent of its injuries became all too apparent.
Its head was bent to an impossibly obtuse angle and trickles of blood could be
seen to have formed around its mouth. The creature was clearly suffering and it
was obvious to him that it would not survive for long on its own.

‘What should we do?’ he
asked.

The rest of the boys had
gotten off the bus when they heard the commotion and they all eagerly waited on
Rhett’s answer. Each one of them was hoping that their first encounter with the
local wildlife would not leave behind a bitter taste.

‘We don’t do anything,’
the Australian replied. ‘It’s as good as dead, so why bother.’

This was not the
response that anybody wanted to hear.

‘Could we take it to a
vet?’ asked Niall.

Rhett laughed.

‘If you are so concerned
about helping the thing the best you can do is to put it out of its misery.’

‘You mean kill it?’

‘Like I already said; it
is as good as dead anyway. If you want to speed things up I won’t stop you.’

Niall did not anticipate
being placed on the spot in this way and had no answer. The Irishman’s silence
was enough to convey to Rhett what it was that the backpackers expected from him.

‘Have I got to do
everything myself?’ he asked, impatiently.

When no response came,
the Australian let out a sigh of frustration before climbing back on the bus.
There was a toolbox tucked under the driver’s seat. He opened it up and took
out a screwdriver, which he turned over in his hands several times, mentally
weighing up its effectiveness. After careful consideration, he replaced it and
picked up a heavy wrench in its place. He then walked over to where the
mortally wounded creature lay; making sure to approach it from the top end in
order to steer clear of its deadly powerful legs.

Without further
hesitation, he raised the wrench high above his head and then brought it
crashing down against the skull of the lame and defenceless animal. The resulting
impact sounded dull and wet. The backpackers turned away in disgust, but that
which they could not see, could still clearly be heard. Two more blows
followed, each eliciting a more sickening crunch than the last.

Once he had completed
his grisly task Rhett calmly walked back to the bus where the backpackers were
quick to clear out of his way. The Australian took hold of a water bottle and
used it to rinse the blood from his wrench, wiped it down with a rag and then
returned it to the toolbox. He did not show one bit of emotion throughout.

‘What about the
carcass?’ asked Matt. ‘Are we just going to leave it?’

Rhett glanced skywards
to where a wedge tailed eagle had already begun to circle. It was a formidable
bird of almost prehistoric proportions. With a wingspan of up to seven feet, it
would not be wise to be caught standing so close to the kangaroo carcass should
the creature swoop down to feed.

‘There is no need to do
anything,’ the Australian told them. ‘Fresh meat never lasts long in the
desert.’

With nothing more anyone
could do they all got back on the bus. As Rhett drove them home the pickers
huddled around the back seats to keep as far a distance from him as possible.
They all wanted nothing more than to try and put the memory of the brutality that
they had just witnessed as far towards the back of their minds as possible.
Despite them having no influence or responsibility for what happened a feeling
of guilt and shame prevailed throughout.

‘I cannot believe we let
that happen,’ said Matt.

‘There was nothing else
we could have done,’ replied Colin. ‘Nature is cruel; that’s just how it is.’

‘I know, but here it all
seems so amplified. Everything is preying on everything else. If it isn’t
eagles, there’s always a spider or a snake looking for its next victim. Why
does everything have to be so angry?’

‘I don’t think they have
a choice. Life here exists in such an open and empty environment that there is
nowhere to hide. There are no shadows in the outback except those we cast
ourselves.’

Matt merely nodded in
reply. Although he could see truth in what Colin told him he took no comfort in
it. Nothing more was said for the remainder of the ride home.

Chapter 8

Over the following days
talk around the caravan park centred mainly on the weekend’s upcoming party.
Although the backpackers would be spending Saturday night in much the same way
that they did every week, having something to celebrate made this night stand
apart from the others. Colin, however, still had more serious worries on his
mind. He voiced his concerns during one of his regular smoking sessions with
his countrymen.

‘Do you think that
Shawshank is likely to come sniffing around any time soon?’ he asked.

‘Shawshank?’ queried
Stephen.

‘As in that prison
movie; the
Shawshank Redemption
. I cannot use his real name and keep a
straight face. Could you imagine that jerk in
Gone with the Wind
?’

‘Oh, you mean Rhett?’

‘Who else?’ He placed
his hands on his hips and squared his jaw, adopting what he believed to be a
heroic pose. ‘Frankly, my dear,’ he began, before mimicking a pitch perfect
Ocker-Aussie accent. ‘I dain’t give a damn yer facking cant!’

The impression seemed to
strike a chord with his audience.

‘So you’re still fixed
on this idea that your man’s been to prison then?’ asked Niall.

Colin took a long drag
on the reefer.

‘I have an uncle that’s
done time. What you’d call the black sheep of the family. It is easy to see how
prison changes a man. After they have been released you soon start to notice
little quirks in the character of an ex-con.’

‘What sort of quirks?’
asked Stephen.

‘You’ve spent the last
couple of days working closely with your man. Has he ever quoted scripture or
made supposedly random references to the bible?’

‘Now that you mention
it, he may have said a few things, but that in itself does not prove anything.
He may just have had a religious upbringing. For all we know he could even be
second or third generation Irish.’

‘My intuition’s normally
good on these things. Convicts have a lot of time on their hands and the one
book that they all get access to is The Bible. Some of them take it literally
too. Then there are the cigarettes.’

Stephen took possession
of the joint.

‘You mentioned that a
few days back. What’s it got to do with doing time?’

‘Tobacco is really
scarce inside. It’s not only a source of pleasure, but a form of currency. They
have to use it as sparingly as possible, hence the super tight roll ups that we
have seen your man smoking.’

‘So you’re worried that
he won’t take too kindly to your own criminal activities.’

He nodded towards the
joint, which he held in his hand.

‘I just think that we
should be careful,’ said Colin. ‘What did you say that he said to you the other
day in the field?’

‘He asked if we needed
anything to help the nights pass a bit quicker. For all we know he may have
been trying to flog us some pillows.’

Colin liked his friend’s
optimism, but he did not share in it. They were all a long way from home, which
to all intents and purposes made Birribandi Rhett’s town. The last thing that
he wanted was to rub a local villain up the wrong way.

‘I just think that we
should play it cool until we find out a bit more information. Discovering what
he was inside for would be a good start.’

‘You never know,’ said
Niall. ‘We may get lucky. Rather than being a drug dealer he may just be a
murderer.’

He may have been joking,
but neither of his friends was laughing.

***

Matt was sat on the edge
of Jonas’s bed talking to the German about Cairns. His younger colleague had
yet to venture so far up the coast and was eager to hear the war stories of the
more seasoned traveller. Hiro lay on the bed opposite on his belly, updating
his journal. It was common for them to hang around the caravans in this way.
Although there was rarely any socialising done in the girls’ van, the other
three were each mini communal meeting places where everyone felt free to drop
in any time that they wanted to chat or just share in someone else’s company.

‘What are your plans for
when you leave here?’ Jonas asked.

The question was one
that Matt had given a lot of thought to. He was determined to make the most of
the extra year that he was working so hard for and planned on seeing as much of
Australia as possible. What he wanted more than anything else was to garner as
much and as varied experience as he could.

‘I may venture further
inland; see the red centre. I suppose that Alice Springs would be the logical
step as I could use it as a base for all of the surrounding tours. How about
you?’

‘I’m heading up the east
coast. If it is half as good as you say, I am in for a wild time, don’t you
think?’

‘You will be right at
home in Cairns. I’ll give you the numbers for a few hostels that I’ve stayed
in. I can’t believe you haven’t been already. Where have you spent all your
time in this country?’

‘Melbourne, mostly. That
is where I flew in to. It is a really cool place. Did you know that the city
was founded by Batman?’

Matt stared back, not
quite sure how to respond. Jonas was never short of far out theories, but this
seemed a little too random even for the German.

‘It was founded by
Batman; as in the Caped Crusader?’ he asked.

‘I guess so. They have
many dedications about the city. I stayed at a hostel that was on Batman
Avenue.’

‘I’ll just take your
word for that,’ Matt replied, sceptically.

He then turned to the
opposite side of the van where Hiro was applying the finishing touches to a
piece of art that he had been working on.

‘How about you, Hiro?’
he asked. ‘Where do you plan on going after Birribandi?’

‘I go Surfer’s
Paradise,’ answered the Asian. ‘There many Japanese there. Not so difficult for
me.’

As Hiro spoke, Matt
caught a glimpse of the notebook in front of him. He was instantly intrigued by
the picture.

‘Is that Rhett?’

‘Ah, Rhett – yes. You
rike?’

Hiro captured the
Australian’s features in perfect caricature, even down to the miniscule
cigarette, which the old man was always struggling to balance in the corner of
his mouth.

‘This is really good,’
said Matt. ‘Can I have a closer look?’

Hiro handed over the
journal. As Matt scanned over the image he was amazed at how much detail had
been rendered. The Asian clearly had some talent.

‘Are you an artist?’
asked Matt.

Hiro blushed.

‘No, no – just for fun.’

‘You could sell these.
What else have you drawn?’

Matt started to turn the
page over, but Hiro was quick to snatch it back from him.

‘Personal,’ the Japanese
man said, as he reclaimed his property.

Matt was a little taken
aback by the abruptness shown to him. Of course, he had been prying into the
other man’s business without any real cause. It was understandable that Hiro
could be embarrassed if he was not used to sharing his art with people. Matt
apologised before resuming his conversation with Jonas.

Later that evening when
the two were by themselves, Matt brought up the subject of Hiro’s reaction.

‘Did you see the way
that Hiro snapped at me earlier?’ he asked.

‘I saw him stop you from
reading his diary,’ replied Jonas. ‘I think anyone would do the same.’

‘He offered it to me.
Besides, he must write it in Japanese so what could I possibly see in there?’

‘You wanted to look at
the pictures and he did not want you to. Do not worry about it. They are no big
deal anyway.’

‘You’ve seen them?’

‘I’ve seen some. Mostly
they are nonsense. He draws a lot of naked women, but with little detail.
Sometimes he just draws the boobies. Hiro is a boob man, I think.’

Matt always liked to
hear Jonas’s unique perspective on things. The young German had a refreshingly
simple brand of optimism, which he found to be invaluable at times, especially
in the outback.

‘Maybe we should find
him a girl,’ suggested Matt.

‘When I find myself a
girl, I can then start thinking about my friends. It is easy for you with the
English girls here. It is a little difficult when you speak a different
language.’

Matt was reassured by
Jonas’s assumption. Colin and Rose were now established as a couple and he
hoped that Saturday’s party would present the opportunity for him and Jenny as
well. With the threat of competition now effectively removed, he was more
positive than ever about the upcoming celebration.