Red Dirt Country Read online

  ‘I’m good to go,’ he said.

  There was a silence and Dave knew Spencer would be checking off all the return-to-work criteria in his head. Yes, he’d seen the counsellor. Yes, he’d been to the physio. Yes, yes, yes. As far as Dave knew, every box had been ticked.

  ‘Great news,’ Spencer said after a second. ‘I’ll get it organised. When do you want to start?’

  ‘About three weeks ago!’

  Spencer laughed. ‘Patience, grasshopper. I’ll have to get in contact with Bob Holden and let him know you’re coming. Give me two days to get it organised. Shouldn’t take much longer.’

  ‘Okay. I can live with that.’ Dave couldn’t keep the grin from his face. ‘Tell me about the fellas there.’

  ‘Bob’s a great bloke. Been through some pretty tough shit in his career, but he’s an excellent detective. Not sure who else is in the squad these days. You’ll find out soon enough. What are you going to do to celebrate? Going to have a beer with the boys?’

  Bec came back into the room with her shoes on but the laces untied. In a second glance, Dave saw she had them on the wrong feet. He smiled. ‘I’m taking a certain very pretty little lady out for a hot chocolate. That’s our celebration.’

  ‘Sounds great.’ Spencer hesitated before saying, ‘How is everything going at home?’

  Dave squatted down, the phone tucked between his ear and shoulder as he took one shoe from Bec’s foot then the other. ‘Same as it was last time we talked.’ He was careful about what he said in front of Bec. Only yesterday, she’d repeated a swearword he’d muttered as he did his exercises, when the pain had hit him.

  Bec’s parroting had earned him another scowl from Mel.

  ‘Right.’

  Dave heard Spencer let out a sigh and gathered that his friend wasn’t sure where to go with this line of conversation.

  He was about to ask about Kathy and what was happening at the Barrabine station, when he heard a key in the lock. It was his turn to frown; he hadn’t heard the car pull up. Dave changed Bec’s shoes over and started to tie her laces. ‘I’d better head off. Sounds like Mel’s home. Talk to you soon.’

  ‘No worries, I’ll get everything organised. Cheers, buddy.’

  ‘Cheers.’

  ‘Hello? I’m home.’ Mel called from the front door.

  ‘Mummy!’ Bec tried to get off the floor but Dave hadn’t finished tying her laces and she flopped back down again. ‘Daddy’s putting my shoes on.’

  ‘We’re in the lounge room,’ Dave said as he heard the clatter of keys on the kitchen bench.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ Mel asked, appearing in the doorway. ‘Hello, you,’ she said smiling down at Bec. ‘You’re all dressed up!’

  ‘We’re getting hot chocolate,’ Bec said, getting to her feet as Dave finished tying the lace.

  ‘That sounds exciting.’ Mel glanced at Dave curiously. ‘It’s nearly four o’clock and time for Bec’s tea.’

  ‘I’ve finally got the call that I can go back to work,’ Dave said, getting to his feet and walking towards her, his arms outstretched. ‘We’re celebrating. Why don’t you come too?’

  Mel stared at him before burying her face in his chest. ‘You’re going back to work? What about the nightmares? Are you sure you can cope?’

  Dave could hear the anxiety in her voice.

  ‘What’s the saying about getting back on the horse?’ he said as he dropped a kiss on her head.

  ‘Yay! Daddy’s going back to work,’ Bec said, jumping up and down. ‘Come on.’ She tugged at Mel’s hand. ‘Come on, Mummy. Let’s go!’

  Mel pulled away from Dave. He watched as she rearranged her face from troubled to smiling.

  ‘We’d better go and celebrate then, hadn’t we?’

  Dave held out both his hands to the two most important people in his life and pulled them towards him. ‘Hot chocolates all round,’ he said, trying to jolly Mel along. He wasn’t sure why she was troubled. Maybe she was frightened he’d get shot again, but that wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t let it. The pull to go back to work was too strong to give much thought to Mel’s feelings.

  Out on the street, Bec wobbled on her three-wheeled scooter a couple of metres in front of them. Dave took Mel’s hand and was relieved when she didn’t pull away. Instead she put her other hand to her chest and looked at the ground as they walked, tapping her fingers over her heart.

  ‘Don’t go near the road,’ Mel called to Bec.

  Dave asked, ‘What do you think about me going back to work?’ He knew his tone sounded hesitant, but he also understood that his wife wasn’t happy. He couldn’t remember the last time she had been and he wasn’t sure if it was the thought of his work or something else. Their marriage had been wobbly for a while. In fact, it had been the reason he’d gone undercover in the first place. Then there had been the revelation that Mel was pregnant again. He’d sometimes thought that if there hadn’t been a new baby on the way they wouldn’t have reconciled when he returned from undercover work.

  When they’d been reunited, she’d run towards him as he’d come through the Qantas gates. Her smile had been wide and there had been a look of adoration and relief. Those emotions had been short-lived, though, and lately her face had only shown tiredness and strain.

  ‘It had to happen,’ she answered.

  Dave glanced over at her; she was watching Bec.

  ‘But …’ He left the sentence hanging, knowing there was much more to come.

  ‘The nightmares, Dave.’

  ‘They’re just part of it. I’ve spent a while talking to the counsellor about them. They’re not worsening so she says they’ll go over time.’ That was a white lie. She hadn’t said they would go, just that he should go back and see her if they got worse.

  ‘Yeah, they said that when you first came home. They haven’t stopped yet.’

  ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, love. And it’s really not been that long. Guess we’ve just got to give me time.’ Dave’s eyes scanned the area as they walked—looking for potential hazards was second nature to him now. As he checked where Bec was, and then for cars, he turned his eyes back to Mel and saw her mouth open. She looked as if she was going to say something, but then she seemed to change her mind.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Dave asked as they walked in step with one another. He watched their feet as they walked and couldn’t help but think maybe this was the only time they were in step with each other in any way.

  ‘No, nothing,’ she answered shortly.

  Dave paused, knowing he had another subject to broach with her. He’d received an email earlier in the day, and he’d need to choose his words carefully in telling Mel about it.

  Justin Parker was the Senior Sergeant in Nundrew and had been his contact when Dave had been undercover. When Dave had been shot, he’d been trying to escape not only Bulldust and Scotty—the two cattle duffers—but also a dirty cop named Joe. He’d been informing for Bulldust and checking on the people Bulldust employed in his mustering business.

  ‘I received an email from Justin today,’ Dave said, tightening his grip on Mel’s hand. ‘The court case is coming up in about six weeks. I’m going to need to go back to Brisbane to give evidence at Joe’s trial.’

  Mel shook her head and was silent.

  ‘I’ll only be over there for the time I need to give my testimony,’ he continued, trying to downplay the fact he would have to leave close to the birth of their baby. ‘A couple of days at most.’

  ‘Well, I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,’ Mel said, extracting her hand and picking up her pace. ‘Bec, you need to stop now,’ she called out. ‘We’re nearly at the café.’

  ‘Mel …’ Dave tried to catch up with her but Mel stopped suddenly and turned to him, putting her hand on his cheek.

  ‘I mean it. You do what you have to. I mean that. Bec and I, and bub, when it turns up, we’ll be just fine.’

  Somehow, Dave didn’t feel comforted by her words.
/>   The phone rang early the next morning, before Mel had got up. Dave slipped out of bed quietly to answer it. Last night had been the first in many that he hadn’t had a nightmare and they had all slept peacefully. Maybe it was knowing he was going back to work that had kept his mind calm, or perhaps it had been the two-kilometre run he’d gone on after they’d all got back from the café.

  Whatever it was, he decided he needed more of it in his life.

  ‘Burrows,’ he answered, his voice low, glancing at his watch. Six-thirty.

  The trouble with their house was, even though it was brick, voices seemed to travel easily through the walls, and he didn’t want to wake up either Mel or Bec.

  ‘Spencer, here.’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘You’re good to go. Spoke with Bob yesterday. He’s keen to have you and he’s found you a desk. Start on Monday at 0700. You’ll be at the bottom of the ladder for a while, but don’t forget that Bob’s coming up for retirement in a few years. If you work hard, you’ll be able to apply for his job.’

  ‘How many are on the team?’

  ‘Another four, as far as I know. You’ll meet them all on Monday. I don’t know any of them, so you’ll have to form your own opinions. But Bob? Like I said last time, he’s a nice fella. I worked out of the same station as him a shitload of years ago. He’s a fair bit younger than me, so he was just getting started. It was before I moved to Barrabine.’

  ‘Sounds great.’ He paused. ‘Anyone else there who might want to go for his job when Bob retires?’

  Spencer gave a laugh. ‘How about you get your foot in the door and see if you actually like it before you start writing your resume?’

  It was Dave’s turn to laugh. Spencer always had some one-liner that made him crack up.

  ‘When was the last time you rode a horse?’ Spencer asked.

  ‘What? Never!’

  ‘You might have to brush up on that skill if you get sent north. Most of the stock squad ride horses over in Queensland and, if you head north, I guess there’ll be spots that are only accessible with a horse and a chopper.’

  Dave frowned at the thought. Not that he was frightened of horses, they’d just never really been an animal he’d had a lot to do with.

  ‘Bikes can go most places,’ he said knowing that wasn’t strictly true. He turned towards the passageway as he heard movement from Bec’s bedroom. Dave hoped his daughter wouldn’t wake up just yet. Mel didn’t like it when Bec appeared before 7.30 a.m.

  Spencer laughed. ‘Can’t really imagine you on a horse. Those long gangly legs of yours would get tangled up in the stirrups.’

  ‘I should learn just to prove you wrong,’ Dave retorted good-naturedly.

  Spencer’s voice sobered. ‘I was talking to Justin yesterday.’

  Dave felt himself nodding, then realised that Spencer couldn’t see him. ‘Yeah, I got an email.’

  ‘How do you feel about that?’

  ‘Well, shit, Spencer, it’s about the time the baby’s due.’

  ‘Crap. I bet that news didn’t go down well.’

  Dave deflected the comment. ‘Just have to hope like hell it doesn’t come while I’m away. I don’t want to miss the birth.’

  ‘Nah, course not. No one does. Well, not that the mum has a choice.’ He was silent again. ‘I guess you might be able to video your testimony.’

  ‘The case is still a little way away. We’ve got time to put something in place if we need to. Mel was two weeks over with Bec and there’s every chance that’ll happen again, I guess, but let’s keep that up our sleeves.’

  ‘Do you reckon even thinking about going to Brisbane is a good idea with all the angst around your place at the moment.’

  Dave rubbed his scalp. ‘Probably not but, hell, this is what I do. Just so long as I don’t miss the birth.’

  ‘Maybe I’ll see if Kathy can come up and visit Mel while you’re gone.’

  Dave thought about Spencer’s wife and how kind she’d been to them both when they had shifted to Barrabine. ‘I think Mel would like that.’ He didn’t mention that Mel might be too busy with her parents to fit Kathy in. The daily visits to her parents’ house were peppered by them coming to his. Usually he disappeared to the back shed until they’d left. Another good reason to go back to work; his shed was the cleanest it had ever been.

  ‘I’d better get on, mate,’ Spencer said. ‘Got a heap to do today. So many B and Es and mind-numbing stuff. Need to get you back here to make something exciting happen. Good cases seem to follow you.’

  ‘I’d rather they didn’t,’ Dave said, a smile in his voice. ‘Thanks for the info and chat.’

  ‘Good luck. Let me know how you go.’

  Dave put down the phone and listened again. There was silence. Bec must have gone back to sleep.

  He let himself quietly out the sliding door in the lounge and stepped onto the lawn. The leaves were wet with dew and the magpies were singing from the top of the tall gum tree in the backyard. In the pre-dawn light, Dave smiled. He was going back to work.

  Chapter 4

  Kit Redman parked his white Toyota Land Cruiser ute in front of the post office in Boogarin, a small town in the north of Western Australia.

  His window was down, so he felt the heat before he got out of the vehicle. The warmth always seemed more intense in town than out on the station. He supposed it was from the bitumen that sealed the main road.

  On the footpath he looked around to see if he recognised any of the cars parked along the street. The late morning sun was catching the tall antennas on the edge of town—they helped everyone stay in contact—and the white dishes alongside the tall steel structures provided satellite internet. The technology was new and many in town thought they weren’t necessary. They were the backward thinkers, Kit knew, because this was going to be the way of the future, even though the towers were an eyesore.

  Ghost gums lined the roads, and at the end of the main street a large hill rose into the endless sky. Against the vividness of the blue, the rich colour of the ochre soil clashed and made Kit want to put on a darker pair of sunglasses.

  This had been his town for a long time—he’d guided the shire council to make good decisions for the people who lived here and in the surrounding areas. He’d acted as a mediator between the mining companies, Aboriginal Australians and station owners.

  A dirt-covered white Toyota wagon with a caravan hitched behind was pulled up near the steel cut-outs of a kangaroo, lizard and eagle. An older couple were out, taking photos, posing against each structure. He hoped they’d spend a bit of money in Boogarin later. Maybe buy a coffee at the café or a burger at the pub. If they went into the craft shop right at the top of the main street and bought some tourist paraphernalia they’d make Jay-Jay very happy.

  Another vehicle pulled up next to his and a woman got out. Kit touched his Akubra to Jenn Davies.

  ‘Nice to see you, Kit,’ she said, stopping in front of him. ‘Haven’t run into you in town for ages. Are you here for the shire council meeting?’

  ‘Not this time, Jenn,’ Kit answered, pushing his hat back on his head. ‘Few other things going on.’

  ‘Geez, Kit, we could do with you back in the president’s chair, I reckon. The fool that’s there now just isn’t doing the right thing by the people.’

  ‘Now, don’t you think fifteen years as the shire president is enough? I’d be old and stale if I went back in. New blood is always good. How’s Charlotte?’ He pushed his hat back as he talked and scratched his forehead.

  His daughter, Kia, and Jenn’s daughter, Charlotte, had gone through School of the Air together and then on to boarding school, where they were both now in Year Eleven. They sat next to each other on the plane to and from school and had shared a room in the boarding house since Year Ten.

  ‘She’s fine, thanks. Studying hard. ATAR is such a hard slog for kids that aren’t book smart. Poor Charlotte just has to keep working at it. Not like your Kia. Brain on legs, she
is!’

  Kit smiled. ‘She got her mother’s intelligence, for sure.’

  Jenn laughed. ‘And speaking of the brains, how is Tara?’

  ‘She’s fine. But not at home at the moment. I’m baching. She’s visiting her dad. Old Jim had a fall a couple of weeks ago. He’s okay, but needing a bit of support,’ he said as Jenn’s hand flew to her mouth.

  ‘Oh no!’ She sighed reflectively. ‘Isn’t it hard when the parents start to get old and we’re so far away?’ Jenn batted some flies away from her face. ‘You blokes, all of your families are still up here. It’s the ring-ins—the ones who came in to marry you all—who find it hard.’

  ‘I guess that’s true. Hadn’t thought about it like that.’ He nodded. ‘Anyway, Jenn, I’d better keep moving. Got a few things to pick up and jobs to do.’

  ‘Hopefully you’ve got the storeroom packed to the brim. The Wet shouldn’t be too far off now.’

  They both glanced at the bright blue sky, which didn’t hold a cloud anywhere.

  ‘Love your optimism,’ Kit said, and again touched his finger to his hat. ‘See you round.’ He walked off down the street with the swagger of a man who had spent most of his fifty-five years on a horse.

  ‘Morning, Kit!’ a male voice called from a ute as he drove past, and Kit threw his hand up in acknowledgement.

  Pushing open the door to the newsagency, Kit was greeted by a blast of cool air and two kids with balloons and tiger face-paint.

  ‘Roooaarrr!’ growled one of them, her fingers curled over as if she had claws. The other opened his mouth but no sound came out.

  ‘Ah, hell!’ Kit gave a start and pretended to stumble backwards. ‘Help! Someone help! There’s a tiger in the newsagency.’

  A high-pitched giggle came from behind the paint. ‘It’s only me, Mr Redman. Cally. And Evan.’

  ‘Good lord, have you eaten Cally, Mr Tiger?’ Kit asked, looking closely at the little girl. ‘I can hear her voice, but you don’t look like her.’

  ‘Mr Redman,’ Cally said in a kind tone, ‘it’s me. I’ve just got my face painted.’

  Kit looked up and saw Cally’s father, Jamie Crowden. He winked at Jamie and turned back to the kids. ‘Well, I’ll be,’ Kit said, scratching his head. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so scary, Cally. You too, Evan. Where’d you get your faces looking like that?’