Rain Music (28 page)

With the sudden feeling that she was falling, she jerked her head up and opened her eyes, realising she must have nodded off. Had it been minutes or hours? It was still dark, but then she heard them; shouting voices and crashing undergrowth. Bella held her breath.

‘How far can she get with her bloody arms and legs tied?'

‘Well, there's bugger-all out here, nothing but thick scrub. And it's as dark as pitch. She won't have gone far.'

The other man raised his voice. ‘We're coming after you. Don't make it worse for yourself, girlie. Be nice or we'll get pissed off.'

A rifle shot cracked, echoing through the scrub, ricocheting off a tree.

Bella shivered.

‘Stop with the gun, for Chrissake, could be anyone around.'

‘Out here? Bullshit.'

‘Well, there might be someone out looking for her.'

‘Have to know this place pretty well to find us, mate.'

‘Let's go. Leave the bitch. The boss will be here soon and he'll be bloody upset if we keep him waiting.'

Bella stayed huddled in her tree-root cave, barely breathing. Trembling with fear, she heard one of the men come very close to where she was hiding, but then he moved away.

‘Come on. I can hear the boss coming.'

‘You gonna tell him?'

‘About the girl? He'll shoot our balls off. Or shoot her if he finds her. We're on a deadline to meet the big boat down at the cove.'

‘She knows who we are. What we look like.'

‘Who's she gonna tell out here?'

Filled with relief, Bella could hear them walking away. She didn't move. A short time later, she heard the large engine of a
four-wheel drive in the distance. She could hear voices, and then a while later the car took off.

Bella lay still in her sanctuary. After an hour or so, when she was convinced they really had gone, she hauled herself out from under the leaves and cautiously made her way towards the river. She peered guardedly out from the cover of a large bush, in case any of the men were still there. But there was nothing to indicate that anyone had been there at all, save for a couple of empty bottles. The men and the kayaks were gone. She was all alone in the middle of the bush with no idea where she was and no way of getting out.

Bella shivered, for she knew all too clearly that her troubles were far from over. Should she stay here by the river or struggle on, looking for a track that lead to goodness knows where? She rubbed her sore wrists.
Maybe there were crocodiles in this area
, she suddenly thought in alarm. Although Ned hadn't ever mentioned them, Bella didn't want to take the chance of staying too close to the river. She turned back towards the bush and began to clamber as far as she could away from the river. She wandered aimlessly for some time, having no real idea where she should go and then, in the pale glimmer of the setting moon, between some trees Bella saw the silhouette of a strange shape. It looked like an old-fashioned train engine. Stumbling across the rocks, she made her way to where a rusting heap of metal was set in a rough brick wall. In the pale light she could see that it was an old boiler, like a giant oven, with its metal door hanging open. She hit it hard in case there was an animal or a snake asleep inside. The metallic thud echoed in the empty bush and she froze, but there was no sound or movement. She felt around for a stick and poked around inside. Finding no wildlife, Bella clambered in and curled up, breathing in the smell of rust and charred wood. She laid her head on her arm and prayed that, when dawn came, things would seem better.

They had to.

9

They were laughing as
they got out of the car, Brendan carrying a bucket containing a couple of good-sized fish.

‘I'll leave the rods in the back in case we want to throw a line in there again,' said Ned.

‘Can we have fish on the barbie for dinner?' asked Brendan. ‘They were so easy to catch. I don't think many people ever go to that old lake.'

Ned nodded in agreement. He'd enjoyed Brendan's uncomplicated company and was pleased they'd both caught something. He didn't want to pry, but hoped that Brendan and Bella would sort things out.

‘I'm glad the fish were so obliging. I didn't mean to leave Bella alone for so long, though; it's almost dark. You'd better show her our prizes and apologise. I'll go and lock up the chooks.'

As he went to round up the hens, he heard Brendan
calling out to Bella, but before he even came inside
Brendan raced up the steps to meet him.

‘Bella's not answering. I can't find her.'

‘Is she asleep in her room?'

‘No. I've looked there and all over the house. It's empty and all the lights were off. I called out to the lower terrace in case she was down there, but there's no answer,' said Brendan, his brows knitted.

Ned decided to remain calm. ‘She can't be far away. Give me the fish and I'll put them in the kitchen. Cleaning can wait till we find Bella. Why don't you check under the big poinciana tree? She might have fallen asleep in the hammock and not heard us get back. Or maybe she's gone up to the wood pile to get some wood for the fire pit. You look around and I'll check inside again.'

Ned took the bucket and went into the kitchen and turned on the lights. The house was very still. He put the fish into the fridge, and as he went over to the sink to wash his hands, he felt something crunch beneath his feet. When he looked down he saw the tea canister lying on the floor, the tea leaves spilled everywhere. Ned went cold. Dropping the empty bucket, he sprinted through the house, shouting Bella's name.

At the same time, Brendan's worried voice called out, ‘Ned, I can't find Bella anywhere out here.'

Ned raced about looking for any sign of his sister and, finding nothing, he went outside to join Brendan. ‘Maybe she's had an accident. I'll get some torches. Something isn't right.'

The pale beams from the torches revealed little.

‘She wouldn't have gone swimming and . . .' Brendan couldn't finish the sentence.

The two men raced down to the edge of the river.

‘Nothing to show she was here. No book or towel, not even a glass,' said Ned, looking around. ‘Wait, what's that?' He shone his torch at the water's edge, then knelt down, looking intently at the gravelly bank.

‘What? What is it?' asked Brendan. ‘Bella wouldn't have taken out the canoe this late, would she?' he added fearfully.

‘No, she didn't – there's Carlo's old canoe still up under the trees where Frederick put it this morning. Anyway, look at those marks. Carlo's canoe didn't make them. Someone else was here. Some other craft has been dragged up onto the bank. Those marks over there could be footprints, too, although it's hard to tell on this dry ground.' Ned pointed to some smaller marks further down the bank.

‘I think they are footprints. They seem clearer when you get closer to the water's edge. What does this all mean?' Brendan's voice was raised and shrill.

Ned was still. ‘Brendan, in the kitchen tea leaves have been spilled all over the floor and no attempt has been made to clean them up. Bella would never leave a mess like that. I think she's gone with someone, and I'm sure it wasn't voluntarily, because she hasn't left us a note.'

Brendan looked at Ned in horror. ‘What are we going to do? We'll have to go back to the roadhouse and contact the police.'

Ned shook his head. ‘I couldn't find my way back there with any confidence in the dark. You'd have to be an expert – there are tracks all over the place out here. We'd be no help to Bella at all if we tried it and got hopelessly lost.'

‘We can't just sit here and wait till it gets light,' said Brendan, the anguish clear in his voice. ‘Bella could be anywhere by then.'

‘I know,' said Ned helplessly. Then abruptly he got to his feet. ‘We need help and I know just the right person. I'm going inside to look for Carlo's gun.'

‘Geez, Ned, do you want to go after whoever took Bella with a gun?' said Brendan, even more alarmed.

‘No, I want to summon help. You know we were talking about Jack earlier? The guy who lives across the valley? He told me on one of his visits that he and Carlo had a pre-arranged signal between them in case of an emergency, because Jack doesn't have a sat phone. He likes his privacy. I didn't think in a million years that I would have to use the signal in reverse.'

Ned hurried into the house and found Carlo's rifle in the gun rack. He quickly unlocked the rack and then hunted around in Carlo's uniquely designed drawers until he found some cartridges.

‘Hate these damn things,' he muttered to himself as he rejoined Brendan. ‘I'll need a torch as well. Can you bring it?'

‘Yes, of course. You okay with that rifle? I've done a bit of shooting.'

‘Thanks, I can manage. Dad showed me what to do years ago. It's not that hard.'

Ned went outside and onto the top terrace with Brendan following behind. He grimly loaded the rifle and fired towards the river. He paused and then fired twice more in quick succession. ‘Brendan, wave the torch over your head in as big an arc as you can. I hope to hell that Jack hears and sees our signal. We really need him.'

Brendan began waving the torch. He looked at Ned's pale face. ‘What's going on? Have you any idea?' he asked.

‘I don't know for sure, but a week or so ago, two blokes turned up in kayaks and helped themselves to food and some of Carlo's alcohol. I reckon those blokes might have called by again. And I bet they weren't expecting to find Bella.'

‘Oh, Christ, what've they done with her?' Brendan started to shake, but at that moment a rifle shot echoed from the darkness opposite, quickly followed by a second.

Ned felt a wave of relief. ‘Thank God. Jack heard us. That means he's on his way. He'll be here in about half an hour, I guess. Let's take one more thorough look around, just in case they've locked her in a shed or something.'

‘Will we go after her?' asked Brendan. ‘We'll have to. Can't leave her out there alone.'

‘Let's see what Jack says. C'mon, let's keep looking while we're waiting for him.'

As Ned headed towards the storage shed on the top of the rise, he realised that he was shaking, too. This nightmare seemed unbelievable. Images of Bella rushed through his mind. He started to think about their heated discussion over their father's dedication ceremony. What were his last words to her? He didn't want to leave things this way, when they were so at odds with each other. He should not have listened to her when she'd asked him to take Brendan to the old dam, leaving her alone in this wild place.

Brendan looked pale as they finished searching the grounds around the river house. ‘I can't stop thinking about the river. If they've taken her out on the water, they might have had some awful accident . . .'

Ned didn't want to speculate on Bella's fate. The thought of what could be happening to her was tying his stomach in knots and making him feel quite ill. He was about to turn back towards the house when he heard Jack's car.

‘Thank God,' he muttered to himself. ‘Jack will know what to do.'

Ned raced to open the gate, Brendan following close behind.

Jack looked sombre as he quickly got out of the car. ‘What's the emergency? It had better be a real one to get me over here at night.'

Ned quickly introduced Brendan, then told Jack about Bella's disappearance and explained what he thought had happened.

Jack didn't say a word, but took a torch from his vehicle and hurried down to the river. He looked closely at the ground by the water's edge and said, ‘Yeah, they got away by river. Same as before, I'd say.'

‘How many canoes has Carlo got?' asked Brendan.

‘Enough for us to be able to go after her,' said Ned.

Jack frowned. ‘I think a better plan than going after Bella in those canoes would be for me to drive back to the roadhouse and inform the police. They'll go after those buggers first thing in the morning, even before first light,' he said.

Ned and Brendan stared at him.

‘But Jack, we have to go now. We can't hang about till morning waiting for the police. We can't leave Bella all night with these men. That's ridiculous! We have to go now!' said Ned, amazed by Jack's suggestion.

‘Not so ridiculous,' said Jack dryly. ‘Going out at night could make us sitting ducks. We can't travel in the darkness without having to shine a light along the edges of the river to see where these men are holed up, and when we round a bend in the river and they see our light, and we can't see them, what then? What will happen to your sister if they realise they've been caught?' He shook his head. ‘Better to wait for daylight, and by then the coppers will be here.'

‘Jack, you can't mean that,' said Brendan heatedly. ‘I can't sit around wondering what is happening to Bella. I have to do something now.' He turned to Ned. ‘Come on, Ned. If Jack won't help us, we'll have to go after her by ourselves.'

Ned was torn. He felt exactly the same way as Brendan. As far as he was concerned, they had wasted enough time already, but he was aware that Jack was the expert, the one with all the experience, the one whose counsel he should accept. He also knew he could not sit around and wait till morning without taking action.

‘Jack, I really value your advice, but Brendan is right. I think we need to get after these men right away, before anything terrible happens.'

Jack sighed. ‘Okay, okay. Well, I can't let you two blunder through this country alone, so I guess we go now, even though it's against my better judgement. Get the other canoe and bring all the torches you can find. I think Carlo's got a first aid kit somewhere. See if you can find it. And bring some bottles of water.'

‘Do you want me to bring Carlo's gun?' asked Ned.

‘Either of you two experts?' Jack asked sharply.

‘Not really,' said Ned, and Brendan shook his head.

‘Well, if you're not, then bringing the gun is creating another problem we don't need. Leave it behind.'

Ned rounded up the few things Jack had asked for and Brendan retrieved the second canoe from the shed.

‘Right, let's go,' said Jack grimly.

They hurried down the steps that led to the lower terrace and the river beyond. Ned noticed that Jack had a small torch attached to a strap that was fastened around his head, so that the light from it bounced as he ran.

‘You two take that canoe. I'll take this one.' Without another word, Jack settled in the canoe and started to paddle downstream.

They paddled as fast as they could along the dark river. Occasionally Brendan swung a torch beam along the river bank.

‘I don't think you'll find the men this close to Carlo's. I think they'll be quite a way away, where there's even less civilisation than around here,' said Jack over his shoulder.

Ned wondered how on earth there could be anywhere more deserted than Carlo's place, but said nothing.

At one point there was a distant crack. Ned jumped.

‘A rifle?' he asked.

Jack shook his head. ‘Too far away to know for sure. Could just be a falling branch.'

They finally came to the place where the quiet arm of the river joined the main, wider watercourse. They paddled along it for some distance. As Brendan shone his torch ahead, Ned could see that the water flowed around a rocky outcrop. As they neared the smooth, exposed rocks it was clear that another stream joined the main river at that point.

‘Do we stay in this main part, or go up that small branch?' Brendan asked Jack.

Jack hesitated, resting his paddle. ‘Hard to say. The smaller stream is more of a backwater, so maybe it's quieter, making it a good place to hide out. The main part of the river is easier to navigate, but it also makes it more open and exposed. What do you think they'd do?'

‘Flip a coin,' said Brendan. ‘I have no idea what these men would do. This country is empty, and as far as I'm concerned, they could be anywhere out here, and we may never find them.'

‘I think we should go up the quiet branch,' said Ned, bringing their canoe alongside Jack's. ‘I don't know why, but I just feel that they would want to hang out in the quietest place possible.'

‘Okay then, decision's made.'

But after a couple of hours of paddling, Jack slowed.

‘This water is becoming far too shallow. If we scrape over any rocks in the dark, we'll be in trouble. I don't think anyone would bring a kayak or canoe any further upstream. The water level has dropped too much
this late in the season. We'll have to go back down the main river, but first I suggest we take a couple of hours' rest. We won't be much help to your sister if we're exhausted.'

Ned had no desire to stop. He wanted to turn around at once and keep up the pursuit, but Jack's authoritative tone suggested he was not open to a discussion this time around.

‘I'm not at all happy about stopping,' said Brendan. ‘But I have to admit that my arms are very tired. Perhaps a short break will help.'

‘Shine your torch over there, Brendan.' Jack examined the river bank closely. ‘Yes, I think we should be able to get out of the canoes here and clamber over those rocks, so we can lie down.' With that, Jack got out of his canoe and Ned was amazed to see he was standing in knee-deep water. He and Brendan followed suit and they waded to the shore, pulling their canoes behind them. ‘Try to get some sleep. It will start getting light in about three hours. I'll wake you both then,' said Jack.