Unknown (8 page)

'You're right. I'm not, but if you and I both agree to work hard, to avoid...you know, intimate situations, then there's no reason why we can't be friends. I know you're confused about your life right now and I don't want to be an added complication so let's simply remove that complication and be friends.' He placed his coffee-cup on the ground and stood. 'And the "help Lizzie become more spontaneous" club is about to have its first meeting. We need to go.'

Elizabeth unwrapped herself from the blanket and stood. 'Go where?'

'To the hospital. To see two little boys and feed them chocolate-covered cereal.'

Elizabeth
smiled. 'You're really going to do that?'

'No.
I'm
not going to do it.
We're
going to do it. I'll take the cups inside, you get your bag or whatever and then we'll go.'

'You're crazy.' She laughed.

'See, I'll be a good teacher.' He gathered the cups and headed inside. Elizabeth followed him and hurried to her room. She checked her appearance in the mirror, smoothing her hand over the russet red linen skirt and cream coloured shirt. She fiddled with her hair and checked her make-up. She'd never been one to wear a lot, just mascara and lipstick, and out here, that was all she needed.

Taking a soothing breath but trying to contain her excitement at doing something out of the ordinary, Elizabeth fought for composure. A woman always had to be poised to display her elegance. The words from one of her finishing school tutors drummed in her head. What she really wanted to do was to pull her hair out and mess it up. She raised her hands and fiddled momentarily with the band of her ponytail.

'No.' She couldn't do it. Not yet. Sneaking into the hospital with chocolate-covered cereal was going to have to be enough for today. She smiled at her reflection, delighted that Mitch hadn't been annoyed with what she'd said. She hadn't been sure how he would react and she was pleased he wanted to be her friend.

'Lizzie?' he called, and she realised she'd been longer than she'd anticipated. She grabbed her bag and hat and headed out Mitch was standing by the front door, talking to Maude.

'Good morning, Mum.' Elizabeth kissed the other woman's cheek.

'Enjoy your breakfast,' Maude replied, glad to see the sparkle in her daughter's eyes. 'Don't let Imogen catch you.'

'It's under control.' Mitch grinned, holding the door open for Elizabeth before they walked out to the ute. He walked her around to the passenger side and hefted opened the door for her.

'Service today? And here I'd been practising how to open the door by myself.'

He laughed. 'You've caught me in a good mood.' He closed the door and walked around to the driver's side, climbed in and put the key in the ignition.

'Found your keys, I see.'

'Yes.' He started the engine and reversed out of Maude's driveway. The windows were down and the early morning breeze whipped in, messing up her hair, and by the time they arrived at the hospital she realised it would have been better
to wear it loose. Once Mitch stopped the car, she pulled out a brush and quickly retied it.

Mitch was out of the ute and was foraging around in the tray. Elizabeth climbed out. 'What
are
you doing?' She stared at him in amazement as he tied a camouflage bandanna around his head, pulled on a pair of big combat boots and smeared boot polish over his face. He held it out to her.

'Ah, no. Thank you.'

'Lizzie,' he warned.

'I am not smearing that stuff on my face.'

'It'll wash off.'

'With what? Metholated spirits? That's not really good for the complexion.'

Mitch laughed. "The boys are expecting it. Here, I brought a bandanna for you as well but I didn't bring an extra pair of combat boots.' He stopped and grinned at her. 'I didn't know your size.'

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head, her eyes wide with astonishment. 'All this just to eat breakfast?'

'You should see what I do for dinner. I pull out all the stops.'

She laughed again, amazed at how easy this friend thing seemed. She watched him again, wondering if she had the courage to do as he asked. Could she really do this? The bandanna—yes. She eyed the boot polish again, still unsure. She tied the bandanna around her head, wishing she had a mirror.

'Come on, Lizzie,' he said once he was finished, and held the polish out to her. 'A little bit of camouflage never hurt anyone. Remember, I'm head of this club.'

She frowned at him. 'Did we actually vote on that? I would have brought proper make-up if you'd told me—that way it would have come off more easily.' She sighed, wanting to do it but also not wanting to. What would her father say? He'd be downright shocked and appalled to find his daughter behaving in such an unfitting manner. What would her mother say? Elizabeth smiled. If Maude were here, she'd have already smeared the paint on by now. 'OK. Do you have a mirror?'

'Here. I'll do it.' He walked over and stood before her, the
tips of his fingers already black and waiting. 'Close your eyes.' His tone had dropped a little and he cleared his throat.

She did as she was told, trying not to react to the soft touch of his fingers on her face. Every time she breathed in, his fresh morning scent—now mixed with the smell of boot polish— mingled with her senses. 'That's enough.' She stepped back but he just stepped forward so they still had the same distance between them.

'Patience.' The roughness of his voice made Elizabeth realise that he, too, was affected by their close proximity. Would this
friends
thing really work? Right at this moment she wasn't so sure.

He cleared his throat again and took a step back. 'Done.' When she opened her eyes, he read the uncertainty there. Mitch wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and to tell her everything would be fine. He wanted to press his mouth to hers, to feel her body go soft and pliant against his. Instead, he took a huge step away and turned to wipe his hands. 'You'd fit right in at an army camp,' he joked. 'Let's synchronise our wristwatches.'

'Pardon?'

'Just getting into the part.' Mitch checked his watch. 'Five past seven. Perfect.' He grabbed a plastic shopping bag from the tray. 'Hide this behind your back.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'Hide it behind your back,' he repeated, holding the bag out to her.

'What is it?'

'Everything we need. Milk, sugar, plastic bowls and spoons.'

'Is that really necessary?'

'We don't want to leave any incriminating evidence.'

'I see. So why do I need to carry it?'

'Because Imogen won't be expecting you to be involved.'

'Won't my face be a dead give-away?' Elizabeth felt so ridiculous she couldn't help but laugh. Mitch joined in.

'Probably. Let's move 'em out, soldier. We're on a mission to rescue two little boys from health food.' Mitch ducked down and ran quickly towards the door of the hospital, looking all around him as he went. 'Come on.' He beckoned over his shoulder and Elizabeth walked normally up to the door.

'You look ridiculous.'

'You have to get into the part, Lizzie.'

'I
am
into the part. You smeared polish on my face and I'm carrying the incriminating evidence. That's enough for now.'

Mitch looked at her, From her flat-footed shoes, up her long, gorgeous legs—glad she'd worn a skirt today—all the way to her perfect hair with the bandanna tied around her head. 'Yes. I guess it is.' He took a deep breath, trying to control his body after the quick appraisal. He noticed the small flush creep into her cheeks and knew she'd felt that unmistakable pull as well. Focus. With a nod he said, 'Here we go.' He opened the door and, still crouching down, scoped out the scene. 'Coast is clear. Go—go, I'll cover you.'

Elizabeth walked in, cereal behind her back, and headed to the ward. 'Stay close to the wall,' he called, and she did as she was told. Mitch wasn't far behind her and soon he was pressed up against the wall outside the ward.

'We've made it this far.' He checked around them again. 'No staff anywhere. I'll go first and cover you.'

'Right.'

'Hey—remember, Lizzie. This is for the boys.'

'Right,' she said again, grasping his meaning. She took a deep breath, unable to believe she was about to do this.

'Go.'

Elizabeth slipped around
the
corner into the ward and hurried down towards
the two boys'
beds.
She
went between them and ducked down.
Both boys
looked
at
her with astonishment. 'Shh,' she
said,
holding her finger over her lips. 'Look.'

They turned to watch as Mitch somersaulted into the room before hiding behind a bed at the end of the ward. He then raced over to the other side and hid behind another bed. He kept checking around him, making sure no one was coming. Finally, he reached them. Danny and Timmy were beaming from ear to ear.

'You came!' Timmy said, but Danny quickly shushed him.

'We made it,' Mitch said. 'All right, soldier,' he said to Elizabeth. 'You get this breakfast set up while I make soldiers out of these men.'

'Yes, sir.' Elizabeth pulled over the table trolleys for each boy. She took everything out and poured choc-pops into the bowls, added milk and, to her disgust, heaped some sugar on top. She grimaced, wondering how she was going to get through a bowl of her own.

While she worked, Mitch pulled two bandannas out of his pocket, as well as the boot polish, and made the boys up.

'Right, men. Oh, and lady.'

The boys giggled.

'Let's eat!'

Danny and Timmy dug into their breakfasts with absolute delight. Elizabeth poured herself a small bowl, added milk but passed on the sugar. Mitch helped himself, his bowl filled to the brim. When all of his choc-pops were gone, he tipped his bowl up, drinking the milk from the rim. Elizabeth almost choked on her mouthful as she watched him in shocked astonishment. Oh, he'd go down a treat at one of her father's formal dinners!

Mitch swallowed and put
his
bowl down before grinning at Elizabeth. 'Man—what a sugar rush.'

The boys quickly finished their food and Elizabeth collected up the evidence, putting it all back into the bag. 'Quick. You go deal with that...' Mitch pointed to the bag '...before Sister comes round.'

'Right.' Elizabeth walked back through the ward, checked around the corner into the corridor before heading straight across to the kitchen. She put the milk in the fridge, the remaining cereal in the cupboard and binned the plastic bowls and spoons. Next, she headed over to the ladies' toilets to rub the ridiculous polish from her face.

She'd just managed to get it off when she heard Imogen yell at the top of her lungs, 'Mitchell O'Neill! What have you done to my patients?'

Elizabeth was shocked. Never in her life had she been in a situation like this before and her first instinct was to run for the hills, only there weren't any hills in Coober Pedy...just mullock heaps and they didn't really count. She removed her bandanna and cautiously opened the door, peering into the corridor.

It was empty.

She crept along, towards the ward, feeling strange because she wasn't sure whether she was still in fake commando mode or not. She peered around the door to the ward to see Imogen with her back to the boys, desperately trying to smother a laugh.

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. It was all an act—a charade—and the two boys were loving every minute of it.

Imogen turned back to Mitch, her face now composed. 'Go. I'll clean this mess up. You just go. Out of my hospital.'

'Yes, Sister,' Mitch said meekly, and after winking at the boys he headed towards the corridor. When he spotted Elizabeth he smiled brightly and slipped his hand around her arm to propel her away from the door. He let go as they headed to the nurses' station.

'I see you've already removed your disguise. Very good, soldier. Apart from the red parts on your face where you scrubbed to get the polish off, I doubt Imogen will even guess you were part of this conspiracy.'

'Are the boys all right?'

'Sure. They'll be little angels for Imogen until their mothers come to pick them
up and they
'll
have the
memory of a brilliant morning. Thanks
for being a
part of it.'

'Thank
you for
asking me.'

'So
how
do you feel?'

She thought for a moment. 'A little shaken, a little nervous, but for the most part still unable to believe I took part in such a ridiculous scheme.'

Mitch smiled. 'Glad to be of service.' The phone on the desk rang and he quickly picked it up. 'Steve-o. What can I do for you, mate?' Instantly, his expression changed. 'When?' He grabbed a pen and wrote notes. 'Where?' He listened. 'Do we need to come down?' Another pause. 'Thanks. We'll meet you there.' He hung up the phone as Imogen came out of the ward.

'Contact the mine rescue squad. We've got an emergency. A miner is trapped.'

They
all congregated at the mine rescue squad shed which held the equipment they'd need. Steve-o was already there, as were a few other people she'd seen around town but hadn't yet met. Mitch made brief introductions, to her relief telling people her name was Elizabeth and not Lizzie.

'Here you go. Should be your size.' Mitch handed her a pair of overalls. 'You can get changed over there in the outhouse.' He pointed to a small rectangular building standing on its own. It didn't look big enough for her to stand in let alone get changed in. Elizabeth eyed him carefully to make sure he wasn't pulling her leg and after a moment figured he wouldn't be teasing her when things were so frantic.

She followed his directions and opened the old wooden door to discover a toilet and washbasin inside. 'Ah. Outhouse,' she mumbled. She recalled reading about them, never thinking she'd one day be in one. She took off her skirt and folded it neatly before pulling on the overalls. It felt rather strange but, then, there weren't many things since she'd arrived in Coober Pedy which had felt normal. When she emerged, she headed back to Mitch's ute and left her skirt there. Next she was handed a thick pair of socks and boots.