BACKWOODS RIPPER: a gripping action suspense thriller (8 page)

Paige took over Hal’s care, making sure she was the one to feed and wash him. The thought of Lizzy touching him any more than necessary made Paige’s skin crawl. Hal slept a lot, whether his body needed it or so his mind could escape from what had been done to him, she wasn’t sure. If it were the latter, she couldn’t blame him for needing to shut out the horror. But he seemed to be drifting away from her and a selfish part wanted him to snap back and solve all their problems.

For her part, Paige busied herself quietly watching Lizzy, taking careful note of the woman’s timetable: when she woke up, when she ate, and most importantly, when she slept. Convinced Lizzy had taken the Ford, Paige hoped she might glean information about where it might be hidden.

* * *

On the morning of the fourth day at Mable House, Lizzy sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of milky tea laced with two heaped spoons of sugar. She wore another one of her patented navy shirt and pants outfits. Occasionally licking her thick, blunt index finger she flicked through the pages of an ancient copy of Gardening Australia.
She wrapped those thick fingers around a hacksaw and cut off Hal’s leg
, Paige thought and a sob lodged in her throat.

“I think we’ll have marron for tea tonight,” Lizzy said to no one in particular.

It was early, a little past seven in the morning. The three women sat at the kitchen table; Soona champed her way through three slices of thick, toasted bread and jam, eyes dreamy and unfocused, while Paige drank a cup of strong tea and tried to force down a slice of toast. She’d come to realise that meals, à la Lizzy were plain and stodgy, consisting of generous servings of boiled potatoes, fried sausages or chops and homemade bread, usually washed down with tea or fresh lemonade.

“Marron,” Paige said, her tone casually interested. She was getting good at playing the,
I’ve no interest in leaving
and
I’m so grateful
game.

Lizzy lifted a surprisingly delicate china cup to her mouth and drank the last of her tea before she answered. “We’ve got a dam.” She put her cup down and stood. “After Soona’s finished her jobs, she can take you out and show you.” She turned to Soona and said, “Take her and show her the dam. Don’t touch the cages.” She spoke in a loud, slow voice and waited for Soona to answer.

“Marron,” Soona said. It was the first word Paige had heard her speak. Up until that moment, she’d assumed Soona was completely non-verbal.

“Yes,” Lizzy nodded. “That’s right.”

Lizzy headed for the drawing room and then Paige heard her heavy tread ascend the stairs.
Making her morning rounds in an almost empty hospital
, Paige thought grimly. She’d already been in and given Hal breakfast; a scrambled egg and a slice of toast; he’d eaten reluctantly, with the sort of grim resignation of a prize fighter trying to bulk up in time for the big night.

Paige listened to Lizzy’s thumping footfalls climb the stairs. She was eager to get a better look around the property, and discovering Soona’s limited language skills gave her an idea. As soon as she was sure Lizzy was out of ear-shot, Paige turned to Soona, who now stood at the sink washing the breakfast dishes. She watched the other woman for a moment. She wore dark denim jeans, the seat faded to a threadbare white. A brown checked-shirt strained over slumped shoulders.

“Do you like cola?” Paige asked.

Soona’s arms continued to move working on the dishes, but she made no reply. Paige picked up her cup and plate and walked over to the sink. “Do you like cola?” She asked again.

“Cola,” Soona said. And took the plate and cup from Paige without looking at her.

“When we go to get see the crayfish, I’ll give you some cola if you take me to my car,” Paige said softly. I need to get some clean clothes, that’s all.”

After a moment, Soona repeated the word, “cola.”

“Yes,” Paige said. “But don’t tell anyone, cola’s bad for your teeth.”

A short time later, Paige followed Soona through the garden; they passed the Hills Hoist ducking to avoid flapping wet sheets. Soona led her through a human-sized hole in a clump of grevillea bushes to a section of the property that was home to a large vegetable patch. Paige had never been this far behind the house and found herself amazed by the way the property seemed to go on and on: sheds, led to veggie patches, which in turn led to a small paddock.

The smell of damp grass and manure floated on the morning air. Two cows, one a soft chocolate brown, the other black with a patch of white on its hindquarters were intent on grazing and ignored them as they passed. The layout of the property seemed helter-skelter, nothing really made sense in terms of function, but Paige reminded herself,
this crazy maze is Lizzy’s kingdom.

Once they were past the paddock, Soona grunted her way over a small upsurge. At the top of the rise, a gully dam came into view. The setting, so idyllic that, for a moment, Paige felt awed by its perfection. The natural dip in the landscape was clothed in lush green grass. On the right side a sandy bank led to a small bleached wood jetty. On the other side, an ancient gum curved towards the water as if stooping to drink. The sunlight glittered across the surface of the dam casting the whole scene in a yellow glow.

Before they descended the slope, Paige touched Soona’s arm. The woman shuffled out of reach and stopped. “Before we go down there,” Paige said. “Let’s go to my car and get the cola.”

Soona swayed from side to side, her head bobbing up and down. She seemed to be caught between action and understanding.

“You like cola,” Paige tried again. “Take me to my car and we can have some.” When Soona remained silent, Paige tried another approach. “Would you like me to tell you a story?”

Soona started to sit down on the grassy slope. “No, not yet. The car first, then cola and a story. Okay?” Paige forced the urgency out of her voice.

“Okay,” Soona said, her eyes fixed on something only she could see in the distance.

Paige felt a flutter of excitement and her mind lurched forward. The car was her best chance of escape, if it was drivable there was nothing to stop her leaving immediately. She doubted Soona would try to stop her, but if she did … Paige’s thoughts faltered.
If she tries to stop me, I’ll do whatever I have to.
The coldness of her thoughts surprised her, as if they came from a place in her she didn’t know existed. A dark place. A primordial place that housed a part of her very different to the Paige the parents who met with her to discuss their children saw. This voice, Paige realised, came from a cold, hard woman, who’d stop at nothing to protect what was hers.

Soona turned away from the dam and plodded back towards the paddock. She moved with a side to side gait that made her look like an overgrown toddler. Paige was using her, she knew that. Taking advantage of the woman’s childlike trust was easier than she wanted to acknowledge, something she didn’t care to dwell on. Getting to the car was all that mattered.

Paige followed her, glancing over her shoulder expecting Lizzy to leap out from behind a bush or materialise in the veggie patch. Soona moved towards the paddock and the ground became marshy. Soft earth sucked at Paige’s shoes making each step more difficult. Soona seemed unhindered by the sludge, lifting her knees high and taking great loping steps around the wire fence.

By the time they reached the barn, Paige’s tennis shoes and ankles were thick with mud and she panted from exhaustion. At first it seemed they headed for the barn, but then Soona continued on behind the building and towards what looked like a disused dirt track.

Paige could feel a stitch gripping her right side. She put her hands on her hips and stopped. “Soona, wait. I have to stop for a minute.”

Soona wandered back towards the paddock and ducked under the fence. She ambled over to the chocolate coloured cow. It raised its head and regarded her with big soft eyes and a wet puff of its cavernous nostrils. Soona reached into the front pocket of her jeans and produced a stump of carrot. The cow, unfazed by her presence, familiar with the routine, strolled towards her, head up and belly swinging. Paige watched the woman hold out her hand and let the cow gobble the chunk of carrot. Soona patted the animal between the ears and in return it gave a contented snort.

For the first time since the idea of using Soona occurred to her, Paige considered what Lizzy might do to the woman when she found out she’d helped Paige escape. She’d been so focused on manipulating Soona, she’d almost stopped thinking of her as human. That shameful realisation made her cringe inwardly at her own callousness. She knitted her fingers together and brought them up to her mouth.
I don’t have a choice
. S
he’ll be okay. Lizzy won’t hurt her
. And then out of that dark place, the one that seemed to be getting bigger all the time,
she’s not my problem
. In her head, the voice sounded flat and emotionless.

“Soona, let’s go.” When Soona looked up, Paige smiled and gave a little wave.

The dirt road consisted of little more than a four-metre-wide trail through the bush. The path was topped with a carpet of fallen twigs, seedpods and weeds. Sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick canopy casting thin shafts of light along the track. The air felt cooler, the sweat that had been gathering on Paige’s brow ran down her face in icy drips. They’d only taken a few steps and already the bush seemed to be closing around them, pulling at her clothes and blocking off all sound from the outside world.

So isolated and well-covered was the track, without Soona’s help, Paige doubted she’d have ever found it on her own. She had to hand it to Lizzy, she certainly knew how to hide something, even something as big as a car. No sooner had the word popped into Paige’s head than something glinted ahead and to the left.

The Ford was parked on the edge of the track in an area that widened into a clearing. It sat like a huge, orange insect draped haphazardly in fallen gum and tuart branches. Lizzy had obviously thought no one would ever find it, the branches were barely covering the bonnet with one or two scattered on the roof.

Paige let out a laugh that turned into a whoop and darted forward. Finding the car was the first thing that had gone right since the snake bite four days ago. She trailed her hand along the vehicle, pulling branches free and dropping them on the ground. The flat had been changed, making the vehicle drivable again. A flutter of excitement in her stomach grew until her hands shook. If the keys were in the ignition, nothing could stop her.

She licked her lips and opened the driver’s side door. The inside of the car smelled of pine air freshener and something else. Paige took a deep breath and thought she caught a whiff of Hal’s cologne. The smile that blossomed on her face vanished.

There were no keys in the ignition.

Her excitement waned but didn’t die. When they set off on holiday, Hal took the spare from the kitchen and put it in his suitcase. Paige dashed to the back of the vehicle and opened the hatch. The two suitcase were gone. She ran her hands through her stringy, unwashed hair and closed her eyes.
Why would she take our suitcases?

Paige turned around and leaned her butt against the open back of the Ford. The missing keys were a setback, but the game wasn’t over yet. She knew where the car was, all she had to do was find the keys.

“It’s doable,” the words slipped out of her mouth, the confidence in her voice sounded like it had come from someone else. “Let’s get you your cola,” she said to Soona who was bending to pick a bunch of stinkweed.

* * *

They made their way back to the dam, this time Paige took the lead and Soona followed behind. Even after the march around the muddy paddock, Paige felt invigorated, as if seeing the Ford worked to remind her that the world still existed beyond Mable House. For a few days, that had been a bit cloudy for her and probably more so for Hal.

She climbed the upswing that led to the dam, when she reached the top, she glanced over her shoulder at the grevillea bushes, their spidery white flowers shivered in the breeze. Paige turned and headed down the slope, the perfection of the gully dam now lost on her. She moved swiftly, they’d been away from the house for too long already, if Lizzy realised they’d been up to something there was no telling what she might do.

Paige plopped down onto the grass and pulled off her shoes. The muscles in the back of her calves, already complaining over the march through the mud, groaned. Her ankles were mottled with insect bites and stained with mud, her knees scabbed from kneeling in the carpark when Hal was hurt. She scratched at her ankles and watched Soona walk out onto the short jetty still clutching the bunch of stink weeds. Paige felt a sudden wave of affection for the woman and quickly looked away. She couldn’t afford to let anything distract her from what she had to do. Becoming fond of Soona would only make things more difficult.

Paige clamoured to her feet and walked across the sandy bank into the water. She let out a sigh as the cool liquid lapped at her calves and soothed the itching of the bites. The water around her legs grew cloudy with mud. She bent and rinsed her shoes, using her thumb to rub away the worst of the stains.

When she straightened up she noticed thin ropes running from the jetty out across the water and then disappearing. She turned and tossed her shoes onto the bank and then waded over to the jetty. She grabbed one of the ropes, it felt slimy from years in and out of the water. Yanking on it, she could feel something heavy move under the water. She guessed it was a marron trap.