Christmas Eve, eight years ago
Tam was still walking down the dirt track from the Henderson’s place. With every step she felt a little safer but she wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until she was home. The tears kept welling up but she pushed them down and refused to shed another, at least not in front of her friends. It was probably stupid but it was the only way she could keep control of herself. Inside, her stomach felt like a cold, hard stone and her heartbeat still hadn’t slowed. Dylan remained by her side but Gemma and Will had fallen a few steps behind.
‘I overheard what you said to your mum,’ Dylan said as he walked in step with her. ‘Did Taylor Henderson hurt you?’
Tam was silent as she tried to find the right words. ‘He did but I think it would have been a whole lot worse if Blake hadn’t come along and stopped him.’
Dylan blew out a breath. ‘I should go back and say something, or at least do something.’
Tam reached out for his hand. ‘No, you’d only end up getting hurt and the whole thing would be worse.’ She saw him frown. ‘It’s not that I don’t think you could take on Taylor but he’s got all his friends there and they’d all start in on you. Blake wouldn’t be able to protect you.’
‘Blake is the one who really needs protection. I bet he paid for standing up to Taylor for you,’ he said.
Tam felt sick, the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. ‘You think Taylor would hurt him?’
‘Taylor doesn’t like being told no,’ Dylan said.
‘I hope he’s okay. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t interrupted Taylor.’
Dylan scowled and set his mouth in a grim line. He looked as if he had a pretty good idea what would have happened.
‘I’ll call Blake later,’ Dylan replied. ‘He won’t want to make a big thing about it. The more attention Taylor receives the meaner he gets.’
‘They’re so different,’ Tam said quietly. ‘How does he stand it?’
‘Blake stays for his mum and sister. He can’t help it that his brother and dad are both scum,’ Dylan explained.
‘But why does his mum put up with it?’
Dylan shrugged. ‘I don’t know, maybe she thinks she doesn’t have anywhere else to go.’
Tam couldn’t imagine anything worse than living like that. Although Gemma would be quick to remind her that many of their friends weren’t as fortunate as she was. It was true, she did have a pretty great family life and she should be grateful for it.
Tam glanced at her phone and saw that it had been almost half an hour since she’d called her mum. They were still walking down the track but just over the hill it met the old highway, which ran all the way into Kangaroo Ridge.
‘What’s wrong?’ Dylan asked.
‘I thought mum would be here by now. She said that she was coming straight away and it doesn’t take that long to get here.’
‘They probably got held up or maybe had a flat. I’m sure they’ll be here soon,’ Dylan replied. ‘If we keep walking, we’ll run into them at some point.’
Tam nodded but looked at her phone again. ‘I’ll call again and find out what’s happening.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘Are you okay?’ Gemma asked from behind.
Tam stopped and looked back. ‘I’m going to ring Mum because she should be here by now.’
‘Yeah, I was thinking that,’ Will said as he pointed ahead. ‘We’re not that far away from the main road.’
Tam’s brow creased with worry as she dialled her mum’s number. After half-a-dozen rings it went to voicemail.
‘She’s not answering,’ Tam said as her stomach clenched.
‘I’m sure it’s fine,’ Gemma said.
‘Yeah,’ Tam said. She turned around and started walking again. ‘But it’s really not like her—she’s never late.’
‘I’m sure she’ll be here in a minute,’ Will added behind her, holding on to Gemma’s hand. ‘This is the only road to the Hendersons’. It’s not like we’d have missed her.’
They kept walking and by the time they reached the main road, Tam was certain that something bad had happened. She kept telling herself that she was being ridiculous but she couldn’t shake the feeling. Her mum should have been here well before now—she could have even made the journey twice by now.
‘That’s weird,’ Dylan said as Will and Gemma caught up with them.
‘What?’ Tam asked.
He nodded towards a line of cars that had banked up in the far lane, the one heading to Kangaroo Ridge. The road was always fairly busy but never backed up like this.
‘Maybe they’re doing some roadwork,’ Gemma said as she glanced at Tam.
‘Nah, it’s Christmas Eve,’ Will said as he looked at his watch. ‘It’s five thirty.’
‘Maybe there’s been a bingle or someone’s broken down,’ Dylan said. ‘That would explain why your mum’s late. She’s probably in the waiting traffic.’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Tam said. ‘Well, if she can’t get to us, we should go to her.’
‘Seems like a plan.’ Dylan took her hand and they started walking down the side of the road, heading towards town.
Every now and again, a handful of cars drove past them. Tam kept an eye on them in case one of them was her mum. She couldn’t see too far ahead as the road swept around a bend, which must be where the hold-up was.
‘I hope it’s just a breakdown,’ Gemma added. ‘I’d hate it to be an accident.’
‘We’ll know soon enough,’ Dylan replied. ‘It shouldn’t take us too long to get to the bend.’
Tam increased her pace and the others followed suit. She kept telling herself that everything was all right, that soon she’d be in her mother’s arms, she would be safe and she could have a good cry. But that sinking feeling wouldn’t go away.
‘Hey, Tam, can we slow down a bit?’ Gemma called out.
Tam looked back over her shoulder. ‘No, I want to find Mum.’
Gemma blew out a breath and tried her best to keep up.
Tam kept going, the air was hot and smelt of dust and the occasional burst of exhaust fumes. The tall eucalypts offered a little shade but the sun was sinking in the sky and bathing Tam and her friends in its direct light. A small trickle of sweat ran down the side of her neck, she brushed it aside with her free hand and kept walking.
‘We’re almost there,’ Dylan said beside her. ‘We’ll find your mum, don’t worry.’
‘I don’t understand, if she was just stuck in traffic, why didn’t she answer my call or at least ring me back?’
‘I don’t know, maybe she was helping?’
His words calmed her. Yes, if there had been an accident her mum wouldn’t have hesitated to go and help. That was the type of person she was.
After another couple of minutes they finally rounded the bend. Several hundred metres away there was a congestion of vehicles, including a truck. There was a fire engine and Tam could see the flashing light of an ambulance.
‘This doesn’t look good,’ Will said.
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Dylan replied quietly.
‘Maybe we should wait here,’ Gemma said and then quickly added, ‘we don’t want to get in the way.’
‘You can stay here if you want,’ Tam answered. ‘But I need to find my mother.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Dylan said but Tam had already taken off.
Will waved his hand. ‘We’ll catch up.’
Dylan gave him a brief nod before running after Tam. She got a few curious stares from the people in cars, but Tam didn’t care; something inside her told her she should run as fast as she could. Her breath was beginning to be laboured but she kept running.
There were heavy footsteps behind her and then Dylan drew alongside her. Now she could see a couple of police cars and a barrier had been set up. They slowed their pace and finally came to a stop by the barrier.
‘Hey, Dylan, you can’t be here,’ a young constable said as he held up his hand.
‘Hi, Mark,’ Dylan replied to his cousin. ‘Looks nasty.’
Mark gave a nod. ‘It is. Why are you even here?’
‘We’re waiting for Tam’s mum.’
The colour drained from Mark’s face as he looked over to Tam. ‘Sorry, Tamara, I didn’t recognise you straight away.’
Tam shrugged. ‘That’s okay, Mark, it’s been a while.’ She pointed past the barricade. ‘Listen, I have to get to the other side, Mum will be waiting.’
‘No, if you can just wait until I get—’
‘I promise I won’t get in the way,’ she said as she took another few steps. There was a gap between the vehicles and Tam peered through it. A large delivery truck was smashed into a silver Hilux, the front end was crumpled and there was a tarpaulin covering what used to be the windscreen. Her eyes travelled to the side of the door, on it was a drawing of an old two-storey building with the words Come and unwind at the Kangaroo Ridge Pub.
‘That’s my dad’s car,’ Tam whispered before her world tilted on its axis and the realisation penetrated her brain. Everything began to swim in front of her before she lost consciousness and hit the dirt.