It had become a habit over the past couple of months to fall into my bed bone tired. Last night hadn’t been any different.
Fighting nature was impossible. That had never been as clear as since returning to the Sunny Coast hinterland, not that the city didn’t have its fair share of mayhem either. I only had to look back to the horrific floods sending raging waters through the streets of Brisbane a few years back to appreciate that.
The extremes here seemed more visceral, even though they made me feel so bloody lucky that our “extremes” were a damn sight less horrendous than other parts of our state or country at large.
It didn’t mean I couldn’t give myself five minutes to feel weary, though, and wish we could get a break.
Shutting off the alarm on my phone, I yawned and stretched wide. My hand brushing alongside the empty space beside me wasn’t a sensation I wanted to get used to.
The good thing was, despite the full-on day of rescue yesterday and a couple of close calls, there’d been no fatalities. The water had also already been receding by the time I’d dragged myself home, barely managing a shower before faceplanting on my mattress.
But it was already time to get up and see what needed to be done, and I thanked Christ that last night we’d received extra support from further afield, so I was actually able to get some rest.
Having a quick shower to help wake up, I contemplated the likelihood of being able to get to Ross’s this afternoon.
He’d gone above and beyond yesterday to help my parents. And while his support wasn’t a surprise, it still made my heart race and dip like a roller coaster, reminding me of those words that had spilled out yesterday morning.
We’d spoken for barely a minute last night. My folks were safe, Ross sounded more tired than I anticipated, and Bessie was still pregnant. In our brief conversation, neither of us had mentioned the L word, nor did I let the words stumble unbidden again.
There was no doubt I’d say them again. The words were out there now, caught in the invisible connection between us. I did not want them to disappear. My tired overshare had just sped my declaration up a little. My stomach flipped at the thought—in both anticipation and nervous excitement.
I swilled off the suds, then dried off. I’d make a coffee this morning to-go rather than race out of here like fierce rapids were after me. I turned on the machine and flicked off a quick text to Ross while I waited.
Me: Just about to head back out. I’ll let you know any updates as soon as I do. Stay safe.
Before long, I’d made my way to the station. A few of the guys arrived at the same time as me. I greeted them with a tired smile, and we walked in together, all hugging our coffees.
Craig was already there.
“Get much rest?” he asked when I leaned against the wall at his side. A quick look around told me the chief would lead briefing, but a few bodies were still missing.
“Not too bad, about six hours. Slept soundly, though. You?”
“About the same.”
Movement off to the side brought my attention to the last couple of stragglers, and before I could say anything else, Frank called our attention and started laying out the plans for the day.
“With the water already receding, we’re going to ensure nobody enters areas and houses still flood affected. The SES is leading the clean-up while we’re focusing on clearing roads. This’ll mean trees, debris, any vehicles. I shouldn’t need to remind any of you not to be crossing flooded roads and only be tackling anything where it’s safe to do so. If there’s an emergency situation, the usual protocols are in place.
“Be extra vigilant for wildlife,” he continued, and Craig shuddered at my side, hating snakes especially. I wasn’t a fan myself, but I had a healthy respect for them—from a distance. “Just keep your heads on straight and wits about you. We’re splitting into three crews.”
I chugged back my coffee before checking and collecting equipment, then joined Craig, Sandra, and Lee. Sandra hauled herself into the driver seat, and we checked our comms. Sandra verified where we were heading first: Michelin Avenue, where there was a road blockage.
Out on the road, we drove slowly. While there weren’t a lot of vehicles about, there were plenty of people out and about, most looking like they were ready for hard work supporting their neighbours who’d been impacted.
We managed to get to the outskirts of town to Michelin Avenue. It looked here that the homes weren’t too severely impacted. Most were raised a good metre off the ground. While some flood water and debris remained, this part of town didn’t appear to be badly off.
Water splashed and moved right alongside us, probably a couple of inches still on the ground, and up ahead, a couple of cars were stationary, both parked haphazardly. A small gum had uprooted from one of the gardens, smashing through a fence and stretching out on the road.
Sandra parked, and we got to work, first shifting the abandoned vehicles, both left unlocked, making the task refreshingly easy. Once the cars were out of the way, we suited up with our protective gear and chainsaws.
The aim was to clear the road so vehicles could get through safely. The council guys would head over as soon as they could with their woodchippers to finish off the job. We weren’t about keeping things tidy. Our goal was safe access.
We worked on the branches, since those were the main things blocking the road. The limbs took some work, but I was grateful we didn’t need to mess with the trunk at large.
We zipped through the wood, the scent of gum heavy in the air with the fresh cuts. Between the four of us cutting and shifting the branches off the road, we made short work of the task. In a couple of hours, we were done and moving on to the next job we received from Sammy via comms.
On our way to our third road clearage, I checked my texts, finding a message from Ross. I grinned before even reading it.
“Let me guess, Ross?” Craig said from my side.
“He thinks Bessie’s finally in labour.”
“Him and that bloody goat.” He chuckled.
I smirked in agreement. The goats were pains, but I understood why Ross put up with them. They were entertaining and I supposed a little cute. “Mum will be loving it.”
“I’ll bet. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to steal the kid away.”
“You know it.” Mum was such a big softie with animals. It had only been since their travelling days they hadn’t been surrounded by animals of some description. It made for fun, exciting times growing up, never knowing what Mum adopted or nursed back to life. Each day offered a possible adventure.
“You remember when she thought rescuing those couple of bunnies would be a good idea?”
I shook my head in memory as I typed out a quick message to Ross. “Yeah. The multitude of new bunnies created as a result and then the hefty fine she received afterwards.”
Dad had been pissed off, especially as he’d reminded Mum countless times that keeping rabbits as pets in Queensland was illegal.
“Where we off to next?” I asked Sandra, having not really paid attention to the details of the next job.
“Heading over to Michaels Creek over at Hawthorn. There’s cattle on the road there.”
“Alive?” My brows dipped into a frown, hating the idea of the alternative.
“Yeah. The owner’s on the scene. Needs a hand.”
That was a relief. I texted the details to Ross, who’d asked where I was heading to.
Ross: Be safe.
Me: Good luck with Bessie.
As we drove closer to our next stop, I couldn’t help but wonder how many more call-outs we’d need to take. My thoughts briefly went to the day after tomorrow being Australia Day, aware that in many ways, our community would be “celebrating” the best way possible, especially considering the actual date was shadowed with so much unease considering the significance of the date to Indigenous Australians. Tomorrow, for our community, we’d be spending it supporting our town, its occupants, and stepping up to make sure everyone was safe.
Everyone mucking in together seemed significant somehow, and despite being tired, despite wishing the day would be over already and still waiting to see if it was safe to travel to Ross’s, I was where I should be.
“Bloody hell.”
Craig’s exclamation startled me and drew my attention to the scene ahead. My brows shot high, and Sandra’s “Fuck” had me nodding in absolute agreement.
Once parked, we clambered out of the truck, our eyes taking in the mayhem before us.
Ankle-deep water spilled over the road, the usually shallow creek a good three feet high based on the multitude of cows converging in and around the area. The kicker was, at least seven of the cows weren’t simply splashing around having a good time.
The bellowing was loud. I winced at the noise and the scene, knowing we were going to get wet and muddy. Looking closer at the creek, I counted the seconds it took a small twig to travel from one point to another about five metres away.
The muddy water wasn’t travelling too fast, which offered some relief.
But it looked like those mud-splattered cows mooing their damn heads off were stuck good and tight. Meanwhile, the bloke on the other side of the creek was alone and trying his hardest to push those cows not trapped away and towards an open gate about twenty metres or so away. Part of the fence was down, creating a gaping hole where I expected the cows would happily become escape artists again given a chance.
“Let me head on over and see what’s what.”
We nodded at Sandra, Lee joining her to cross the flooded road while Craig and I watched on.
“I don’t suppose we have waders in the truck?”
I snorted and shook my head at Craig.
He sighed. “Figures.”
Despite the noisy cows and the distressed bellowing that tugged at my gut, I took in the surroundings. We were only about fifteen minutes out from Ross’s place, and the vista here was almost as spectacular as the view from his house.
Even with the muddy creek, it was easy to look beyond that to the rolling fields leading to the large valley. With the water still resting on the ground of oats and grass that struggled to soak it all up, it appeared like a sparkling blanket, glistening in the mid-afternoon sun.
Give it a week, and this area would be flourishing with fresh shoots and regrowth. It was the only positive outcome I could think of post-flood—all the much-needed water saturating the earth.
The chaos and damage was a hefty price to pay for the water, though.
Movement on the road caught my attention. Sandra and Lee headed towards us. Their expressions told me that none of us would be coming out of this job clean or dry.
“Old mate Bill over there has someone heading over now with some wire to do a quick fix of the fence. He’s been trying to keep them close together and stop them from panicking, but those ones stuck are making that impossible.
“The plan is to shift those free, get them through the gate. Bill’s going to park his Cruiser in front of the fence to try to deter them, then we need to get these cows out.”
“We’re assuming it’s just mud that’s got them trapped. Just unfortunate, I guess, but we’ll need ropes and get in to see what we can do,” Lee added.
“Got it,” Craig said, and I bobbed my head.
Together, we gathered the ropes, took a deep breath, and focussed on getting in and out as quickly as possible.
Quick no longer seemed to be the word of the day, however.
Sorting the loose cows had been surprisingly straightforwards, all of us walking that fine line between shocked and relieved when we ushered in the fifty or so cows.
The ones trapped weren’t being as hospitable.
Between the flies buzzing around our faces, the mozzies at our ears, and the tired cows, Craig slipping in the water seemed like the icing on the cake. All of us found it more hilarious than we should have. Hysteria wasn’t surprising, with tiredness biting at our heels.
“You all right?” I gave him a hand and tugged him up, wishing it would have been so easy with the cows.
“Fuck,” he grumbled. “Yeah.” A wry grin formed on his lips and my mouth twitched. “There’s so many rocks underfoot. Those bastards are slippery.”
They’d tripped us all up too. A bunch scattered the embankment as well as underfoot, making our movement more precarious. Two of the cows we’d released had managed to get trapped by rocks. Another two had simply been sucked in by the mud. We still had three more to go, but fortunately, another couple of the farmer’s friends had arrived to give a helping hand.
“You need to hold my hand?” My smile was wide as I wagged my eyebrows at him.
“Piss off,” he muttered and shoved me a little.
I chuckled and took a tentative step forwards, wishing like hell I could see where my foot landed. Craig stepped with me, the both of us moving slowly towards our next target. His “Shit” was the warning I needed to grab hold of him as he stumbled.
“You been knocking back shots or something without telling me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t I wish.”
“My hand’s sounding more appealing right now, huh?” I teased, still gripping his forearm.
He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a loud cuss. The two of us jerked our attention towards the shout. The cow we were heading towards bellowed and thrashed.
Surprising the shit out of me, she actually moved, getting herself free. The cheer on my lips was cut off abruptly by another loud cuss, followed by “Snake. King brown.”
With the cow taking panicked strides in our direction and the threat of a snake that I assumed was heading this way too, an errant “Oh fuck” spilled from me as I clung on to Craig and lurched to the closest bank.
Craig’s weight slammed into me, shoving me down, the two of us falling. I registered a mouthful of mud and water before pain ricocheted across my forehead, and the world went fuzzy and then black.