Tuesday night
Makowa Lodge
Ellie pushed open the door to her apartment and kicked her heavy boots off as soon as she was inside. She’d picked up a hamburger at the bistro on the way past and the smell of the onions was making her mouth water. At this rate she’d have to ramp up the exercise. Pizza for lunch and hamburger for dinner. At least she’d managed to resist the hot chips.
The lunch with Kane had sent confusion spiralling through her again. When he’d reached over and wiped that piece of cheese from her chin, it had taken every ounce of willpower not to reach up and hold his hand against her skin. She’d tried to ignore the warm feeling that coursed through her blood every time their eyes had met. Instead she’d lowered her eyes and focused on the pulse in his neck, remembering the steady beat of his heart against her cheek as she’d lain in his bed.
She didn’t trust these unfamiliar feelings. As she crossed to the sink to wash her hands, she glanced up at the clock. Half an hour to eat and then Skype Emma and Mum, and Dru. Maybe hearing about the family stuff in that box would cheer Mum up. After wiping her hands, she dropped the towel on the sink, and bent down to pull a plate from the cupboard. The aroma of the onions won out and she unwrapped the burger, unable to resist taking a bite before she took the plate into the living room.
Ellie stopped dead in the doorway and grabbed for the plate as the hamburger slid to the edge.
The sofa was empty. She put the plate on the coffee table, casting her mind back to the night before, and trying to remember exactly where she’d put the small box. Standing with her hands on her hips, she slowly scanned the room before continuing into the bedroom. The top drawer of the chest of drawers was open and her underwear was hanging over the edge. Her neck prickled as she walked over and bent down, picking up two pairs of her lace panties from the floor. Her mouth dried and she threw them back down to the floor. Ragged cuts had been sliced through the crotch of each pair. Hands shaking, she walked quietly over to the small bathroom and peered in. The shower curtain was pulled closed across the small bath. She always left it open because she hated the feel of the wet plastic against her skin when she showered. Slowly, she reached out, poised to run.
The soft plastic slithered against her fingers as they curled around the edge and she yanked the curtain back.
Nothing. No one was there.
She checked that the windows in the bathroom and the bedroom were locked before she walked back to the living room. Leaning over each end of the sofa, she looked for the box on the floor, but there was no sign of it.
Lowering herself to the soft cushions, she sat straight and looked around, trying to see if anything else was missing. But nothing was out of place. Only the box and her underwear. A shiver ran through her at the thought of someone touching her panties. The furniture melded into a blur of colour as she stared at the wall, ignoring the food in front of her. The clock ticked in the silence as the greyness of uncertainty enveloped her. It was time to start taking a bit more care. A lot more care.
After a few minutes, she picked up the plate, took it into the kitchen, and tipped the cold burger, which was now sitting in a congealed pool of juices, into the small bin under the sink.
Her stomach roiled as she walked across to the table and opened her laptop. Someone had been in her room again. The metallic taste of fear and doubt filled her mouth.
She fought for calm as she logged on and set up a group call. The musical tones of the Skype call signal broke the silence as she waited for her sisters to pick up.
‘Ellie!’ Dru’s blonde curls filled the screen. ‘You’re early. I just got to the office.’
‘Hey, Dru. Have you got time for a chat? Em’s not picking up. She mustn’t be home yet.’ Ellie managed to speak naturally and her calm voice surprised her.
‘Yes, but be quick. I’ve got an unexpected meeting.’ Dru’s voice was as clear as if she was in the room with her.
Holding the laptop in front of her, Ellie walked over to the door and checked it was locked. Dru always had unexpected meetings when they tried to set up a family call. Even when they tried to talk at Emma’s place a couple of weeks back, whenever the discussion turned to Mum’s issues, there’d always been something she had to do or a call she had to make. It had been like that since Dad’s death, but she and Em still always made the effort to include her.
Ding! As she stared at the computer screen, an email notification came in from Emma.
Ellie chewed her lip thoughtfully. Dad had always laughed when the computer dinged when an email had arrived. He hadn’t been savvy with computers but she’d set up an account for him a few months before he died.
‘Dru, you’re the computer whiz. How long do email accounts stay active if you don’t use them?’
‘As long as the service provider exists. But with something like Gmail or Hotmail, they’re pretty much there forever. Why, what’s up?’
Ellie stared at the screen. Dru was only half paying attention and was focused on something on her desk and Ellie knew she wasn’t interested in the past. And she could do nothing to help way over in Dubai. ‘Nothing important. Have you settled back to work after your holiday?’
‘Yep, work’s good. How about you?’
How about me? Broke my rules and slept with a guy I work with. Someone has been breaking into my room. And then there’s the old farm.
Ellie shook her head as she stared at Dru’s big blue eyes and the office window behind her sister. Even over the connection, she could see the smog of Dubai hanging in the air.
‘Yes, really busy. The lodge is full and –’
‘Look, Ellie, I’m really sorry, Sam is waving at me from his office. Obviously a drama of some sort. Give my love to Mum . . . and Em. I’ll email you. Bye.’
The screen went blue before Ellie could even reply. She jumped as a tree branch scraped against the corrugated roof.
Why would anyone be interested in a box of old school reports? Maybe there was a petty thief on the prowl. But why would they take the box and leave her laptop and the other minor valuables alone? And why would they go through her underwear drawer? She thought of the thug who’d chased her off the farm.
Maybe it was some sort of warning. Her uniform had indicated where she worked, and it wouldn’t be hard to find out where her apartment was.
The Skype call chimed again and she pressed answer.
Emma’s happy smile filled the screen. ‘Hey, sis. You look tired.’
Ellie closed her eyes for a brief second and drew a breath. ‘Hi, Em. I am a bit. Mum there too?’
‘She’ll be here in a minute. We’re going across to the cafe in the village for dinner. Mum’s idea.’
Ellie frowned, surprised. ‘Wow, Mum’s idea? What’s happening over there?’
‘I took her down to the new clinical psychologist at the hospital in Port Douglas on Friday, and he’s eased her medication right back. I don’t know what he said to her, but she looked brighter as soon as she came out of the consult.’
‘Shit.’ Ellie bit her lip, not knowing what to do. The last thing she wanted was to set Mum back again.
‘What do you mean shit? We’ve been waiting for this to happen for five years.’
‘I know and it’s wonderful to hear.’ Ellie hesitated. ‘Where is she now?’
‘In the shower.’ Emma’s face filled the screen as she leaned in closer to the camera on her computer. ‘You okay?’
‘I’ll be quick before she gets out. Tell me as soon as you hear her.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘You’re not going to believe this, but I think she’s been right all along. There’s something going on at our old place. I saw it with my own eyes.’
‘Something like what?’
She quickly filled Emma in on everything she’d seen; first the trucks, then the earthworks and suspicious construction next to the river, and finally her trip to the farm, including meeting Susan Sordina and being run off the property.
‘Ellie, I don’t like the sound of this. It makes sense of something else I was going to tell you too.’
‘What else?’
There was a long silence at the other end.
‘Em?’
‘After you left I read some of the emails Mum got from one of the action groups. Right now there’s a parliamentary committee looking into exploration applications in the north of the Territory. For fracking and seabed mining.’
‘Are you serious?’
She glanced across at the living room window and saw her face reflected back at her. The sudden realisation that anyone out there could see her clearly in the brightly lit room sent a shiver down her spine. She jumped up and pulled down the rarely used blind behind the curtains.
‘The emails were from a guy at Mary River. He said there’s been a heap of discussion over the past month about moving the border of Kakadu south to allow for hydraulic fracking up on South Alligator River, but it’s been kept quiet. A company called Black Coal Holdings is pushing for a licence to drill. From all accounts there is a big shale gas deposit there. And I looked at the map.’
Ellie shook her head. No way. ‘The South Alligator River is part of the border of the old farm.’ Her mind was spinning with the implications. ‘Why hasn’t there been an uproar about this? There’s always been opposition to mining in the national park and it is traditional land across the river. Remember all the demonstrations at the Ranger mine when we were kids? And Panos owns the farm so where does this Black Coal Holdings company come into it? I’m going to see Bill Jarragah again tonight. He must know something.’
‘You mean Bill who used to work on the farm?’
‘Yeah, Heather’s dad. There was an article in the paper the other day about Sordina meeting with his Aboriginal council. He’s been acting strangely ever since.’ Ellie took a deep breath. ‘Do you know what fracking does to the environment?’ She’d read up on it when she’d been looking for the article she’d seen on Kane’s iPad.
‘No, only what’s been in the emails to Mum.’
‘Even though they reckon it could be really good for the economy, there are so many risks involved. It’s scary stuff. Read some of the articles on the internet. The chemicals they use can leach into the water table. They’ve even blamed earthquakes and global warming on fracking in other parts of the world.’ She turned to pace back the other way. ‘God, I cannot believe this. I wonder if Dad knew about the gas deposits.’ A memory of a conversation tugged at her mind.
Emma’s voice was firm. ‘Promise me you won’t go back to the farm. I have a bad feeling about this. You don’t want to alert them to anything.’
‘Them? Who?’
‘Whoever’s behind it. Whoever owns that company. There’s so much money to be made out of all that stuff in the ground. Are you sure you want to stir up trouble?’
Ellie burred up. ‘I love this place and there’s no way I’m going to let the environment be destroyed. I don’t care that it’s on our old farm, I’d fight it wherever it was.’
‘You’re so like Dad.’
‘I’m sorry, Em, but I can’t sit back and watch this happen. There’s too much apathy in the world today. This is Kakadu, a World Heritage site, for God’s sake.’
‘I know. But I’m worried about you. I just wish you’d move over here with us and leave it all behind. You could get a job flying out of Cairns to the reef.’
‘I don’t want to leave here; you know that. This is my home. I love the Territory.’
Ellie pinched her nose hard until her eyes watered. ‘There’s something else. When I was out there today, Susan Sordina gave me a box of Dad’s stuff.’
‘What was in it?’
‘School reports and merit certificates for the three of us. It was taken from my room today while I was at work.’
‘What do you mean taken?’
‘Someone broke into my room.’
‘Have you reported it?’ Emma’s voice was almost a squawk. ‘And who’d be interested in that old stuff?’
‘I haven’t had a chance but I will. And I don’t know why. It had Dad’s name on the lid. Maybe they thought there was something in there.’
Something incriminating. Damn, I hate thinking about all this. And talking to Emma about it made it seem so real. The past all came slamming back with a vengeance. The fear, the grief, the uncertainty. Now she could understand the confusion her mother had felt for the last five years. That unbearable feeling of being let down by the person she’d loved so much. And always the question: Why?
A pang of regret settled in Ellie’s chest. They should have been more understanding. They should have listened, and not assumed it was the grief causing Mum to make up crazy stories.
‘Holy hell, Ellie. You be careful.’ Emma held her gaze.
‘Em, you know how we went through Dad’s papers when I was staying with you? Do you know if Mum ever looked at Dad’s emails? I know he had a Gmail account. I remember helping him set it up.’
‘I don’t know. How about I broach it carefully over dinner?’
‘Thanks.’
‘Em?’ Ellie dropped her hand from her face and slowly shook her head from side to side as she stared at her sister’s face filling her screen. ‘Mum can’t be right about Dad’s . . . death, could she?’
‘I honestly don’t know, Ellie. Look, let’s talk more another time. Mum’s out of the shower. I’ll tell her the connection dropped out.’ Emma lowered her voice. ‘When we get home tonight, I’ll see if I can find anything else in her stuff. If I do, I’ll email it all to you. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid? Please? And be careful.’
‘I’ll be careful. I’ll call if Bill knows anything, too. Tell Mum I’ll ring her tomorrow.’
Only when Ellie logged off and closed the laptop did she realise that she hadn’t mentioned Kane at all.