Each time Karl visited he became more enamoured with Katherine. It was the longest time he had spent close to a woman and a beautiful one at that. As his lust grew so did his frustration. The problem was crazy Benjamin. He could not afford to cross Benjamin; he was so dependent upon him. His most precious possessions were in Benjamin’s name. Inside his utility, neatly hooked behind the seats, was his pride and joy, his Lee Enfield number one, Mark III rifle. It was old but, fitted with telescopic sights, it was ideal for shooting kangaroos, dingoes and even pigs. A .303 bullet shot out at a velocity of almost half a mile per second. But, like the Toyota, it was registered in Benjamin’s name. Even the radio’s call sign was not his own. He could not afford to get any licences for fear that the police might track him down. In anything official he dared not use Karl’s name and details because he was dead. He had to remain anonymous, a non-person. Perhaps he could work on Benjamin’s strange religious beliefs and so-called visions so he’d get access to Katherine.

He’d spent the past month away shooting vermin on a station in the north. Now Karl he was on the way to deliver some supplies to Benjamin, all the time thinking of how to resolve his problem: the woman.

The heat was unbearable. By midday even the hardy eucalypt mallee shrubs were wilting as waves of still air simmered above the baking red sand. From the veranda the perimeter fence appeared to move and bend like some exotic dancer. Silence surrounded the buildings.

Both Benjamin and Katherine sat in the shade of the veranda while Carolyn played at their feet. Apart from her bright pink cheeks she seemed oblivious to the heat. Benjamin wore only his shorts and, overcome by lethargy, sat staring into space. Katherine was dressed in one of her remaining short skirts, which was now slightly too large for her but better than nothing. On her lap was her shirt which she was repairing, again.

‘We really need new clothes. These are finished. I can’t see how I can fix this shirt again.’ She held it up for Benjamin to see the thin cotton and the patches. ‘I’ve got only what was in my case: they’re so old everything is falling apart.’

‘Yeah, reckon ya right.’

‘And Carolyn needs clothes too. She can’t just run around naked all day, like this. She gets burned. And what about when winter comes? And she’s growing —’

‘Yeah. Okay. Okay. Write down what ya want an’ I’ll get it. I’m goin’ south next week. Gotta take some hives down.’

In the early days Katherine wondered how it was that bees were successful out in the desert where the floral displays were so spectacular but erratic and short lived. She later discovered that Benjamin regularly moved the hives, sometimes great distances, to follow the blossom or for pollination of crops.

Benjamin continued. ‘Karl’s gunna be here today an’ he’ll look after ya when I’m gorn.’

This news drew very mixed feelings from Katherine. She’d hoped she’d be able to persuade Benjamin to let her travel with him on his next trip rather than being left alone for weeks. For ages she’d tried to behave as quietly and unobtrusively as possible to achieve this, even absorbing the strain of being friendly towards her captor, hoping to convince Benjamin that all thought of escape was forgotten. She now knew her efforts obviously failed. The idea that Karl would be there with her was disturbing. She did not relish the thought of being alone at the Factory with him. She did not trust him. In the past when he visited his behaviour in front of Benjamin was exemplary but, when Benjamin was out of sight, he made kissing faces at Katherine and, on one occasion, even put a hand on her bottom and breast.

Each time he grew bolder in his advances but always when Benjamin was out of sight. Katherine had not been sure how to deal with this. She tried talking to Benjamin. ‘Your mate, Karl, doesn’t behave properly towards me.’

‘Yeah? Wadda ya mean?’

‘Well, in front of you he’s fine. But if you’re not there he, well, makes faces to me. And once he touched me up.’

‘Huh! Faces? Touched ya? Wadda ya saying, woman?’

‘I’m suggesting I don’t trust him. And I don’t think you should either. He makes eyes at me when you’re not around.’

‘I know what ya on about, woman. Jist tryin’ to stir up feelin’ between me an’ Karl. We been real mates for a long time. He’s a good bloke.’

‘No, I’m serious I —’

‘Karl wouldn’t do nothin’ ta upset me. He depends on me for everythin’. Can’t do nothin’ without me so he’s not gunna try an’ take me woman.’

‘I just think he’s not all he —’

‘Now ya tryin’ ta stir up trouble between us. He reckons I’m ta soft on ya. I don’t treat ya proper like a man should a wife, an’ ya should be obedient like what the Bible says. Wants to know why ya sleep on ya own. Wadda ya think?’

All her efforts at being friendly, almost submissive, to try to get Benjamin to think that she accepted her confinement suddenly evaporated. Her frustration at not being able to go and the loss of a potential escape plan caused her anger to boil over.

‘I am not your wife, no matter what you and your Bible say. I am still another man’s wife! Alec’s wife. You kidnapped me and that’s a serious crime. We’re living in the twentieth century, not two thousand years ago. Can’t you get that into your thick skull? Even after all this time I still desperately want to go home. I don’t want to be your wife, or have anything to do with you. I hate you. You keep me here in a prison, you rule me. I don’t even have a name here, you just call me “woman”—’

‘Ya know from Genesis, God told us man is to rule over woman and jist as Adam named Eve, it’s me right to name ya.

An’ I named you ‘Woman,’ my woman, ya belong ta me. Ya mine. I own ya.’

‘Belong to you? Own me! I’m not some property, a slave, something to be bought and sold. I am a person, a woman. I don’t belong to anyone. Not me, nor my child.’

‘Is ya kid yours? Does she belong to ya?’

‘Yes, she is mine. But she’s a child.’

‘An’ a woman is like a child. Men must look after em. An’ a wife belongs to her man. God says so. He made woman to be a help ta man. An’ you belong to me. Jist like ya bubs belongs to ya.’

Katherine realised she was not going to make any head-way in this argument. She switched tracks. ‘Carolyn is nearly ready to start school. My child is growing up to be a weirdo, no friends, no father, no —’

Benjamin interrupted her, his voice rising. ‘No father? I’ve bin a father to her. I feed her, talk to her. Brought her toys an’ even them kids books like ya wanted. I didn’t want, but I gave in ta ya. I’ve bin like a husband to ya, but you ain’t been a wife to me, eh. Anyways, she’s a girl, so ya kin teach ‘er everythin’ she needs ta know.’

The noise of an approaching vehicle made them look up, ending the argument. A short while later a swirl of dust in front of the gates heralded the arrival of the dogger.

Benjamin reached into his pocket and threw the keys to Katherine. ‘That’s Karl. Go, woman, an’ let him in.’ He emphasised the word, ‘woman’.

Katherine carefully put down the cotton thread and needle; simple implements became valuable under these conditions. She pulled on her partly-repaired shirt and slowly walked over to the gate. She no longer cared much about her appearance. Only a few years ago she would never have dared to appear in front of a stranger without being properly dressed, her hair combed and face made up. Yet here she was, wearing only a threadbare shirt and worn-out skirt. She lacked make-up to cover her perspiring face and her ash-blonde hair, now grown long again, hung past her shoulders. She slouched forward, unlocked the gate and opened it.

‘Ta, luv,’ was the laconic comment Karl made as he slowly drove in, pausing to look out the driver’s window. His dark eyes stared at Katherine’s face then down to her chest and her shapely, tanned legs. He grinned, one of his self-rolled cigarettes hanging in the edge of is lip, and drove in.

The men were already seated on the veranda by the time Katherine returned from locking the gate. She started to sit on the steps but Karl spoke to her, ‘There’s beer in the esky, should still be cold. Go get us a couple.’ He pointed to his vehicle.

Katherine stood, turned and obediently walked to the truck. She opened the door to pick up the esky sitting on the passenger seat and saw the rifle. She’d seen it before, but since the argument with Benjamin, she looked at it with new eyes.

She glanced back at the men on the veranda. They were deep in conversation.

She leaned in and touched the rifle. Fear overcame her as she realised that she knew nothing about guns: not how to load one or even aim. Perhaps it was already loaded. Nervously she lifted it from the supporting clasps. It was heavier than expected. Slowly she fingered the mechanism, trying to decide if it had a safety catch, how to work it and discover if it was loaded.

A gnarled hand suddenly grabbed her firmly by the shoulder. Another curled around her hair, pulling her head sharply back.

‘Put it down, bitch. Don’ ya mess with me fuckin’ rifle, ya stoopid bitch.’

In shock she dropped the rifle back on to the seat. ‘Ouch, sorry. I —’

‘Shuddup.’ Still holding her head right back, Karl pulled the esky to the edge of the seat. ‘Open it, ya bitch an’ get two stubbies.’

She grappled in the esky and picked up two bottles by feel.

‘Shut it.’

She closed the esky as ordered.

Karl pushed her roughly back to where Benjamin sat, forcing her to shuffle awkwardly. It hurt but she couldn’t put her hands up to try to ease her pain without dropping the beers.

‘Serve ya man,’ Karl ordered, forcing her to her knees in front of Benjamin.

She held out the beers.

Karl grinned, he was enjoying her pain and humiliation.

‘What ‘appened?’ asked Benjamin.

‘What ‘appened? Ya fuckin’ woman was tryin’ ta get me fuckin’ gun. Reckon ya need ta take ‘er in ‘and a bit, mate. She’s bloody dangerous. Ya need ta control ‘er more or she’ll kill ya. Or me, or both of us.’

Benjamin didn’t object to Karl’s swearing. Instead he looked at Katherine still kneeling in front of him. His eyes narrowed. ‘That so? Ya gun, eh?’

By now her the pain in her scalp hurt so much it was making Katherine cry. A mixture of pain, fear and uncontrolled anger welled up inside her.

‘Yes, it is. I want to go home. I thought I could force you to take me home if I took the gun. I’ve been your prisoner for too long. I just want to go, to get out of here. Please, I beg you, please let me go. Take me and my child home.’

‘Home? Ya is home.’ Benjamin turned to Karl, still holding Katherine’s hair in his fist. ‘Ya came at a good time. We was jist talking ‘bout her not being a proper wife. Jist listen ta her. Home! I reckon I’se bin patient enough. When is long enough? Wadda ya think, eh?’

Karl looked at Katherine, kneeling on the floor, crying. His mouth curled into a mirthless grin. ‘Sure ya have, mate. Real patient. How long’s ya gunna wait, eh?’ He ground his cigarette into the ground and leaned into Katherine’s face. ‘How long, eh?’ His breath smelt foul, but it was not the smell of stale tobacco. It had a sweetish scent to it.

Benjamin continued. ‘The gun, eh? No proper wife would take a gun ta her man. Ain’t right.’

‘Ya right, Benjamin. She’s dangerous an’ not a proper wife ta ya. Mind ya, I reckon I could help ya there. I could teach her to be a proper wife, like ya wants? Like ya told me the Bible says she must be? I reckon God wants me to help ya.’

Benjamin responded to Karl while looking at Katherine, ‘Well …’ He hesitated. ‘I’m goin’ ta Perth tomorrow. Be away ‘bout two weeks. Ya gunna ‘ave ta look after the place an’ her anyways. Mebbe ya kin teach her to obey her man like the Bible says?’

‘Sure, I’d be pleased ta help ya. She’s gunna be real pleased to see ya back, eh? I promise.’

Benjamin looked back at Katherine. He saw the fear in her eyes and hesitated momentarily. ‘Don’t ya hurt her. Jist tell her what she has to do to be a good wife. An’ she’s me wife, not yours, even if ya is me mate, so no muckin’ about. God’s law says, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Ya know what that means, don’ ya? An’ what’ll ‘appen if ya break God’s laws.’

‘Oh, yeah. Sure I know. Wouldn’t dream of anythin’ like that, mate.’

‘Ya reckon ya kin fix her? I want her to be a proper wife but I ain’t gunna force her. She ‘as to come ta me by herself, that’s what God wants.’

‘No worries, I won’ hit her. Jist tell her. Ya know, bit of stick an’ carrot. Reward an’ the like. Don’ worry, mate she’ll listen ta me.’

‘Jist make sure ya keep ya gun locked up.’ Benjamin hesitated. He knew that Karl could be violent, but he also knew that he could ruin Karl’s life with a single anonymous call to the police.

Their symbiotic relationship meant they needed each other. Karl needed Benjamin so he could remain anonymous; Karl used his vehicle and gun but Benjamin owned them. His life as a shooter would be over if Benjamin chose.

‘Yeah, okay. If ya do anythin’ ta her I don’ like, it’ll be ya that’s gorn, mate.’

‘No worries, mate. I promise no hurtin’. Jist tell an’ show. She’ll be right, mate. Ya know I wouldn’t do anythin’ ta upset me ol’ mate.’

Benjamin had tried patience and kindness with this woman. Perhaps now was the time for her to see there were others who could be less kind. Perhaps it was God’s way. God of mercy could also be God who demanded punishment and anger. That what the Bible shows. ‘Jist make sure ya keep ya gun locked up.’