Bella's Run (6 page)

Bella stood at the dining-room door spellbound, but not by the woman tearing the very fabric of her character to bits. No. Bella was focused on the globule of egg white hanging precariously above Siobhan’s coiffured head. A head on which every strand of hair was blow-waved and slicked into savage submission. How the heck that bit of goo hadn’t already succumbed to gravity, Bella didn’t know. But it was about to . . .

The globule wavered in the breeze from the opened sliding door. Swinging lazily, the gooey strands securing it to the ceiling slowly but surely drooped downwards, slipping and sliding with malicious intent.

And then the gluey muck was on its way.

Phlat!

Chapter 5

It was chiming ten on the kitchen clock as Bella flipped over the cheese sandwiches lined up like soldiers in the frypan. Over the orchestral voices of insects and frogs abroad on a typical outback night, she could hear roars of laughter coming from the dining room in the stockmen’s quarters.

Chairs thumped on the worn vinyl floor as both Rodney and Macca rocked back and forth, doubled up with laughter over the vision of an egg-white-daubed Siobhan. Bella could hear Will’s deep voice rumble on through the laughter as he described the pomegranate she-devil from hell.

Despite the dire outcome, Bella couldn’t help but grin to herself at the picture that came to mind: a speechless Siobhan, mouth wide open to the flies, swiping at a slick blob of slime that had first hit her lacquered hair and then slowly slid south to adhere itself to her mascara-encrusted eyelashes.

Siobhan had immediately flung her hand to the mess in her eyes, which only made matters worse; a flick of her wrist split the now blackened mess in two, sending it downwards to stain the folds of the outlandish sheath.

Bella and Will had watched in silence.

The fallout from the disaster hadn’t been instant termination of employment as Bella predicted.

It was worse.

She now had to clean every inch of the guest quarters –
on her own
– for the company VIPs who were arriving next week. Six bedrooms, six bathrooms, six toilets, kitchen, dining room, two lounges, and built-in verandahs, all thickly coated with red bulldust. There were all manner of creatures to be evicted too – frogs, cockroaches, snakes.
Yuck!

What’s more, she had to clean up after they’d gone, and do it every time VIPs came and went until the end of the year. And that was on top of gardening. Her job description was starting to weigh so heavily it was likely to drown her in the nearest turkey nest dam.

If Bella hadn’t needed the money she’d have tossed the job in right there and then. But she and Patty wanted a holiday on their way home at the end of the year, so she bit her tongue and wore it, although that didn’t stop her from bursting into tears once the bitch had gone. Will had opened his strong arms and she’d walked into them blindly, crying like a baby.

‘You don’t
have
to stay, Bella. Both of you can come home with Macca and me,’ he suggested.

But Bella wasn’t walking away with her tail between her legs. She’d be buggered if Siobhan was going to win that easily. And she didn’t need any bloke to carry her home either. Throwing back her shoulders and drawing in resolve, she moved away from Will – away from temptation. ‘Patty and I made a commitment we’d stick it out for a year and that’s what we’re going to do. That bag isn’t going to get the better of me this easily!’

‘So, I ended up introducing myself,’ Bella could hear Will finishing the story as she walked into the dining room with her tray of toasted sandwiches. ‘Siobhan didn’t really seem that interested, though. Might have had something to do with the mess she was in.’ Glimpsing Bella, he then went on, ‘And now here we are, with what I am sure is the most delicious-looking meal ever to grace these stockmen’s quarters.’

He looked straight at Bella. The heat of his gaze suggested it wasn’t
just
the cheese sandwiches that looked delicious. She could feel herself blushing as she placed the tray on the table. Crikey, she hated that. She usually left all that red and randy stuff up to Patty. Speaking of which . . .

‘How’s the famous spaghetti bolognaise and sumptuous pavlova coming along, cookie?’ Patty arrived at her friend’s side as if beckoned, smelling like Pears soap. ‘Beats me why you were going to the trouble of cooking all that stuff. Not many here to eat it anyway.’

Bella gritted her teeth. ‘It was a challenge, and the food was to last the whole weekend so I didn’t have to cook
again
.’ Lifting the plate of sandwiches she pushed them into Patty’s chest. ‘There, smart alec. And before you ask, it’s tinned two-fruits and cream for sweets.’

Patty opened her mouth.

‘Don’t say a word!’ Bella held up her spare hand signalling STOP in capital letters. ‘Not unless you want to wear the two-fruits over that head of yours.’

Patty took the plate of sandwiches in one hand and zipped her lips with two fingers of the other, at the same time winking at Macca.

It was a quiet Friday night at the quarters. Most of the other ringers had taken off for Gundolin, a small town a few hundred kilometres away. The rest had already had their tea and departed to bed.

All those involved in the day’s traumatic events sat around the table munching their food as Patty and Macca filled everyone in on Max’s medical evacuation to Brisbane. He was still critically ill but had stabilised which was a relief. The conversation then moved to lighter matters.

‘Are you two blokes in for tomorrow night’s rodeo at Gundolin?’ Rodney spluttered around a mouthful of toast and cheese.

Bella swiped at the wet crumbs that had landed on her hands. ‘Jeez, Rodney. Didn’t your mother ever teach you some manners? Or at least that fancy boarding school you went to?’ Rodney ignored her, focusing instead on Will and Macca. ‘Gundolin rodeo, boys . . . bucking bulls, Bundy, beer, band and boobs. You both in?’

Will and Macca looked at each other, then across at the girls.

‘Yeah, too right,’ said Will as he gazed at Bella.

The dimples flickered. The man who owned them had no right to look so damned good. The ‘too old, too serious, too close’ mantra Bella had been reciting in her head for the past few hours wasn’t cutting it anymore. Her libido was in goddamn overdrive. She really
was
in deep shit.

Chapter 6

The day of the Gundolin rodeo dawned hot and heavy. The air was filled with moisture and there were clouds hanging low to the north-west.

‘Better pack our Driza-bones, Patty, it’s going to rain before the day’s out,’ Bella yelled through the kitchen door across to the accommodation dongas where her friend was packing an overnight bag for them both. Bella flipped the eggs she had frying in the pan and glanced up at the station clock ticking loudly on the wall. ‘And can you dash out to the verandah and ring the bell to bring the boys in? Lunch is nearly ready.’

She could see Will, Macca and Rodney out in the horse paddock, arms elbow-deep in mud trying to find the leaking pipe that was supposed to be supplying water to the stock trough. ‘And tell them to bogey on up before they think of crossing the doorway. I’ve just mopped the dining-room floor.’ Bella paused. She looked out the window at the amount of mud wallowing around the boys. ‘On second thoughts, tell them to just have a wash and I’ll serve lunch on the verandah. I haven’t spent all morning cleaning this kitchen for them to dirty it again.’

Patty appeared in the doorway. ‘So, do you want them to have a shower or not?’

‘Well it doesn’t look like they’re anywhere near fixing that leak because water’s still spraying out everywhere. We’ll be lucky to get to Gundolin before dark, the rate they’re going.’

‘Fair go, mate. They’ve been at it all morning. Their swags were rolled up near the ute when I got up at six-thirty for a pee, so they haven’t exactly been standing still pissing into the wind, you know.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Bella looked repentant. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. Just grumpy, I guess.’

‘Wouldn’t be a case of a little
luvvve
sickness, now would it?’ Patty’s grin was as wicked as her brother’s. It just lacked the carnal edge.

‘Love? Now who in the heck would I
luvvve
out here?’

‘How about just plain old
luuust
then?’ Patty sang, until she saw the glare on Bella’s face and thought better of it. ‘I’ll just go and ring the bell to call them in, shall I?’ she said.

‘Yeah, you do that!’ Bella slammed some bacon into the frypan on the stove. She tried to work out why she was so out of sorts. It didn’t take long. In her heart of hearts she knew this was the way she reacted to fear, nerves or anger: flight, fright or fight.

What did she have to fear?

Your feelings for Will
,
whispered her subconscious.

What was making her nervous?

Your feelings for Will.
This time the whisper was a little louder.

What was making her angry?

Your feelings for Will.
The whisper became a shout.

‘Crap!’ she bellowed, as the bacon spat fat into her eyes. ‘Oh damn!’ she yelled again as she blindly stuck her hands out searching for the sink.

‘What’s the matter?’ a deep voice rumbled at her side.

‘Oh!’ she jumped, slamming a hand down on the tap.

‘Bella, what have you done?’ Will’s voice rumbled again.

‘You know, you really shouldn’t be let loose in a kitchen,’ Patty’s voice joined in.

‘Shit, the bacon’s burning to a crisp,’ said Macca.

‘Just as well I like my pork well done.’ Rodney had the last say.

‘For crap’s sake!’ Bella could hear herself yelling. ‘I’ve got hot fat in my eyes, so if one of you would be
kind
enough to turn some water on I might be able to rinse them so I can
see again
!’

‘All right, all right, keep your shirt on.’ Patty’s voice was all businesslike and brisk. She took Bella’s hands and guided them to the now-running water. ‘Wash out your eyes with this.’ A soft cloth was put in her hands. As Bella gently wiped, her blurred vision slowly cleared . . . to see three mud-covered men standing in her spotless kitchen.

‘Argh!’ she screeched again, causing them all to jump.

‘Jeez, Hells Bells, you’ve always been jumpy, but you don’t have to share it around,’ Patty laughed.

‘What the hell do you think you’re all doing in my kitchen looking like
that
?’ Bella swung around to Patty. ‘Didn’t you tell them to bogey on up, or at least sit on the verandah?’

‘Settle, petal,’ a droll Patty replied. ‘They haven’t finished the pipe patch-up session yet, so it’s no use having a shower. And then you yelled . . .’

‘. . . so we thought we’d see what was going on. We were worried it must have been a snake or something,’ finished Will, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Bella peeled back like she was stung, and found herself hard up against the island bench.