Beyond Fear (9 page)

Jodie edged away and felt the car bumper against her thighs. Don’t panic, Jodie. Keep your wits about you. She took a breath. Okay, don’t answer any more questions. It felt wrong, like it was giving too much away.

‘Where did you come from?’ Her voice sounded small and frightened. She cleared her throat, raised the volume. ‘What are you doing here?’

The one on the right spoke again. ‘We’re camping over the ridge.’ He pointed in the direction of the long drive but up and over the other side of the hill. ‘Came to see where the lights were coming from.’ When she looked back, he’d stepped forward, level with the other guy.

His hands were in his pockets now, they looked like they were just having a casual chat. But there was nothing relaxed about the way they were standing. Their bodies were squared, torsos erect, feet apart, ready to move if they wanted to. And they were way too close. Not quite within the two arm’s lengths Jodie taught in her self-defence class – two arm’s lengths was too far away for grabbing, enough distance for a heads-up if an attacker moved – but here, in the dark, it was too close for comfort.

The bumper on the back of her thighs told her she couldn’t do anything about the distance between them but she could improve the odds. She sat on the edge of the boot like she needed to take a load off and let her left hand drop into it. ‘Is there a camping ground over the hill?’ she asked as she slid her hand over the dirty base.

‘Nah, don’t need a camping ground to pitch a tent around here.’ It was the guy on the right again, inching forward as he leaned his weight on one leg. Jodie heard the gravel shift, realised he’d reached the parking pad.

Jesus, they were boxing her and Hannah in. Jodie touched the cold metal pole she’d felt earlier, closed her fingers around it.

‘Hey, look, Hannah. I found the tyre iron,’ she said loudly, holding it up high so the dim light from the verandah could catch it.

Hannah turned her head towards her briefly.

The one on the right nodded with his chin. ‘What do you girls need a tyre iron for?’

To beat the crap out of you if you come too close.
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Jodie tried to keep her voice steady as she swapped it to her right hand. She gripped it low and firm, like a tennis racquet. ‘Maybe a bit of indoor hockey. After twenty-five years running around a pitch, I reckon I could do as much damage with this as your average hockey stick.’ God, she hoped they got that message.

Hannah turned her head towards Jodie again. Jodie wished she’d look back at the two men. They both needed to be on guard, needed to be ready to move. Jodie’s mind spun through the options. If she moved to her right, around the car, the two guys could go for Hannah. If she moved to her left, towards Hannah, she’d be tripped up in the luggage stacked at their feet and they’d both get grabbed. The car was behind them – not a rock but definitely a hard place and difficult to get under or over in a hurry. Okay, if you couldn’t talk your way out of it or run away from it, the only thing left was to fight. Fast and hard, like she taught her students. It was what an attacker least expected.

‘Jodie.’

It took a moment for Hannah’s voice to register. Not the fact that she’d spoken but the way she’d said it. Her tone was low and quiet, like she was sending Jodie a message. But Jodie didn’t get it. It wasn’t ‘Jodie, be careful’, or ‘Jodie, watch out’, or ‘This is getting serious, Jodie’. It had a question mark at the end. Like, ‘What do we do now?’ No, that wasn’t the question. Jodie replayed Hannah’s voice in her head. It didn’t make sense. It sounded like, ‘What the hell are you doing, Jodie?’ She let her eyes leave the men for a second. Hannah’s face was in darkness but she was looking Jodie’s way. And she was shaking her head.

‘It’s cool, Jodie,’ she said softly then turned back to the two men. ‘We’ve got to get inside before we freeze our buns off. Enjoy your camping.’ She bent over, began picking bags up off the ground.

Jodie studied the two visitors. They were watching her. Hands still in pockets, feet still planted. Ignoring Hannah picking up the bags, just watching her. Waiting maybe or assessing. Jodie straightened, squared her shoulders, raised the tyre iron a little, shook it about a bit, like she was testing its weight.
Two men against two women, one with an iron bar that she knew how to use – assess that.

Hannah nudged her along the car. Jodie took a few stiff steps, kept her eyes on the two men while they kept their eyes on her.

‘Don’t forget the icebag,’ Hannah said and pushed it at her empty hand.

Jodie gripped its handle, thought about how best to swing it if she needed to. She took another sideways step, cleared the back of the car, heard Hannah drop the boot hood and waited until she’d slipped in behind her before she started moving towards the barn.

The two men watched her all the way to the verandah. She paused at the bottom of the steps, the iron bar still clutched at her side. The man on the right nodded to the other one. They turned and walked in the direction he’d pointed to earlier. Jodie climbed the stairs and waited until she could no longer see their shadows in the dark then went inside, shut the door and turned the deadlock.

Jodie leaned against the front door and closed her eyes. She was out of breath, the thin cotton singlet under her winter clothes was damp from sweat and her spine shook like a tuning fork.

‘What are you doing?’ Louise asked.

Jodie opened her eyes, saw Louise at the kitchen island with a big spoon in her hand. Hannah was standing amongst the bags they’d deposited at the hallway door. Corrine was half reclined on the lounge in front of the burning fire. And they were all looking at her. No, they were staring, frowning, perplexed.

‘Is that a tyre iron?’ Louise asked.

Jodie looked down at her hands. She was still gripping the tyre iron in one hand, the icebag in the other. She wasn’t sure she was ready to let either of them go yet. ‘Yeah.’

Corrine shifted, getting a better view over the lounge. ‘What are you doing with a tyre iron?’

‘Scaring the shit out of a couple of campers.’ Hannah cut in from across the room. She let the last of the luggage fall from her shoulder, tossed it onto the pile already on the floor then walked wordlessly to the door, took the icebag out of Jodie’s hand and delivered it to Corrine. ‘Don’t take too long with the champagne. She scared the shit out of me, too.’

Corrine and Louise turned in stereo to Jodie, clearly not sure what to make of the moment.

Jodie ignored them. She was still focused on Hannah. ‘
I
scared the shit out of you? What about the two men who appeared out of nowhere, like they were taking a nice stroll in the middle of a cold, dark night?’

‘What men?’ Louise asked.

Hannah stood in front of the fire, crossed her arms over her chest. ‘There were two guys walking around out there. They offered to help us in with the bags.’

‘Offered to
help
us?’ Jodie heard the pitch of her voice climb. ‘Like your average porter leaps out of the bushes in the middle of the night.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Jodie,’ Hannah snapped. ‘It’s not the middle of the night and they’re camping just over the hill. You carried on like they’d been hiding out up here waiting for some handy, unaccompanied women they could rape and pillage.’ She looked at the other two. ‘She told them our husbands would be here any minute. God, I hope not, ’cause mine would be bringing the kids with him.’

Jodie felt her mouth drop open. She couldn’t believe it. Those two men may not have been hiding out up here waiting for women, but rape and pillage had definitely been an option.

‘Where did you get the tyre iron?’ Louise had moved around the kitchen bench and was standing in the centre of the room.

All three of them were looking at her again. She still had her back to the door, still stood on feet slightly apart, ready for action. It seemed out of place now. Self-consciously, she lowered the bar and relaxed her grip.

‘It was in the boot. I got it out just in case we needed a weapon.’

‘She threatened them with it,’ said Hannah.

‘No, I didn’t. I just made it clear I’d use it if I had to.’

‘Yeah, right. “I’ve played hockey for twenty-five years. I know how to use this thing.” If that’s not a threat, I’d hate to see what is.’

Corrine and Louise turned surprised faces to Jodie.

‘I didn’t say it like that. And besides,
they
were threatening
us
.’

Hannah made a scoffing sound. ‘They came over to see where the lights were coming from. They looked about as threatening as a couple of campers hunting for firewood.’

What was she talking about? They could barely see them in the dark and menace had just about pulsated off them.

‘Two big men appearing without warning in the dark wanting to help two women, who, for all they knew, were alone up here. That’s a threat. And frankly, I don’t care if I did scare the shit out of them, or you, Hannah, it’s better than at least one of the alternatives.’ She shuddered involuntarily, a quick, rolling tremor. ‘Believe me, it’s a whole lot better.’

9

Jodie stared into the silence that followed her declaration. Hannah looked down. Corrine fingered the icebag on her lap. Louise cocked her head to one side and watched her across the room.

By the fire, Hannah unfolded her arms, tucked her hair behind her ears, tried to look conciliatory. ‘Okay, it’s been a strange night and we’re all hungry and tired.’ She sent Jodie a small, charitable smile. ‘And after everything you’ve dealt with tonight, you’re probably suffering from a bit of shock. I’d overreact too if I’d been through what you had. Why don’t you come and sit down.’

Been through what you had.
It was her ex-husband James all over again. Anger burned up from Jodie’s belly like indigestion. Hannah was wrong. And Jodie was damn glad she hadn’t told her about the flashback. She was not being paranoid. ‘You’re not listening and you need to for your own safety. Damn it, Hannah, the girls I teach at school could have analysed that situation better than you. I didn’t
overreact
. Every instinct told me it was a threatening situation and if you’d paid attention, you’d be thanking me for averting what was pretty obvious danger instead of telling me I’m going over the top.’

Hannah looked away and sighed. A great big she’s-unbelievable kind of sigh.

Jodie gripped the tyre iron hard. This situation
was
unbelievable. She needed to leave the room before she said something she regretted. Before the adrenaline that had been pooling inside her for the last couple of hours exploded in a nasty, weekend-wrecking argument. She stalked past the pile of bags, turned into the dark hallway, took the door on the right and shut it behind her.

It was the second bedroom. Two big single beds, thick white comforters, timber floors, timber walls, large window overlooking the front verandah. No way. She stepped across the room and pulled heavy white curtains across the glass. Chest heaving, jaw clamped tight, she looked around the room again. Built-in wardrobe, aged set of drawers, bedside tables, soothing photos of misty countryside. Damn the soothing. She was mad. Hannah was wrong. She was not freaked out. She’d followed her instincts. She . . .

Jodie noticed the mirror above the set of drawers. Actually, what she noticed was her reflection
in
the mirror – arms out at her sides, eyes wild, still holding the tyre iron. Not holding, brandishing it like a weapon.

Okay, maybe she was a little freaked out.

Maybe more than a little.

She flung the metal bar onto the closest bed, put a hand to her mouth and sucked in a long breath. Then another. She’d been scared tonight. All night. She could still feel it. A rock in the pit of her gut, an ache in the ridges on her belly. She moved her hand down, rubbed it across her stomach, sensed rather than felt the markings under the layers of clothing. Tears welled in her eyes but she batted them away. Come on, Jodie. You don’t cry. Not over something like this. What the hell is wrong with you?

The whole night was what was wrong. It was a litany of scary moments. Each one on its own would have been unsettling but they’d come one after the other without a breather in between. And now Corrine had a sprained ankle, she’d yelled at Hannah, caused a scene and pretty much fucked up Day One of their weekend away.

She sat on the end of the other bed. God, she was exhausted. A post-adrenaline slump. It had been flooding her system since that car ran them off the road. She must be drained of the stuff by now. She put her elbows on her knees, looked over at the tyre iron and the black mark it had made on the white comforter. She frowned at it. Thought about what had happened at the boot of the car – the two men appearing, the over-friendly conversation, the way they’d moved slowly closer, watched Jodie while Hannah picked up the bags. She shook her head. Where had she overreacted?

There was a knock at the door.

‘Can I come in?’ Louise asked, opening the door and coming in anyway. She sat on the bed next to Jodie. ‘You okay?’

Jodie shrugged. ‘Aside from ruining the night for all and sundry, including the nice guy from the service station, yeah, I’m fine.’