Red (10 page)

‘Kate gave it to me on the train. If they let Peri out, maybe we should ring Kate and sleep there. Or she might tell us where the truck place is.'

The minutes ticked by. A phone rang and went unanswered. Red slumped onto one of the plastic seats. The hard frame dug into her back and the underside of her legs. A different policeman, huge and fatherlylooking, came through a rear door and noticed Red and Jazz. ‘You two young ladies need any help?'

‘We're OK,' said Jazz. ‘Another man is looking after us.'

More minutes ticked by.

Finally the first policeman came back, not through the door that he'd left by but through another door on the same side of the counter as Red and Jazz. With him was Peri. His face was washed, one arm was bandaged and he had on a different T-shirt.

‘OK,' said the policeman. ‘I should probably lock this young fella up for the night. I'm not happy with you city kids hanging out in the streets round here, but if Mrs Michaels will come and pick you up, and if she'll guarantee to keep you out of trouble, then you can go without any charge.' He waved to a phone on the wall at the end of the counter. Red took the scrap of paper and dialled the number. How could she speak so the man didn't hear?

As the dial tone rang she watched him go back to the other side of the desk and sit at his computer.

‘Hello?'

‘Hello, is that Kate?'

‘Yes.'

‘It's Red.'

‘Red? From the train?'

‘Yes.'

‘Where are you? Are you all right? What's happened?'

‘It's a long story. We've ended up in a bit of trouble and we're at the police station and they want your mum to come and pick us up.'

‘My mum? Why her? OK. Hang on … '

Red heard muffled words in the background.

‘OK. I'm going to come in and get you. I'll be about fifteen minutes.'

‘Thanks. And Kate, I'm really sorry.'

The policeman left them then to wait.

They settled on one of the seats as far from the desk as possible.

‘What was that all about?' Peri spoke as softly as he could.

Red explained. ‘And I thought they were going to ask me your name and I didn't know what you'd said that was.'

He grinned at her. ‘I told them my name was Dominic. Dominic Walker. I got that bit from that woman on the poster.'

Red and Jazz burst out laughing.

‘What's so funny?'

‘She did the same,' said Jazz. ‘She's Rose Walker!'

‘I knew we were related,' said Peri.

• • • • •

Kate arrived and went straight to the desk.

‘You happy to look after this lot?' The policeman came towards her. ‘Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? School? Back around 2000?'

Kate nodded.

‘Thought I recognised the name.'

‘Well, I'd better take these kids home and get them fed. See you.'

‘Yeah. See you.'

They followed her out to a four-wheel drive parked under the trees.

‘I'm so glad you gave me that number,' said Red.

‘ 'S all right. I thought you might need me.'

• • • • •

They drove through the empty streets past tidy houses lit only by the flickering light of television.

‘Is your mum OK about this?' said Peri.

‘She's a bit confused. We're both a bit confused. I told her I met you on the train and you were running from all the chaos in Sydney and she said you were welcome to a feed and a warm bed and then some help to get where you're going. Your uncle's, wasn't it? In Melbourne?'

‘That's right.'

‘But what happened to you, Peri? You look like you've been in a brawl.'

‘Something like that.'

‘It's complicated,' said Red. ‘Can we explain when we get to your place?'

• • • • •

They turned into a driveway where two sprawling scarlet bottlebrushes hid the house from view. Kate drove around into the back yard. A lazy dog tied up at its kennel watched them walk up to the door.

‘Come on in,' said Kate. She dropped her bag onto the kitchen bench and tossed her keys into a bowl. ‘We won't bite.'

• • • • •

They sat around the large wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. Kate's mother, Anna, her long grey hair now falling loosely over her shoulders, carved a roasted chicken and dished up plates full of potatoes, carrots and peas. ‘All from the garden,' she said, ‘the chook included.'

Red scooped a forkful of peas and gravy into her mouth. ‘Tastes great,' she said.

‘So you were all in the thick of it, the cyclone I mean.'

Red nodded.

‘Terrible business. It's going to take years to rebuild, that's if they do rebuild those suburbs. Some people are saying it could all happen again and they should get used to it. Imagine that, cyclones like you get in the tropics. Maybe they should turn the coastal strips into parks or something like that.'

Red took a long sip of water. Suddenly she was remembering: mud and sand in her mouth in her nose in her hair, the stinking smell of the dog carcass, the weeping, weeping people filling the Centre. Her hands shook. Peas fell to the plate, to the table, to the floor.

‘Sorry,' she said. ‘I just …' Her throat tightened. She pushed her chair back from the table.

Everyone was looking at her.

‘Toilet's down the hall,' said Kate.

Red found the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She turned the cold tap on and splashed her face over and over again. Tears and cold water ran down her cheeks. Finally she turned the tap off, wrapped her face in a towel and sat on the edge of the bath. Her body steadied. Her breathing became normal. She looped the towel over the rack and walked back into the hallway.

Kate was standing outside the kitchen.

‘Are you all right?' she said.

Red nodded.

‘I get flashbacks,' said Kate, ‘times when I think I'm back in the middle of it. And I didn't have nearly as bad a time as you.' She put her arm across Red's shoulder and they went back into the kitchen.

Peri was talking to Kate's mother. ‘Kate said you used to be on a farm.'

‘Yes. We moved into town when Kate's dad died.'

‘What kind of place was it? Stock or crops?'

‘Both. Cattle mainly, and wheat.'

‘Did you have any horses?'

‘When Kate was a kid. Why? Sounds like you're interested in farming. Is that where you live?'

‘When I was a little fella. We were on a farm for a while. I used to have my own horse.'

Red watched him as he spoke. He'd dropped his voice and was stirring the gravy on his plate. What had he told her before? That his mother had died. Was that why they left the farm?

‘I wish I lived on a farm.' Jazz grinned at Kate and her mother. ‘It must be just so much fun.'

‘More like hard work and little money,' said Kate.

‘It's all right.' Anna scooped up the plates and moved them over to the bench. ‘Grab some fruit and let's go into the other room. I've got some things I want to ask you people.'

She led them along the hallway and into a room filled with heavy green leather armchairs. There were dark wooden cupboards along one wall. Behind the glass doors of one were rows of old hardback books and behind another delicate teacups and plates decorated in blue and white patterns. In an alcove beside the fireplace was a wall of photographs: individuals in beautiful clothes, couples on their wedding day, children playing on the front verandah. In the centre was a large formal photograph of what looked like a whole family. Red stared at the old-fashioned clothing: long dresses on the women, high collars and dark jackets on the men. There were little children in the front row all in the same style of white pinafore.

‘My great-great-grandmother,' Kate pointed to the old woman in the centre of the photo. ‘She had eleven children.' She traced her finger over the straight-backed men and women. ‘And this little kid here,' she touched on the smallest of the children, ‘is my grandmother.'

‘You are so lucky.' Red stayed in front of the photo for a long time.

• • • • •

‘OK.' Kate's mother drew a deep breath. ‘I'm happy to feed you kids and give you a bed for the night. I believe in the kindness of strangers and if you were mine I'd hope someone out there was looking out for you.' She paused. ‘But I reckon you owe me a bit of an explanation and Kate says she got the impression you might be in some kind of danger.'

‘No. No way.' Jazz smiled brightly. ‘We've been in the big mess in Sydney and we're on our way to Melbourne to stay with an uncle.'

Red rolled her eyes. She looked across at Peri. He nodded.

‘It's not really like that,' she said. ‘We could be in danger, real danger. We just don't know. I'll tell you from the beginning.' And so she began with the moment she woke up in the mud muttering someone's name and saw Peri watching her from his position on the table. She summarised the night in the school, the discovery of her photo by Jazz and their subsequent meeting. It felt good to talk. It really was like a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She only hesitated when she got to the moment of placing the memory stick in the computer. She took a deep breath. ‘It was my father. I knew it was him even though I can't really remember being with him or where we were. And the things he said are really scary. He wants us to take this stick and the files on it to this judge who's in Melbourne, in some commission.'

‘That'd be the Royal Commission,' said Kate. Her mother nodded.

‘And he was really heavy about not going to the police. He said it was really, really dangerous.'

‘What is this commission thing?' said Jazz.

‘It's an inquiry into all kinds of criminal stuff,' said Kate. ‘Drugs, murder, corrupt police. They started doing the research a few years ago and maybe your dad, Red, was involved in that. The rumour is that there are quite a few police who'll lose their jobs over it. There are a couple of big-name companies involved too – companies that people think are respectable but have made millions and millions of dollars with drug-running and other criminal stuff … murder, you name it. There's a lot at stake here.'

‘So anyway, we have to get to Melbourne,' said Red. ‘And we got off the train because Jazz's dad had worked out where we were.'

Kate's mother had been sitting across from Red, her hands clasped in her lap. ‘Slow down a minute. Why didn't you tell all this to Jazz's parents in the first place? They might have helped.'

‘That's what I reckon,' said Jazz.

‘I didn't want to tell anyone. My dad on the memory stick said not to tell anyone, especially not the police. Jazz's dad is in the police. I'm not saying Jazz's dad is bad, I just feel I have to do what Dad said.'

‘Well,' Anna shook her head, ‘you should be careful what you say. Not all police are corrupt. The majority are there to uphold the law and I'm sure they would help you get to the Commission. Some of the ones here are men I've known most of my life. They come from good families. I'm sure they aren't involved in anything that's criminal. You wouldn't be putting yourselves in any danger if you told them.'

‘But we can't be sure about anyone or anything.' Red held her gaze. She was getting a bad feeling about Kate's mum – what if she decided to phone the police first thing in the morning? Then they'd be at the door and they'd call Jazz's parents and that would be that. The memory stick would be in Jazz's dad's hands, and she, Red, would be stuck. No dad … no memory … nothing.

‘I don't like the idea of you just heading off to Melbourne by yourselves. You are children. This is not some game you're playing. Anything could happen to you and I'd feel responsible. In the morning we'll sort it out properly.'

‘Why don't we sleep on it?' Kate stepped in. ‘I'm stuffed and I'm sure you kids are.'

• • • • •

Later they lay on spare camping mattresses on the floor of the television room. Red couldn't sleep. ‘I don't think they'll help us. Kate might, but not her mum.'

‘You're right. She's a bit of a dragon. I reckon she's on the phone right now, dobbing us in to some mate who's a policeman. Everyone knows everyone in a town like this. We have to help ourselves,' said Peri.

‘But what can we do?' said Jazz. ‘This was kind of fun at the start, but not now. We should've told Mum and Dad in the first place. Then we wouldn't be in this mess.' She rolled over, turning away from the other two.

Peri moved closer to Red and whispered, ‘I reckon we should get on a bus tomorrow and go on to Melbourne. We should sneak out really early and do it just the way we did for the train.'

‘But we haven't got any money.'

‘I've thought of that. Kate's bag is on the bench in the kitchen.'

‘We can't take that.'

‘Have you got a better idea? We can leave a note, tell her that we'll pay her back.'

‘But we can't. You aren't listening. I said we haven't got any money.'

‘If what's on that stick is as important as your dad made out, then someone is going to reward you. They'll look after you, and the cost of a bus ride to Melbourne is not much. Kate said she was here to recover a bit – she's not planning to go anywhere. She won't need money. Anyway, people like her can just go to the bank and get more. She won't miss it.'

‘You don't really know that.' Red felt herself wavering. She was like a fish on the end of a line.

Peri the fisherman tried again. ‘In two days, or maybe even tomorrow, you could hand over that stick. People might know more about your dad. They might even know why you were in Sydney, where he was, everything you need to find out. But if Kate's mother has her way we'll be down at the police station telling our story to those blokes who dragged me in. They'll be dead suspicious. They'll be onto Jazz's dad quick as a flash and our names will be in databases all over the country – if they aren't already. Your dad said there are people who'll do anything to stop that stuff getting to the Commission. We don't know if it's the business people Kate mentioned, or some hitman of theirs, or if it's crooked cops or whatever, but you can bet that they'll be straight onto it. Big-time crooks hack into databases all the time. They know what's going on. They could figure out who you are and that you're on your way to Melbourne and they'll just know that it's got something to do with your dad's evidence. They'll know that they can't take the risk on you getting there.'