The Sunburnt Country (15 page)

DAN
watched Jonelle until she walked off into the crowd. She was fighting it, he was sure. He’d felt her body tremble as he’d touched her hand, but then again, it could just have been his own trembling. The delight that small touch had brought him was breathtaking.

‘Hey, she’s all right,’ said Zac, scooting closer and nodding to a girl walking past in tight jeans, a T-shirt and straight blonde hair.

Dan nodded, barely interested. The crowd was mainly blokes. Even fewer women in race suits. Jonelle had said that quite a few girls raced in juniors and the quarter midgets, but hardly any continued after turning seventeen. He’d also noticed that all the guys Jonelle raced against were in their late thirties, although some were nearly sixty. Only one was younger and he looked like he was hardly eighteen.

‘Do you want a beer?’ Zac asked.

‘Here?’

‘No. Up at the clubhouse they have a licensed area where you can have a drink. It’s a good view from there, too. I packed swags, so we don’t have to drive home if we don’t want to. Racing usually finishes up around eleven if there are no major incidents.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t mind driving home at night but Jonny can’t. She falls asleep twenty minutes into the trip. Think she gets worn out from all the adrenaline. She usually camps just to be safe.’

‘We could drive her home, couldn’t we?’ Dan was thinking he could spend some alone time with her, but then he’d never towed a trailer before. ‘I mean, you could, and I could follow in your ute?’

‘Not a bad plan. I knew I brought you for a reason, Dan,’ he said. ‘Come on, let’s go have one drink. Your shout.’

It was nine o’clock when Jonelle drove out for her third heat. She’d drawn fifth for this race, and after coming first in the second heat she had a chance for a pole position in the final if she could finish this heat at the front.

‘They have some money on tonight so if Jonny keeps this up, she’ll be shouting the pub,’ said Zac, rubbing his hands together. ‘You glad you came?’

‘Hah! I didn’t realise I’d had a choice,’ he joked. ‘But yes, I am having a ball. Didn’t realise what I’d been missing out on.’

Sitting here with Zac made him wish he could share this with his brother. As kids they’d done everything together. Both of them played football and were always kicking the Sherrin in the backyard, trying to hit the garage on purpose to get their dad to come out, hoping he’d stay and play with them. And every time the V8s came around on TV, they’d be out with their own car that they’d built with their uncle’s help. It was more like a soapbox go-kart that they’d take turns pulling each other around on in their cul-de-sac. Dan would always be Peter Brock and had a small bag of pretend crystal rocks tied to the inside of the kart when it was his turn, just like Brocky. They had been the best days. They mightn’t have had their dad, but at least they’d had each other.

Cameron was only twelve when the divorce happened and he’d blamed their dad because he was the one who left, but Dan knew the truth. It all got so messy. After Dan grew up, his life became very different from the one he had shared with Cameron. Dan lived in an inner-city apartment with his dad and began his career in the banking world.

‘Here she goes, Dan. Come on, Jonny!’ yelled Zac, his knees jiggling on the spot.

The green flag dropped and away went the ten cars, motors revving, mud splattering. Jonny passed two cars before she’d finished a full lap.

‘She’s on fire,’ Zac yelled over the cars.

Into the third lap, Jonelle was starting to overtake another car when a white one behind her tapped her back-end hard. Her car veered off course, and headed straight towards the concrete wall. The crowd gave a collective gasp. Zac and Dan leapt to their feet, trying to get a better view as her Torana drove straight into the outer wall. The front end of her car crunched against the concrete wall before bouncing back onto the track, narrowly missing the oncoming cars. Smoke or steam rose up from the compacted front end. It all happened in a split second.

‘Shit,’ said Zac.

‘Will she be okay?’ Dan asked clenching his fists. He strained his eyes scanning the wreck for any sign of her as the fire trucks and ambulance took off towards her car. The fire fighters circled the car with their extinguishers, making sure there were no flames or flare-ups. The track lights had been flicked to red and the rest of the field came to a standstill. The crowd had fallen silent. Dan’s heart had stopped, his breaths becoming shallow pants.
Would she be alive?
he wondered, panic-stricken. It was a shocking crash, the car was compacted, and he tried not to imagine her body bent and broken inside the metal. He realised his fists were squeezed so tight his fingers were going numb.

Some commotion started on the other side of the track. A cheer went up and the crowd began to clap. Jonelle emerged, climbing slowly from the window. Dan released his fists.

The paramedics guided her to the ambulance. Dan watched as she gingerly took off her neck brace, her helmet and lastly the blue balaclava. She stretched her neck from side to side, then waved off the ambulance officers.

‘She’s okay,’ said Zac breathlessly. ‘Come on. Let’s go see her.’

They raced down the grandstand to the corner of the pits where the gates were. By the time they got there, racing had started up again for the last few laps. The chequered flag appeared before long and the guy in the white coat opened the pit gates. Dan followed Zac onto the track, carefully watching the rest of the cars as they peeled off into the pits. His steps on the slippery clay track were unsteady until he reached the racing line, and then he jogged to the infield alongside Zac.

Jonelle had her head under the front end, one knee in the dirt.

‘You okay, sis?’ Zac puffed.

She leant back on her feet, glancing up at them with a disappointed look. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. But the car’s not. The front end’s shifted back a few inches, my steering arm is snapped, along with both engine mounts, and that’s just the first few things I’ve seen.’

‘But you’re fine?’ Dan asked.

Jonelle shrugged her shoulders. ‘Of course. There is a reason the car is full of bar work and we wear a five-point harness. Safe as houses. I feel all right now, but ask me later when the adrenaline’s worn off. I may have mild whiplash,’ she said with a smirk. ‘Damn it. The Torrie was flying tonight, had the power when I needed it and was handling the track really well.’ Jonelle put her hand on the broken fibreglass bonnet as if giving a sick pet a final farewell.

‘What now?’ Dan asked.

Jonelle stood up slowly, taking the hand Dan offered. ‘Well, we stay here and watch the sprint cars and then it’s the break for the track grade. That’s when we load up . . . somehow. Might take a bit to get her on the trailer.’

The Torrie’s front wheels pointed at funny opposing angles. Even though the impact had been at the front, the damage had gone all the way through to the back of the car, shifting the bar work. It was amazing to him that Jonelle had walked out unharmed.

‘Let’s sit on the boot and watch this race. One of the fellas is letting his fourteen-year-old son drive his sprint car tonight. And he’s not bad.’

As they all squeezed together on the boot, which was the only straight panel left on the Torrie, the sprint cars filed out and were push-started by utes and four-wheel motorbikes.

‘Hey, Jonny. Do you want to head straight home after we’ve loaded up the car? I’ll drive.’

Jonelle leaned against Zac, her head resting on his shoulder. ‘Thanks, Zaccy. Sounds like a plan.’ After a minute she bent forward so she could see Dan. ‘So, did we put on a good enough show for you? Everyone loves the crashes.’ She smiled.

‘It was rather special. Just a shame it had to be you. You were killing them out there. I’m glad I got to see you race.’

‘Thanks, Dan.’

‘Did that guy get the black flag?’ asked Zac.

‘He got sent to the back of the field. These things happen. Rubbing is all part of racing.’ Jonelle smiled again, her face glowing.

‘Is it fixable?’ Dan asked. She was a mechanic, after all.

‘Most things are fixable, just depends on how much you want to spend. I haven’t got two cents to rub together so this little girl might be parked up for a while.’

‘Really?’ asked Zac, sadly.

‘Yeah. The motor’s pushed back – I could be looking at a cracked head, I reckon. I can pull it apart in my spare time but I won’t have the dosh to replace anything. I won’t be able to see out the season, that’s for sure. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.’

After the sprint cars finished in a whirl of dust, Zac ran off to get Jonny’s ute and trailer while Dan sat with her.

He studied her face in the floodlights. ‘You sure are a surprise package, Jonelle,’ he said. ‘It started the day I met you and you still seem to find ways to amaze me.’

Her smile was genuine and he felt its effects through his body.

‘Well, thanks, Dan . . . I think. You’re not so bad yourself . . . for a bank dude in stiff shirts.’

It was his turn to smile. ‘Ah, but not tonight, hey?’

‘No, tonight you look . . . normal. And yes, that’s a compliment.’ She flashed him a cheeky grin.

Dan would have liked more time with her but before he could get another word out, Zac was pulling up with her ute. On the back were Frankie, Dic and Alan, who jumped off and went straight to inspecting the damage on the car.

‘Bloody hell.’

‘Shit.’

‘Crunched all right.’

The boys had their heads stuck under, around and inside the car. Reports of breakages volleyed back and forth.

‘Mounts are snapped.’

‘Pump’s broken.’

‘Steering arm’s kaput.’

Finally they all stood back, hands on hips, their overalls open at the top.

‘Well?’ said Frankie, glancing from the car to the trailer.

‘Exactly,’ said Jonelle.

‘We’ll have to push it on,’ said Dic.

Dan moved to the back with Zac, Alan and Dic while Frankie took a side window. Jonelle made sure the Torana was out of gear before she gave the shout to start pushing. After a lot of groaning, lifting and shifting, the car was eventually hauled up onto the trailer. After Jonelle had secured it with ropes, they all stood back and stared at it again. A few more headshakes later and the guys made a move.

‘Thanks, fellas. Appreciate your help.’

‘No worries, Jonny. Let us know if there’s anything else we can do. Guess we won’t see you at the next meeting?’ asked Frankie.

Jonelle just shook her head.

The three drivers took off across the infield on their way over the track back to the pits. Dan opened the passenger door of the ute and turned back to Jonelle, who was putting her helmet, gloves and balaclava back into a bag on the tray. Once done, she climbed in, Dan squishing in beside her as Zac drove towards the pits, waiting for the grader and the water truck to pass.

In the dark of the ute, Dan found Jonelle’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He wasn’t sure what it meant –
I’m glad you’re alive
or
I really like you
– but he just felt compelled to do it. Surprisingly, she squeezed back and didn’t let go until they reached her spot in the pits.

‘Here are the keys to my ute. Just follow us, and dodge whatever shit falls off Jonny’s car,’ Zac said to Dan.

‘Hey!’ said Jonelle, as she started loading up the spare tyres and her toolbox onto the ute. ‘No, you gotta stop and pick them up, they could be important bits,’ she said, laughing.

With the last drum of fuel loaded, Zac told him they’d wait at the turn-off to the main road for him, and then climbed into Jonelle’s ute.

‘Thanks, Dan. It’s nice to be able to get home.’

She was standing so close that he wanted to hug her. Instead he reached across to her arm, rubbing it gently. ‘I’ll see you in Bundara. You’ll need a hand getting it off?’

‘Ta, but I think I’ll just leave it on the trailer for now. Not sure where I want to put her. But thanks anyway. I guess I’ll see you at the barbecue?’

‘Yep.’ Dan wasn’t sure what barbecue she was talking about but made a mental note to ask Zac. He didn’t want to miss it for the world.

She turned and climbed into the ute while Dan headed for the exit with Zac’s keys dangling from his hand. As he walked back through the crowd, the smell of hot chips, coffee and wet clay filled the air. Music was playing over the speakers and kids were leaning against the fences, trying to get a good look at the track. It certainly had been an experience and one Dan hoped his own kids could enjoy one day. But when he thought of his life, returning to the city, he knew he’d be leaving all this behind. Living in Bundara was like living in another world; he felt like he was a completely different Daniel. One he liked a whole lot better.

JONNY
had stared at her beat-up car all morning. Now, as she prepared to head to the pool for an early afternoon swim, she gazed at it again. No miracle had happened. It was still just as bent and busted as it had been before. Jonny threw a towel over one shoulder and her bag over the other and headed back through the workshop.

On her way past, she paused by the pin board. ‘Well, I guess we’re even now, hey, Coot.’ She pressed her finger against the faded photo, missing the crazy old guy. He’d know what to say to make her feel better. No doubt something like, ‘I’ve done far worse than that,’ and then he’d proceed to tell her in great detail about the crash of all crashes. His old photo album was full of his different racing cars over the years and the spills he’d taken. Now she had another one to add to her collection.

Pulling down her sunnies from the top of her head, she swung the workshop door down and locked it, then began her walk to the town pool.

Ryan was meeting her out the front at two. It was going to be a big day for him, as a special community event had been planned to help raise some money for a men’s shed and to raise awareness about depression. The local counsellor had been asked to visit, in a casual role, to talk to people and hand out some pamphlets. Other than that, the event was to be low-key, just folks getting together and having a good time.

Jonny’s thongs slapped against the path as she walked the two blocks. The sun bore down on her light cotton dress, which covered her black bikini. As she ambled she tried not to swallow. She’d woken this morning with slight whiplash. Her neck was tender, but it was her throat that hurt the most. It felt like she had tonsillitis, even though her tonsils had been removed when she was seven.

‘Jonny.’

She lifted her head slowly, spotted Ryan by the kerb and waved. Splashing and laughter were coming from the pool. It sounded wonderful on such a hot day.

‘Hey, mate,’ she said, giving Ryan a gentle hug.

They approached the entry and paid their admission. ‘Thanks, Pete,’ Jonny said, handing over money for both of them. Pete had been the pool manager since she’d learned to swim. They’d all made sure not to drown, as no one wanted to be revived by Pete and his blistered old lips.

‘Where should we go?’ she asked, as they stepped towards the kids’ paddling pool under the shade.

‘There’s Zac and Rick over there.’

Jonny was surprised Ryan spotted them so quickly, given the number of people at the pool. It was a great turnout. All the day’s entry fees were going towards building a Men’s Shed near the hall. It would be an alcohol-free meeting place for local men to get together, talk and build things.

She put down her towel and when she stood back up Daniel was standing there in nothing but boardies. Heat flashed across her cheeks as his lean, perfect chest filled her vision.

‘Hi, Jonny. How are you today? How’s the neck?’

He looked so sincere it made her shiver.

‘A little sore. Throat’s the worst.’

‘What’s happened?’ asked Ryan, his brow creased with worry and confusion.

She saw Daniel smile as she began to explain. ‘Had a crash last night at speedway. Wrote the car off.’

Ryan’s eyebrows bunched together. ‘Say what?’

‘Nothing big. Got a tap from behind that sent me into the wall.’

‘Nothing big, my arse,’ said Daniel. ‘She was racing really well before the crash. The hit was huge. Car looks stuffed.’

‘Whose car is stuffed?’ asked Rick, pushing in between Dan and Ryan. All three guys had bare chests with nothing but boardies on.

By the time Jonny had told the story again, Gemma had tapped Rick on the back and was asking him about it, and then Ken appeared. It was the Bundara grapevine in action. She told a few then they turned around and told a few more. She could almost see her crash working its way along the pool edge, flitting through the crowd like a Mexican wave.

‘Hey, they’re running a special bomb diving comp off the diving board. Everyone is turning a blind eye just this once because it’s for a good cause. Are you in, Dan? Ryan? Rick, your name’s already down,’ said Ken, slapping his son on the back.

‘Well, if mine is, old man, then yours is too.’ Rick tapped his dad’s belly. ‘Just don’t empty the pool out.’

‘Why, you!’ said Ken before wrapping his arms around Rick and roughing him up.

Daniel was watching Ken and Rick. Jonny thought he looked so sad. Nudging him with her elbow, she said, ‘Are you gonna win? You better have something awesome planned.’

Daniel perked up. ‘Are you kidding? The last time I tried to do a bombie was back at school. I’m not sure I even remember how to swim,’ he said.

Zac and Rick overheard his comment and shared a look. ‘Well,’ they said together. ‘There’s only one way to find out.’ They latched onto Daniel’s arms and dragged him towards the pool.

Jonny clapped and laughed as Daniel went in with a splash, his sunnies and thongs still on. She was so busy laughing at Daniel that she failed to notice Rick creeping up on her and before she knew it both of them hit the water with an almighty splash.

When Jonny came up for air, she pushed her sunnies onto her head before finding Rick and dunking him under again. ‘You little turd.’

Jonny turned towards the laughter behind her, just as Zac fell into the pool. ‘You think that’s funny, Dan?’ she said, reaching out to dunk him. But he grabbed her hands, foiling her attempt. Water dripped from his hair, his smile was cheeky and he still had hold of her hands under the water. Zac started splashing water into their faces so Daniel moved in behind Jonny, using her as a shield by grabbing her tightly around her waist and holding her against his chest.

‘Dan, out here we don’t use our women to protect us,’ Zac said, laughing.

But Jonny liked being plastered against Daniel. He was warm and strong. Twisting out of his grasp, she turned to face him. She put her hands on his neck and ran them down to his shoulders. Daniel’s jaw tensed, and then she pushed him under. Before he could come back up, she swam to the safety of Rick and Zac. Ken swam by, nudging Gemma. ‘How come you don’t drown with all those holes?’ he teased. Gemma poked out her pierced tongue. She had about six earrings in each ear and a small piercing in her nose, but they didn’t look tacky on Gemma’s dainty face.

They messed around in the water for a little longer. Soon it was time for the competition. Ryan held out a hand and pulled Jonny from the pool.

‘You and Dan seem to be getting on okay?’ he said, his gaze intense and his brow furrowed.

Jonny shrugged; she was surprised that Ryan would notice something like that. ‘Yeah, he’s okay.’ Ryan mulled over her comment but didn’t push her further. After getting their towels, they headed to the diving board. On the way, Ryan tapped the shoulder of a fair-skinned lady with short brown pixie hair.

‘Sienna. Hey, I’d like you to meet my best mate, Jonny.’

‘Hi,’ said Sienna, turning to face them, her eyes large and friendly.

‘Sienna is a counsellor and provides the district with a free service that’s government funded. I’ve been catching up with her these last few days since I’ve been home. I didn’t even know the service existed before. I really hope today helps more people find out about it.’

Ryan was comfortable around Sienna and Jonny could tell he had shared much of his story with her. It was nice to know he was able to speak to someone. Even if it wasn’t Jonny.

‘Hi, Sienna. Nice to meet you.’ She didn’t look like a shrink, wearing just a cotton dress over her bathers. But then Jonny had never met one before. She’d assumed they were all older people.

‘You too, Jonny. Ryan speaks so highly of you.’

Jonny glanced at Ryan. ‘Do you really?’ she teased. He shook his head, pretending Sienna didn’t know what she was talking about.

‘You seem quite young to be a counsellor, I hope you don’t mind me saying.’

Sienna smiled. ‘No, that’s fine. I just knew early on that’s what I wanted to do. My cousin took his life and it was horrible for everyone, and being farmers there wasn’t much help available for us. I swore I would devote my life to helping others, preventing things like my cousin’s death, and so here I am.’

‘Wow, that’s amazing. We’re so lucky to have you.’ It was great for Ryan to have professional help at home. Jonny turned to Ryan. ‘So, how often do you meet?’ she asked curiously.

‘Well, it’s every day until Sienna thinks I’m sane enough.’ He laughed.

‘Ryan! You are sane – you’re doing so well.’ Sienna looked at Ryan proudly. ‘You’re lucky you have such close friends and family.’ She took a step back. ‘Well, I’d better go. Apparently I’m a judge in this comp.’ She pulled a face.

‘Just go for the biggest splash,’ said Jonny, before Sienna gave a nod and disappeared into the crowd that was gathering at the diving end of the pool.

Jonny turned to Ryan, grabbing his arm. ‘She seems really nice.’

‘Yeah, she’s great. Really easygoing.’

‘So it’s helping? You know, is it all good?’ Jonny couldn’t think of a better way to ask if Ryan was okay.

‘I guess.’ he said. ‘I feel okay, but she said these things take time . . .’

‘Like you could go backwards?’

‘I don’t know, maybe. I hope not. But she’s helping a lot with my Alana issues. I think that was the starting point for my breakdown.’ Jonny would have bet her workshop that Alana had been the starting point.

She studied Ryan and for the first time she realised that he seemed calmer. As if he knew he would be over Alana soon, that the pain she had caused wouldn’t ferment inside him forever. No longer lurking in the corner of his mind, souring his life with her deceit.

‘That’s great, Ryan. Just keep moving forward.’

‘Come on, Coop. We’re getting called up,’ said Zac, busting in, grabbing Ryan’s arm and pulling him back through the crowd.

Daniel gave her a wink, before following the guys.

‘This is going to be interesting,’ said Gemma.

Renae appeared as well. ‘Oh, thank God you’re here, Jonny. For a minute I thought you’d decided not to come.’ Renae wrapped her arms around Jonny’s shoulders. ‘Zac told me about your crash. I’m so sorry. I know how much you love your car,’ she said.

‘It’s not a complete write-off. I’ll fix it one day or build a new one. When I manage to rob a bank,’ she joked. ‘So where’ve you been?’

Renae cupped her hand over her mouth and whispered into her ear. ‘Waxing my legs. How bad is that?’

Jonny laughed. ‘Isn’t that what they say, that a mechanic’s car never gets serviced or a plumber’s own plumbing never gets done, or a beautician’s legs are . . . ?’

‘Exactly.’

Gemma threw her arm out in front of them. ‘Hey, look – Rick’s up first.’ Gemma jumped up and down. ‘Go babe!’

Rick walked out on the board, jumped a few times and then bounced on his bum before tipping over to land with a giant slap as his belly hit the water.

‘Ooh, that’s gotta hurt,’ said Renae, scrunching up her face.

Jonny saw Sienna hold up a bit of paper with a seven on it. Alongside her, Pete, the pool manager, held up a four. ‘Piss-poor effort,’ he shouted.

The crowd erupted with laughter.

Daniel was next, holding his knee as he launched off the board, hitting the water like a cannonball. Jonny’s skin caught the tiny droplets from the splash. When it was Ryan’s turn he did a sommersault, which was a crowd favourite. The eventual winner was Tuck, who ran the roadhouse and had the most body mass. He had wet the spectators both times. His huge belly was red from slapping against the water.

Then, while everyone was still paying attention, Pete introduced Sienna and she went on to talk about her service. ‘It’s free, so just ring me up, my number is in the local paper, it’s all private and confidential and you can see me about anything. Nothing is too big or too small. You don’t have to be depressed to visit me, sometimes you might just need to off-load about the drought or your kids, anything. I’m here to listen. Please, don’t be a stranger.’

By five, the event was wrapped up and the pool closed for the day. ‘Hey, you lot wanna come back home and we’ll continue this pool party at our house?’ asked Ken. He had a pool – nothing fancy, but it was wet – and it was still hot. ‘All right, Dad! Great plan,’ said Rick, who went to tell Ryan and the others.

Daniel went with Zac to swing by the pub for some drinks, while Jonny and Renae caught a lift with Ryan. Ken’s place was right behind his butcher’s shop.

‘Hi, Sue. Hope you don’t mind that Ken invited us here,’ said Jonny as they walked around to the Merrits’ large back patio.

Sue smiled, her hands on her narrow hips. ‘You know you’re welcome any time, Jonny. Hi, Nae,’ she said giving her a hug. ‘Just make yourselves at home. I’ll go get some dip and bickies organised. Nathan!’ she shouted. ‘Can you scoop out the the pool before everyone goes swimming, please?’

Rick’s older brother, Nathan, sat in the afternoon light, sunning his bare chest. Nathan wasn’t interested in being a butcher. He left that to Rick. Nathan had taken up a position with the shire instead, aiming to become the grader driver.

‘Come on, Nathan, chop chop,’ teased Renae. Nathan flipped a finger, but then smiled and hauled himself from his deckchair.

‘How come you weren’t at the pool today?’ asked Ryan, as he laid his wet towel over the brick wall that divided the patio area from the lawn and the pool.

‘Mum wanted the paving finished off out the front,’ said Nathan, before heading to the small pool shed.

‘Got to earn his keep. He’s living here for a steal as it is,’ said Sue, putting a bowl of chips on the outdoor table. ‘Help yourselves, guys.’

As Ryan reached for a few chips, Sue put her hand on his arm. ‘How’ve you been, Ryan?’ Sue was like Ken, so caring and always helping out on various committees when she wasn’t flat out helping to run the butcher’s shop. ‘You gave us all a scare, you know.’

Ryan nodded. ‘I’m doing all right, thanks, Sue. Everyone has been so great.’

She patted his arm. ‘That’s good to hear.’

‘Hey, here’s where the party’s at,’ said Zac, as he came around the corner with a carton of beer under his arm.