A blast of the unforgiving heat hit Kendra Dalton the minute she stepped off the light plane which had brought her from Sydney. Here, being the middle of nowhere, yet Australia was somewhere she'd always desired to visit and to experience the vast expanse of the outback. Sydney was alive but out here was something different.
Glancing at her watch Kendra noted her arrival to be earlier than expected. They'd had a good flight, with hardly any turbulence, but she knew Gina wouldn't be there to pick her up for another hour, as it was quite a drive from her property to the little airfield. Wiping her hand across her forehead Kendra collected her luggage from the tarmac and headed for the refuge of the waiting room, praying that air conditioners existed out here in the Australian bush.
Tired and jetlagged, she struggled with her suitcase and carry-on. Just as she was almost there she felt a shadow cross her path.
"Would ya like a hand with that, missus?" a male voice asked her, and she had to shield her eyes to make out the features of the silhouette that stood before her. He was one of those Aborigines she'd heard about.
"Thank you," she smiled gratefully, as he took her suitcase and lead her to the much cooler waiting room.
With a sigh of relief Kendra sat in one of the chairs provided, though not as comfortable as those in the airport in Sydney, but she was glad to be off her feet in the harshness of this heat. Wiping her brow again, she looked around her. The room was empty.
Kendra had the strange sensation that even though she was totally alone, she was being observed. She decided to busy herself with arranging her photographic equipment. As a free lance photograher, she wanted to take the advantage of making this trip worth while since she needed the money after breaking up with Mike last month. She was on her own after living with him for so long and it was going to take a while to get over that, too.
Rummaging in her camera bag for the packet of film, she felt a folded piece of paper pushed in the back. Kendra took it out and opened it. The heading listed the name of a London hotel she stayed at last week on her way to New York to hand in the wild safari photos commissioned by The National Geographical Magazine taken in Kenya with a group of multinational photojournalists.
"What's this?" she asked herself. It listed a cell phone number and the name Jack.
"Jack...do I know a Jack?" Kendra thought for a moment, then smiled. "Oh yes, the Australian photographer who accompanied them on the Kenyan trip. He said that if she ever came to Australia, she could count on him to show her around. She smiled and put the paper in her handbag, then started putting film in her Leica, totally oblivious of someone approaching from behind.
With her Leica in hand loaded and ready, Kendra began to quickly scan the room for a shot. As she looked over her right shoulder she caught glimpse of someone. Startled, her head jerked around to the left. A man, tall with dark hair and eyes sat down beside her.
“You startled me”, she said.
Kendra’s breathing was heavy and her heart pounding so hard she could not hear the man speak but knew he had. She put up her hand with her index finger extended to motion that he gives her a moment to catch her breath. Kendra put her camera in her bag, zipped it closed and took a deep breath. She turned to the man and said, “I’m sorry, you really startled me. Now what did you say?”
He smiled, snickered and said, “I said hello”.
She smiled and nodded slightly with an obvious inquisitive look.
Normally overly friendly, Kendra felt uncontrollably guarded. This man seemed out of place. His eyes and smile appearing honest and sincere yet something was amiss. He broke the momentary silence by saying, “Being the only two people here, I thought I’d join you. My name is Eric”, he said putting out his hand for a shake.
“Kendra”, she replied. She did not feel comfortable shaking his hand and didn’t hesitate to let him know. She moved to the seat to her right and turned to the side, putting her left knee on the chair between them.
He looked at her and something nasty flashed through his eyes before he masked it behind that so sincere smile. But Kendra now saw it for the thin disguise that it was and her heart beat so hard she was sure he could hear it.
“Kendra. Pretty name. Your not local, so where are you from?”
She ignored him and pulled her novel from the pocket of her carryon and found her place, and attempted to bury herself in the story of Holmes and Mary’s latest adventure. Just when she thought she’d succeeded, his voice cut through.
“I asked you a question. Polite people answer.”
“Maybe I’m not polite.” She shot back.
“Nobody ignores me.” He snarled.
She sensed his lunge and moved instinctively with a judo kick that sent him sprawling. Before he could gather himself together, the door opened and Gina ran in. She assessed the situation and smiled at Kendra.
“Up to your old tricks I see. What have you gotten yourself into this time?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Kendra smiled back. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Come on! The Outback awaits.” Gina said as she grabbed Kendra’s suitcase. They tossed Kendra’s gear into the Land Rover and headed out into the sun drenched landscape.
Later, Gina glanced in the rear view mirror and said, “Don’t look now, but I think we have company coming. Grab the shotguns out of the back, I didn’t like to looks of that guy and he’s coming up fast."
Of course, Gina’s request not to look had the opposite effect on Kendra. She just had to have a short glance.
“Goodness!! That’s the guy from the waiting room at the airport! I didn’t do anything to him – just showed that I didn’t want to talk to him. How could that anger him so much?!”
“Kendra I told you not to look!! Now are you sure it’s him?”
“Quite positive yes. That look... he tried to mask it with a smile but didn’t do very well...” She was shaking now.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him. Wonder if it’s the man the papers said was wanted by the police for manslaughter the other day. I can’t remember the photo now though, but when we get home I can probably find it in the paper. Let’s just try to shake him off and get home”, Gina said.
After what seemed like an eternity, and via many small roads, carefully chosen by Gina to shake off their follower, they arried to Gina’s house. They hurried out of the car with all Kendra’s luggage, ran into the house, and shut and locked all doors and windows.
"Whew! That was close! You seem to be used to things like this?", Kendra said when they had put themselves into safety.
"It has happened a couple of times before yes. Now let's see if I can find the paper where that murderer's photo is..."
"I know it is here somewhere. Lord, I really need to get a housekeeper!"
"Maybe I could give you a hand? Where do you remember seeing it last?"
"I think I was over here at my desk or at the table."
Kendra goes to the desk, a pile of papers a mile high stood there. In fact the whole house was a shamble. How Gina lived here was beyond her, maybe she could help clean while she is here.
Gina is throwing papers carelessly upon the floor, trying to shift through the weeks old papers and mailings. Suddenly she stops, and inhales sharply. Kendra turns to look at her friend, who now looks as white as a sheet.
"Kendra, The guy in this newspaper clipping is your..."
“....ex boyfriend Mike. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him before now,” Gina said as Kendra yanked the paper from her hands.
Standing there, with her mouth agape and shock planted firmly on her face, Kendra read the horrendous stories of the recent murders in the area.
Now it all made sense. Mike had been leaving town on unexpected business trips for months. Kendra could now see, the fault of their relationship failing was not her own. She was lucky to be alive. Oddly enough, all she felt was relief, as she unloaded the guilt from her backpack. Sitting on the couch before her knees buckled beneath her, she stated, “Why didn’t he just kill me too? What triggered him to kill these poor people? I just don’t understand!”
Gina sat beside her, pulling Kendra near. “Now, now Sweetie this is not your fault. Let’s unpack your bags and then we need to go to the authorities and tell them we know who this is.” Gina was poking at the picture in the paper with the same look of disbelief on her face, as Kendra felt in her soul.
That night, Kendra could not sleep. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours unable to get Mike out of her mind. She couldn't understand why he had spared her life among so many others.
She could hear Gina snoring from down the hall and wondered how she could sleep so soundly after their discovery. The rest of the night passed agonizingly slow and at the first signs of dawn Kendra rolled from the bed.
Out of habit she smoothed over the sheets and fixed the pillow so it looked perfect. She then went over to the stuffed chair in the corner and opened her suitcase. She pulled out the picture she kept of Gina and herself. She never traveled anywhere without it. Gina was like a sister to her and Kendra would never forgive herself if something happened to her.
And in this moment she knew what she had to do.
Immediately she quietly packed her things and took the phone off the hook before she snuck out the door, not even leaving a note for Gina. Later she’ll explain, and somehow she felt that was sufficient.
She jumped into the jeep, reached under the seat and pulled out the gun that had been hidden since she was attacked last year. She never knew who her attacker was for it was dark and they covered her face, but they let her live. There were days, however, that she wished they hadn’t. She lived in fear and always slept with one eye open. Now she wondered if it might have been Mike. She always thought she recognized their scent.
She quickly erased that thought from her mind as she drove off into dusty depths of darkness. Worried about leaving Gina alone, but worried more about doing nothing…
It was nearly dawn by the time she’d turned the ignition off and sat motionless with her hands on the steering wheel outside the dimly lit house she’d once shared with Mike. Part of her knew this was crazy, but the other part told her that she needed to put this behind her once and for all. She’d loved Mike; she’d wanted to marry him, but he wanted her to remain a quiet country housewife and doing her bit to maintain the cattle station he’d inherited from his father.
But Kendra knew farm life wasn’t for her – not yet. She’d always wanted to see the world, and with her natural flair for photography, she began freelancing before earning herself enough money to live her dream. And Mike resented that. He resented her up and leaving him, to head off to Sydney to take photos, a pointless vocation he’d always thought. But it was something she was good at, and it earned her enough to see the world, and become a world-renowned photographer in her own right. Still it had been time to come home, at least for a while. Gina needed help, though she would never have asked for it, so Kendra packed her suitcase and arranged to have the rest of her belongings freighted from New York to Australia. And here she is. But she’d never expected to come back to this. To Mike…
Suddenly the porch light went on and Kendra flinched back to reality, remembering her reason for travelling half the night to come here. And then she saw him. The wispy blonde streaks and the suntanned torso rippling with muscles as he stretched his arms above his head. She could almost see his boyish grin as he reached for his morning coffee he’d placed on the patio table, and her heart began to melt. Gosh, he was beautiful! How could she even think he was responsible for the unsolved murders of the past year? He was a pussy cat. She smiled at the fond memories that flooded her now.
Then he saw her. Slowly he put the steaming coffee mug down and began walking in her direction. Kendra started. What was she going to do? She’d come here to confront him, but now she realised what a foolish idea that had been. Particularly if he really WAS a murderer!
Kendra’s heart was beating rapidly, pounding at the insides of her chest that she could hear it reverberating in her ears. She began to panic and fumbled for the keys in the ignition, but in her frantic haste the jeep’s engine wouldn’t turn over. Looking up, Kendra saw Mike advancing on her as she silently prayed for a miracle. His face broke into a welcoming smile as he came closer, but Kendra just wanted to get out of there now. She wished she’d never had this hair-brained idea in the first place! No, she wished this damn jeep had chosen BEFORE she left not to start instead of now, then she wouldn’t be here out here alone stuck in the middle of nowheresville with an alleged serial murderer making his way towards her with goodness knows what in mind!
Mike reached for the door handle as she was still fumbling with the ignition, tears running down her face. Alone and scared, Kendra switched the central locking system on in an attempt to secure herself inside the jeep. Mike must have pre-empted her move as his smile vanished and reaching behind him, he pulled out a sawn-off shotgun. Kendra froze, her eyes wide in shock and then fear.
“You shouldn’t have come back, Kendra,” Mike hissed at her. “You should have stayed away. You had your chance and you blew it! You went off to see the big wide world and now there’s no room for you here.
“But you had to come back to your precious girlfriend, didn’t you?” he continued. “You couldn’t keep away from her! And don’t tell me that SHE’S not the reason you really left in the first place, because I don’t believe you. I know what’s been going between the two of you all these years, though I tried to tell myself that you loved me. ME! HA! What a joke! I was just a convenient cover for your ‘other life’ with her!”
He paused a moment, then raised the gun a little higher as he said with a sneer, “And now you ain’t ever going to see her again. Because right here, right now, you’re going to die!”
Too afraid to see the gun he pointed at her through the jeep’s window, Kendra closed her eyes tight, then – BANG! It was all over in a second. She felt a warm ickiness over her as she slowly opened her eyes and saw the blood over the jeep’s interior and the windscreen. Trembling, Kendra wondered if she were dead and this was her soul departing her body, but when she opened the door she saw Mike’s lifeless body sprawled on the ground beside the jeep. His eyes were open and he was staring into nothingness. She knew he was dead, but she was still shaking.
Kendra saw movement in her peripheral vision and looked up. There was Gina, shotgun in her hands, still smoking. She had never been so happy to see her friend as she was now. How did she…? But Kendra already knew. Gina knew her too well, and when she snuck out in the wee hours, Gina grabbed her shotgun and followed her, knowing full well she would head to Mike’s.
Kendra smiled. She and Gina were kindred souls. They knew each other so well, what each other were thinking before the other spoke. Then remembering what Mike had said, Kendra realised he had felt threatened by the closeness of their relationship. There was nothing untoward happening between them – they were just two women who shared a bond, a kindred spirit. They understood each other and Mike resented that. Even now, as she stood in the warmth of Gina’s arms, she knew Gina understood her actions tonight and while she may not have agreed, she would not judge her. For that, and so much more, Kendra was thankful.
Yes, Kendra loved Gina, but not in the way Mike meant. For as kindred souls 15 years apart and a lifetime of secrets, Gina was Kendra’s mother.
© WOSIB Literary Garden 2006