Stephens sat playing with his glasses. Swivelling his chair, he turned his back on the screen practically bursting with paperwork and stared out the window, watching the leaves on the trees outside playing in the sunlight.
‘One hell of a year…’ he murmured to himself.
Chapter 24
The one o’clock sun was at its merciless worst, beating down on all those who stood under it. Finn and John had been out most of the morning mending fences — a bad enough job without 37-degree temperatures. Walking towards the kitchen, Finn took off his dusty Akubra and used his neck scarf to wipe the sweat and dirt from his brow. He squinted in the direct sunlight, creasing his deeply tanned face.
Up the steps and into the relative cool of the veranda, Finn could smell the aroma of lunch coming from the kitchen. The unmistakable aroma of pan-fried steak made his dry mouth water. Dropping his hat on the bench seat outside the door and taking off his neck scarf and boots, he opened the flyscreen. Stepping inside, it took a moment for Finn’s eyes to adjust to the light.
‘Hey, take a seat. I’ve got a steak and salad ready to go,’ said Jess, greeting Finn with a smile.
‘Thanks. What a morning! Once again your old man is working me to within an inch of my life,’ said Finn, taking a seat and reaching for the glass of water on the table.
‘You should both be taking it easy out in that heat today. One of you will pass out,’ said Jess, tipping the steak onto a plate.
‘Yeah, it’ll be me that does it, too,’ said Finn, rubbing his face.
‘Here you go,’ said Jess, putting the plate on the table. ‘Where’s Dad? Is he coming in?’
‘He said he’ll be in shortly. Think he was going down to check on the guys doing the fencing in the bottom paddock,’ replied Finn around a mouthful of steak.
The distant sound of an engine made them both look up at one another. ‘Not expecting anyone today, are we?’ asked Finn.
‘No. Might be the builders?’ Jess suggested, shrugging.
Finn got up from the table and walked to the kitchen window to see who was visiting them unannounced. Looking out, he saw that it was a military 4x4 — the kind they used out in the desert. The vehicle drove past the fence and up the driveway, coming to a stop outside the house in a cloud of dust.
‘Stay here,’ said Finn, walking to the door. Jess took his place at the kitchen window.
Outside, Finn stood on the veranda, watching the vehicle suspiciously. No one got out and, from what Finn could make out, there was only one person in the truck. But the windows were so dusty he couldn’t see who it was.
Though the engine was switched off, it was ticking as it began to cool, the metal contracting.
Finally, the driver’s door opened. Slowly the driver stepped out, walking around the front of the vehicle, allowing Finn to see who it was.
‘Sarge!’ yelled Finn, starting down off the veranda.
‘Hunt. Finally tracked you down,’ replied Higgins, walking with a limp to greet Finn.
The two men embraced hard, slapping each other’s backs.
‘It’s good to see you, Sarge,’ said Finn, grinning broadly. ‘I tried to find out what happened to you guys after the bridge mission, but it was impossible getting anything useful out of the army.’
‘You know the army,’ drawled Higgins, ‘can’t make anything too easy.’
Finn stared at Higgins. It was strange to see him again. His face was clean and no longer permanently sunburnt. He looked 10 years younger. He was dressed in a light blue shirt, tucked into dark grey combats. Almost normal.
‘Come on inside, out of the heat,’ Finn said, moving towards the house. ‘I want you to meet Jess.’
Stepping into the cool of the kitchen, Finn introduced Jess.
‘Hello, Jess,’ Higgins said politely. ‘Lovely to meet you.’
‘You too. So you fought with Finn then?’ asked Jess, somewhat suspiciously.
‘Yes, I had the distinct pleasure of leading Hunt here into both his first and last battles,’ Higgins said, smiling.
‘Well, you two must have a lot to catch up on,’ said Jess, moving away. ‘Think I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Thanks, Jess,’ said Finn, watching her leave. ‘Take a seat, mate,’ he gestured to Higgins. ‘Can I get you anything?’
‘Just a water, thanks. After the war I swore never to come back out to the desert again, so you should feel pretty bloody special that I would break my promise to come and see you.’
‘Thanks, mate. You could have just called,’ remarked Finn, chuckling.
‘Smart ass.’
‘So what’s been happening?’ asked Finn.
‘Before I get into that, tell me what happened to you and Carver. The last I saw of you two, we were tearing through the bush being chased by a bunch of angry Chinks — pissed off that we’d blown up their bridge.’
Finn looked down at the table momentarily, his smile erased. He crossed his arms. ‘Mate, what can I say? It was fucking crazy.’
‘I know it was. I was there, remember? But what the hell happened to you two?’ Higgins insisted.
Finn squirmed. He didn’t want to talk about it. ‘Okay. So when it all went to shit we began moving back, not far behind you lot. I saw Carver take a round in the shoulder, so I went back to get him. Everything was happening so quickly, by the time I had him up and moving we were cut off from you guys. I don’t actually remember what happened but next thing I know I’m coming to in a shed, tied up and with a cracking headache. And I hear these screams, these fucking awful screams, you know,’ he nodded to himself. ‘And it wakes me up pretty quickly, yeah. So, I’m trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do when the door opens and they drop Carver down. They’d been torturing him. Pulled his front fucking teeth out. They hadn’t even asked him a single question, the sick bastards.’
Higgins was listening intently now. Nodding.
‘I’m lying there and this officer comes up to me, right, and leans down and just says, “You’re next”. That scared me, mate, because I’m looking at Carver and thinking he’s going to do that to me.’
‘Fucking sick bastards. Did you get the officer’s name?’
‘No, nothing.’
‘Damn,’ said Higgins, looking away.
‘So, anyway,’ Finn resumed, ‘I managed to cut the ropes and find an opening in the shed. I pulled back a corner of corrugated iron and dragged Carver out with me. He’s able to walk, but then, about 50 metres from the shed, we’re spotted and all hell breaks loose. We’re going as fast as we can, but there’s no way he’s going to outrun them. Our only chance is to get into the bush and hide. Then Carver gets hit…’Finn paused a moment and drank some water. He noticed that his hands were shaking. Breathing deeply, he tried to slow himself down.
‘It’s all right, mate. Take your time,’ said Higgins encouragingly.
‘Yep. I haven’t told this to anyone,’ Finn exhaled. ‘Thought I was okay with it, but it’s hard when you talk about it.’
‘I know, but it helps in the long run — trust me.’
‘So Carver’s hit, I’ve got his blood and brains all over me. And I’m standing there in the dark, and these Chinese fuckers are coming down on me fast. So I run for it. I don’t check Carver. I’m pretty sure he’s dead, but I didn’t check. I just leave him and I leg it as fast as I can…’ Finn choked back hard. The emotion had been rising in his chest and he felt a huge lump rising in his throat. ‘I was so bloody scared. There was no way they were going to do that to me, no way, no fucking way,’ Finn snorted, the snot running down his throat, and he wiped angrily at the tears in his eyes.
‘It’s all right,’ Higgins extended his arm across the corner of the table and gripped Finn’s shoulder. ‘I’d have done exactly the same thing — you were acting on instinct. You didn’t have time to stop and check his vital signs, you were operating in survival mode and your instincts took over — and they knew what to do. When you’re acting on instincts you don’t need to think, they do that for you way faster than your mind can. In that situation, your instincts are right on and, I know you, you’ve got good instincts. Carver was dead. Deep down you knew that, and you kept running to stay alive. That’s why we’ve got instincts — they look after us. Y’know what I mean?’