Back on Track, page 32
“I hope you don’t need to wear them here.” Tien was still scouring the ground for potential danger.
“Here’s Judith,” Ning said.
Lacey looked up. Judith was striding towards them from the direction of the buses.
“I thought I’d meet you at the coach but I didn’t get far,” she said. “I’ve forgotten my sunglasses. They must be in my other bag. Don’t wait for me. I’ll see you aboard.”
“Let’s go then,” Birgit said, waving them all forward.
Ning had her phone out and was peering at the screen.
“No signal here,” Lacey said. “I checked.”
“See.” Tien cast her arm in a wide sweeping motion. “Middle of nowhere, just like in The Tourist.”
It made Lacey think of her dad and his lack of communication. He wasn’t in the outback but what if something had happened to him? Like Ning she was keen to reach a place with signal and check her messages.
Judith rushed back along the corridors, occasionally having to squeeze to one side as she met passengers coming the other way. When she got to their dining car she almost ran into Val and Warren. She stepped into a space for them to pass.
“Hello, Judith.” Warren beamed at her from under his broad hat. “You’re going the wrong way.”
“I forgot my sunglasses,” she said.
“Oh, did I put mine in?” Val conducted a frantic search of her bag.
“I hope so, pet.” Warren looked at Judith and shook his head. “We’ve already had to go back twice. I left my phone and then Val her hat.”
“Got them!” Val waved a glasses case at them then slipped it back into her bag.
“Enjoy your day,” Judith said and stepped into the aisle behind them.
The lounge car was empty but for one of the staff restocking a fridge. She was worried she might be the last and hurried along the corridor of the next carriage. She’d just passed the little kitchenette and had her hand out to open the door to the gangway leading to her carriage when movement to her left startled her.
“Erik,” she gasped. “What are you doing?”
He looked just as surprised as her. His hands fell back from the outside exit door.
“You can’t go out that way,” Judith said. “They’ve opened a door further forward on the other side.”
“I thought this might be easier.”
“A million alarms would probably go off if you opened a door that wasn’t meant to be.” She smiled. “Everything’s so secure and wrapped in red tape these days.”
Erik smiled too but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re a very nice person, Judith. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.”
A little niggle of unease stirred inside her. “So are you. I hope you’ll enjoy your time in Coober Pedy. Perhaps you’ll see some old friends.”
He gave a soft snort. “Perhaps.” He shuffled a little to the left, revealing a small box at his feet. He bent to pick it up.
She took a step back.
“Are you still worrying over that box?” There he was, alone in their section of the train and all those unlocked doors. Perhaps Tien had been right about him after all.
“I told you. Sentimental stuff.” He tipped his head sideways. “You may as well see. It will all be gone soon. Back to where it belongs.” He gripped the bottom of the box with one hand and slid the giant rubber band that wrapped around it to one side.
“You don’t have to show me.” Judith took another small shuffling step back.
He moved forward into a shaft of light from the little kitchen window and lifted the lid. The box looked like it was full of grey dirt but he ran his fingers through it and she realised the dirt was studded with opaque rocks, some of them with patches of colour.
“Years of my life in this box.” He grinned. “Opals.”
Judith blew out a breath. She’d been worried for a moment that perhaps he was lugging around his dead wife’s ashes.
He poked his fingers into the box. “Some of it’s not worth much but some of it, like this one—” He lifted a dirty white rock between his thumb and finger, licked it and held it towards her. Pink and green and blue flashed from a band in the middle of the rock. “Ten carats there, at about four hundred dollars a carat.”
Judith gasped. Four thousand dollars for a rough-looking rock she would have ignored had she seen it.
“I have plenty more.” Erik was rummaging again. “That’s not the best one.”
“That’s a lot of money to be carrying around in a cardboard box,” Judith said. “What are you doing with them, Erik?”
He stopped rummaging, looked up and frowned. “I’ve been trying to disperse them but…” He replaced the lid and shook his head. “I’m running out of opportunities.”
“Opportunities?”
His eyes darted back and forth, and without his hat his hair stood out in every direction. He looked almost manic. He took a step forward and this time Judith took a bigger step back. She glanced along the corridor but it was empty.
“They’ll be wondering where we are,” she stammered. “The buses will be ready to leave.”
There was a muffled clunk from the opposite direction and Erik glanced towards the joining door. Judith turned and broke into a fast walk back along the corridor.
“Judith!” he called after her. “Please don’t…”
She didn’t hesitate or look back as she pushed through the doors into the lounge. It was empty, no-one behind the bar either. She quickened her pace through the equally empty dining car. She was being silly but there’d been something about Erik that had felt menacing. By the time she burst through the door into the kitchen car she was almost running. The chef looked up from the pot he was scrubbing.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“I was worried I might miss my bus.” She steadied her pace.
“You’ll be right. Too many forms to fill in if they leave someone behind.” His loud chuckle followed her into the next carriage.
Outside Judith shielded her eyes from the bright glare of the full sun. “Damn.” Erik’s behaviour had been odd and she’d forgotten all about finding her sunglasses. In the distance a large plume of red dust followed the departure of a coach. She set off along the track towards the remaining buses. Up ahead there were other passengers walking that way and one of the stewards standing at another open door. Judith wondered if she should tell someone about Erik.
“Don’t rush.” The woman smiled as she approached. “They won’t go without you.”
Judith steadied her pace and moved on. What would she say? There’s a man with a box of opals back on the train and he’s acting strangely.
She berated herself for running away from Erik. Out there in the bright sunny day her response seemed ludicrous. He’d think she was crazy, but in that dark corner of the train, with just the two of them and him clutching that box, her mind had raced with fanciful ideas. Perhaps she’d been listening to Tien’s stories too long.
thirty-nine
Day Three – Coober Pedy
Judith was able to relax once she heard the first stop on their tour was to be on the other side of Coober Pedy at a place called The Breakaways. Erik had said he was getting dropped off in the town so she didn’t expect to see him out here. Not that she knew where ‘here’ was but they’d driven for over an hour since they left the train.
“Judith, over here. Photo.”
The bus had pulled up on top of a large escarpment and Birgit and the other women were lined up on the edge with the amazing view behind them. Passengers wandered in every direction taking in the strange colourful rock formations erupting from the flat desert as far as the eye could see.
She joined the group, turned her back on the view and smiled as Birgit took another selfie.
“What about Miss Clift?” Tien said.
“She’s too far away.” Ning waved to a group of people standing further along the escarpment. “We can include her another time.”
“One more.” Birgit peered at her phone. “You had your eyes shut in that one, Judith, and you don’t look happy.”
Judith did her best to pull her lips up into a smile and keep her eyes open as Birgit snapped more photos.
“This landscape is totally freaky,” Birgit said. “No wonder the film directors love it.”
“It looks like someone’s taken a giant paintbrush to it,” Lacey exclaimed. “There’s orange and tan and purple and maroon.”
Birgit, Tien and Ning moved on to where their tour guide was explaining a different formation while Lacey was taking another photo of the landscape.
“How are your feet today?” Judith asked when she’d stepped back.
“Not too bad. What about you?”
“Fine. I’ve put a better layer of plasters on today.”
“Tien has me so wrapped up my feet could end up mummified.”
They both looked down at her shoes.
“Judith, I wanted to say thank you.”
“What for?”
“Your idea that I should rent out a room.”
“Oh.” Judith shrugged. “It just seemed obvious, but if you’ve never had to find rent yourself…” She still couldn’t believe the good fortune of being Lacey’s age and inheriting a house.
“I’ve mentioned it to Birgit and she’s keen. We’re going to look into how we should set it up when we get back…you know, make it official so there’re no grey areas.”
“That’s very wise.”
“I guess it gives us both some peace of mind, stability.”
Judith hmphed. Thought of her own rental agreement. “As stable as renting can ever be, I suppose.”
“You know I have a third bedroom…I just thought, if…well, you said something about your building being renovated and Dean having to move out. If you needed…”
Judith gaped at Lacey. Did she really think Judith would want to rent a room in her house?
“If you needed some temporary accommodation any time…” Once more Lacey’s words petered out and she looked down at her feet again.
“Thank you, Lacey. That won’t be necessary but it was kind of you to think of me.” Judith had nowhere to go at this point but she was quite sure rooming with Lacey and Birgit was not in her future. She looked back at the view, desperate to change the subject. “I suppose this is what Ketty wants you to translate to the new collection.”
“Us.”
“Pfft! I’m just the organiser of materials and the assistant number cruncher.”
“That’s not true. Your translation of a design into a pattern is amazing. I wish I had your eye and your speed.”
Judith studied Lacey’s earnest face. It surprised her that she would admit such a thing.
“I can see the designs in my head,” Lacey tapped her temple, “and sketch them but you and Ketty are the ones to bring them to fruition with a pattern. In fact, I’ve heard Ketty say she thinks you’re better at it than she is.”
Ketty had told Judith that many times over the years, more so in recent times when Judith had grumbled about the ready-made collection. It had been a lot of extra work. “I enjoy drafting patterns,” Judith said. “It’s straightforward.”
“It takes me ages to do one sleeve let alone a whole blouse or dress.”
Judith quirked her lips. “There has to be some advantage to years of practice.”
“I wondered if a spin-off of Ketty’s idea, that we work together more closely on this new collection, might be…” Lacey paused and gripped her hands in front of her. “Well…maybe…if we had time, that is…you might give me a few tips.” Her cheeks glowed pink but she didn’t look away from Judith’s gaze. “Please…if you don’t mind.”
“I’m happy to show you any time,” Judith blustered, although they both knew that probably wasn’t true. “Let me take a photo of you with the colourful rock formation behind. It might be nice to have a picture of the creative in the environment for a future social media post.”
Lacey looked at her strangely but stayed where she was as Judith backed away a little. Judith thought about the photo Erik had taken of her at the Alice Springs lookout. She’d been quite impressed by it. He’d seemed such a lost soul to begin with but then…on the carriage this morning clutching his box of opals he’d been acting strangely. Perhaps he was nervous about going back to the place that might have sad memories for him. She wondered how his revisit was going.
She turned her phone sideways and lined up Lacey in the corner of the shot. “That’s great,” Judith said. “Now perhaps one of you looking towards the view.”
Lacey gave her another odd look but she complied. Judith snapped again.
The bus ride from The Breakaways to Coober Pedy didn’t take long. Lacey studied what she could see of the town from her window. It was very different from anything she’d ever experienced. Somehow she felt far more isolated here than she had back at the train siding.
She glanced across the aisle at Judith, who wasn’t looking out the window but at her phone. She was painstakingly typing something. It was odd. Lacey rarely saw Judith with her phone but she supposed even Judith Pettigrew had friends.
And that made Lacey think of Dean and the uncomfortable quizzing Judith had put her through, but the strangest part was when she’d told Lacey that Dean still liked her. That had played over and over in Lacey’s head ever since but the stumbling block was always there – if Dean still liked her why didn’t he get in touch? Lacey’s head hurt from replaying her last date with Dean, from going over each little thing and still getting no answers to her questions.
The bus pulled into a large car park. Their second stop for the day was in the main street at a museum and opal mine display. They climbed down in front of a building facade abutting a hill. Inside was both a surprise and a relief. The museum was a series of wide tunnels and the air temperature a pleasant twenty degrees. According to their guide, even when the outside temperature climbed to over forty in the summer it was still cool underground. Lacey enjoyed the information about mining and the museum but when they reached the dugout house she was intrigued.
She stood in the middle of the bedroom and turned a slow three-sixty. “How good would it be to live here?” she exclaimed to Birgit as she took in the walls cut from rock, the shelves made simply by digging notches into the wall and the patterns and colours accentuated by the glow of a lamp. “You wouldn’t need to worry about leaky roofs, paint peeling off walls, electricity to warm or cool it.”
“Might be a bit of a long commute though,” Birgit said.
“And just imagine the creatures that could get in here.” Tien was right behind them and was on high alert, her eyes darting back and forth over every surface as they walked.
“I’m sure we’re safe in here, Tien,” Judith reassured her, and as the others moved on she said, “Let me get your photo by that lamp, Lacey. The colours it throws on the wall are lovely.”
Lacey paused as Judith took another photo. She’d taken several with just Lacey in them, citing her interest in the colour or texture each time. She’d certainly changed her tune when it came to Ketty’s idea for them to work together on a new collection.
At the end of the tour there was a shop, of course. Most people gravitated to the opals on display. Lacey drifted along, looking at the glass cases filled with opal jewellery, all beyond her price range. She wandered away to make more space for those actually wanting to purchase something and ended up in front of a large painting. It was a magnificent image with the colours of the landscape replicated well. Once more Lacey found herself dreaming about fabrics and styles.
“It’s an amazing piece of art, isn’t it?” Carlos said.
She glanced his way as he studied the painting. “The colours are perfect.”
“I wonder if you might help me, Lacey.” He turned to her, the power of his magnetic gaze hard to look away from.
“If I can.”
“I’ve picked out a small gift for Ketty but I’d like it to be a surprise. I wonder if you’d buy it for me?”
“Oh, I don’t…” Lacey’s cheeks began to heat.
“The lady behind the counter with the red bandana has put it aside but Ketty will see me if I buy it. She’s coming this way now.”
Lacey looked down as he pushed something into her hand. She felt the crunch of the paper and saw the corner of a fifty-dollar note.
“I knew you’d like this painting,” Ketty said as she joined them.
Lacey curled her hand around the money and looked back at the large canvas hoping Ketty wouldn’t see the shock on her face.
“Lacey was just saying how perfect the colours were,” Carlos said.
They discussed the painting for a while then made small talk about the tour. Lacey told herself she was imagining Ketty’s piercing looks, which made the cash feel as if it was burning a hole in her hand. Finally she managed to edge away.
The woman Carlos had described was at the other end of the counter. Lacey quietly explained what she was after and the woman took a small gift-wrapped package from a shelf behind.
“All ready to go.” She smiled. “The bloke said you’d have the money.”
Lacey lifted her hand and as she uncurled her fingers she was surprised to see there were several notes.
“Two hundred dollars,” the woman said and took the money from Lacey’s outstretched hand. “Correct, thank you.”
Lacey glanced around. Neither Carlos nor Ketty were in sight. She slipped the small parcel into her bag.
Birgit came up to the counter. “Did you buy yourself something?”
“Oh n—”
Birgit threw an arm around her shoulders. “Good on you for spoiling yourself at last. Now come on. Our tour leader has just said we’re off to lunch next. Can you believe we’re going to eat in a mine underground?”
Lacey let herself be led away, guessing there’d be an opportunity somewhere later to give Carlos his purchase.
The heat outside was intense after the pleasant cool of the underground facility. Judith blinked in the sunlight then moved to a small patch of garden that offered a seat in the scarce shade. She’d bought a pair of cheap sunglasses at the souvenir shop. They weren’t great but helped with the glare. She glanced around but no-one was paying her any attention. She took out her phone. She’d become one of those people – checking it every few minutes.
