Color of Blood(91)

“Very hush-hush,” Maggie said.

“Hush-hush,” Judy repeated, looking at Dennis.

“What does that mean?” Dennis asked.

“It means secret, like a missile base, right, Maggie?”

“Oh, I’d say more secret than that, dearie,” Maggie said. “It’s been going on for at least a year, if not longer.”

“What makes the mine so secret?” Dennis asked.

“Maggie says that no locals work there; they have their own landing strip, and workers and supplies are flown directly into the mine. They have guards, right, Maggie?”

Dennis sat down on his stool, and Judy pinched him on his thigh. He patted her hand under the bar.

“But what do they do there?” Dennis asked.

“Oh, heaven knows,” Maggie said, “could be anything. But they’re not very friendly, I can tell you that. The Farrar twins were driving that way on four-wheelers and were just riding up and down the fence line when these fellers in big vehicles came out of nowhere and sent them on their way. Quite frightening, I gather. But we’re used to odd behavior out here, if you don’t mind me saying, and we don’t bother those folks, and they don’t bother us.”

***

Back in their little hotel room, Judy squealed.

“God, Judy,” Dennis said, shaking his head. “That was amazing. You did it!”

“Well, I can’t believe how it just fell into place,” she said.

He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her hard, lingering at the end until he needed to breathe.

“Jesus,” he said, “sometimes I feel like a high-school kid around you.”

“And what’s so distasteful about that?”

“Nothing at all; it’s just a little strange for an old, burned-out guy like me.”

“I keep telling you you’re not old and you’re certainly not burned out. Quit saying that, Dennis.”

He smiled and kissed her again.

Judy’s buoyant mood quickly turned dark as she realized what had just happened: the bartender confirmed Judy’s worst fear that Dennis’s trip into the outback was based on reality.

He pulled out their maps and notes and spread them on the bed. Judy glanced out hotel-room window into the black night of Newton, Western Australia.

“Dennis, I have to return to Perth the day after tomorrow,” she said. “Simon’s back in school and he begged me to attend a play he has a small part in. I promised him last week.”

“That’s fine,” Dennis said. “I’d feel a whole lot better if you weren’t here.”

“You’d be lost without me right now,” she said. “You haven’t the faintest idea about the bush.”

“You make it sound like we’re on Mars.”

“Worse, actually,” she said.

“Let’s see how things go tomorrow,” he said. “My guess is that’s all I’ll need. Just one day.”

***

They planned their foray into the outback like a troop of Boy Scouts; they compared Google Earth printouts and an Australian road directory. Judy was certain she could approximate the area they saw circled on the map Dennis got from Langley.

“We drive down this dirt track here. My guess is that damn thing is out there,” Dennis said, pointing to an area southeast of Newton.

They had breakfast of fried eggs, toast, and huge fat thumbs of Australian breakfast sausage. Judy had lathered herself with sunblock, but Dennis declined.

“We’re not getting out of the car, so why should we put that on?”

“It’s the bush, Dennis,” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen.” Judy also made sure they filled a five-gallon plastic water container in the back of the vehicle. She wore shorts, a white blouse, and took along a wide-brim hat that she folded in her purse.





Chapter 31


Dennis was troubled by the barren landscape as they followed a well-worn dirt road away from Newton.

Numerous dirt roads around Newton seemed to crisscross the rugged red-brown landscape like a spider’s web. Dennis had thought, at least from the Google Earth maps, the primary driving routes into the desert would be obvious.

At ground level it was not clear which track to take. Even on what looked like a heavily traveled dirt road, many parallel tracks wove through the primary road like strands of a rope.

They pulled over and reviewed the maps again. After several minutes of discussion they agreed to keep following the current track as it moved southeast.

Judy felt stupid for not bringing a hand-held GPS; she had thought of virtually everything else.

After an hour of driving through the dusty tire tracks, Judy turned to Dennis.

“Dennis, please don’t be angry, but this doesn’t seem like a good idea. We’re getting deeper into the bush, and we’ve only seen two hand-drawn signs pointing to a sheep station that may no longer exist. It seems even more desolate than I expected. It’s really dangerous out here. If we blow a tire or overheat the engine, they might not find us for a while.”

“I can certainly take you back, if you like,” he said. “You know it was never my idea to bring you out here.”

“No, Dennis,” she persisted. “I’m talking about you as well. Let’s just turn around and rethink this thing. Remember, these blokes don’t want to be discovered. You said so yourself. We could get lost out here. I think it’s even more dangerous if you’re by yourself. You don’t seem to appreciate the desolation here.”