The Island(28)

She could feel herself sinking. She was so thirsty. Everything ached. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground. A blood trail was making its way toward her through the dust. She tried to breathe. Breathing hurt. Her ribs hurt. The air was thick. Her grandmother said the dead could see us through mirrors. Maybe Tom could see her somehow. What would he advise her to do?

“If I have to be out here, can someone do something about the bloody mozzies?” Ma said.

Someone lit a fire in a brazier. Cans of beer started getting passed around.

“The question remains: What do we do with the three of them?” Matt said.

“Top ’em. No choice,” Jacko said.

“No,” Matt said. “That will stir things up.”

“Who’s going to miss them? They’re not even Aussies, none of them,” Ivan said.

“Let’s find out who’s going to miss ’em, Kate,” Ma said.

Kate grabbed Heather by the hair and pulled her to her feet.

“Where are you from?” she asked Heather.

“What?”

Kate slapped Heather across the face. “Where are you from, bitch?”

“Seattle, Washington.”

“And what exactly were you doing down here?” Kate asked.

“Tom’s here for a conference and we came along for some sightseeing. We went to Sydney and Uluru and Melbourne, and the kids wanted to see some koalas in the countryside…”

Kate dropped her and she fell back into the dirt.

“Yank tourists, Ma, that’s about the size of it,” Kate said.

“Tourists. So who will miss them, do you think?” Ma wondered out loud.

“Somebody will,” Matt said.

“Yes! Tom’s the keynote speaker,” Heather said. “At the, um, at the International Conference of Orthopedic Medicine. You can’t just disappear us. The car-rental company knows too. We had to sign forms. The best thing to do is let us go and—”

“That’s enough!” Ma said.

“No, wait, listen to me, things don’t have to—” Heather began but Kate leaned down and with one big white paw squeezed Heather’s cheeks hard.

“The only witnesses are the Krauts, is that right?” Ma asked.

“Our Ned was running the food stand. No one saw them follow us to the ferry except for the Krauts,” Jacko said.

Ma lit a cigarette and waved for people to clear a space around her chair. The murmuring gradually ended and the crowd grew quiet. Heather’s head had stopped pounding and in the silence she could hear birds roosting in the distant eucalyptus trees. A jet was high above her, its vapor trail just visible in the moonlight. Everything was moving into the future. She was too. Tom, poor Tom, would be dead forever. She had to consider herself and the kids now.

“Please. I know what you’re thinking and it’s not going to work,” Heather pleaded.

“You forced us into this. You killed Ellen and tried to cover it up. This is on you,” Ma said.

“Don’t make things worse. You—”

“Matt! I told you to shut that bitch up,” Ma said coldly and calmly. “This is your final warning, girl. If you speak again without my permission, I’m going to have Lenny, our blacksmith, cut your tongue out with his leather-cutting scissors. Nod your bloody head if you understand. Not one bloody word from you. Do you understand?”

Heather nodded.

“Just the Krauts, eh? Matt, what if we dumped the car somewhere on the mainland?”

Matt nodded. “The car’s GPS will have stopped well before Stamford Bridge.”

“Jamie, could you smash the car up bad?” Ma asked someone whom Heather couldn’t see.

“Oh, yeah. Easy. Lotta drop-offs on the Red Hill Road. Some as deep as twenty-five meters. Car goes over one of those, little tampering with the fuel lines…boom.”

“What do you think, Ivan?”

He thought for a long time before finally clearing his throat. “I like the plan, Ma. Cops will find the car in a few days and just think, Ah, too bad, dumb Americans forgot which side of the road to drive on,” Ivan said.

“The Melbourne cops are smart, though—what if they come over here?” Kate asked.

“We don’t know nothing about any Americans; we keep ourselves to ourselves.”

“Oi, look, this is my decision, innit? Mine,” Danny said. “Under the old laws. They done me wrong, not any of you.”

“You cost us half a million bucks, Danny! You can shut your mouth!” Ivan said.

“What is it you want, Daniel?” Ma asked.

Danny strode into the center of the circle. Someone had passed him an earthen drinking jug and he took an enormous sip of liquor that was so strong, Heather could smell it from where she was sprawled on the ground.

“What do I want?” Danny said after a pause.

“There’s nothing they can give you now, mate,” Matt said.

“Yeah, no, look…I lost a wife and I heard there’s a girl. I want to see the girl. Bring her to me,” Danny said, wiping his mouth.

“Ivan?” Ma asked.

“Maybe not a good idea, Ma. If we’re going to go down this route, there can’t be any survivors,” Jacko said.

“I want my rights,” Danny insisted.