The Island(83)

It sounded so reasonable.

But these people were crazy.

The things they’d done. Insane, horrible, terrible, sadistic things.

“You were hunting us down. You were going to kill us!” Heather said.

“We were trying to find you! Why do you think we brought in the dogs?” Matt said.

“You killed Petra!”

“No, she attacked the dogs and they started tearing her apart,” Matt said. “We tried to shoot them, and Ivan hit her in the back. Think about it, Heather. Who is the bad guy here? You came to our home. You killed Ellen. You attacked our farm. You shot our dogs. No one can find Jacko, and you’ve got his bloody rifle. You want to explain that?”

“No.”

“You’re the bad guy! We were minding our own business, living our own lives, and you came. My family has done nothing to your family. And you’ve wreaked havoc on us.”

“Jacko was going to rape me.”

“Well, Jacko’s bloody gone now, isn’t he? So, Heather, what do you think? You wanna get out of this alive?”

It sounded almost plausible. Tom had killed Ellen. She had tried to cover it up.

But that didn’t make any—no. “Hans, what you did to Hans…”

“Yeah, I know,” Matt said. “Shit. That was all crazy Jacko. Ivan and Jacko tried to get him to talk. It’s mad, I know. Look, there’s a couple of different factions here, Heather. It’s complicated. I’m trying to steer the best course for us and your family…Tom wants to talk to the children. Can you get them?”

Heather was really crying now. Owen and Olivia were sitting in the cab of the ruined bus looking at her.

“Get over here! Both of you!”

They ran over. She had to stop herself from dry-heaving. She had to keep her voice steady. “It’s your dad. He’s alive,” Heather said and handed Olivia the walkie-talkie.

The children listened while Tom spoke.

Heather walked far away from them. To give them space. This was family time. Private. It had nothing to do with her.

She sat under the shade of the farthest eucalyptus tree on a gnarled root so blackened and polished by successive waves of fire that she could almost see her reflection in it.

Last night’s rain had changed the hill.

Flowers were peeking up through the grass. Red, blue, and yellow flowers—of what genus, she did not know. Insects were hovering over the flowers, and little birds were swooping everywhere, eating their fill.

“Heather! Heather!”

Olivia was calling her. She walked back to the brother and sister. “I’m here,” she said.

“Matt wants to speak to you,” Olivia said.

She nodded and took the walkie-talkie. “Matt?”

“We need to get this sorted today. Now. Where are you, Heather?”

“We’re north of…we’re somewhere.”

“Can you walk to the farm?”

“Yes.”

“Are the kids healthy enough to walk or should we get a car for them?”

“The kids are healthy.”

“OK, so just walk to the farm. Come in with your hands up. We’ll see you soon.”

Her head was throbbing.

“No,” she said.

“No, what?”

“I’m not going to do that. You killed Petra, you tortured Hans. You’ve got Tom over a barrel, and I don’t trust you, Matt.”

“You’re going to screw everything up again, Heather,” Matt said.

“I want…I want…”

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk to Tom in person. I want him to tell me it’s OK to trust you.”

“Nah, mate, a deal is a deal. It’s done. You come to the farm.”

“I won’t do that deal. Tom is under duress; I don’t know what you’re threatening him with. I have two conditions. First, I want to talk to Tom in person, alone, with none of you around, before I agree to give us all up. Second, I stay here as your hostage, not the kids. Me. Tom takes the kids with him when he goes to get the money. The kids leave this island with Tom and they never come back. When you get back here with the money, you let me go.”

Matt took a long while before coming back on the walkie-talkie.

“We agree to the second condition,” he said. “Tom can take the kids to Melbourne as long as you stay as a hostage. But we can’t agree to the first condition. Tom can’t be moved.”

“I’ve got to meet with him, I have to talk to him, I need to know it’s safe. I need him to convince me to trust you after everything I’ve seen,” Heather insisted.

There was another long pause before Matt came back on. “OK. Tell you what—northeast of the farm there’s an area of burned heathland. The grass has been completely torched. No places for anybody to hide there. There’s a black, dead eucalyptus tree.”

“I know it,” Heather said.

“You can meet Tom there. We can get everything prepared for later today. Six p.m.”

“I’ll be there,” Heather said.





43



After strapping the Lee-Enfield over her shoulder, Heather gave Owen the binoculars and Olivia the canteen.