Nina found some absolution in her glass. She forgave herself for the chips . . . the piece of fish, two potato cakes and three fried scallops. It was the last meal of the condemned fat woman. That’s how she’d think of it. The harsh words between her and Brad? That was understandable. They were both trying to navigate their way through this unfamiliar scenario. She’d never done this before—left her family to fly solo. Now, after weeks of planning all their lives to the last detail, she was on the road and travelling north away from everything she knew. She had wished for this for so long and resolved not to miss what was in front of her.
Nina kicked off her rubber thongs and dug her toes into the damp grass. Who, she wondered, was this anonymous woman, more than three hundred kilometres from all care and responsibility, listening to the surf pounding beyond the dunes?
‘Here’s to us!’ Annie raised her glass. ‘And to life on the open road.’ A sultry breeze blew through the caravan park carrying the sound of tinkling crystal away to the shoreline.
The next breath of wind brought with it the unmistakable sound of Meatloaf belting out ‘Bat Out of Hell’.
‘Good God, it’s SO loud! It’s deafening! Couldn’t they turn it down?’ Meredith was kneeling on the top bed, winding the van’s windows tight against the assault of AC/DC’s Greatest Hits. ‘Isn’t there someone at that office who could order them to turn it down?’
‘It’s only half past nine,’ Nina called from the sink, where she was calmly boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. ‘They’ll pack it in before long.’ Meredith groaned and fell back with a continental pillow over her head. ‘TNT . . .’ blasted its way through the open door.
‘Fucking hell, it’s SO loud!’ Annie scrambled inside and slammed the door after her. ‘So much for the eerie silence of the Australian bush! I need another drink.’
Nina wiped the counter with a tea towel. They were both looking at her as if it was her fault! Nina was accused on a daily basis of sabotaging the lives of her loved ones—of hiding socks and homework and sports gear with deliberate intent. A tiny mutinous voice urged her to abdicate and let the Forces of Chaos reign, but what would happen if she did that? ‘Look, tomorrow . . .’ she began.
‘WHAT?’ Meredith and Annie chorused. They couldn’t hear her over the relentless thump of the music.
‘Tomorrow we’ll camp in the bush away from everyone! We really only have to bring the van into a campground once a week to empty the grey water and black water. The rest of the time we can park anywhere we like.’
Annie was puzzled. ‘I know what grey water is, but what’s black water?’
‘Sewage. There’s a canister under the toilet. You pull it out and you empty it into a—’
‘Do NOT continue!’ Meredith commanded. ‘I’ve just eaten. That is enough to convince me to never use that toilet. If I don’t use it, I won’t have to empty it. I’d rather take my chances behind a bush with the ants nests.’
‘JAILBREAK . . .’ Another gust of wind blew Bon Scott’s strangled cry for freedom through the gap at the bottom of the van’s door.
‘That’s it!’ Annie upended the bottle of red into her glass. ‘I’m going to see where the fuck it’s coming from.’
‘Forget it, Annie.’ Nina flapped her tea towel. ‘It’s no big deal. It’s probably just a bunch of blokes on a fishing trip having a few drinks. Let’s all have an early night. We’ve got a big drive tomorrow and—’
‘I’m off to Camp Yobbo. I’ll be back in a minute.’ Another high-pitched guitar siren sounded as Annie wrenched open the door and plunged into the darkness.
‘Take the tomahawk from the bottom locker,’ Meredith called through a pillow. She’d clambered up the ladder to Annie’s bed in a futile attempt to find some refuge from the noise. Nina caught the door and turned back to the counter. She didn’t mind the music—she was used to the screech of guitars and drumbeats thumping through the kitchen ceiling. She checked her mobile. Still no message. She’d now rung Brad four times. His mobile and the home phone remained stubbornly silent. She ran through an alphabetical checklist of calamities that could have befallen her home and family, from ‘Asteroid Impact’ to ‘Zeppelin Crash Landing’.