Chook moved to put Nina’s mind at ease: ‘A bloody sight better than you would having us going at it with the rifles. Sometimes we have to slit their throats to finish ’em off, and they squeal like netballers.’
Davo leaned forward to slap his jeans and laugh heartily at this image. Nina clamped her hand over her mouth in horror.
‘So,’ Chook continued, ‘youse all set then? The roadside assist will be here first thing. They’ll probably put the whole rig on the back of a truck and cart you into Maclean. Fix the old “Heartbreak Hotel” on the spot.’
‘Heartbreak Hotel! Good one!’ Davo pointed to the Elvis decal on the side of the van and guffawed again. Obviously Chook was the wit of the outfit and had Davo in his thrall.
‘Can we give you some money?’ Annie offered. ‘You’ve been to so much trouble for us. We really appreciate it.’
‘Nah! No way, darlin’.’ Chook waved her away with a meaty hand.
‘Well, at least let me give you these.’ Annie reached into the shadows and handed over two bottles of champagne.
Davo examined a label by the LandCruiser’s headlights. ‘Fuck me! French! The missus’ll think it’s Christmas!’
‘If I come home with a dead feral pig and champagne, I might even get a root out of it,’ Chook deadpanned.
Davo laughed again. ‘Come on, you stupid bastard—let’s get goin’.’
The two men climbed into their rig, slammed the doors, revved the engine and executed a neat three-point turn in the gravel. It was the kind of turn the disabled RoadMaster Royale had no hope of making on the narrow road. They paused long enough for Chook to lean out the window. ‘Relax! The worst that can happen is that the mozzies get ya, and the crabs and spiders finish ya off. Night, ladies!’
Over the throaty surge of the ute’s engine, Davo’s high-pitched staccato laugh could be heard echoing through the swamp. The tail-lights receded and the camp was once again plunged into darkness.
There was one more sound that could now be heard over the orchestra of frogs croaking, mosquitoes buzzing and nameless creatures burrowing through the inky muddy slop, and that was Meredith’s low and heart-wrenching sobs.
‘It doesn’t mean you won’t be a grandmother,’ said Annie. ‘In fact, there’s a lesbian in one of our offices who’s got twins. They did it with artificial insemination. The kids have got two mothers and a father. It all works. They’re a great family.’
Meredith heard only one word out of this entire speech—the word ‘lesbian’.
‘Or they could adopt,’ Nina helpfully added. ‘Oprah’s done lots of stories about female couples who have adopted kids, and I admire them. I really do.’
Who knew what time it was now on Mangrove Creek Road? The moon had dropped and was just peeking over the top of the trees. None of them imagined they would get to sleep any time soon. This was an emotional emergency and it was all hands on deck.
Besides, the spectre of a giant feral pig crashing through the undergrowth was enough to keep them awake until dawn. They were now all piled into the same double bed for reasons of safety—Meredith and Annie up one end, and Nina down the other end with her bad ankle hanging off the mattress onto the road.
‘It’s my fault,’ sniffed Meredith.
Annie elbowed her in the ribs. Nina kicked at her shins with her good leg.
‘OK, OK! I know it wasn’t my fault.’ Meredith honked into a tissue. ‘But at least I could have seen it coming. I’m such an idiot—I just assumed that “Charlie” would be, you know, a man!’
‘There wasn’t anything that tipped you off when she was growing up, or when she moved out of home?’ asked Nina. Annie was glad for the question. She was dying to ask the same thing, but thought it was too intrusive. She was coming to appreciate Nina’s blithe disregard for social boundaries. Although, if she could just shift her arse over a bit . . .
‘No. No. She didn’t bring many boyfriends home as a teenager. But now I look back and wonder whether I just didn’t notice anything unusual because I was always too preoccupied with the store. The last time I was in her place in a flat in Balaclava, she was living with a girlfriend. But I didn’t give it a minute’s thought.’
‘And why would you?’ said Nina.
‘And what does it matter anyway?’ added Annie.
‘Because I could have been there to talk it over with her. To tell