Jeff drove his utility as fast as the curving road would allow. He enjoyed this time of day. The sun was over the horizon and the light fading quickly to a gentle red. The tiredness in his muscles and the heat in his skin accompanied the end of a working day. The country in the foothills heading up the range was bushland, with some pockets of lush rainforest. The road curves became tighter and the grade steeper as he drove on. The bush was close to the road on his right and fell away steeply on his left. With an occasional glance out the side window, he looked across the valley towards the mill – too dark to see it. His headlights were on now. It was Friday. He was eager to be home and relax with a few drinks.
The heavy muffled thud on the left front of his vehicle jolted him. Something flashed past his view on the downhill side. He hit the brakes - not too hard on this road. He pulled over. He did not want to end up down the ravine. His immediate thoughts were confused. He had caught a glimpse of a light coloured shape
in the headlights with the impact.
No, couldn’t have been a person, could it? It must have been a roo, he thought.
He sat stunned for a few seconds, grabbed his flashlight from the glove box and got out of the vehicle and left it running with the headlights on. He walked back to the sharp bend, where he’d felt the impact. Standing at the road’s edge, he peered down into the darkness following the meagre beam of his flashlight. The incline was not vertical, but too steep to walk down. The thick undergrowth started in earnest about ten metres down from the road edge. He directed the light one side to the other. Something may have crashed through the vegetation. He wasn’t sure. The night had fully arrived and nothing moved that he could see. He listened. Only the sound the cicadas reverberated around him. Down on his haunches, he examined dirt area at the road edge. Blood! He thought about calling the police - he didn’t.
Jeff pulled into the open driveway. The weatherboard house was small, needed painting, and was only a short distance from the village centre. The rent was low. It was the perfect spot for him and Joanne. They had been living together now for eight months. Joanne worked at the village tourist centre and Jeff at the sawmill. It suited them. They both loved this area up on the range and the plan was to save some money for a place of their own.
He walked around to the left front of the vehicle. The dent under the headlight was obvious as he ran his hand across it and looked at the red dampness on his fingers. He wiped his hand urgently on his khaki work trousers, went quickly up the timber steps and through the open front door into the lounge.
“Jo?”
“Yeah” she called from the kitchen.
Jeff walked through. Joanne still had her neat pants and shirt work uniform on, with an apron. She was standing at the bench in the middle of the kitchen slicing a chicken breast.
She looked up with a smile. “Hey... have a good day?”
Jeff moved to stand opposite her across the bench, “I think I’m in trouble.”
“Why, what’s happened?” she asked.
Jeff explained what had happened and his concern that he had hit a person, “I should have called Rodney straight away,” he said.” “I should do it now.” He thought about reaching for his mobile phone.
“Wait on Jeff” she snapped. “You don’t know if you hit anyone. It would be unlikely someone would be walking down there. It’s probably a roo. They’re always around at dusk.”
“If it’s a person, that’s hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident. Not only that, some poor bastard could be lying down the side of that mountain,” he said.
“Oh come on, you’re just getting yourself worked up.” She put down the knife and wiped her hands on her apron. “Is there any damage on the car?” she asked as she left the kitchen.
They went out to the vehicle, got the flashlight and examined the damage. Joanne stood motionless with arms folded as Jeff inspected for further marks.
“Jeff...” she said. “Cars hit kangaroos all the time around here. Come inside and have a drink.”
They went in. Jeff grabbed a beer from the fridge and flopped down on the lounge in front of the TV. Joanne finished cooking a chicken stir-fry for dinner. They ate watching their usual Friday night shows without discussing the incident any further. The issue was left simmering under the surface.
Jeff was restless all night and awoke still feeling tired. Joanne had already been up, had breakfast, dressed, and left for work in the village centre. He had decided that Joanne was right about last night. He would put it out of his mind and get on with the normal routine.
Jeff looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He leaned forward turning his head to one side and gently touched his fingers to his temple. Apart from the slightly receding hairline, he thought he looked pretty good. He would let the facial stubble grow a bit more.
His bowl of muesli was tasteless but satisfied him. He dressed in jeans and tee-shirt and headed to the village to pick up some supplies. He walked along Main Street footpath towards the supermarket.
“Hey, Jeff!”
He turned around to see Kylie Jenks, hurrying towards him.
“Hi Kylie, how’s things,” he said.
Kylie was a friend of Joanne. She liked to keep informed on the events of the village. She also enjoyed keeping everyone she knew informed.
"Great! Hey, you heard about the McPherson boy?” she blurted.
“What?” he asked.
“He’s missing.”
“Which one?” he asked.
“The youngest, the thirteen-year-old, Billy," she said. “He hasn’t been seen since yesterday morning.”
Jeff’s mind raced. The McPhersons had an avocado farm a couple of kilometres from the village. Could that boy have been on the High Road when he was on his way home from the mill yesterday?
"OK, I’m sure he’ll show up,” he said “Look I’ve got to go. Sorry, I need to see Joanne.”
“Sure, say ‘hi’ from me,” she said and hurried off.
Jeff crossed Main Road and headed to the tourist centre. He went into the building central area where Joanne was talking to an elderly woman. She was holding a brochure open while they examined it and chatted. The woman left and Joanne went over to Jeff standing near the entrance.
“What are you doing,” she asked.
“There’s a boy missing,” he said quietly.
Before he could continue, “Yes, I know, I heard about it earlier, Billy McPherson.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” He snapped.
“Because it doesn’t mean you had anything to do with it,” she said with a pained expression on her face. “For God’s sake, stop worrying. They’ll find him,” she said. “Look, I know you. You’re not the type to be confessing to something if you’re not caught doing it. Go home.” A middle-aged couple came through the doorway. “I have to go,” she said glancing around at them. “See you later.” She walked towards the couple smiling.
Jeff had forgotten about doing any shopping. There was a bench seat with a sunshade outside the tourist centre. He sat there staring at nothing for a good five minutes. He stood and headed off with purposeful strides directly back in the direction of home, towards the local police station. It was a small timber building painted cream as they all were. Rodney had been the resident police officer for a couple of years and Jeff knew him reasonably well. He stepped up the front steps to the door of the office. It was closed with a white card notice attached at eye level. Rodney would not be back at the office until late in the day. Jeff guessed that he was with the McPhersons looking for Billy.
Jeff determined there was only one course of action now. He must go back down the High Road and find out if Billy was there.
He got himself home quickly. He went around the back of the house to his tool shed and selected one of the ropes. It was late morning and there were a few cars on the road for a Saturday drive. It was a nice drive from the city up the range and the day was perfect for it, cool breeze and blue skies with a few meandering clouds. Jeff drove feeling an increasing tenseness across his forehead. He pulled up and swung his vehicle around to almost the same spot as the night before. Feeling nauseous, he opened the car door and walked along the road edge looking down. He could see in the daylight that the bush had been broken. There was a shape in the deeper undergrowth. A tree stump a short distance over the roadway edge served as an anchor point to secure his rope. He slowly started down the slope backwards letting the rope slide through his gloved hands. This part of the hill was dry and the grass and sticks crackled under his feet as he moved towards the line of the thicker growth. It was mainly native bushes with some woody lantana. The shape he had seen was to his right, behind a thick patch. Did he really want to see this? He gave himself some slack with the rope and pushed himself along towards it. He reached through the prickling, scratching bush branches as far as he could and pushed them aside to get a clearer view. He saw the bloody body and dead eyes staring through him. His legs started to shake. He couldn’t control it and screamed out... to no one “A bloody cow!” The wave of relief spread from his gut through his body.
Jeff made his way back up the slope, scratches, and blood covering his arms. Later that day he learned from Kylie, that Billy McPherson had been found hiding in one of the sheds at his property. He’d had a disagreement with his parents and decided that causing some distress was fair revenge. The unfortunate cow had wandered from a property up the hill.
Later that week Jeff advised Joanne that he wanted to move out and maybe she could get a friend to move in with her. He said he had things he wanted to do before he settled down. This was quite unexpected for Joanne. She thought she knew him better.