Torn Assunder

Chapter One

Helen sat on the wicker chair, out on the wide veranda. From the elevated position of the old house on the hill she could see the country road their long driveway connected to.

Jim Connors’ old beat up Ute, once white but now so covered in dust it looked light brown, cruised past with hay bales in the back. A toot of the horn and a wave. She smiled and waved back. The man may be as old as the hills, but there was nothing wrong with his eye sight, she thought.

A good breeze lifted a couple of strands of brunette hair that weren't plastered to her skin by sweat and she groaned. Thank God the house is on a hill.

The stifling humidity was worse than the heat that had turned all the green grass brown in the two paddocks either side of the driveway. The only green she could see for miles were the crops of the farms in the area. Summer had hit hard, hot and dry after a wet winter. The weather man on channel 9 had said the summer would be a El Niño weather pattern. Then made some quip about it being an exciting forecast for beach-goers and surfers, with a summer of beach days ahead of them.

Tim had snorted. 'Yeah, great for the beach-bums but shit for us farmers, you idiot. City slickers, never think of anyone else.' Like the weather man could hear him. Helen smiled at the memory. They had been married for 15 years and she still adored that man.

The ice in her drink cracked and Buster lifted his head to look at her. The two dogs and Flops were camped out under the shade of a tree in front of the house. They had dug holes to lay in, a desperate attempt to keep cool. Poor things, Fur must be inconvenient sometimes. Flops didn’t seem to mind the heat as much as Buster and Cornel. She just liked laying in the shade and sleeping. Roos were more active early morning and late afternoon anyway.

Helen had been pissed when Tim bought Flops home, just a joey in a pillow case. The kids were attached to the little odd-ball from day one.

'I couldn't leave it there! It's mum got hit by a car, it'd have died!'

'It'll probably die anyway! Baby roos need a lot of care. You should have taken it to the RSPCA! They have a branch out there. I know because it's about five minutes from my sister's place.' Tim had looked guilty and looked at the kids.

Helen sighed. 'You know the mob of roos around Wolston are protected, right? They have a recessive gene that makes their ears flop instead standing up like regular roos.' Helen had eyed him off. 'You could get in trouble for taking it. And who is going to give it the round the clock care it needs? You? The kids? It'll be me. On top of managing the house and the bookwork for the farm.'

Tim had promised they would all pitch in to care for the orphaned roo. And of course, Helen had ended up doing it all. Against expectations, Flop had lived and growing up with the dogs, thought she was one of them, going everywhere they went.

Taking a sip of her Ginger Beer, Helen glanced at her watch. The bus will be here soon. The weather report had promised storms today, adding humidity to the horrendous ‘mid to high 30’s temp’ that was average for this time of year. And the kids would be tired and grumpy after a full week of school and hot weather. Maybe she would let the kids play under the sprinkler in the shade when they got home. It was a waste of water, but worth it as long as it was only for a short time.

The clouds had been steadily building since this morning and now sat low on the horizon, dark and ominous. No green in them, so hopefully no hail. But it didn’t really look like there was much rain in them either.

She was distracted from her examination of the approaching storm clouds by the arrival of the school bus.

Sally, youngest of the two Elliott kids bounced off the bus, turning to wave enthusiastically to her friends. Helen smiled. Her little ray of sunshine. She would crash hard tonight, right after dinner. But not before snapping at her brother who would relentlessly poke the bear, landing them both in trouble.

Her older brother followed her off the bus, a couple paces behind, dragging his shoes in the dust. Paul was in that awkward developmental stage between being a kid and becoming a teen. He was grumpy, emotional and his mood swings could give his mum whiplash. Tim was patient with him but the constant bickering between the kids, usually instigated by Paul, wore on his nerves sometimes. At that point he would do his block and yell. It was only going to get worse when Sal hit puberty in a few years.

Sal was already chattering when she reached the veranda stairs.

‘Kim bought coconuts to school today! Real ones! With brown hair and eyes! They didn’t really look like eyes though, but Miss Kate said that’s what they are called. We used hammers to break them. And they had milk in them! Not like the cows milk, but Miss Kate said the juice is still called milk.’ She stumbled up the stairs in her hurry. Helen reached out to help, but the little girl had already righted herself. She waved a piece of paper at her mum, causing the woman to pull her head back and attempt to catch the moving target. ‘We have Henny Penny Hatching in our classroom! The chicks will hatch next week! Can we adopt some when they are old enough? Can we? Please please please, pleeeeaaaase?’

‘Sal, take a breath, Honey. There are cold drinks in the Esky. We already have six chickens. We dont need more.’

Buster and Cornel pushed each other out of the way, tails wagging, vying for Sal’s attention. And whatever was left in her lunch box. Flop on the other hand, headed for Paul still dragging his feet in the dirt. The smile that lit his face when the roo nudged him reminded her of the happy little boy he had been before age and hormone changes had robbed them of his ready smile. He was a good kid. And provided they could keep him out of trouble in his teen years, he would be a good man.

Sal settled into a chair beside Helen, still chattering about the chickens and when one of the chicks from last year's pooped on Harry’s hand.

‘How was your day, Paul?’

‘Fine.’ He grumbled as he walked past her to ice-filled Esky for a cold drink.

Helen sighed. Yes, the sprinkler would be worth it this afternoon if it lifted his mood a little.

She waited while the kids ate the cupcakes she had baked this morning before the worst of the heat and then told Paul to go set up the sprinkler.

‘YES!’ He cheered as he jumped the stairs in one go and set off around the corner of the house for the hose.

‘But we will get muddy, Mum.’ Sal looked worried.

‘It’s alright sweetheart, it’s Friday. Just take off your shoes and socks. Your uniforms will wash just fine and floors can be cleaned. It’s a special treat.’

Within five minutes, the ground under one of the trees had turned into a mud pit from the water and little feet churning it up. Even the dogs got in on it. Flop stayed out of the water and mud, watching calmly from under another tree.

A smile curled her lips up and crinkled the corner of her blue eyes. The kids playing in harmony was not a common occurrence these days but was so good to see. This was as close to heaven as any parent could wish for.

At the end of the driveway, a car turned off the road, bouncing along the dips and bumps in the dirt.

He’s early, she thought, putting her glass down and standing to wait for him at the top of the stairs.

The Ute rolled to a stop in front of the house and Tim got out, waving to the kids as he did so.

‘Hi, Dad! Watch me jump!’ Sal took a running leap and jumped the fine spray, slipping in the mud and landing on her arse in the mud. Giggling, she stood up and attempted to brush mud off succeeding only in spreading it further.

‘Now, watch me!’ Paul called out. He stuck the landing a swept a bow to his audience.

‘Nice one, Mate!’ Tim smiled. He climbed the stairs and kissed Helen on the lips.

‘I know it’s a waste of water but they need to have a little fun.’

‘It was a good call.’ Tim smiled. ‘It’s been bloody hot today and the schools aircon isn’t that great. I remember what it was like in those hot stuffy classrooms.’

‘True.' Something about his posture told her there was bad news. He looked calm enough but she knew him too well to miss the stress in the set of his shoulders. 'You're home early today.’

He watched the kids for a minute. ‘I don’t want to alarm the kids. But we need to get the evacuation bags ready.’ His voice was low, even though between the noise of the kids and the dogs, they would never have heard him. Distant thunder rolled, just loud enough to be heard over the sounds around them.

‘What’s happened?’

‘You haven’t been listening to the radio or watching the news?’

Helen shook her head. ‘No. Not since early this morning. I saw the weather report and turned it off. I can’t work in the office when there is chatter. I just had a playlist on.’

Tim nodded and met her eyes. ‘The storms have hit further south. Very little rain in them, but lots of lightening.’

‘Oh shit.’ Helen had grown up in the country and knew exactly what that kind of storm meant for people out here. Thunderstorms were beautiful in their own savage way, but also lethal when the land was as dry as this. One lightening strike could spark a bushfire that had the potential to rage unchecked for weeks, consuming entire crops, herds of livestock and homes. The scariest was the threat to people’s life. Everything else could be rebuilt. But people could not be replaced. ‘How many so far?’

‘The last report on the radio half an hour ago was seven spot fires. If they know of seven, there are usually half as many again that they don’t know about, yet. And the winds will make them hard to fight.’ He looked at her. ‘And that’s before the bloody fire bugs get whipped into a frenzy and start lighting fires of their own.' He paused and thunder rolled again. 'Ive been put on alert.’

Rotten human beings, she thought. Every bloody time we get this weather, some psycho has to go out lighting fires just to make things worse.

She looked at the kids and nodded. ‘You watch them, I’ll go start packing bags.’ Tim nodded and leaned against the post, smiling for the kids as they each tried to out do the other with stunts and tricks to impress their dad.

Going from room to room collecting the things they would need if the worst happened, Helen concentrated on the task at hand. All the important insurance and identification documents were in one folder, ready to go at a moments notice. Bags in the kids rooms made getting clothes and medications for them easy. The same for her own. Going out the back door so the kids wouldn’t see, she packed them in the car. Ready to run if they needed to. Along with bottles of water, a battery operated radio, torches, food for the dogs and Flop, blankets and pillows. She also stashed her grandmothers jewellery in the back. She wasn’t leaving that behind.

Last to get ready was a bag for Tim. And her hands began to shake. He wouldn’t go with them. He would go the opposite direction even before the orders to evacuate. He wouldn’t be with his family in their hour of need. In her hour of need. She quickly wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. While she and the kids fled to safety, as a volunteer fire-fighter, Tim would have to drive towards the imminent danger.