Looking back towards the road, he watched the smoke rise and checked his watch. The fire spread quickly. He ran away from its advance, safely making it to a trail on the other side and jogging home from there.
I remembered the fire at Mount Archer on the news. It had burned for hours, incinerating a large section of bush. And most likely Jess’s body. No evidence. No consequence.
The scene went blank. Jess was no longer with me. My energy became dense as I prepared to re-enter my body. Andrea’s body.
The realisation of pain was the first thing to enter my mind. My hearing picked up sounds of a man humming. I knew that song. That was Ben’s song. Our song.
Ben! My baby!
Air forced its way into my lungs and I struggled against it. My windpipefelt raw, like sandpaper had been dragged along its lining. Frantic beeping timed my distress.
People surrounded me, strangers talking at me. A tube slid from my mouth. I wanted to gag and cough, but nothing was working. The taste of plastic coated my tongue. Struggling to breathe, or make a sound, I attempted to lift my hand. The message didn’t seem to travel from my brain to my muscles. I needed to sit up. Where was Ben?
“Okay. It’s okay. Just breathe. You know how to do that. You’ve been doing it on your own for years.”
The irritation in the back of my throat drove me mad until I managed to cough. I sucked in air and coughed again, doing this several more times before I could settle.
“Ugh.” I lifted my heavy head. “Ben?”
“Yeah, baby?” He came into view at the end of the bed. “I’m right here.”
“Seb?” I croaked.
“He’s doing fine.” He smiled a weary smile.
My head fell back and I let out a sigh. Thank God.
I had so much to tell him. And all of it was completely insane.
I decided to address something a bit simpler. “You need a shave.”
He snorted and laid his head on my feet. “I know.”
Andrea
Brisbane, Australia
15th of January, 2017
Stepping over the threshold of our home for the first time in three weeks, my muscles practically sighed. Home. I was finally home with my family. Seb blinked at me before yawning as I carried him to the lounge room. This kid was love personified. Just looking at him had me walking a foot off the ground and my heart beating with purpose.
“Hello, honey. Welcome home.” Mum came from the spare room to greet me.
“Hi, Mum.” I hooked my free arm around her and gave her a squeeze. I hissed as my caesarean wound twinged, reminding me to take it easy.
“Sit down. Relax. You’re going to be tired and sore for a while.” Guiding me to the lounge, she made me do as I was told. “Let me cuddle my grandson.”
“But I only just picked him up.”
“Yes, but you’ll have heaps of time with him. I’ve only got a couple of weeks.”
I rolled my eyes, too tired to argue. She was right. I would have heaps of time to get to know my beautiful boy. She scooped him from my arms.
“What about me? I’m leaving tomorrow.” Ben’s mum joined me on the couch, patting my knee.
Hang on. Something was different. “When did we get a new couch?”
She smiled. “They delivered it a couple of weeks ago. Do you like it? I helped him choose.”
I spun to question Ben. “What happened to the old one?”
All eyes turned on me, brows raised.
Ben scratched his chin. “Ah ... your waters broke all over it.”
“Oh.” My heart sank at the reminder of the blind spots in my life. The parts that I could never see in my mind’s eye. Memories lost, or time spent in limbo while I was ‘elsewhere’. I barely remembered the night I gave birth. I could hardly remember waking up after being in a coma. I did remember the doctor telling me I couldn’t conceive any more children. That stung. But the fact that I was alive at all soothed the pain. And we had Seb.
The time between ... as Emmeline—I remembered all of it.
Jess. I’d seen Jess.
I gasped as the vision I’d been shown played back on fast forward. “Oh my God!”
“What?” All three of them crowded me, worry on their faces.
“I have to ring Stew.”
“Why?”
“I know where to find Jess’s bones.”
_____
Andrea
Brisbane, Australia
18th of January, 2017
Stewart’s name flashed across the screen of my mobile. I snatched it off the coffee table and hit the answer button before wedging it between my neck and shoulder.
“Hey.” Patting Seb’s back, I waited for a burp.
“Hey, sis. How ya goin’?”
“Great. Tell me what you’ve got.”
He laughed. “Straight to the point. Okay. We found the bones exactly where you said they’d be. They’re doing DNA tests to identify the remains. I doubt they’ll find any clues about the killer, or how she died.”
“They might.”
“Unlikely, given the fire damage and the length of time passed. They took the stump away for testing, too. The burnt-out car was removed long ago. We’re still tracking where it was discarded.”
Damn. “I saw his face. He was in his twenties, early thirties at a push. Muscle-bound.”
“Hell of a lot of miners and sports nuts around here, sis. They all fit that description.”
“Yeah, damn.” I moved the phone and stretched my neck to release a cramp.
“Maybe we could hook you up with a police sketch artist?”
“Good idea.”
“All right. I gotta go. Let me know if you remember anything else, ya weirdo.”
“Hey, I’m helping your arse.”
“Yeah, I know. Love ya.”
“Love you too, Spew.”
“Oi.”
I hung up, giggling.
My brother, the cop.Still a bogan.
Rubbing Seb’s back, I finally got a burp
