‘Hell’s bells.’
‘Careful.’Porter reached out, but she shook his hand away.
‘I’ve got it.’But the crust gave way beneath her weight.Bulldust swallowed her legs, and her shoes.
‘Go slow with this stuff.’He tried to open his door, but it was stuck under the weight like pushing against the tide.But when he shoved hard to open it, the car leaned like they were on water.
That didn’t feel right.
‘I mean it Amara, take it easy with this stuff.’It was enough to hold his breath, and gently push on the door, or he was going to have to crawl out on Amara’s side.
Determined, she gathered up her skirts, then yanked her foot free with a soft sucking sound, with the powder clinging all the way to mid-calf.
Bracing a hand on the doorframe, she plunged her arm deep into the powder.Soon, she dragged her arm back, her fingers clutching the lost shoe, with her entire arm now floured like it was ready to be battered and deep-fried.‘Got it.’
‘I could’ve done that.’Wishing he’d been quick enough to help her, but he was still surveying the scenery while getting out of the car.‘Wait—’
‘I did just fine, thank you.’
The stubborn thing.Coughing as quietly as she could, while staggering with her bare feet sinking again as she half-hopped toward firmer ground.Her ballgown shimmered in the headlights, the hem already rimmed in red dirt.He hated seeing her dress ruined like that.
This wasn’t just dust.This was a pit, where her car’s headlights cast a hazy glow over the fine, shifting surface.
The locals called it outback quicksand.Where seasonal runoff channels that dried out just enough to hide the trap beneath, leaving a soft crust on top.Some a metre-deep, others more like dry wells—filled with powder instead of water, and deeper than any man dared to dive.Then, come the Wet Season’s rains, it’ll wash it all away like it was never there.
He’d lost count of how many tourists he’d hauled out of bulldust traps since he’d been stationed to Elsie Creek.
First time he’d heard about it, he thought the locals were overreacting.
Now he knew better.The stuff was deeper than common sense—and twice as deadly.One wrong turn and the earth swallowed you whole.
‘I’ll just dig us out,’ she muttered, as her skirt glimmered in the headlights like a disco ball caught in a dirt storm.
‘While wearing a ballgown?Yeah, right.’Porter followed in his borrowed suit, his good boots crunching into powder that went soft fast.‘Tell me you’ve at least got a shovel in this thing?’
Amara hesitated.
Porter swore under his breath.‘Do you have anything?Recovery boards?Snatch strap?Tyre deflator?Kangaroo Jack?Compressor?Hell, even a bloody tarp to wedge under the wheels?’
Her silence said it all.
‘Deadset,’ he muttered, rubbing a hand down his face.‘You came out here chasing a suspect, in the dark, dressed like you’re about to walk the red carpet, in a car with no recovery gearin the outback?!’
‘I wasn’t expecting to go bush bashing tonight!’
‘That’s my bloody point, Montrose.Out here, you always expect it.No matter if you’re just out for a Sunday drive.’
‘I’m normally in the Stock Squad car.Finn’s troopy.’Slipping on her heels, she then stepped around the front, only for her heels to sink in the dust—again!‘Are you done lecturing me?’
‘Not even close.’He crouched beside the tyre, brushing away the top layer of dust—only to reveal it went deeper.‘We’re well and truly rooted.No traction, no clearance, and this whole dust pit will swallow us if we try to force it.’
It was a big ditch, made from a natural runoff from the wet season that was full of bulldust.He didn’t know how deep it went, but it was deep enough for him to sink up to his knees in it already.
‘So, what now?We just sit here and wait for Finn to come find us and lecture me.’
He climbed out of the dust for more solid ground and straightened slowly.‘How, Montrose?Because it’s dark, and with the amount of traffic on the road tonight from the ball, your car tracks will be gone—buried under the bulldust, especially after what we just stirred up to get here.’
His voice echoed across the empty outback that swallowed sound and gave nothing back.There was no breeze.No night birds of insect sounds.Just silence.
