‘God knows. I can’t remember,’ Nathan lied. He could feel Xander watching him, and Bub too, now. ‘And for the record, we weren’t running away to the stockman’s grave. It was a pit stop on the way to town.’
They’d stuffed their backpacks, ridden out well before dawn. Nathan wasn’t sure what they’d thought was waiting for them in town. Something better. But they’d had a plan, he knew. They’d discussed it at length, and he could still remember some of the details now. He just didn’t want to talk about it.
‘So what happened?’ Xander asked.
‘They didn’t get very far, for starters,’ Harry said. ‘Their dad worked out what they were planning about five minutes after we discovered they’d left. We drove out here, parked by the grave and waited for them to come over the far crest.’ He looked at Nathan. ‘You remember that?’
‘Yeah, I remember.’ The feeling of seeing the two men waiting there.
‘What happened when you found them?’ Xander said.
‘We picked them up and drove them back home,’ Harry said. ‘Held the horses’ reins out of the window, let them gallop along beside.’
‘Was Dad angry?’ Bub’s voice came from the back. It was the first time he had spoken since they’d set off.
‘Yeah.’ Nathan didn’t turn to look at him. ‘Yeah, he was.’
‘I’ll bet he was.’ The atmosphere in the car felt heavier and they fell silent. Nathan could see the rocky outcrop stretching ahead. Not far to go now.
It hadn’t seemed like it at the time, but it was for the best that he and Cam had been found and picked up, Nathan thought. They’d have been lucky to last until morning at that time of year, even with supplies. Danger season. He knew now how stupid it had been. The rules of the outback may seem brutal but they were written in blood. Just ask Cameron. Nathan was jolted from this train of thought as his head jerked forward a little. Harry tapped the brakes as Nathan heard Bub call from the back: ‘Right turn here.’
Nathan looked up at the rocks, and the almost invisible gap leading through. They were there. He heard Xander shift in the back and glanced at him in the side mirror. His son was looking at Harry with a strange expression on his face.
The police vehicle came into sight first, parked at the bottom of the slope. Cameron’s car was still waiting at the top, exactly where they had left it. Sergeant Glenn McKenna was standing next to it and he raised his hand as they walked up.
‘You found it okay, then?’ Nathan nodded at the Land Cruiser.
McKenna nodded. ‘You can see it briefly if you’re coming from town. For a minute or so where the road rises outside your boundary, Nathan.’
‘Can you?’
‘You didn’t see it yourself?’
‘I don’t use that road.’ Nathan looked the sergeant in the eye. ‘Only place it goes is town.’
McKenna kept his gaze. ‘Fair point. Look, sorry I couldn’t be here yesterday. How was the other officer?’
Nathan and Bub exchanged a glance. ‘Fine,’ Nathan said.
‘I’ve heard good things about him.’ McKenna nodded at the car door and frowned. ‘I thought he said this was unlocked.’
‘It was, when we found it.’ Nathan handed over the keys. ‘He locked it.’
‘Why?’
‘In case anyone came by.’
McKenna looked mildly amused, but said nothing as he opened the car and looked inside. He searched thoroughly, checking the same places as his colleague, plus a few more the other guy hadn’t thought of. Like Ludlow, he paused at the sight of the food and water in the back. Nathan could smell the sandwiches and fruit starting to turn. Eventually the sergeant slammed the rear door.
‘I reckon we’ve got everything we’re going to get, so you’re all right to take this when you go.’
Dismay crossed Xander’s face. ‘You’re not going to hold it for – I dunno – investigation or something?’
‘No, mate. I’m sorry.’ McKenna shook his head. ‘Look, I honestly would if I thought it would help. I’d get the CIB boys to fly in from the city, do all their tests, but you have to make a case for it and they won’t come for this. There’s no sign of a struggle. There’s nothing damaged, valuable equipment hasn’t been stolen. I’m not sure what was going through Cameron’s head but your uncle didn’t die in this car.’
No-one spoke for a minute. The crime scene tape tied to the door handles whipped in the wind.
‘So what do we know?’ McKenna said, looking at the four of them. ‘Cameron said he was heading to Lehmann’s Hill but for some reason he changed his mind. And it’s a fair old hike from here to where he ended up. He would have known what he was getting himself in to, this time of year. On foot with no water. What time did he leave home on Wednesday?’
