Page 52 of Nothing Without You

That afternoon, she walked along the beach to Matilda’s place. The old lady was sitting in a chair under the shade of the trees on the foreshore. She pulled another chair out from the bushes and dusted it off with the bottom of her dress when she saw Evie coming towards her.

Matilda called out, her voice so welcoming and friendly that Evie started running up the dunes. ‘Hey, girl. You come and see me. You’re my good friend and daughter.’

Evie hugged her and tried to avoid Matilda’s knowing eyes. She was aware that her cheek was slightly bruised and red. ‘Oh Matilda. I would walk a thousand miles to come and see you.’

They sat together in peaceful silence, the old woman resting her weathered hand on Evie's arm. When she tenderly squeezed with her arthritic fingers, Evie turned her gaze towards her. Matilda's face held a mesmerising appeal for Evie. Each line etched upon her weathered visage seemed to weave a tapestry of a thousand stories, speaking of a life rich with experiences. Despite the passage of time, there was a youthful vibrancy in Matilda's expression, her eyes darting back and forth with an insatiable curiosity, filling her with timeless wisdom.

Now Matilda spoke. ‘Why don’t you leave him, my girl?’ You scared of him coming after you?’

In front of them, sets of waves rippled along the beach, the white tips curling over and falling, creating small surges that ran into the shore. Seabirds called out as they twirled above the water, occasionally diving into the waves and coming up with small fish writhing in their beaks. ‘Yes,’ Evie replied. ‘He said he’d kill me if I leave. He’ll find me no matter how far I run or where I go.’

Once the words were out of her mouth, Evie felt a heavy load lift from her shoulders. At least now, if something happened to her, Matilda would know why.

‘Why don’t you tell the police? Baker’ll help you.’

‘That would make it worse. Bob’d find out somehow. His mates also have friends who are police. The coppers aren’t all good like your Baker is.’

Matilda squinted, holding her hand above her eyes to look across the ocean. ‘You know, Baker’s younger step-brother, Mattrick, his father was not a good man. My first husband, Jacko, was the best father anyone could wish for. Those first four kids are his. Baker reminds me of him a lot. The next fella I married was a mongrel. I don’t know why I let him into my house and life. At the start he was nice and he paid for all the kids to go to school, and food, and all that. He was okay, ‘til he lost his job on the trawler. Hurt his leg and couldn’t work on there no more. He started drinking and that was the end of him. Everything went from bad to worse. He started hitting me, and then the kids. Used to go crazy and tear the house apart, and I’d spend days cleaning it all up. He was the same as your Bob. He told me if I left, he’d kill me and all the kids. He would’ve done it too. I have no doubt.’

‘So, what did you do? How did you get away from him?’

Matilda leaned forward, her words a whisper. ‘He used to go walkabout a fair bit. Sometimes for a week, sometimes two. Sometimes for months. Everyone just thought he’d left us. He didn’t have any family, and his friends were drifters.’

Evie needed to know the solution. If Matilda had escaped from her husband, maybe she could do the same. ‘So how did you get away?’

Matilda sat up straighter, her eyes looking out from between the creases and wrinkles of her face. ‘I didn’t get away. I got him away. I killed him. Buried him where no one will ever find him.’

Evie gulped. That was not the answer she was expecting. ‘How? How did you kill him?’

‘Poison. A mixture I knew how to make, so that he wouldn’t know. I did it when the kids weren’t here, and he just went to sleep. Well, after a while. He might have had a bit of pain.’

‘Dead. You killed him?’

‘Yep. Dead as a doorknob.’

‘Does anyone else know about this?’

‘Nope. You the first person I ever told. I can help you, Evie. I know how to make the mixture.’

Evie blinked several times. ‘Oh no. I mean, I don’t think bad of you for doing what you did, but I can’t do that. Someone would find out and I’d end up in jail.’

‘Well, girl, just remember, when those black eyes and bruised cheeks start adding up, and when they all start getting too much, you just come and see old Matilda here. I fix him up real good and well, I’m not sure how we’d get rid of his body but…’

Evie stood up. ‘I can’t poison him. I hate him, but I can’t kill him. Something will work out. I’ve been reading a book someone left in the shop. It’s all about fate and how what goes around, comes around. I think I’d rather rely on fate than poison.’

The two of them hugged. ‘Your secret is safe with me, Matilda.’

‘I know it is, otherwise I wouldn’t have told you. Best thing I ever did, getting rid of him. I wouldn’t be standing here today if I hadn’t, and all my kids wouldn’t have done so good. Yeah, that was his fate.’ She chuckled. ‘The funny thing is, he was so nasty and insignificant, no one ever missed him, or come looking for him.’ She threw back her head and laughed, clicking her fingers as she looked at Evie. ‘Easy. Gone. No trace.’

Evie’s swollen face didn’t seem so bad after talking to Matilda. Since her mother’s wedding, she had hardly spoken. After all, what was there to talk about? But today she had been uplifted a little by the poison story, and felt privileged she had been confided in. She and Matilda were soul sisters. Kindred spirits. As she watched Bob shovelling the vegetables she had cooked into his mouth, she did feel a little taken by the idea of doing away with him. If he were no longer here and couldn’t come after her—she would be free.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

The next few weeks dragged and, although she visited Matilda several times, they never spoke about Bob or the poisoning again. Matilda showed her how to grow herbs and vegetables, and she was also halfway through weaving a basket she could use when she went into town to buy groceries.

Bob was sulky and morose, and she did everything she could to stay out of his way. She crossed his path less because of the shifts at the resort on the island. It was only a short trip over on the Saturday afternoon ferry, and she could stay the night in a little room that the resort owned. Once her shift was finished on Sunday, she would catch the ferry back late in the afternoon. It was annoying because it limited her time with Matilda. However, she now realised that Bob was often out until late at night during the week, so if she ran to Matilda’s, she could get a couple of hours in before having to head back home.

She was also able to slip some of the extra money she was making into her savings. Sometimes holidaymakers at the resort gave her tips, and she stuffed that money into an envelope she kept hidden, along with her other precious mementos.

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