Page 21 of Wings Above the Mallee

Tiny lights twinkled on the narrow bridge spanning the broad Murray River, silhouetting Gavin against the window. She sucked in her breath in shock: how could he have aged so much in the few days since she’d seen him? She suspected he was on chemo, but she wasn’t going to ask. No questions, no answers—that was the unspoken deal.

He felt frail as she hugged him, and she wanted to run home. Go back to the animals that needed her, the ones she could save.

‘Gav, how lovely to see you. And Hannah.’ She embraced the woman, trying not to notice that Hannah’s smile was sorrowful, her eyes filled with knowledge of the tragedy to come.

No. She couldn’t let herself think like that.

Amelia took a seat, fishing around for something to say, something that didn’t rely on the mundanities that always seemed to include enquiring after someone’s health. ‘Got someone sorted to take the Cherokee up for you, Gav?’

Gavin shook his head. ‘Not yet. Reckon I’ll have to drop by here and beg a ride in your Jabby. Even if it is colder than a witch’s tit in there.’

‘Gavin!’ Hannah reproved fondly.

‘What?’ Gavin faked innocence. ‘Just talking about the weather, my love. You had enough fuel on board to get here all right then, Amelia?’

‘Always. Can’t have too much fuel on board—’

‘Unless you go down in flames,’ Gavin finished. The rec pilots shared a macabre sense of humour. ‘You found a hangar at the local field?’

Amelia passed a menu to Hannah. ‘There are specials up above the bar, too,’ she said, pointing at a colourfulchalkboard above the till on the opposite side of the room. She paused in confusion as she noticed Lynn’s twin behind the bar counter. Or was it Lynn? Surely two women wouldn’t have exactly the same unlikely shade of hair colour and nail polish? ‘No,’ she said, turning her attention back to Gavin. ‘A friend put me on to a private hangar. Middle of a paddock, heaps cheaper, and no air traffic when I want to take off.’

‘Sounds like somewhere I want to fly from.’ Gavin’s eyes gleamed with the prospect of an illicit flight. She knew why: piloting meant becoming one with the aircraft, leaving everything else behind. There were no fears, no regrets, no grief, no guilt in the sky. No room for anything but focus on that moment, that instant in time that could last forever.

‘Let me know next time you’re coming through. I’ll sort something.’ Unless she’d moved again already, she thought guiltily. But Gavin wasn’t her responsibility, she’d made sure of that. She didn’t have to stay in Settlers Bridge just so he could occasionally escape to the skies.

Yet, if she did stay a while longer, couldn’t she bring him some joy?

No.She had no obligation to the older man. The fact that she considered it for even a moment meant that she needed to bail: on this relationship, this town. Anything that was tying her down. Anything except the animals.

She tapped the menu. ‘What do you fancy? They’re pretty busy tonight, so I’d better go up and order.’

‘The surf ’n’ turf looks good,’ Gavin said, his gaze on a nearby table.

‘We’ll just share the soup special,’ Hannah said quickly.

Amelia frowned. ‘I’ll be horribly offended if you do. This is my shout, a thank you for running all my furniture down here. And a welcome to my new town.’

‘Gavin will never eat a whole meal,’ Hannah said doubtfully. ‘And I don’t have much of an appetite myself, anymore …’

‘Then I’m sure we can get the rest packed up for takeaway.’ Was chemo expensive or was it on the free list? She couldn’t ask, couldn’t protect Gavin, couldn’t save him, but she could send them away with full bellies. ‘And I fully intend to have dessert as well,’ she said firmly. ‘You’ll be doing me a favour. I live on toast all week because there’s no point in cooking for myself.’

Anticipatory grief filled Hannah’s eyes and Amelia could have kicked herself.

‘Five seconds to decide or I’m going up and ordering a whole load of food,’ she said as she stood. Running away. That’s what her life was all about. Running away from guilt and from emotions.

She would order extra and send Hannah and Gavin on their way with an ice brick and takeaway containers, she decided as she stood in line at the till. If they didn’t need the food, they could toss it; if they did, she’d done the right thing. And, most importantly, done it without any of them being required to acknowledge the tragedy that made the gesture necessary.

‘I’d say what were the chances of meeting a girl like you in a place like this—’ Sean’s lilting accent interrupted her thoughts as she stepped up to the counter ‘—but chances are actually pretty high in a two-pub town on a Thursday night. Hello again, Lynn.’

So it was Lynn? ‘I thought you ran the IGA?’ Amelia said to the woman behind the bar.

‘Fingers and pies, lovey,’ Lynn said cheerfully. ‘You know how small towns are; we have to double up sometimes.Unless we can persuade some of you youngsters to hang around long enough to take over the reins.’

What was with this town and encouraging people to stay?

‘Speaking of, is that granddaughter of yours staying this time, Sean? She’s looking more settled.’ Lynn seemed in no hurry to ring up Amelia’s order, despite the queue.

Amelia turned side-on, awkwardly positioned in the middle of the conversation. She hadn’t initially realised the unkempt young woman was Heath’s daughter, although her sullen look should probably have been a tip-off. She had deliberately taken a seat alongside the girl at the meeting when it had become obvious that everyone else was avoiding the vacant chair.

---