This is the second chapter of my novel "Comfort Zone". If you've yet to read Chapter One, you might like to do so before continuing here.
Having spent 10 hours in the cramped confines of the bus, Kaitlyn was more relieved than apprehensive as she walked down the steps into the fresh night air.
She had watched out the window as the bus pulled into Minton. Everything was quiet at this time of night. The first thing she noticed as they pulled into town was an old service station. The building had been all boarded up and the petrol pumps removed. It spoke of days gone past and an era of change.
Most of the houses they drove past looked like they had been built many years ago. Some had been modernized and restored quite nicely while others gave a more unkempt, ramshackled appearance with overgrown gardens. Climbing roses that seemed to have overtaken the garden and some of the house as well as they grew, uncontrolled, all over the place.
As the bus pulled up in the main street, Kaitlyn realized that she couldn’t remember what her mum’s cousin looked like. She hoped that he would be able to recognize her. Perhaps she would be the only one getting off here. It wasn’t like it was a large town.
Kaitlyn was surprised at how many people seemed to be getting off the bus. There had to be 20 or more trying to get out the doors and quite a few people milling around. She felt somewhat overwhelmed as people crushed her on all sides, all caught up in joyous reunions.
The crowd quickly thinned and Kaitlyn walked over to claim her own suitcase, all the while looking around hoping to spot someone who *might* be Ben Cartwright.
A tall young man wearing a hat that shaded most of his face approached her. Kaitlyn glanced around, instinctively searching for an escape route, should one become required. “Are you Kaitlyn Montgomery?” the gentleman asked her.
Dan stood and watched the young lady as she tilted her head back to look up into his face. If he was considered to be above average height she had to be classed as below average. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen an adult quite as tiny as she was. She looked as though she’d break into pieces without very much effort.
He continued to study her as a gamut of emotion ran across her face. Surprise, alarm, fear, confusion. Not that he’d consider himself even CLOSE to being an expert when it came to understanding women’s emotions.
“Um….yes”, Kaitlyn finally managed to respond, still unsure about the intentions of the man before her. The fact that he knew her by name had completely alluded her. She heard the bus pull away and a quick glance around her showed that they were standing in a completely deserted street. Her heart quickened in her chest, thumping so hard Kaitlyn wondered if it would burst its way through her chest at any moment.
“I’m Dan Harrison”, he said to her. “Ben was held up at home so he sent me to collect you”, he explained to her. “I’m Jenni’s younger brother”, he went on. Kaitlyn looked visibly relieved as he explained.
“You were worried I might be some weirdo, weren’t you?” Dan teased her. Kaitlyn felt her face flush slightly and then she stuck out her chin indignantly. “Well, you do look rather strange”, she told him frostily. Dan chuckled and Kaitlyn shot him a venomous look, her blue eyes flashing.
“I’m sorry”, Dan said to her. “I shouldn’t tease you when we’ve only just met”. Kaitlyn didn’t dignify him with an answer. It was obvious to her that he was a total yobbo. Complete with dirty brown boots, stained jeans and a filthy looking broad-brimmed hat. She wondered to herself how many animals had to die in order to dress this man. At least he didn’t have corks hanging off the hat like she’d imagined country people might.
There was a frosty silence in the ute as Dan drove out toward the farm. Dan decided not to persue Kaitlyn over her reaction to his teasing. He figured she was probably tired after a long bus trip. He preferred to be alone with his thoughts anyway.
“How long does it take to get to the farm?” Kaitlyn said, breaking the silence about 10 minutes into their trip. “About 25 minutes”, Dan told her. He saw Kaitlyn’s head bob out of the corner of his eye but didn’t turn to look at her.
Seconds later he was thankful that he’d kept his eyes on the road. A kangaroo jumped out in front of the car and he had to slam on the brakes, hard. Kaitlyn screamed as she was thrown forward. Dan pulled the ute to a stop, just short of the kangaroo. The kangaroo was frozen in the headlights for a second and then bounded away into the scrub.
“You okay?” Dan said to Kaitlyn, looking at her for the first time. It wasn’t easy to see her face in the pale moonlight and Dan silently cursed the fact that his interior light didn’t work. Kaitlyn nodded but didn’t speak. “Bloody roos”, Dan said, more to himself than anything.
“How can you blame the poor kangaroo?” Kaitlyn said loudly to him, her voice quivering slightly. “It’s not his fault some idiot put a road through here”, she added. Dan sighed. He could tell she was a typical city chick. Head full of opinions but very little knowledge.
Kaitlyn’s own thoughts of Dan were no more complimentary than his were of her. She couldn’t believe he could be so arrogant as to blame a poor defenseless animal for being in HIS way. After all, the animals were here first.
“We almost hit a roo on the way home”, Dan told him. Ben placed both hands on Kaitlyn’s arms and looked at her carefully. “No wonder you look so pale”, he said to her. “Come and sit down and I’ll make you a warm drink”, he said as he ushered Kaitlyn into a nearby chair at the dining table.
“I won’t stay”, Dan said to Ben. “Early start in the morning”, he added by way of explanation. Ben felt there was more to it than that but accepted things at face value for now. He would quiz Dan later when they had a chance to be alone. “No worries”, he said to Dan. “I’ll see you in the morning”, he added.
“Night”, Dan said and disappeared through the glass doors into the blackness of the night.
“Would you like to give your folks a call?” Ben asked Kaitlyn as he set about making them both a hot chocolate. “I’m too tired to talk to them tonight”, Kaitlyn admitted. “I’ll just send them a quick text to let them know I arrived safely”, she said as she whizzed her mobile phone out of the pocket of her bag.
“Those things don’t work out here”, Ben told her as he set a mug of steaming hot chocolate in front of her. Kaitlyn looked up at him in surprise and then back down at her phone. There was indeed no signal and the look on her face conveyed the fact that it had never occurred to her that mobile phones didn’t work everywhere you went. She was starting to have some very grave doubts about the wisdom of what she had gotten herself into. It was clear to her that she’d landed herself in a very foreign land with no idea what might be around the corner and doubting her own self confidence that she could handle any challenge thrown her way.
“How about I just give your mum a quick call to say you’re here and that you’ll call her tomorrow when you’ve had a chance to rest”, Ben suggested. Kaitlyn nodded mutely, feeling somewhat displaced and strange. The familiar aroma of sweet chocolate assailed her senses and brought with it the comforting feeling of home. All that had happened in the past 24 hours seemed to suddenly hit her and Kaitlyn knew that just the sound of her mother’s voice would cause her to dissolve into tears. A sharp pang of homesickness shot straight through her stomach.
Ben returned to the kitchen just as she was taking a sip of the hot chocolate. The sweet creaminess melted on her tongue and she felt the warmth spread throughout her whole being. It was by far the BEST hot chocolate she had ever tasted. “This is good”, she said quietly to Ben as he sat opposite her at the table and took a sip of his own cup.
“There’s nothing quite like tasting real food”, he said to her with a smile. Kaitlyn wasn’t sure she understood a word he was saying and yet she was too tired to try and make sense of it.
“Your mum sends her love”, Ben relayed to her. Kaitlyn nodded and tried hard not to think about home. A second wave of homesickness washed over her. A very large part of her wanted her mother to appear and tuck her into bed like she always had when she was a child. Kaitlyn couldn’t remember when her mum had stopped tucking her into bed at night. Somewhere along the line she’d stopped being the little girl and become her own person. But the little girl inside of her was still there and tended to make an appearance when she was particularly tired. Like right now.
“I won’t try and fill your head with too many details tonight”, Ben said to her.
For the first time since she’d arrived, Kaitlyn looked at her mother’s cousin. Looked at him with eyes that were actually seeing what she was looking at. She realized he had kind eyes, very much like her own grandmothers which wasn’t all that surprising given that his own mother was her grandmothers twin sister. His hair was a light brown colour, with tinges of grey showing at the sides. It didn’t make him look old though. It made him look kind and wise and gentle. Like the kind of person you knew you could depend upon no matter what.
The sweetness and warmth of the chocolate seemed to be working its magic on her nerves. Kaitlyn could feel her whole body relaxing, like a tightly wound spring slowly uncoiling itself. “We want you to know that we deeply appreciate you being willing to come and help us, particularly at such short notice”, Ben continued. “And we hope that you feel you can treat this place like home”, Ben told her. “If there is anything at all you need”, he continued, “please don’t hesitate to ask me or Dan”, he went on.
Dan. Kaitlyn’s mind swerved off on a tangent at the mention of his name. Visions of him laughing at her swept through her mind, followed by visions of him cursing a poor sweet defenseless kangaroo. In her mind he was a total bohemian and there was no way on earth she would want to ask HIM for anything.
“Were you hurt at all when Dan nearly hit the kangaroo?” Ben asked her, his concerned tone bringing Kaitlyn’s focus back to the present. “No”, she told him with a smile. “Just a little startled”, she admitted. Ben nodded and smiled. “Unfortunately they’re a part of life out here”, he told her.
Ben could tell Kaitlyn was extremely tired so he ceased talking. “C’mon and I’ll show you to your room”, he told her kindly. “Otherwise you might fall asleep right there at the table”, he added with a smile. He picked up her suitcase and Kaitlyn stood to follow him.
“Would you like to take a shower?” he asked her. Kaitlyn shook her head. “I think I’ll be doing well to change out of my clothes”, she told him with a smile. Ben nodded his understanding. “Well the bathroom and toilet are just down the hall there”, he told her, pointing as he spoke. “We leave the toilet light on so the kids can find it during the night so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it”, he told her.
“Thank you”, Kaitlyn told him as she stifled a yawn. Ben chuckled. “I think I’d best leave you to get some sleep”, he said to her. Kailtyn nodded but was too tired to say anymore. True to her word she barely managed to climb into her pyjama’s and was asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow.
0 comments:
Post a Comment