It's a Hard Life

The pilot came over to me. "We have a minor problem, I don't think we can turn the plane around to taxi back for take off."

"What if we hook it up to the ute and we can drag it back down the road and you'll be facing in the right direction without turning around."

"Sounds good to me." Five minutes later it was ready for take off.

"Would it be okay if I came too?" I asked the Doctor.

"Are you a relative?"

"Not yet, but we're talking about announcing our engagement." Karen smiled at me and reached for my hand.

"Jump in." During the short flight back to Broken Hill I sat close to her, whispering to her that I loved her and that she wasn't going to get away from me that easily, this brought a smile onto her face despite the pain.

An ambulance was waiting for us at the airport and we were whisked to the hospital that was prepared for our arrival. Snake bites are not all that uncommon around here and there were few fatalities as a result of the treatment available. An additional dose of antivenin had been administered in flight and after a few hours she began to show signs of improvement. I was allowed in to see her, she was a little drowsy but smiled when she saw me. "Hi Pete, thank you."

"For what? Saving your life? I would have done that for anyone." I hoped my relieved smile would reassure her that I was being frivolous.

"Not that, for telling me that you love me, I've waited years to hear you say that." Back to that again.

"I didn't know whether you could hear me or not. I was worried, I was hoping that you weren't going to die, I didn't want you to die."

"The doctor told me that you did all the right things and that I owe my life to you. I'm going to have to think of a way to repay you."

"You don't have to repay me, just knowing that you're going to survive is payment enough."

"By the way, when you were trying to cadge a free ride, did you mean what you said when you told the doctor about announcing our engagement?" I was silent, just looking at her without saying anything, it wasn't as if the thought hadn't crossed my mind more than a dozen times, it's just that I thought that it might be a little premature. Karen caught my expression. "Don't worry, I won't hold you to it if you've changed your mind."

The doctor came in and checked her over. "I think it will be okay for you to leave as long as you promise me that you'll take it easy for a couple of days, no excitement." She looked at me and I looked at her and our thoughts were transmitted wordlessly to the doctor. "And that means no sex."

"What a spoilsport! Taking away from us the only thing to do around this hick town." If she hadn't been smiling when she said the doctor would probably have been offended. "Oh all right, I'll allow you that."

"Let's go." I said to her, "We'll check into a hotel and follow doctor's orders. And no, I haven't changed my mind." Karen threw her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss that I'll never forget, it said everything.

I rang home and got no reply. I figured that Nat and Mum would be trying to get through so I called Nat's mobile. "We tried to get through but the road is pretty bad so we had to turn back. If it doesn't rain overnight and the sun comes out tomorrow we should be able to get through in the afternoon. How's Karen?"

"She's fine, still a little sore but she'll make a full recovery. We've just left the hospital and are checking in to the Railway hotel."

"Now don't you get up to any mischief." Nat must have had the phone on speaker because that was Mum's voice.

"We won't." Karen said to them, "I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't do anything silly."

"Now why doesn't that fill me with confidence?" Nat said.

"Because you know me too well." Karen chuckled. We hung up and hailed a cab to take us to the hotel. "Do you get many snake bites out here?"

"Not many, but enough that we have to be prepared."

"I'm thankful for that. If you'd told me that you had to suck the venom out I would have hit you over the head with the wrench I had in my hand. The constricting bandage is the method of choice with snake, and spider bites, particularly the funnel web. Dad being a plumber was always digging them up and he'd catch them for the Serum Laboratory, so I sort of grew up with them."

"Are they as scary as we've been led to believe?"

"Yes and no. When they get into their attack pose they're frightening, they rear up on their back legs and their fangs point straight out. The fangs can easily puncture your toe-nail and when they are in attack mode you'll usually see a drop of venom on the end of the fang. Dad caught a male funnel web once that was so aggressive that the venom spurted from the fangs. If you get bitten by a female you'll be sore and sick for some time, but if a male bites you and you don't get immediate medical attention you'll be dead, and it's not a pleasant death. Apparently there's a component in the male spider's venom that doesn't exist in the female's and it's very specific. If for instance your family Labrador was bitten it would most likely survive because it is not affected by the robustoxin, a form of atracotoxin. Luckily an antivenin was found in 1981 and there have been no fatalities since then."

"Is it true that they can live under water?"

"Not forever, but they can survive for up to twenty four hours under water. I can remember Dad fishing one out of a swimming pool and chucking it onto the pool surround only to see it, ten minutes later, legging it out of there. I made a study of them because they fascinate me. Did you know that the bite of the male funnel web is only fatal to humans and monkeys, and that got me thinking that it proves that there must be a genetic link between the species."

"Don't let the 'Creationists' hear you say that."

"Yeah, I know, they even claim that God never made any dangerous species that was specifically targeted to hominids like us and monkeys, so I guess this proves that wrong as well."

"Interesting as this might be, we have a minor problem, we have no clothes other than what we're wearing, what are we going to sleep in?"

"That's a problem how? I don't intend to wear anything and if think you're climbing into bed with me wearing the jocks you've had on all day you've another think coming."

"Yes Ma'am." The cab had arrived at the hotel and we walked into the lobby to check-in to be met by an almost hostile Receptionist. "We've just come from the hospital, my fiancée was bitten by a brown snake and I'm sorry, but we didn't have time to pack a suit-case before the Flying Doc called for us. If it makes you feel better we'll go out and buy some clothes just to please you."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of your situation."

"You probably thought that I was bringing this attractive young lady into your esteemed establishment for nefarious purposes of a sexual nature, is that right?" I was forcing her to answer.

She decided to make light of the situation. "The thought did cross my mind, you know how it is in this business?"

"No I don't. I'm not that type of person, so how would I know?" She gave up and handed us our key.

"You were a bit hard on her weren't you?" Karen asked.

"I make it a habit of taking people on face value until I'm proven wrong. I might get hurt occasionally but in the main it works well for me. I don't appreciate it when people generalize and include me. I'm me, not someone else."

"And aren't I glad of that." We found our room and were inside looking at our new temporary surroundings. It was basic but clean. Karen jumped on the bed, "This feels great, come on, try it."

She was right, it was great and she was great in my arms, her lips on mine and her body pushing against mine. "This morning was to see what it would be like to finally fuck you, now I want to feel what it's like to make love to you."

"I have a confession to make."

"Tell me all."

"You know yesterday when I met you at the airport and you told me that you'd had a crush on me for years?"

"Yes?" There was a note of caution in her voice as if she was expecting some dire situation.

"Well, I had a crush on you, a huge crush."

"Why didn't you do something about it?"

"Hey, I was a shy country boy and you were a big city girl, I never expected that you'd be the slightest bit interested in me."

"I see that we have an awful lot of time to make up, so I guess we'd better make a start on it." I had the enthusiasm and she had the technique, she led and I followed, and caught up, so that when we arrived it was together. "Damn that was good!" She said between gasps. "That was definitely worth the wait. Don't get me wrong, this mornings heart starter was up there with the best but it lacked something, love and commitment. I hope that you don't shy away from the 'c' word like some men do?"

"You sound as if you have some experience in that field."

"You could say that. I think part of the problem was that none of them measured up to my expectations of you. You on the other hand, have just surpassed all of my expectations."

"I guess there's no getting away from you now, is there?"

"Not in a million years. We, my Darling Pete, are permanently joined at the hip, or groin, or somewhere."

"Ah well, c'est la vie. Come here you." I reached for her willing body and she opened herself to my cock, I lost all track of time as my cock slipped in and out of her pussy which was contributing to our mutual enjoyment. Her movements were timed to coincide with mine in slowly increasing tempo until we collapsed, spent, in a lather of sweat and other bodily fluids. "I might not be as experienced as you, but then I'm not exactly a virgin either, and I can say that this is the most sensational experience that I've ever had."

"I'm so glad my hero enjoys me so much because I enjoy him immensely. Just wait until I tell Nat and your mother, our mother, how good you really are, and here she was worrying that you wouldn't be any good."

"Is there anything that the three of you haven't discussed about me?"

"Probably not. When we were kids at school Nat used to tell me all about you, and then when the two of you started getting together on weekends I pleaded with her to let me tag along. Didn't you ever wonder why she kept leaving us to our own devices whenever she could?"

"I was just a naïve and shy boy who had no experience with girls, I didn't know what to do and I was too embarrassed to ask the other boys at school because they'd think I was the only one who never had sex."

"Just because they said that they were getting it didn't mean they actually were. Most of them would have gotten their experience from Playboy or Penthouse."

"What about you girls, where did you get your experience?"

"There were any number of things that we could use as a substitute for the real thing, candles were a favourite."

I looked at my watch and saw that we only had a short time before the shops closed and we needed to get fresh clothes and underwear for tomorrow. We quickly showered and dressed, separate showers, we didn't want to tempt fate, and found a suitable clothes shop. Karen insisted on parading for me in the clothes that she tried on whereas I just chose my size and style and bought what I needed. Pyjamas weren't even considered.

I rang Mum after dinner and her news wasn't positive. "Just when it looked like there might be a break in the weather we had a torrential downpour half an hour ago and the track's closed again, so it looks like you two will have to amuse yourselves for a few more days, not that you'll have any problems keeping yourselves amused."

"What are you suggesting? You wouldn't be inferring that Karen and I have been misbehaving, would you?"

"If not, why not? You could do worse you know, in fact you have done worse, what about that tart you dragged home from that B&S ball, she took one look at the place and demanded you drive her to Olary."

"Don't remind me. I'm sure we'll find something to keep us occupied." It was all that I could do to get the words out because Karen had her hand in my fly dragging the old boy out for attention. I suppose she'll keep me to my promise of making sure she enjoys herself. "Come here you hussy." I grabbed her and tossed her on the bed with me arriving a nanosecond after her. My mouth found her mouth and was hungrily devouring her tongue. Meanwhile my hands were also busy massaging her breasts.

It didn't take long for us to find ourselves naked in bed and that was pretty much our life for the next three days until Nat and Mum arrived to take us home. I drove with Karen in front with me and Mum and Nat in the back. The three of them were as thick as thieves, planning the future and the 'm' word featured prominently.

I was getting a little tired of this. "Don't I have any say in this?"

"No!" A chorus of three answered me. Now I know where I stand in this. Not that the scenario doesn't have it's merits, I have to agree, I could do worse than Karen, she was easy on the eye, had a great personality and was easy to talk to when she wasn't with Nat, in which case I was lucky to get a word in edge wise.

We arrived back home in reasonable time, the road was drying out and I didn't have to use the winch once in the whole trip. It was almost dark so I went out to feed Ralph while the triumvirate worked on dinner.

Life settled down to a new routine. Karen had moved her gear into my room and became a permanent part of my life. There was work to be done and some days Karen came with me while other days she stayed home with her fellow conspirators, plotting my future. The days Karen was with me were the best, we worked well together and she showed that she could fit in to station life by not being afraid of getting in there and doing the hard stuff. I was pleased that I'd found her, or she'd found me. It really didn't matter who had found who, right?

I left early and alone to fix some fences that had been pushed down by the roos in search of feed. Karen and Nat had planned to fly back to Sydney to make further plans for my future, you know, the dress and stuff like that so she had decided to stay back and finish up what she could here. I got about halfway to where I need to go when I realised that I'd left the fencing pliers on the workbench, and it would be useless me getting out there without them, so I turned back.

The house seemed deserted and I remembered that Mum was going to the neighbouring station to pick some mail that had been delivered there. Thinking she must have taken the girls with her I decided to use the toilet before heading out again. As I walked down the hallway I heard a noise coming from Nat's room. Pushing the door open I saw them, Nat and Karen, naked and in bed together and they weren't sleeping, they were hard at it. "Fucking hell!" I stood, transfixed for several seconds before turning around and walking, running out of the house and jumping into the ute.

Through the cloud of dust I made out the naked figure of Karen running after me. She must have run for a couple of hundred metres before she collapsed to the ground. I was beyond caring. I was shocked by what I had seen and needed time to get my head around this development.

I drove, forgetting about the fence, forgetting about everything. There was a place at the very Northern end of the property that I went when I was feeling shit-house, it was quiet and remote, there was water there and there'd be rabbits there and I had the 22 on the rack in the back of the cab so I wouldn't starve. There was one other attraction to this place, it had once been a talc mine and there was still a lot of it lying around, and I found that I could spend hours just sitting there with a pocket knife carving it into some interesting shapes and, as I carved I could clear my mind of all my problems and a solution would find its way into my head. This problem was going to take time.

It was going to take days in fact. The first day I was so angry that I didn't pick up any stone and the knife was used to skin my first rabbit. I tied it to a piece of fencing wire bent in two for strength and resting on two large rocks over my fire and when it was done I mongrelled it (ate it off the bone) until all that I was left with was a pile of bones and sticky fingers that I licked clean. The billy had just boiled and I threw a handful of tea into it and stood up to swing it in circles to settle the tea leaves to the bottom. It tasted good, like billy tea does.

I stretched my swag out and crawled in, pulling the mosquito net over me and zipping it up, I settled in for the night, looking up into the clear skies with its millions of bright stars until I dropped off into a deep sleep.

Day two and I attacked the stone in earnest. The talc dust hung around me in the calm air and shapes appeared as if by magic, dozens of shapes. When I slowed down late in the afternoon I realised that all of the shapes were of the same thing, Karen. How was I going to forget her when my subconscious wouldn't let me? I took the gun and walked quietly into the dunes around my camp. I spotted a big buck rabbit sitting near his burrow. I stood still for several minutes before slowly raising the rifle to my shoulder. I knew that it would have to be a head shot, if I just wounded him he's crawl into the burrow and die a slow and painful death there, and I wouldn't wish that on him. Steadying myself I squeezed the trigger and he flipped into the air and fell, lifeless, where he had been sitting. I walked over and picked up the carcase and checked it over, the bullet had hit him just in front of his ear before emerging in front of his other ear.

He tasted good and filled me up, although I began to think that a diet of nothing but rabbits wasn't actually healthy, I decided that it would do for however long it took to sort out my problems. That got me thinking about my problems. How long had Nat and Karen been lovers? Did I have a right to criticise? It was their decision after all. This led to my biggest problem and the one that I would need to resolve; did I really care?

Another night counting stars until I slept before waking in the cold air of a desert morning. Breakfast of billy tea before attacking stone again. Today I tried to carve different shapes and, although they were something like I was trying to reproduce it was hard work and there was no inspiration in my efforts. I ended up smashing most of them in frustration. Day three had become a waste of time, I was so angry and frustrated that I'd completely forgotten why I had come here in the first place. It was working.

Day four and I was back on Karens. I must have carved at least a dozen of her by mid- afternoon and was so totally absorbed in my work that I didn't realise that there was someone standing silently behind me until the someone cleared her throat. "Is this your own private misery or can I join in?"

I stood up and turned to face a dishevelled and dusty Karen, my God she looked good. I lurched toward her as she rushed to me and we collided in the middle. My parched lips found her parched lips in the best kiss of my entire life. We finally parted. "How the hell did you get here?"

"I walked." Simple as that, she walked.

"But it's a good forty kilometres."

"Don't I know it, and it gave me a long time to think about me and you and us and what our lives together means. To put it in perspective, I know I have done something stupid and hope that you'll forgive me, and I promise that it will never happen again. I can explain what I did if you're interested."

"I forgive you. I've been going over what I saw and my feelings for you and I had reached the conclusion that I love you enough to forgive you and try to forget all of this. You don't need to explain what you did and why, but if it makes you feel better, feel free."