Life on the Run

We strolled as nonchalantly as possible into the kitchen at around 7:00 in the morning just as Bob was starting his breakfast. Sandra kissed her mother, "Morning Mum."

"You enjoyed yourselves last night I hear." Bob commented.

"So you did hear, we tried to keep it quiet." Sandra said.

"Yeah we heard it, it's a wonder you didn't start the dogs off. What are your plans for today?"

"I have to be at work by 10:00 and we thought that we'd get Greg's stuff and he can stay here for as long as he likes."

"Sure, that's okay with us. While you're in town can you pick up some stuff for me, I've got a list."

"Sure, we'll probably be back soon after lunch, it depends on what needs to be done."

"I was going to head back to town this morning but I'm happy to delay that until tomorrow."

"If you do, I'd like to go with you, I want to say how you live and what you do." She caught the looks on her parents' faces. "Don't worry we're not going to leap into anything, at least not yet, we're going to take it slow and be sure of ourselves before we make any decisions."

Bob had a funny look on his face. "If last night was slow, I'd hate to see you making a hasty decision, it'd be a blur."

We finished breakfast and Merle wouldn't let us wash the dishes so we headed back to the motel, and that's where all hell broke loose. I stopped at the reception to let her out and drove into the motel and parked outside my unit. I didn't even have a chance to open the car door before I was pulled from it by a huge hand attached to a huge arm that was itself attached to a huge man. "Thought you could get away from me you cowardly little shit. I invested a lot of time and effort into you and I'm not walking away with no return for my efforts, so you'd better cough up big time."

A couple of days ago I would have been scared shitless but not now. "You'll get nothing from me you muscle-bound oaf, I'm not scared of you." It was a bluff of course, I was still a little scared but I didn't want him to know that.

His fist was back and just about to begin its journey to my face when a voice cut through the air. "You! Yes you with the bad-arse attitude. I am just about to fire this shotgun at a bird on the fence behind you but you are blocking my line, I would wait for you to move but I'm impatient to get the bird, so I'm going to pull the trigger, if you're still standing where you are right now, I'm afraid that you will be shot. Now let that man go and step over to that wall over there." She indicated the wall with the barrels of the double barrelled twelve gauge shot gun that looked more like an artillery piece than a gun from where I stood. "No, wait, stand facing that veranda post and put your arms around it." She handed me an appliance cord. "Tie his wrists together, nice and tight, don't worry if you cut off the circulation, just make sure that he can't get enough purchase to break it."

I tied him up, he wasn't happy with my efforts and he kept looking to his right at a car parked next to the end unit. I recognised the woman seated in it, Mignone. I signalled to Sandra with my eyes that she should look at the car just as Mignone decided to leave her husband to his fate and started the car. As she accelerated towards the entrance Sandra stepped in front of her with the shotgun raised. When it became apparent that Mignone was not about to stop she fired, first one barrel and then the next. The first shot peppered the windscreen turning it opaques with dozens of small holes that almost penetrated the screen and cracks that radiated out from these holes. The second shot shattered the flimsy plastic grill, and put dozens of holes in the radiator, the car would not last long. It stopped and Mignone got out just as Sandra ejected the shell casings from the gun and re-loaded. "Would you mind joining your friend."

"I don't know him and I don't know why you attacked me."

"Cut the crap Mignone, I know all about you and the man mountain here, now why don't you be a good girl and join your friend at the post, I'm sure that you're familiar with a pole, having danced around one on more than one occasion. You might even like to put on a show for your friend here while we wait for the police, it should be about half an hour." I took great joy in tying her to the post with him, making sure that neither of them could release the other. Their expressions were completely different, his said that he was embarrassed at finding himself in this situation, while hers was pure hatred towards me and this extended to Sandra.

"When I went into the office Rosie warned me about these two, they arrived last night asking questions about you, and spent the night waiting for you to return. I figured it was Mignone and her whatever he is, so I got the shotgun from the cupboard in the office and loaded it, grabbed a couple of extra shells and came to your rescue."

We sat on the bonnet (hood) of my car and waited. My phone rang. "Hi, Greg here, speak to me."

"Greg, it's George, when are you coming back?"

"We thought tomorrow, why?"

"For starters you house has been trashed, don't worry we know who it was, one of the neighbours saw them going in and heard the damage happening and called the police who, unfortunately were a little slow in getting there. They got a good description of the culprits, she recognised Mignone as being the woman, but had never seen the man before. They must be really pissed off with you for decamping like that. Then the police want to speak with you, they have several other men who've been stung by these but are reluctant to give evidence because they felt embarrassed at falling for the scam. Are you prepared to give evidence so that they can proceed and look for them?"

"They won't have to look far, we found them, or at least they found us and we have captured them. We're just waiting for the police to arrive."

"You keep saying 'we', who is the other person that makes a 'we'?

"You'll find out tomorrow, we'll see you then. The police are almost here, who were you dealing with back there?"

The police car slid into the motel yard and two policemen got out. "What seems to be the problem here?"

Mignone was just about to say something but thought better of it when she saw the barrels of the gun moving menacingly towards her. "This lady," (I placed an ironic emphasis on the word 'lady') and this man here are both wanted in Sydney on charges of wilful destruction of property, mine, and in relation to several scams. I will be giving evidence to police tomorrow, in the meantime they should be held in custody until they can be transported to Sydney."

"Don't take his word for it, he's lying to you." Mignone wasn't going down without a fight.

"Contact Sydney and speak to Superintendant Carson on this number." I handed him my phone on which I had recorded the details in the memo screen.

He went off to check on his car radio, those long aerials hanging off each corner were useful for something. When he came back he put handcuffs on both of them before untying them and leading them to his car and driving off.

"My, this has been exciting, hasn't it?" Sandra said we headed back to the office to return the shotgun and pay my account. The Manager came out looking exceedingly seedy, he looked from me to Sandra as if trying to work out what was going on. "Hey, ex-boss, I quit this crappy job as of ten minutes ago, work out what you owe me and send it to my place, and don't try to stiff me because, if you do I won't hesitate to make you suffer." She grabbed my hand. "Come on Darling, let's get you gear and get out of this flea-hole."

It was good to be back in the cool calm of the station kitchen, Sandra and Merle were working on lunch while Bob and I were sitting at the table while I outlined what I was going to check into when in Sydney tomorrow. "There is a new crop rotation system that seems to be working in marginal areas, instead of the traditional three grain one fallow rotation, what's being trialled is a grain, canola, grain, legume rotation. The legume puts nitrogen nutrients back into the soil and the canola helps by keeping the soil working all the time as well as helping break the weed generation. The other interesting thing that's being trialled is dragging a trailer behind the harvester to trap grass seeds like rye grass that would normally get blown back and spread by the harvester. That reduces the dependence on chemical defoliants, and it's cheaper, you can re-use the trailer year after year."

"You're really getting caught up in all of this aren't you?"

"I'm exploring possibilities, there are a couple of other things I want to check out before I get caught up in it."

"Such as?"

"I want to check the long range forecasts that have come out of Crohamhurst over the past twenty years to see how accurate they've been and whether we can rely on them for our forward planning. The other thing I'm looking at is to plant an area in saltbush. Sheep are quite happy grazing on that and there is a growing market for saltbush lamb, we should also look at a meat breed if we're not going back into wool production. I've seen articles on the White Dorper breed as a meat sheep that has the added benefit that it doesn't need shearing, the wool apparently just falls off."

"You're putting a lot of effort into this, what's in it for you?" I could see that he was wary of my interest, he still didn't fully trust me.

"Apart from making Sandra happy, not a lot, other than see that you and Merle get some return for your efforts, and the hardships that you've gone through over the years."

"Okay, I'll go along with what you're doing as long as you keep me informed and, if I still don't think that it's viable, we pull the plug before we get in over our heads. Is that clear?"

'Certainly, actually I have a proposition that may interest you."

"Yes, what is it?" He was wary again.

"If I were to make you an offer to buy this property and keep you on to manage it, what sort of numbers would I be looking at?" I was testing him here, I had a reasonable idea what this property would go for in a sale but I wanted to see if he was greedy and ask for more. I would give him a certain amount of wriggle room, but if he went over the top I'd opt out.

He came up with the sort of number that was well within my ball-park. "I can live with that, leave it with me while I make a few more of the enquiries I need to make before I can make a decision."

"I think I'm beginning to trust you, but let me tell you right now, that if you hurt my daughter you'd better be able to run faster than my shotgun."

"If you're anything like Sandra with a shotgun I don't stand a chance, so I'd better do the right thing."

"What right thing?" Sandra came over, wiping her hands, and sat on my lap. "What are you two talking about?"

"Your father was telling me what would happen if I didn't do the right thing by you."

"Do I have anything to worry about?"

"Of course you don't." I kissed her just to let Bob know that I was serious. I have never felt this comfortable with a girl and her family in my life, and their acceptance of me was something that I didn't expect given country people's legendary reticence at accepting new people into their lives.

In bed with Sandra was better than last night, we were more familiar with each other and what turned us on. Her body's reactions to my caresses and my finger's penetration of her pussy was so intense, she had an orgasm before my cock got anywhere near her pussy, I was still working towards that when she shuddered and clung to me. "How do you know what to do and when to do it, is there a manual for guys that they can read that tells them?"

"No, if you must know, I just relax and my instincts tell me what to do."

"I love your instincts, I love you." She was working on him, not that he needed it, her efforts consisted more of leading him to the Promised Land of her pussy. He did not resist and soon we were working on instinct and enjoying every moment of our love making, she used her muscles to apply pressure to him as he moved in and out of her and her quivering orgasm coincided with mine. We were so attuned to each other's needs that it just seemed natural that, what was that Beatles song, Come together, right now."

We made an early start and were in George's office at 11:00am. "So this is the other half of the 'we' is it?" I had just introduced Sandra to him. "I must say that she's much better than the other one. I have just spoken to the police and they have formally charged the two of them with vandalism over the damage to your house, they want you to go there at your first opportunity and check to see if anything was stolen. When you've done that they want you to see them and make a statement about the scam and the episode yesterday, which I understand, you played a major part in." He looked at Sandra. "I was impressed by what I was told. Where do you fit into the scheme of things?"

"I met Greg the other day at the motel where I work and we went out to my family farm and he met my parents. We have plans for the future together that I'll let him explain to you, but I'm working under strict orders not to come home without him."

The visit to my house was heartbreaking, everything that could be broken had been broken, my lovely flat-screen TV was a pile of glass fragments in the carpet under at the base of the wall where it hung. There were original oil paintings that were beyond repair and some glass sculptures were smashed against the wall. My collection of crystal wine glasses for all occasions will never hold another drop, even my clothes were slashed to pieces. My insurance company was really going to love me and there goes my no-claim bonus. I brushed glass from the sofa and sat down, I wasn't strong enough to not cry, Sandra sat next to me and hugged me, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Darling, I never thought that anyone could do this to another person. I hate that bitch and what she's done to you."

"So do I and I want to see her punished, I know that I'm supposed to forgive others as I would have them forgive me, but right now I think that's so much bullshit. I'll probably get over it in time but right now I want to walk out of this house and never return. I'll get it cleaned up and sell it. Do you think, if I asked them nicely, that your parents will let me stay with them for a little while until I get back on my feet?"

She took my face in her hands and kissed me gently on the lips. "My parents will not only let you stay with them for a little while, they'll let you stay forever. I love your Greg Mathwin, and I'm not going to let you go now that I've found you, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I'm thinking that your bedroom will be just as much a mess as the rest of the house so I'd be wasting my time suggesting that we make love in your bed, wouldn't I?"

"I'd like it if just so that there is at least one good memory of this place that I can hold on to, but no, there can be no good memories for me here."

I checked quickly and decided that nothing had been stolen, just broken, except the contents of floor safe that was hidden under the floor of my study, Mignone never knew about it because, for some reason, I never showed it to her. This could explain why the paintings were slashed, they were looking for a wall safe.

I lifted the static rug from under my computer desk and twirled the dial of the safe, it was all there, all my papers and personal stuff and a cheque that I'd been holding onto for some time since my parents died and hadn't lodged in my bank account, there was more than enough there to buy the Dalley property and really set it up as a viable farm, that is if everything pans out as I hope. If not, the cheque will stay in the safe, or another, somewhere.

Superintendant Carson listened to me as I dictated my statement. "Thank you for that, not too many men would actually admit publicly that they had been duped by a beautiful woman. I've spoken to her and I can understand you falling for her. She almost had me convinced that it was all her husband's idea and she was forced to go along with it because she was scared of him, and yes, he is scary, but not as scary as she is. She may not get violent but what she's able to do to guys like you scares the hell out of me. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this whole thing was her idea all along. She had a key for your house so that's how they got in so we've got her on that charge. She'll do time that's for sure."

We left the police station feeling a little better. I arranged with George to hire someone to clear the debris out of my house, send the paintings to an Art Restorer on the off chance that they can be salvaged, have the house professionally cleaned and prepared for sale and put it on the market as soon as possible.

Sandra and I went to my office, we caused quite a stir because, not two weeks ago they had become accustomed to seeing Mignone striding through the building to my office as if she owned the place. It was assumed that we would soon be married, but now I was here with a new woman. I spoke to Marie, my Secretary. "Sorry I had to leave in a hurry, but that man had threatened me and I wasn't going to hang around and let him. I hope that he wasn't too much of a bother."

"Not at all Greg, reception called the police and as soon as her heard the sirens he left. I understand that he called by your house."

"Yes he did, and he will be paying for that visit for quite some time, I hope. By the way, this is Sandra Dalley, you will be seeing more of her around here."

"I understand Sir, I will pass the word to Reception to let her straight through without having to sign the Visitors book."

"Thank you for that, we are going to be in the office working for a while, hold all calls, I'll deal with them later, except for George."

"Very good Sir." She smiled a brief smile and went back to her work.

I logged on to the Long Range Forecaster's Webpage and called up their predictions for the region around Dalley for the past twenty years and compared it with the Met Bureau records for the same period. His accuracy was somewhere north of 80% and that gave me something to work on. His forecast for the next years sowing season looked bright, soaking rains for the month prior to sowing, and good follow-up rains over the month following. It looked promising if we could organise to get the crop in on time. We would need to tie up the seeding contractors for the optimum time.

The drive home would have taken four hours and, rather than arrive late in the evening , it was decided that we would stay in town for the night and head back in the morning. The last place that we wanted to stay was my place so we checked into a hotel. It was a long way from the motel in Dalley. Sandra rang her parents to tell them that we were staying in town. "Yes Mother, everything is fine, better than fine, we'll tell you all about it tomorrow. Love you."

After a pleasant meal in a restaurant that I'd never been to before we found ourselves back in our room. She came into my arms and kissed me. "It is going to be okay, isn't it?"

"Better than okay, I think this is going to work, I can feel it."

"And I can feel this." The 'this' she was referring to was my cock, she had my flies open and her hand inside. "I've never done this before." She said as she pulled him out of my trousers and, dropping to her knees, sucked him into her mouth. For someone who'd never given a blow job she was a natural, it was like everything about our lovemaking, so natural and so good. Not only did she suck my cock, but when I came she swallowed, every last drop of come went down her throat. "While I don't intend doing that often, it wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe. Some of my girlfriends say that it tastes good while others say that they have to spit it out and gargle with mouthwash to get rid of the taste, I didn't mind, probably because I was doing it for the man that I love, and I'll do anything you want me to do."