Shallow Breath

27

Maya




As Maya sits cradling Luke, she watches Pete’s and Desi’s horrified faces taking stock of the situation. Without even looking at one another they are instantly a team, Pete lifting Luke’s head gently from her lap and Desi running to turn on the verandah lights. Maya hasn’t realised how heavy Luke’s weight has been on her until it is gone. She is left rubbing her legs for a moment, trying to get the feeling back.

When Desi returns, she is immediately busy, using a jumper to cushion Luke’s head, lifting his eyelids, checking his pulse. ‘What’s his name?’ Desi asks as she works.

‘It’s Luke,’ Maya says through her sobs. ‘Can you wake him up, please?’

‘Luke, can you hear me?’ Desi is leaning over him, patting his cheek.

‘He needs to go to hospital.’ Pete indicates the car with his keys.

‘Pete, you can’t, please. I promised him …’ Maya jumps in front of Luke, protecting him. ‘He was awake when I drove here. I was helping him up the steps and he collapsed.’

‘What the hell happened, Maya?’ Pete asks. His voice softens as he sees her distress and he kneels beside her, putting his arm around her. She can feel herself trembling.

‘He was beaten up.’

Desi looks up. ‘Then Pete’s right, Maya. He might have internal injuries. We should go now.’

‘Nah, I’m fine.’ To their surprise, Luke suddenly comes round and struggles to sit up, immediately groaning, clutching his side and falling back down, curling himself into a ball.

Desi leans over him. ‘I’m Desi, Maya’s mum. This is Pete. Can you tell us where it hurts?’

‘Right now, everywhere,’ he replies, grimacing. ‘But I’ll be okay.’

‘Come on, you two,’ Pete says. ‘We need to know what happened.’

There is silence for a moment, then Luke breaks it. ‘My stepbrother and I don’t get on very well.’

‘Your stepbrother is a murdering scumbag,’ Maya mutters.

‘What do you mean, murdering?’ Pete asks sharply.

Luke speaks through clenched teeth. ‘Hayden and his mates have been shooting and torturing kangaroos, in bushland near the old wildlife park. We’ve been trying to get some evidence Maya can take to the police. And in the meantime we’ve been having a go at saving the joeys. We’d managed to stay under the radar … until tonight.’

Desi sits up and sucks in a breath.

Pete turns to Maya. ‘How long has this been going on for?’

‘A few weeks.’

‘It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have got her involved,’ Luke butts in. ‘I went to her one night, with a joey. Told her what had been happening, and asked if she could help. I only meant for her to take care of the injured ones I found – I didn’t want to put her in danger. I thought she might know what to do. She’d done this presentation at school a few years ago … told us about all the animals you’d helped,’ he looks at Desi. ‘It reminded me of my mum – when I was little she’d wake me up in the night just so’s I could watch a bobtail walk across the garden. Back before she married Sean.’

‘This isn’t your fault,’ Maya says miserably. ‘I insisted on coming with you. And I went down there early tonight. I thought perhaps if I heard them coming I could scare the roos away by making noise. And I did – but they saw me in their headlights. One of them chased me … If Luke hadn’t been there …’

She could still hear the panting breath of Hayden’s friend as he bore down on her and tackled her to the ground, and feel the rough rub of his scraggly beard as he spat profanities against her neck. Then she had been pulled up and frogmarched across to the others, who formed a semicircle, four of them watching her, smirking, casting furtive glances at one another, a debate going on without words. Her fear had reached new levels, turning her body to ice as she stood on her own, already understanding what cruelty they were capable of.

Then Luke had come charging in from nowhere. ‘Leave her alone!’ he’d raged, pushing her behind him so forcefully that she almost fell, then standing his ground.

Jarrad had marched over and swung an almighty punch. Luke flew through the air and hit the dirt hard. Jarrad began kicking, grunting with exertion, then paused, standing over Luke’s body, the muscles in his jaw twitching and flexing with anger. Maya had reached for the knife in her bag, but, before she could pull it out, Hayden had come across to his mate, putting one arm loosely around his neck. As Jarrad remained rigid, Hayden had spoken quietly into his ear, and eventually Jarrad began to move away, walking backward, his eyes bulging. Finally, he turned round and began to jog off, at which point Hayden pointed an imaginary trigger at Luke and fired.

They had got into their cars and driven away, leaving Maya to help Luke to their vehicle. He had been quiet, panting with effort, but she hadn’t realised how badly hurt he was until the car’s internal light showed the extent of the bleeding. She had taken the turning to the shack without even debating it.

Pete brings her back to the present. ‘You know it’s illegal to shoot kangaroos without the proper licences. If you go to the police, there might be something they can do.’

‘I didn’t want to.’ Luke sits up again, clutching his head. ‘My mob and the police have a complicated relationship already. Besides, it’s our word against theirs at the moment. We thought if we got proof then Maya could give them a try, though I doubt it’s ever going to be top of their list. I’m surprised Hayden and his mates aren’t over it by now, to be honest. They’re not in it for much except drunken kicks.’

‘Luke, are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital and get properly checked?’ Desi asks.

‘Nah, I’ll be right.’ He tries to sit up, but they can all see he is swaying.

‘Let me help you inside,’ Pete says. ‘Or do you want me to take you home?’

Luke shakes his head. ‘Would it be all right if I stayed here a bit longer and cleaned myself up? Wanna avoid mum till I can think of some excuse. She’ll be gutted to see me like this, and she’s sad enough as it is.’

‘Of course,’ Desi says quickly. ‘Just lie on the sofa and rest. I’ll get your cuts cleaned.’



Once Luke is comfortable, Maya pulls a chair up close to him, notices his long, slender fingers on the blanket and wants desperately to hold his hand.

He is watching her. ‘I’m sorry about the one last night,’ he says.

She shrugs.

Desi has come in with a bowl and towels. ‘What one last night?’ she asks as she dabs gently at the cut on Luke’s forehead.

Maya wishes she would mind her own business, but Luke begins to talk. ‘I found a joey, and brought it to Maya,’ he says, wincing at Desi’s efforts. ‘She did a great job, but it got really sick. She took it to the vet, but it died.’

Desi glances quickly at Maya before she carries on with what she’s doing. ‘You saw Theo?’ Her voice is slightly unsteady.

‘Yes. And Rebecca. And Caitlin.’

‘How are they?’

Up until this point, Maya has forgotten her anger. Now it rushes back in an instant. ‘How do you think?’

‘Maya!’ Pete says sharply.

‘It’s all right.’ Desi doesn’t ask anything more, just turns away and finishes helping Luke. ‘Okay, then, you rest here, and we’ll keep an eye on you.’ She pats him on the arm and walks off to the kitchen, Pete following.

Luke closes his eyes. ‘Your mum’s all right, you know,’ he murmurs.

Maya sighs. She watches Luke for a moment, but he seems to be sleeping, so she gets up and goes into the kitchen. She is still willing herself to apologise when her mother speaks.

‘We were just debating what to do. How about we take turns staying up and checking he’s all right. I’ll go first. You look shattered.’

Pete interrupts. ‘No, I’ll go first, Desi. You’ve got a visitor coming over in the morning, remember? And you two need to have a talk.’ He nods at Maya.

‘Who’s coming over?’ Maya asks.

‘It’s Kate,’ Desi says, and Maya sees her look anxiously at Pete, pursing her lips. ‘And about Kate … Maya, there’s something I need to tell you.’