Page 6

It had been a straightforward decision for Steph. It had not been easy to eventually find a tree that was simple enough to climb whilst also overhanging a section of the fence. However, she didn’t have the threat of rain rushing her this time.

A bit of vomit jolted itself up her oesophagus as she landed with a thud.

A damp spot engulfed Steph’s knee as she rose from the ground. Slowly she began walking forward, speeding up a little only when she was satisfied that she was moving freely and that the fall had done no damage.

She pushed past bushes and rounded trees until she could see what she had been looking for. Ahead of her was the second fence, but beyond it?

Steph made her way closer. She was not sure what she expected to see exactly but her heart was beating faster all the same. She could see that this fence also had an electric current running along the inside although it had a barbed, backward overhang. Someone really didn’t want whatever was inside the fencing to get out. Not that Steph assumed they wanted anyone to come in either, but the work had definitely gone into keeping something in.

The trees rustled gently overhead as Steph approached the fencing. She tried her best to quieten her breathing, holding her breath in an attempt to calm it. All she achieved was a more acute awareness of her beating heart. She stood and stared through the mesh. Nothing.

Frustrated, she grabbed her binoculars and looked through them once again. Still nothing. Her heartbeat was calming naturally. The anti-climax was the perfect remedy.

She pondered what to do. There were plenty of trees but none that would help her climb over the barbed overhang. Mathematically speaking, she suspected there was a good chance, out of the thousands that littered the landscape, that there was a suitable tree that could get her over; but how far would she have to walk to find it? There were miles of fencing, and how long would she really be afforded between the fences before she stumbled across a camera? Now she thought about it, how long would it take her to find a tree that could take her back over the first fence? She put that thought to the back of her mind for the time being. One issue at a time.

She decided to set up camp where she was until a better idea came. Perhaps there would be something to observe close to the fence?

A large protruding tree root offered her some elevation from the ground as she sat waiting. She sighed. Then listened. Listened to the sound of the forest: the birds, the wind and tiny rustlings.

Having chosen to sit and wait, she became acutely aware of how sour her stomach felt. She was a rubbish drinker. She always had been. Two-day hangovers were not uncommon for her on the rare occasion she let herself unwind. She knew she wouldn’t actually vomit, but that also meant that she knew she would have no sudden release of the acidic feeling in her stomach. It would go when it was ready and not before.

A loud rustling caused Steph to snap her head up. But which side of the fence had it come from? The inside of the fence. No. Yes. Two sounds? The dominant noise was coming from her side of the fence. It was getting louder, the unmistakable whirr of wheels on dirt. But the first noise?

Steph looked up in the direction of the wheels and then back to the fence. A herd of deer erupted from the undergrowth and leapt their way frantically along the fence line. At the same time, a couple of quad bikes burst over a small ridge and between two trees to Steph’s right.

Part of Steph had hoped for this. She had wanted to be found. Although their timing was unfortunate. She spun her head back towards the deer who were darting back deeper into the trees. Something had spooked them. The way they were moving showed signs of panic.

The soft engine sound pulled up beside her. Steph didn’t look. She didn’t want to take her eyes away from what was going on behind the fence.

“You can’t be here!”

a voice announced. Steph ignored it. She took a step forward, craning her neck. Everything was happening faster than she could process.

“I said…”

Steph spun around to glare at the man, intent on telling him to shut his fucking mouth. She was caught off-guard when she recognised the face. It was the surly-looking man from the hotel bar.

Steph was about to say something when the sound of something heavy crashing through the vegetation made her spin around once more. She was just in time to catch a glimpse of something large and almost grey-looking plummet back below the surface of the treeline. She only managed to glimpse the back end of it, but it was enough to fire her curiosity.

“What was that?”

Steph asked the man on the quad bike.

The man pressed a button on his quad bike and sat up straighter. His companion, who Steph now noticed was the more amenable-looking of the pair from last night, did the same.

“Nothing, just some deer,”

the man replied, wiping a clod of dirt from just below his left eye.

“No, the deer were ahead, I saw them. That was something else!”

“It was a straggler.”

“Deer don’t tend to thud over the ground like that, do they?”

Steph snapped with a sneer.

Running a hand through his hair, the man growled to himself.

“For fuck’s sake!”

He then turned to his older companion who laughed at him and shrugged.

“Well, Davey, it’s been a while since we had to bring one in,”

the man chuckled.

Steph watched in confusion as Davey bared his teeth to himself in frustration.

“If we had set the system up that I wanted, we wouldn’t be too late for these kinds of things!”

Davey barked.

“True,”

the other man shrugged.

“But it would mean more people, and you know how the boss feels about all that.”

The happier-looking man then put a finger to his lips in a hushing motion. He laughed to himself and repeated the action in the direction of Steph. Steph looked on bemused.

“Fine,”

Davey sighed. “Get on!”

“Are you talking to me?”

Steph asked, folding her arms, intent on holding her ground against… well, whatever she was holding it against. She wasn’t quite sure.

“You!”

Davey nodded sharply.

“I’m not going anywhere!”

“You bloody are!”

“I bloody well am not!”

Davey rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. Steph could see that the older man was finding the whole thing quite amusing. This annoyed Steph.

“Look!”

Davey said through gritted teeth.

“Either you get on and we escort you back or we call the police and have you done for trespassing.”

Steph considered this for a second.

“What do you mean ‘back’?”

“I mean back to the office.”

“Office?”

the older man laughed. “Office?”

“Well, Michael, what do you call it then?”

Davey asked.

“I dunno… back to base?”

Michael shrugged.

“What?”

Davey smiled – this was the first and one of the rare occasions Steph would see him smile.

“We aren’t a bleeding army camp!”

“Could have fooled me!”

Steph put in.

Davey turned on her. Steph raised her eyebrows. She’d have loved for him to have a comeback. That said, she was not letting herself become completely absorbed by the flow of idle talk. She was somewhat curious as to why she had been offered a choice between the police and going back to their… whatever they decided it was. Didn’t they want to contact the police? Steph suspected not. Also having a chance to see a little more – she assumed that was what they were affording her, even if inadvertently – was too good an opportunity to miss. Not that they would know that.

“What would happen if I went with you?”

Steph asked.

“That’s up to the boss,”

Davey replied.

“Probably reward you for your invasive curiosity rather than having you dealt with by the law like you deserve!”

Frowning, Steph decided to go and sit behind Michael. Davey muttered something under his breath that Steph could not quite catch. Michael was really laughing now.

“Some men know how to get the girl! Stick with me, Davey boy, you might learn a thing or two!”

Steph held on, slightly concerned she didn’t have a helmet. What had been running after the deer? It certainly hadn’t been a straggler. And why was Davey such a miserable prick?