Escape to the Unknown

Jon Trevally sat in the back of the truck trailer proceeding east toward the coast. Every rut in the road had him bouncing around the metal floor with nothing to sit on and he could hardly breathe with the dust being generated as the truck raced over those dirt roads, but he was happy.  This had been a spur of the moment adventure, and he’d no idea where he was going or how he’d survive this decision. The truck driver had told him it was illegal for him to travel in the back of the truck and had refused to take him in the cab, so he’d waited until the driver had finished his visit to the pub at this remote village of Redrock and was feeling merry and the truck had taken off with grinding of gears and a belching of diesel smoke and swaying from side to side as they began the journey to confirm the driver was under the influence of whatever he’d been drinking. It was as the vehicle began its journey east John had climbed aboard the attached trailer through the canvas roof unknown to the driver.

Jon had marvelled at the vintage of this truck with its attached trailer almost as big as the truck as it harked back to an era of vehicle production well before he’d been born. The cattle stations surrounding them had the most modern vehicles and excellent mechanics to keep all their machinery going by way of contrast. He was particularly fascinated watching cattle station employees working with aircraft and particularly helicopters, so this ancient vehicle was quite a curiosity when it came to their Redrock settlement. It was whispered motor transport registration authorities in the cities back east wouldn’t approve such vehicles being operated around town, so the owner kept it on his farm out of town far to the east that supplied this remote area ten hours away by road travel or even longer during occasional wet seasons.

No police responsible for seeing vehicles were registered for public road use patrolled those outback dirt roads enthusiastically unless there was a major crime to be investigated. The local police officer Jack Hardy was not at all concerned about roadworthiness as this ancient vehicle was their main supply vehicle for the settlement and in his opinion, it was built more solidly for these kinds of roads than their modern counterparts. The policeman’s only interest in travelling out of this remote settlement was to join the few men in their regular pig or wild buffalo hunts or fishing in large waterholes remaining in the dry season as the river ceased to flow. Crime was usually dealt with by cattle station administrations and Jack turned a blind eye to justice administered there as most station homesteads were an average of a hundred kilometres from Redrock.

The driver Bill had obviously been delivering a lot of things ordered by the cattle stations that could not be delivered by their small aircraft on this trip so needed that trailer. In the days prior to Bill commencing his business supplies had come through camel train. Jon was very aware of the huge shed behind the pub where all offloads was stored waiting for representatives of the various cattle stations to make their hundreds of kilometres trips to pick up their orders and sample the pub’s store of liquors usually served at normal daytime temperatures and never chilled.

Jon had been one of the youths occasionally employed by the cattle stations in season when cattle had been mustered for the annual cull and shipment to meat processing plants in the east by road train. Occasionally in off seasons he and the rest of those temporarily unemployed would resort to raiding that store shed to seek anything to supplement their meagre diets and Jon possessed shotgun pellets in his posterior when caught by the pub owner Mick Murphy who was custodian of that supplies storage shed. Mick was married to the granddaughter of the original owner of the land grant which later was named Redrock in recognition of the huge red boulder that sat close by the town.

Jon had been drawn to the truck because it looked so out of place in this dusty country village which served the cattle stations stretching hundreds of kilometres in all directions from this refuelling centre and the place where provisions sent from far away were lodged at the only building in town that served as a bank, post office and a place to collect provisions sent from the nearest big city much closer to the coast. That was the pub. Apart from the school and police station which handled government issues there were few residential buildings, and these were occupied by those who provided services to the surrounding countryside teacher, policeman and rural government workers who serviced the roads from their depot with heavy equipment they were responsible for. Dust covered everything as the road surrounded by these buildings was the only strip of sealed road for hundreds of kilometres. The rest of the roads connecting stations and the major towns a ten-hour drive away at least were dirt and any traffic moving on them contributed to that blanket of dust that covered the settlement.

Eventually the heat and dust affected Jon in the back of that trailer.  He felt he was being suffocated by the dust and felt faint from the heat of the sun beating on the metal trailer. So just as he was beginning to believe he’d die the truck and trailer slowed to a halt, and he heard the truck driver inspecting his truck. He called weakly for assistance and continued to shout as loud as he could to get the driver’s attention. The tapping stopped as the driver paused his inspection and a few minutes later, he heard the bolts on the back of the trailer door open. Jon had climbed in through the canvass roof.

A startled driver viewed this dust covered sad object barely able to rise from the floor and climbed up to retrieve him shaking his head in disbelief. His first thought was to leave him by the side of the road, but logic told him that would be murder. So, he helped him down out of the trailer and removed Jon’s clothes shaking them vigorously to get as much dust out as possible, then had him put his clothes on again and helped him into the cabin grunting in irritation. He recommenced his inspection of this sad human object and then returned to the driver’s seat pausing to inspect this unwelcome guest again. He shook his head as he saw how sick this visitor was and reached for the large container of water meant to see him through the journey ahead. He measured out a more liberal helping than usual and indicted Jon should drink. Jon accepted it gratefully and almost immediately lapsed into a kind of light sleep. He slept through the evening and woke as the sun was coming up over the eastern horizon. The driver noting he was now awake spoke.

“What’s your name son and how old are you?”

“Jon and I’m eighteen.”

“Well Jon that was a stupid thing you did back there climbing into my trailer. You could have been dead by the time we reached our destination. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking of freedom from that mind numbing life I was living back there in Redrock sir. Perhaps I’d have been better off dead after all as I have no idea where I’m going or if my life would be any better when I get there.”

“Call me Bill, son. What will your parents think with you just taking off like that without telling them?”

Jon laughed and the driver looked at him in surprise.

“Bill, I don’t know anything about my father as he is reputed to be one of the drovers on a cattle station my mother works on who took off when he found I was on the way. My mother looked after me until she attached herself to one of the station hands and he made it plain he was not responsible for me. So, I was taken to Redrock and the schoolteacher Mr. James let me live on his veranda. He was very happy with my work at school and said I had potential if I continued to study. But he was transferred, and I heard he was now teaching at Carterville where you live so perhaps, he’ll help me. When he left the new teacher wouldn’t let me live on his veranda, so I went to work on cattle stations as work became available in season. My parents will not be concerned I left the settlement.”

Bill whistled and sat in silence thinking about this response. Finally, he turned to Jon.

“You can stay with me while we look for this Mr. James, you told me about. But you’ll have to work for your keep, and I’ll buy you some clothes. We need to throw away what you have on, and you’ll need to spruce up your appearance and bathe regularly as I don’t tolerate unclean people in my home. My missus is not going to be happy at your arrival, but she’ll calm down eventually. She’s a good woman and once I tell her your story, she’ll be more understanding.”

On arrival at Bill’s property in Carterville Jon stood by the truck and trailer as Bill spoke to his wife Milly. There was a lot of shouting from Milly when she glanced over and saw Jon’s appearance, but Bill continued to reveal Jon’s background and eventually Milly calmed down. She went back into the house and Bill returned with a cake of soap in his hand indicating Jon should follow him, then went to a shed where Bill reached down and picked up a hose turning on the tap.

“Strip of your clothes son.”

Jon looked at him in puzzlement and Bill pointed to the hose. Jon shrugged and took off all his clothes. Bill hosed him down and began to soap him all over marvelling at the dirt that seeped around Jon’s feet. He then soaped his hair and gave him a good hosing down to remove the soap. Bill inspected him carefully then turned off the hose. Jon felt clean for the first time in his life and smiled.

Bill indicated Jon should follow him to the house and Jon bent down to pick up his clothes, but Bill shouted and told him to leave them there. They were to be burned. So, the naked Jon followed obediently wondering what he was expected to do. They reached a chair at the bottom of the house steps with a towel draped over it and Bill indicated Jon should dry himself. Then he took the clippers and sheared this young man until there was but a few centimetres of hair on his head. Bill then pointed to a pair of shorts and shirt hanging on the back of the chair indicating Jon should put them on which he did. They were obviously some of Bill’s old clothes so a bit big for Jon. Bill laughed as he saw Jon desperately holding onto the shorts, so they didn’t fall. He called to Milly who threw a belt from the top of the stairs which Bill caught expertly then gave it to Jon.

“That should help keep them from falling. Tomorrow we’ll go into town and buy you some clothes that fit you. Now come upstairs as Milly has food prepared for us and we’ll show you where you can sleep for the night.”

Next day Bill took his motorcycle out of one of the sheds and indicated Jon should occupy the seat behind him. He had no helmet and that was OK in Redrock, but he wasn’t sure what the police would do if he presented in Carterville town without a helmet while riding. Bill told him he had a good relationship with the police in Carterville, and they were quite relaxed about the rules here as they were well inland away from the cities of the east coast eight hundred kilometres away. There was a rail terminus here that Bill received supplies ordered by the cattle stations and delivered them to Redrock and other remote settlements to the west for a fee. It was a profitable business. People were laid back in their attitudes and crime practically non-existent in Carterville, so police were not strict in the little rule lapses everyone in Carterville was used to. Any new recruits sent to Carterville by the state police headquarters far away were quickly bought into line by the Carterville chief of police if they tried in their attempts to impress on their first police assignment by enforcing rules strictly. There was no need to upset the citizens of town and only serious crimes were to be strictly dealt with not rules.

Bill headed for the town department store and sought out one of his many friends in town who worked there. He pointed to Jon with his oversized clothes.

“Fit him out Clary. Provide the works that is on the job and casual clothes with spares. Shoes too.”

Clary took out a tape measure and did some quick calculations then pulled the required items from shelves pointing to the changing room. He took the armful of clothes with him and had Jon try them one by one. Jon looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t recognize that mirror image looking back at him. The items purchased all fitted which was a tribute to Clary’s skill in sizing up a customer. Meanwhile Bill had been talking with some of the store’s administration to see if a teacher called James happened to be still teaching in Carterville. Eventually they found someone who knew of this man. But apparently teacher James had been moved somewhere east, but no one seemed to know where that posting would be. They suggested asking the school principal if he knew where that transfer had been too. So, after paying and collecting the wrapped clothes Bill headed home so Jon could change.

To be continued.

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