Hobson's Choice

Three: Safety First

The door squeaked in protest as the wind caught it, blowing it back against the wall.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, Dan thought. Out loud he called, "Ellen? I'm home."

Brushing flour from her hands, she came out of the kitchen to give him a welcoming peck on the cheek. Craning her neck past his wide shoulders, she said, "Is Jake with you? I thought that stomach of his would surely have brought him home by now."

Dan's eyebrows lifted. "I thought he'd be here already, so I didn't go by the paddock to see." He gave Ellen a quick hug as he saw a flash of concern cross her face. "I'll go get him. Probably run into some problem and hell-bent on proving he can fix it by himself. Back in a jiffy."

Only, he wasn't back in a jiffy and Ellen had an uphill battle to quell the fear that kept growing... a sixth sense that something wasn't right. In vain she adjusted the burner under the pot of soup and stirred it, over and over, to keep her hands busy. But her brain and her increasingly thumping heart made her scalp prickle and strange shivers ripple down her spine.

When she heard the vehicle roaring up the drive she was at the back door in an instant... in time to see it swerve to a screeching halt in a cloud of dust, the driver door opening before it even stopped. But it wasn't their ute and it wasn't Dan or Jake almost tumbling out.

"Bill? What..." Why is he here? He should be home having his lunch – shouldn't he? But her body knew better. Suddenly it was stiff and icy-cold and there was a roaring in her ears as she saw the streaks down his rough, unshaven face. Somewhere in her mind she registered they were the paths of tears – lots and lots of tears. Her hand came up involuntarily to wipe them, as if he were a small child, not their old farmer neighbour. "Wha—"

His voice was hoarse and harsh as he gasped out, "There's been an accident. It's bad, Ellen. Really, really bad." Luckily, he was close enough and strong enough to catch her as her world dissolved around her and she fell.

Bill sank down to the bottom step, Ellen cradled in his arms. He blessed the temporary respite her passing out would give them both before he had to tell her the terrible news. Time for a heap of deep breaths. Maybe he'd even get that fearfully racing heart back on an even keel. Yair... maybe! The waves of sickness threatened to overcome him again, but he steeled himself against them.

Have to believe he's gonna make it. Oh man! Oh God! I don't talk to you too often. You know that. But jeez. You just gotta help that poor little bugger. I don't know that medico stuff but it looked God-awful to me... uhrr sorry God. And Bill stopped stroking Ellen's face long enough to push his battered hat back until it tipped off his head and he could run his fingers through his hair, momentarily distracted by the relief of rubbing that rotten prickly feeling all over his scalp. Until... Oh jeez, look at my bloody hands! Any other time and place, Bill would have laughed out loud at just how apt those words were. His hands and way up his arms were covered in now-dried blood.

He felt the bitterness rise up in his throat once again, remembering how he'd given Dan a break from holding the tourniquet he'd improvised to staunch the flow of blood ... he'd ripped off the arm of his shirt, clever bugger. Aw c'mon God. You were there orright the other week when we learned that first aid stuff. Didn't know how soon we'd be doing it for real. Heap bloody easier on that dummy leg. Not like when it's a mate... and a young 'un, at that. Aww God... please, please let the kid live. I know his leg's gotta be 'cactus'. The best of them surgeon fellers couldn't fix that mess. Jeez, I feel sick. Quick, do something else. Look at the time, that's the thing to do. Those paramedic fellers'll have him at the hospital by now. He's in the best hands. Yes, yes... I know. But—

Ellen stirred in his arms. Eyes still closed, she slowly raised her hand to her forehead, brushing back the fringe that had fallen forward as she fell. Bill sighed deeply as he watched consciousness return, and then abruptly, the memory of that hated word – 'accident' - blanketed every other thought. Terror filled her eyes as she realised this was no bad dream she'd had. She pushed herself away frantically, swinging her gaze from Bill to the vehicle and back to him again, as if she'd find her loved ones still there somewhere.

Shaking her head as if that could make the horror melt away, she gasped, "Dan? Jake?"

The tears welled in her eyes, even before he could speak.