BACKWOODS RIPPER: a gripping action suspense thriller (4 page)

Chapter Four

The accordion door stood open on the tarnished green, metal lift that dominated much of the black and white tiled foyer. The wheels on the trolley squealed with each rotation. Soona pushed the stretcher into the unlit lift; Lizzy crouched slightly and slammed the sliding gate.

“Take the stairs,” Lizzy said and set the lift in motion.

Paige watched open-mouthed as the prehistoric lift creaked its way upwards and the two women’s legs disappeared from sight. She climbed the wide staircase, shoes pounding on the faded blue runner, keeping time with the sluggish rise of the lift. It came to a wheezing halt on the third floor. Paige rounded the banister and watched Lizzy exit the lift and stride across the landing followed by Soona, pushing the stretcher.

Hal’s eyes were open. He raised his head and looked at his wife. “Paige, where are we?” His words were slurred.

Paige reached out to take his hand, but Soona pushed the stretcher forward knocking her hand away. Paige fell in line behind the woman, but could see nothing bar Soona’s wide back and bow-shaped rear end. She followed the women into a small narrow room. A single metal framed bed, stripped down to a bare mattress, stood against the wall.

“Get some sheets and make up the bed,” Lizzy instructed, and then opened a narrow cupboard, its contents hidden by a panelled door. Soona let go of the stretcher and disappeared out of the room, her brown lace-up shoes, sliding across the hardwood floor.

Paige stepped up to the stretcher and took Hal’s hand. “How do you feel?” She whispered, grateful to be looking into his eyes and speaking to him again.

“Like a car landed on me,” he said.

Paige managed a weak smile and bent to kiss him on the forehead. His skin, cold before, now felt hot against her lips.

“I’m going to put in a bung and start you on a drip,” Lizzy said in a terse tone. She wheeled a small trolley towards the stretcher. “It’s important that we keep you hydrated. I’m also going to give you something for the pain, but nothing too strong,” she added, as though Hal had said, “Give me the strong stuff.”

“Is this a hospital?” Hal asked, frowning at his surroundings.

“This,” said Lizzy with a grand sweep of her arm. “Is Mable House. It has been many things since it was built in 1928, but mostly a hospital.” Her face glowed with excitement.

She picked up a surprisingly modern looking package from the trolley and tore it open. “Once I’ve sedated you, we’ll get you settled in bed.” She pulled a syringe from the packet and began drawing something from a small plastic bottle.

“Wait a minute,” Hal said, his voice taking on a little more strength. He sat up on his elbows and tried to jerk away from the needle. His leg moved slightly to the right and he fell back onto the stretcher groaning and reaching for his injured limb.

Paige moved around Hal and positioned herself between Lizzy and her husband. “What are you giving him?” Lizzy looked like she knew what she was doing, but how much did they really know about her qualifications?

“It’s a mild sedative,” Lizzy said and pursed her lips. “If he doesn’t have it, it’ll hurt like buggery when we move him.” She held the syringe pointed skyward.

Paige turned back to Hal. “It might help with the pain.”

Hal nodded so Paige stepped aside and watched Lizzy slide the point of the needle into his arm.

Once Hal was settled in the bed, Paige stood next to him and put her hand on his. His eyes opened and he rolled his head towards her. “What did the doctor say?” He asked dreamily.

“You’ll be fine. And tomorrow, we’ll move you to another place.”

His eyes closed, then opened again. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

* * *

Paige bit into the cheese sandwich and forced her mouth to chew. The cheese was creamy and the bread soft and fluffy, but her mouth felt dry and the texture somehow gooey and sickening. She forced herself to swallow and take another mouthful. Soona nodded her approval and demolished her own sandwich in three large bites, chewing noisily and spraying crumbs onto the bib of her dungarees.

Paige focused on her plate and swallowed another clump of cheesy dough. She’d been inside the house for a little over an hour and, in spite of its enormity, the air felt stale and thick with dust. She put the remaining half of her sandwich down and took a sip of water.

“Thank you, Soona. That was nice, but I’m full,” she said and patted her stomach.

Soona’s eyes skipped between Paige’s belly and her half eaten sandwich.

“Would you like the rest?” Paige asked pushing her plate forward.

Soona managed to reach across the table and grab the sandwich without making eye contact. When her hand closed over the bread, Paige noticed the woman’s arm: thick, muscular, and covered in dark hair. So far, she’d not heard Soona speak one word, but she obviously understood.

“Have you lived here long?” Paige asked.

Soona munched on the bread, eyes fixed on the scarred table top, but didn’t respond.

Paige sighed and scratched her head. She should be grateful to Lizzy for helping Hal, but nothing about the woman or the house sat right. She wanted to believe that bringing Hal here had been the right decision, but couldn’t ignore the strangeness of the situation. Even that, the decision, hadn’t really been hers. At every turn, fate had conspired to deliver her to Mable House.
A hospital
, Lizzy said, but for what? There didn’t seem to be anyone else in the building. The place seemed abandoned.

Paige checked the clock over the stove. Half an hour ago Lizzy had told her to go downstairs and have something to eat. She had to believe that bringing Hal here was the right decision. The only decision under the circumstances.

Paige fingered the wedding ring on her left hand. She’d had to remove her engagement ring last month because her fingers swelled, but had continued wearing her wedding ring even though it became painfully tight.

Soona pushed her chair back and picked up the dishes. She shambled over to the sink and ran the water. Paige looked towards the door to the drawing room, and wondered if Soona would try to stop her if she went upstairs. A crazy thought. No one wanted to stop her,
did they?
No, she couldn’t let her thoughts run away with her. The two women were oddballs, but they were genuinely trying to help.

“I think I’ll go back up and see how Hal’s doing,” she said and stood up.

“He’s doing very well,” Lizzy said from the doorway. “He’s sleeping.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll just sit with him,” Paige said, and waited for Lizzy to clear the doorway.

Lizzy stood her ground, her shapeless body filling the exit. “I want a quick word with you,” she said, and nodded to the chair Paige had just left.

Paige bit her lip and forced herself to calm down. She had no choice but to listen to what Lizzy had to say; to trust her. Paige sat.

Lizzy walked around the table and sat facing Paige. She placed her hands on the wooden surface and clenched them together. “The good news is that I think it may have been a dry bite.”

Paige opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but Lizzy continued on. “That means he was bitten …” she paused. “But there was no venom.”

“That’s good,” Paige said in a rush. “If there’s no venom, he’ll be okay and we can move him, right?”

Lizzy let out a long sigh. It was an impatient sound. “I said,” her voice increased in volume. “I think it
may
have been a dry bite. Now, the only way I’ll know for sure is if I monitor him all night. I daren’t take the pressure bandage off because if there is venom, it’ll spread like lightening and, bamb!” She pounded her fist making the table rattle and Paige flinch. “We’ll lose him.”

“Oh God,” Paige said and put her hand to her chest.

“Now for the bad news,” she continued. “His left leg is broken. The laceration is deep and I’m concerned about infection.”

Paige felt her whole body slump. “I think we should drive into town right now and get help.”

Lizzy’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You listen here, Ducky,” she said through a mouth so tight it resembled a duck’s asshole. “I’m not moving him until I know there’s no chance of the venom spreading. You wanted my help so we do this my way.”

“We don’t have to move him. He can stay here and we can drive into town,” Paige said, her voice rising. “I don’t know why we’re just sitting here like idiots. Let’s go?”

“I don’t like your tone,” Lizzy said.

“I’m sorry,” Paige said, trying to get herself under control. “I just think that we need to get help. We should have just driven him into town in the first place.”

Lizzy rolled her shoulders back and fixed her pale eyes on Paige. “If I leave him and he has a seizure or stops breathing, do you think Soona will be able to help him?”

Soona turned away from the sink and laughed. A humourless braying filled the room. It was the first time the woman had made a sound other than heavy breathing or chewing. Her eyes looked glassy and her mouth stretched into a frozen grin. Paige had seen similar expressions on the faces of autistic children she’d taught during her time as a junior school teacher. On children, the behaviour was innocent and symptomatic of the shut-off nature of autism, but on a large woman like Soona, the laugh and smile sent cold fingers of dread through Paige’s chest.

“Okay. Okay,” Paige said. “What about if Soona and I go into town?” She didn’t like the idea of being alone in the car for two hours with Soona, but realised that she was running out of options.

Lizzy shook her head and made a clicking sound with her tongue.

“Why not?’ Paige asked, her voice rising another notch.

“Because,” Lizzy said. Soona can’t drive. Can you drive a manual?” Something flickered in the woman’s eyes. Again, the look appeared for an instant and then skittered away.

Paige felt the air go out of her lungs. She wanted to argue, but she’d run out of suggestions. Lizzy was right, but her dislike for the woman boiled in her stomach like a bad case of reflux.

“I need some air,” Paige said and bolted for the back door.

She crossed the cluttered veranda and climbed down the stairs. The night air felt crisp and clear. She welcomed the way it stung her bare arms and legs. It felt cleansing after the claustrophobic stuffiness of the kitchen. She moved away from the stairs and took a couple of steps off the path, putting distance between herself and the house.

The smell of damp grass and chicken poo filled her nose. She could see the outline of a Hills Hoist a few metres away and the dark shadows of outbuildings. The baby moved in her belly as if joyful to be out in the open and free of the house. Paige put her hand on her swollen abdomen. She’d been so worked up, she hadn’t stopped to think how all this might be affecting her child. Hal needed her, but so did the baby. She had to calm down. Maybe it was time to just let go and trust that tomorrow would be soon enough to get help.

Paige looked up at the black expanse above. The stars glinted sharp and clear as if only metres away. She took a deep breath and turned back to the house. Lizzy enjoyed being right more than being liked. Paige had a feeling that Soona wasn’t the only one with a few bats in her belfry. Even so, the woman was doing her best to help Hal.

She decided that the best way to deal with Lizzy might be to humour her. Paige began nodding her head unaware of the movement.
By this time tomorrow, we’ll be miles away.
She squared her shoulders and headed back up the stairs.

Chapter Five

Hal became aware of something brushing his wrist. He tried to move his arm and touch Paige’s shoulder, but found his wrist clamped and held down. He opened his eyes to a bright light; fuzzy and shifting. The effort of lifting his head set off a dull throb.

“Paige?” He asked, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.

“No. But you’re in good hands,” a voice answered, but the timbre of the voice was harsh and far from reassuring.

Hal tried to sit up and realised he was restrained by something thick and tight around his chest. “What’s going on? Where’s my wife?” He asked pulling at the restraint.

He tried to push himself up and an explosion of agony erupted in his leg. The pain, red hot, reached all the way from his foot to his groin. He sagged back onto the bed and ground his teeth.

“Out of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?” The voice asked.

His mouth formed words, but he couldn’t catch his breath. Between gasps, he tried to remember where he was, but the grinding agony of his leg blotted out all but the present.

He felt a hand on his forehead. “Paige?” Even as he called her name, his senses told him the hand was too large and coarse to be his wife’s.

He felt something cold touch his arm and then a sharp sting. He wanted to move his head, but fear of disturbing his leg kept him frozen in place.

“I’ve given you something for the pain. You’ll be able to sleep now.”

Heavy footfalls moved away from the bed. “Wait,” Hal called. “Where’s my wife?”

The fuzzy light grew and Hal realised a door had opened. What at
first looked
blurry, coalesced into an outline surrounded by light. The back light made it difficult to gauge whether a man or woman stood in the doorway, but Hal was sure the voice belonged to a female.

“She’s fine. Just getting her beauty sleep. You’d better do the same.” The doorknob rattled. “I’ll be back in the wee hours.”

The door closed and apart from a thin line at the bottom of the door, the room fell into darkness. He watched the bar of light and waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. Things cleared. His last vivid memory was the snake. He remembered the shock of the bite and then the creature slithering out from under the car. After that, everything went white and curled up at the edges.

His eyes felt dry, lips droopy. His leg hurt, but in a faraway sense, as if it were attached to someone else – someone floating away. Whatever the woman had given him was certainly fast acting. He let his eyes close. A snapshot of a grey haired woman waving her arm and saying “Mable House” filled his mind. He focused on the woman, her face elongated and her eyes bulged until she looked like a ghoul. Her lower jaw gaped open and a dark green snake slithered out.

Hal’s eyes snapped open. He found the thin yellow bar under the door and let out a breath. He watched the light, grateful for the comfort it offered. His lids closed again. He summoned a picture of Paige in his mind. She lay back in a pool lounger, her head turned towards him and her blue eyes framed by golden lashes, sprinkled with sea salt. Around her, Hal could see white sand. She gave a half smile and the smattering of freckles over her nose danced. He held on to the image for as long as he could before sleep took him.

* * *

Paige lay on a narrow metal-framed bed. She didn’t know what time it was. Late probably. Or very early. She pulled the sheet and heavy woollen blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. She couldn’t coax her mind to rest. Usually sleep came like a warm tunnel, all she had to do was close her eyes and let the soft darkness take her. Those blissful nights seemed far away, like a half-forgotten dream. Every time she closed her eyes, Hal’s screams chased her back to wakefulness.

The baby was restless, shifting and kicking as though sharing her distress. Paige turned on her side and draped her arm over her belly. Getting pregnant had been neither planned nor unplanned. Something that just happened. One minute both her and Hal were newlyweds and the next, they were soon to be parents. From the moment they found out, Hal had been thrilled.

Paige smiled in the darkness. He’d make an amazing father. Once they got back home, their new life would begin. Leaving Melbourne to be near Hal’s elderly father in Perth had been easier than she thought. It had been hard to leave her friends at work and her Aunty Enid, but the plane trip only took three and a half hours. Once Hal’s leg healed and the baby was old enough, they could visit.

The room lay in almost total darkness, she could just make out the window and the grey chink of moonlight slipping past the curtains. Paige wished she could sleep in the same room as Hal, they hadn’t slept apart since they were married, and she missed the comforting rhythm of his breathing. It seemed odd that Lizzy had put him on the third floor when the paramedics would have to move him again tomorrow.

Everything about this place is odd
, Paige thought groggily. Her mind wanted to relive the day’s horrific events, but her eyelids drooped and sleep overtook her.

* * *

The sound of birds piping brought Hal close to waking. Their relentless chatter pierced a soft point in his subconscious and he began to surface. His mind resisted the call back to reality until the pain in his lower leg pushed through his defences. Hal groaned and opened his eyes.

One window in the tiny room, narrow and draped with some sort of ruffled yellow curtain, provided the only natural light. Weak rays of sunlight filtered in and cast a long rectangle on the dusty wooden boards. Judging by the fragile glow, Hal guessed it must be early morning.

He turned his head, slowly as if its movement was directly attached to his leg.

“You’re awake,” Paige said.

She sat on a folding metal chair pulled near the left side of his bed, her blonde hair sleep-tousled. One delicate hand rested over her belly. He could see the worry and fear etched into the dark smudges under her eyes. He’d caused that worry.

“Sorry,” he said, speaking his thoughts aloud.

Paige’s brow creased. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” She leaned forward and put her hand over his. “How do you feel?”

“Not too bad.” He swallowed. “Could use a drink of water.”

A short metal locker stood next to the bed, on top a jug of water and a single glass. Paige stood and poured. He pulled himself up onto his elbows. Last night he’d felt thick straps pinning him in place, he wondered if it had been a dream or something to keep him from thrashing around and further injuring his leg. He noticed Paige’s sidelong look and tried not to wince. She held the glass to his mouth and tipped it for him to drink.

“Where are we?” He asked when he lay back on the pillow. “What is this place?”

“The woman that stopped to help us, Lizzy, this is her house.” Paige returned the glass to the cabinet and sat down. “She drove us back here to use her phone, but when I tried it,” she paused and closed her eyes for a second. “It didn’t work.”

Hal looked down, taking in the drip running from his arm to the stand beside the bed. “It don’t get it. I thought I was in some kind of hospital.” He motioned to the drip and the cage tenting the blankets over his legs.

“This place used to be a hospital,” Paige nodded. “And Lizzy is a nurse. She’s been treating you since we arrived here last night.” She stopped talking and ran her hand through her hair. “I know it’s all a bit strange, but I didn’t have any choice. There were no other cars around. My phone wouldn’t work.” She held her hands up, palms out. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Hal reached out and grabbed Paige’s hand. “You did the right thing.” He held her gaze and waited. She gave a slight nod. “You had no other choice. It beats spending the night in the bush, right? Or me dying?”

“Yeah.” She gave a little laugh. The sound came close to a sob. “Lizzy’s going to drive me to the nearest roadhouse this morning so I can call an ambulance. I’ll be gone for a few hours, but hopefully, by tonight you’ll be in a proper hospital.”

“Listen, Paige,” Hal said, raising himself onto one elbow. “Be careful when you’re with that woman, we don’t know anything about her.” The effort of talking and trying to sit up made his vision blur and his leg blaze with fresh agony.

“I’ll be fine, Hal.” Paige stood and eased his shoulder back onto the bed. “You look flushed. Don’t keep trying to get up.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful.” He didn’t want to frighten his wife or put her through any more stress, but he’d seen active duty in a war zone and he’d learned to feel danger in the air. Sensing when to take extra care could often be the difference between life and death. He didn’t know enough about their current situation to gauge just how much danger they were in, but his gut told him things weren’t adding up.

Paige leaned over and kissed him. A soft gentle kiss that made him want to wrap his arms around her and stop her from leaving. Instead, he pulled her back and kissed her a second time.

“I need to check your drip and take a look at that leg,” Lizzy said from the doorway.

Paige pulled away from him as though she’d been caught doing something wrong. Hal frowned. He didn’t like the way she reacted to Lizzy’s presence. Paige was kind and gentle, but not easily intimidated.

“Okay, just give us a minute,” Hal said and was surprised to see Paige’s eyes widen with shock.

“No, Hal. Let Lizzy do it now,” she said and gave him a warning look.

Lizzy’s washed out eyes fell on Hal. “I can’t wait around all day,” she said with a hint of impatience. “Do you want me to check your leg or not?”

“Yes. Thanks,” he said and caught a grateful look from Paige.

Lizzy approached the bed and flung back the sheet. The cool air touched his skin and Hal felt a spark of pain in his ankle. He heard Paige gasp, and looked down. It was the first time he’d seen his legs since the snake bite, and what he saw took his breath away.

His right leg looked normal apart from the white bandage mid-way between his ankle and knee. His left leg was so swollen that the skin looked ready to burst. A blood-soaked bandage covered the skin just above his ankle. Beneath it, rose a knot of swelling the size of a fist. His foot, the colour of an over-ripe plum, and the whole lower leg, lay encased in crude splints held in place with bandages.

“Hmm,” Lizzy said and leaned closer to his broken leg. To Hal’s horror, she sniffed. “No sign of infection yet,” she said and pulled the sheet back up. “I’ll give you something for the pain and bring you the bed pan,” she said as she settled the sheets around Hal’s chest.

He wanted to tell her to forget the painkillers. He didn’t want to disappear back into the greyness of the previous night. He needed to be alert, but the strain of talking and trying to sit up zapped him of any strength, and the pain in his leg rapidly grew from red-hot to white. In truth, a part of him wanted to float away.

He nodded. “Thanks,” he managed.

Lizzy disappeared into the small cupboard on the left of Hal’s bed. He glanced over at Paige, struck by how pale she looked. He realised the sight of his leg had affected her as much as it had him. He clenched his lips together and swallowed. His wife’s distress, coupled with pain and fatigue, threatened to overwhelm him. He laid his forearm over his eyes so Paige wouldn’t see the building tears.

Lizzy reappeared and slid a small needle into the muscle of his upper arm. Soon he drifted off, voices seemed distant, movement and touch dream-like in its slowness. He was vaguely aware of Paige whispering something in his ear. It sounded like “moo pong”, but could have been “hold on.” He chuckled and closed his eyes.