The Search

This would be a straightforward trip. It would be a simple matter of going back to the farm, cleaning out a few boxes and tidying up the estate. It should all only take a couple of weeks and it would be a good break from city life. ‘There shouldn’t be anything difficult in that,’ Jane thought. Even the weather was perfect. The clear blue sky, the bright sunshine and the abundance of growth covering the huge variety of trees casting a roof over much of the highway, were helping to put Jane in a warm mood. She hadn’t noticed the scenery before, but was now able to take it all in through her Ray Ban sunglasses which prevented a lot of glare, as she cruised towards the coast. She had been anticipating her freedom even before the home-time bell struck the day before. Normally after work on a Friday, she would join her best friends and partners, Jeff and Chris for a drink in the local watering hole, but not this Friday. This time she went straight home via the supermarket for a few last-minute pantry items, before starting a long break. That meant heading home early. Unlike most people who would gladly sleep in most Saturday mornings, Jane wanted to get out on the road before the city even thought about waking up. She was going back to her childhood. A happy place where she had grown up, learning all about the country life, its people and the land. But this trip wasn’t going to be so happy. There would be a tinge of sadness this time, because the very people who had raised her and made her happy were no longer there. Her little red Mercedes sports car was already packed and waiting as the birds began their dawn chorus. With the promise of a long hot day, the soft top went down and Jane was soon out in what little traffic there was, her long blonde hair trailing behind her. Glancing in her side mirror, she smiled as the city skyline grew smaller and faded further into the distance. The clear sky, broken only by the odd cotton-ball cloud, allowed the sun to beat down on the new leaves forcing droplets of overnight dew to fall to the ground, where they would sink in and be welcomed by the sprawling tree roots; always grateful to have their thirst quenched early in the day before the heat really set in, and threatened the tinder-dry twigs and other forest floor coverings. One small spark was all it would take to start a raging inferno. It wouldn’t normally be so dry at this time of year, but there had been little rainfall during the winter, which normally meant a long hot summer was in store. For many, a long hot summer meant perfect days spent at the beach. It had been nearly five years since Jane had been to the family property on the south eastern coast of Australia. It wasn’t that she didn’t like going there, but simply that there had been no need. There was no one home. At three hundred and fifty acres, the farm was small when compared with some of the neighbouring properties, but her parents had run the farm with dry stock and crops successfully for nearly fifty years. Her great grandparents fell in love with the property, and bought it as soon as they could when they arrived from England, two generations earlier. But that all changed when her parents were tragically taken in a car accident, only a short distance from their front gate. Apart from the land, now worked by a good family friend, and the house with all its possessions of days gone by, all that was left were a few documents relating to the estate, and a pile of warm memories and mementos. Jane planned to attend to all of those as soon as possible. Flashing headlights soon brought Jane back to reality. Checking her speed, she was shocked to find she was travelling well over the limit. She had seconds to take evasive action, and fast. With both vehicles travelling at such a high speed, disaster was only moments away. Her foot hit the brake pedal with force causing her to swerve, only to find she had to over-correct. Her arms were stiff and straight while her hands held a tight grip on the steering wheel. She almost lost it as she felt the back of the car start to move sideways, but somehow she managed to stay on the sealed part of the road. Her head was starting to spin more than the Mercedes. The opposing car, a large American import, tooted its horn as it sped past, and she could feel the wrath of the driver who was waving his fist out the window at her. It didn’t seem as though he had taken any evasive action at all. To Jane it looked like he had kept right on going and she was sure she could hear him put his foot down and squeal his tyres as he sped past. Still trying to control her Mercedes, Jane found she was finally able to slow down, before moving off the road and into the gravel. But she was still going too fast and felt the back end starting to slide around again to meet her. She was about to go into a spin if she couldn’t control the car, otherwise she was going to end up through a fence or into a tree, or worse, upside down. It was fast becoming her worst nightmare as she gripped the steering wheel even tighter. She remembered nothing from her defensive driving course and began to hope for the best, while continuing to pump the brake pedal. A large dust-cloud had surrounded the car, temporarily blinding her vision. She couldn’t see exactly where she was and could only hope she wasn’t about to crash.