The Darkest Night

The Darkest Night                                                

by Lee Harrod

The bitumen road didn’t last as long as she had hoped it would. As the ute bumped off the smooth black road and onto the rough red gravel, she slowed down a little, although stayed in fifth gear. The old falcon ute had seen better days, although it hadn’t let her down so far, so fingers crossed it won’t let her down tonight. As the road turned more westward, the last of the hot evening sun shone right into her eyes,“Shit!” She lifted her right hand in front of her face to block it, knocking a blue denim cap off her head to reveal a mass of glossy dark brown curls resting on her sun tanned shoulders.

Moments later a sharp left bend appeared, “Shit!”

She reacted immediately; slapped her right hand back down onto the steering wheel, grabbed the gear stick with her left and swiftly changed down a gear, touching the brakes for only a second. Addrenalin kicked in as she headed into the corner too fast. Both hands on the steering wheel again, she pulled it to the left and threw the ute into the corner, throwing up a hail of stones and gravel as the back end kicked out sideways. She fought against the wild swinging motion of the heavy ute, left foot working the clutch, left hand rapidly changing down another gear into third.

The ute came out of the corner sideways, skidding all over the place in the loose gravel. With both hands back on the steering wheel again, she quickly had the ute back under control. She glanced in the rear view mirror, grinning at the skid marks the back wheels had left in the loose gravel. Still hogging the middle of the road she changed up into fourth gear.

‘Hm, think I’ll stay in fourth gear, fifth is probably a bit too fast.’ She let out the breath she’d been holding in and grinned again at her success in getting the ute around the corner without serious mishap. Overall, quite impressed with herself.

The whole drama only took a few seconds, yet slow enough to curse the low sun in her eyes and hope to bloody hell she keeps the ute up on the road, such as it was. The last thing she wants is to end up in the ditch on the side of the road.

Her eyes were half blind with nothing but bright light imprinted on the back of her retina. She blinked a few times before she could see the road properly again. A couple of minutes later, the big orange ball of fire slipped below the horizon. ‘Thank bloody christ for that!’

She settled back into the seat and adjusted the seat belt so it wasn’t choking her. “Bloody seat belt.” She hates them. They’re made for tall, or average height drivers with no consideration for short arse people like she is and it pisses her off.

The gravel road stretched out a long way ahead of her in a straight line. She relaxed her shoulders, settling the ute into a steady speed. There was no tape deck, it had been gouged out with a screw driver ages ago so she turned the radio on twisting the dial back and forward to pick up any signal there might be out here. The only clear station was the ABC, playing some kind of old jazz or something. “That’ll have to do; better than nothing.”

She cruised along for about ten kilometres then turned the headlights on as the light began to fade. It was a bad time of day to be driving on an outback road. For some reason the kangaroos like to move about just on dark when it was hard to see in the fading light and the headlights were not very effective yet, even on high beam.

Huge old box trees crowded closer to the edge of the gravel, making it hard to see wildlife until it was at the edge of the road. She sat up straighter in the seat to have a better view out the windscreen, glancing left and right, watching for the big grey ‘roos that were always out there.

Kangaroos out here were big, heavy and fast moving. They did a lot of damage to a vehicle when they hit, often rendering the vehicle undriveable. Even just a sideways swipe of their solid tail would crunch a door panel in enough to wreck the hinge or handle mechanism so it couldn’t be opened. In that case, a driver would have to climb over to the passenger seat to get out.

A slight movement on her left caught her attention for a second, then one on her right so she slowed down a bit. A big red buck, at least five foot tall. ‘Man, he is huge!’  It bounded along on the edge of the gravel, keeping pace with her for a while.

“Ok big guy, which way are you going to jump? Left or right? Just don’t bloody jump in front of me … please.” Not trusting the big buck, she decided to speed up a bit and get in front of him. At least if he jumped to his left he’d hit the side of the ute and not the front. A broken headlight was not what she needed right now.

He moved a little closer to the driver’s side of the ute and she braced for impact, but he suddenly changed direction and bounded off to the right, hopping over a four foot high ringlock fence, clearing the top barbed wire by at least a foot. “Far out!” Shaking her head, she was always impressed by the height those big ‘roos could jump and they made it look so effortless.

The road had been pretty good for the first fifty kilometres but now the ute started to shudder and rattle a bit, skipping around on rough corrugations. She dodged a few bad potholes, then hit a big one with an almighty bang from the back of the ute. “Shit!”

The ute bumped over to the wrong side of the road. She had to fight with the steering wheel to get it back over to the left side. Loud thumping and bumping told her it was a flat tyre so she steered the ute off the side of the road as much as she could, opened the door too soon and was covered by the cloud of red dust still rushing forward past the stationary ute.

“Idiot,” coughing and spluttering, she walked around the back of the ute to check the back wheel. “Great!”  Letting go a huge sigh, she went to the tailgate, dropped it down, leaned in to grab the spare, which was covered in thick red dust of course, and dragged it back then let it drop onto the ground, sending a big puff of red dust up around her. She reached back in and grabbed the wheel brace and jack.

“So much for wearing nice new jeans” she sighed again, kneeling down in the red dust and loosened each of the wheel nuts half way before leaning right down to push the jack into place, then, with the other end of the wheel brace, she pumped the jack to slowly lift the ute up high enough to get the wheel off. She dragged it around the back and with a grunt lifted it up into the back of the ute.

A rustling sound startled her. She looked around but saw nothing in the rapidly fading light. Her body shuddered, sending prickles over her shoulders and arms. She stood the good wheel up and wheeled it around to lift it onto the wheel studs. Not high enough! She sighed again and pumped the jack up high enough to push the wheel on, then put all the wheel nuts on loosely before tightening them in a star pattern. She put the jack and brace into the back of the ute, slammed the tail gate shut and brushed herself down before getting back in, thinking to herself, ‘lucky I know how to do that because there’ll be no other vehicles along here for probably hours.’

She started the ute up and headed off again, going up through the gears but stopping at fourth and keeping a sharp eye out for more pot holes. Only a few kilometres further on she noticed the oil light come on. “What the hell?”

She slowed down and pulled over again. She grabbed the torch, pulled the bonnet release, fished around under her seat for a rag, waited for the passing dust to go, then opened the door, got out and walked around to the front of the ute. She lifting the bonnet and wiped all the red dust away from the top of the dip stick before pulling it out. In the torch light it looked ok to her so she put it back in, dropped the bonnet and went back to the driver’s door but hesitated, ‘might as well do a wee while I’m stopped.’ She left the torch in the ute and wandered over into the tall half dead grass, dropped her jeans and squatted. Not quite finished, she heard a weird noise not far away. She quickly stood and pulled her jeans up, looking around for what was making the noise but she couldn’t see anything in the dark. “Yuk!” She hated not wiping. She jumped back in the ute, feeling uncomfortable, slammed the door shut and took off, checking the rear view mirror as a shudder crossed her shoulders again.

The road had improved a bit, ‘must have been graded recently, good timing for me.’

She settled the ute into fourth gear again. Cruising along comfortably and glad of the new headlights she’d had put in a week ago. She started thinking about how surprised he’ll be when she gets there. ‘I hope he’s happy to see me.’

About thirty kilometres on, solid darkness had set in when she glimpsed a grey blurr in the right headlight. A big grey kangaroo slamed into the front of the ute, she yelled out “NO!” As the ‘roo thumped along the driver’s side of the ute past the door and back out of sight.

She skidded the ute to a stop, it’s wheels locking up in the loose gravel. “Fuck!” She grabbed the torch and tried to open the door, but it was stuck. “Shit!” She climbed over to the passenger side to get out, then walked around to the front of the ute. The drivers side headlights were smashed; the whole unit hanging loose by the wiring. “Fuck! … Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!” She went to the driver’s door to get in but of course couldn’t open it, so she kicked it and stomped around to the passenger side, got in, slammed the door and shoved herself over into the driver’s seat.

She turned the key on to find she only had the passenger side headlight. She growled and thumped the steering wheel with both hands, then sighed, started the engine and started off, again, this time much slower. One headlight was not ideal. The night was black with no moonlight to help her see. She was looking out for the turn off when the dashboard lights and the headlight flickered, then went out. In the dark, she moved the ute over to the left as far as she dared. She tried the key but nothing happened. She growled and swore and yelled, at nothing and at everything, her frustration building to exploding point.

She grabbed the torch, again, climbed out the pasenger side door, again, walked around to the front end of the ute, again and looked at the lights. There was nothing she could do about this, she doesn’t touch electrical stuff.

Then she heard it again. The same rustling sound but with a dragging kind of sound.

‘Stuff this.’ She hurried back to the door, but it wouldn’t open, her heart started racing as she kept trying the handle. The noises were getting louder, closer. She started to panic. With tears in her eyes she looked at the door handle and realised she was at the driver’s door.

“Oh, fuck.” She ran around the back of the ute to the passenger door, opened it and dived in slamming it shut. She pressed the lock down with shaking hands then climbed over to the driver’s door and locked it too. Then, of course, the bloody torch battery went flat, leaving her in total darkness. She fumbled with the ignition and tried to start the ute, but nothing, not even a click. She looked out through the windscreen but saw nothing. It was the darkest night she’d ever seen. A solid black wall surrounded her.

Feeling spooked, she wished she hadn’t decided to drive there. She wished she had told someone where she was going. She wished he didn’t live so far away.

Feeling hopeless, scared and vulnerable, she climbed back to the passenger seat and slunk down low. The noises sounded closer. Like something being dragged along side the road edge. She shrunk down as small as she could, curling up on the floor in front of the passenger seat, underneath the dash and pulled her jacket over her head.

‘How could I be so stupid, no one knows where I am, I don’t even know where I am because I think I missed the turn.’ She felt something bump the ute and huddled up even tighter, fighting the urge to scream.

She stayed there, trembling, trying not to make a sound, her eyes scrunched closed and tears rolling down her cheeks, holding her jacket tightly over her head for what seemed like hours. She must have eventually dozed off for a while then jumped. She opened her eyes, she could see very feint light. She cautiously peeked out from under her jacket and saw the beginning of dawn lighting the eastern sky. She climbed up onto the seat, looking all around. The sun appeared over the horizon and bathed the landscape with yellow light.

The young woman sat up, unlocked and opened the door then stepped out onto the gravel. She shivered and put her jacket on feeling safer. There was nothing creepy or sinister anywhere. She walked around the front of the ute, surveying the damage, then along the driver’s side and around to the back. There, she gasped and stepped back.  

Looking down, her chest tightened and her hand came up to her mouth to stiffle the scream she felt coming. In the red dust at the back of the ute were foot steps, made by someone wearing huge, chunky boots. Behind the foot steps the ground had been scraped with something large. Then she saw the hand prints on the tailgate. Trembling with fear, she forced herself to look in the back of the ute.

There was nothing but the spare wheel and jack. She looked down at the dusty ground again then, at a distance, walked right around the ute, but there was nothing else, no other footsteps.

‘Fuck this.’ She quickly got back in the ute, scrambled over to the driver’s side and with shaking hands fumbled with the key for a few eternal seconds. She got it into the ignition and just as she turned the key, she remembered how it wouldn’t start hours ago in the black darkness of the night.

But, it started. She took off, skidding the wheels in the gravel, throwing up stones and dust behind her, holding onto the steering wheel with both hands, trembling. She’d just changed up into fourth gear, tearing around a left hand bend when she saw it, not far ahead. Her hands gripped the steering wheel.

Almost too late, she changed down gears and hit the brakes, so hard the ute skidded in the gravel, swinging around to almost face the way she had just come from. She sat quietly, the ute idling restlessly, hands still trembling on the steering wheel and waited for the dust to clear. She looked out through the back window and saw it.

She closed her eyes for a second, opened them and looked again. Leaning forward, she touched her forehead to her hands, then lifted her head, sat up straight, adjusted the seat belt and turned the ute around. It was real, she wasn’t imagining it. She accelerated slamming through the gears in a matter of seconds and threw the ute into the right hand turn which she thought she had missed. She raced along the road, past a familiar mail box, plunged through a familiar culvert and raced over a familiar crest, she cried, yelled and screamed with joy. To her right, she saw a familiar house in the distance. She slowed to turn into the driveway, rattled over the cattle grid and cruised along the road to the homestead.

When she finally pulled up, she pulled on the handle of the driver’s door. It opened. She got out, frowning and walked over to the house, the bright morning sunlight warming her shoulders. She felt cheered, happy and grateful to be there. After the night she’d had, daylight had never looked so beautiful.

She stepped up onto the verandah and walked through the front door up the hall to his bedroom. She peeked around the door, but he was not there, actually the bed was very tidy and well made. “Hmm, strange.’ She walked through the house and out the back door. ‘His ute is over at the shed so he’s definitely here.’ When she turned around to go back into the house, she saw them.

A pair of huge, chunky boots, covered in red dust, sitting by the back door step.

THE FINALE

**(Real name: Janet Looby)