Page 121 of Lost In Kakadu

“Give me your hand.” She reached for him.

Placing his hand on the side of her swollen stomach, he felt a hard lump and gasped as fear gripped him. “What’s that?”

Abi smiled, knowing. “It’s our baby’s foot.”

Tears sprang to his eyes. “Oh, wow.”

She unbuttoned the miner’s shirt, and the outline of the baby’s tiny foot was visible beneath her stretched skin.

“This is amazing.” Mackenzie touched the heel of the foot and it moved. Laughing, he gently prodded again. “Does it hurt?”

“Not at the moment, but it does sometimes.”

“How much longer do you think we have?”

She shrugged. “It’s hard to tell, but given my size, I’m guessing about a week or two.”

He reached for her hand and as the sun blazed into the red dirt in the distance a tight knot turned in his stomach. It was obvious no one had been in the town for over a decade, and it made no sense to stay and wait for a rescue.

Mackenzie nodded with conviction. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”

He squeezed Abi’s hand as the blackness of night consumed them.

Mackenzie insisted they abandon most of their equipment, choosing to take just one backpack with water, food and a few other essential items and they set off before dawn.

He felt like this was their sprint to the finish line. They started with a spring in their step, hand in hand joking about the first thing they’d do once they were rescued.

“Have a cold beer.” Mackenzie chuckled.

“Eat a whole box of chocolates.” Abi laughed.

But the end of the road didn’t materialise. The sun beat down with relentless force and Mackenzie mixed the red dirt with a ration of water to make a thick paste that he applied as sunscreen. Their hopes were crushed over every hill and their endurance diminished with every incline.

The midday air remained still and stifling, and the nights were humid and sticky. They lay in the dirt beside the road each night, flicking off ants and swatting sand flies. After two days and two nights of relentless walking, Mackenzie trembled with frustration as he removed the final bottle of water from the backpack.

How much longer?

Once again, they were trapped and had no choice but to carry on into the unknown. Turning back was at least a two day walk and they wouldn’t make it without water.

Abi’s face was gaunt, and her usual determined look was replaced with one of despair. He’d failed her. But he couldn’t bear losing her or the baby and wouldn’t continue without them.

He’d rather die here beside her than carry on.

She gulped the water with cracked lips, and it took all his willpower to tuck the bottle away without taking a drink himself.

Each step on the slippery red dirt was like walking through quicksand, drawing them into the unknown.

That night they collapsed into a heap on the hot ground and Mackenzie allowed himself a small mouthful of water. His lip split open, and he tasted blood. They had no food and only a third of a bottle of water left.

Tomorrow would be their last day.

But how the day ended was in the hands of God.

As he stared up at the millions of stars, a falling star suddenly dazzled the sky. He reached for Abi’s hand, and she squeezed it in a silent gesture of reassurance.

I love you. He tried to speak, but his throat was so dry nothing came out. He wanted to roll to her, to wrap his arms around her. But he couldn’t move. Instead, he just lay there until sheer exhaustion tipped him into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Abi couldn’t walk. Her legs finally failed her. Mackenzie gathered her in his arms. Tears streamed down his face as he followed the red road that stretched before him like a hideous joke. The sun was painful, and the ground shimmered as black crows cawed in time to his wobbly steps. When he could walk no more, he placed Abi down and collapsed beside her.

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