Eruption - 6. Erupt Ch 6

Eventually, I learnt that the boy had witnessed his mother’s boyfriend, hitting and pushing her around and that the man had threatened to hurt Toby if the mother or he ever said anything to anyone.

The poor kid was frightened like a scared cat, and I had to keep reassuring the boy that he was perfectly safe here, with me and Dr Jillian next door.

When there was a light knock on the door, I stood up and opened it up, Jillian was standing in the hall, and I could see the boy’s mother weeping in the room opposite.

“Toby, your mum is a little sad, how about you go and give her a cuddle, while I talk to Dr Jillian for a moment,” I said to the boy, and he silently stood up and walked across the hall into the other room, and Jillian stepped into my room and closed the door.

“How did you go? Did you get much out of him?” Jillian asked me. “That is one poor and scared little boy, who just has to watch his mother being bashed up by her boyfriend. He will need a lot of assurance that he is now safe and that no one is going to hurt his mother or him ever again,” I replied.

“He hurt Toby?” Jillian asked sounding shocked, “Only grabbing his arm and shaking him while his mother’s boyfriend threatened to hurt him if he ever told anyone about what he did to his Mum,” I replied. “Oh my, that is not good, did you get it down on tape?” Jillian responded, “No sorry, I felt a little uneasy doing that on our first meeting, but I made detailed notes. What will happen next?” I asked.

“There is a women’s refuge, that has space for Pippa and Toby, and the police have been notified, and will get a statement from her at the refuge. I really appreciate you doing this for me today, I was not sure who to turn to for help,” Jillian said to me.

“Just as well I am here on holiday eh,” I said smiling, “Come with me to next door please,” Jillian said before exiting the room and entering her consultation room, and I closed the door behind me. “Now Toby, you mentioned that you have had nightmares and waking up wet all over, do you think you could talk to Mr Carson about them, to help you get over those bad nightmares,” Jillian asked the boy, who looked at his mother.

“I think that would be wonderful, that is if Mr Carson is available to assist,” Pippa said and Toby smiled for the first time and nodded his head yes. “Excellent, now I believe that Dr Jillian has fixed up a very safe place for you both to stay for a while, so we will see you in a day or two,” I said to Toby, who stepped forward as I squatted down to his level and he wrapped his arms around my neck.

“You be a good boy now and take good care of your Mum, and remember the bad man will not hurt your Mum or you ever again,” I said to the boy, as I gave him a light hug, before breaking the hold and standing up. I smiled to Pippa before exiting the room and returning to the office I used, to read through my notes.

Having left the door slightly ajar, I heard Pippa say thank you and goodbye a few minutes later, and the sound of footsteps down the passage, then I heard Jillian call out a name, and her door closed a few moments later, no doubt with another patient.

“Would you like another cup of tea Mr Carson?” a voice at the doorway asked, which made me jump a little, “Yes please, that would be great,” I replied. “Dr Jillian is with her second last patient of the day, so we will be closing in about half an hour,” the receptionist said before heading for the kitchen.

“Once again, thank you very much for assisting me with that matter earlier, it is very much appreciated,” Jillian said to me in the reception area, after the last patient left the building. “Not a problem, I was happy to assist,” I responded as I smiled.

“Tanya, can you find a spot in the diary, where I have a two-hour gap, preferably within the next few days, as Mr Newton and I have a house call to make,” Jillian said to her receptionist, who looked at the booking diary and announced that there was a two-hour gap in two days, straight after the lunchtime break, from 1 to 3 pm.

“Great, mark that down as a home visit, but don’t write down where, as it is a sensitive case. If you need me urgently, then you will just have to page me, as I will have my mobile off for that period,” Jillian said, before grabbing my arm, and leading me towards the door.

“Can you lock up please Tanya? Have a good evening,” Jillian called out as I pushed the door open and let Jillian pass, before I followed. “You will have tongues wagging if you keep doing that,” I commented as we turned down the street, and Jillian laughed.

Just as we turned onto the footpath of Jillian’s home, my phone beeped with a message. “Are you all packed and ready to go? The truck will now pick you up at 6 am tomorrow morning. Regards, Andrew.” “Oh shit, I totally forgot about that after this afternoon’s diversion to your surgery.

“I can’t attend that meeting with you in two days, as I have accepted an offer to travel by truck with a load of Andrew’s cattle to his brother’s property in Western Australia,” I said to Jillian. “Oh, I see… well that is ok, I will just have to find an alternative counsellor. I don’t want you to miss out on an experience like that,” Jillian said to me, “Are you sure that it will be ok?” I asked.

“Yes go ahead, that is fine. Do you need to organise anything?” Jillian replied, “Yes, I need a sleeping bag and a swag, and I need to get some cash out too,” I replied, “Ok, we better get moving before the shops all close,” Jillian said to me, as she picked up her keys and purse again.

Two hours later, we returned to the house, with me being $520 poorer, with a brand new swag, sleeping bag, as well as a heap of non-perishable snacks, a 5-litre water cooler and a 750-ml drink flask, plus a duffel bag, that would be easy to hold all of my belongings in.

After packing everything that I needed for the trip, I headed to bed straight after dinner, knowing that I had a very early start in the morning, and a very long three days. The next morning, Jillian appeared just as I finished my breakfast, and smiled as I rinsed the bowl and small plate, before putting them in the dishwasher.

“All set to go?” she asked me, and I nodded as I finished my cup of tea, “Just need to go to the loo, then I am set to go,” I replied, as I glanced at my watch, which read 5.35 am. Five minutes after departing from the house, we arrived at the weighbridge, and giving Jillian a wave, she set off back home for a bit more sleep, while I stood in the cold, waiting for the truck.

When the truck did arrive, the driver pulled up onto the weighbridge, and took the required reading, with a printout to add to his paperwork. “Are you the one joining me for the trip to Yaloo, boy?” the driver said to me, as I stood watching him do his work of getting the weight information, and then checking all of his tyres.

“Yes, that is me, the name is Carson Newton,” I replied, just as a cow defecated, and splashed out of the confines of the crate and onto my boots, and frowning, I shook my foot to try and remove the smelly cow turd. “Well don’t just stand there shaking your foot, get in, we have a long way to go,” the driver shouted to me from inside the cab.

As I climbed in, I got my first good look at the driver, in his fifties at least, with quite a large belly, no doubt from drinking too much beer and takeaway food, greying hair, and a few days of growth on his face. Placing my luggage on the bunk behind the seats, I settled into my seat.

The smell of the offending item on my boot soon filled the cabin and I quickly wound down the window, to try and get rid of the smell. Even after two days of musting on horseback at the station, I still wasn’t quite used to the smells of the cattle.

Seeing a box of tissues on the dash, I quickly retrieved a few and wiped the turd off my boot, and asked the driver to wait a minute, and I opened the door and jumped down, and ran to the nearby roadside rubbish bin, to deposit the offending matter, before running back, and after slipping twice, I finally managed to get back into the cab, and close the door.

“Are you quite finished?” the driver asked me with a huge frown on his face, “Yes thank you?” I replied, and I closed my eyes, as we started on our long journey, firstly south, then west towards Western Australia. Two hours later, the truck slowed and turned right onto the Lasseter Highway that leads to Yulara, Uluru and onwards to the WA border.

Another two hours, and when I felt the truck slowing down again, I looked up, wondering where we were and why we were stopping. “We are approaching Curtin Springs Station, I need to deliver a parcel and check the truck and cattle, so we will be here for about twenty minutes if you want to stretch your legs, as it will be the last stop for some time,” the driver, whose name is Mark said to me, and I just nodded my head in understanding.

Mark parked the truck just twenty metres from the ablutions, so that was my first stop, before heading for the open bar, which has a few patrons there, and I bought a soft drink and a packet of chips. Heading back towards the truck, I slowly walked around it, to check on the cattle, making sure to stand right back, so as not to get a cow turd on me again.

Once I was happy they were ok, I stood near the cab where there was some shade and waited for Mark to return, after he had checked the wheels we climbed in and set off once again. What is the mountain over there, it isn’t Uluru?” I asked as I looked to my left at the large mountain peak in the distance.

“No, that is Mount Conner, the highest mountain in South Australia, as it is just below the border,” Mark responded, as I continued to stare at it. About 45 minutes later, we arrived at the town of Yulara, where we stopped to get a bite to eat and to check on the truck and cattle before we headed off again, and the highway turned southwards. Fifteen minutes later, I spotted Uluru, and wow was it a sight to see, as I snapped a few photos of it with my mobile phone.

It was nearly four and a half hours later that we started to slow down, and we turned down a small road, “This is our overnight stop, known as Ngaanyatjarra. I will need you to assist with unloading the cattle,” Mark announced, “Not a problem, that is why I am here to help with that,” I replied, happy that the day travelling was finally over.

The cattle yards looked rather new, as we unloaded all of the cattle in the double road train, and Mark turned off the truck once the unloading was completed, and walked over to a large shed. Unlocking it, Mark opened it, to reveal a huge stack of hay bales, and he grabbed one, and began to carry it to the yards, and I grabbed a bale to help. With the stock feeders full of hay, Mark checked that the two water troughs were clean with fresh water in them, before locking the shed and walking back to the truck.

“Grab your gear, there are some bunk rooms behind the shed,” Mark announced. The bunk rooms, as Mark called them, were two sheds, that were beside each other, with the partially open sides facing inwards, and there was a fire pit in the open between the two sheds. Looking into the first shed, the floor was concreted, and the middle section has a large table and two bench seats, that are bolted to the concrete floor.

Looking left and right, I saw that there was a half-size internal wall on the left and a full-size wall on the right. To the left, I saw that it was a camp kitchen, with a BBQ plate, large bench space, a fridge, microwave, sink and one single tap for water. On the right was a closed door, and on opening it, I saw that it was a bathroom, with a total of four cubicles, two with toilets and two with showers, and I was pleased to see that there was a cold and a hot tap for water in the showers.

In the other shed, was a dusty-looking lounge and two chairs, while to the left and right, there are half walls, and behind them are four raised benches on each side, which I presume are for sleeping on. I placed my gear on the left side, and Mark chose the right side.

“Your boss supplied us with food for the next two days, which is in the truck fridge, if you can go and get it,” Mark said to me, and I nodded my understanding, and walked around the sheds to get to the truck. When I opened up the fridge in the truck, I saw several plastic bags.

Lifting out one, it had written on it – ‘Day One Dinner’ written on it, so I closed the fridge and headed back to the accommodation shed, where I found Mark at the BBQ giving it a good cleanup, and I placed the bag on the bench beside him. “What’s in it?” Mark asked, and I shrugged my shoulders, before ripping open the bag carefully, to reveal a packet of two Rump steaks, a pack of four sausages, a red onion, and a smaller bag, that contained a salad mix.

“Put it in the fridge for now, and relax a bit, as we still have about two hours before it starts to get dark,” Mark said to me, from the comfort of the large lounge seat, with a cigar in his mouth and he was reading a newspaper, which I hadn’t noticed before. “I’m going for a bit of a walk,” I informed Mark.

“Don’t go into the community, you are not welcome in there,” Mark said to me, so I followed the track back to the main road, and walked along it for about half an hour before turning around and heading back, as the sun was now starting to get low. “You will find a chopping board and knives over there, start chopping the onion into rings,” Mark instructed me, and I did as he asked, while he put the meat on the heated BBQ plate. We were soon sitting down to enjoy our dinner, which we ate in silence, which I was pleased about, after listening to Country songs all day.