driving but could not stop her mind wandering around. 120 km/hour and very busy on all seven one-way lines and she had to concentrate. People returning home after a day in the country; some from the beach, others like Rose, from the hills. Everyone was dog tired and more prone to mistakes and then there were the Police radars to watch for. As everyone was bordering the upper limit of legal speed it was very easy to find yourself above and beyond it with nasty consequences. She didn’t have any alcohol today and had two cups of coffee before leaving for home just to make sure that she would stay alert for the short trip home that still she expected to take about two hours.
She was a good driver and she had gotten even better with practice in the last couple of months. Here everyone was used to travelling long distances and Rose grew comfortable with that too. It was a bit of a race today, thought Rose glancing at the cars around her. Almost bumper to bumper and at such speed any mistake could cause chaos and lives lost. The best course of action was to try and keep up with the flow, she reminded herself and tried to focus her mind on driving.
She was returning from a visit to an open garden near Mt Tamborine. She went with Adele and at her recommendation but was returning home alone as Adele decided to spend some more time with her relatives in the country. Rose had declined their invitation as she was expecting a call from her grandma tonight. A smile appeared on Rose’s face when recalling the day and she had to force herself to concentrate on the road ahead as her memory was flooded by the day’s events. The best course of action was to postpone thinking about the garden till she got safely home.
Right that moment she found herself flanked by two long trailers. Those types that can suck a small car right underneath them if the driver was not careful. Rose recalled hearing such horrifying stories that invariably finished with the occupants of the small car losing their lives. She could only hope that she did not need to spend much time driving in parallel with them as they were usually speeding. In normal circumstances she would have raised her foot off the accelerator and let them go their way however today, looking in the rear mirror she could see that she didn’t have that option. A large, black SUV was close behind her, maybe too close she thought with some anxiety.
Nothing changed in the following five minutes and she was becoming tired. A dark premonition crept into her thoughts but she had no option to drive away. The dark SUV was following dangerously closely and the long trucks were blocking her on both sides. She was driving at the upper limit of the local speed and there was a car not so far in front of her. If she wanted to escape the SUV and the trucks she would have to trample over the car in front of her which would cause chaos and probably would derail her under the trucks. She had no escape as far she could see. Her thoughts were twirling and her eyes were darting around measuring the distance between the cars. The driving was claiming her whole attention as she was fully aware that she didn’t stand a chance if there was to be even a minor collision between the cars at such speed.
As she glanced up she was almost blinded by the reflection of the SUV lights into her back mirror. That meant that it was too close, she thought, and she had the presence of mind to press the accelerator at the exact moment when she felt a bump into her car’s rear. It can’t be intentional, she said to herself trying to keep calm but instinctively made the decision to move as far as possible from the SUV and came closer to the front car.
And then in a moment of madness and desperation she wedged her way to freedom between the front car and left side truck. Now she was driving over the legal limit but she forgot about it and focused on losing the SUV that now was clearly following her. There are advantages and disadvantages when driving a small car. Luckily she was the only car occupant. She continued to change lanes speeding and, at one point, a thought crossed her mind. If I’m still alive tomorrow, she thought, I might have to face numerous speeding tickets but who cares. Better to be alive than dead.
When she finally entered her street she was alone and started to wonder if the incident was the product of her imagination. However she parked her car in a hurry and didn’t waste any time outside her house. It was already getting dark but the air was pleasant and the streets were shinning in the artificial light. But nothing could entice Rose to remain on the street. Rose was put out by the driving experience. It seemed to last an eternity. It was out of sight but not out of mind. It was too awful to backtrack but it wasn’t an ordinary wild-goose chase and she was prepared to reflect on it.
While shedding off her clothes in front of the TV in preparation for a shower her attention was caught by the news related to some illegal shooting of birds on a property in the country. The news meant nothing to her till the name of the property was mentioned. It was a funny name; the owners called it ‘The garden of Eden’ and to be true to herself Rose had to admit that the name was well chosen. Top-of –the-line. That’s what that garden was. They used all the tricks of the trade to accomplish a beautiful place although the money was tight and the owners had to manage extremes weather conditions: from long periods of draught to brief periods of devastating floods.
As the bodies of the three colorful birds were displayed briefly Rose experienced a few flashbacks. Three, more precisely. After seeing each dead bird she recalled vividly, images and sounds of her moments in the garden. For the first bird she was bending to take a close up photo of a cangarr’s paw wild flower when she heard a popping noise above her head and looked around to see what it was. Then she thought she saw a bird diving straight down. She attributed the noise to the bird and thought that it was in pursuit of food. And then that happened twice more, in different other occasions during the day.
But why would someone shoot rare birds and then leave them there? Unless they were not able to retrieve them. As Rose was reflecting this way she heard the commentator explaining that the birds were not rare just native, colorful local birds with no real market value. Now that was even stranger. And then suddenly donned on her that all these birds died in her vicinity with her bending each time and the noise going over her head all the time.
Could have that meant that actually the target was someone else and the birds were killed accidentally? Is it possible that the target was Rose? She was the one who heard the noise and saw the birds going down. At the time she thought that they were diving for food but in hindsight it was an unusual diving, she had to admit.
The idea that someone had attempted to take her life earlier today by shooting her reminded her about the incident with the SUV. Now the two separate incidents started to present into a different light, she conceded. She’d have to take them more seriously. Not that she had any proof or anyone to point to. But she had no intention of playing the tough guy and made her mind to report her concerns to the Police tomorrow. She felt cornered and didn’t like the feeling. Everything hinged now on getting some help from the professionals. She might even consider travelling overseas if necessary. But what motif? The inheritance?
Shuddering with fear Rose had a shower and then decided to change the bed sheets. Something that she usually did on Saturday morning but at the time she had been busy with other matters. Focusing on the new project was giving her a break from her recent preoccupations. She paused deciding what to pick up for the bed. She had the choice of white, blue and green. Definitely not green. I’ve seen enough green for today, she told herself. She eventually settled for the blue sheets and while carrying them to her room something fell to the ground with a thump. Now what? she asked herself and then she fell silent staring at the artifacts on the floor. She recognized them immediately. They were the missing artifacts from Mrs. Capeletti’s collection, she had no doubt about it. But why are they here?
For a fraction of a second she asked herself if she did it. Was she walking around while asleep? She had heard about such cases but nobody ever told her that she had such a behavior. She looked chagrined but determined to remain calm amid all this chaos. The discovery reawakened all the earlier emotions. What a day. Was she
wise enough to know the right thing to do in such a sticky situation?
She left them where they fell and went to have a cup of coffee. She needed to think this over. Something was dreadfully wrong. The day was getting worse by the minute and she was feeling scatterbrained.
Ten minutes later and a strong coffee, Rose knew exactly what she needed to do. A tidbit from the past was leading her decision to ask someone she trusted for advice. He responded immediately as if her number was on his speed dial. After a 30 minute conversation during which Rose described succinctly the days’ events terminating with the recent astonishing finding they agreed on a course of action.
‘For old times’ sake, ’ said Alex after listening intently to Rose’s description of events. ‘You better come here soon. Something is definitely wrong there and I can’t help from the distance’.
After a few more exchanges it was time to cut the call short and attend to the matter at hand. Rose followed Alex advice to the letter. She initially put on a pair of kitchen gloves and then found a black garbage bag in which she placed carefully the artifacts. She