‘Git out,’ he ordered. ‘Sit down ‘ere.’ He pointed to the base of a tree where she could sit in the shade. He tied a rope firmly to her left ankle then around the base of the tree and back to her right. Apart the bottle of tepid water he left her with nothing. Without another word he took Carolyn from her grasp and, ignoring Katherine’s efforts to hold on to her child, he put her on the seat next to him and started the engine.
‘Wait! Come back! Please, don’t take Carolyn away. Where are you going? Come back. Please, don’t take my baby,’ Katherine screamed in desperation and fear.
Ignoring her cries and shouts, he called back through the window, ‘Won’t be long. Ya’d better be there when I come back, for ya own good. An’ bub’s.’
As the Land Rover moved away she could hear Carolyn crying. Her chest contracted and her throat, already sore from screaming and crying, went desert dry. She didn’t know what she could do. For a while she struggled with the knot but, after breaking a nail, stopped. Even if she got loose, where could she go? She was miles from the road and he had Carolyn. She sat in the shade of one of the stunted mallee bushes, drank the water and wept for herself, for her baby and for fear of what was happening to them both. She realised she was aching for the return of her abductor. Even though the safety of her child depended on him, the feeling made her feel sick.
Katherine didn’t know how long she had been tied there, but time dragged. Each time she heard a vehicle on the distant road she sat up, straining to listen if it was Benjamin returning. When she finally heard the Land Rover approaching she was so relieved that she stood hurriedly, tripped over the rope and landed awkwardly in the sand. She scrambled up and dusted herself off just as the Land Rover came to a stop.
Benjamin got out of the vehicle, gently lifting Carolyn out as he did so. The baby was awake but quiet but as soon as she saw her mother she started to cry. Without a word Benjamin held her at arm’s length and handed her to Katherine, ignoring her tear-streaked face. He turned to re-hitch the trailer. Carolyn needed attention. She had a dirty nappy and it was time for a feed.
‘You can’t do this to us. I must have stuff for myself and the baby. You can’t leave me tied up here,’ Katherine shouted at Benjamin’s bent back as he went about his work. He didn’t even look around.
Screaming so loudly at him that her throat hurt, Katherine repeated what she had said and added, ‘you bastard!’
Benjamin stood up and walked slowly over to her and looked down at her sitting in the dust. ‘Listen carefully, woman. Ya don’t call me names an’ ya don’t swear. It ain’t right. Do exactly what I tell ya to an’ we’ll get along jist fine. See, look ere, I bought ya some nappy liners and ya’ve got milk in ya tits for bubs. That’s all ya need for now. Jist drink lotsa water.’
His tone was menacing. She was intimidated by his bulk looking down on her, and could not look him in the eye when he spoke. He didn’t touch her, just turned around and went back to work hitching the trailer. She couldn’t work him out, one moment tying her to a tree and taking her baby, the next surprising her by buying nappy liners. The act of thoughtfulness made Katherine wonder if perhaps he had a split personality. ‘Oh! God, am I dealing with a mental case here?’
She lapsed into a confused, sulky silence. She was terrified what he might do, frightened not only for herself but for her baby. She turned her back to him and changed and nursed her baby.
Once the vehicle was ready they set off again. They passed the roadhouse at Yalata in a cloud of dust. Katherine looked at it with longing as they sped by. She knew it had been her hope of rescue and now it was fading into the distance.
They travelled in silence.
A sign pointing to a side track suggested tourists go to view the famous cliffs at Head of Bight. Katherine’s eyes followed it round as the vehicle passed, recalling that she and Alec planned to do that on their next field trip. Now she wondered if she would ever do it. What would Alec think when he went back to the abandoned Kombi? She cursed herself for being so stupid to accept a ride from a complete stranger. It went against everything she believed in. Every minute brought her further from the man she loved and further from safety.
Soon after the sun passed its zenith they approached the Western Australian border. The roadhouse there, appropriately termed Travellers Village, had several trucks and cars parked around it. Apart from a large ‘Welcome to Western Australia’ sign there was no other indication that they were passing into another state.
Benjamin turned to her and broke their silence, speaking for the first time since their previous stop. ‘Go ta the toilets here. Git yaself cleaned up.’ It was an instruction, not a suggestion. ‘When youse in there, I’m gonna be jist outside with bubs, so don’ be stoopid or try nothin’.
He parked a short distance away and Katherine, by this time desperate for the toilet, picked up a sleeping Carolyn and rapidly started towards the toilet block.
”ang on, woman. We’ll wait ta see if them’s empty.’ Benjamin’s hand gripped the back of her slacks firmly, holding her back. It inadvertently put pressure on her already uncomfortable bladder and she moved back towards him to relieve it. To an unaware spectator it looked like an affectionate link.
‘Gimme bubs. I’ll hold it while ya’re in there.’
Reluctantly she gently handed him Carolyn. Still holding Katherine close the three headed towards the toilets. Someone came out of the Ladies and they waited just out of possible earshot. Katherine was tempted to shout for help to the woman leaving the block but fear of what Benjamin might do stilled her voice. After about ten minutes he said, ‘Okay. In ya go. I’ll wait ‘ere for ya.’ He positioned himself near the entry.
The toilets were relatively clean, apart from a few scattered scraps of toilet paper littering the floor. Katherine briefly looked at herself in the cracked mirror as she passed the row of hand basins. The crack divided her visage into two and the tear-streaked face that peered back at her epitomised her feelings: a broken face peering back at a broken spirit. She felt helpless, desperate and miserable. Her clothes were still partly dirty from her fall at the truck stop. Instinctively she started to dust off the reddish stains that left permanent streaks of ochreous red on her blouse from where she had fallen. She went into a stall and closed the door.
As she locked the cubicle door she wondered if she should try to climb through the rear window. Had she been alone she would have been tempted to do something risky but she was scared for the sake of her baby. She knew Benjamin would ensure she had no company. She sat on the toilet. The physical relief was immediate and immense; once over it allowed her mental anguish to become paramount. She put her head in her hands and started crying.
On the floor near the edge of the door hinges she suddenly spotted what looked like a lipstick container. She almost fell forward and grabbed it, an idea forming in her mind. It was broken but a small stump of the blood-red, waxy material remained. Holding her unfastened slacks she raced across to the mirror and started to scrawl as fast and clearly as possible:
S O S Katherine M Thompson. Kidnapped 23 10 65 Ceduna call police. He …
The last words smudged as she struggled to write more but the stump, now worn to nothing, would not. She desperately looked around for something else to use to complete a message.
‘Ya finished in there?’ Benjamin’s voice rasped the question through the open entrance. ‘Bubs needs ya.’
‘Nearly. Just washing,’ she shouted back as she desperately looked around on the floor in case of something else to use. Nothing.
She ran water and cupped her hands to wash her face. There were no towels, either linen or paper. She shook off the excess water and started to walk out, almost bumping into Benjamin as he walked in. She almost pushed him out in her haste to leave, and grabbed at Carolyn.
‘What kept ya? Someone in there?’
‘No. A woman just takes longer in toilets, or didn’t you know that?’