Anni Taylor - Birds in Flight

Australia, 1998

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Sergeant Mullard parks his police vehicle behind the van. Its just past eleven at night, and its ink dark. Its not a good place for any kind of drama to play out. He knows that on one side, a cliff edge runs close to the road and on the other side is a thick, dense stretch of everglades. And the sheeting rain is only making visibility worse.

Sitting next to the sergeant, Constable Lea Ramirez gazes straight ahead. Whatre you thinking, Sarge?

Something doesnt seem right here, he tells her, attempting to peer through the rain. When the guy called the station, did he sound high on drugs or something?

He just sounded, yknow, frantic. And maybe a bit scared about what hed seen.

Hmmm. Well, how about I go check it out while you wait here? No point both of us getting drenched like sewer rats.

A nervous smile flits across her face. Wont say no to that.

Pulling a rain jacket over his head, the sergeant exits the car and tramps through puddles of water to the van. In the drivers seat is a man who looks about twenty, smoking a cigarette and wearing a soaking-wet wifebeater. His shoulder-length hair is plastered in damp skeins to his face. Tattoos run the length of his arm and up to his neck.

Mr Jared Keller? asks the sergeant.

The man stubs the cigarette out on the window frame of his van. Yeah. Yeah, thats me.

Thanks for waiting for us, Mr Keller. You want to explain what you saw out there, exactly?

Mr Keller eases his head back. It was a kida little girland a woman, running for their lives. Right along the side of the road. They both looked desperate. I thought there had to be someone chasing them. All kinds of things go through your headlike, it could be someone with a knife or an axe. The kid vanished into the bushland, and the woman followed. I admit I was freaked out, but I parked and went looking for them. Couldnt find them. Got driven back by the rain. So I came back to my van and called the police.

Did you call out to them?

Yeah. No answer.

Right. And there was no one else around? the sergeant asks.

Not that I saw.

Where were you headed at the time you saw the girl and the woman?

Just returning home from my girlfriends house.

Right. Mind if I take a look inside your van?

The young mans mouth goes slack, his eyes incredulous. You serious? You wanna poke around in my van?

Just procedure.

Jared throws his hands up. What kind of procedure is that?

Itll only take a minute.

Go aheadI cant stop you. Its open.

Sliding back the side door of the van, Sergeant Mullard cranes his head. There are tarps and ropes. He pulls the tarps aside and finds nothing but toolboxes.

What do you do for work, mate? the sergeant shouts above the roar of the rain.

Im a handyman, Mr Keller tells him, twisting around to look over his shoulder. I do odd jobs.

A call comes in on the sergeants radio. Sarge, says Constable Ramirez over the radio, a young woman just called the station. A Mrs Deauville. Shed been driving down the same section of road that were on now, and she saw the same thing the driver of the van did. She saw a woman and child running there. Mrs Deauville had a baby in her car and was afraid to stop, in case someone was chasing the pair. She said as soon as she arrived home, she called the police.

The sergeant slides the door shut and walks back to Mr Keller. We just had a call from another driver. He relays what Constable Ramirez just told him.

Mr Keller shakes his head. I didnt see any other cars on the road.

Shes backing up your story, mate. Why argue?

What story? And whos arguing? I just dont remember seeing anyone else.

Well, she saw you. She said she saw your van stop and park by the roadside.

Look, I think Im sorry I called the cops. Try to do the right thing and

Ill contact you if I need any more information, okay? You can go. The sergeant stands and watches as the van drives off, the tyres digging into the gravel with a low screech.

He returns to his police vehicle and tries his best to remove his jacket and toss it into the back seat without pouring water on the constable. Wet nights are a pain in the rear end.

Do you buy his version of events, Sarge? Ramirez asks, flicking droplets of rain from her sleeve. I mean, about the woman charging off into bushland with the little girl?

On a night like this? Nope. Doesnt add up. Who knowsmaybe Mr Keller called us out as a cover story because he knows another driver saw his van parked.

That had me worried too.

We might have to do some follow-up with Mr Keller. Anyway, lets take a drive and see if we can spot the mother and child. Thats two separate drivers who saw them, so we know they exist.

Should we put the lights and siren on? If I was hiding in the forest, I might feel safer coming out if I knew it was the police.

I like your thinking. Sergeant Mullard begins a slow cruise along the road, lights and sirens on. The rain and the murky darkness affect visibility to the point where this feels like a fools mission.

Two minutes later, a small shopping centre edges into view around a corner. The centre is closed, with a bare minimum of lights on.

Constable Ramirez points past his shoulder, to the right. Do you see that? A car in the parking area. Its the only one there.

Yup. Well spotted, Ramirez. The sergeant turns right and drives in. Its pitch-dark here, save for the soft glow of a streetlight some five metres away.

The car is an old-model station wagon. Sergeant Mullard judges that it maybe came off the factory line in 1985. The front passenger-side door hangs wide open, buffeted by the wind. Rain pelts inside.

Constable Ramirez gasps. Godthats not looking good. Theres a girl in that seat.

What on earth is going on here tonight? the sergeant mutters. From what he can make out, the girl is a young teenager. Shes slumped over. Is she dead? The victim of a knife attack? Maybe Jared Keller was on the right track, after all.