Welcome to Adelaide the temperature is a cool twelve degrees, with a bit of a breeze. Enjoy your stay.

“No one ever enjoys their stay in Adelaide,” Danny groused, annoyed that the pilot could be so damn cheerful.

“No, it’s a bit of an oxymoron,” Paul agreed as he stood on his toes to fish Troy out from the overhead locker. “I mean no one puts ‘enjoy’ and ‘Adelaide’ in the same sentence.”

“It’s a bit like saying Kentucky and large gene pool,” Greg agreed as they grouped together and shuffled toward the exit. They reached the door where the stewardess who’d been checking out Greg earlier was standing with a steward who looked bored out of his skull.

“Thank you for flying with Qantas,” she smiled as they started down the stairs. “Especially you,” she added and slipped a piece of paper into Greg’s back pocket.

“Go Proops,” Danny chuckled and nudged Greg who was blushing ever so slightly.

They made it down onto the tarmac and Fenny found herself flung into Brad by the force of the wind.

“You ok?” Brad chuckled as Fenny tried to pry the hair out of her eyes.

“I think we’ve found that ‘bit of a breeze’,” she winced as they stalked through the gale into the terminal.

“What’s our next move?” Danny asked, running his fingers through his windswept hair and grimacing at the odor from his armpits.

“We get a car and head toward Coober Peedy?” Paul shrugged as he checked Troy wasn’t too mussed after being trapped in the overhead locker for 24 hours. “I mean it’s a six to eight hour drive, I think.”

“I wish there were a quicker way,” Fenny sighed, running her fingers through her hair to remove the knots. Brad nodded in agreement and then looked at Greg, who stared at him a moment as if they were sharing thoughts in a John Edward kind of way.

“We couldn’t be that lucky twice though, could we?” Brad mused and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

“I don’t think the doctor thing’d work twice,” Greg sighed, rubbing his temples. “Unless we pretended to be something else, of course.”

“What are you two talking about?” Danny demanded. “Doctors?”

“Many moons ago we faked being doctors to catch a plane ride from Oodnadatta to here,” Greg explained. “Maybe we could get one from here to Coober Peedy?”

“Oh fantastic,” Danny gasped. “Remind me to have an exposé done on the Flying Doctor service…”

“Wait,” Fenny piped up. “That’s a brilliant idea. I mean it’d only take what, half an hour to fly out there?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if anyone’s noticed or not, but (a) we’re not doctors, and (b) we don’t have access to a plane,” Paul explained, waving Troy about.

“No, we’re not doctors,” Brad smiled and grabbed Paul’s hand with Troy clasped in it. “But we could be conservationists.”

Gina shook her bonds violently and then collapsed in both agony an exhaustion.

“You’re wasting your time, you know,” mused the heavy who’d moved on to doing the crossword in the paper.

“No shit,” Gina huffed, wincing as her ribs gave a jagging throb. “Although, contrary to popular belief, I don’t think you’re exactly using the best of yours.”

“No, I could be starting an herb garden, but I’ve bypassed that excitement to sit with you,” the heavy remarked.

Gina pouted. “Well no one asked you to.”

“I’m being loyal to my gracious employer.”

“Amy? Gracious? Jesus mate, could you be any more delusional?”

The heavy looked up from his crossword. “In what way am I delusional?”

“Hmm let’s think,” Gina sarced as she tugged at her bonds again. “Do you honestly think that Amy gives a fuck about you? I’ve not seen her shed a tear for any of her previous minders.”

“I think of myself as a mortal wounds worker,” the heavy perked and smiled wryly.

Gina sneered at him. “I just don’t see how having me in this position will benefit you in the future. I mean you’re obviously a smart man who could get a far better job than kissing Amy’s rather bony American butt.”

“I’m American.”

“Exactly, so you have no loyalty.”

The heavy raised an eyebrow. “Is this a general hate of the American people or just the ones that try and kill you?”

“Well, Aussies and Poms have tried to kill me, so I think it’s general,” Gina nodded and went to shrug and then realised she couldn’t. “Really man, what have you got to gain by doing this?”

“A rather substantial amount of money,” the heavy smiled. “And before you ask, I know she’ll keep the promise.”

“Really? Got a signed contract, have you?”

“No, but she’s my sister.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Gina gasped, generally shocked. “It must be hard sharing her gene pool.”

The heavy chuckled. “You have no idea. Unless you’ve lived with someone who thinks they’re a gangster.”

“My husband thinks a stuffed mongoose and a garden gnome are his children,” Gina sighed, wishing she hadn’t thought of Paul.

“I think we’ve firmly established your husband is a nutter.”

“Yeah,” Gina laughed sadly. “But I’m kinda attached to him.” She looked back at Amy’s brother who looked at her with what seemed to be sympathy. “Look at us, bonding here and I don’t even know your name.”

“Otto. It’s Otto.”

“Your parents must have hated you,” Gina chided. “‘My name is Otto I like to get blotto.’”

“Thank you for cross referencing me with The Simpsons,” Otto smiled, looking back at his crossword. “I tell you what, Blondie. Answer this question and I’ll let you outta your bonds.”

“Shoot,” Gina nodded, figuring she had nothing to left to lose.

“Demented, three letters,” Otto announced with unnatural calmness.

“Amy?” Gina answered and Otto grinned. “Or it could be mad, but I prefer my first answer.”

“Do you want to play for the million?” Otto asked coyly as he put the crossword book down.

“I think I’ll just take the car and go if that’s ok,” Gina replied as Otto leaned over her to undo the ropes.

“You think we look convincing?” Brad asked as the five friends stepped back into the domestic terminal at Adelaide airport. They’d taken a taxi to the nearest outdoor store to deck themselves out in the proper outfits for conservationists. Although Paul was adamant tie dyed shirts and torn jeans would have been sufficient, in the end they all ended up as follows: Greg in a fleecy top, woollen beanie, jeans and hiking boots. Brad also kept to jeans and boots but added a cream polo neck jumper and bright yellow parka to his look. Paul and Danny both sported combats and army boots, while Paul had on a long sleeved t-shirt with ‘save the platypus’ on it, an open checked shirt and a camouflaged baseball cap. Danny had decided on pulling a lumberjack jacket over his t-shirt and a balaklava that he rolled up into a beanie. Finally Fenny had donned a pair of pale moleskin pants, brown hiking boots, a checked shirt and a drys-a-bone jacket. She also pulled her hair into two long plaits just to top off the look.

Along with their new outfits, they’d also stocked up on maps, compasses, a couple of pocket knives, and a few food supplies.

“Are we ready?” Danny asked, looking at his rather amusingly dressed friends.

“Of course not,” Fenny mused, twisting one of the plaits around her finger. “But when are we ever truly ready?”

“That’s right Fen, jinx us before we actually do anything,” Paul chided as they headed over to an information desk.

Danny strode to the front of the pack and smiled politely at the girl behind the information desk. “Hi, I’m Dale Forrester and I’ve got with me a group of the top conservationists from the States. We’re supposed to be catching a flight out to Coober Peedy, but I can’t seem to find the right terminal.”

“Right, I’ll just check, Mr. Forrester,” the girl nodded and tapped away at her keyboard for a few seconds. “I’m sorry sir, but there’s nothing down here.”

“Shit,” Danny hissed and glared at the woman. “This always happens.”

“Does this mean we don’t get to see the bilbies?” Brad piped up miserably.

“Sorry, Robin, but due to some computer error, the endangered species of this fine country are going to be left on the brink of extinction.”

“But I like bilbies,” Brad pouted. “You promised me bilbies.”

“I’m sorry gentlemen and Miss Jane, but we just can’t get out there,” Danny sighed and turned to lead the others away.

“Wait,” piped up the girl. “I’m sure we can organise something,” she flashed Danny a smile. “I’ll just make a couple of phone calls.”

Brad, Greg, Paul and Fenny broke into over the top cheers and congratulations as Danny turned back to the girl. “Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me,” he managed a small sniffle and the girl beamed, obviously deciding this animal loving god was the catch of the century.

Ten minutes later the girl put the phone down and smiled triumphantly. “There’s a flight lined up for you that’ll leave in fifteen minutes. Just go through those glass doors and head out to the small KenAir marked plane.”

“Thank you so much,” Danny perked, leaned across the counter and kissed the girl on the cheek. She blushed profusely.

“You’re an angel,” Paul nodded and the girl blushed more.

“Come on guys,” Fenny groused pulling them both away. “What’s with the Miss Jane thing?” she asked as they hurried toward the exit.

“As in Calamity,” Danny smirked. “And Robin…”

“As in Sherwood,” Brad sneered. “Thanks for that.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Danny cackled as they pushed against the wind toward the plane.

Gina rubbed the red marks on her wrists and then ran a finger over the white line where her wedding ring should have been.

“It’s just a ring,” Otto remarked as he continued to work on his crossword.

“It’s not just a ring, it’s my wedding ring, a symbol of my husband’s love for me,” Gina sighed. “He gave it to me when renewed our vows.”

“Why do people do that? Isn’t the first time enough?” Otto asked amusement in his voice.

“In our case it was because we’d done a lot of fucking up before hand.”

“You cheated on each other?”

“Among other things,” Gina nodded. “Actually I could give you the name of someone to torture…”

“I couldn’t forgive a chick if she cheated on me,” Otto groused. “I’d feel too betrayed.”

“If you love someone enough you learn to forgive,” Gina shrugged. “I love Paul a lot. So should I get the chance, I will kick your sister’s head in.”

“Touché,” Otto smiled and cocked his head to the side as he studied his crossword.

Gina moved to rubbing her ankle as she watched Otto and his crossword. She actually felt sorry for the poor guy, being stuck on some mad revenge trip by his psychotic sister couldn’t be much fun. He wasn’t a bad sort either, really, tall and solid. Not rippling with muscle like Beven, but definitely built. He had dark blue eyes that exuded a calmness that most heavies’ didn’t, and rather adorable mussed up, dark curly hair. “So, maybe you can enlighten me, what is your delightful sister hoping to achieve exactly? I mean Don McIver certainly isn’t worth all this.”

Otto laughed. “This isn’t about Don, not really.”

“Oh, please elaborate?”

“You want the whole story?” Otto asked, as he down his crossword again and Gina nodded. “Amy went traveling a couple of years back, got a job as a barmaid in London. Anyway, it didn’t take long before she was sacked and, refusing to admit defeat, she started whoring herself. Don found her in a bar one night and offered her loads of money to be one of his girls. She accepted and was sent to Amsterdam to work with Claudia.”

“Oh, there’s a woman who needs tortured,” Gina groused. “Sorry, continue.”

“Amsterdam was a lot different from London, the men were harsh and the drugs ran pretty free. Soon Amy was shooting up and being pretty much raped by dirty violent bastards. She tried to escape a few times, but Claudia would have her beaten, brought back and even went so far to handcuff her to the bed and dope her up to the eyeballs,” Otto rubbed his face with his hands. “Anyway, Don reappeared eventually and grousing about these Yanks and Aussies who’d destroyed merchandise and lost him money. He was fuming about how he’d do anything to get revenge on them and started throwing ideas about with Claudia. As far as Claudia was concerned, she just wanted revenge on your husband for not fucking her, and Don wanted you all dead because he felt it’d be cathartic.”

“Oh, remind me to remember that next time something annoys me,” Gina mused and then fell quiet again.

“Anyway, once all you guys were around again, things got busy and Amy managed to escape, but she ran into your mates and decided that if she could befriend Don, then she might exact some revenge for what had happened to her. So that’s why she started kidnapping, too.”

“So she was never working for Don?”

“No, she hated him.”

Gina’s eyes went wide. “The day he was killed, she killed him?”

Otto nodded. “Yeah, and now you guys are just pawns in her outlandish plan to lure Claudia out.”

“So, what’s with all the threats? Why is she having me tortured?” Gina asked, suddenly feeling very confused.

“That’s the bit I don’t know,” Otto sighed. “It’s Claudia she’s got a beef with.”

“Fantastic,” Gina groaned leaning back against the pillows. “So how’d you get dragged into this mess.”

“Like I said before, she offered me cash,” Otto shrugged. “I didn’t exactly think things through.”

Gina sighed heavily and rubbed her sore ribs. “Don’t suppose there’s a chance of food?”

Otto smiled warmly. “I’ll see what I can do when her majesty gets back.”

“This place always makes me think of sheep,” Brad announced as they walked into the main street of Coober Peedy.

“I don’t want to ever relive that journey,” Greg agreed, huffing loudly.

“Hello, this is Coober Peedy, not Oodna,” Paul groused.

“How can you tell the difference?” Greg countered and Paul opened his mouth and then shrugged.

“I don’t think I ever want to know,” Fenny sighed as they formed a rather motley group outside a couple of shops. “Has anyone looked at the map recently.”

“Gina’s about forty-five minutes away,” Danny piped up, stuffing the map back into his bag.

“Great, so what mode of transport shall we take? Don’t suppose anyone’s got an SUV just lying around?” Brad chided and received unamused looks from the others.

“I think we’d do well to eat,” Greg suggested and continued before Paul could protest. “We can’t live off pure adrenaline forever.”

“He’s right,” Fenny agreed. “We’ll get something to eat and then we’ll have strength to deal with Amy and her cronies.”

“And Paul can text Gina to get more information on where she is,” Danny suggested.

Paul nodded slowly and slipped the phone out from his pocket. He’d been hoping Gina would have sent him another message by now.

Greg led the way and they soon found a fairly quiet pub. The gang crowded around a table in the corner and Danny pulled out his map again to study it as they ordered schnitzel and chips each along with a couple of stiff drinks and a slice of chocolate cake for Fenny.

“Come on,” Otto demanded getting to his feet. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

Gina looked at him surprised. “Are you serious?”

“I’m minding you, so therefore wherever I go, you go,” Otto shrugged as Gina let out a hiss of breath. Getting to her feet was becoming a painful activity these days. “Although waiting for you could take a while.” He stepped forward, picked her up and carried her over his shoulder fireman style.

“Otto!” Amy snapped and Gina lifted her head to see her captor in the hall. “What are you doing?”

“Going to lunch,” Otto replied wryly. “Don’t worry, I won’t let Blondie outta my sight.”

“I don’t think you should take her at all,” Amy huffed crossing her arms.

“Well I don’t think you should have taken her wedding ring, but do you hear me harping on about it? No,” Otto jeered as he continued down the hall. “We’ll be back later.”

A few minutes later Gina found herself dropped in the passenger seat of one of the dark four wheel drives. Otto slid into the other side and pulled out a road map.

“So where are we going?” Gina asked as she felt a strange vibration in her pocket. She pulled the phone out without thinking to see what it was. Otto looked at her amused.

“How the hell did you get that?”

“It was in Pauly’s bag,” Gina smirked. “Your sister really doesn’t think before she does things.”

“Kudos for your initiative,” Otto chuckled as he started the engine. “I think Coober Peedy is the biggest town around here to get food.”

“Yeah,” Gina nodded as she read the text message from Paul. ‘Would you believe we’re in Coober Peedy? Hold tight babe I’ll be there soon.’

“Important message?” Otto asked as Gina let out a small sob. She nodded and wiped her eyes. “As far as I know a couple of fellas were going to ambush them at the airport.”

Gina gave a teary laugh. “Well they didn’t do a very good job, they’re in Coober Peedy.”

“Oh, and there’s only one of me against what? Six of you?” Otto chided. “Be a shame if you escaped.”

“Oh yeah, like that’s gonna happen,” Gina breathed. “What do you owe me?”

“Good question,” Otto nodded. “You should text that man of yours back before he thinks you’re in a shallow grave.”

“Right, so then they’re doing a live cross to me at the football and it’s thrashing down with rain…” Danny’s story was cut off by the beeping of the phone on the table.

Paul dropped his beer which splashed over the wooden table and grabbed the phone.

“What does it say?” Fenny asked through a mouthful of schnitzel and chips.

“Stay where you are and watch your backs,” Paul shrugged. “Should I text her back?”

“Go on,” Brad enthused and Paul quickly typed another message asking where she was. A few seconds later the phone beeped again surprising them all. Paul opened the message and let out a breathy ‘fuck me.’

“Please tell me we’re in the right State,” Greg moaned into his beer.

Paul’s hand was firmly over his mouth, his eyes welled up and he simply couldn’t speak. Fenny pried the phone from his hand and read the message.

“Wow,” she gasped. “Gina’s on her way here!”

“What? How?” Danny, Brad and Greg gasped in unison.

Fenny shrugged and sent of another text message, there was another few seconds before a reply came and Fenny read it aloud. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you but Amy’s not with us.”

“Us? Who’s us?” Brad mused, looking over Fenny’s shoulder at the message. “Ask her.”

“Ok,” Fenny agreed and sent off another message asking who the ‘us’ was. The reply came and once again Fenny read it aloud. “Otto.”

“The bus driver from The Simpsons?” Danny asked as Paul finally seemed to regain some composure.

“Ask her who Otto is?” he asked sipping his beer and wishing it was something stronger like scotch.

There was a longer pause this time before the reply came. “She says she’ll explain when she gets here and that she has to go,” Fenny shrugged and put the phone back on the table.

“I need something stronger,” Paul declared, getting to his feet and heading to the bar.

Half an hour later the group had dispersed to have a break from their own company. Paul stayed at the table watching the door like a hawk, while Greg sat quietly reading the paper and pleased that other people were miserable as well. He was going to put in a call to his counsellor to ask how he explained this one to the wife but decided against it. Danny had curled up in a booth and was finally getting some sleep while Fenny and Brad were battling it out at the pool table.

“You cheated!” Fenny wailed as Brad pushed one of his balls into the pocket. He was getting thrashed for the third time.

“I figure it’s justified seeing as how you’re royally kicking my ass,” Brad groused shoving another ball into a pocket. “I’m giving myself some help.”

“You’re outright cheating, Sherwood,” she huffed and poked him in the side with her cue.

“Hey,” he squeaked and twisted the cue out of her hand. “I’ll tan your hide with it if you do that again.”

Fenny giggled at Brad’s hollow threat and then had a sudden and unwanted memory of a rather lustful romp on a pool table. She shook her head and tried to ignore the images of Brad’s naked flesh that were teasing her relentlessly.

“Earth to Fen,” Brad jeered waving his hand in front of her face. “What are you thinking about?”

“When we had sex on the pool table,” she announced and then looked at him guiltily, waiting for a response.

He smiled at her and cocked his head to the side. “Glad I’m not the only one who’s thinking that.”

“Oh,” she swallowed, not sure exactly what response was appropriate for a confession like that.

“You want to get some air?” he asked, putting the cue down.

“You just don’t want to get beaten again,” she replied jokingly. “And yes I do.”

They abandoned the pool table, which was quickly taken over by a couple of truckies ,and made their way out into the cool Cooper Peedy evening. There was a tatty looking wooden bench under one of the pub windows, and Fenny and Brad sat themselves on it.

“I’m almost relaxed,” she announced. “Almost.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to push yourself, huh,” he chided and she slapped his arm. He laughed and then let out a long breath. “So how are you really, Fen? Not including the whole kidnapping thing.”

She lifted her head to look at him and wanted to say how she was just fine and didn’t miss him, but instead, all the feelings that’d been kept so closely to her chest tumbled out. “Not great. I’m lonely, miserable, lost, and I miss you like hell.”

“What about all your friends?” he said softly.

“What friends? The ones I did have hate me because I chose you over them. Gina and Paul weren’t speaking to me….” The rest of what she tried to say came out as a strangled sob. Brad wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Does she make you happy?”

“Who?” Brad asked, not entirely sure what Fenny was talking about.

“Bess.”

“Bess? Bess…Oh BESS,” Brad gasped having completely forgotten about the nurse he’d been shagging back in LA. “Well…”

“You forgot who she was?” Fenny laughed tearfully.

“Shh,” he hushed jokingly. “Bess is a beautiful woman, but I don’t love her.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised, and she stayed cuddled into Brad. “So why are you with her?”

“Something to do, I guess,” he breathed. “Isn’t that horrible?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, lifting her head. “You know,” she added, poking a finger under her glasses to wipe away a stray tear, “I even miss Lilly tearing up the place.”

“She misses you too,” Brad smiled as he cupped Fenny’s face in his hand and brushed another stray tear with his thumb. “I miss you.”

Fenny couldn’t find the words to express how glad she was to hear that and gently guided her lips toward his. His warm beer breath gently caressed her dry lips, and she could barely keep the anticipation from cursing through her veins.

“Aw, it’s a Kodak moment!”

Fenny and Brad shot apart. “GINA!” Fenny yelped and leapt to her feet, wrapping her friend in a tight hug.

“Hi, ah, mind the bruised ribs, yeah,” Gina winced as Brad looked over at the large, curly-haired man with her.

“Bruised ribs?” Fenny gasped and let go on Gina, frightened she might hurt her.

“Yeah, Amy got tetchy after I clobbered her with a tequila bottle,” Gina smiled. “Where’s Pauly?”

“In the pub, of course,” Fenny perked as they headed toward the entrance. She noticed Gina was limping slightly. “Remind me to talk to you about his moods.”

“Ok,” Gina nodded. “That’s Otto by the way, he’s Amy’s brother.”

Fenny and Brad both stopped and looked at the man. “Hi,” Otto waved.

“He’s all right, he likes Goya,” Gina shrugged and hobbled into the pub, closely followed by the others. She glanced around and then saw Paul mulling over a drink that was guaranteed to be alcoholic. He looked up, leapt to his feet, clambered over the table and grabbed her so hard that they both nearly toppled to the floor.

“Genie,” he breathed, arms wrapped tightly around her, one hand tangled in her hair. “I’ve been going out of my fucking mind.”

“Me too,” she managed to sob, gripping him until her knuckles went white. She could feel his heart beating through the layers of clothes they were both wearing, and she was sure hers was much the same.

“Are you ok? Are you hurt?” he babbled, not daring to loosen his grip.

“I’ve still got a bung ankle, and Amy kicked me in the ribs, not to mention the mild concussion….”

“Oh Genie,” he wailed, holding her so tight she was forced to hiss through her teeth with pain.

“I’m all right, it’s all right,” she soothed, rubbing his back. She gently nuzzled her way into kissing his cheek, and he reciprocated by brushing his lips against the side of her head.

“Thank you God,” he breathed.

“If they don’t let go of each other soon, can I pour water over them?” Greg asked, folding the paper he’d been reading.

“Who’s the new guy?” Danny asked, looking over at Otto who was sitting at the bar.

“Amy’s brother,” Fenny replied, feeling inanely jealous of Gina and Paul.

“So he’s a good guy?” Greg asked, looking at Brad and Fenny.

“I don’t trust him,” Brad said quietly, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t think any of us should.”