The Runaway Human Queen

Chapter 3

Mary just shrugged her shoulders. “A few. He is known to be a bit of a catch even at his age. Why are you interested?” the gleam in her eye certainly told a story about what she would think about us going on a date.

And what does she mean for his age? I feel old now! Should I be offended as he is about my age?

“It’s the only reason I can think of for why Barbie in red is giving me daggers.”

“Oh, ignore that wench. Such a horrible, horrible woman. No personality to speak of. She gives you troubles, you let me know”. Mary turned to glare at the blonde who was now strutting away.

Back at Mary’s, I helped her unpack before she gave me a tour and showed me to my room. She told me to just relax for a bit before tea and wouldn’t let me come and help. She joked that she would lock me in my room.

She totally cracked me up!

I decided to just relax and watch a movie on my laptop for the rest of the afternoon.

When I noticed it was nearly 6, I washed my hands and decided to go back downstairs and see if I was allowed near the kitchen as yet.

Mary was singing to herself as she moved through the kitchen. I stood there watching her and couldn’t help but smile.

“You being creepy watching a defenceless old woman?” Came a husky voice from behind me.

“I don’t think you could call your mum defenceless. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could still kick your ass”, I shot back, making Damien laugh.

“You know it!” Mary beamed at us. “Now Damien, come and make the table and get us all some drinks. Dinner will be ready in 20.”

Damn, she has good hearing. I would have struggled over the noise of those pans.

I moved out of the way so Damien could walk through, but didn’t miss how he brushed my arm with his fingers on the way past. Smooth operator!

He turned and gave me a little wink. I just smiled and shook my head.

The dinner was amazing.

I felt bad as she made me a separate meal for me, but she told me to stop being silly when I apologised for being difficult. I even got warned I would be locked in my room again!

“Don’t test her, she will do it.” Damien half laughed and half rolled his eyes from a memory.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The conversation just flowed with them telling me stories about Damien’s childhood and I told them stories about mine.

I loved it when he said a swear word during his story and was scolded like a 10-year-old.

It was all so easy and I couldn’t help but start to like being in Damien’s company more and more, especially when he didn’t mention marriage.

Mary shooed us out of the kitchen after dessert, not letting us help her clean up.

Damien ushered me out to the back porch where a couple of chairs sat looking at the beautiful forest.

“So did you have a good day?”

I could feel him studying my face and I didn’t want him to know how uncomfortable the town’s people made me feel, so I concentrated on the fun I had with Mary and him. I am a terrible liar at the best of times, so I always have to try and find conviction in my words. I put on my best smile and made sure it reached my eyes to make it more believable.

“Absolutely, your mum is lovely and this town is so cute.”

A huge smile crossed his face as his eyes showed relief. “I’m glad. The folks around here can be a bit clicky, so if they do give you any problems like at the café, just ignore them”. That's an understatement!

“Nah, it was fine. So how was your day?” Deflection at its best.

“Started off same old but then I met this hot foreigner that made it the best day in a long time.”

“I bet you say that to all the foreigners you meet.” I couldn’t help the real smile at that cheesy line.

“Nah, only the Australian’s. Your accent is a killer.”

“Well you seem to be still breathing, so it mustn’t be that deadly.” I couldn’t help flirt back now. No harm no foul, and he was fun.

He let out a deep laugh, “You have no idea”, he shook his head. “So you have a couple of days here at least, Max said. I have to work but was hoping if it was OK if I come and grab you for a quick lunch again tomorrow?”

“Of course. Sounds nice. So what do you do?”

“I’m a Trainer.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I am still flabbergasted that you all had no shoes on.”

“It’s good for the soul being close to nature.”

“You know you can meditate under a tree for that and not end up with disfigured feet?”

He laughed “Haven’t you ever walked on the grass and loved the way it felt on your bare feet?”

“Well yes, but that is soft grass. There is a very big difference to rocks. They’re kind of not known for being soft.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “You get used to it pretty quickly.”

“I will definitely take your word for it and stick to the lush green grass.”

We continued to laugh and banter back and forward for another couple of hours. Once again, it was nice.

Easy.

Relaxing.

And I definitely noticed how Mary never came out. Now I will wait and see if tomorrow night’s dinner has candle lights and she suddenly has something to do. I’m not that dumb.

When my yawns started to increase we said our good nights and I went up to bed and Damien went back to his place, wherever that is.

Mary was still nowhere in sight and I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.

It certainly had been an interesting day.

I don’t know if it was because of the big day or the comfy bed after sleeping on lumpy mattresses, but I slept till after 10.

I felt well rested and ready to explore this strange town. I had a shower and got dressed before I went downstairs.

As I walked into the kitchen, Mary came through the back door.

“Good morning sleepy head. I guess you slept well?”

“I hope I didn’t embarrass myself and snore?”

She gave a hearty laugh “Oh no you definitely didn’t. I was starting to worry you had died in your sleep though.”

“No, happy to say just exhausted and very comfortable in that bed. Thank you again for letting me stay.”

She waved me off and rolled her eyes. “Now sit down and I will make you something to eat. And no arguments.”

“Yes ma’am” I mock saluted and sat down.

We comfortably chatted as she quickly made me some eggs on my toast. Luckily, I had a loaf with me and another one in the car that I would have to grab later with the rest of my stuff that I forgot about yesterday.

After finishing, I asked her if she could give me directions to the garage to grab some more things. She wouldn’t let me walk the first time, saying that it would be easier if she drove me down and showed me the way.

I did wonder if she didn’t want to leave me alone in this strange place.

The garage wasn’t that far away, so would be easy for me to walk to next time.

It was exactly like what you would expect, a big old shed with weathered paint and 2 big roller doors. There was a car park at the front with 3 cars parked and what looked to be about 2 cars, including mine in the roller doors.

You could see a roller door at the rear on one side that was open and what was probably the office at the rear on the other.

As Mary and I walked towards the doors, a young kid of about 16 or 17 came out wiping his hands on a rag that I didn’t think was helping much. And surprise, surprise, he had the normal broad shoulders and devilish good looks that seem to be the norm around here.

“Hey Mary, you brought the Australian to check on her car?”

“Where are your manners, Samual Johnson?” Mary scolded.

His smile dropped quickly as he turned to me.

“I'm real sorry ma’am, I’m Sam. It’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand with a sheepish smile.

“Nice to meet you Sam. Yes, I’m the Aussie blow-in here to grab a few things from my car and get an update if that’s alright?” I shook his hand and gave him a warm smile, trying to reassure him.

“Of course come on in. It was definitely the alternator and the battery. We ordered the part and just checked everything else. The doors are unlocked so you can help yourself”, he stepped aside and waved us through.

Max then appeared from what I think was the office.

“Well, good morning Mary and Emily. What a pleasant surprise. Would either one of you like a drink?”

I shook my head no, as Mary replied.

“Morning Max. No, we are just here for some of Emily’s things. How is Cami? The… kids still giving her hell?”

“You know it! It’s amazing how much energy they have. Sam has even been doing overtime to get away from them.”

“Can you blame me?” He called out as he was walking back into the Garage.

“Sam is Max and Camila’s eldest. They had unexpected twins nearly 2 years ago after giving up ever having another child.”

“Yeah, we didn’t think it was going to happen and now we have double trouble when we thought we would be slowing down.”

I couldn’t help but laugh with them as you could see the dark rings around his eyes.

We all just chatted for a bit longer, then I grabbed my stuff from the car.

Max made Sam carry it to the car for me. This felt like the proper country town I expected and grew up with.

It was weird that they kept stopping and changing words, but none of my business.

When we got back to the house, Damien was waiting on the porch. A huge smile took over as he saw us park.

He quickly made his way over to my side and opened my door.

“Why, thank you kind sir, but shouldn’t you be doing that for your mother?”

Mary just laughed. “I will be happy if he even acknowledges me while you're around dear.”

Yeah, the slight blush in Damien'ss cheeks definitely confirmed her words.

“Ah… so what were you two up to?” he tried to change the topic.

“Just had to get some stuff from my car.”

“Oh, let me help with that. You wait here and I will be back quickly so we can go to lunch… if that's OK with you?” he stopped in his tracks as he was getting my bag out the back.

“Sounds good.”

We went to the same café again.

I was preparing for the stares and looks again but Tracey was in my face and giving me a bone-crushing hug before I could look around.

She then took my hand and led me to the same booth as yesterday. All the while giving everyone glares that dared turn around. I couldn’t help but laugh and go with the flow. She was bloody strong so I don’t think I could resist even if I really tried!

Damien and I had the same as yesterday even though Tania suggested the grilled chicken. She was proud to tell me she did some research to make sure they had a few different things I could eat from now on…. Since I was her favourite Australian customer, apparently. She cracked me up!

Every day was now the same. I got up and had breakfast, went for a walk somewhere with everyone staring. Back for lunch to go to the Café with Damien then a walk to the Garage to say hi to Max and Sam with a treat I got from the Café for them.

Damien was so easy to talk to, yes except for when he mentioned relationships and marriage still.

“So if a man wanted to ask you out on a date, what would be the best way to convince you to say yes? And what would your perfect date be?!" He tried to sound innocent as he cut into his fish.

“Let me guess, you’re asking for a friend?” his smile was sheepish but big. He really wasn’t subtle.

Could I go on a date? He really was a nice guy, but I checked out. “Well, I would tell him to first let the friendship grow so there was trust and familiarity there first, so wait about a week then ask.”

He nodded and luckily dropped the topic again, well directly anyway. There were always comments here and there. He just couldn’t help himself.

I really do believe him though, when he said he believed he would treat me right. I just don’t know. Was it my trust issues holding me back, the weirdness of this place, or am I just honestly not ready?

On the third day, I was just starting out for the garage when an alarm went off somewhere. I didn’t see any speakers, but it was deafening.

Did they have tornadoes here? The sky looked clear though.

I looked around to see everyone running into their houses though, so I started to run back to Mary’s.

I just ran into the living room when I heard a scream from the back of her house. I looked up to see some kids running out of the forest screaming and crying. My legs were moving before I registered what was happening, sprinting out the back door.

“THIS WAY” I yelled to the kids and motioned for them to go into the house. They started running towards me as I kept sprinting in their direction.

As they were passing me, a big mangy grey wolf appeared behind the last child, a little boy. I saw the wolf lung and everything in me went into protection mode. It was so focused on the boy that it didn’t see me coming.

I braced myself as I ran and threw my shoulder into the side of the animal. Good old country netball, the ‘non-contact sport’ had taught me well.

The wolf rolled away confused before it collected itself and looked at me, baring its teeth and snarling.

I quickly looked around and saw the boy was unharmed and kept running towards the house. I didn’t want to turn my back on the wolf, so I started jogging backwards with my hands out, showing I meant no threat. “Calm down Mr Wolf”. Yes, I was crazy thinking this was going to help.

I made sure to keep eye contact and stay low in case I needed to try and jump out of the way. I could see it was ready to pounce again when a bigger brown wolf sprinted past me and jumped on it.

I turned and ran to the house. Mary was at the door yelling for me to hurry.

I could now hear snarling and fighting behind me from more than just one wolf fight. WHAT THE f**k!

Mary led me through a hidden door under the stairs to a basement where all the kids were huddled up in the back corner. She bolted the big thick metal door with so many locks I couldn’t count as I quickly made my way to the kids to check on them. Mary came down quickly and grabbed a gun that I hadn’t seen resting against the wall.

My mind was everywhere as I tried to reassure the kids everything would be OK. What the hell was all that! Do they have rabid wolves around here?

What felt like hours when it was probably not even 10 minutes, the sirens stopped. We waited a bit longer until Mary spoke up saying it was now safe. I am guessing she knew because the sirens stopped, so we all slowly made our way up the stairs and into the house.

Mary had the kids sit on the lounge and turned on the TV, saying they should wait for their parents to collect them.

She asked me to wait with them, which I was happy to do. I still had the gorgeous little girl Mai, who proudly told me she was 8, attached to my hip. I sat on the couch and she was instantly in my lap.

The boy, Ethan, who was nearly taken out by the wolf, was beside me moulded into my side while putting on a brave face.

Mary brought them all out some drinks and snacks as some cartoons played in the background.

My heart was still racing and I couldn’t help but try and dissect everything that had just happened. At the same time I really didn’t want to. My brain was telling me I didn’t want to know and it was best not to know!

Everything in this place really didn’t make sense. As soon as my car was ready I really needed to leave… quickly!

The children’s parents rushed in about 20 minutes later, checking every inch of their children to make sure they were OK.

Once again, they all looked surprised to see me, but when Ethan proudly told them that I had saved him… not that he needed saving as he was running “super-fast”. I smiled at that. They were all not just a little surprised at my alien presence but seemed to look at me like I had just grown 2 heads.

“You took on the wolf?” asked Ethan’s very confused Aunt, who had been told by Ethan numerous times he was “fine of course, Aunt Gen”. It was amusing watching him huff at her and cross his arms.

“Yeah I’m not that smart, just happy the kids are OK” I half heartily laughed because how do you really answer that??? Really how?

“Thank you!” She came over and gave me a big tight hug. Man, she was strong! “If you need anything just let me know. I live at the pack house. Anything at all!”

Pack house? What is that? It’s none of my business, that’s what it is!

“Will do. Thanks.” I just simply nodded as everyone started to pile out the front door, all still thanking Mary and me.

When they were all gone, I could feel the tension still in the air, but this time just coming from Mary. I needed to get out of there before she started talking and telling me things I didn’t want to know.

“I desperately need a shower after that and a good movie. Do you mind if I head upstairs until tea?”

She seemed to like me running away from the issues as well. “Of course dear. Roast chicken and vegetables sound alright?” you could see the relief on her face.

“Of course. Sounds great”. I nodded and smiled, then disappeared upstairs.

Now I can have an overactive imagination at the best of times and it most certainly has been dying to take over my thoughts since I arrived here. So, as you can imagine with what had just happened, it was going into overdrive as I tried my hardest with movies, a book and even social media to try and keep it at bay. I did not want to let it go. I am supposed to be a mature woman not a teenager letting their thoughts drift to things that ONLY HAPPENED IN THE MOVIES enter my head to somehow ‘rationalise’ this town.

Nope nope nope!