Bella's Run Read Online Free Page A

I suppose so,’ replied Will. ‘There’s bound to be something worth seeing.’ He spun the steering wheel, bumped the ute back onto the track and set off in the direction of the flying dust.

    Bella and Patty could hear the commotion even before they saw the stationary ute. Wendy, standing in the middle of the road, was screaming at Knackers, who was trying to calm her down, his arms waving in futile placatory gestures.
    ‘You selfish bastard!’ Wendy slammed Knackers in the chest with her hands. ‘How could you let this happen?’
    Smack!
    ‘How could you? He’s not even five years old.’
    Smack!
    ‘It’s your fault. ALL YOUR FAULT!’
    Smack!
    ‘I wanted to leave this God-forsaken place. Head home to civilisation. Bring the kids up proper. But no, you had to stay. You and your cattle. This bloody station miles from flaming nowhere. Our kids are ferals, Arthur, FERALS!’
    The last came out as a wail as Wendy slid to the ground face-first.
    Bella, who’d brought their vehicle to a halt, watched through the windscreen, transfixed by the scene of a marriage shattering before her eyes. And Knackers’ real name was Arthur?
    Out on the track, Knackers dropped to his knees and threw his arms around his wife, who’d curled herself almost into the foetal position. The man’s expressions flitted from bewilderment to misery. Then desolation. The couple huddled in the dirt while their son fought for life on the back of the ute.
    Patty whacked Bella’s arm. ‘Come on.’
    Grabbing their hats, the girls jumped out of the ute. Patty raced towards Sheila and Rodney, who were up with Max.
    ‘The cannula from the case, swabs . . . and gloves. Quickly!’ Sheila yelled to Bella, who was still distracted by Knackers and Wendy.
    Bella moved to the first-aid case, flung it open and grabbed what she guessed to be an IV cannula from its resting place snug against the lid. She snagged a few sterile swabs, stuffed rubber gloves into her pocket and then ran over to the group on the ute tray. Handing over her supplies to Patty, Bella saw first-hand the shocking deterioration of Max’s condition. The child was turning blue, his breathing shallow and extraordinarily fast.
    Patty slapped the cannula into Sheila’s outstretched, shaking palm and then grabbed the boy’s wrist. ‘His pulse is weak and rapid, Sheila.’
    ‘He’s got a deviation of his trachea to the right side, so he’s punctured his left lung. If we don’t relieve the pressure he’s going to die.’ Sheila spoke quickly, hands moving to the middle of the boy’s left clavicle and then down two intercostal spaces. She tapped a spot in between the second and third rib and held the cannula ready to insert. ‘We need to pray like hell we hit the pleural cavity we need. And miss the heart.’ She took a deep breath and pushed the cannula into the boy’s side.
    A small spurt of blood then air gushed from the needle end. ‘We need a valve of some sort,’ said Sheila, panicking.
    Patty hesitated a moment, then grabbed her multi-purpose pocket knife from a pouch on her ringer’s belt. She thumbed the scissors-release button, snatched up a rubber glove and cut off a finger. Snipping off the tip, Patty made a rubber sheath, which she then slipped over the end of the cannula. The rubber acted like a valve, air blowing out but not back in. The women looked at each other and then at the child. His colour was improving dramatically. Patty felt for his pulse. It was slowing, but the boy wasn’t showing any signs of regaining consciousness.
    Patty and Sheila were doing what they could. Realising things were going pear-shaped, Bella moved out of their way to let them work, and headed back towards her ute. Rodney had jumped off the tray and was watching helplessly.
    She swung her attention to the couple in the middle of the road. Knackers lay curled over his wife, shielding her, whispering into her ear. It was the first time Bella had ever seen them touch. Initially there