Read Online Flight to Coorah Creek by Janet Gover - Free Book Online Page B

street, Jess could see the displays in the window. One window was full of men’s clothes. The other was for the women. She didn’t have to cross the road to guess that there would be no designer labels in that window. That was fine by her. She was done with designer labels. Blue jeans and a T-shirt were all she needed or wanted for this new life.
    Jess walked a little further along the road, past an electrical goods shop that also seemed to offer repairs and an electrician who made house calls. There was a hardware shop with a window packed with rolls of fencing wire and wicked looking tools – the use of which was a mystery to her. She seemed to be on the rural side of the street. The next building sold stock feed. She crossed to the other side, drawn by a sign that offered hairstyling and beauty treatments. It was a small salon – if indeed it really deserved that name. According to the sign above the door, it was run by a woman named Olga. Jess didn’t think she’d be patronising Olga’s Outback Salon any time soon. A café, a small furniture shop and an even smaller newsagent-cum-bookstore-cum-souvenir shop seemed to complete the commercial district. Jess wondered briefly what souvenirs a town like this might boast and just who would buy them.
    Jess was almost back opposite the pub already. Her last stop was an area with possibly the greenest grass she had seen since leaving Sydney. The square of carefully tended lawn was weed free. A small statue in the centre seemed to suggest that this was the official part of Coorah Creek. The square was bounded by a police station and post office, and at the rear was what looked to be the only building in town made of bricks rather than wood. The bricks were the same deep red as the earth and the building’s roof was made of tiles, not corrugated iron. According to the sign, this grand, two-storey edifice was the Town Hall and office of the mayor. Jess felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders as she stood on that tiny patch of carefully tended grass. She’d wanted a quiet place to hide – and this small community seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
    All she needed now was a house to live in – and a cup of coffee!
    Feeling more cheerful than she had in a long time, she headed back to the pub, not really expecting to find anyone awake, but the smell of coffee reached out to tickle her nostrils the moment she opened the door. Trish Warren greeted her cheerfully as she entered the kitchen, produced the coffee and set about making breakfast.
    â€˜Just some toast will do fine for me,’ Jess insisted. ‘I don’t want to put you to any trouble.’
    â€˜It’s no trouble,’ Trish assured her. ‘Nothing beats a good cooked breakfast. I have to make breakfast for those two kids when they wake. I’ll guess their mum could use a good breakfast too. She looked quite pale last night. Of course, she could just have been tired after the journey. Poor girl, she must be so pleased to get away from …’ Trish bit off the next words, and she was silent as she furiously beat eggs in a mixing bowl.
    Jess gratefully accepted the steaming plate of eggs and bacon, and found to her surprise that she was ravenous. It must be something about this outback air!
    â€˜The ABC radio was predicting rain this morning,’ Trish continued, as she threw another round of bacon onto the grill, ‘but I don’t think so. The wet season’s gone now. It’s going to start to get warm pretty soon.’
    Start to get warm? Jess wondered about that, but was happy to let Trish’s chatter just wash over her while she ate. But eventually, she had to interrupt. ‘Trish,’ she said tentatively. ‘Is there somewhere I can hire a car for a day or two?’
    â€˜Hire a car? No. The town doesn’t even have a taxi. Never needed one, I guess. Everyone has their own car.’
    â€˜I was supposed to get