Little Girl Lost by Janet Gover

admit it, but he was even more threatened by the police than she was.
    The cloud of dust outside was gone and the road was empty. Tia heard voices and movement from the other side of the camp. A handful of men walked into her line of vision heading for the mine. It was time for the start of the next shift. She was due to start work with them. She glanced at her watch.
    She could leave now. Jump aboard the Harley and head through that gate, away from this town to some other place and try again for a new start. She turned away from the window. Her leathers hung behind the door. Her helmet sat in its customary place on the end of the table. She had all her wages in cash. The wages were pretty good. She had enough money to get a long way from here. Maybe she should head south into New South Wales, then cut across to Western Australia. Kelly would never find her there. It would be so easy to get on the bike and go. She reached out to retrieve her helmet, and as she did, her eyes fell on the glass casserole dish drying next to her sink. Last night she had used her new casserole dish to cook up a tuna pasta bake. The recipe had been on the tuna can in the store, and she’d purchased all the ingredients on the spot.
    It was the first meal she had ever cooked in an oven. By most people’s standards the tuna bake had probably been a pretty poor attempt at a home-cooked meal, but to Tia it had tasted wonderful, partly because of the satisfaction of using ingredients bought with money she had earned. Not only that, she knew the name of the girl who had delivered those ingredients. Sarah. She had felt able to open the door to her when she knocked. And, most importantly, the meal had been eaten at her own table … well, the mine’s table, but hers for now. It was just like being a normal person.
    Nothing she had eaten had ever tasted that good.
    Tia stood stock still in the middle of her little home and made a decision.
    She wouldn’t run. Not yet. She would make sure she was ready to go, but she’d wait and see what the cop did.
    She nodded to herself. That seemed like the best thing to do. She grabbed her work gloves from the bench beside the door and stuck them in the back pocket of her jeans as she walked out the door, enjoying the feeling of locking the door behind her.

Chapter Six
    ‘Gettin’ old mate, gettin’ old!’ The hearty slap on his back caused some of the beer in Pete’s glass to slosh over onto his hand. He put the beer on the table and shook off the liquid before clasping the hand of the newcomer.
    ‘Glad you could make it, Mick.’
    ‘Wouldn’t miss this for the world. Let me buy you a beer.’ Mick set off towards the bar without noticing either the glass Pete had just set down, or the other full glass queued next to it.
    Pete let him go. He didn’t know whether he would be drinking much beer that night, but it wouldn’t be wasted. With six of his driving mates already here, and a couple more expected in later tonight, there would be plenty of people willing to drink whatever was going.
    ‘Happy birthday, mate.’ Mick was back, holding his beer high.
    ‘Cheers, Mick.’ Pete raised his own glass, but barely took a sip of the cold amber liquid.
    Behind them the clatter of a ball and a chorus of rousing cheers indicated that the most recent pool challenge was over.
    ‘Want a game?’ Mick asked.
    Pete shook his head. Mick deposited his beer on the table and picked up a cue. Pete left him to it. He left his beer on the table and walked towards the back of the pub. Instead of going into the Gents, he quickly slipped outside into the darkness.
    The Overflow Pub sat on the Barclay Highway on the outskirts of Mount Isa, just a short walk from the trucking depot where Pete and the other drivers were based. Thus it was their regular watering hole. It was a little like the men who frequented it, a bit rough around the edges, but basically all right. And tonight it was the venue for Pete’s thirtieth birthday