Remote Rescue by George Ivanoff

to reassure him, but his insides were still churning.
    â€˜Want some music?’ asked Jen.
    â€˜Sure,’ said Dawson without enthusiasm.
    Jen stabbed at the stereo controls, and heavily synthesised techno music blared through the speakers. It was the sort of thing Dad called ‘doof-doof music’ because of the constant backbeat – doof-doof-doof-doof …
    Dawson looked out of the window at the barren landscape. Flat, dry ground with the occasional scrubby bush; kangaroos hopping along off in the distance; and a raptor of some sort circling in the cloudless sky above.
    The music seemed jarring and out of place.
    A haze of heat shimmered over everything as the sun beat down onto the desert. But Dawson shivered.
    Jen glanced at him. ‘You want me to turn down the air-con?’
    â€˜I’m okay,’ Dawson answered, hugging himself.
    Dawson’s gaze wandered to the side mirror. He couldn’t see any cars behind him. He sat up straighter and peered more intently into the reflection, trying to see through the heat shimmer and the dust the ambulance was stirring up on the road behind them.
    â€˜What’s the matter?’ asked Jen
    â€˜I can’t see the other cars,’ said Dawson, his voice up a notch from normal.
    â€˜We’ve been slowly getting further ahead,’ said Jen. ‘They won’t be too far back.’
    â€˜But I can’t see anything,’ insisted Dawson.
    â€˜We went over a rise a while ago,’ explained Jen. ‘So that’s probably restricting our view.’
    â€˜Rise?’ asked Dawson. ‘But it’s completely flat out here.’
    â€˜Not quite,’ said Jen with a little laugh. ‘I know it looks that way. And it mostly is. But there are gradual rises and falls, which are so subtle that you tend not to notice them. On a long stretch of road like this, a slight rise and fall can make it hard to see the cars behind you. That, and the dust as well. We’re kicking up one heck of a cloud and it’s hard to see much through it all.’
    â€˜Oh.’ Dawson stared at the mirror, hoping to see something.
    â€˜Just try to relax,’ said Jen.
    Easier said than done , thought Dawson. It was something Dad said often. Dawson finally understood.
    Dad was in good hands. There was nothing more for Dawson to do. He knew he should rest and stop worrying. But he couldn’t. Possibilities kept popping up in his mind:
    What if they lose the other cars?
    What if they break down here in the outback?
    What if Dad gets worse?
    What if Dad dies?

    Em screamed.
    Burt fought with the wheel and easedhis foot into the brake, bringing the car to a stop.
    â€˜It’s okay,’ Sam comforted Em. ‘Everything’s okay.’ Then she leaned forward to Burt. ‘What happened?’
    â€˜At a guess, I’d say we just blew a tyre,’ he said, following it up with a groan. ‘That’s gonna be fun to change in this heat.’
    Burt undid his seatbelt and pushed the car door open, just as the Land Rover pulled up.
    â€˜You can keep playing,’ Sam said to Em as she slid open the window a crack – enough so she could hear what was going on without letting in too much of the heat.
    â€˜That’s all we damn-well need,’ Burt complained.
    â€˜Now don’t get all worked up, dear,’ said Gwen, hopping out of the Land Rover.
    â€˜We’re out in the middle of nowhere,’ moaned Burt, ‘with two kids. It’s damn hot and the spare tyre’s in the car boot that’s chokkas full of camping gear, which we’re going to have to unload before we can change the wheel.’
    â€˜Getting annoyed isn’t going to help,’ said Gwen practically. ‘We just do what needs to be done, change the tyre and keep going. We’ve done it before and I’m sure we’ll get to do it again before our travelling days are out.’ She patted her husband on the arm.