The speakers on Finn's car speakers continued to blast his old playlist, having reached 'Mr. Jones' by Counting Crows, as the Jeep dashed forward, creating almost an alternate reality inside the car. The car seemed protective of the smoke and chaos that went on outside it but truthfully that was only really an illusion. They passed several batches of burnt land again, feeling rather relieved not to get a good look of it in the darkness. The sky to their left almost looked like that of a city - all lit up in bright orange, the tall smoke plumes radiating back it's color.
They'd stopped the mutual questioning, not because they'd run out of things to ask about or lost interest, but because that had been rather intense - and they were tired already. Now on occasion they simply discussed something about the area she was wondering about and he knew how to answer - like which beaches were good or if in his experiences the fires usually eased up a bit in the following months. It was small-talk essentially, but not too forced.
They reached a gravel patch of the road where rainwater, or perhaps extinguishing water had damaged the road, having caused deep washouts across the road surface. Again the Jeep came in handy, but it lowered their pace. The road was windy, here and there parts of the earth were still burning in visible distance.
"Stop!" Charlie suddenly yelled.
Finn braked to a half, causing their bodies to slam back into their seats as he did.
"What?" Finn asked, confusedly
"Reverse, I need the headlights," she said.
Finn took a deep breath and compiled, wondering what this could be about. All he really wanted to do was get back to clearer air.
"There!" Charlie said, but Finn was perhaps too tired by then to really notice what she was talking about. Either way - Charlie was out of the car within seconds, hopping over the smoking debri on the forest floor, holding her t-shirt to her nose again.
Finn emerged from the car, seeing the urgency she was moving with, having set on emergency lights, coughing a little because of the smoke and pulled his shirt to his nose like Charlie had.
It was then she truly surprised him and pulled off her T-shirt. It took him a moment to realize what she was doing. Charlie took the white shirt and wrapped it around a creature hanging from a tree. It was a koala - a badly scorched koala.
"Get me some water," she called out, the smoke making her voice raspy.
Finn didn't wait around, recalling her water bottle that was on the floor by the passenger's seat.
They set the animal down on the road, and Charlie emptied the bottle onto the koala's legs and some over its face. The sight wasn't pretty. Then she gave the animal a few sips from the bottle.
Finn knew the ethical dilemmas of helping wild animals - in part this was supposed to be natural selection, but it wasn't like that particular animal would be the only one rescued during these bushfires. There were wildlife rescuers who did this for a living and a lot of volunteers, driving around looking for animals like this. But clearly in this case - Charlie just hadn't been able to just leave it.
"We gotta get it to an animal hospital," she urged.
"Come on, let's go," Finn suggested - what else were they going to do with it? Staying out here couldn't be good for them either.
Charlie didn't bother to put on another top, simply sitting into the passenger's seat with the poor koala in her lap, only wearing her bra. The koala's claws looked slightly terrifying but she loosely wrapped her t-shirt around it so it wouldn't hurt her, but at its hurt state it didn't look like it was going to attack.
"I have some burn-aid and a list of emergency numbers in the glove compartment you could call and check what the nearest place is," Finn suggested, not begin too sure if burn-aid was something that could be used on animals. Sure, she could've just googled, but he figured this was faster.
It was a little difficult to maneuver over the koala to get to the glove compartment as she didn't want to touch the animal more than necessary - it was in enough pain, and Finn noticed it. So, he reached over to help her himself, while continuing to drive. Charlie retrieved her phone from her back pocket, an old Nokia - the kind with buttons that one really didn't see a lot these days, and typed in the number.
She got instructions to do as little as possible, but try to keep the animal hydrated, which she did by using Finn's sports bottle. The closest veterinary clinic that would take a koala was in fact a rehabilitation center, just east of Brisbane, only making them do a small detour. But they had to get there first.
They passed several patches of forest that had either very recently burned, some still occasional flames still visible, while the smoke hindered their visibility.
"This may not have been the smartest decision," Finn commented apologetically as he was beginning to realize that the further they drove the more active fire they saw. There were brief gusts of wind carrying burning leaves and small twigs - this was called an ember attack. Or at least the beginnings of one. And the heat that it carried could be felt also inside of the car. This was not a good place to be.
Charlie checked Finn's phone for the map and saw that they were only really about 5-10 minutes away from a clearing, which meant that even if it was burning it was likely to have better air quality, and from there on another few minutes before they'd be at the side of the lake. Somehow the presence or water seemed comforting, though she really didn't know if that was just an illusion or not.
Finn continued to drive with his T-shirt pulled up to his nose and he felt bad that Charlie no longer had anything to do the same with. He reached to the back seat and grabbed his towel he used for surfing.
"It's not ideal, but you can put this to your nose if you want," he suggested, handing her the towel. It was a little strange handing a stranger he'd known for an hour or so his used towel but this was no ordinary situation either.
"Thanks," Charlie replied and accepted it.
"And just in case we have to stop the car because we get caught in the fire for whatever reason, we need to get as low as possible in the car and pull something over our heads. The active fire usually passes in 15-20 minutes. They used to drill us for this type of emergencies in school," Finn explained, but didn't sound perhaps as confident as he would've liked. He also knew that he was supposed to park the car preferably off road, facing the fire front. It wasn't ideal, nobody wanted to get into that situation, especially if the fire got under the car, but the car was their last resource and protection if it came to it.
He glanced at Charlie, noting her being genuinely scared, his instructions probably not helping the matter. But he was scared too. He wanted to assure her that they were going to be alright, but he really couldn't make that promise, and it probably showed in his face.
He pressed on the gas pedal harder, hoping this would simply get them out of danger quicker. The car jumped through the grooves but as long as the car didn't stop he didn't really care what kind of damage it did. Getting out there was the priority. Finn had never been a religious person but in that situation he did consider for a moment if that would've made any difference - praying to which god or alternative higher force would help them at that moment?
The exhale the two let out as they reached the clearing was simultaneous and audible, followed by laughter and a brief cheer.
"Just a little more now," Finn assured her, probably needing the assurance a little himself.
"You hear that, you're getting help soon," Charlie said, but instead of talking to Fnn she was talking to the koala, which Finn found a little endearing.
They drove by the side of the lake, turning into a real highway finally. The smoke cleared and it wasn't long they were already driving through the Brisbane suburbs towards the rescue center.
As they got to the rescue center, it felt like the first time in those past hours that they'd gotten a lungful of fresh air, though even there there was a hint of smoke in the air. Finn's body felt all tense, having not noticed before how his arms had grabbed the wheel in a stress situation. He'd done all sorts of extreme sports, but he had in fact never felt so vulnerable - in this situation he hadn't been in control of anything other than his car.
One of the nurses came out to meet them, and Charlie handed over the animal to her. They were asked to come in and fill a form about where they'd found the animal. Neither particularly felt like delaying their departure - they were both exhausted - the regular exhaustion after a long day added to the mental stress of the past few hours. But they complied.
As they walked back to the car, it was only then Charlie realized she really wasn't wearing much, somehow the adrenaline of everything having made her completely forget about the fact that she was in her bra. It was a fairly neutral grey t-shirt bra, nothing too inappropriate and she'd even used it on occasion as swimwear, but still - now she actually felt a little chilly and exposed.
She went to get a clean shirt from her bag but pulled on a hoodie instead as it was easiest to find. It was only when her arm slipped through the sleeve she noticed the pain. She'd apparently burnt the back of her forearm when getting the animal from the tree on some charcoal or something. It wasn't anything as horrible as the koala had, but still, she could see blisters. She must've been in shock, the pain from it only now registering.
She rolled up her sleeve carefully and returned to the front of the car.
"Can you hand me that bottle of water, I need to clean this," she said to Finn.
"Oh, you're hurt!" he reacted with surprise, and hurried to the back to search for another water bottle.
Charlie was visibly shaking by now - contrasting cold, exhaustion, stress and pain adding up, but she appeared surprisingly composed when it came to taking care of herself.
"Burn-aid," she requested, not really speaking in full sentences anymore.
Finn found the spray bottle and sprayed the gel onto her wound.
"You should probably get that dressed properly," Finn said.
"Hm-hm," she muttered, as she climbed back to the vehicle, keeping the burn uncovered for now. She shut her eyes for a moment, and took a few deep breaths.
"You okay?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, I'm just not too good with wounds," Charlie replied.
She'd handled it beautifully, and he wouldn't have suspected that for a minute.
"Can I get you anything - water?" he asked, offering her a full bottle. The water was warm, but it was better than nothing.
"Thanks," she replied.
"So where do I take you?" Finn asked a moment later.
"Oh… umm..," Charlie mumbled. "Can I use your phone real quick, my tablet's battery is out and I should make a reservation somewhere," she began, gesturing to her backpack where she had her tablet, realizing she had no concrete plan.
Finn honestly felt bad for her - first she had to dump her rental car leaving her without a mode of transportation for now, and now in her condition and after what they'd been through taking her to some shady hostel downtown that maybe had vacancies really didn't seem like something she deserved after a day like this.
"You know my sister lives like 15 minutes from here, there's a spare guest room. I promise - no strings," he suggested, assuringly.
"I would normally argue with you on something like this, as that really isn't necessary - I'm capable of paying for my accommodations, but honestly I've been driving for two days and... I am just too exhausted to argue with you right now," Charlie admitted.
"Then don't fret about it," Finn replied, turned on the ignition and drove off. "My sister's name is Sylvie and she lives in Paddington with her and her partner's kids, so expect the morning to be a little loud," he explained, trying to build some trust. He could see she was pretty out of it already, barely registering what he had said, but he felt like this was the least he could do to calm her, recalling well how hesitant she had been of him in the beginning.
Finn was staying in his sister's pool house but the pool house really had three guest rooms, hence he really didn't need to think much to decide to skip waking Sylvie at 2 AM in the morning, knowing she'd have work in the morning. On the positive note Finn realized that this would also help him avoid having a conversation about who the visitor was. He knew Sylvie was quite protective and tended to worry about him - and clearly admitting to Sylvie that he'd been in a dangerous situation was really not something he wanted to do.
Finn helped Charlie carry her backpack to the poolhouse, as they arrived, neither hardly speaking a word.
"Do you want something to eat?" he offered after he'd showed her to the spare guestroom. His own stomach had been grumbling for a few hours already.
"Nah, I could just use a shower," Charlie said, sounding a little drowsy.
"I can help you bandage that later," Finn suggested, gesturing at her arm.
"Right," she sighed, as if having nearly forgotten about it.
They both scattered to the respective guest rooms, Finn emerging ten minutes later, feeling much better after his shower, but he still hadn't been able to get the smell of smoke out of his nose. He walked over to the main house, knowing the family tended to always have some leftovers in the fridge. He returned with some grapes, corn fritters and a bag of chips along with some soda.
Charlie had already found the first aid kit he'd left on the bar table for her earlier and was squirting saline solution over her arm into the small bar sink. She really looked like a completely different person after having showered - just the clean clothes alone had a huge impact. Her long blonde hair, still wet, had been combed to one side and frankly. She was perhaps 5 ft 10 inches or so, surprisingly tall, and had slightly rounder hips and thighs, but she definitely had upper body strength, probably the result of the plantation work she'd mentioned. She looked effortless, clearly tired but in a way she was cute. But more than anything he just observed her with curiosity.
"Here, let me," he offered, placing the plate of food onto the counter.
Finn wrapped a sterile bandage loosely around her forearm, noting her winch a little as the dressing grazed the wound.
"Sorry," he said, trying to be gentle. He tied the bandage firmly enough to hold, but positioned the knot away from the actual wound.
"Thanks", she replied, followed by a yawn, after he'd finished.
Finn was still high on adrenaline, despite both his body and mind being exhausted, and he watched her disappear into the guest room only with a brief 'good night'.
Finn simply sank down onto the couch that overlooked the pool, putting his feet up onto the coffee table, and sipped on the soda. He'd gone from self-indulgence to fearing for his life, and ending up saving a life - hopefully. And he'd done all that with a perfect stranger, who now didn't seem like a stranger anymore, even if he didn't know everything about her. It had made him feeling more invigorated than he had felt in years.
G woke to the disruptive sound of her alarm clock that Monday morning, having stayed up way too late reading about Odette Aubertin online - first it had been the dresses, then the gossip and as she advanced by years it was becoming more and more clear that the woman in fact had a connection to Logan. Then there was the engagement, the wedding and then - puff - nothing. She did the same searches for Celeste Mariano, but there really wasn't much out there. Sure, she was the company owner of the 'Apparatus Bay' but that was about it.
But the way Odette Aubertin linked to Logan and how so did Celeste just seemed like too big of a coincidence. Why would someone want to disappear from a life like that - after all Odette Aubertin seemed to have had it all - fame, fortune, a career. And while Celeste had Jess, Evie and the bookstore - somehow that just didn't seem plausible.
She dragged herself to the shower and quickly got ready for school, falling back into her grey mouse routine out of convenience.
Rory was already up, having breakfast, this time with Finny in the high chair opposite her.
"Morning," Rory greeted her.
"Jiji!" Finny exclaimed in greeting
"Hey," she replied, tickling Finny on the side of his neck like she knew he liked it.
"You look tired," Rory noted.
"Gee… thanks, just what a girl likes to hear in the morning," G muttered, smilingly, knowing she hadn't meant anything bad. "I ended up doing some research on the dresses until pretty late. And concerning that I actually wanted to ask you something," she said just before she pressed the button on the coffee machine.
As the coffee machine buzzed Rory was already anticipating the question, wondering what the exact protocol was in a case like this. Rory took a sip of her own coffee in the meanwhile.
"Is Celeste really Odette Aubertin? The woman who married Logan before you did?" G asked, still unsure how the latter could actually be. If it was so, why were Rory and Celeste even friends? And close friends?
"It's a little complicated, and I really should speak to Celeste before I say anything," Rory replied, as she watched G get herself a soy yogurt from the fridge.
"So it's true?" she insisted.
"I'm going to have to say the lamest thing on the planet," Rory began, "I'm not at the liberty to answer that question - to confirm nor deny," she added.
"Right," she sighed, finding this all rather silly. She peeled off the top of her yogurt and dug in a spoon.
"G?" Rory said. "Please keep whatever you think you know to yourself, okay? I'm very serious about that," she added, knowing she at least needed to emphasize that part. "I promise I'll talk to her today and we can talk when you come back, okay?"
G had pretty much gotten the confirmation she needed even if Rory hadn't directly replied to her. But still - what strange dynamic was this?
"Sure," she replied, not really understanding what the fuss was about. But surely, she could wait a day.
"Anything special going on in school today?" Rory asked, trying to divert their talk back to their normal morning routine.
"I'm not really sure," she replied, being new at that school after all. "I think it's like a lot of outside of class activities - some classes have prepared plays, some debates, movies - stuff like that," G replied.
"And dad is coming on Wednesday, right?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, I think so," G said.
Rory hadn't seen Christopher since summer when he'd been over to ask whether G could stay with her. He hadn't even seen the twins in person, just through video. And all of this really had just made her think what was his father truly up to or what he was thinking - perhaps working as hard as he was was in fact replacement for something else lacking in his life. As far as she knew, he hadn't had a girlfriend in years.
"Do you think he's happy? Dad, I mean?" Rory inquired, thoughtfully.
G had sat briefly down to the stool and was browsing her phone.
G shrugged. Frankly, it wasn't something she really thought about. Maybe that was selfish of her, but it wasn't like she had any power to influence that.
"Ji! I want to play wif you," Finny disrupted that thought, having finished his breakfast.
"Sorry, I've got school," G replied.
Finny made a very unhappy face at that response.
"Hey, Finny - we're going swimming today - just you and I, and G will be back in the evening," Rory assured the toddler.
Somehow in her mind she was beginning to accept the fact that Logan wasn't around as much. She found things to do that helped her cope - she took more one on one time with the kids, actually going a little out of her comfort zone and getting out of the house some more. She knew he was with them in thought and would do whatever it took to return more permanently. But it wasn't like she had anything to fear - they were good - some distance wasn't going to rattle them. Not anymore.
AN: Thank you for your reviews! I love getting them!