Chapter Five

 As soon as they cleared the city limits of Toowoomba and were out on the Darling Downs, Thomas pressed a button on the remote, saying, “Landcruiser.” as he drove.

The vehicle popped and spasmed as it turned itself into a Toyota Landcruiser. Swerving a little, the brakes locked up a bit on the gravel road as it changed over the tyres and the colour changed to a dusty white, making it look as though it’s been on the road out there for days on end, instead of being conjured in the last few seconds.

“I wonder how long this will last for.” Mary smiled, “The car I mean… does it have a time limit on the illusion of what it is? Or can it be as long as we need it?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I hope to find out as we go along.”

“Jeez, if you’re not confident in knowing it, why didn’t you ask?”

“Well, I thought they’d write it down in the book. Look in the glove box.”

She opened the glove box and pulled out the book they’d put inside for the camouflage unit, flicked through it, and found nothing on what she was wanting to know, “Nope. It just tells how to install it, the types of vehicles we can have, the spare parts we can used to fix it and… no, not a thing about time limit.”

“Okay… we’ll have to figure it out for ourselves.” he said, “Where is this place your mother has for you all the way out here? We’re heading towards Cecil Plains, it’s not too far away.”

She looked at the deed to the house and saw the address, “It’s at… well, it doesn’t say which town really. It’s a property name.”

Thomas was quiet for a moment, his elbow leaning on the window, wind blowing his already unruly hair all over the place, “Okay. We’ll get to Cecil Plains and stop for something to eat. I dunno about you, but I’m starving.”

She looked over at him, “Yeah, I’m hungry too.”

 

Lunch was at a local pub in the sleepy township of Cecil Plains. This place had been around for well over a century, and there were mainly farming families living here, which went back just as long. The food was typically large servings and delicious, and the two of them weren’t complaining about it as they delved into it.

But the locals stared at them as they sat and ate, knowing they were out-of-towners. Thomas easily ignored them, but Mary felt as though they were in a fish bowl, and were being stared at:

“Why are they staring at us?”

He looked around as he cut into his steak, “They’re staring at the new people here in town.” reaching over he touched her hand, “I know they make you nervous, but please just eat and we’ll be on our way.”

The waitress came to their table and set down a pitcher of water with two glasses, “There ya go. It’s stinkin’ hot out there today. But nice’n’clear to be travelling. Where you two off to today?”

Thomas looked up at her, “We’re on a few days out to look around the Downs. You know Glengallen, Warwick, and here in Cecil Plains, such pretty places and yet we’ve never been here.”

“Been to Toowoomba? It’s nearly time for the Flower Festival.” she smiled, “I’m going this year.”

Mary smiled, “Oh, I never knew about that… might see if I can go.”

The waitress frowned, “You never knew about the Toowoomba Flower Festival? How weird. Well, it’s the place to be in September. And now it’s getting hotter, it’s perfect for the roses to come out.” she looked around, “Well, better keep the beer flowin’ the bar flies, they grumble if it stops.” she turned away and went back to her duties around the pub. As she picked up a new glass from under the bar and poured a fresh beer for one of the locals, the rest of the bar turned their attention away from Thomas and Mary - finally minding their own business; and happy that they were just tourists.

“Relax, and we’ll be okay.” he smiled, then looked at his plate, “This is great steak. How’s your meal?”

Mary looked down at her plate, which was mostly still full of roast chicken and roast vegetables, with sour cream and gravy. But she picked at it. She was starving, but this place made her nervous as hell - even though she tried not to be. There was just something about this pub which turned her stomach, “Thomas…”

He moved his chair closer to her, pulling his meal with him, so they could talk more intimately, “I know. This place is full of demons; and they’re here looking at us - well you - and all you have to do is not let your nerves get to you. Just make sure you don’t make anything explode.”

“I’m trying, Thomas.” she cast a anxious look in his direction, “But I feel sick.”

“So do I. It’s something to do with this place. There’s a power struggle in here like I’ve never felt - and it’s got nothing to do with Balthazar.” he whispered, “Actually…” he looked up as he noticed the men in the pub has stood from their bar stools, and surrounding tables and watched him and Mary carefully, “Now would be a good time to grab your book bag move towards the hallway.”

She slung her bag across herself as she stood and left her untouched meal, “Can you see why I’m not hungry.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I tried to get you to eat. Your nerves speak volumes.” he said. They moved out into the hallway to be greeted by another lot of creepy farmers and people from the pool room around the back of the pub, “Your hand, Mary.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We want to get out, and I’ll have to use big magics to do it.”

“No, Balthazar will feel it.”

He looked down at her, “It will save us from the angry mob.”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded taking his hand, “Okay.”

 

She was still dazed by the shift Thomas performed to get them out of the pub, as he dragged her to the Landcruiser and pushed her into the passenger side and closed the door, then he raced around the driver’s side door and yanked it open.

With wide eyes, Mary watched as the members of the pub emptied onto the footpath, heading straight for their vehicle, as they screamed for their death to be gruesome and public, she pulled her eyes from them and to Thomas, “Why is it taking so long to start this vehicle?”

“The keys! They won’t go in, my hands are … aw crap!” he threw his open right hand at the ignition and yelled, “Start!” the engine growled to life, “Go!” the vehicle threw itself into reverse, backed up, clunked into Drive, and then spun its wheels and took off down the street - running the red light (which wasn’t holding up any real traffic in any direction) and sped them all out of town.

Mary watched over the back of her seat at the people of the pub became smaller and smaller, and they eventually lost them. Then she turned to Thomas, “I don’t think they were…”

“Alive? No. They weren’t.” he said, “It think the only person alive was the waitress; and she controlled them all.” he glanced at her as the vehicle slowed down its speed to the legal speed limit and Thomas changed the vehicle again, “Mitsubishi 2009 model 4X4. The Landcruiser popped and jerked, as it charged along the sealed highway towards Allora, changing the colour of the vehicle again to a midnight blue with all the flouro colours it needed to be seen by other vehicles. As the tone of the engine changed to something more modern, Thomas hit the cruise control, “This is better. A good car.”

“Wish Mum had thought to buy something like this.” she said, “She bought a large, old 1960’s truck… weird old thing, but it could carry a lot. It looked like something out Indiana Jones.”

He laughed, “Oh boy, I know what you mean. They’re great, but man, it takes a lot to kill them.”

Looking out the window at the passing wheat and grain fields, Mary felt hungry again. Her stomach grizzled at her, and she held her book bag close so Thomas didn’t hear it, “I’m sorry.”

He looked over at her and back at the road, “For what?”

“I ruined it back there… not eating. But all of that power just made me feel…”

“Hey I know, if you haven’t been around that kind of power before, you’ll react to it badly. And, Mary, that’s a lot power we encountered - which I had to work against to keep you safe.” he looked out the windscreen to the road and they passed a sign: ‘Allora 20’. “Listen, we’ll get you something good to eat here… it’s a nice little town, and I’m sure the good folks here will help you out.”

The twenty kilometers zoomed by within minutes and they pulled into the main street of Allora slowly perusing it for any form of power. After feeling and seeing none, they pulled the vehicle into a parking spot under a tree, outside a nice-looking church.

“A church?” she stared at the cute little white church which looked like it came straight out of a story-book, “Really?”

“Holy ground.” he said, “It can pack a punch with demons and zombies… won’t protect us, but will keep you from imploding when you get nervous. Come on.”

They got out of the Mitsubishi and walked up to the doors of the church, only to find them locked, Thomas took the door knob and closed his eyes, and the door clicked loudly, unlocking itself. He flashed Mary a grin as he bobbed his eyebrows up and down and pushed the door open slowly and looked around.

The sound of a rifle being cocked sounded, “You wait right there, boy-o. You just broke into God’s House.” a gritty voice said slowly, “You and your friend come in nice and slow and put your weapons on the floor.”

Thomas took Mary’s hand and pulled her inside, closing the door as he did, “Padre, we didn’t mean to… it’s you!”

“It’s you… Thomas Benson! But… you’re…” the man dressed ready for church looked him up and down, “You can’t be the same Thomas Benson who died out at Cecil Plains fifty years ago, can you?” he squinted, “My Dad performed your funeral.”

Thomas looked to the floor, to Mary, back to the Padre, and stammered, “Listen, would you believe me if I said it was me? Probably not.”

“You’re evil then.”

“No, I’m not. I’m… magical, have been since I was a teenager, and I haven’t aged because I was like this for over a century.” he gave Mary a sideways glance, “I’m sorry, Mary, I’m not the same age as you, but I was supposed to look after you - even with Balthazar tracking you.”

The Padre lowered the rifle, “Balthazar?”

Mary nodded, “I’m looking for Diane Wilson… have you heard of her?”

The man blinked, “Yes, she’s taken up a place outside of town. It was a large farm, but it’s not anymore. A lot of people didn’t like what she did to the place. But… she’s been doing well with it.” he frowned at the floor as he disengaged the rifle, “Too well I think.”

Thomas followed the man’s stare to the floor as he stepped forward, “What do you mean by ‘too well’?”

He looked back up at the two, “Well, she’ll be freezing cold out there, and Diane will grow tomatoes, roses and Basil - all Summer crops.” he shook his head, “I’ve been trying to keep the really religious townsfolk from burning her house down - but when we go out to her property, there’s no house, no crops, no… nothing there.”

Mary grabbed Thomas’ arm, “It’s mother. She can do things like that. She did it at the houses we lived at, every time. They looked like we had lived there for twenty years, with plants growing everywhere - then the day we’d move, the house looked and felt; dead and totally empty.”

He turned from Mary, “Can you tell us where this property is?”

“Sure. I’ve got a map out the back.” he relocked the door and motioned them to follow him.