5 Star Fiction: An Excerpt From Blackwattle Lake - Eve Returns To Yarrabee

Today I'm sharing an excerpt from my debut novel Blackwattle Lake. In this scene the main character Eve, accompanied by her best mate Banjo the kelpie,  makes a visit to town and discovers that keeping a low profile isn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped.

‘Angie Flanagan. Long time, no see.’Eve’s feet were rooted to the floor. Her knees lockedand her stomach flipped. She pictured the face before sheturned around, but when she did the image of the scruffyblond farm boy she’d imagined hardened into that of thehandsome, solid man who stood before her. Thankfully,it wasn’t the face she’d anticipated.‘Grant.’ She said his name in such a hush of relief thatshe didn’t even know if he’d heard her. They stood lookingat each other, not speaking.‘You two know each other, then?’ the older man asked.Grant answered first. ‘Yeah. Yeah, we do. Tom, this isAngie Flanagan – Nell’s daughter.’‘Oh, right.’ Eve could tell by the lilt in Tom’s voice andthe nodding of his head that he’d heard the stories. It gother back up. She hadn’t come here to provide the townwith a new source of gossip.‘Actually, it’s Eve now, not Angie. Eve Nicholls. Niceto meet you.’ She reached her hand over the counter andsurprised Tom into shaking it before she turned to Grantand did the same. ‘How’ve you been?’‘Good. And you?’‘Not bad. You know, clinging to the wreckage.’ Shelaughed awkwardly. Her cheeks felt hot and she knewshe was blushing.Why the fuck did I say that?‘Sorry about your mum,’ said Grant. ‘Things won’t bethe same around here without her. Shame you couldn’tmake it back for the funeral.’Eve sighed and looked out the door to where Banjohad taken himself to lie in the shade of the van. ‘Well, weweren’t exactly the best of friends, Nell and I, as you know.’‘No. But family . . . anyway. It’s good to see you again.Jack should be here any minute – you ought to hangaround, say hi.’‘Jack.’‘Yeah. I assume you remember him.’ Grant gave Eve asmirk. ‘He and I bought this business a few years back.’‘Oh. Great.’Eve felt herself shrinking at the mention of Jack’s name.The prospect of running into him right now wasn’t somethingshe wanted to risk.‘Okay. Well, I can’t really stay, have to get back to themare, see you around. Bye, Tom.’ She grabbed the bottlefrom the counter and hotfooted it to the kombi, feelingfour eyes burn into her back all the way across the carpark. She turned the key and revved the engine, reversingand driving out, giving the two men a wave and feigninga smile as she left.

~

Back on the road Eve sighed into the seat, shoved thegearstick into second then third, getting as much distancebetween herself and the town as possible.‘Shit, Banjo. I haven’t even been back for twenty-fourhours and it’s already getting tricky. I knew it. Why can’tpeople just get on with their own fucking lives and keeptheir noses out of everybody else’s?’But she already knew the answer to that question. In atown as small as Yarrabee your business was everybodyelse’s. It was part of the deal, part of the reason you livedhere – the sense of neighbourhood and community, thesense of all for one and one for all. It was only when youbroke the code, asserted your individuality, did things the‘town’ frowned upon, that you became a pariah. And that’swhen the whole idea of being part of something biggerthan yourself got ugly, that’s when you knew it was timeto leave.Eve pressed the button on the CD player, hoping thatmusic would drown out the hum of frustration in herhead. The mournful sound of Tracy Chapman floodedthrough the speakers, something about an old lover, notreally what she was after. She flicked the switch and laidTracy to rest.Of all the people to have bumped into on her first dayback in town, why did it have to be one of the Mitchellbrothers? But it could’ve been worse – it could’ve been Jackbehind the counter. That would’ve really topped off hermorning. Grant still looked pretty good, considering it wastwenty years on. She wondered how time had treated hisbrother. There was only fourteen months between the twoof them and back then they’d looked almost like twins. Allthese years she’d pictured Jack as a cute eighteen-year-old,the age he’d been the last time she saw him. When she’dbeen driving back yesterday, thinking about who mightstill be around, who she might have to prepare herself tosee, Jack hadn’t even been on the list. She thought he’dbe long gone. All those hours they’d spent daydreamingabout getting out and seeing the world, leaving behindthe life of small towns and even smaller minds. And hewas still here.The road took a sharp turn. Eve slowed down, realisingshe’d taken the long way back from town without meaningto. Funny how the brain can switch into autopilot. If she’dknown sooner she would have stopped and turned around,but now it would double the length of the trip. She steeledherself for the words on the sign up ahead, tried to focuson the road. But she didn’t have to look to know what itsaid: Blackwattle Lake.Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as sheaccelerated. She turned the music back on and pressed‘random’, hoping for something more upbeat to take hermind off the past. P!nk’s ‘Funhouse’. That was better.She wound down the window and let the wind streamthrough, blowing her hair all over the place as she sang.The crisis had been averted, no harm had been done andthe sun was shining. In fact, the closer she got to beingback at the farm and around the horses the calmer shefelt. Until the chorus started up, and she remembered shehad her own collection of evil clowns in the closet.She flicked the stereo off again and drove home insilence.

Blackwattle Lake is available for Kindle at Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/aazqvbh

In paperback: Booktopia:http://tinyurl.com/b2248vy

Also available at Dymocks, Unleash, Target and Big W or ask your local bookstore to order a copy

Read 5 star reviews of Blackwattle Lake at Goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15853652-blackwattle-lake