This path is clearly not meant for cars. Especially utes being driven by seventeen-year-old boys being screamed at by fifteen-year-olds.
"Okay! I'll drive faster," Will stresses, pushing his foot harder on the accelerator.
The speed of the car throws me back into my seat with a slap.
"We are getting close," Will says.
"Drive slow now. We don't want them to hear us," instructs Georgia.
"Jeez. One minute it is, "Drive fast Will!' Next, it is 'Slow the hell down,'" Will mocks.
I ignore him as he slows the ute to turn the final corner.
Little Marley Beach is small and secluded. Water laps at the pale sand and trees hide it from the outside world. The ute is packed in tight between rough bushes and shrubs.
"We'll actually have to walk now," Will says with an annoyed sigh.
"Do you guys see anything?" I ask, brushing Will's comment off.
Georgia tries to stand in her seat. "Wait... I think-over there!"
She points a finger out the window and I follow it. Through the thick bushes, I can see the blurred sight of a tent and a big truck that could easily hold thirty horses. How on Earth did they get that down here?
"Okay, we gotta go!" I shout, going to unbuckle my seatbelt.
"Wait hang on!" Georgia stops me. "They might be armed."
Will gulps.
"What's your plan supergirl?" she continues to ask me.
I sit back down and think. The truth is, I have no idea what I'm doing. Alex is right; I don't think, just act.
"The path clears a bit down there-" Will nods towards the rest of the walking track-" I think I could drive down there and distract them while you two go looking for the horses."
It is risky. But it's the best plan we've got.
"Fine. Let's do it."
Georgia and I open the doors, carefully trying not to get too scratched up by the plants. We make a dash for the bushes for safety as we hear voices.
"When's this bloke coming?" someone shouts from the beach.
"Oh, he will be here soon. He offered heaps of money for these two. Even more than what he paid for the last four!"
Georgia and I share a look.
Our horses.
Will flashes me a look through the side mirror and I nod in response. Slowly the ute rolls away from Georgia and I and towards the sandy beach. My fingers start to twitch. Were they always doing that?
Voices from the beach start to grow louder from simple talk to yells. They must have spotted Will and the ute. I dare pop my head out of the bushes to see but Georgia pulls me right back down.
"Hey! What's that car?" a man yells.
Cries of similar kinds start ringing out. Thud, thud, thud goes my heart. That probably isn't healthy. Movement comes from the beach and I can faintly make out the figures of people running.
"What's going on here?" I can hear Will's voice cry. "Why are you canped and have vehicles on this beach?"
Nice one Will.
I clutch Margo's necklace and quickly pray to her before standing in a crouch and making my way down the bush track. I ignore Georgia's calls for me because what does she know about running after thieves. I've done it four times now.
Men have gathered around the ute. My breath catches for Will. Lily would disown me if something ever happened to him. I make out Will having a heated conversation with a tall guy. In a blink, Will ducks his head back inside the ute and takes off, knocking three other guys to the ground.
Yell's ring out and at least ten men start chasing after the ute. Will drives across the beach, the sand being flicked by the wheels and it's a weird sight, seeing all these people chase after it. The ute travels at pace through the beach and up onto the land that is on the other side.
After a few meters, he and his chasers disappear into the Australian bush, leaving just tracks behind them.
"All clear!" I call to Georgia.
We make a dash down towards the dunes. Hopefully, Will can lead these thugs off for a while.
"This is weird," mumbles Georgia.
I turn in a circle so I can take it all in. This beach is so small yet they have a whole set up here. A couple of tents line the back of the sandy area. The huge truck from earlier is parked close by, accompanied by a car. Right next to it are what looks to be make-shift horse pens. Black cloth is draped around them except for a small gap at the front.
Probably to hide them from sight.
"How did they manage to do this?"
Georgia shrugs. "Who knows. But I'm going to punch whoever did."
A buzz rings out from my jacket pocket. I ignore Georgia's loud growl as I check the text.
Told my Dad everything. Stay safe, love x
It's Alex. I squeeze my phone tighter and re-read the message. God, this boy is special.
"Okay, can you put lover-boy away from a moment? Our horses are right here!" scowls Georgia.
"Right sorry," I mumble, shoving my phone in my pocket.
Georgia picks up a jog and heads towards what will hopefully be our horses. I follow her. I'm so close to getting Virgo back. We reach the horse pens and my heart is racing. I lift up the black cloth and walk inside ready to see my boy again.
And there he... isn't.
The pen is empty.
No...
My head starts to feel light and my knees start to shake. He's gone. Virgo isn't here. I'm too late.
Nonononono.
He's gone. Really gone.
"Maddie!" shrieks Georgia.
The urgency snaps me out of my panic.
I burst out of the pen and gasp. Georgia flaps her arms and kicks with her legs at the man that has her in a headlock. Her freckled face has tears streaming down it as the two of them push and shove against each other.
Oh my God, we aren't alone.
"Georgia!"
The man looks up at me. He isn't struggling as much to hang onto Georgia as she is to get out of his grip. His eyebrows furrow together and his jaws locks.
"Hey! You're the little shit that gave me that awful cut," he snarls.
I remeber now. The tall thief that I cut that night.
The one I thought was Justin.
"Because you desrved it. You're disgusting!"
"What are you girls even snooping around here for, eh?" he laughs.
Georgia wriggles in his grip, frantically trying to pry his arm from her neck. "Getting our horses back you brute."
The man just laughs a low, cruel laugh. "They're ours now, kids."
Georgia's freckled face is starting to turn purple. My mind is ticking. I have to do something.
In another attempt to escape, Georgia throws her body against her capture with a grunt. The act is pointless though, causing him to only stumble a few steps.
"You bitch!"
He's distracted.
In the same moment the man grab's a fist of Georgia's black hair and yanks I scoop a large piece of driftwood up. A yell comes from Georgia as the man rips at her scalp. Suddenly my feet are powering through the sand.
"Hey! What are you-"
The man can't finish his sentence. I've run to his side and with all the strength and anger I can muster in my skinny arms, I bring down the piece of driftwood down onto his temple. A loud and angry crack rings out, followed by a loud scream.
Georgia pushes herself away from the man as he falls to the ground with a thud. I race to her side to help her to her feet. Purple marks have started to form around her neck as she wheezes for air.
"My... God," she squeaks.
The man now covered in sand tries to stand but his feet won't allow it.
"Fuck," he whispers.
He his hand pulls away from the wound on his head to reveal dripping blood and I can only imagine the head ache he must have right now. That'll keep him down from a while.
"We need to find out where they have hid the horses," I say to Georgia.
She nods, rubbing her bruised throat.
This is a big national park. Aviaiton and Virgo are needles in a haystack.
Georgia places a hand on my shoulder, shaking me from my thoughts. "We... can... d-do... this," she wheezes in a small voice.
I nod at her.
We start walking back towards the bush track where we came from. The sudden sound of shuffling stops us.
"You two! Get back here."
Georgia and I tense and look over our shoulders. Trailing behind us is the man, covered head to toe in bloodied sand. "You're so dead."
I feel my muscles get ready to run. The sound of an engine stops me and I look past the rough looking guy to see a ute speeding backwards towards us. A small chuckle escapes me but not from the man. He notices the ute a second to late and can't quite move away in time before-boom!
Like in a movie Will reverses the ute's tray into the man's back, sending him rolling back into the sand. A hand fies to his back and he wriggles in agony. Georgia and I can't believe our eyes.
The ute's window rolls down.
"Whoops!" Will cries. "Didn't see him."
I'm to shocked to laugh and just let my mouth hang. Shouts from behind me get me to close it though and I whip my head to look.
Please no more thugs.
Down the bush track people in uniform run towards us, all decked out in weapons and big scary voices.
"Get your hands in the air!" a voice shouts at us.
The wind catches in my throat. It is the police.