If you missed yesterday, get amongst it first –NEW NORCIA: Moonrise at 8.28pm – Russell Philips & Cath R. Wood – Episode 1

“Yes Cath, I get it, ‘pregnant’ is what you call a three humped camel.” sighing and laughing in one, Russ cringed at Cath’s joke. Without warning, all power within the small vehicle, and then the motor, died, leaving them in darkness at 112 kilometres per hour and unable to see the the winding gum tree lined road ahead……… 

 

……………..”Christ on a bike!” yelled Russ, “hold on Cath!”

 

With five minutes to moon rise, and the ability of Jack Brabham, Russell Philips found himself without lights, power steering, or decent braking.  Doing his utmost to tame the runaway juggernaut, Russ, fortunate enough to have come out of a down hill bend leading onto a medium length straight, managed to slow the vehicle and keep it on the road at the same time. With more skill than luck, Russ got the little Holden both to a stand still, and onto the verge of the road without injury or incident.

“What the hell just happened?!”

“Cath my love, I have absolutely no idea.” said Russell, “we were driving normally, I was pretending not to speed, the car lost its electric’s and then the motor died. Buggered if I know why.”

“Will it start?” said Cath after a few deep breaths, then gazing to her left”hey, is that the satellite dish over there?”

“Yeah, I reckon you’re right my love, but can you just let me concentrate on trying to start this again.” he grunted shortly in response. Typical male.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts, the pair exited the car. Two minutes worth of arguing with the latch, Russell finally opened the bonnet, and without any other light source other than the huge yellow moon coming up in the east, he squinted near blindly down at the motor. 

“That’d be the engine alright.” he said accurately.

“Out of the way, you know I know more about motor’s than you.” said Cath with a laugh and a playful nudge of her hip, “a girl learns a lot when her Dad sells cars and own’s workshop’s. If work had given you a Ford, this never would have happened……………You better hope I don’t catch ‘gay’ touching this lot.”

Groping in the darkness, Cath first checked the leads to the battery, satisfying herself that all was in order, she traced the electric’s back around the motor as best she could. Again, finding everything as it should be. Fuse boxes covers were removed from ridiculous places around the vehicle, each fuse that was vaguely transparent was held up to the light of the moon for examination, yet no fuse was either apparently, nor obviously, blown. Wondering if it may have had something to do with an automatic cut out like switch associate with the car temperature, the dipstick was drawn showing plenty of oil; the radiator reservoir was shaken, then the cap cautiously removed, again plenty of water lay within. Lastly, believing it highly unlikely to be the cause of the issue, but checked anyway for ‘Justin Case’, Russ unscrewed the cap to the fuel tank leaving Cath to shove a long skinny stick in, gauging the amount of diesel in the tank. Removing it, she found it wet and odorous, damp easily twenty centimetres up from the sticks pointed end.

“Plenty in there, and you didn’t even touch the bottom” grumbled Russ.

“Right now is not the time for touching your bottom,” joked Cath, “I am a bit surprised we haven’t seen a vehicle come past since the bloody thing conked out though. Especially with the Moora Races tomorrow.”

“You might give the Hall’s and that Chapman bastard a ring, and let them know what’s happened.” said Cath after a moment. She was an ‘idea’s girl’ according to her father. “Tell them if we can’t get this sorted easily tonight, we’ll get a room at the pub in New Norcia, and meet them at the races instead.”

“Bollocks. Cath oh love of mine,” he said “it would appear I don’t have reception.”

“Bugger it, neither do I.” said Cath, checking her own phone, “Telstra and bloody Holden’s, neither are any bloody good when you need them.”

As if on ascent from the heavens, the world exploded around them in a car sized circle of the most brilliant white light, light released from directly above. Light that had absolutely nothing to do with the vehicle they were standing beside, consuming them in entirety………………………………… 

 

To be continued.

 

Click the goldfish with inadequacy issues for a little ‘Boom Boom’.

 

N.

 

 

 

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