Crush

Two

Running in the country was different from the city. In the city, depending on what time she got outside, Maddie Lambert would be negotiating other runners, bike riders, walkers, mothers with three-wheel all-terrain prams and kids wobbling along on their little bikes. Out here, the only thing she had to worry about was not getting an insect in her mouth. It had only happened once, and that was apparently because she'd been running at dusk. Or so Jo said. So Maddie had decided to run in the middle of the day instead. Mornings had never been her strong point and she needed to run off the calories she'd eaten at the bakery earlier.

Indulging was something she hadn't been allowed to do for a long time, but as soon as she'd seen the size of those overfilled cream buns, she couldn't stop herself. Especially when she discovered it was real cream, and not the fake stuff most of the bakeries back home used. Her mouth watered at the thought of them. She'd definitely have to go back tomorrow to get another one. Of course, that would mean doing another run tomorrow afternoon. Or maybe she could just do an extra lap of the farm today.

The song changed on her iPod, and since she'd heard it a million times already, she switched it to the next one. It flipped over to Bon Jovi and Maddie smiled. Perfect. She was so over the manufactured pop that everyone seemed to be into now. What happened to good, old-fashioned rock? Thumping guitars and strong vocals, now that was something she liked.

For a brief moment, Maddie wondered how everyone else was coping since she'd walked out. Was she sorry to leave like she did? Sure, but no-one could say they hadn't seen it coming. At least Freya understood why she'd done it, and Andy couldn't resist the opportunity to take some time off and go surfing on the coast. Her father on the other hand, wasn't so understanding.

They hadn't argued like that since Maddie was twelve and had wanted to go to the same public high school as the rest of her friends. He'd won that argument, but Maddie hadn't let him win this one. She hadn't spoken to him since she'd left, but Jo had called him to tell him they were safe. As far as she knew, Jo hadn't let on where they were, which is what Maddie had wanted. If he found out, he'd be up in a flash trying to drag her back. She just couldn't deal with the way he was trying to micromanage every little part of her life anymore. Her mother had started to get into the act as well, telling her what she should be wearing or how she should be getting her hair done. God, the look on her mother's face a few weeks ago when Maddie had appeared in cargo shorts and a t-shirt to go shoe shopping was priceless. Not having any make-up on was what had sent her over the edge. "You never know who might see you," her mother had said. "You have to go out in public as if you're going to be photographed. Do you have any idea what people would say if they saw you dressed like that?"

"How about 'there's a nice, down-to-earth-looking girl'?" Maddie had replied. Her mother turned up her nose and said, "You're not going looking like that." So Maddie had stayed home, which annoyed her mother even more.

Without realising it, she'd increased her pace to almost a sprint. She slowed back to a jog and then stopped at the corner of the track, gulping in deep breaths of hot, fresh air. She pulled the ear buds from her ears, leaned on the fence post and stretched. No car fumes out here. Just wide open spaces and a lot of red dirt.

When Jo had suggested they come up here, Maddie was dubious because really, who had ever heard of Chesterfield? Certainly not her, and she was glad she hadn't made any jokes about the place since Jo had revealed it was where she was born. She hadn't mentioned how she felt about it now, but Maddie figured that you always feel a bit nostalgic for the town you were born, even if you left when you were little.

And the house was nice enough. Quaint her mother would call it, but not in a good way. Nothing like their white concrete fortress in Mosman. The farm house felt comfortable and lived in. Jo said she thought it was built in the nineteen-twenties, and the sag in the front veranda seemed to agree with that.

The walls had knocks and scrapes and dents in them and it seemed to absorb sound. Unlike Maddie's place where you could hear someone coming down the stairs from the other end of the house. It used to freak her out when they'd first moved in a few years ago, the way it echoed every little sound when people were moving around in it. Then it would be deathly quiet at night.

The creaks in the farm house had kept her awake that first night too, but they felt different somehow. Jo had said the next morning that it was just the house settling as it cooled. It had creaked as they'd been talking about it that morning and Jo said it was expanding as it heated up. Almost like the house was a living, breathing thing. Maddie couldn't believe she didn't know that stuff. Basic science, Jo had said, which kind of explained it. Science had never been Maddie's strong point. She was more into the creative arts.

She finished stretching and looked back down the road she'd run on. It was a long way back and she thought she'd seen a side road somewhere, so she decided to take it to see if it was a shortcut back to the farm house. She pushed the ear buds back into her ears and took off at a steady pace. 'Eye of the Tiger' came on, making her heart race. The side track appeared just ahead, and the heavy guitar riff pumping through her ears and into her chest spurred her on, making her feel invincible. She sprinted ahead, Survivor urging her on. She turned the corner onto the unknown track, not caring if it was a shortcut and just happy to be away from the pressures of the last few months.