When the Bus Stopped

Chapter 3

Lucy popped the cork from a bottle of cheap bubbly and poured it into a chipped mug. Sitting heavily on her trusty deck chair, she crossed her legs and gazed at her faux fur ugg boots.

Life was flawless.

The predicted snow had begun falling half an hour earlier. It danced across the breeze as if it had been choreographed by an anal-retentive ballerina. It fluttered, skipped and swirled through the air before settling precariously upon blades of grass.

Her house bus was parked facing up hill near the river, smoke curling from its chimney. She realised sleeping on a lean might be a bit strange, but she had to have the space to roll it backwards. Rage started bubbling.  Why were mechanics so expensive? She just had to make it to Invercargill, then she could get it fixed for a reasonable price.

Lucy took a slug of bubbles and felt the alcohol enter her bloodstream.

After a quick peek over each shoulder, to check there were no disapproving stares, she drained the cup in one large gulp.

God knew she deserved it!

Apart from sleeping on a lean, it really was an idyllic spot.

The only thing she was missing, which could make the moment perfect, was him....

Her mind drifted back to that red-hot, makeup-wearing male she'd bumped into on the way to the river. She'd never known drag queens could be so full of burning hot testosterone.

Filling her mug with a second offering, Lucy sighed and focused her mind on drinking mindfully.

BANG!

Bubbles splashed over her face and down her shirt. Coughing wildly, she jumped to her feet.

THUD!

Her head came in contact with an overhanging branch.

"For Pete's sake!"

Rubbing her head, she felt leaves... they had snagged around a dreadlock.

As Lucy pulled the twig out she wondered - not for the first time - why she couldn't be five foot four like a normal woman.

She paced quickly around the bus, searching for what had fallen off this time.

Everything appeared to be fine. In confusion, she gazed around the river. She was sure the noise had come from this direction.

She shrugged, while she was up she might as well grab a coatigan to ward off the chill.

Swinging open the back door to her bus, a black cloud exploded out, and she promptly choked on soot.

Her house bus' dodgy alternator had driven her crazy all day, and now this!

Black soot lined the truck.

While she could do many things, sleeping on a layer of soot in icy cold conditions was not one of them. Jumping out she slammed the door.

She snatched up her empty mug and picnic chair and poked them into the passenger seat, before hauling herself behind the steering wheel.

Lucy began the procedure of rolling backward before gunning the old bus to life and steering it back up the road toward the manor.

It was still early enough to get to a shop in Arrowtown. Then she could buy a heater to plug in to her generator, and she could begin to clean the soot up. As the tires crunched over stones she leaned forward to peer out of her window.

The snow flurries were blocking out the horizon. Lucy could barely see where the tarmac ended and the roadside began.

As she drove further up the hill the snow was thicker, it lay across the hills like a sparkling white blanket.

The old bus was finally picking up speed, in her rear vision mirror she could see black fumes billowing out behind her.

She really needed to see a mechanic.

Suddenly it dawned on her.... Was the fire out? She hadn't thrown water on it. Lucy leaned back from the driver's seat and peered around. She couldn't see any fire... and the ash from the chimney should have smothered it. But she should pull over to be sure.

Lucy straightened herself and glanced back at the road, her heart slammed against her chest. Through the grey mist she could a hairpin corner in front of her.

All her father's advice about never braking on snow or ice flew out the window, and her foot instinctively slammed on the pedal.

Harder than she'd anticipated. Much harder. Adrenaline surged in her veins as the back wheels locked and she felt the truck moving out from below her.

Lucy straightened the wheel but it was already too late; the truck had left the road. She was mid-air about to meet her maker.