Phoenix and the Bag Man

Chapter 14: Lucky for Me

A bright light appeared in amongst the silence and the water around me seemed to glow. I hadn't realised my eyes were open. It had hardly registered when the awareness was superseded by movement, by touch, swirling bubbles, noise, cold air, the sound of my wretching, the unbelievable physical sensation and relief of drawing breath. I became aware of voices; shouting, questions, answers, instructions being given in a language I did not understand but which I recognised.

"Michael, Michael, Oh my God, Michael!" A bright torch light flashed in and out of my eyes. Katyia's voice! It was like I had taken off a set of headphones and suddenly the outside world was crystal clear. Unintelligible instructions were machine-gunned around me and then a heavily accented voice told me to raise my arms. Strong hands gripped my wrists and I was dragged out of the water and up over the stinking mud and sodden grass. I glimpsed her scared face before I was again convulsed by wretching. I was shivering uncontrollably, painfully. I didn't know it could hurt so much. There was Katyia knelt beside me, clasping my hand in hers, and the faces of three or four men peering down at me, mere masks in the torch light. Katyia was looking up intently at one of them. He was speaking low and fast. He was the guy in charge. She looked at me, all business-like now. "We have to be careful that you don't get hypothermia. He says we have to strip you off and get you into dry clothes as quickly as possible. He says he was in the army and knows about this stuff." Suddenly Katyia's face lit up in a wicked grin. "I'm quite looking forward to it," she said and quickly bent down and kissed me on the forehead. There was a cheer and some laughter. The one who was in the army spoke rapidly to one of the others who set off at a run. A young guy who did not look any older than me took off his padded jacket and the army guy knelt down. "Sit up." He helped me upright, together with Katyia, and between them they stripped me bare chested and wrapped the coat around me. I saw he was soaked, too. He must have been the one who saved me. I managed to croak out a "thank you". He simply nodded his head. "I must get back to Aferdita now, and get you into a warm place." There was the sound of car tyres crunching over the gravelly track. He fired off another salvo of instructions. I tried to sit up "Bullimore?" I said.

"He's gone," said Katyia. Her new friends gathered round me to lift me up.

"It's OK I can walk,"

"No you cannot," said he who had been in the army and the three guys picked me up anyway. They bundled me into the back of Bullimore's 4WD, laying me across the seats. Again I struggled to sit up but the same guy said "Lie down!" in the kind of tone you don't argue with. Katyia slid in the other side and I found myself with my head in her lap, her hand in my hair. It was soft and warm and I closed my eyes as a wave of unbelievable tiredness swept over me. "No sleeping! Open your eyes!" commanded army guy.

Katyia was talking at me but I wasn't really taking any of it in. The car bounced down the track. The cabin lights were on and all the glass shiny and reflective black. The heater blew, the engine revved and the tyres scrunched against the stony track, I was in a little universe all of its own inside a wall of sound, a cocoon of warm dampness and yellow light but in the back of my head another sound world beckoned where there was screaming and a roaring like a gale in trees and a blast of hot air and orange light as a door swung open, two arms outstretched towards me "Wake up, come on wake up!" Katyia was shaking me. I was awake. I heard it all.

"You heard it?" Phoenix's voice was soft, like a mother's.

"I heard it, I did not know what it was. I was frightened."

"Heard what?" asked Katyia. The doors were thrown open and the dusk flowed in on a wave of cool air.

"I dunno, I dunno."

There were dim outside lights that created yellow pools and deep, dark shadows. I did not recognise where we were. Katyia was out of the car and together with another was pulling me out from the back seat half carrying me, half holding me up. I tried to put my legs down, could not feel my feet touch the ground. They felt like lumps of wood. I stumbled.