Free The Outback by David Clarkson

do this out of enthusiasm. He simply knew that the longer he
remained in bed, the more difficult he would find it to get up.
    ‘Jesus, you’re keen,’
said Colin.
    The Irishman was not
quite as prepared for the day to begin as his roommate.
    ‘We have another
wonderful day ahead of us in the field. Who wouldn’t be keen,’ joked Matt.
    He put on fresh
underwear, but the rest of the clothes he dressed in were the ones he had
discarded after the previous days graft. They were caked in mud, but dirt was
the least of his concerns. There was no escaping the grime of the field, so why
try? After all, there was little point in spoiling another set of clothes
simply for the sake of feeling a little bit fresher for a few hours.
    Rhett did not prove to
be as patient a chaperone as Joe and he repeatedly honked the horn until
everyone was out of bed, dressed and on the bus. Even though he was now the
boss and had arrived to take them to work, he sulked as if merely being there
was an inconvenience. It was like he was an annoyed parent dragged out of bed
in the middle of the night to go and collect a group of recalcitrant teenagers
who had long outstayed their curfew.
    Once all of the kids were
accounted for it was time to leave. The road they traversed was the same as the
previous day, but Matt was surprised by how little of it he recognised. That is
to say that there were no specific landmarks or unique features that he
recalled from the earlier trip. The road itself was all too familiar. It
started out in complete darkness until the rising sun split the world in half;
blue at the top and red at the bottom.
    Sam and Paul were again
the first to have arrived at the field and this time they set a small bonfire
to welcome their fellow workers. Once off the bus, everyone huddled around the
flames to warm themselves in its protective heat. Rhett allowed them all ample
time to bring their body temperatures up to a comfortable level before
beginning work. This was, of course, to ensure that he would get the most out
of them in the field, rather than an act of genuine kindness.
    Once sufficiently
warmed, the gang took their respective places around the tractor. As usual,
Stephen and Niall were separated from the group as they took on the duty of
clearing the large, deeper buried and harder to shift wood. Rhett went with
them, which came as a welcome relief to all but the two Irishmen.
    Matt was fortunate this
time to be given wide duty so he took the side where he would be throwing to
Colin. The Irishman insisted on this as he said that the temptation for his
friend to take revenge on Hiro was much too great for them to chance working
together so soon after the accident. Matt took this in good spirits, but it left
him wondering if the Japanese man was harbouring more guilt than he let on.
    The shift in duties also
afforded Matt with a more relaxing morning. He missed the camaraderie of
working as part of the pack, but solitude had advantages of its own. He was
pretty much free to set his own pace for the day. Naturally, he decided to take
it easy. So long as there was nobody standing over him cracking a whip he
reasoned that there were certainly worse jobs than stick picking.
    Morning smoko provided
him with his first opportunity for a bit of social interaction. Having spent
the morning further out in the field he was the last to make it back to the tractor.
By the time he got there several different groups had already formed. He knew
instantly which of these he wanted to join.
    The three Irishmen were
stood behind the trailer smoking and Matt guessed they were talking about Rhett
as they regularly glanced in his direction. The Australian remained deeper in
the field to tender one of the fires, which he had earlier made with Niall and
Stephen. This was most likely just an excuse for him to avoid having to attempt
any sort of socialising with the backpackers as there was nothing he could
possibly have in common with any of them.
    Jonas and