"Hook stepped back, the light glinting off his blade as his piercing scowl cut Peter's gaze, 'prepare to die, Peter.'
With a cheeky giggle Peter replied, 'Die? To die would be an awfully big adventure.'" -- J M Barrie.
Jade put the book down and looked over at Freya as she slept. The wisps of hair gently falling across her cheek as she slowly breathed, buried under her covers. "Love you sweetheart." She said as she carefully kissed her temple.
As quietly as possible, Jade left the room making her way down the stairs and into the living room. "Is she asleep?" Asked Chelsea.
"Flat out."
"She's going to miss you. We all are."
Jade felt the familiar lump in her throat grow, trying to strangle her as she struggled to speak. "She'll be fine. You're her mum, she needs you more than her auntie."
They shared a final glass of wine and shed more tears as they said their goodbyes. Before long Jade was walking away from her sister's house and into the warm night. The feeling of emptiness was her only company and what terrible company it was. By this time in two days she'd be in a new country, alone.
Even in winter Australia's temperature was far from cold. As Jade stepped from the plane she noticed that it felt similar to back home when she'd boarded the plane, the lack of rain the only difference.
"Did you pack your bag yourself?"
She wondered how many times the security officer had asked that question during his shift, that week, during his time in the job. "Yes I did."
"Any foods, seeds, medication or other items that could be considered contraband?" The cold, flinty faced security officer asked.
"There might be an open pack of nuts I bought on the plane and maybe some sweets but I didn't pack any foods as such. I do have painkillers too but they're just regular prescription items."
He pursed his lips as he began to search the pack, pulling out all of the neatly packed items and spreading them out untidily across the bench. The painkillers were taken to be checked and the nuts were confiscated. On finding the pack of sweets he wiped it over with a swab and tested it for known drugs.
Jade leant against the bench, half sitting half standing as the officer awaited the result. The myriad passengers coming through the baggage check was mind boggling. How they managed to check everyone and not miss anything was unbelievable.
"Would you mind coming with me please miss?"
Turning to look at the officer she noticed the plastic pouch he was holding had turned a sickly shade of green. "What's that?" She asked.
"It's a positive test for heroin. You'll need to come to an interview room."
She felt a hole forming below her feet as his words rattled on her ear drums. "Heroin? I've never touched the stuff. Jesus, I've never even seen it, wouldn't have a clue where I'd get hold of it."
"Come with me please." He ordered as he took her arm.
She was understandably worried. The terms for importation of drugs was serious with up to ten years in prison and huge fines. Walking with the security officer she wondered how the hell she was going to dig her way out of the situation.
"Take a seat!" He told her as he opened a door to a small room. As she sat down the door locked loudly behind her causing her to jump.
"This is ridiculous," she quietly said to herself, "how the hell would I get a positive test for any kind of drugs? This has to be a mistake or a wind up."
The windowless room was plain white, bland, featureless other than the few dark marks on the lower walls, probably from previous bored occupants who'd tried moving about in a vain attempt to entertain themselves. A faint smell of urine assaulted her sinuses as she sat on the flat wooden stool. She felt the gestapo would have been proud of the level of discomfort she was experiencing and she'd only been sat there for two minutes.
Her eyes wandered around the room, up to the ceiling, down to the floor, under the table and behind her. The only thing that stood out was the security camera in the top corner opposite her position. Sitting on the stool she leant forward onto the table, placing her arms down and lying her head on them, her blonde hair falling across her face.
There was no way of knowing how long she'd fallen asleep for but she woke with a jolt as the door opened and a woman entered. "Hello Miss Cantral, I'm officer Taylor. I need to ask you a few questions." She said as she moved around to the other side of the table.
"Could you tell me your full name?"
"Jade Alison Cantral"
"And what's your purpose for being in Australia"
"I'm attempting to walk from Cape Byron, across Australia to Steep Point."
The officer raised her head from the paper she was writing on with a look that called bullshit. She stared at Jade waiting for the other shoe to drop but it didn't. "You realise that's more than twenty five hundred miles. Are you nuts?"
"Actually it's two thousand five hundred miles as the crow flies. My route will be closer to three thousand miles."
With a blank expression the officer once again lowered her head to the page. "Have you taken or been in contact with any drugs during or before your flight?"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
The woman looked up again, "So how can you explain the positive test for heroin on your sweets?"
"Anything I tell you would be speculation. If I had to guess, it would have been on the hands of the person stacking the shelf at duty free, or someone with it on their hands picked up that pack and then decided not to buy them."
Using her tongue to suck her top teeth the woman once again dropped her head and wrote on the page. The door opened again as the original male officer asked to speak to Miss Taylor who moved away from her seat and left the room. Jade was exhausted from the trip, hungry since she hadn't eaten in hours and beginning to get a headache. She lay her head on the table again, falling asleep as she waited for someone to return.
It wasn't a deep sleep. She heard unintelligible voices as they neared the door and passed. There was a low buzz from air conditioning or ventilation, not to this room though. It was like an oven. A bland, smelly oven. Imagining her walk she looked up to see the bright blue clear sky, her blonde hair even lighter from the bleaching of the sun as it skirted low over the winter horizon, the warm breeze cooling her as her athletic legs carried the weight of her and her pack.
"Miss Cantral, you're free to go. We found no substances in your belongings."
Jade woke slowly and stood stretching before exiting the room to the fresh air of the corridor, into another room where her bag and items were all laid out and spread wide. "So you didn't think it would be courteous to repack my bag then?"
The woman raised an eyebrow, said, "we aren't paid to do your packing for you," turned and left.
She turned back to the mess in front of her and shook her head.
