Outback Affairs
Copyright Nikki Dark 2021
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Edited by Tex Beethoven
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All sexually active characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years or older.
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Sunday, January 13
th
1985
Brisbane, Australia
Madonna and Wham ruled the radio waves, shoulder pads were in, bikinis were high-cut, jeans high-waisted, and parachute pants were acceptable daywear. Goldie Hawn graced the cover of Playboy.
There was no internet back then (believe it or not, and any mention of it would only have earned you a puzzled look), and for siblings Jen and Andy, their summer appeared to be doomed to a landlocked equivalent of the doldrums when they were told they'd be visiting their Uncle Jack on his farm in the Australian Outback for several weeks so their mother could help him get the sheep station's finances back in order.
Leaving their home in Brisbane behind to endure the endless boredom of more than a month in the middle of what Andy called 'Bum-Fuck Nowhere' was
not
what they considered an acceptable version of their hoped-for summer entertainment. Their Aunt Alisha had tragically passed away a year ago from cancer, and Uncle Jack had experienced a hard time adjusting. Running his sheep station while bringing up his two nearly-adult children had been a struggle for him. Things had gotten away from him financially, and the bank holding his second mortgage was sharpening its knives.
May, their mother, was an accountant and something of a financial wizard, so she was going there to see if she could help save the station, and she'd offered up Andy and Jen as free labour for the summer. Their father had some major business project he was working on, so even though the two kids at barely eighteen (Andy) and nineteen going on twenty (Jen) could have looked after themselves perfectly well (and had said so numerous times), their mother had insisted they go along to help out their uncle.
"You realise that they're so far from civilisation it's like more than two hours just to the nearest town with a pub in it, right?" Andy complained. Having only recently turned eighteen, he couldn't believe he was being denied his summer of finally being allowed to saunter into pubs and nightclubs with his mates, not to mention all those same missed opportunities to pick up girls!
"Tell me about it," Jen agreed. "I mean, we're not exactly going to be near any sort of fashion mecca, let alone anywhere near a beach!"
May let their arguments wash over her. She'd heard them all before, and while they were generally good kids, she believed it would do them good to see what real labour was like, and to roll up their sleeves and contribute to their family's welfare.
"You reckon Kylie has even
heard
of Wham?" Jen asked her brother during the interminable journey into the back of beyond.
"I doubt it. They probably still listen to all that country shit we had to put up with last time we were there four years ago!"
"Hey, ease off, you two. It's not easy growing up out in the sticks. So instead of whining about what Kylie and Gary might not have heard of, why don't you use this chance to introduce your cousins to what's cool in the big smoke? I'm sure they'd appreciate getting ahead of the curve with their friends."
"What friends? They live so far from anywhere else, I'll bet they hardly ever see anyone at all," Jen moaned.
"Oh come on, it's not as bad as all that," May said with a sigh, even while she remembered how isolated her own childhood had been on the station.
They drove in silence until the next country town, where May pulled the Landcruiser into a petrol station, announcing it was time for fuel, lunch, toilets and snacks. While she filled the cruiser, Jen and Andy went inside the airconditioned restaurant attached to the petrol station, and wandered over to the magazines. Jen picked up the latest Cosmopolitan to add to her collection of magazines she'd brought along to share with her cousin Kylie. Despite her recent disparagement of any social life, she'd always quite liked the perky girl.
Andy waited until she'd moved on, then he grabbed a copy each of Penthouse and Playboy from the rack. Surely Gary, their other cousin, would appreciate the finer aspects of the naked female form as much as Andy did. Buying them was one small way he could celebrate his now being of age!
"Here, put this one on please, Mum," Jen said to her mother, passing forward from the back seat a mixed tape she'd put together. Andy was taking a turn in the front after their stop.
Like a Virgin
blasted from the radio, and Jen sang along, while May tried to ignore the sexual overtones. She knew any discussion on that topic would only make the journey seem even longer than it already was.
Hours later, they pulled up to the station's large farmhouse, bedecked with large return verandas to keep the stifling heat at bay. May honked the horn to announce their arrival, killed the engine, and all but fell out of the car. She stretched and groaned out loud as her two kids joined her in relieving the kinks from their long hours in the confined quarters.
Jen watched their relatives emerge from the house. She expected all three of the family to appear, but only two of them came out: her cousins Gary and Kylie.
She was astonished by how tall Gary had grown. She hadn't seen their cousins for around four years, and at twenty one he'd definitely grown into his body compared to the gangly and awkward teenager he'd been the last time they'd visited. The work on the farm had definitely been good for his physique, and she couldn't help but think if the other farm boys in the area looked this good, there might be hope for this trip after all.
Kylie on the other hand, didn't seem to have similarly benefited from the passage of time. Growing up on the farm, she'd always tended toward being a tomboy, and now there was still nothing in her appearance to suggest that had changed. At nineteen, she was only six months younger than the shapely Jen, butpolar opposite in appearance. With a boyish figure that her plain t-shirt and shorts did nothing to emphasise, no breasts to speak of, and a generous smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, Jen doubted she'd ever seen the end of a stub of lipstick, let alone the finer points of a decent makeover. She wondered whether they'd find anything to bond over; she hoped there'd be something.
"Hey Gary, hey Kylie," May called out. "It's great to see you again!"
"Hey Auntie May," Kylie called back happily, rushing forward to greet her aunt with a boisterous hug. Gary held back at first, but soon followed her lead, once his sister had disengaged.
"G'day Andy," Gary greeted his cousin, holding out a hand for a shake. Jen tried not to laugh when her brother visibly flinched when Gary took his hand and squeezed a little. She didn't call him out on it, not even when afterward he gave his hand a quiet shake when he thought no-one was looking. Before she could process much else, she found herself entangled in a wholehearted hug from her cousin Kylie.
"It's so good to have you here!" Kylie declared excitedly, before moving on to give Andy an equally enthusiastic hug.
"Where's your Dad?" May enquired when the greetings were over, and they were all walking into the house.
"Down in the back paddock fixing a fence," Gary answered.
"Typical; he couldn't let it wait until after we'd arrived!" May laughed.
"That's our Dad. If it has to be done, it gets done right away," Gary agreed. "At least he didn't drag me down there with him for once. He honestly thought he'd be done by the time you got here. He shouldn't be too much longer."
"It's not a problem," May assured her niece and nephew.
"So, I hope you don't mind Jen, but you're sleeping with me in my room, Andy is with Gary, and of course Aunt May gets the guest room to herself."
"We wouldn't have expected anything else," Jen said with a smile. "God forbid I'd have to share with this dork!" gesturing toward Andy.
"You should be so lucky," Andy laughed.
"Ugh, lots of boy stink!" Kylie ribbed the boys.
"That's
man
stink to you," her brother teased back.
"Just like a rose, stink by
any
name is still stink!" Kylie quipped, to end the exchange.
They spent the next twenty minutes dragging bags in and getting organised, until Jack finally returned from fixing the fence.
"You lot finally get here then?" he called out by way of greeting as he came inside, the ancient screen door banging closed behind him.
"We'd have been here sooner, but you live in the middle of fucking nowhere!" his sister teased before seizing him in a hug. She added, "How are you, ya big lug?" after she stepped back from the hug to size him up.
"Yeah, I'm not bad May. Better for you being here, though," he replied.
Jen and Andy emerged from the bedrooms with their cousins in tow to greet their uncle.
"Right, well given you're all here, I reckon I might actually knock off work a bit early," Jack declared.
"Good Lord, Dad, you feeling okay?" Gary asked his Dad in mock shock.
"We can head back out if you like," Jack replied. "Seem to recall you already slacking off most of the day."
"No, no, that's fine," Gary laughed. "How about instead I get us all some beers?"
"Now you're talking!" May said. Gary went in search of drinks while everyone else went outside to the generous veranda, where they sat chatting and catching up.
--- +++ ---
Monday January 14
th
"Tell you what, when I'm done here, I'm definitely taking a dip," Gary said late in the day to Andy, as they worked a fence line together.
"You still swim in that old water tank?" Andy asked.
"Yep. Other than taking a bath, it's about the only way to have a soak," his cousin replied. "At least we have water piped out here these days, not like when Dad was little and they only had the bore!
"I still remember how paranoid Mum was about us climbing up there when we were younger," Andy laughed.
"Oh hell, yeah. She was worried her soft little city kids would fall down and die! Hard to imagine that she actually grew up out here swimming in that thing herself."
"No kidding!" Andy agreed.
They finished ramming the last star-droppers in for the day, jumped into the old Land Rover and headed back to the house.
"Hey, you two, Andy and I are going for a swim, you interested?" Gary called to the two girls, who were on the veranda talking when they pulled up at the house.
"Sounds great!" Kylie called back.
