Outback

“Whatever you need, munchkin. Whatever you need. They destroyed us both, one way or another. Cathy and her family helped put me back together. Now your entire family, including your wife, will do the same for you.”

She waited until it was the right time, sometime in the morning in the UK. She asked us to wait in the kitchen as she set everything up. I didn’t watch but I eventually heard a voice I hadn’t heard in thirteen years. I froze up when I did, feeling my fists curl. Cathy immediately had a hand on my shoulder. There were only four people in the world who could anger me so quickly.

“Belinda, we’ve been so worried. Where are you, sweetie? Tony and I have been to the police, reported you as missing.”

“Hello, Sally,” my daughter replied coldly, “Just one moment. There are some people you need to meet.”

That was my cue first. I walked into the living room, walking around the lounge and sitting next to my daughter. She snuggled into me, kissing the top of her head, before I looked at the screen. I hadn’t seen her in a long time. She’d obviously had plastic or cosmetic surgery. She looked awful. I remembered Sally as a young, beautiful woman. I barely recognised the woman on the screen.

Her eyes went wide in surprise. I didn’t say a thing otherwise. “Mark,” she whispered.

Cathy walked in next, sitting to the other side of Katie, leaning over to kiss me before she kissed Katie on the cheek. Jennifer walked in next, choosing to sit on the floor between Katie’s legs, my daughter playing with her hair. Ely and Bill sat to either side of Cathy and I, while Kelly and Jim stood behind us. The jaw on the screen had already dropped.

“Meet my family, Sally. This is my daddy. You kidnapped me thirteen years ago and…”

“No, I…”

“Shut up, bitch!” Jennifer shouted, “You don’t talk now. You will listen. Then you will forget Katie exists.”

I honestly thought Sally would just cut the connection but I remembered what she was like. She would attempt to cajole, manipulate, even threaten. “As I was saying, you kidnapped me thirteen years ago. You and Tony. How does it feel to have your heart ripped out now? Oh, I love you so much, Mum. I’m so sorry for being so mean. Oh, I love what you’ve done for me.” She made some kissing sounds. “This is my mother, Cathy. Remember how I said you lost that title long ago? Cathy has already earned that title in the one day I’ve known her. To either side is Bill and Ely, my mother and father’s parents, and my grandparents. And you obviously remember Kelly. She was dragged into everything you did. She’s told the truth. Mark knows everything you did. You destroyed him. You destroyed our family.

This will be the last time you hear from me, Sally. And I know far more than you reckon. I’ve got all the documentation with me to prove you and whoever helped you forged my father’s signature. Just taking me out of the country in such a manner was completely and utterly illegal, but if I really wanted to, I could go to the police and go over thirteen long years of mental abuse…”

Sally shook her head. “No… no… No, we never…”

“I heard enough over the years, Sally. The conversations you thought you had in private.” I glanced at Katie, the evil grin on her face. “I heard all the thoughts that Tony had about me over the years. And you know the funny thing is? He was absolutely right. How does it feel now, Sally? Your heart was so full of love for your oldest daughter. Now you know it was a lie. I’ve hated you since the day you took me away from my daddy. I hated Tony from the moment he was forced into my life. You’re a slut, cheating on my daddy in such a manner. A wanton whore for someone who just showed you a little bit of bling and you happily spread your legs for him. Nothing but a fucking trollop. I don’t just hate you, I despise your very fucking existence.” She took a deep breath. “But you can’t hurt me anymore,” she said softly, “I’m now home with my daddy. I know you tried to break him on purpose with the help of Tony, Brian, John and Cheryl. I know all your secrets. I will tell daddy all I know. I understand it will hurt him, but he deserves to know the truth. I can sit back and laugh at how well I manipulated all of you because I learned from the best.”

Sally had her head in her hands. She was sobbing. “How does it feel, bitch?” I growled, feeling Kelly caress my shoulder.

She looked up at my tone. “All I ever wanted…”

“No-one here cares what you want,” Katie interrupted, “I am now here with my family. My Mum and Dad. My grandparents. Auntie and uncle. And also my wife.”

“You’re… what?”

“I’m a lesbian, Sally. Full blown carpet muncher.” Jennifer roared with laughter at the description. “We married as soon as I turned eighteen. It was so she could come home with me.”

“This is your home…”

“It was never my home. It was just the place I lived. I bided my time until I was older. I researched. I planned. And then I manipulated you all perfectly. And you all fell for it. I really should be an actress. It’s also left its scars. But daddy will help me now. He’ll help his little girl, the one you stole from him.

All that money Tony gave me? Saved and now I have a nice little nest egg here to use. All the gifts? Left them behind. My love could never be bought. But I’ve got the documents. I will be visiting a lawyer and asking if charges can be brought. If they can, I will be returning to the UK to see you and Tony in a courtroom with whatever they can throw at you.” She leaned forward. “I might just use that threat I used when I was thirteen. My word again his word. You know I’m a good actress, Sally. Who do you think they’re going to believe?”

I almost shuddered at two things. The tone she used and the implied threat. It wasn’t difficult to understand what she would accuse him of. I gently pulled her back. She looked at me and smiled, but I saw the pain in her eyes. I kissed her forehead, hearing her sigh, as she snuggled against me again.

“You tried to break me,” I finally said, “I’m not sure what I did to you while we were together. I worked hard. I provided for you and my child. I was never violent. Never threatened. Never intimidated. Never even raised my voice. I doted on my daughter and showed you nothing but love. I can understand it not being enough for someone. But to do what you did to me with the help of my parents, that just beggars belief. It wasn’t just cruel; it was plain evil.

Katie is home now. She will stay with me for as long as he needs. You don’t need to know where she is. You’re no longer her mother. You’re no longer her family. She has all she needs here. You made me miss thirteen years of her life. You made me miss thirteen important years. I missed my little girl growing into the beautiful young woman she quite clearly is now.

I should be angry at you. I should be apoplectic with rage. But you know what? I pity you. You’re pathetic. And, in a way, I’ve won. Being honest, there are no real winners and losers in this, but I can sit here with my daughter cuddled into my side, and smile. I’ve won. I’ve got my daughter back. I’ve got a wife I love and cherish, and who returns those feelings.”

“Light and love of my life,” my wife whispered. I enjoyed Sally’s reaction. She heard the love and adoration in six short words.

“My lovely wife, who has provided me with four children. I have parents who I love. Not John and Cheryl, they’re dead to me, I mean Ely and Bill here. Ely has hugged me more than Cheryl ever did. Bill is my father. End of. My sister is back in my life, and she told me everything, Sally. Everything. I know who you are. You’ve got a black heart and a dark soul. I pity your children that you’re raising with him. They don’t stand a chance.

Katie will have my support in whatever she chooses to do. Part of me hopes something can be done about what you did to us. But I also don’t want her to go through the heartache again. Me? I say bring it on. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than seeing you sent down for what happened. I think it’s fantasy but if Katie can act as well as I think she can, I could see both of you seeing prison time. But it will depend on Katie.”

“Wait for the knock on the door, bitch,” Katie warned.

I looked around. “Anyone else have anything to say?”

“I have plenty to say but there’s no point,” Cathy said, “You weren’t the only one to win, GG.”

“GG?” Katie asked.

“Gentle giant,” I whispered. That made her giggle, cuddling into me. I closed my eyes and kissed her forehead. “Love you, munchkin.”

“I love you, daddy.”

I opened my eyes to see Sally’s face. Crestfallen. Wet cheeks. I should have enjoyed the moment. But she looked pathetic. Pitiful. But more importantly…

Broken.

“Goodbye, Sally. We won’t see each other again,” I said, leaning forward to disconnect before I blocked her.

The next few days were emotional, Katie and I spending time talking about everything. She asked me to be honest about everything, absolutely everything. I warned her it would upset her, but she said I was her daddy, and I would make her feel better. Explaining those first few months broke her. I had to spend an entire week assuring her I no longer had those thoughts. Cathy had helped put me back together. Her being home meant my life was now complete.

As for Katie, she did her best to tell me everything that happened. But what caused me to break down and sob were the diaries she kept, every year from the age of nine. “I tried to keep them earlier, but my teachers found them and told Sally. So I had to hide them better at home.”

I read them all over the next few months. It wasn’t a day to day diary, but I’d lie back on the bed, Katie snuggled next to me, and she’d explain certain things depending on what I read. There were a few tears from both of us during certain times. Then came when she was fifteen when she’d found me.

Dear Daddy,

I found you! My god, I can’t believe I actually found you! And you still love me! Sally has been telling me for years that you stopped loving me. She almost hoped you were dead. But you’re alive! And you have a new family. But you’ve never forgotten me.

I’m fifteen, daddy. I’m too young to go flying across the world to find you. But I’m smart. Smarter than Sally and Tony think. I’ve learned from her, how to act, how to treat people, how to manipulate. I’ve studied, daddy. I’m going to be better than Sally.

I’m going to hate myself for what I’m going to have to do, but I need to do it. She tore your heart out, daddy. She tore mine out too. I hate her. I HATE HER!!! But I have to swallow down that hate, daddy, for what I need to do next. I need to make her hurt just half as much as she hurt you and me. That means I’m going to become someone else for the next three years or so. I have a plan in my head. I’m not sure it’ll work, but I’ve spent years watching Sally.

I’d love nothing more to send you a message right now, daddy. Tell you how much I love you. How much I miss you. And that I’m hurting just as much as you are. But we’ll be together again soon, daddy. I promise you that. Three years will hurt us both more, but I need to do this for both of us.

Love you so much,

Katie

Her last entry was the day before she flew out.

Dear Daddy,

I look in the mirror and see a stranger. In many ways, I am my mother’s daughter. I truly have learned from the best. The only person in my life who got me through this for the past eighteen months is Jennifer. She’s the love of my life. I know there will be two best days of my life. The first was marrying my wife. The second will be the day we reunite, daddy. I’m already daydreaming about it, wondering what that moment will be like. I usually end up in tears as I describe it to Jennifer while staying at her apartment.

I’m in the house I’ve lived since arriving at five years old. Sally and Tony have no idea what I’m doing tomorrow. They still think I’m the model daughter, who loves her mother dearly, and loves her step-father more than her own daddy. Gag!

I honestly don’t know how I’ve done it at times, daddy. It’s been torture the entire time, but I had to remember the plan. This has to hurt. Hurt badly. As much as I know it hurt you. Tony, I don’t really care about, but it has to hurt Sally. Three years, I’ve shown her nothing but love and affection every single day. She doesn’t have a fucking clue what I’m going to do to her.

My things are waiting at Jennifer’s. She’s coming in a taxi tomorrow morning. The house will be empty. Tony will go to work. Sally will take the kids to school before she goes to meet her friends. I do feel sorry for the kids in a way, but the fault lies with Sally and Tony. They can say what they want about me in the end.

I look around this room and see objects designed to buy my love. It never worked, daddy. I try really hard to remember my childhood, but it’s so long ago, the memories are fleeting. What I do remember is laughter. And the park. It was something so simple, but I remember you pushing me on the swing, or helping spin me around. You’d talk to other mothers while I played with my friends. I remember some of the mothers seemed to like you, daddy. I sometimes wish you were with one of them instead of Sally. Maybe all this…

This will be my last entry, daddy. Tomorrow, my wife and I will fly to Singapore, a quick stopover, before we fly into Brisbane. Auntie Kelly will be meeting us there, before we fly to Longreach. Then, on Sunday, I will see my daddy for the first time in…

I’m crying again, daddy, but it’s okay. I’m crying because they’re happy tears. I will no longer have to lie to myself. I will be free. My wife will be with me as I see my real family for the first time in far too long. I know I’m going to be a nervous wreck. I hope the first meeting is all I hope it will be.

I’ll see you soon, daddy. I love you so much. I’ve never stopped from the day I was taken. It’s my love for you that kept me going.

Your loving daughter,

Katie

*****

Epilogue

Katie

Therapy helped. I needed it. Dad joined me after a little while to deal with what happened. After explaining all I’d done, the therapist was worried, but after seeing my relationship with my father, the fact it was genuine and loving, my father and I simply explained all our feelings about what happened. He helped us deal with the lingering effects of everything. I kept going every couple of weeks, but my father was made of strong stuff. Cathy, Ely and Bill had been his therapists long ago.

Never did go after Sally and Tony regarding any possible legal routes. After that last conversation, Dad never gave them another thought, though promised support if I wanted another dose of revenge. Took longer for me, the therapy helped, but soon enough I forgot they existed. And as they had no way of contacting us, we haven’t heard from them since. Kelly does hear about the people back in Sydney. John’s dead. Died of a heart attack two years after I came home. Kelly told my dad. He barely reacted. It was like hearing a stranger had died. It meant nothing. Cheryl is already with a new partner, apparently the man she was having her long affair with. Brian is single, paying child support to three ex-wives, apparently three steps from being a full blown alcoholic.

The farm was sold for millions. My grandfather retired and headed to the north-east coast with my grandmother, buying a small house in a retirement community. Dad, Mum, my brothers and sisters, Jennifer and I, Kelly and Jim, we all followed them, though we moved to a larger town not far away. Dad found a job as a civil engineer, just like he used to be. Mum surprised everyone by stating she’d be a stay at home mother, but would pick-up part time work. Jennifer and myself? We moved in next door. Kelly, Jim and my cousins? Moved in the other side. Dad and Jim had bought the three plots of land and ensured our houses were built to the specifications we all wanted.

Dad didn’t have to work, not with the money the family had in the bank, but he needed to keep himself busy, though he was always in the door by six at night at the latest. He warned the company if they started giving him work away, he’d quit on the spot. The memories of what happened lingered. Cathy would never do that, of course. She loved my father so much… Jim started his own business as a tradie, again ensuring he never worked too far away from his wife and family, simply because he was utterly devoted to Kelly and his kids.

My grandfather got his wish of retiring by the ocean. It was Saturday. Dad was loading up his kids into their minivan. They were well-behaved, polite, well raised. Good kids. Matthew was now fifteen, definitely a little version of my father in many ways. Michelle was… gorgeous. She was going to be fighting off attention once she started dating. Ricky was still shy but growing into his personality. Samantha was just… too freaking adorable for her own good. My father doted on her. In a way, he was experiencing everything with her and Michelle that he’d missed with me. He’d occasionally glance my way and I’d see the flash of pain.

We’d immediately enjoy a long hug, reassuring each other everything was now okay. I barely spent a day without seeing my father, and I hugged him constantly. Thirteen years of hugs needed to be made up for.

As for Jennifer and I, we loaded up our car with our two children. Two little boys. We’d given birth to one each. Artificial insemination, though Jennifer had joked about my father knocking her up after I gave birth to our first. “He’s clearly got good genes,” she had said. I’d seen the humour.

When she did mention it the next time we visited, Cathy burst into laughter while watching my father blush was funny as my wife went into detail about why she thought it was a good idea. “Never had dick in me before,” she mused, “Well, not a real one anyway. Used to plastic fantastic if it’s not other things.”

“Jennifer!” I cried, feeling heat creep into my cheeks, “That’s my father!”

“I’m sure he’s seen lesbian porn before, sweetie.”

Cathy roared with laughter again, leaning into my father, who blushed even brighter. Then he looked at me. “Your wife sometimes, munchkin. Is she not getting enough sex at home?”

I smirked. “She gets plenty, daddy. Want details?”

“No, I heard enough back at the farm.” I definitely blushed again. Cathy kept on laughing. I guess we hadn’t always been quiet. Then again, we heard those two from time to time, and Cathy wasn’t quiet about… well, I’m glad my father made her so happy in more ways than one. “Jennifer, while I’m, er, flattered, I had a vasectomy after our fourth.”

“Damn. There goes that idea…”

“Trust me, Jen, he’d just look at me sometimes and I’d feel the baby kicking afterwards,” Cathy stated, “He needed to be snipped. Condoms suck and the pill ruins my libido.”

It was only a short drive to the beach where we’d meet our grandparents. No surprise our grandfather was already enjoying a dip in the ocean. He would always go first thing in the morning, and enjoy a last dip in the evening before dark. There was enough of a swell that he could occasionally make an attempt at surfing. Daddy had liked surfing in his younger days, so he tried showing his father, Jim was interested in trying, and Matthew also had his own board.

We were not meeting for any other reason than we were family and enjoyed being around each other. Living together at the farm hadn’t been a problem. Jennifer and I both went to university, studying at home, and then found jobs that allowed us to work at home until we left the farm behind. Anyone who complains about being stuck around their partner all day is in a bad relationship. Jennifer and I loved spending all day together, mostly because we’d organise our lunch break so we could be naughty together. Our kids were also old enough to know they had two mothers and no dad. We explained it as simply as we could, though my father was just as much a father to my children as his own.