The Girl in the Yellow Vest by Loretta Hill Page B

White-Faced Herons flew out of the way of the ute as they reached the start of the jetty. This consisted of two roads sitting on trestles an average of fifteen metres above the water depending on where the tide was at. Each road provided a pathway, one going out to sea and one coming off. Three conveyors ran parallel to the roads, two through the middle and one on the side going out. As soon as the car boarded this lonely concrete road, walls made of conveyors and metal sheeting rose up around them, blocking out nature. The road was narrow with only a couple of passing bays along the way. She couldn’t see the ocean or even hear it among the whir of passing coal. Tonnes and tonnes of it travelling as fast as Will’s ute headed out to the ships with unrelenting efficiency. Moving between the two belts was like entering a roofless tunnel made of steel and concrete. Then all of a sudden they came to a T-junction and the view widened.
    They were on the wharf now. The concrete deck was much wider and she could see the ocean again as the conveyors moved out both to the left and to the right, heading straight for the shipping berths.
    Will turned the car out onto the right arm of the wharf where new construction was taking place. The new conveyor trusses were being installed a couple of storeys above the main deck. She noticed that there wasn’t much parking or space. The deck seemed crowded with utes, trucks, small cranes, other machinery and dongas.
    ‘Wow, this is incredible,’ she muttered. ‘I’m so glad you brought me.’
    He looked over at her and smiled. ‘Me too.’
    They unclipped their belts and got out of the car.
    ‘So what are you working on out here?’ she asked enthusiastically.
    ‘The access tower for the conveyors.’ He pointed this steel structure out to her.
    ‘Awesome.’
    ‘Do you want the tour?’
    ‘Of course.’
    They didn’t have to walk very far to see it all because everything was so big you could see it from any vantage point. But they made a leisurely stroll of it anyway. The wharf was mostly deserted, except for the occasional straggler. She felt like she was on a private tour.
    He pointed out the two giant shiploader cranes that stood as tall as his drive towers above the deck. The interesting thing about them, though, was that they could move and frequently did, along heavy rails embedded deep in the concrete on the wharf. The shiploaders did exactly as their name suggested. They loaded ships, guiding the coal off the conveyors and into the massive bellies of cargo carriers – like a dinosaur feeding its young.
    ‘And we’re installing another one,’ Will explained. ‘It’ll be arriving fully fabricated by ship in four weeks’ time. Caesar’s beside himself.’
    ‘Caesar?’
    ‘The project manager,’ he grinned. ‘Everyone around here has nicknames. You’ll get used to it.’
    ‘Ah-huh.’ She smiled.
    He was about to show her the shipping berths and the site of the new one under construction when he suddenly stalled.
    ‘
Oh shit
.’
    ‘What?’ She followed his gaze to see a tall, dark stranger talking to some welder near where their ute was parked. ‘Who’s that?’
    ‘Caesar.’
    ‘So what do we do?’ she asked.
    ‘Hide.’
    ‘Hide?’ she repeated dubiously as he grabbed her hand and yanked on it. ‘
Will
,’ she whispered hoarsely as he dragged her behind a nearby donga. ‘Wouldn’t it be better if we just came clean and you introduced me? I mean, he can’t be that bad, can he? He’ll forgive us.’
    He looked at her like she was crazy. ‘He’s not that sort of person.’
    ‘But –’
    He put a finger to her lips. ‘Ssshhh.’
    Perhaps it was the intimacy of his touch that stalled her rather than the threat of impending discovery. She suddenly realised that she had her hand tucked firmly into his, cradled against his leg. They stood shoulder to shoulder, his finger on her mouth. She could smell the faint scent of his deodorant and hear the gentle