Lucy called Lightning over to her when she reached the gate. He’d been her horse since she was thirteen. She’d felt quite guilty leaving him when she moved to Melbourne for university. The black horse came trotting up, a big golden mare followed right behind him. Lucy gave her mother’s mare, Kunama, a scratch behind the ears and an apple for good measure, before letting the smaller black horse out through the gate. Kunama tried to follow Lightning through and neighed and stomped when Lucy blocked her.
Lucy stared at the mare for a few moments, looked back towards the house, then opened the gate again and led both horses to the stable. She saddled both of them up and walked them back up the driveway towards the house.
Liz was cutting onions when Lucy went back into the kitchen. She wiped her eyes as she turned to her daughter.
“That was quick,” she tried to joke.
“Put that down.” Lucy reached for the knife her mother was holding.
“What are you doing, Lucy?”
“Come for a ride,” Lucy tugged on her mother’s arm, trying to drag her out of the kitchen.
“I can’t, I’ve got to—”
“It can wait forty minutes. I’ve got Kunama all saddled up. Come on, Mum. It’s a beautiful day out there.”
“But what about Tim? You don’t want me hanging around.”
“You’re right, I don’t, just come for the ride with me. Kunama needs a good gallop.”
“But what about… I need to cook, I have so much stuff to do, I—”
“Mum, shush. Come with me. Don’t waste your last day in the kitchen crying over bloody onions.”
Liz relented.
“Let me change.”
Lucy waited outside with the horses. Lightning kept head-butting her, looking for more apples or treats in her pockets. Kunama stared stonily at the house, ears flickering, until Liz came out. She neighed in what Lucy assumed was pleasure and trotted over to Liz.
“Hello, beautiful girl,” Liz murmured into Kunama’s mane, as she hugged the horse. “I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you.”
Mother and daughter mounted up.
“We’d better tell your father where we’re going.” Liz turned Kunama’s head towards the patch of trees that hid the bomb shelter. Lucy hadn’t been out there for years, not since she was a kid. She remembered playing games out there with her sister and cousins, and one year when the bushfires had been really bad and gotten worryingly close, Bill had had them all hide down there until it was safe to come out again.
“Bill, are you there?” Liz called out. Lucy exchanged a glance with her mother as they heard a thud and a muffled curse. A few moments later, Lucy’s father’s shaggy head appeared in the entrance to the shelter.
“Going for a ride?” He asked, eyeing the horses. Liz nodded.
“Lucy’s going to visit Tim for a little while and I’m just going up to make sure she gets there okay. I’ll be back soon.”
“Good. Stay safe. I should be done in here by the time you get back, then I can help you with the feast.”
Liz smiled at him and Lucy waved over her shoulder as they turned the horses around and headed down the track. Lucy urged Lightning into a canter, and then all of a sudden Liz and Kunama leapt into a gallop. Not to be outdone, Lightning sprang forward. It was kind of funny how competitive the horses could be, Lightning in particular. Lucy didn’t think Kunama actually cared, but Lightning always needed to win, even if it nearly killed him. Kunama was bigger, her stride was longer, but Lightning nearly always won. Lucy would barely be able to hear Kunama breathing, while poor old Lightning would sound like he needed an asthma pump.
Lightning and Lucy soon pulled even with Liz and Kunama, and then passed them. Lucy grinned at her mother whose hair was flying free and who actually looked happy for the first time since they’d found out.
CHAPTER TWO
Two months ago…
There had been rumours floating around for months, but with no confirmation from the space agencies or governments, most people had ignored them, assuming it was just another asteroid like Apophis, or DA14 if they thought about it at all. It might come close, but that was it. That didn’t stop a lot of amateur astronomers from noticing the asteroid seemed to be quite large and heading on a collision path with Earth, and it didn’t stop the conspiracy theorists from picking up on the news. Of course, a lot of people just put it down to the usual crazy Doomsday nuts and didn’t pay any attention. Lucy was one of those people. She hadn’t realised at the time that her father wasn’t.
She was sitting at her desk, sipping at her freshly brewed tea, waiting for the beep in her ear to let her know a call was about to drop in and day-dreaming about the holiday to Spain she’d booked for September. She was wondering if Steve, her new boyfriend, would call to see her that night, when her phone rang. Her heart skipped a beat, but when she looked at the caller ID it was her best friend, Jessica. Not Steve. She glanced up at her boss, but he wasn’t looking in her direction.
“Hey, Jess. What’s up?”
“Are you watching this?” Her voice sounded about three octaves higher than usual.
“Watching what?”
“The asteroid.”
“The what?”
“Oh God. Shit. Lucy, turn on the TV. Right now.”
“I can’t, I’m at work. What’s going on? Jess?”
Lucy could hear her friend starting to hyperventilate.
“Deep breaths, Jess. What asteroid? What are you talking about?”
There was silence on the phone as Jess took a moment to compose herself.
“You know the asteroid that those crazy people keep talking about?”
“Mmm.”
“Well apparently they’re not so crazy after all. Some bloke at NASA told some journalists yesterday and the President of the United States just confirmed it. He said there’s nothing that they can do.”
Lucy just blinked. Nothing? Rubbish. Of course there was something they could do.
“Ha ha, sorry to tell you, Jess, April Fools is four months away.”
Lucy heard a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.
“I’m not kidding, Lucy.”
Lucy hung up. After a moment she logged onto Facebook. Her news feed had gone mad. She logged onto a national newspapers website.
END OF THE WORLD over a picture of a massive asteroid colliding with the Earth, screamed up at her. Holy shit, she thought.
Lucy clicked on the main article.
In breaking news, the President of the United States of America has confirmed that the asteroid Cecilia, which is larger than the asteroid that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs, will most likely collide with Earth in a matter of weeks. After several high-level denials over the past six months, the government was forced to admit to the oncoming disaster after NASA astronomers Reg Thompson and Constance Walker confirmed in a press conference yesterday afternoon, that Cecilia is on a collision path with our planet and all efforts to divert the asteroid have so far failed.
“I urge all Americans, and people around the globe, to remain calm. While it is true that all attempts so far have failed, we do have the very top people looking into the best methods of dealing with this problem, and they will continue to do so until the last possible minute. We must have faith. I repeat, please remain calm,” the President said from Washington. Later in the press conference the President confirmed that all known methods of diverting the asteroid had been attempted and were unsuccessful. When asked what methods remained, the President became evasive.
“Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Above all, remain calm,” was the message from Downing St.