The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots (3 page)

What’s that supposed to mean?
Her nerves shot through the roof. ‘I’ve been working six months now and there hasn’t been one complaint, thank you very much.’ Too late she realised she had protested too much.

‘Don’t get your knickers in a knot,’ Carl shot back. ‘That’s not what I was getting at. Just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you won’t get stepped on.’

Her brain latched onto the first part of his last sentence. He thought she was smart. Her heart jumped with hope. Had somebody said something? Had she come with a recommendation?

‘Perth said you were as green as a cucumber.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘So don’t do anything without consulting me first. I have no time to make sure you don’t fuck up.’

‘I have no intention of f– . . . stuffing up.’ She straightened her back. ‘You have no right to judge me. I haven’t done any work for you yet. You –’

He held up a hand for silence, nodding impatiently. ‘Yes, yes, yes. I fully realise your feelings, etc., etc. But fuck, why are you here if you expect to sit in an ivory tower and be admired?’

‘I’m here,’ she gritted her teeth, ‘to get some good experience as an engineer. Experience I couldn’t get if I remained in the city.’

I’m here to prove I deserve my degree.

He scratched his head. ‘Well, if that’s what you’re after then I’ll be damned if the Pilbara won’t give it to you. But do us all a favour. Get yourself a uniform and boots – steel-capped. Tie up your hair and –’ he waved a hand at her in helpless frustration, ‘I don’t suppose there’s anything you can do about the rest of it.’

The news that fashion was frowned upon on the Pilbara was depressing but she was reasonable enough to note that perhaps there was just cause for the concentration camp outfit. She couldn’t take everyone staring at her all the time. She wanted to blend in. Besides, from the look of the place, the uniform was the only clothing hardy enough to take the punishment. ‘I will see what I can do,’ she replied gruffly.

Carl opened his desk drawer, pulled out a manila folder and pushed it across to her. ‘Here’s something you can get on with.’

‘What is it?’ Lena flipped open the file.

‘We’re compiling a spreadsheet of all steel piece marks on the drawings. The drawing files are in the cabinet next to the office entrance.’

‘You want me to do data entry? Can’t you get a secretary to do that?’

‘For now we need you to do it.’ His phone rang and his hand was on the receiver before she could utter another word. He spun his chair around so that his back was to her and started talking.

‘Don’t fuck with me. Those parts were supposed to arrive two days ago. I’m not fucking around because some fucker –’

Lena didn’t wait to hear what the ‘fucker’ had done. She stood up, sucking a breath in between her teeth. Frankly, she was very disappointed with Carl Curtis and his language difficulties. Everything was unfolding just as she had feared. Even without knowing the whole truth about her, the Pilbara Barnes Inc crew thought she was useless. If she wanted this
posting to change things for her, she was going to have to fight for every opportunity. And fight hard.

She could almost feel Kevin’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. Chills feathered down her spine as she fought to suppress the memories. ‘How can I believe in someone who spent more energy on her wardrobe than on a subject at the heart of her degree?’
No one’s asking
you
to believe any more, Kevin.

She stepped out of the office and found that Mike hadn’t bothered to wait for her.

‘Great,’ she muttered under her breath. ‘Where am I supposed to go now?’

Someone standing behind the kitchen counter was watching her – a tall gentleman, broad shouldered, slim hipped and chisel jawed. He was dressed in the usual site shirt, blue jeans, an orange and yellow reflector vest and a pair of worse-for-wear steel-capped boots. This was complemented by a coat of dust and sweat. Nonetheless, there was something appealing about him. Cowboys. Smelly and dirty, they still managed to be attractive.

‘Good afternoon,’ she said.

‘Hey.’ He inclined his head, crow’s feet crinkling his laughing eyes.

Buoyed by his friendly expression, Lena approached the counter. ‘I’ve just started here and I don’t know where I’m supposed to go next. Mike, the guy who was showing me around, seems to have disappeared.’

He grinned and Lena’s confidence rose to the next level. He had perfect white teeth and beautifully shaped lips. She smiled back with unreserved enthusiasm.

‘Mike has a tendency to get distracted.’ He held out a hand. ‘I’m Gavin, the piling engineer. They told us you were starting.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. Believe me,’ he glanced around, ‘this place could do with someone like you.’

‘Thanks,’ Lena crooned somewhere between incredulity and relief. ‘I plan to do the very best I can. I really want to make a difference here. And I’m just so glad that not everyone is so unwilling to give me a proper chance.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Gavin shook his head. ‘You’re a godsend. Look, if Mike isn’t around, I could probably give you a few pointers.’ He looked at her shorts. ‘But have you got anything to get changed into?’

Lena groaned. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve already spoken to Carl about getting a uniform . . . well, sort of.’

‘Oh okay,’ he nodded. ‘Well, when you’ve changed, you should probably start in the kitchen. As you can see,’ he gestured at the full sink, ‘it by far needs the most work. We haven’t had a proper cleaner since the project started. This dirt is months old. I think there are some mops and cleaning products in the steel container out back.’

This statement took less than a second to suck all the joy out of Lena’s smile.

‘What did you say?’

‘I have no idea if we have a vacuum,’ Gavin continued, unperturbed. ‘But I’m pretty sure there’s a few brooms out there too. Geez, it would be so good to have this place clean.’ He winked at Lena. ‘Like I said before. You’re a godsend.’

After that disaster of a first day, all Lena wanted was a cup of tea and a quiet evening alone. She needed a chance to regroup, maybe call Robyn, have a whinge. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. Firstly, there was no mobile reception in the camp. And secondly, she had a dinner date with three hundred and fifty men who hadn’t seen a new female on site in months. It was going to be hard to keep a low profile. Being a female on site was almost like being a celebrity. Everybody knew her even though she didn’t know them. She’d been there just over two hours but word had spread like a cold on an aeroplane. By the time she walked into the mess, there were guys greeting her by name.

The mess reminded her of school camps. Trestle tables and plastic chairs were set up in neat rows across most of the room. The food was served buffet style, presided over by two male chefs.

As soon as she spotted Gavin, she made a beeline for him. Despite their earlier misunderstanding, he was the only person in the room she recognised. The sleazy grins being thrown at her from other tables were making her nervous. Better the devil she knew.

‘I have to admit,’ Gavin said as she sat down beside him, ‘after my mistake this afternoon, I thought I’d be the last person you’d want to sit next to.’

Some of the tension eased out of her body under his apologetic smile. He was, after all, still both good-looking and friendly.

‘That’s all right,’ she sighed.

‘Can we start over?’ He held out his hand.

‘Sure.’ Lena nodded, taking it. She needed a friend on site and if he was offering, she wasn’t about to turn him down. She really missed Robyn and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours yet.

‘Hey, Gav,’ one of the other boys at their table interrupted, ‘you going to hog her or what?’ He – in fact most of them – winked at her.

Gavin grinned at the expectant faces. ‘Guys, this is Lena. Lena, these are the barge boys.’

The barge boys were friendly, abrasive and completely sexist. If Lena had been at a party in the city, she might have enjoyed the attention. But she had to work with these people and spent the next couple of hours constantly drawing the line. If only they didn’t keep stepping over it.

The experience certainly played a part in Lena’s decision to dress down the next day. She didn’t want to be constantly playing second fiddle to her sex. She wanted to be taken seriously as an engineer – gender irrelevant. The uniform shirt Mike gave her was a size small but hung loosely from her and she bunched it up so as not to over-accentuate her waist. Not that much waist was afforded by her oldest, droopiest pair of cargos. They’d do her until she could get some unflattering army pants of her own. She tied her hair back in an extra boring ponytail – too low to be bouncy, too high to be sophisticated. Then she doubled it over so her curls were hidden.

She refrained from make-up, which cost her a pang. But serious times called for a serious face, so she confined herself
to lip balm and a SPF 15+ moisturiser. When she was done, she stood back from her mirror and smiled: plain, frumpy and utterly unworthy of a second glance.

Lena was so caught up in her drastic physical transformation that she missed her ride with the management team to site. Gavin told her they left every morning in a ute convoy at quarter to six. She’d have to catch one of the bus runs with the labourers – they started at six-fifteen and nearly everyone would be out by half past.

She regretted her slowness the second she saw the bus.

It was like high school all over again. They were hanging out the windows yelling expletives at each other, sitting by the wheels eating their breakfast or leaning on the back door having their last cigarette before the day began. When they saw her approaching the vehicle, their focus turned.

‘Oh ho ho, Lena is coming with
us
.’

The men leaning on the bus straightened, the smokers dropped their cigarettes and stomped them out. Then they all scrambled to get on the bus before she did.

Her heart sank. Plain Jane hadn’t worked. As she got closer, she wondered if it had made any difference at all. They were all speaking about her like she wasn’t even there.

‘She’s not gunna sit next to you. You smell like a pig’s arse.’

‘You think you’re any better, mate? They can smell your pits in the back row.’

Lena cringed as she put her foot on the step at the front of the vehicle. The driver grinned down at her.

‘G’day, g’day, g’day. Haven’t we got a special guest this morning?’

‘Hi,’ she said quietly. ‘Have you got room?’

‘Have we got room, boys?’

There was a chorus of ‘Bloody oath. Yes!’ and she heard the chaotic shuffling of bodies, pushing and shoving, and groans, followed by more expletives.

‘Don’t just stand there,’ the driver said. ‘Get on.’

Lena hauled herself up the step and stood at the top of the bus aisle.

Just remember, you’re doing this for your career.

She surveyed the situation. Technically, the bus was full. The seats that were available had been squeezed vacant by men who had pushed their mates onto the floor or up against the windows.

A man with a thick Scottish accent was yelling at the guy beside him. ‘Get up. Can’t you see the lass needs a seat? Over here, me darlin’. Plenty of room.’

Lena desperately wanted to crawl into herself. She took two steps forwards and sank quietly into the nearest seat, avoiding eye contact with the leering guy beside her. The driver started the engine just as a latecomer hopped onto the bus. Once more the bus fell into pandemonium. The men started stamping their feet and yelling abuse at him.

‘Fuck off, yer bastard! Can’t you see there’s no room! Get off!’

Immediately the seats that had been created for Lena filled as squashed bodies expanded.

‘Fuck yers!’ the latecomer cried out, giving everyone the finger before turning away and jumping off the bus to wait for the next run. The men all laughed at him and the guy sitting next to Lena nudged her in the ribs.

‘Don’t worry, love, I’ll look after ya.’

She smiled weakly and he grinned till she thought his teeth might pop out and smack her in the face.

Lena swore on her favourite handbag she’d never be late for the management ute convoy again.

On her sixth day on site, Lena realised her life had finally come down to two options:

1. Take it.

2. Leave it.

‘What’s wrong this time?’ Robyn demanded, when she made yet another emergency call to Perth from her dusty cubicle.

‘No one here will listen to me. My opinion is worth less than the new cleaner’s – and she just pushes red sand from one side of the office to the other.’

‘Maybe she should be using a vacuum instead of a broom.’

‘Robyn,
focus
.’

‘
Okay
.’ Her best friend’s voice was sulky. ‘But I really don’t know what you expect me to say that I haven’t said already.’

Lena sighed. She couldn’t exactly blame Robyn for being irritable. It was her third phone call to her in as many hours – only one down from her daily average. She knew she was being annoying but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Every time she heard Robyn’s voice, it was like getting a little slice of Perth back. It was balm to a battered soul.

She was just so homesick.

Homesick and angry.

Carl’s data entry job was anaesthetising her brain – which wasn’t the only thing that needed a work-out. Her legs and arms ached from sitting in the same creaky chair for twelve hours straight, day in, day out. Robyn had told her to complain but who would listen? Carl was always out. Gavin was unreliable. And The Tone was everywhere.

Lena knew she was considered the dud they had all been lumped with. Foremen, painters, welders, boilermakers, scaffolders. It didn’t matter who they were. They didn’t trust her. She was like the child no one wanted to babysit.

A nuisance.

The two women in the office, whom she thought she could befriend, were polite but uninterested. They were both hired locally, didn’t live in the camp and already had their family and friendship networks firmly established.

Talking to Robyn was like coming up for air.

‘Robyn, I need you.’

‘You don’t need me,’ Robyn said. ‘You need to make a decision. Either take the punishment or come home.’

‘You know I can’t come home.’

‘Why the hell not? It’ll be much easier –’

‘I don’t want to take the easy road this time,’ Lena snapped. She gripped the phone cord tightly as she saw Kevin sitting across from her, his black brows drawn together in confusion. ‘But I thought this was what you wanted me to do.’

‘Lena? Lena? Are you still there?’

Lena blinked. ‘Sorry, Robyn.’

‘No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest anything. I only meant –’

Lena bit her lip. ‘I know what you meant. But I can’t come home because if I fail on the Pilbara it will mean Kevin was right.’

‘You can’t fail if you haven’t had a chance to do anything.’ Her friend breathed in sharply then added, ‘Listen, if you’re going to be stubborn about it then you might as well go all the way.’

Lena sat up hopefully. ‘All the way. What do you mean?’

‘I mean, rebel.’

Lena frowned. ‘What?’

‘
Rebel
,’ Robyn repeated. ‘Or come home. One or the other: just don’t ring me again until you’ve made a choice.’

‘But –’

There was some rustling of paper. ‘I’ve gotta go, honey. The boss wants me and she doesn’t look happy.’

Lena listened to the dial tone for a full ten beeps before slowly replacing the receiver.

Rebel.

How did she do that?
Go on strike? Take a long lunch break? She snorted. That would probably be more torturous for her than anyone else. She generally ate lunch at her desk – there was no cafe just down the street or lunch bar across the road. The benches outside weren’t inviting either. The most
comfortable option was to stay inside where the air was cool and the dust and flies didn’t blow into her food.

If she stole a ute and drove off down the beach, that might create a bit more of a stir. Not because she was missing, but because the car was. Carl and Gavin were always dashing off after some crisis – having a vehicle at the ready was essential to their daily routine.

But not her.

Why did they even bother to hire me?

Her hands curled into fists. It didn’t matter what their reasons were: it was her own agenda that counted. She had come to the Pilbara to see some real work and so far all she’d got was the four walls of a dirty office and hourly doses of sexual harassment.

She wanted to see the project. The real project.

The jetty.

She had heard some of the men calling it the wharf because it was so big – stretching over two and a half kilometres out to sea. It supported a conveyor belt that carried iron ore from land to the gigantic ships that were docked at the end of it. Barnes Inc was there both to extend and widen the wharf.

Her fingers drummed restlessly on the desktop, her mouth twisting as she chewed her dilemma.
Maybe I’ll just go out by myself. Who’s going to stop me?

Before she could change her mind she stood up, walked to the kitchen and slipped out the back door when she was sure no one was looking. She grabbed a hard hat, reflector vest and safety glasses from an open steel container doubling as a supply room behind the office donga and then looked for transport. She knew there would be a bus waiting outside because she saw it there all the time. Every hour it left the site office to run errands and men down to the end of the jetty. She walked over to the stationary vehicle, determined to catch a ride.

She was prepared to meet with some resistance and was surprised to see a female driver with an inviting smile seated behind the wheel.

‘Well, hello there.’

Lena’s mouth dropped open. ‘Er . . . hi.’

The woman had short red hair and looked to be about thirty years old. Her eyes danced as though she knew in part what Lena might be thinking.

‘What?’ Her lips quirked. ‘You got a problem with a female driver?’

Lena put her foot on the step and her hands on the railing. ‘Not if you don’t have a problem with a female engineer.’

The bus driver jerked her head up with a grin. ‘All right, get on.’

Lena could tell already they were going to be great friends. ‘My name’s Lena,’ she offered as she boarded the bus.

‘I know. I’ve heard about you. Word travels fast.’

Lena rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it.’

The woman held out her hand. ‘I’m Sharon. I’m the sanest person you’re going to meet today. Are you ready for this?’

Lena took her hand and grinned. ‘I’ve been ready for six days. Let me have it.’

‘The Engineer has spoken.’ Sharon gave her a cocky salute as Lena found a seat behind her on the otherwise empty bus.

‘Not many people going out at the moment,’ Lena commented.

‘They’re already there,’ Sharon said over her shoulder. ‘Big day today: the first pile is going in. Just watch yourself. Everyone’s a little overexcited.’

‘Thanks for the tip.’ They fell into silence as they drove until Lena caught her first glimpse of the wharf.