She is following the tracks that disappear far away to the west where the desert meets the sky. She has been following the tracks for ten days now, ever since the mail truck from Coober Pedy dropped her off at Tarcoola. Very soon she will reach Ooldea. The railway tracks and the fettlers’ camps have been Etta’s lifeline, the railway leading her ever closer to her family, and the camps providing her with sustenance. She has travelled at a regular pace, stopping at each siding and each camp along the way — Malbooma, Wynbring, Barton, Immarna — and the fettlers have readily exchanged food and water for sexual favours. Some of the men were content to ignore her pregnant belly, lifting her cotton dress and taking her from behind, while others she served with her mouth. Etta is accustomed to serving white men. Now, as she strides along, her arms swinging freely, her belly no discomfort, Coober Pedy seems a lifetime ago. She has no regrets. The white men with whom she lived there did not harm her, but she wishes she was not with child.
