It started like any other day, beautiful for anyone on a road trip to the West Coast. But on this day, the Edisons had all the elements anyone could ever dream of. As the red Volkswagen Kombi cruised on the R27 towards Saldanha Bay, the sun sat high, casting angry rays of heat on the dry landscape. In the distance, Craig could spot mountain peaks as ghostlike heat waves hovered on the seemingly endless highway.
'Thank God for air-conditioning,' Craig said with one hand resting on the steering wheel. He did not expect much response from his wife, Sarah who was reading a novel. Even the kids in the back were preoccupied with the ever-increasing cellular technology. Maybe they were keeping to themselves because the thought of a new town had its excitements and anxieties.
Craig turned on the radio, soft at first then adjusted the volume just enough not to disturb anyone entangled in their own isolated worlds. It was the usual radio gobble. Craig wondered where the broadcasters got all the rubbish from they yarned about all day long. Probably the reason they worked such short shifts. They obviously had to find new subjects to talk about for the next day. Something caught his attention during the news highlights and he turned up the volume. It was the 11:00 news. By the time he adjusted the volume, he had missed the start of the report, but he knew there would be a news wrap-up at the end.
Another child disappeared. A local found the body of a fifteen-year-old female in a dumpster near Saldanha Bay. A case of homicide was opened. The child was a victim of witchcraft as certain body parts had been missing. There were also signs carved on her back often linked with the art of witchcraft and Voodoo.
Craig noticed his wife, Sarah had stopped reading her book. She was staring at him. On instinct, Craig reduced the volume and looked at her for a brief moment before focusing on the road again. He knew that expression well. The deceased girl on the news report was his fault too.
'What was that about Saldanha Bay?' Emily asked from the back, snatched from her private business by the news report.
'They found a body in some dumpster,' Craig said. He turned his head to look at the fast-moving landscape through the driver-side window. He needed one news report to ruin a fresh start in their lives. He knew they had moved around too many times in the past, but this was the last they would relocate. Their final destination he had promised Sarah.
'Just glad to know there's civilization in Saldanha,' Andrew mumbled from the back where he was fiddling with his phone.
'That's enough,' Sarah said. 'I don't think it's funny. Saldanha will be our new home whether you like it, or not.'
'I was just saying it's -'
'Well, say no more.'
'I was just saying...,' Patrick said to Andrew in a voice imitating a restarted person.
'Ah fuck you man,' Andrew said.
'Enough you two!' Craig said looking at the twins in the rear-view mirror. 'We have a long way ahead of us. You have no choice and neither do I. I'm trying my best to take care of you and all I get is snotty attitudes.'
It was like a cathedral in the kombi except for the grinding noise of the tires on the rough tar. The wind was whistling through a small opening somewhere in the kombi. Probably where the rubbers did not seal around the windows like they used to.
Craig thought he might have been too hard on the kids and wife, but then again it was not his fault he was an Engineer by trade. He watched Sarah staring out the windscreen, and he wondered what was going through her mind. 'How's that book?'
'It's okay,' Sarah said still looking at the dreaded highway ahead.
Craig placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed a little. He could see a faint smile forming on her face. The smile he had seen many times over the nineteen years of their marriage. It meant she was not too happy at the moment, but at least there was still hope. It would take a few more days for her tender heart to defrost. It has been a long time already, but what did he expect? He realized once again how fortunate he was to have such a dear wife and an exceptional mother to their children. They alone had the potential to rip any marriage apart, but she endured and supported them on an emotional level because she never had the finances to support them otherwise.
'All will be fine dear, I promise,' Craig forced a smile. He turned his eyes to the road and wondered what was waiting for them on the other side. Was Saldanha going to be the quiet place he read about on the internet or will it be like any other town? Craig knew he would at least have a clean start to his relationship with his wife and kids. He left the other world behind. He hoped Sarah did the same. He promised her no more secrets, and he intended to keep it that way.