While Mum and Uncle Bill relaxed sitting on the blanket eating a piece of fruit, Rita and I raced each other down to the river bank. The water was still a little bit dirty from the last fresh flow that came from up-stream after it had rained in the mountain range fifty miles away. Rita jumped in first, and then it was my turn. Because I am a bit of a tangle-foot, I slipped on the muddy bank and did a complete somersault and landed on my back in the mud.

I lay there winded for a couple of minutes gasping for breath, when a boy came out of the water and grabbed me by both hands, and pulled me up in a sitting position.

He said “Are you alright little girl”

I said “Yeah just winded. I’ll be ok in a minute.”

Just then Rita scrambled up the bank and almost slipped back into the water, The boy grabbed Rita's hand and pulled her up to dry land, and said “Shit, don't you two know how to stay upright?”

“And who are you when you're at home?” she said.

“Arrr yeah well-- Peter, I’m Peter.”he said as he was looking more at Rita's perfect body than her face.

Rita said “Thanks for helping my little sister. I was too far from the bank to help her.”

“Aww, woulda done it for anyone.” he said.

As this was all taking place, Mum and Bill had seen what happened and quickly came down to the river bank to see if everything was alright and that I wasn't hurt.

Mum said “Carla you know you shouldn't run around on slippery river banks. You're going to break your bloody neck one day.”

I rolled my eyes and said “Yes Mum, sorry!”

Bill looked over to Peter and said “G'day Pete. You always seem to be around to help out don't ya lad?”

Peter looked at Mum with a red face, probably because she caught him looking at Rita's nipples showing through the wet material on her swimsuit, Just than another boy turned up and stood next to Peter. He was about my age, and he sort of looked me up and down as if to say 'another dumb girl.'

I said to the boy “G'day I’m Carla what’s your name?”

He looked at Peter and back at me and said “I’m Rick and he's my brother Pete.”

Uncle Bill was grinning at Mum and said “I don't think we are needed here do you Donna?” With that they went back to the car and got a couple of deck chairs out of the boot of the car, which Bill had shifted under a large gum tree to catch some shade.

So Rita, myself, Pete, and Rick all decide to safely get in the water without slipping this time, Pete was holding Rita's hand as we entered the water, she didn't seem to stop him which surprised me a bit because Mum told her earlier, not to flirt with boys she didn't know.

Rick was standing beside me in waist deep water and said “Carla see that drum out there?”

“Where?” I said

“About fifty yards out in the river see it?”

“Oh yeah there it is.” I said.

He said “Can you swim out that far, or is the little girl too scared to go into deep water?”

“'Little girl' You're no bigger than me.” I said.

Rick didn't realise how good 'little girl' sounded to me. While this exchange was taking place, Pete and Rita were also waiting for us to get into deeper water, to swim out to where the drum was anchored to the bottom of the river.

I said to Rick “I'll bet you two bob I can beat you out there, you look like a wimp to me.”

“Right you're on!”he said. Rita and Pete watched as we set of, and followed close behind. Both Rita and I were really good swimmers. I might be a tangle-foot on land, but in water I am a fish. Rita is the same. We were taught early because in the outback the swimming holes in the creeks are nowhere near any buildings. Most sheds and houses are on higher ground away from any danger of being inundated by flood water in the wet season, which can last up to two months at a time.

In the dry season the creeks would still run a little bit but we would swim in the deep water holes washed out by the erosion off the flood waters, If we got into any trouble swimming we were on our own , so we learned not to fool around too much and stayed safe.

Anyway back to now, I was at the drum well before the rest of them, hanging onto the handles that were on the side of the drum, because out here the water was about twenty foot deep and there was always a current running in the deeper water. You had to hang on or you would end up miles down stream. Rita and Pete were right behind me, but Rick was still four or five yards out when it looked like he was struggling,

“Cramp” he yelled “Hang on.”

I yelled back and quickly swam out to help him before he disappeared under the surface.

I reached him in no time flat, turned him around in the rescue position and started hauling him back to the drum. We had now drifted about ten yards down stream and it was hard going..

Rick said “My leg is cramped up too much to swim.” in between gasps of breath.

I said “Just hang on I'll get us back to the drum.” It took a little while. Swimming against the current was wearing me out as well, and Rita and Pete were just about to give me a hand, but I made it back to the drum and got Rick to hang on to one of the handles on the side of the drum.

While I recovered and and got my breath back, Rita and Pete went to work on Rick's leg and rubbed some feeling back into it.

He said in-between the pain “Holy shit! I could have drowned if Carla hadn’t got me.”

I said “Do the same for anyone. Can't let my friend drown can I? Might need the same sometime.”

He said “Owe you one, girl.”

While we were all hanging off the drum trying to get enough strength to swim back to the bank, I started to feel those familiar trembles I get when my late twin seems to want to communicate with me. Rita saw what was happening and came closer so I wouldn't lose my grip on the handle, because I seemed to lose my coordination whenever that happened to me.

She said “Close your eyes. I’ll make sure you're safe.”

All I heard in my head as clear as a bell was a tiny vice saying 'I am always with you Carla. I love you' and then she faded away. I opened my eyes and Rita was holding on to me, and then the trembling stopped .

Pete and Rick were looking at me and asked if I was o.k. I said “Yeah. Lets get back to the bank.”

We swam beside Rick to make sure he didn't cramp up again. It didn't take too long and we were all helped out on to the grass away from the muddy bank by Mum and Uncle Bill who watched it all happen.

Bill said “Bloody hell kids, another couple of minutes and I was going in to rescue the the bloody lot of yer's!”

Then he said “There's still too much run in the river to be swimming out that far. Coulda drowned the bloody lot o' ya's.”

Mum gave me a hug as she said “Carla you realise you saved Ricks life don't you sweetheart?”

I whispered to her so the others couldn't hear and said “Mum it was Jean, not me that did the saving.”

She whispered back to me “Darling we'll talk about that when we get home ok?”

“Year Mum. I need to ask you something about how I feel when Jean talks to me in my head”.

We all walked back to where the car was parked. Mum told Rita and me to grab our towels and Bill was telling the boys to do the same and come back to our car, and he would drop them off at their house on the way home. When Rita and I came back to the car everything was packed up and put in the boot, and Mum and Bill were talking about what we would do on the way home, something about picking up Mum's Land-rover at the garage.

Pete and Rick were standing next to the car with their arms folded across their chests, with a bored look on their faces. Pete couldn't take his eyes off Rita.

Rick said with a cheeky grin on his face “They look nice when they got clothes on don't they Pete?” which earned Rick a slap on the back of the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” said Rick

“Behave yourself in front of ladies and you won't get slapped o.k.?”

“Yer, sorreeey!”Rick said rubbing the back of his head.

We all piled into the car. I sat in the front between Mum and Bill, and Rita sat on one side with Pete in the middle. I think Rick was sulking just a bit. Mum pulled down the sun visor that had a mirror on the back off it, and she kept an eye on what was going on between Rita and Pete, not that they would do anything with Rick sitting next to them. Anyway we reached Pete's and Rick's house and it was next to the state school with the same chain-wire fence as the school had which meant it was government property, in other words it belonged to the school. When Bill pulled into the driveway, Barry, the man he was talking to earlier came out to the gate, and said “G'day Bill. How come you are bringing my boys home?

"They were down the river and swimming with Donna's girls." Bill said "I was about to   get in the car and we were coming past this way so I thought I'd give then a lift home."  

Barry said “Thanks Bill. They weren’t in any trouble were they?”

“No not really, but you better put some liniment onto young Ricky's leg. He's had a cramp in it.” Bill said.

Barry and the boys waved goodbye to us as they walked inside with their dad. Rick was walking with a bit of a limp. As Bill started driving I asked, “Uncle Bill, is Barry the school principal?”

“Yeah and if you go to school here in Quilpie, you will have to call him Mister Smith, or sir.”
I replied “He seems to be a nice man, and has a couple of nice sons too.”

Rita who was on her own in the back seat had a dreamy look in her eyes said “I like Peter he's got real strong arms and has brown eyes.” It was hard for Mum and Bill not to let Rita notice them shaking with muffled laughter.

It wasn't long and we were pulling up at Uncle Bill's garage to pick up Mum's loaned Land-rover, Mum already had the keys with her and she went straight to to the Rover unlocked it and got in. Bill waited till he heard the diesel motor start up and headed home with Mum following close behind, Bill turned to me and said, “Carla how are you feeling now that you are allowed to dress as girl all the time”

I said “Uncle Bill it just feels more normal for me to dress as a girl than be in boy's clothes.”

“Yeah I thought that you looked a lot happier than when I first saw you.” he said.

Rita was listening to what was being said in the front.

After she stopped dreaming of Pete, she said “Uncle Bill, Carla might have a little willy down there but she is as much of a girl as me.”

I think Bill was a little embarrassed at the way Rita just said it without thinking about it.

Bill replied “Rita you are just like your mother, a straight shooter. No beating around the bush. That's what I like about Donna -- err your mother -- and her pretty blue eyes”

Rita had the same blue eyes as Mum with honey blond thick hair halfway down their backs. I had big brown eyes and light blond hair the same as my Dad and brother John.

Bill pulled into the big machinery shed beside the house, and waited for Mum to pull in beside his car. Mum got out of the Rover and said “Gee it's good to have the old girl back. It'll give me a bit of independence.”

Bill said “Hey I could have lent you one of my other cars you know Donna.” with a mock hurt tone in his voice. Mum came over to Bill who was still sitting in his car and poked her head in the window and gave Bill a long slow kiss on the lips.

Rita and I were already out of the car, so we both made a wolf whistle and started to run into the house giggling like a couple of idiots, when we heard Mum say ”Hoy get back here you two, and help bring the stuff in from the car, or I won't feed you tonight. ”

We went back and said “Yes Mum, sorry.” but couldn't stop giggling. That started Bill off as well so Mum just shook her head saying 'heaven help me I love you lot, but your going to drive me to distraction,' while she was looking at Bill with a smile.

Later that day when everything was put away and we'd had tea, (that is what our evening meal was called back than), it was only seven pm but it had been quite a hot day and it was still too early to go to bed, so we went out onto the verandah which surrounded the house. There were plenty of mosquitoes about in summer, but the verandahs were all enclosed with fly screens so we could sit in the cool breeze lightly blowing through the screens making a slight whining noise.

The night sky in the west is so clear that it seems you could reach up and almost touch the stars they seem so close. So while the others stayed on the verandah, I rubbed some citronella on my arms and legs to stop the mossies from biting, and sat outside on an old swing that hung off the branch of the big old gum beside the house. It wasn't long before Mum came out and joined me. She moved an old garden chair next to the swing and said “Alright sweetheart, let's have this talk you wanted.”

She sat down in the big old canvas squatters chair and said “Carla sweetheart, come over here and sit on my lap and tell your Mum what's troubling you.”

I went to her and sat gently down on her lap, but it didn't worry her because I was a skinny little thing and didn't weigh much more than a five year old. She cuddled me and I got a lump in my throat and couldn't help gently crying into her shoulder.

Mum just held me till I stopped crying and said “Does that feel better now?”

By this time I had one of those hiccups after you stop crying and I said “Mum, I a-am so-sorr-yy I ca- n-t go ba-ack to be-eing a bo-y.”

Mum replied “Oh sweetheart I told you I will be there for you and I will be.”

She than went on to tell me how she had spoken to Bill about how they will sort things out in the future. I than asked her about why Jean kept talking to me in my head and what happened at the river earlier today.

She said “Carla you are an identical twin. Had Jean lived, the two of you would have been finishing each other's sentences by now.”

We sat there for a bit longer just staring up at the beautiful outback sky and than made our way into the house. Bill and Rita had made a cup of tea and were sitting at the kitchen table talking about what was happening to the progress on the restaurant, when Mum went and sat next to Bill and poured herself a cup of tea from the pot which had a tea cosy on it to keep it hot for longer, I went to the fridge and got myself a glass of milk from the billy-can it was kept in.

Ten minutes later Rita and I went to the bathroom, cleaned our teeth, put on our nighties and crawled into bed. Rita said “Night Sis.” I replied “Love you Sis night” I was asleep pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow. Then it happened. I was in my dream and I was looking at a girl that looked like me. It was like looking at myself in a mirror

Then the girl in the dream spoke and said “Hello Carla, it's me Jean your twin and the other half of your soul. I will always be with you till you join me on this side.”

I woke up trembling with Rita holding me, she shushed me and I went back to a dreamless sleep.

To be continued