The Monster of Mangatiti Page #3

This wasn't how I ever expected I

would become a mother. And now I

felt even more trapped.

I'm not taking you to the f***ing

doctor. What's the matter with you?

I think I might be pregnant.

Well.

We'd better dig out a pair of shoes,

eh? Give you a bloody good wash

down, sort you out for the visit,

eh? Don't want the doctor

thinking you've let yourself go.

First, though...

There's something bloody

sexy about a pregnant woman.

And by the way -

you speak to anyone out

there about you and me,...

I'll kill ya.

And your family.

I thought the pregnancy check

could be an opportunity to escape.

But we got to the doctors', and him and his

son came in with me into the waiting room,

which I hadn't planned on.

And the doctor...

that I saw was very severe and

stern and looked very obviously

disapproving of some young,

unmarried woman that was pregnant.

And so she was quite cold, and so

I didn't feel I could trust her.

You can sit over there.

Well, you are pregnant;

we just have to work out the dates.

So, we can do scans at the

end of the first trimester.

For now, carry on as normal.

And try and get your weight

up a bit. How's your diet?

It's fine.

You speak to anyone out

there about you and me, I'll kill ya.

# Folks down here call me crazy.

# I walk the lonely...

Oh, he was over the moon,

scary.

I had to hop back in the truck

with him and go back to the valley,

and that was just devastating, cos

it was an opportunity to escape,

and I wasn't getting many,

and it wasn't safe enough,

so I couldn't do it.

# It was all I can do. #

I went out to the toilet, which is

an outhouse, and I thought, 'Oh, I

can cry for, like, 30 seconds,

'because if I cry any more then it's

gonna show, so I'd try and get some

sort of release that way.'

But I couldn't. By this stage,

I'd been two months in the valley.

I realised very quickly that there's

no way I could escape. Like, I

couldn't leave the property.

I mean, I couldn't leave on foot. It was too

far. And I had been asked by the police,

'Well, you know, did, did he lock

you up, you know, lock you in a

room?' And... And I've said,

'Well, he didn't need to, because

I couldn't leave. You can't leave.

You wouldn't survive anyway.'

You'd... You'd get hypothermia. On

a very regular basis, uh, threatened

that, oh well,

he'd just push me off the condemned

bridge into the gorge, and he said,

'It won't kill you, but you'll

probably break your legs, and...

and you can just stay there, like,

'you can just die

a slow death down there'.

I mean, there was always the threat

of him feeding me to the pigs alive.

Um, that... that was a constant.

Then he came up with he

would keep me in a cave.

Um, cos there were caves on the

property, and he said, um, 'No...

No one will know you're there.

'You'll starve or you'll die of

thirst in there, and... if you

have any babies, well, I,...

'I can't explain those, so I'll...

I'll have to kill those and feed

them to the pigs.'

And... And that was a real threat

that, um, he held over me all the

time,

so I never knew when

that was gonna happen.

I never knew if I was gonna die

that day or whether I was gonna

to tortured,

or whether I was gonna be at the

bottom of a gorge or was I going

to the cave today. I had no idea.

Thank you.

Don't think you'll be needing

all that, do you? You'll be getting

bigger than those pigs at this rate.

She's getting fat, Benn.

She isn't.

I've been thinking about this family while

I've been out in the bush chasing cattle.

Building's gonna go on hold. The

schoolhouse can stay as it is.

And you, Benn, you're gonna do more

work around the place and less time

on those bloody books.

But what-? And you're gonna keep this

place a lot bloody cleaner.

You're gonna learn how to milk that

cow properly, weed the veggie patch.

Eat up. You're both gonna be busy.

I became kind of like a work slave.

The workload was phenomenal.

I was so physically and emotionally

exhausted that I felt really confused,

to the point where I couldn't

even make a proper decision.

And then he'd do things

to keep me off balance.

That looks heavy, love. Why don't you put

it down? I've got something to show you.

Um, where are my shoes?

Look, darl - another pregnant cow.

Don't you move.

Take that inside,...

and you cook it up.

Next time you piss me off,...

that will be in there,...

and this...

will be you.

I don't know; I just sort of, cracked.

I just couldn't cope with it any more.

And he was home, and I went outside,

and I just started running.

And I ran across the condemned

bridge and ran up the track and

ran into a little patch of bush.

I very quickly realised, 'Oh my

gosh. He thinks I've tried to run

away, and he's come after me'.

So then I thought, 'What's

gonna happen to me now?'

He drove me to the top of a high

bluff, and I thought, 'Oh, this

it. I've gone too far.

'He's gonna throw me off'. And

I really thought, 'I'm gonna die'.

Why can't you be happy here? Eh?

Look at this place. Look at it. It's

bloody paradise, darling. Paradise.

I just...

It's... It's like you said -

it's hard without TV and radio.

I just miss all that.

He seemed to believe me, but

when we got back to the house,

he told his son I didn't

want to be there any more.

It's not you.

No, please don't go.

I... I... I just miss my family.

Who's gonna teach me? Who's gonna

read to me? Please don't go.

Hey, it's OK. I... I'll stay.

OK? I promise I'll stay.

It's OK.

Raped again that night.

Dear Heather. It's been some weeks

since Dad and I heard from you, and

we're getting very concerned.

It would certainly ease our worry a

bit if you could telephone and let

us know how you're getting along.

No letters for ya. Maybe you should

make a call, let them know you're

doing OK. What do ya reckon?

All right.

I'll listen in, eh?

Just to be sociable.

Now, you keep sitting here.

And don't talk to anyone, you understand?

Wh... Where are you going?

I'm just going in to

see my mates for a cuppa.

Just thought I'd check the community

notices, if that's all right.

It's public information, I guess.

You guess right, Sergeant.

The mind games continued. Some of it

just seemed to be for his own amusement.

Here. You'll fit into

those before too long,

once you lose all that

fat off your lazy bones.

12 minutes.

Excellent.

Turn right instead of left.

Eh? Keep on going...

all the way...

into town.

Hide in the bush if I have to.

I know what's going on in there.

No one leaves from here.

You try, you die.

Go on. Another lap

should do you. Go on.

Hey, there's one here for

Heather. She'll be pleased.

Right. We'll be sad, though, eh? Her Mum

and Dad still want her to go home.

They don't like her being with us.

She'll probably wanna up and leave again.

But... But she can't.

I don't want her to go. I know. Me neither.

But don't worry - I'll think of

something, son. Oh, I've forgotten

to post her letter to them.

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