Summer Down Under (3 page)

She fell into bed thinking that if her
mutilated, gecko eaten body was to be found in the morning by some
poor unsuspecting maid, she could fall asleep happy in the
knowledge that she died in the pursuit of following her dreams,
even if she didn’t, in actuality, get very far with them.

When she awoke the next morning, she was
pleasantly surprised to find all her limbs were still intact.

Excitement hurtled through her quite
unexpectedly, and she jumped out of bed in a hurry to get to the
window. Once there, she pulled back the curtains and pulled in a
sharp gasp. She stood and stared...again. That was happening a lot
lately and she was only on day two or three of her adventure. With
the time change, she couldn’t quite work out which it was, and it
didn’t really matter anyway.

The sight that met her was more stunning than
she could have imagined. Last night she thought this place was
beautiful even through her sleep-fogged brain and the silvery hue
that cascaded down from the moon, but that scene could never have
prepared her for the array of colors she was hit with this morning.
The sky was a stunning bright blue with not a cloud to be seen. Her
eyes dropped to see the cobalt blue swimming pool sparkling below.
The bungalows, which she could see clearly now, were nestled around
the pool. They all had thatched roofs and walls that were made of
woven reed in different shades of brown and amber. Across from her
room, over the other side of the pool was the restaurant and
reception area that she had hardly even noticed last night. There
were no walls, just a polished wood floor and a thatched roof held
up by intricately carved pillars.

There were people already sitting around the
bamboo tables eating their breakfast, which consisted of brightly
colored fruits, most of which she was sure she had never seen
before, let alone tasted. The grounds were brimming with lush green
palms, coconuts secured at the top under their leaves. Tropical
plants of every size and color were neatly displayed all around the
grounds.

She showered and dressed, then made her way
down to the restaurant for breakfast. The balmy breeze ruffled her
hair as she sat down in the open air restaurant and ordered some
fruit. A couple interrupted her wistful admiration of the tropical
plants by asking if they could join her.

“Be my guest,” she replied, gesturing to the
empty chairs around the table. They were about her age and it
turned out they were from a town only an hour from where she lived
back home. After they had finished breakfast, the couple invited
Sam to join them on their exploration of the local town. The young
backpacker politely declined their offer in favor of doing
absolutely nothing that day, but relax.

Sam watched as the couple wandered off, hand
in hand towards the front entrance of the hotel and out onto the
road. A small sigh escaped as she picked up her book and started
reading. Before she knew it, it was lunchtime. Three hours had
passed while she enjoyed her book. She couldn’t remember ever doing
that before. No one was making demands on her time or making her
feel guilty for not doing anything productive. She put her book
down with a hint of reluctance and looked around.

A fair-haired man was sunbathing; he had been
there when she came down at breakfast and he was still there
turning very pink. She frowned when she thought of how sore he was
going to be the next day, having been sunburned pretty badly
herself on a couple of occasions in the past. She shuddered at the
memory of the pain she had endured for several days.

She promised herself that she would venture out
tomorrow. But for the rest of the day, she had no intention of
doing anything more strenuous than read her book.

***

The taxi dropped her off in the center of
town. Sam had decided to explore alone, telling herself it was
because she was doing this whole adventure thing on her own and
didn’t need anyone else to help. If the truth were known, it was
because she didn’t yet possess the confidence to ask others if they
would like to join her. After convincing herself she was brave
enough, she had climbed in the taxi, asking herself what could
possibly go wrong in a public place anyway?

She swallowed down a lump when the bustling little
town came into view through the cab window. After paying the driver
his fare, she stepped out of the car only to stumble backwards on
the uneven curb. She flapped her arms like a crazed parakeet in a
futile attempt to keep her balance, but to no avail. A second
later, the concrete sidewalk came up to slap her in the butt, and
she felt the heels of her hands being sandpapered off. The taxi
driver looked back at her, doing nothing to hide the smirk on his
face. Sam grimaced, more out of embarrassment than the pain that
was now shooting through her hands.

Grace had never been her forte, but casting a
disgruntled glance down the uneven sidewalk she convinced herself
the credit for this extravagant topple was not all hers for the
taking. The paving slabs jutted hither and tither. She looked down
at the heels of her hands that were now scraped up and smarting.
Sam puffed out a hearty sigh and rolled her eyes at the tiny
pinpricks of blood that were starting to make their way to the
surface.

“Well, that’s just bloody marvelous,” she
mumbled as she blew on her palms. People wandered by and stared
down at her, but none offered her any assistance. She took a deep
breath, pushed herself up off the floor and dusted herself down.
Admitting that her ego was probably more bruised than her butt, she
started wandering around the town.

She’d only been meandering down the main
street for a few moments when a flock of locals, mostly men,
swooped down and surrounded her. Sam scrunched her face at the
incessant chatter, which grew to a deafening noise. Each vendor
tried to outdo the other by making themselves heard above the
growing din. At first she was a bit dazed, eyes widening, as she
tried and failed to fight back the nervous knot that was starting
in her stomach when she realized what they wanted.

They were trying to sell her things, trying
to take her places, show her their ‘cousin’s’ art gallery, among a
whole host of other offerings that ranged from fake Rolexes to
having her hair braided.

Sam started to feel overwhelmed; they hadn’t
taught her how to handle this kind of situation in her self-defense
classes. Those were more for one-on-one, not for a mob of excited
vendors trying to sell you stuff. She was totally naïve as to just
how much attention a girl walking alone in Bali would attract, and
it was making her very uneasy.

Her hotel was nowhere near. As she looked
around for somewhere to escape to, she couldn’t see anywhere that
would fit the bill. None of these people would take no for an
answer. They swarmed around her and seemed to increase in number as
each minute passed. Sam’s breathing increased, her heart started to
race, and a feeling of claustrophobia crept over her like hands
around her neck.

She didn’t do well in crowds, and certainly
didn’t like attention. Her head started to go fuzzy; she couldn’t
think how she could get away from them. All she wanted was a
peaceful walk, but that peace was turning to panic and no amount of
telling herself to hold it together was helping in the least little
bit
.

Someone shrieked, a horn beeped madly like an
angry buzzing wasp, and all kinds of commotion broke loose behind
her. She spun around to see a familiar figure riding up onto the
sidewalk on a small motorbike. He came hurtling towards her,
forcing the locals to part like waves to either side as he rode
through the mob, leaving them shrieking expletives as they jumped
out of his way. Not speaking the language, she guessed they were
expletives by the hand gestures they were making. The bike pulled
to a stop just in front of her. Sam’s eyebrows shot up in
surprise.

“Daniel?” she gasped. “What are you doing
here?”

“You look like you need a ride. Care to hop
on?”

She gave a fleeting glance around the crowd
that was now glowering in her direction. It didn’t take her long to
make the decision. With barely a hesitation, she threw her leg over
the seat, wrapped her arms around her rescuer’s waist and held on
for dear life. Daniel kicked the motorbike into gear and went
speeding off through the crowd, narrowly missing a couple of
vendors, with more fake watches, who had turned up just a minute
too late. Sam dared a glance back as they fled the scene. She
didn’t want anyone to have been hurt, even though they’d made her
feel so uncomfortable. To her relief, no one looked like they’d
been harmed, although, a couple of them were shaking their fists at
the departing duo.

It took a few moments for Sam’s thoughts to
calm, but as they did, she became aware of the fact that she was
holding her arms tightly around Daniel’s waist. It was impossible
not to feel the hard planes of his muscles beneath the very thin
layer of cotton that was masquerading as his shirt. She tucked her
head against his shoulders, a feeling of reassurance crept over
her. She liked how it felt. She realized a moment later that the
spicy scent she was breathing belonged to her rescuer, and she
liked that, too. She then realized what she was doing and snapped
her head up not wanting to give into her body’s temptation of
getting too close to this man she hardly knew.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, his
soft hair flowing in the warm breeze, tickling her nose. At least
from this angle, he couldn’t see the need burning in her eyes. She
chastised herself once more as they rode through the streets. She
didn’t
need
a man. She was perfectly capable of looking
after herself, even if that meant having to ignore the episode from
which she was now escaping.

After a while, Daniel turned down a little
dirt road and the cerulean blue ocean came into view. They came to
a stop at the end of the road where it opened up onto a beautiful
white sand beach lined with palm trees and more brightly colored
tropical plants.

The crystal clear water was lapping against
the shore, making a peaceful swooshing sound as it did. The beauty
of this location took Sam’s breath away. She had never experienced
anything so picturesque before. She doubted if there would ever be
a time when she was not held in awe by what this island had to
offer. The serenity of the moment was torn away when she also
noticed there was not another soul in sight. Beautiful it may be,
but the whole beach was deserted, except for her and a virtual
stranger of the male variety.

Sam eased herself off the bike, accepting
Daniel’s steadying hand as she did, not wanting to trip and fall
again, thereby, adding a companion to the bruise blooming on her
behind. She decided her butt had protected her quite enough for one
day. Unwittingly, she hissed a breath as Daniel took hold of her
hand. He gave her an odd look and turned her hand over to reveal
the scrapes there. Sam noticed him wince and heat rose in her
cheeks. She pulled her hand away, tucking it safely behind her back
and gave him a rueful smile.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at him and
noticing a look of concern still visible on his face.

“No worries,” he replied. “You looked like
you needed a little help.”

“Yeah, well, I think I may have to rethink my
whole Miss Independent strategy. I was not prepared for that
onslaught.” She gave him a wry smile. “There was no way I ever
thought I would get that much unwanted attention.”

“Sam, you are blonde haired and blue eyed,”
he warned.

“Yeah, and what’s that got to do with the
price of cheese?”

He raised an eyebrow at that comment. “Those
attributes are much sought after over here, especially by the
men.”

Sam gave a derisive snort at that revelation,
and as she turned her back on him, whispered under her breath
“Don’t be stupid, why would anyone in their right mind be
interested in someone as ugly as me?”

She hadn’t expected him to have such good
hearing.

He turned her around to face him, placing his
hands on her shoulders willing her to look up at him. He didn’t say
anything for a moment, just gently pushed an errant strand of hair
away from her face. When she couldn’t resist any longer, she
brought her gaze up to meet his.

“How could you think that, Sam?” Daniel
whispered. “Whatever would make you say such a thing?”

Her face burned with embarrassment. She
pulled out of his embrace and turned to face the ocean. His
kindness was completely alien to her; she didn’t quite know how to
respond to it. He’d heard her; he wasn’t supposed to have heard
her
.
She squirreled around in her head for a topic to change
the subject, not wanting to open up a wound that still had stitches
in, especially to someone who was almost a stranger. Not that she
intended opening up to anyone, for that matter.

She didn’t need anyone’s pity; doubted she
could handle it even if they gave it. Not even her closest friends
back home knew what she had been through at the hands of her
ex-boyfriend. But, as strong as she tried to be, she knew if she
started talking about it, the tears would start to flow, and she
wasn’t sure she would have the power to stop them.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around with
a big smile that she hoped didn’t look too false, and said
brightly. “You never did answer my question.”

Daniel’s brow creased.

“What were you doing there?” Sam asked again.
“I thought you were staying on the other side of the Island.”

Now it was his turn to look slightly
sheepish. She noticed a flush color his cheeks. He cast his eyes to
the ground for a second, probably in an attempt to not look like a
crazy stalker.