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Something sharp twisted inside her as she pictured him risking his life among a mob of wild cattle. She had a momentary vision of his husky body trampled under thousands of flailing, razor-sharp hooves and she had to bite back the urge to tell him to be careful. What he did was his own business. She should be glad that he was making this so easy for her.

'Ben,' she began, then remembered her place. 'Goodnight.'

He didn't look back. 'Goodnight.'

When she came to breakfast next morning, Ben had already gone to the stock yard. Looking out across the property from the verandah she could see a low-lying cloud of dust staining the sky close to the horizon. This was the only sign that a large mob of cattle was on the move. Most of the men were there, either helping to move the cattle or awaiting their arrival at the yards.

So there was only herself, Robyn and Jessie Finch at the large table which normally seated up to a dozen. After breakfast Jessie planned to take the morning off, after receiving Keri's assurance that she would look after Robyn.

'How would you like to visit Fang today?' she asked Robyn when the meal was over.

Robyn's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically and her grin broadened. She welcomed any excuse to escape from the confines of the homestead, and she hadn't had a chance to meet Ben's newest charge yet.

A little guiltily, Keri realised she was eager to go today because she knew there was no chance of running into Ben at the crocodile farm.

'Ready, Robyn?' she asked as she let herself into her friend's bedroom. Robyn was dressed in her outdoor gear of checked shirt and moleskin trousers, but she had wheeled herself up to her computer terminal.

Keri moved up behind her. 'Was there something you wanted to tell me?'

Robyn's hands roved over the keyboard, stabbing at the specially shaped keys. 'You and Ben. Anything wrong?' she typed out.

Keri looked at the words for a long time before she said anything. She tried to keep her voice light as she asked, 'What makes you think something's wrong?'

'Mood is not good,' Robyn typed back.

Tendrils of apprehension curled inside Keri. As if to make up for her disabilities, Robyn was unusually perceptive when it came to people's moods and feelings. Ben should have considered that when he manufactured an engagement between them. 'We had a disagreement,' she confessed, knowing that she couldn't pretend nothing was wrong when Robyn already knew it was. She squeezed her friend's shoulder. 'It's OK, every couple has them.'

Robyn's shoulders slumped, signalling her relief. 'Kiss and make up soon,' she typed.

Keri forced a laugh. 'Whatever you say. Shall we go now? Fang is waiting for his breakfast.'

Robyn nodded and Keri waited for her to clear the screen of its last message but she wheeled herself around and headed for the door. As Keri caught up with her and helped her manoeuvre her chair through the enlarged doorway, she caught another glimpse of Robyn's last message.

Her heart sank. How could she kiss and make up with Ben when their romance was a fraud from the beginning? Soon they would have to tell Robyn that they weren't getting married at all, but Keri wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to her.

Afraid that Robyn would sense her despondent mood, she kept up a stream of small-talk as they drove over the rutted track to the crocodile farm. 'I had a letter from Dad this morning. They know I'm staying here. My sister Louise has moved into a flat with two other girls from her sheltered workshop. Isn't it wonderful?'

Although she was deprived of her keyboard in the car, Robyn made a gesture which Keri knew meant she was pleased. 'She'd like you to write to her,' she ventured.

Robyn nodded agreement. Keri knew how hard her friend had fought to gain some measure of control over her life, so she would be the ideal person to guide Louise during her own struggle for independence. Robyn tugged her arm and made a gesture which encompassed the wide brown land around them.

'You want me to invite her to visit Kinga Downs?' Keri interpreted correctly. 'She'd love it. I've told her about the place in my letters, but it's not the same as seeing it for yourself. I'm sure Mum and Dad could arrange to bring her. Thanks for suggesting it.'

They covered the remaining miles in silence. Keri was pleased that her young sister would have the chance to see this place for herself. Robyn would be a wonderful model for Louise, who was just starting to discover her own potential.

At the same time, Keri felt a stab of apprehension. She hadn't told her family anything about her supposed engagement to Ben Champion, assuming that the charade would be over before they needed to know about it. But if the Donovans came here, they would be bound to hear about it and wonder why Keri hadn't told them. She sighed deeply. Damn Ben and his machinations.

At least she knew where she was with the big saurians, Keri thought as she wheeled Robyn up to the wire fence surrounding Fang's pool. She took a pair of dead mullet out of the bin alongside the pool and fixed them to the feeding pole, then handed the pole to Robyn. 'You do the honours.'

At the sound of the bin opening, Fang's massive head had appeared among the lilies garlanding his pool. As Robyn held the pole above his head, he opened his mighty jaws and snapped them closed over the fish. Robyn laughed in delight and held out the pole for Keri to refill it.

She did so then pushed Robyn up to Matilda's pool. The large female was waiting, having heard Fang being fed. 'You take care of Matilda while I check on. the current batch of eggs,' Keri told Robyn, loading a couple of poles with fish.

Leaving her friend to feed Matilda, she made her rounds of the incubators where batches of crocodile eggs were being kept at constant temperature until they were ready to hatch.

She found Nugget checking the incubators. 'I thought you'd be out at the muster,' she commented.

He grinned, his teeth gleaming whitely against his dark skin. 'I'd rather be bitten by baby crocs than trampled by wild cattle.'

She smiled back. 'I see your point.'

At her request, he showed her the clutches of eggs which were being incubated at controlled temperatures. It was only recently that they had discovered that the temperature at which the eggs was kept determined how well the new born crocodiles survived. When they were hatched at lower temperatures, the young crocodiles looked healthy but did not survive as well as those hatched at higher temperatures. Satisfied with the readings on each incubator, she left Nugget to his work.

Making her way back to the open-air pens, she caught sight of Robyn talking to someone. Her apprehension returned as she recognised Rick.

'What are you doing here?' she asked. 'I thought you'd be giving Ben a hand.'

'I'm not Ben's shadow,' he said, irritability clouding his expression. 'He has a dozen men jumping to do his bidding. He doesn't need me. Besides, this is my land. '

As it happened she had forgotten that the crocodile farm straddled the invisible border between Kinga Downs and the outstation, Casuarina. 'Ben told me this is Casuarina land,' she responded in a neutral tone. 'But I wasn't aware that it was yours yet.'

Rick made a show of studying his fingernails. 'The papers are at the solicitor's now. The land will be mine by this time tomorrow.'

Something in his voice sent a shiver through her. He made the statement sound like a threat. 'Have you heard from Persia?' she asked, changing the subject.

He made a sound of disgust. 'Persia, Persia, Persia. She's all I hear about these days. Well, she's back at long last but her grandmother didn't make it so her family don't think it's proper to make wedding plans just yet.'

'I'm sorry to hear she lost her grandmother,' Keri said tautly.

'Yes, yes,' he dismissed her condolences. 'Ben decided it wasn't fair to keep me waiting any longer to come into my inheritance, so he went ahead and set the wheels in motion.'

Robyn stirred restively in her chair and Keri squeezed her shoulder supportively. 'Don't worry, you'll still get to have your wedding, won't she, Rick?'

He fixed her with a sharp glare. 'Are you in a hurry to have me married off or something?'

From her position behind Robyn's chair, she frowned at the top of her friend's head and back at Rick, trying to remind him that his sister shouldn't be subject to any unnecessary stress. 'Of course not,' she said, injecting a false note of cheer into her voice. 'But I know how much Robyn's looking forward to the wedding.'

Belatedly, he got her message and reached forward to rumple Robyn's hair. 'Worry you not, it will all work out. The main thing is, I'll be able to prepare Casuarina—for my bride,' he added although to Keri's ears he didn't sound over- enthusiastic. She had a feeling that the property meant much more to him than his fiancé did.

'That's good news, isn't it Robyn?' she said heartily, hoping she didn't sound as false as Rick.

She became aware that Rick was shifting from one foot to the other and his gaze kept darting to the sliprails which marked the entrance to the crocodile farm. 'Is something the matter?' she asked him.

He swung his gaze back to her. 'Nothing's the matter. I suppose you girls are heading back to the homestead now?'

Inwardly, she winced at his choice of words. 'We weren't in any hurry. Ben will be gone all day. He knows I planned to come out here and gave me permission to try introducing Matilda to Fang.'

Rick's frown deepened. 'Does it have to be now?'

'Not really. They're still wary of each other, so it may be as well to wait a little longer.'

'Good.' He saw her look of puzzlement and added hastily, 'I mean, I wouldn't want them to start fighting when we had so few men here to separate them.'

For once she had to agree with him. 'You're right, of course. I'll leave it for today. But I do want to get them together before the start of the wet season, so Matilda can have a chance to nest.'

Rick saluted her mockingly. 'Quite right, Ranger Donovan.'

She kept her smile in place with an effort. 'Cut it out, Rick. I've had about enough of your jokes.'

Rick's mouth twisted into a sneer. 'Miss Goody Two-shoes. Anyone would think you really intended to marry Brother Ben.'

Robyn's thin shoulder tensed under Keri's hand. She patted it reassuringly. 'Of course I do, Rick. What a crazy thing to say.'

'Is it so crazy? I notice you two haven't set a date for the wedding yet.'

'Any more than you and Persia have,' she retorted. She was immediately sorry that she had let him provoke her. 'You can't come between us, if that's what you're hoping. Ben wants to marry me, so you may as well accept it.'

'I know Ben wants you,' he agreed in a sly tone. 'It's the reason why I want you, too.'

'One day your jealousy of Ben is going to be your undoing, Rick,' she vowed, then slipped the brake off Robyn's wheelchair. 'Come on Robyn, let's go home for some lunch. Are you as hungry as I am?'

Robyn looked up at her but shook her head. The talk with Rick had robbed both of them of their appetites. As Keri wheeled Robyn back to the car, she was disturbed by the misery in her friend's eyes. She felt like strangling Rick.

As she steered the four-wheel-drive vehicle through the entrance to the crocodile farm, she was surprised to see another car coming the other way. It was a large sedan, its highly polished white paintwork streaked with the red dust of the outback. Inside were four men, their business suits looking out of place here. 'Do you know them?' she asked Robyn as the car came closer.

Robyn waved a hand dismissively. Slowing the car, Keri tried to get a look at the occupants of the other vehicle. Out here, strangers were a rarity and never passed without stopping to exchange greetings.

This time was the exception. Robyn slumped in disappointment as they drove past. 'It's all right, I think I know one of the men,' Keri said and swung their car around, driving back into the crocodile farm.

The men had left their car and were being greeted by Rick when Keri pulled up. 'Hello, Theo,' she called to the tallest of the men.

He looked surprised to see her. 'Hello, Keri, how are you?'

Theo Strathopoulos was almost unfairly handsome. Close to six feet tall, he had the deep barrel chest of an opera singer, and the broad shoulders of a professional fighter, with a fighter's sure movements to go with it.

Although he wasn't yet forty, his head of hair was streaked with silver, giving him a distinguished elder-statesman appearance which was a great help in his business dealings. His remarkable business acumen had enabled him to amass one of the largest personal fortunes in Australia, but Keri was sure his looks hadn't hindered him either.

'What brings you out here?' she asked, surprise mingling with pleasure at seeing him again.

Theo glanced at Rick who inclined his head ever so slightly. 'Just business, as usual,' he shrugged. 'I thought you were off in the wilds, catching crocodiles.

She spread her hands to indicate the layout around them. 'I am. This is it. Ben Champion needed some help with his egg-ranching project and the Commission gave me to him, sort of on lend- lease. '

Theo's eyes became warm as they roved over her. 'Ben is a lucky man.'

'Weren't you just leaving, Keri?' Rick asked, trying without success to mask his irritation. Clearly, he didn't want her interfering in whatever business he had with Theo and his associates. 'Robyn is waiting in the car for you,' he added pointedly.

She took the hint. 'I was about to return to Kinga Downs, where I'm staying,' she said for Theo's benefit. 'Before you go, come and meet Robyn. I've told you about her.'

Rick huffed impatiently but Theo ignored him. 'I'd like to meet her.'

As he followed her back to the car, she moved closer to him. 'What really brings you here, Theo? Crocodile-farming isn't a commercial proposition yet, so it can't be that.'

He shrugged, the gesture harking back to his Greek origins. 'Why does it have to be anything in particular? Rick Champion invited me to look over the project and here I am.'

She knew him well enough to know when he wasn't levelling with her. She also knew she wouldn't get him to tell her a word more than he wanted to. 'Here's Robyn,' she said over-brightly, opening the car door wide. 'Robyn, this is my friend from Darwin, Theo Strathopoulos. Theo, Robyn Champion.'