When Danger Follows (13 page)

“That’s possible,” Jake said thoughtfully.

“Jake, I’m devastated that I’ve brought this danger into your lives. I can get a plane straight away to Sydney, if you wouldn’t mind forwarding the rest of my things.”

Jake tossed back the rest of his drink. “You’re not going to do any such thing. I can handle this Max if he should show up around Tall Trees.”

Caitlin stood up. “No! You don’t know him. He’s … mad.”

Jake stood too and placed a reassuring hand lightly on her shoulder. “Caitlin, we’ve got wild boar, crocodiles, snakes and poisonous spiders to contend with at Tall Trees, to name but a few. He has to find his way there, and it would be difficult to do that without being seen in the town. We’ll be ready for him.”

“It can’t come to that! I’ll leave. The sooner the better.”

“But if he thinks you’re there, he’ll turn up anyway. And I won’t recognize him without you.”

She covered her teary eyes with her hands. “I never should have come here.”

He took out his hanky and offered it too her. When she reached to take it, their fingers touched and she felt sure she heard the air crackle.

“That’s nonsense. Darwin’s a long way from Tall Trees. We’ll go back tomorrow and I doubt you’ll see the man again.”

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, conscious even now of his proximity. How his touch made her feel anything but comforted, just filled with longings she had no right to.

“I’ll go back, Jake, but just to pack. Then I’ll move on.” And on and on, she thought dispiritedly.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to leave, Caitlin. The kids … and I have come to rely on you.”

Caitlin just looked at him. Not enough, Jake, she thought. That would never be enough. Perhaps leaving was for the best.

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Chapter Fourteen

When Caitlin awoke, groggy from a disturbed night’s sleep, she looked out the window at grey skies threatening rain. She pulled on her robe and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Jake was there reading the paper. He glanced up at her concern in his eyes. She felt immediately responsible and guilt gripped her stomach, churning it.

“There’s a force three cyclone forming over the Arafura Sea,” he said, showing the main reason for his concern. “It’s hoped that by the time it reaches land it will have lessened, but no one can guarantee that. We’ll have to head back this morning. If we leave it too long we could be grounded here for a week or more.”

She felt chilled at the prospect of being stuck in Darwin. “I’ll get the kids up,” she said, “and pack.”

At the airport, the wind was picking up. “We have clearance to fly,” Jake said, “but it’s going to be a bit rough up there until we move out of range.”

They climbed aboard. Caitlin helped the children strap themselves in and then did her own belt up as Jake checked the instruments, making notes as he went.

The plane began to move, slowly at first, then quicker as they roared along the runway. As if caught by a giant gust of wind, they lifted off from the tarmac and climbed towards the clouds. Caitlin caught a brief glimpse of Darwin and the sea, grey-green and churning now. The strong winds caught them and tossed them about like a paper kite. Her stomach fluttered with nerves, but she trusted Jake. He wouldn’t fly if he thought they’d be in danger.

And she was so glad to be leaving Darwin.

The nose of the plane suddenly lifted then dropped sharply. Caitlin checked on the children, but they were calmly playing with toys.

“All right there?” Jake asked. He looked straight ahead and a muscle tensed in his jaw.

“Fine.” She flinched as heavy rain began to lash the windshield.

The plane rocked as they gained height, the engine straining as Jake attempted to keep a level course. “We’ll be out of this in about ten minutes,” he said. Lightning flashed across the sky. “Looks like the cyclone’s moving fast. Hope it doesn’t cause too much trouble.”

Caitlin selfishly hoped the weather would be just bad enough to keep Max in Darwin. She gripped her seat so hard her fingers began to hurt. Impenetrable, greenish-grey cloud enveloped them, turning brilliant orange when the lightning flashed.

“That lightning’s pretty far off,” Jake said with a quick glance in her direction.

She strained her ears for the clap of thunder and heard it crack behind them. She was starting to feel queasy and it made her even more nervous, hating the thought that she might be sick in front of the family.

“Daddy, I don’t like lightning,” Elizabeth said in a small voice.

Caitlin looked around at her white face, hoping this flight hadn’t brought back bad memories for her. Elizabeth had stopped having nightmares recently and was sleeping through the night. “We’ll be home soon, darling. That will be good, won’t it?”

“Yes.”

“The ponies will be glad to see you. You can give them an apple each.”

“We can’t ride when it’s raining,” William said disgusted.

A tense silence came over them as another wind gust shook the plane so hard Caitlin thought she felt her teeth rattle.

“I’m going to have to fly out of this,” Jake said.

As they began to dive down through the clouds, she found she was holding her breath and clenching every muscle in her body.

Abruptly, the clouds deserted them and they flew down through a mild, blue sky. Caitlin couldn’t believe it. She let her breath out with a gasp.” Wow!”

Jake smiled at her.

Soon, trees and landscape came into view, then Tall Trees. She leaned back feeling wrung out as Jake began to circle the small airstrip. “Look,” he said pointing. Kilometers away to the west, dust rose from a swelling sea of grey cattle. Stockmen on horseback were mustering them to the river that meandered through the flat, parched land. “We might have to move them to higher ground soon. That cyclone could cause us some trouble.”

Jake approached the airfield. The land seemed to rush up to meet them. The wheels touched down, they bounced twice then slowed as he applied the brake. Taxiing up the airstrip to where the SUV waited, he eased the plane to a stop.

Caitlin climbed out, turning to help the children. Jake put his hand up to shade his eyes, looking back toward the coast. The dark clouds were following them. He frowned. “Looks like we just made it,” he said.

By the time they’d reached the house the clouds had arrived and with them torrential rain. It seemed incongruous to see the old house drenched with the gutters overflowing.

Caitlin went to unpack their things, starting first on her own, pleased to be in the room she’d grown so fond of in the past months. The air felt fresh and cool and Max seemed a long way from her now. Perhaps he’d come to see Conor and not her at all, but as she thought it, she knew she was living in a fool’s paradise.

She sat on her rocker as tears rolled down her cheeks and made her plans. She would catch the next tourist coach back to Broome then travel on to Perth. But where to from there? She suddenly felt very tired. Vanessa was one person who would be glad to see her go. The thought brought feelings of anxiety for the children that she quickly suppressed. It wasn’t to be her problem anymore.

* * * *

It had rained without pause all night. The sound on the tin roof was deafening. When it woke Caitlin she couldn’t go back to sleep. It was close to dawn. The verandah light attracted clouds of insects as soon as she put it on—they seemed to be hovering there, waiting. She switched it straight off again and sat down on the doorstep of her room staring out into the grey light. The cool, moist air wrapped itself around her as she pulled her nightgown down over her feet and hugged her knees. She could now identify many of the sounds emanating from the bush. The croaks, chirps, squeals and hoots belonging to frogs, geckos, bats and owls. In the early dawn, a bird’s noisy song drowned out the rest. She knew that too, a black-and-white currawong. She felt her spirits lift a little. Rain brought new life to the bush and you couldn’t help responding to it.

She’d been there for almost an hour when she heard footsteps behind her. “Nice change isn’t it?” Jake said.

She looked up at him. “Lovely. Can’t you sleep either?”

He shook his head as he joined her on the step. “We’ll be pretty tired of it before it stops.”

“Have you heard any more news on the cyclone?”

“It’s over Darwin. We were lucky to get out.”

“Is it bad?”

“Let’s hope not. Most of Darwin was cyclone-proofed when they rebuilt after Tracy.”

He hadn’t mentioned Max since they’d left there. “I need to find out when the next Greyhound coach is coming through that can take me to Broome,” she said.

“They don’t run during the rainy season.”

“Is there another mode of transport?”

“Can’t you stay until I find a replacement? I’m going to be away mustering for a while and I’d like you to be here for the kids.”

Before she could answer he said, “Max won’t find it easy to get here now. Assuming he’s planning on coming.”

“You don’t know him.”

‘So you say. But I know Tall Trees and he doesn’t.”

“I’d like to stay. I’ve grown fond of the children.”

He held up a hand. “Then it’s settled.”

She moved and her thin, white cotton nightgown crept up over her legs.

“Caitlin,” he began, moving towards her. He reached out and stroked her arm with a feather-like touch that sent her senses reeling.

“What is it?” she asked him softly, gazing into his eyes.

He shook his head as if trying to clear it then jumped to his feet. “You’re getting cold sitting here like this.” Walking to the door, he said, “I’ll let you get dressed. See you at breakfast.”

“Jake?” she called after him. “Where’s Harry? Is he out with the cattle?”

“No. He’s down in the compound with the horses.”

“I might go and see him this afternoon.”

There was a pause before he said, “I’ll find you a raincoat.”

Harry had to be warned about Max.

* * * *

It continued to rain heavily as she walked down the hill, making her feel damp and uncomfortable inside the heavy, oilskin coat Jake had given her. She found Harry working in the stables. He looked up and smiled as she came in shedding her coat.

“What are you doing slumming it at the bottom of the hill?” he said, putting the rake away.

“Thought I’d come down and catch you slackers all sitting round having a fag.”

“You’re catching onto the lingo pretty quick,” he said laughing. “I was just considering a break. Put your coat back on. We’ll go up to the canteen.”

In the canteen, she pulled off her rain hat and shook her hair free. The sound of the rain drumming on the tin roof almost drowned out their speech.

“Coffee?” Harry asked.

“Thanks.”

“Milk no sugar.”

“You’re an observant man.”

Harry had a way of looking at her that spoke volumes. It wasn’t licentious or in anyway offensive, in fact, she rather enjoyed it. But there was that unspoken issue between them. She guessed they both had their reasons for leaving it alone.

She took a sip of tea. It was good and strong, the way she liked it.

“You can’t be getting bored up there,” he said. “You’ve just come back from Darwin.”

She shook her head. “I’ve come to tell you a story.”

“The story of your life?”

“In a way. You asked me once what I was scared of, remember?”

Frowning, he put his cup down and nodded.

She began to tell him about Max. When she got to the part where Blaine had been killed, Harry interrupted. “Sick bastard,” he said. She carried on, describing how she’d seen Max in Darwin. Harry pushed his cup away, sloshing tea on the table. “Tall Trees has a way of sorting out a city slicker like him.”

Caitlin shook her head. Here she was telling the men the secret she’d been afraid to reveal should it make their lives hell, and neither of them reacted the way she expected.

“If he pokes his head up here he’ll be sorry. What’s this blighter look like?”

As she described him, the thought that both Harry and Jake were looking out for her caused warmth to spread through her, despite her fears for everyone. It made her feel she wasn’t alone. Until common sense kicked in. She had not changed her plans. She would leave as soon as she could.

“Harry, as soon as Jake can free me, I need to get to Broome. Jake says there are no buses during the rainy season.”

“We could arrange a lift with one of the truck drivers. But these rains are quickly making the unsealed roads impassable. Unless this Max was on the road yesterday, I don’t see him appearing around these parts for a while.”

Jake had said that, too. Surely, both men couldn’t be wrong. They knew this country. She began to relax and believe time was on her side.

Harry’s voice broke into her thoughts. “You can’t keep running, Caitlin.”

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “Be careful Harry, won’t you?”

Harry gave his lopsided smile. ‘Sounds like you care.”

“Yes, I do.” She cared very much. How quickly the people of Tall Trees had become family.

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Chapter Fifteen

The cyclone was still causing trouble in Darwin and surrounding areas—not large-scale devastation luckily, but a disruption to services.

A break came in the weather, and Jake came to find her.

“My neighbor, Joss Harley has been injured in a truck accident. It’s pretty bad.”

“Surely you’re not flying in this weather.”

He shrugged. “The Flying Doctor Service is grounded. I can’t let the poor bloke die. I can be there and back in a day, if the weather holds.”

Caitlin had seen the dark grey clouds rolling in over the horizon. “Do you think it will hold?”

“I don’t know. I’ve checked in the town for Maxwell Haughton. No one’s seen him.” He studied her. Harry will keep an eye on you, but if it starts to rain again, he and boys will have to go off and move the cattle before the river floods its banks That means you could be on your own for a bit. Will you be all right until I get back?”

“Yes. Go.”

“Caitlin?”