by Annie Seaton
‘The traditional owners make decisions in the management of the land, and many of them have roles within the park.’ She leaned her head back on the seat rest. ‘Heather is descended from one of the clans, and Bill, her dad, is heavily involved with the protection of the park.’
‘Protection from what?’
‘Mining initiatives, development, basically anything that threatens the park. He represents the local clan on a couple of parliamentary committees.’ Ellie’s voice was quiet and she turned away, staring out of the window and lost in her thoughts. They didn’t speak again until they passed a narrow road and she directed him to take a right turn then pull up next to a big noticeboard on the other side of an area where long tussock grass almost reached to the top of the bonnet of their vehicle.
She grabbed the laminated poster off the seat, opened the door and jumped down from the seat, pulling a key from her pocket.
Kane opened his door and climbed down, watching as Ellie unlocked the glass door at the front of the noticeboard. He walked through the long grass to stand beside her.
‘Any snakes around here?’ He kicked at the sandy soil between the mounds of grass, grateful for his sturdy boots. Plenty of holes and places for them to hide.
‘Nah, they’ll stay away. The main thing to worry about here is the crocs.’
Kane looked up at her, unsure whether she was teasing him.
She pinned the warning onto the board and then slid the front panel back down and locked it. ‘Want to have a look at the billabong while we’re here? The bird life is amazing.’
‘Sure, why not.’ Ellie strode ahead of him and Kane followed, enjoying the view. He’d noticed Heather’s posturing in the office and had been slightly amused by it, but he wasn’t here to get involved with anyone. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate a tight butt and a fine set of legs.
Kane expelled his breath and lifted his gaze as a huge expanse of water dotted with all manner of bird life opened up in front of them. A mass of purple waterlilies in full bloom edged the water, nodding over the flat lily pads. Beyond them, the billabong stretched as far as he could see.
‘How big is this? I always imagined billabongs were like a small dam.’
‘Djarradjin is almost three kilometres long. It’s one of the biggest billabongs in Kakadu.’
Ellie stopped beside a wire fence that ran through the grass about three metres back from the edge of the water and Kane looked at it curiously. It was falling down, and in some places had been pushed flat to the ground. He could have stepped over it if he’d wanted to. ‘That wouldn’t stop a water buffalo in full flight, surely?’
Ellie grinned at him with a flash of white teeth. It was the biggest smile he’d had from her yet. A lazy swirl of desire ran through him and he kept his eyes on her face. Her lips parted softly as she held his gaze for a second before she looked away and across to the water. A faint hint of colour touched her cheeks.
‘That’s to keep the tourists away from the water. There are crocodiles here.’
‘Are they really so dangerous?’ It was hard to believe there was danger in such a beautiful place.
‘Close your eyes.’ Ellie’s voice was soft. ‘What do you hear?’
Kane glanced down at her before doing as she said. ‘Nothing.’
‘Listen.’
He tilted his head to the side and really listened. ‘I can hear the wind.’
The soft cadence of her voice held him as she continued. ‘Imagine being here at night. The moon is full and shining on the water, and everything is quiet, apart from that soft wind.’
‘Very pleasant,’ Kane said.
‘Ten years ago a young German girl and her friends were camping here. They fell in love with the natural beauty of this place, and one hot night they went for a midnight swim. Right here. Right where we’re standing. She was found the next morning in the jaws of a crocodile, one hundred metres along the shore.’ Ellie’s voice hardened and Kane opened his eyes as her warm fingers touched his forearm. She lifted her other hand and pointed to a sign at the water’s edge.
DANGER.
The word was printed in huge red letters above three graphics: a crocodile, a person swimming with a red line through the figure, and a crocodile snatching a person from the water’s edge.
She shivered and pointed past the sign to the grass on the other side of the flimsy wire. ‘See that flattened grass?’
Kane stood close behind her and followed the direction of her finger.
A huge reptile was lying in the shallow water at the edge of the billabong about fifty metres away. Its nose and eyes were above the waterline, but the rest was a deep shadow beneath the surface. ‘Holy shit. Look at the size of it. It must be at least four metres long.’
Ellie squealed and grabbed at his arm as if to pull him back. ‘You’ve got a good eye. I didn’t even see that one.’ Kane steadied her against him, and was pleased when she didn’t move away from his hands resting on her shoulders.
He watched the crocodile for a few moments, intrigued to see such a massive creature in its natural habitat. He went to step forward but Ellie lifted her hand to stop him and shook her head.
‘Please don’t go any closer. Do you know how fast they can move?’
The fragrance of her skin wafted around him as she stood close. The same fragrance he’d noticed up in the air yesterday.
‘How fast? They’re such ungainly looking creatures.’
‘Faster than you’d imagine. Remember what I told you. No matter how beautiful and enticing Kakadu appears, remember the danger lurking behind the beauty.’
Her eyes were wide, and Kane thought of another sort of danger, another sort of beauty, and her cheeks flared with colour again as he looked down at her.
The confident, sassy demeanour she’d put up yesterday had gone. Hell, if he didn’t know better, he’d have said she was terrified. A protective instinct surged through him, the intensity hitting him unexpectedly. Kane dropped his hands from Ellie’s shoulders and took a step back, unsettled by his response. ‘I’ll be careful.’
‘Please.’ The blush that had stained her cheeks a moment ago had faded into pallor.
‘You really don’t like those suckers, do you?’ He tried for the casual response.
‘No, I don’t. I’ve seen what they can do first hand and it wasn’t pleasant.’ She turned on her heel and he watched as she strode back to the car. Her shoulders were rigid and she didn’t even slow down as she threw a final comment at him. ‘You need to develop a healthy respect for them. There’s been too many deaths over the years when simple common sense could have saved a life.’
There was a splash and Kane switched his gaze from the curvy bottom in the snug-fitting cargo shorts back to the water. The crocodile had taken off towards the shore, slithering rapidly along the ground like a lizard. In one swift movement its massive jaws closed on a large bird that only seconds before had been pecking its way along the grass. The bird disappeared and Kane shivered as the sound of crunching bones broke the peaceful silence of the idyllic scene.
He stiffened as the crunching was replaced by the unexpected sound of an out-of-control helicopter above. He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed, clenching his jaw so hard it ached, waiting for the crash and the explosion, but it didn’t come. For one fleeting second, he almost looked up, but a sudden weight dragged on his arms. Kane gagged as his throat filled with gritty sand and a hot, dry wind whistled around his head. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked down. Goosebumps rose on his arms, and the unwelcome familiar looseness weakened his legs. Hawk was in his arms, her eyes holding his, her jaw working, trying to speak through the blood.
The out-of-control sensation whirled in his chest as anxiety took over his entire body. Perspiration ran down his neck as he fought for control. He had to get to the base. He had to save her.
Kane pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. But the weight dragged his arms down and the smell of blood surrounded him. He
dropped to his knees, clutching his arms to his chest. It’s not fucking real. It’s not really happening.
He opened his eyes. His arms were empty and he was still standing. A bird called across the billabong and sweet, clean air filled Kane’s lungs. He took deep gasping breaths as the soft breeze blew across the water.
He focused on the reflection in the middle of the billabong as the mid-morning sun caught the small waves kicked up by the light wind. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and his heart rate slowed. He turned when he became aware of Ellie calling him.
‘Come on, there’s lots more scenery to look out when we get to the falls. If you think this is good, you are in for a treat.’
Forcing his legs to move, he walked slowly back to the vehicle, all the while focused on his breathing. He hauled himself in.
Ellie looked at him curiously as she closed her door. She reached over to the back seat and passed him a bottle of water. ‘Are you all right? Your shirt is soaked. Can’t take the heat?’
‘Thanks.’ He accepted the bottle and took a long draught before turning back to her. ‘Heat? Trust me, this isn’t hot. Not by a long shot.’
Kane pushed away the fear as he clicked his belt in and turned the key to fire the ignition.
Chapter 6
Friday
Jim Jim Falls
The drive down to Jim Jim Falls was quiet with only desultory conversation. Ellie occasionally broke the silence with a warning about upcoming corrugations or a kangaroo that she spotted on the side of the road. Mostly she looked out of the window at the scrubby landscape flashing by. For a while there, she’d been enjoying his company, and then for some reason he’d turned back into the sullen man who had been in the chopper with her yesterday.
She turned to him just before they were about to reach the end of the bitumen road.
‘The traditional owners call this season Wurrgeng. The creeks drain out and the floodplains dry up. During the monsoon season, we can’t even get down here.’
‘Wurrgeng?’
‘Yeah, there are six seasons in the Aboriginal year. The monsoon season is called Gudjewg.’
‘Did you have to learn all that for the scenic flights?’
Ellie shook her head and looked at the sky. Smoke hung low over the looming escarpment. ‘No. I learned it all from Bill Jarragah when I was a kid. He used to work with my dad, and he taught me a lot too. See the smoke? They’re burning off the grasslands. It’s a way of renewing for the next season.’ Ellie pointed to the granite cliffs to the east. ‘This time of year, we have spectacular sunsets. Have you been out on the lodge boardwalk at sunset yet?’
Kane shook his head and turned his attention back to the road. ‘I only arrived here a few days before you got back.’
His words sent Ellie’s thoughts wandering back to her mother as she stared at the landscape flashing past. She’d ring Emma and get her to send over any more information that Mum had put together about shale gas exploration in Kakadu. She’d had another quick flick through the folder Mum had given her but apart from the newspaper clippings about Sordina, it was mainly general stuff printed off from websites about fracking in other places. There were a few mentions of a company called Black Coal Holdings, but there was no links between the documents.
Ellie reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She had the window wound down a little and the wind had blown strands of hair from her braid.
‘What’s wrong?’ His voice broke into her thoughts.
She kept her gaze fixed on Kane as she considered whether to be upfront with him. Even though his hair was cropped short, the ends were sun-tipped, and his tanned skin looked as though he spent a lot of time outdoors. His profile was hawkish and a little gaunt, with deep hollows in his cheeks. A web of laughter lines creased around his hazel-coloured eyes. Her eyes travelled down his tanned arms to the strong hands confidently holding the steering wheel.
Nerves shimmied in her stomach and tingled down a little bit lower. Ellie didn’t like the feelings that rushed through her body when she looked at him. While she didn’t know if she could trust him, the same as yesterday she instinctively sensed solidness about him.
Ellie swallowed and then bit her lip. ‘I was just deciding whether I can trust you to be honest with me.’
‘About what?’ Kane kept his eyes on the road ahead as the corrugations got deeper and the vehicle juddered to one side of the road.
She grabbed for the Jesus bar on the dashboard in front of her. ‘About the farm.’
‘I have been.’ He wrenched on the steering wheel as they approached a wide corrugation and his biceps flexed.
‘Do you think it would be okay if I went out there and had a look at what’s going on?’
Kane shot her a glance. ‘I can’t see it would be a problem. Mum would probably appreciate a visitor too.’ His hands were clenched on the steering wheel. ‘She’s not real well,’ he said. ‘And I think she’s a bit lonely.’
There was no more conversation until the towering granite escarpments signalling the beginning of the gorge appeared in the distance ahead.
‘Around the next bend, past the camping area, the road changes and it’s four-wheel drive vehicles only.’
Kane nodded and moved back a gear, slowing the vehicle as they approached the sweeping curve. A sudden flash of white was the only warning as a large all-terrain vehicle came careening around on the wrong side of the road.
He pulled the wheel to the left and their vehicle came crashing down into the channel, Ellie’s head bumping the roof.
‘Christ, who gave that cowboy a licence? Are you okay?’
She rubbed it with her hand. ‘Yes, I’m fine. That’s another one of the not-so-natural dangers of the park. Sorry I should have warned you.’ She shook her head. ‘The tour buses take the road down to the falls right through the dry season, full of backpackers and tourists. The worst part is, if we meet one of them on the next section of the road, one of the vehicles will have to back up to get past and I can guarantee it won’t be them.’
Kane pulled back onto the road, and slipped the vehicle into four-wheel drive mode as they passed the turn-off to the Garnamarr campground. Ellie watched his strong hands on the lever as the gearbox resisted for a moment. Finally it slotted in and the tone of the motor dropped back.
‘How come your mother is living back at the farm? I thought Sordina lived in Darwin. Isn’t he a member for one of the southern regions of the city?’
‘I can’t really help you there.’ Kane lifted one hand from the wheel and scratched his head, before he turned to her. ‘I don’t know why she is yet.’
‘Watch the road.’ She inclined her head to the road in front of them.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ That broad grin was finally back, and he hadn’t ‘babed’ her this time. ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know Sordina that well. I’d only met him a couple of times before I –’ Kane stared into the distance ahead of them ‘– when my mother married him. When I visited them in Darwin after they were first married, they were living right on the water at Cullen Bay. But I’ve been away . . . for a few years. I must admit I was a bit shocked myself when I saw the state of the place yesterday. I’m not happy about her being there, especially when she’s crook.’ A pensive look crossed his face and Ellie could sense there was something more but she didn’t press.
‘Do you think he’s going to try and resurrect the mango plantation?’
Kane shrugged and changed back another gear as the road ahead narrowed. ‘I have no idea why he would want to. Mum didn’t say anything about him taking up farming. But honestly, I can’t imagine it. He’s a city bloke. He loves the horse races. Always running off to put a bet on. Not what you’d expect of your local member.’
‘That’s the Territory for you,’ Ellie joked.
‘Is there anything else he might have in mind for the place?’
‘Like what? Cattle or something? What other crops grow up here in this heat?’ Ellie stared a
t him. It was becoming apparent that Kane knew very little about the area. But was he being truthful or just prevaricating?
She bit her lip again as he slowed the four-wheel drive when they approached the next bend. His slowing down was timely and a curse left his lips as another tourist bus came around the curve in front of them, smack-bang in the middle of the narrow road. Kane shifted the car into reverse, and his fingers brushed her shoulder as he put his arm along the back of the seat, sending a quiver down her arm. He looked over his shoulder as he backed to the side of the road to let the vehicle through.
‘You’re a quick learner.’ Ellie nodded as the bus accelerated past them and tooted the deep horn as it went by. A blur of tourist faces flashed past.
‘How far did you say we have to go on this road?’
The moment for asking any more questions was past. She’d bide her time and wait until another opportunity arose.
*
Kane focused on the road without speaking. It had taken a while to regain his composure after that blasted panic attack at the billabong; the worst was the choking feeling when he had to fight for breath. The doctor at the base in Germany had offered him antidepressants but Kane refused to believe that he had a problem. The doctor had looked at him over his glasses so Kane had reluctantly agreed to take the leaflets on PTSD. Maybe it was time to read them.
‘Another one.’ Ellie’s voice intruded on his thoughts. Yet another big four-wheel drive bus was hurtling towards them.
‘Christ, it’s like a freeway down here. How many tourists come down here in a day?’
‘The tours start at daybreak and go all day. You’d be surprised at the thousands of visitors here every season.’ She turned to him with a grin and his gaze lingered on her face. When she smiled the constant wariness in her expression disappeared. Her pale blue eyes held his for a minute before she turned away.
By the time they reached the small car park, the sky had clouded over. Kane looked at Ellie, raising his eyebrows in question. ‘Are you sure this is the right place? Where are all the tourist buses?’