Raven Falls: Australian Rural Romantic Suspense

by Suzanne Brandyn

  ‘I heard it was running.’

  ‘Yeah. We ran a pipeline to the creek. So it should be full.’

  They walked for at least ten minutes and diverted their course, heading around the rocky outcrop. By the time they’d reached the area where they’d sunk the bore, the beginning of the irrigation pipes, the colour of the sky deepened.

  ‘I don’t like the looks of that. Did you manage to get a weather report this morning?’

  ‘There were warnings of heavy rain and flooding up north, but I don’t think it was for Raven, or here on the property. Someone would have mentioned something if it was,’ Brad said.

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t like the look of that sky. I can smell rain.’ The atmosphere filled with the promise of rain. Samantha inhaled the almost forgotten scent.

  ‘It’s teasing us, that’s all. I’ve seen it before.’

  ‘It doesn’t look like a tease. It looks pretty damn serious to me.’ Samantha gazed at the ominous clouds.

  While Brad checked the bore and the pipeline, Samantha searched the area for Raven and wondered if someone had scared him off, or possibly untied both horses.

  ‘Everything appears okay.’

  ‘Good, let’s head down to the creek. We might be able to cut across and back to the house in half the time.’

  Arriving beside the creek bed, Samantha was taken by surprise. She swung back to Brad but tripped. ‘Oh hell.’ She toppled. Her hands caught her weight as she hit the solid ground.

  ‘You okay.’

  She winced in pain. ‘No. Great. I think I’ve twisted my ankle. God, it hurts.’ Samantha sat on her bottom, leaning backwards, her arms supporting her weight. ‘I won’t be able to get back to the house now. And where are the damn horses when you need them?’

  ‘Let me take a look at your ankle.’ Brad knelt in front of her and eased off her boot. She grimaced as he slipped off her sock.

  ‘I was going to say, there’s so much water. I haven’t seen the creek this high since I was a kid.’

  ‘It looks higher than I thought it’d be. It’s sprained all right. It’s blue black and swelling.’

  ‘Great.’ She peered at her foot. ‘It’s killing me.’

  He slipped off his long-sleeved shirt, and tore at the sleeves until he ripped one off. ‘This will have to do. It’ll make it feel better.’

  ‘So much for your shirt, you’ve destroyed it.’

  ‘No problem. I didn’t particularly like that shirt anyway. Hang on. What if you put your foot in the cool water? It might help with the swelling.’

  Brad helped Samantha closer to the creek and she dipped her foot into the coolness, holding it under for as long as possible.

  ‘Okay that’s enough. I’m dying here.’

  Brad chuckled.

  ‘It’s not funny.’

  ‘I know it’s not, Sam. Pain can be a person’s worst enemy.’ After helping her away from the creek, he knelt and wound the material from his shirt around her ankle, making sure it was firm but not tight.

  ‘It feels better already.’

  ‘It’ll help support it for a while.’ Easing her sock over the makeshift bandage, he tried to slip on her boot.

  ‘I don’t think your boot will fit. I’ll shove it in my pack.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Samantha jerked back in response to a sound. ‘Did you hear that?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Listen. Oh no; hell no.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Water...rushing water. It’s true. Floods. It’s true. Oh hell no, not now.’

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘Years back the river at Dingo Creek busted its banks, and found a water course directly through here.’

  ‘You mean to say we could be flooded?’

  Samantha gazed about, as eerie dark shadows drifted over the land. A sudden breeze whipped up and gained momentum.

  ‘Yes. The creek is higher than usual. I can hear it Brad. I can’t run. I can’t run.’

  ‘I won’t let anything happen to you.’

  Samantha reached out and Brad pulled her upwards onto her good foot. She put a hand on his shoulder and tried to place her bad foot on the ground. She managed to hobble a few steps and stopped.

  ‘Come on. We have to move fast. I could try carrying you.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ll hobble.’

  The sound of rushing water increased. As she turned a wave of water curved over the rocks behind them.

  ‘Shit.’

  Brad swooped her up into his solid arms, and started running.

  ‘We need to get to higher ground.’

  A roaring, much like the sound of thunder, had Samantha swinging back staring into the path of a tidal wave. Brad tried to run faster but the speed and force of the water knocked him from his feet, pushing them downstream.

  Another wave cut through the creek bed, forcing aside anything in its path before catching up to them. Brad’s grip tightened around Samantha’s waist. Wave after wave followed, weakening his hold until his touch disappeared. Samantha groped about in the water, trying to keep afloat, and frantically searching for Brad. She swallowed several mouthfuls of water, spluttered and grabbed the occasional breath.

  ‘Brad.’ Her gaze darted in all directions. He’d disappeared.

  Ink black clouds loomed above, and raindrops fell overhead. She tried to ignore the searing ache in her ankle as she forced her legs to kick while she sucked back frantic breaths. It was impossible to outswim the overpowering current. The rain intensified.

  Spotting a branch jutting out from the edge of the creek, she reached out and grabbed hold, clinging as tightly as possible. After she swung her feet upwards, they came to rest on another solid branch, and she let out an agonising scream. Her leg buckled from underneath her but her grip remained firm.

  Clinging to the limbs of the tree, she watched helplessly as the creek roared below and the downpour continued. A silvery misty blanket spread out in front of her, obscuring her vision. Spluttering, and with her breathing out of control, she tried to spot Brad, but he remained out of sight. She gazed downward feeling her feet cool only to discover the water had risen. She panicked, and tried to climb higher but the branch above her head was unreachable.

  The force of the water gushed by, lapping at her knees. There was nothing she could do except hang on tight and pray the branch didn’t snap and pray that her good foot was strong enough to hold her upright.

  Samantha clung for her life, closed her eyes and anchored her thoughts on her brothers and Brad. What would happen to her brothers if she wasn’t about to keep an eye on them, to take care of them? And then there was Brad. If anything happened to him and they weren’t related she would never know if they would have made it as a couple. The pressure in her fingers tightened around the branch, and she willed strength into her body.

  Samantha shivered, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hold herself upright for much longer. Her arms ached, and her left foot felt as though it was caught in a vice.

  The rain hammered down, and she tried to scramble higher, looking for a branch she could grab onto, only she slipped, landing on the previous branch, where she decided to stay put. As the water rose around her, almost tipping her thighs, she cleared her eyes with one hand as the surreal misty blanket surrounding her thickened.

  ‘Sam. Sam where are you?’

  Her heart tapped a little faster when she heard Brad’s voice. She couldn’t make out what direction the faint call came from. He called again but the enveloping haze prevented her from seeing more than a few feet surrounding her.

  ‘Brad. I’m over here.’

  ‘Keep calling. I’ll follow your voice.’

  ‘Here Brad. I’m stuck on a branch. The tree is in the water. It’s getting deeper. Hurry please.’ After a few moments, she called out and the distant echo of his voice faded and she almost cried.

  With the rain hammering down, the roaring sound of tidal waves, and the sky now cracking with t
hunder, and lightning strikes flashing through the blanketing mist, Samantha clung on tight, fearing she’d lose her grip and be washed downstream and dragged under the depths.

  She glanced upwards, eyed another branch she hadn’t seen earlier and pushed up onto her good foot, while reaching above her head. Struggling to grab hold, her bad foot slipped and she lunged out but her good foot slipped as well and she dropped from the tree, crashing into the swirling frothy water.

  Murkiness surrounded her, and the current of the water pulled her under. Battling upwards toward the surface, she speared from the water, gulped and spluttered while fear took hold for several heart-killing seconds. She realised if she didn’t take control, drowning would be inevitable.

  Samantha lay on her back trying to stay afloat, while searching the banks of the creek. Another branch jutted out downstream and she paddled toward the edge as debris swung by.

  A log slammed into her back and she gasped at the sudden bite of pain raking up her spine. With attempts to swim toward a tree, she reached up the moment the water washed her by, and anchored a hand over a gnarly branch.

  With intermittent sounds piercing her throat, she latched on and pulled upwards with both hands, managing to gain a foothold on another branch not too far below. Pulling herself upwards, she paused when a weak moment threatened to push her down.

  ‘No. Not now. No.’ Her scream echoed about before being lost in the roaring sound of gushing water. God it’s like a tsunami.

  Battling against the power of nature, Samantha managed another foothold until she pulled herself upwards, out of the water. She peered about.

  ‘Help me. Someone help me.’ Her voice was a weak crackle where no one would have heard her, even if they were close by.

  Perhaps Brad had made it back to the house and her brothers would be searching for her by now. To make matters worse, twilight set in along with crippling fear. It’d be dark soon and she knew she wouldn’t survive stuck up some goddamn tree for the entire night. She shuddered at the thought.

  Darkness invaded twilight, diminishing her vision further. Samantha clung tighter with desperation and forced herself to remain alert. The rain had lessened, and the water didn’t appear to be as agitated. Perhaps it had subsided, but as she peered down the sound remained terrifying.

  Using all the energy she could muster, she pulled upright, swung her good leg over another branch beside her and pinned her back against the tree trunk, gaining some stability while clinging to a small branch.

  During the night, she dozed in and out of sleep, waking several times due to slipping and something crawling over her skin. At one time, she woke with a start, flicked some insect from her face, and then another. All she needed now was a snake to take shelter on her lap and she’d surely drop from the tree and drown.

  Trying to push tiredness aside, she forced her eyes to remain open until the early hours of the morning. With intermittent beams of light filtering through the tree above, Samantha gasped at the sight below. The creek was a raging river, although the water flow had subsided somewhat, logs and branches floated in the water with remnants strewn over the banks indicating how torrential and high the creek had become.

  As the mist cleared she blinked several times unable to believe her eyes. The storm was worse than she had thought. A dead cow floated past, and she wondered how many more would follow.

  ‘Sam. Where in the bloody hell are you?’

  ‘Cameron. Cam. Oh Cam. I’m here. In the tree. In the creek.’ She tried to call out again, but her throat closed against rising emotion. Her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘Shit Sam. We thought you were dead.’

  She spotted Cameron on foot heading toward her with a rope slung over his shoulder. He’d left his quad up on the bank. Not too far behind, Steven was dismounting another quad.

  ‘You can’t get rid of me that easy.’ She tried to perk up her voice.

  ‘We’ve been looking for you all night. Hell, how did you get up there?’

  ‘Get me out of here.’

  ‘Where’s Brad?’

  ‘Haven’t you found him? I thought he’d get back to the house.’ Worry clawed at her shaky words.

  ‘There’s been no sign of him.’

  ‘We've lost our horses.’

  ‘They’re safe back at the house. They would have sensed the approaching storm. It probably scared them off.’

  ‘They wouldn’t have got loose. They were tied securely. It could have been Christopher’s mates or whoever it is responsible for cattle rustling.’ Samantha’s legs weakened, and her body trembled with overwhelming emotion.

  ‘Let’s get you out first up. I’ll toss up the rope. Tie it around your waist, and then Steven can hook the other end to the quad. You stay there until I come and get you.’

  As Cameron hurtled the rope in her direction, she couldn’t stop thinking about Brad. The last time she saw him was when they were washed into the water. She gazed downstream. Brother, lover, friend. Whatever the outcome she prayed for his safety.

  The rope landed around a branch but she couldn’t reach it. Cameron attempted to cross the creek via the logs and trees but hesitated.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘I can’t reach you this way. I'll have to swim for it.’

  Retracing his path, he waded into the waist deep water and swam toward her.

  ‘Be careful Cam.’

  ‘The current has subsided. It’s not as bad now.’ He swam toward the middle of the creek, which would have been the edge before the surge of water hit. As he closed in Samantha let out a relieved breath, feeling exhausted. The muscles in her body relaxed although her grip remained firm until Cameron was beside her.

  He grabbed her by the hand and slipped the rope around her waist before helping her down into the water. After signalling Steven, he slowly wound them toward the edge of the creek. When Samantha’s feet touched the bottom of the murky creek, she wobbled before dropping. Cameron swooped an arm around her, catching her mid fall. Another signal to Steven and he stopped the quad.

  ‘Everything alright?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Cameron called and looked at Samantha. ‘What’s up?

  ‘I sprained my ankle.’

  ‘Come on, I’ll help you up the bank.’

  Samantha sat on the top of the bank. Her body numbed and she closed her eyes for a few moments, willed energy to return while she pushed against the need for sleep. It’d been one hell of a night.

  ‘We have to find Brad,’ she said, as she opened her eyes.

  ‘Don’t worry, we will. He’s tough. If you can survive the night, I gather he can.’

  Cameron untied the rope and indicated to Steven to wind it up. ‘Do you want to keep going downstream to see if you can spot Brad? I’ll take Sam back to the house, and return.’

  ‘No. I’m going with you.’

  ‘You’re in no condition to ride about on a quad.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. If you don’t double me, I’ll take my quad out when I get back.’

  Christopher roared toward them on his bike. ‘Hey sis. I knew you’d be okay. Where’s Brad?’

  ‘We were bowled over by a wave of water, and washed downstream. He may be downstream. I haven’t seen him since it happened, although I heard him calling once.’

  ‘I’ll head off downstream.’ Christopher scooted off and Steven followed.

  ‘Come on then stubborn one. On the quad.’ Cameron helped Samantha up and onto the back of the quad.

  ‘I’ll take it easy. Hang on.’

  They covered the ground downstream and with no sight of Brad, Cameron insisted on taking Samantha back to the house.

  ‘We’ll continue searching.’

  With hardly any sleep, Samantha’s emotions grabbed hold. Everything appeared distorted. By the time they’d reached the house she could barely speak.

  Cameron settled her on the lounge and rang the doctor who stated he’d be out as soon as he saw his last patient that day. Cameron dressed her sprained
ankle, and before he left the house, she was out for the count.

  ***

  When she opened her eyes, three hours had passed and the house was quiet. Pushing to her feet, she realised walking would take some concentration but she needed to know if her brothers had found Brad. She hobbled toward the front door.

  ‘Mike. Mike, you out there?’

  After she repeated her call several times, Mike rushed up from the stables.

  ‘Thank heavens you’re okay, Mike.’

  ‘Yeah. Everyone’s safe…including you by the looks of it. I wanted to head out with the others, but Cam said it would be best if someone stayed close by. Everyone was out looking for you last night.’

  ‘Thanks Mike. My brothers are still searching for Brad.’

  ‘It’s been a hell of a night. They were frantic with worry and weren’t about to let up until they found you… What happened? You said they're looking for the irrigation guy.’

  ‘That's right. We were swept away and separated. I haven’t seen him since.’

  ‘Hell. Lots of bad things have happened. The road into Raven is blocked. News on the telly this morning said that two people have died. I don’t know the details, but it’s been bad. One of the worst rains I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘It was pretty rough out there last night.’

  ‘I imagine so, especially being alone. I’m pleased you’re safe Sam.’

  She grinned. ‘Thanks Mike. Could you get my quad and bring it to the front door please?’

  Samantha tried to hide her injured foot but he noticed the bandage.

  ‘Hurt yourself did you? Is it a good idea to go riding?’

  ‘Brad is still missing.’

  ‘It’s pretty bad out there. It’s dangerous. The creek is swollen to the extent that it might rise again. Reports say the rain hasn’t finished with us yet. The lower track that passes the back paddocks is blocked. You can’t get through that way, but if you go around the other side and up the rise you should make it.’

  ‘Cameron bought me back that way. I’ll be careful.’

  Mike agreed, and returned with the quad. She scooted around the southern side of the paddocks heading up to the rise and slowed as she reached the peak, only to let out a sudden gasp.