Kim and Sherry had left immediately as well, but on the journey back to Googon, whenever she had tried to say something, Kim had told her sharply to shut up.
After breakfast she went out with Sam and Jamie, leaving Kim to follow. It wasn't until around five in the afternoon that she began to be conscious of feeling uneasy. The temperature was high, but she was ashamed when she sometimes almost fell asleep in her saddle. She blamed the heat and being out so late the night before for making her so drowsy, otherwise she was sure she would have sensed sooner that something was wrong.
There had been no sign of Kim all day. This in itself was no cause for alarm. Not infrequently, he took himself off to work alone at the other end of the station. When he didn't turn up for dinner, though, Sherry began getting anxious.
'I'll go and see what's keeping him, Sherry,' Jamie said, as she expressed concern. 'I'll take the bike.'
As he roared off, she blessed the kindness of the Googon men. For the most part they were silent and seemingly slow-moving, but no one coped with an emergency as they did. After coming here, Sherry had soon discovered it was amazing the amount of work these big silent men got through, and how really fast they could move when it was necessary.
Kim was nowhere to be found, but Sam advised Sherry not to worry. 'He could be anywhere,' he told her.
She went to look in his room and found a note. She opened it, vexed that she had missed it before when she had just glanced through the door.
'Sherry,' it read, 'I don't know how long I'll be away. Take care and don't worry.'
She showed it to Sam, because she had to tell someone. 'I can't understand,' she watched worriedly for his reactions. 'What do you think?'
'Beats me, Miss Sherry,' he frowned. 'He couldn't have eloped or something?'
Sam was joking, of course. It must be a joke to suggest Kim eloping! Or was it? Suddenly Sherry felt terribly shaken and knew she had to ring Coomarlee. She had to be convinced Kim would never commit such a folly as running off with Ellen Brady.
Helplessly she stared at Sam, Sam was getting on, but he had been with her grandfather all his life. His wife, Kathleen, had died young. Her grave lay on a hill behind the house, marked by a stone. He had been John Carey's overseer for years and during the old man's last illness, though Kim liked to pretend he had done it, it was Sam who had ran the station. He was a friend as well as a valued employee, and Sherry saw no reason why she shouldn't confide in him.
'I—I'm frightened he's gone off with Ellen Brady, Sam. He wouldn't do such a thing, would he?'
Sam glanced at her sharply. 'God help him if he has—her brother will skin him alive.'
Sherry shivered. 'That's what I'm afraid of!'
'All the same,' Sam muttered, his eyes shrewd and not unkind as they rested on her pale face, 'if it's help you're after, Scott Brady's the man to give it.'
Sherry didn't want to hear the respect in Sam's voice. Regard in these parts was never lightly earned or given, and she would much rather think of Scott as a villain. It almost hurt to admit reluctantly, 'It might be sensible to ring him.'
'I'm sure it would be,' Sam nodded wisely. 'Better being safe than sorry. If Ellen's there, at least you won't have to worry so much about Kim.'
Sam had scarcely finished speaking when the phone rang. Sherry hurried to pick it up. 'Sherry Grant…' she said breathlessly.
It was Scott Brady, but he didn't bother to introduce himself as Sherry had done. 'Is Ellen there?' he snapped.
It was the note of fury in his voice that flung her into panic. That, and the information gathered from his query that Ellen, like Kim, was missing. 'Ellen…?' she faltered weakly.
'You heard!' he rapped. 'Quit stalling, Sherry.'
She hadn't been—deliberately, but naturally he would think so! Dear God, where were her wits? 'No, she's not here.'
'Kim?' he barked next.
'K-Kim?'
'If you keep on repeating everything after me, Sherry,' the incensed voice advised, 'I'll beat you the next time I see you, and that's a promise!'
Still she prevaricated, despite being frozen with fright. If she confessed that Kim wasn't here, he might believe he and Ellen were together. 'Maybe Ellen's just gone for a ride?' she faltered.
'Now why didn't I think of that?' he asked silkily, and rang off.
Half an hour later, as Sherry was still pondering uneasily on his last words, Scott flew in, in a light plane. He landed on the station runway, little used these days, and his long legs soon covered the short distance to the house. Someone should have fetched him, but the truck was gone.
His hard grey eyes swiftly assessed the small group watching his approach. 'I'd like a word with you, alone,' he said to Sherry, after nodding to the two men.
His hand was at her back as they went inside, she could feel the leashed anger in it. In the living-room he grasped her arm, swinging her round. 'Now,' he said savagely, 'I'd like an answer to my question. Where is he?'
This time Sherry had more sense than to be evasive. 'I don't know,' she replied unsteadily. 'I wish I did.'
'How long has he been missing?'
She wished he'd say Kim! 'The men and I have been out all day,' she told him. 'Kim was here when we left. We thought he might be at the other end of the run.'
'He isn't?'
'No. Jamie's been all over.'
Sherry swallowed. She was reluctant to tell him about Kim's note, but she thought she might have to. 'I thought you were watching her?'
'Unfortunately,' he replied icily, 'I didn't allow for her cunning—or maybe your brother's powers of persuasion. When we got in last night, she said she was very tired and would sleep late.' His eyes glittered briefly with self-derision. 'I believe I suggested it myself. Anyway, I conveyed the message to Mrs Fox, this morning, before I left for Broken Hill, where I had an appointment, that she wasn't to be disturbed. When I returned I found she had disappeared. The staff had been trying to get in touch with me since lunchtime, when it was discovered she was missing. I've been informed she was picked up by a light aircraft between twelve and one.'
Sherry was stunned. 'Kim just has the truck!'
Scott said flatly, 'I worked that out too. He hired a plane in Bourke. It's all too obvious they've gone off together.'
'You can't be sure!'
'When you pray,' he said sarcastically, 'get down on your knees, but I warn you, this time your prayers won't be answered. Read this.'
He thrust a note in her hands and she gazed at it in horror. It was like the one she'd received from Kim. She recognised Ellen's handwriting as her eyes skimmed the swiftly formed scrawl. She elaborated a little more than Kim, but not much.
'I'm going to be married, Scott,' she wrote. 'No matter how hard you try it's going to be too late to stop me. I hope, later, we can all be friends, you, my husband and I…'
As the piece of paper fluttered from Sherry's nerveless fingers, a funny little sound escaped her. 'Well!' she found herself laughing, her voice high with amusement, 'that seems to be that!'
Steely fingers contacted her cheek and she reeled at the slap she received. Never had she seen such cold fury in a man's face. As she swallowed painfully, Sherry's rising hysteria disappeared like water gurgling down a drain.
Without apology, he snapped, 'That isn't going to be that, as you so confidently put it, Miss Grant! We're going to find them.'
'We?' Brilliant blue eye's looked blankly at him from a white face.
'The two of us, Miss Sherry Grant.' His grey eyes bored savagely into her. 'I think I might kill you for the help you've given them, but not before you've helped me find them.'
'I only tried—' she began.
'Spare me!' he snapped viciously. 'All you ever tried to do was improve your standard of living. An admirable ambition, if you and Kim hadn't decided to do it through Ellen. Well, whatever plans you made to cash in on my money, it's not going to pay off. Even if it takes days, I'll find your brother and Ellen and bring them back. I'll give
you five minutes to get ready.'
Sherry could never recall being in quite such a state of turmoil as she was as she stumbled to do Scott's bidding. Her mind almost blanked out as she hurried to her room to find her purse. She had changed into a clean pair of cotton slacks before dinner and she left them on. They didn't stand on ceremony here as they did at Coomarlee. She wouldn't have dared wear them for dinner there! Or at home, in London, for that matter. Her mind unnaturally engaged with things that couldn't possibly be important at the moment, she returned to Scott.
She had never flown in a small plane. Her grandfather hadn't believed in them, the only concession he had ever made towards mechanisation being the purchase of a truck and two motorbikes. All of which had been acquired to assist on the station when they were shorthanded or extra busy, not for pleasure.
She shivered as Scott strapped her in beside him, no mercy on his face for those weaker than himself. Not a word had been spoken between them since they left the house. It seemed to Sherry that even the heat of the afternoon was chilled by his silent anger.
'Where are we going?' she asked, after surviving what was, for her, the soul-shaking experience of taking off. Her voice was little more than a whisper, but he heard.
'Bourke,' he replied.
'What makes you think they've gone there?'
'Just a feeling I have,' he levelled out grimly. 'If they intend getting married, I believe they might be inclined to do it as soon as possible, knowing I wouldn't be far behind. Considering everything, Bourke seems the most likely place.'
'What about Broken Hill?'
'Ellen knows I went there this morning, and wouldn't risk it. The unlikely million-to-one chance sometimes happens.'
Sherry cast an apprehensive glance at him. She felt terrible. Her body felt cold and stiff and full of bitter protests she didn't dare utter. She found it difficult to comprehend Kim's elopement, but Scott refused to believe her shock was as great as his.
Despite the pain Kim was causing her, she still felt compelled to try and help the runaway couple. 'D-don't you think,' she stammered, 'if Kim and Ellen are determined to marry each other and things have gone this far, it would be better to let them?'
'No.'
So uncompromising. It was the jaw and chin, the hard mouth, reflecting an unforgiving nature. This man would bear grudges—and how! Sherry's eyes flashed as she turned away. Scott Brady was a magnificent-looking man. If only he would unbend a little. If she had been Kim and Ellen she would have been terrified! As it was, it was going to be bad enough being Sherry Grant, before this was over.
She said carefully, 'As they're both over age, could you actually do anything to stop them?'
'If I reach them in time,' he bit out, 'I can do a lot.'
'Well, if you could,' she snapped, suddenly angry, 'Why didn't you do something sooner?'
'I thought I'd done everything necessary,' he retorted coldly. 'I put the fear of death into Ellen and thought I had her under constant observation.'
'You imagined you had!'
'I rarely leave anything to chance, Miss Grant.
Someone's head is going to roll! However, I did try, whereas you didn't.'
'What was I supposed to do, for heaven's sake?' she cried hoarsely. 'I pointed out the disadvantages of marriage between them, every chance I got. Whatever you might think, I did my best.'
He glanced at her, his face cruel, without a trace of compassion in the savage twist of his lips. 'It's a bit late to try and impress me with your innocence, Sherry. I suggest you sit back and shut up while I land.'
Even as a complete novice to small plane flying she recognised expertise when she saw it. Scott brought the plane down so smoothly, she scarcely felt a bump, exhibiting the same skill he applied at almost everything. Taxiing off the runway, he told her, with a grimness she hadn't the courage to defy, to stay where she was.
Watching his tall figure striding away from her, Sherry began sobbing with reaction. How could Kim have done this to her? If Scott did but know, she was too frightened to move an inch. Frantically she stemmed her tears. She didn't want to think what Scott might do if he caught Kim and Ellen, but weeping wouldn't help. She supposed, reasonably, he couldn't commit murder, but he might easily dish out its near equivalent.
As the minutes dragged slowly by, Sherry's mind was besieged by future problems as well as immediate ones. If Scott washed his hands of the unfortunate couple, which he would do, undoubtedly, she just couldn't see Ellen settling happily at Googon. It wasn't just a case of adjusting, one had to be fair. Grandfather had never done a thing to improve the house. It was adequate but basic. He had always held the view that a small grazier could live happily for a lifetime by under-stocking and spending as little as possible of what he made. Certainly such a theory was upheld in times of drought when he had both grass and money saved to buy extra fodder, but that might be no consolation to Ellen if she had to slave over an old-fashioned stove!
Sherry wondered how she had adapted so surprisingly well, from sheer luxury to an almost complete lack of comfort. Was it because she had been so young? That Kim hadn't shared her ability to make the best of it had long been apparent, so how could he expect Ellen to? Even as she trembled for him, Sherry couldn't remember feeling so despairing of her brother.
When Scott returned she didn't like the look on his face at all. Numbly she gazed at him, too apprehensive to speak, a frozen question in her eyes.
He didn't attempt to spare her. 'I have reason to believe they were married here, this afternoon, and left for Brisbane a few hours ago.'
Sherry stared at him blankly. 'So Kim's now your brother-in-law?'
She didn't know what made her say such a thing, she could have bitten her tongue out. It was one of those idiotic remarks, torn from a mind too shocked to come up with anything sensible. A false reaction, like laughing when one really feels like crying.
Scott wasn't making allowances. He looked as if he'd have liked to have slapped her again. 'You'd better not congratulate yourself too soon, Sherry. I haven't finished with them yet.'
Her eyes widened as she bit her Up. 'I shouldn't have said that.'
'You shouldn't,' he snapped, 'but triumph isn't easy to restrain.'
He would just have to believe it. Incredulously she asked, 'Are you sure they're married?'
'Almost as sure as I can be.' The grey eyes were glacial. 'We're going to find out.'
'We?' Her pale, pinched face looked askance at him.
As though brute force might explain it, Scott grasped her by her slender waist to haul her down beside him. While she was still searching for her depleted breath, he told her grimly, 'I've chartered a jet. It will get us to Brisbane as quick as anything.'
Again, the only thought to cross her mind had nothing to do with her present predicament. 'It's a wonder you don't have one of your own!'
It was necessary to keep on fighting him or weep, but she was startled when he retorted, 'I did have.'
'Had?'
He slanted her a glance, taunting with derision as he dragged her in the direction of the other plane, 'You sound as if you see a poor man beside you, Sherry, and your hopes of a prosperous future disappearing. I merely decided I could be killing myself by inches, continually chasing round the world, so I sold a few of my companies. What I have left eliminates the need for fast jets and enables me to stay at home.'
'You must still have one on stand-by?'
The pace he was going didn't slacken, although he must hear she was breathless. 'I have shares in an airline company which obliges me sometimes. This evening we've been lucky.'
That wasn't the word Sherry would have chosen! Disastrous might have been more appropriate! With Scott so close on their heels, Kim and Ellen mightn't stand a chance of evading him. He wasn't prepared to be forgiving or even tolerant, and though her own sympathy with the runaway couple was fast fading, she shuddered to think what might happen to them when Scott found them.
CHAPTER FIVE
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br /> The small jet, piloted by expert staff, got them to Brisbane in no time. All the way Sherry felt sick, but even had she been at death's door she doubted if Scott would have taken any notice. He was silent with an icy fury she could almost feel, and while underneath it, he might be concerned for his sister as well, his consuming feelings were those of anger.
He would never allow that she was as disturbed as he was. Glancing at him frequently, Sherry was terrified by the grimness of his face. Though still reeling with shock she was trying to resign herself to making the best of things, but Scott's thoughts were clearly fixed on revenge.
She was so upset she took little notice of the country over which they were flying. The drier saltbush plains of the Darling Basin round Bourke gave way, as they crossed the border into Queensland, to the wheat paddocks and grazing lands of the Darling Lowlands, where some of Australia's finest cattle, sheep and racehorses are bred. They were soon over the Great Dividing Range, which stood sentinel over the entire length of Queensland and swooping down on the capital, eighty miles away.
Just before they landed at Brisbane Airport, Sherry tried once more to appeal to Scott. Distractedly she asked, 'Why are you so against this marriage?' Unwisely she probed further. 'Is it because your own failed?'
His eyes cursed her and she supposed she deserved his reply. 'My own marriage failed, Sherry, because my wife didn't like my sexual appetites.'
Sherry went scarlet and she guessed he had shocked her deliberately. Being so blunt about matters he must know she had little experience of was one way of telling her he no longer considered her feelings. Her hot cheeks might have betrayed her, but she was determined to pretend she had as much sophistication as he had. Which might thwart him better than revealing her true state of mind.
As calmly as possible she retorted, 'You couldn't have been very gentle with her.'
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