Cole shook her head. “The bush is your thing, bub. Go off and have some fun.”
“Won’t you get bored?”
“I brought a book that I’ve been dying to finish. I’ll be plenty happy here.”
“What time’s lunch?”
Cole kissed her softly on the lips. “Whenever you’re hungry.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. Go on. Off you go, love.”
Jodi retrieved her backpack, pulled out a palm-sized device on a carabiner clip, and hooked it to her waist.
“What’s that?” Cole asked.
“It’s a personal satellite tracker. Whenever I go hiking, I always take it with me. It works where a lot of phones won’t. If I get in trouble, I can hit this button here and it sends off an SOS message to emergency services and a grid reference so they know where to find me. And it tracks where I’ve been, which can sometimes be fun to look back on.”
Cole was taken aback that such a small device could do all that, but not really surprised that Jodi had one. Jodi was a thinker and a planner and to own such a device was the responsible thing, as she hiked on her own almost as much as she did with her hiking group. “So it’s kind of like an EPIRB device?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m glad.”
“I’m pleased you approve.”
Cole kissed her because she could. “I do. Now get out of here while you still can.” She turned Jodi around and gave her a light shove towards a wooded pathway.
Jodi gifted her with a gentle laugh and a quick wave before being swallowed up by the bush.
Cole sighed and hugged her middle. She wished she could bottle this happiness. She retrieved the picnic basket from the car and shook the blanket out onto the ground. As she unpacked the basket of goodies, and with each item laid out in place, a plan began to unfurl in her mind. Each item unlocked a planning step as to how the practice could stay open regular hours, while keeping the pressure off Jodi until she was confident and ready to take on her regular load again. Cole hummed tunelessly as the puzzle began to take shape.
* * *
Jodi crossed the stream that she and Cole had had so much fun in earlier, hopping from rock to rock. She turned right onto the road and followed it towards the mountains.
The track was an easy walk at first. She soon realized that she had unconsciously lengthened her stride on the flat and slowed to take in her surroundings. The dry open eucalypt forest rose twenty-five and more metres above her. The interlocking canopy afforded her shade with rare glimpses of the blue sky above. The floor on either side was covered with various types of grasses, ferns, and shrubs.
A goanna ambled across the path. Jodi paused to watch it, but when it caught sight of her, it quickly scrambled into the low growth. Soon after she heard vigorous scratching and glimpsed flakes of tree bark fall to the ground as the lizard climbed to safety.
The terrain rose and with it came stark reminders of a long-ago bush fire. Numerous trees had large holes burnt into them or were streaked where the flames had tried in vain to reach the tops where a flock of yellow-tailed black cockatoos now called from.
Jodi welcomed the burn in her calf and thigh muscles as she walked. Swimming had helped increase her stamina, but it couldn’t prepare her for adapting to the rise in elevation. Sweat poured down her face. Her heart rate increased and she heard every breath she took. It felt good even though she knew she’d feel it the next day. Although she loved her morning swim, her passion was the outdoors and immersing herself in it by hiking. There was something about being on the trail, feeling the wind brush against her skin and the sun beating against her back. Nothing else really mattered when she was trekking up a mountain, down a gorge, or around a loop. The world seemed to come to a standstill when her next step was the only thing that really mattered.
She never knew what she was going to encounter when she started a hike. She might find any sort of wildlife along the trail and that, along with challenging her body in nature’s amphitheatre, was what blew her hair back. This was her drug, her release.
Jodi checked the GPS and the landmarks around her. At the rate she was travelling, she could make it to one of her favourite spots, Lyrebird Rock. The sun was still high in the sky and, barring any change in weather, she could make it to the open granite outcrop within the hour.
She followed a ridge, which made a gradual descent to the south and finally came at length to the brow of the massive cliff. It was an impressive lookout point. The main valley spread to the east. To the west, the land fell away in gullies and precipitous ravines as far as the eye could see. A small waterfall, the result of recent heavy rains, streamed down rocky walls, arching away from them as it descended.
Green catbirds and bellbirds called from the thick vegetation behind her. The varied flora and fauna that lived on Lyrebird Rock were more protected from bush fire than the creatures that inhabited the land below. However, they were exposed, day and night, to all the elements: rain, wind, sun, and even snow sometimes over winter. A strong breeze whipped her hair about her face. She tried in vain to tuck it behind her ears, but the wind had other ideas.
A shadow blocked her sun. Jodi looked up just in time to see a huge bird glide overhead, casting a moving silhouette over the granite. She shaded her eyes with her hand and studied it. Based on size and the unmistakable tail shape, she was sure it was a wedge-tailed eagle. The bird dipped a wing and circled, catching a thermal to take it higher. The sun reflected off its dark wings as it banked. Jodi blinked hard. Was that a white feather on the right wing? Could that be Big Bird? She quickly unzipped her pack and pulled out her binoculars. But by then the bird had climbed higher still, making it impossible to have a better look, even magnified.
Even so, it could’ve been Big Bird. She grinned and turned around to head back. She couldn’t wait to tell Charlie when she got home.
Jodi made great time on the way back. The downhill slope made the walk much easier, although she felt it in her knees when the terrain flattened. She turned onto the path leading to the stream, crossed it, and walked to the truck. Cole was lying on the back seat sound asleep, legs crossed, her book resting on her chest. Jodi’s stomach fluttered and she flashed a silly grin. Was this what falling in love felt like? She gently opened the back door and kissed the sleeping lips. She sure hoped so.
It was late afternoon when Jodi parked in front of Cole’s house. Cole didn’t want to get out of the car. She didn’t want the day to end and hoped Jodi felt the same. Suddenly shy, Cole nervously plucked at the seat upholstery. “Um, would you like to come in? Although I’d understand completely if you just wanted to go home. It’s been a big day, and you must be tired. You’ll probably want to go to bed early, and—”
Jodi’s laughter surprised her and, thankfully, stunned her long enough to stop the prattle that seemed to be tumbling out like an overflowing bubbler.
“I’d love to. Besides, you’re gonna need help carrying all the picnic gear back into the house.”
Cole winced. “I may have over-catered just a tad.”
“Babe, we won’t have to worry about preparing any food for about…oh, three days, I reckon.”
Cole released her seat belt, opened the door, and stepped out of the car. Jodi took the basket of food to carry inside while Cole grabbed the wine cooler, thermos, and another box of unopened goodies. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I figured I would just bring it all. Besides, you forget, I know how good a chewer you are. I’m confident nothing will go to waste.”
“Especially those melting moment biccies.”
Once inside, Cole started putting things away while Jodi hovered nearby. “Feel free to wander about and take a look. I can hear your mind ticking over from here.”
Jodi grinned in answer to her offer and could be heard wandering around the living room, an odd tinkle from a couple of piano keys giving away her position in the house.
“I didn’t know you played.” A few more keys tenta
tively sang out.
“Not as much as I used to.” Cole leaned on the door frame.
“Why’s that?”
Cole looked at her. “Been a bit distracted, I guess.”
“Because of me, you mean?” Jodi dropped her gaze.
Cole walked around the piano and took her by the hand. “Come with me a minute.” She led her down a brightly lit corridor into her office. She stood back and watched Jodi take in the large room. She called it her office, but the label was a disservice to its size and contents. There was a stunning stone wall, complete with water feature, against the far end of the room. Tribal artwork and carvings adorned the rammed earth walls, and a handwoven rug covered much of the polished hardwood floor. A large framed painting of the Scottish Highlands presided over an oak table that was covered in several of her sketches, only a handful of which were completed.
Cole wrapped her arms around Jodi from behind and drew her close against her. She rested her chin on Jodi’s shoulder. “You are definitely distracting.” Jodi stiffened in her arms. Cole kissed the outer edge of her ear, nipping it lightly to emphasize what she was about to say. “But in the most delicious way.” She smiled, pleased when Jodi shuddered ever so slightly. “But I also get a little restless this time of year.” She released Jodi and strolled over to reverently run her finger along the frame of a photograph of an elderly couple. They were smiling and laughing at the camera. “This time of year is a little bittersweet. Both of their birthdays fall this month. This was their favourite time of year. Flowers in bloom, going into the city to visit art galleries on Sundays, eating ice cream in the park, picnics on the back lawn, and quick thrown together dinners as we drove to the beach to watch the storms gather out to sea.”
“You miss them.”
“Some days I do. Terribly. And others, I feel their comfort as they walk beside me.”
“What do you feel today?”
“Envious. And a little nervous.”
Jodi moved beside her. “Why?”
“Because.” She took a calming breath. “Because theirs was the most amazing love story ever. And I want what they had.”
“Oh.”
“And I kind of thought I had it. Once.”
“I see,” Jodi said quietly.
Cole frowned. Jodi was clearly retreating back into herself. She needed to make herself clearer. She took the framed photograph and handed it to Jodi to study. To see. To hear the words she needed to say out loud. “No. I don’t think you do. I thought I’d found that sort of love, and when it all fell apart, I was devastated. I had to rebuild myself and my life. I had to start again. But I needed to do that. It was important, because without it, I would never have found you. And coming to love you, I am now only just beginning to see this is the sort of love I have been looking for.” Looking down at the photograph of her grandparents and thinking back to today’s picnic, there had been numerous moments where they had laughed and hugged and loved, just like her grandparents. She gently disengaged the picture from Jodi’s fingers and set it back in its place. She took Jodi’s hands in hers and held them to her chest. “And so,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper, “that leaves me feeling nervous. Scared that I’ll screw this up, that I’ll lose you.”
Jodi glanced briefly to the picture of her grandparents and returned her gaze. Jodi kissed the backs of Cole’s knuckles with tender lips. “Then I guess we better hold on tight to each other.”
A sniffle escaped from Cole. “Uh-huh.”
* * *
“Come on. Where the hell are you?” Charlie muttered to herself. She’d already driven over ten kilometres looking for the kangaroo that’d been reported being hit between Lawrence and Grafton on the Summerland Highway. Frustratingly, they hadn’t given any mile markers or landmarks as to the exact location of the downed roo. And the thick fog wasn’t helping her efforts either.
Pip and she had been right in the middle of morning feeds when the call came in. Since Pip had been up most of the night with a sickly orphaned eastern grey kangaroo joey, Charlie volunteered to go alone. Now she worried that the injured roo might’ve managed to drag itself off the road and out of sight. With no idea as to where the collision had occurred, she wasn’t too keen on having to drive on the shoulder the entire thirty-three kilometres both ways, with the fog limiting her visibility to boot.
Charlie’s back and neck complained as she strained to see out the windscreen. She rolled her shoulders and rocked her head to ease some of the discomfort. A dark form darted out in front of her. She hit the brakes hard, dreading the impending thump. Thankfully none came. “That’s why you silly things get hit. You have no road sense whatsoever.” She shook her head in disbelief that the kangaroo had managed to avoid the bull bar on the Hilux.
The fog cleared ever so slightly as she came to the top of a rise. There! A dark form lay motionless on the side of the road just barely over the white line. That had to be it. She signalled and stopped the ute just behind the animal. She engaged the emergency flashers and checked for traffic out the side view mirror. Seeing that it was all clear, she opened her door and quickly stepped out. Getting hit by another driver while checking animals on the road was a risk. It was also her biggest fear. Aside from snakes, that was.
The smell of death assaulted her nostrils as she walked up to the bloated animal, and her heart fell when she realized it wasn’t the roo she was looking for. The red-necked wallaby had been dead for at least a day. It didn’t take long for decomposition to begin in the heat. “Might as well get you out of the road, you poor thing.” As she bent down to grab a leg, she was saddened to see a tail and two hind feet protruding from the dead mum’s pouch. “Aw, hell.” Suddenly a leg moved. “Holy crap!” She grasped the tail in one hand and the feet in the other and pulled. The feet kicked in her hand and she nearly lost her grip. But with a sudden lurch the joey came free of the tightened pouch.
Charlie held the just-furred joey by the tail, holding tight while she pulled the body off the road. The joey kicked and hissed at her in fright and annoyance. She noticed one leg seemed to be weaker than the other. She quickly carried it to the ute, opened the back, and retrieved a cotton pouch. She held it open with one hand and lowered the little boy into it. She secured the pouch with a cable tie and put the bundle into a canvas bag attached to a special frame to suspend it off the ground.
She continued her search for the kangaroo. Fortunately, she didn’t have to travel much further. There wasn’t anything she could do for the young eastern grey buck except pull him off the road like she had the other one.
Once back in the truck, she phoned Pip to let her know she was heading to Yamba to have Jodi examine the joey and turned around towards the coast. Unfortunately, the fog once again hindered her as she descended the hills onto the flatter terrain. But the wind coming from the ocean soon dissipated it as soon as she crossed the Clarence River in Harwood. She was finally able to drive the speed limit.
There was only one car in the parking lot when Charlie turned into the clinic’s drive. Hopefully that meant Jodi wasn’t too busy and could have a look at the joey without a long wait.
The telltale moo announced her entry into the clinic. She held the pouched joey snugly against her chest, keeping it warm and giving it a sense of comfort by imitating the close confines of the mum’s pouch.
“Hi, Mandy,” Charlie said from the doorway. Her voice echoed in the empty reception room.
“Hey ya, Charlie. How’re you going?” Mandy stood and went to the filing cabinet. She opened the second drawer down and pulled out a thick file. Charlie knew they were the WREN documents, which were considerably thick and varied.
“Good. Busy. But that never seems to change. I have a little red-necked joey I’d like Jodi to have a look at if she has the time. I think one of its back legs is injured.”
Mandy ran her finger down the scheduling roster. “Righto. If you don’t mind waiting a bit, she can see it right after the current appointment who’s in t
here now.”
“Wonderful. Thanks.” Charlie took a seat away from the door and in the quietest spot she could find. Any loud noises would stress the joey and could cause stress myopathy, potentially killing the young animal.
Twenty minutes later, a tired looking woman with twin toddlers walked out. Cole followed them, carrying a cat carrier. None of them looked happy and from the sound of the cat’s howling, it seemed to share the sentiment.
“Hi, Charlie.” Cole waved enthusiastically as she set the small crate next to the reception desk. “Mandy, will you help Mrs. Chatwin?”
“No problem.”
Cole radiated happiness. Her eyes danced and sparkled when she focused on Charlie again. “You’re out and about early. Head on back and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee.”
Charlie yawned in response. “Thanks. We’ve had a couple of long nights.”
Cole rubbed Charlie’s back as she followed her as far as the coffee machine. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”
Since Cole didn’t elaborate before disappearing into the kitchen, Charlie walked towards the back, through the kennelling room, and into the area that Jodi had converted into a quiet space for hospitalized wildlife. She’d spent untold hours in here with Big Bird while he convalesced from surgery.
A few minutes passed and still no Jodi. Cole pushed the door open with her bum a short time later, holding three steaming cups of coffee. Charlie hurried to relieve her of one, while Cole set Jodi’s on the counter.
Charlie took a sip, closed her eyes, and moaned. “Some mornings it’s certainly harder to get motivated than others.”
“Oh, don’t I know it. Some days I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“Things going good for you two then?” Charlie hid her smile with her mug.
Cole grinned. “We’re taking it one day at a time.”
“And one night at a time?” Charlie couldn’t resist teasing her a bit.
Precipice of Doubt Page 17