Or could he? The pen Ross was holding slipped unnoticed from his fingers as he stared through the window at the opening formed by the copse of kowhai trees he’d planted years ago. At the entrance to the track he’d cleared into the bush. The start of the path that led to the old bath and beyond—past the bush line and up to the limestone cave in the hillside. The last time he’d gone up that path Wendy had been with him, the excitement and wonder at her surroundings lighting up those elfin features.
The longing to see Wendy again…and, more, to touch her was overwhelming. It wasn’t just his house that Wendy had brought to life. It was Ross himself. Yes, he could continue without her but would he ever feel truly alive again? That wasn’t the point, he reminded himself. It was his love for Wendy that made letting her go the right thing to do.
But was it?
As Ross continued staring at that inviting entrance to the bush he could almost see Wendy standing there, waiting for him to follow her, a smile on her face that advertised the kind of unbridled enthusiasm for life that was so much part of what he loved about her. The kind of enthusiasm that could tackle and cope with any limitations his disability might produce. Maybe pushing her away was as wrong for her as it felt for him at this moment. The wave of longing and love for Wendy that Ross was experiencing felt strong enough to overcome any obstacles. He could cherish and support the woman he loved no matter what. And she deserved that kind of love.
His love.
But would she still want him? The distance between them had been growing steadily in the last few weeks. What if he had, finally, been successful in convincing her to move on? The icy sensation in his gut demanded action. Ross reached for his phone and dialled Wendy’s number. The answering-machine kicked in after several rings but he didn’t leave a message. Instead, he tried her mobile phone. The instant voicemail message suggested that she was talking to someone else. Ross chewed the inside of his cheek. He would try and ring again soon but in the meantime he couldn’t just sit and wait. This new tension—the prospect of offering his love again and the potential repercussions of Wendy’s response—was too great to be bearable. Ross needed at least a temporary distraction. If his nervousness increased any more he might get past the point of being able to make that call again any time soon.
His gaze focussed once again on that pathway into the bush. He’d made no attempt to take himself there but it was quite possible he could negotiate that track as far as the old bath. Maybe further. He’d done a good job of levelling the path and it was covered with a layer of bark chips beneath the mulch of fallen leaves. It hadn’t started raining yet, although the billowing clouds presaged an imminent downpour. There was probably an hour or so of daylight remaining as well. Local workmen had put the temporary ramp in the day he’d arrived. It took only seconds to propel himself as far as the kowhai trees, and the musty scent of the bush captured him then. A compelling smell he hadn’t realised he’d missed so much. Ross took a deep breath in through his nose, and he was smiling as he gripped the wheels of his chair and pushed himself decisively towards the beckoning pathway.
The rain started just before Wendy reached Arthur’s Pass. It cleared for a while after she crossed the bridge at Otira and then settled in as she reached the outskirts of Greymouth. Having to reduce her speed to cope with the wet road and poor visibility was frustrating. The feeling of being pursued was alarmingly real despite the reassurance that frequent glances in the rear-view mirror afforded. She saw a car behind her only once before the rain started and by the time she was in the light traffic of the coast’s main township of Greymouth, she knew she had to be safe. No one knew she was here. She hadn’t even known she would be here herself until she had taken the westbound exit off that roundabout.
The mobile phone lying on her passenger seat rang when Wendy had travelled much further north up the coast road and had almost reached her goal of Charleston.
‘Wendy? Where are you? I’ve just had a call from the police. They seemed to think that you were at my house.’
‘That’s because I told them that was where I was going.’
‘Why?’
‘They think Kyle Dickson is responsible for the bombings…and that he might also be after me for some reason.’
‘What?’ Kelly’s horrified tone wiped out the calming effect the long drive had had on Wendy. ‘Where are you?’
‘I left town.’ Why hadn’t Wendy thought about how isolated she was making herself? How vulnerable? ‘I’m just about at Ross’s house. I…I had to see him.’
‘Oh-h.’ Kelly’s tone now held a wealth of understanding. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine. Scared silly but fine. Have they arrested Kyle yet?’
‘They didn’t say. They want to know where you are, though. I’ll ring them.’
‘Thanks. Give them my mobile number. I’d like to know when they catch the creep.’
‘Sure. Wendy?’ Kelly sounded anxious again. ‘Be careful, won’t you?’
Her headlights illuminated Ross’s new hand-controlled car parked under a clematis-covered lean-to. Wendy switched the lights off to find herself in rapidly deepening twilight. Rain was still falling steadily as she ran up the ramp towards the dark house. The awful thought that Ross might not be at home receded as she saw the door was ajar.
‘Ross?’ Wendy stepped into the house. ‘Ross? Are you here?’
The silence was unnerving. Wendy flicked on a light and her gaze raked the empty room. She saw the mattress with its pillows and rumpled duvet on the floor in the corner, the weights and dumb-bells scattered on the rug and the sheaf of papers on the dining table.
‘Oh, no!’ The dismay with which Wendy read the title of the document added a new dimension to the fear that she was now more alone than she had intended, or wanted, to be. The sound of a vehicle approaching the house along the shingle driveway was welcome. Of course. Ross must have been taken out by a friend. Maybe he’d had a few beers at the local pub and was now returning home. She was at the bottom of the ramp again in seconds, unaware of the rain or the relief showing in her smile.
Stupidly, the smile was still in evidence even as the shock of seeing the low-slung black car was kicking in. Even as the car door slammed and she saw the figure sauntering towards her.
‘Hi, babe.’
Kyle sounded more confident than ever. He was smiling but despite the distance and the fading light Wendy could see quite clearly that the smile in no way matched the expression in the green eyes triumphantly pinning her own horrified stare. The neck of Kyle’s shirt was unbuttoned and something flickered as it caught the edges of the light coming from the house behind her. He was wearing a silver pendant. A tiny silver fern.
Wendy had only a split second to make a decision. At her back stood an empty house. In front was a man who had obviously been following her closely enough to know that she was responsible for him being a police target. A man with no scruples about inflicting untold physical harm on people. Wendy could feel every muscle in her small, toned body contract as she sprang sideways and ran for the path between the kowhai trees. She heard the mocking sound of laughter.
‘OK, so we’ll play tag, first. That’s cool.’
The rain hadn’t penetrated the canopy for long enough to make the path slippery. Wendy’s track shoes found enough traction to propel her at speed through the narrow gaps between the tree trunks. She barely registered the tiny glade that housed the clawfoot bath and didn’t bother aiming for the stepping stones as she crossed the stream. She had to hide. But where? This path ended at the limestone cave. A dead end. Wendy knew better than to try and leave the path. Ross had told her of the dangers of undiscovered gold mining shafts. He had shown her one he’d fenced off on clear land but there could well be others now hidden by the regenerating bushland. Deep shafts that had proved fatal to unwary trampers in this area in past years.
The fear of death by falling was nothing compared to the terror of being caught by a psychopath who’d made it onl
y too clear how attracted he was to her body. Wendy’s breath escaped in a sob as she fled on up the gentle slope of the path, her arms outstretched until she cleared the last of the trees. Now the landscape was dotted only with scrub. The path led between rocks and the cave was close. She couldn’t enter it, though. It would be a trap.
Wendy didn’t see what it was that tripped her up. She could feel the stiffness in her knees that proclaimed nasty bruises as she struggled upright but she felt no pain…yet. The terror as she heard the voice close behind her made any physical discomfort inconsequential.
‘Gotcha!’
Wendy mustered her strength. Pulling her arm up, she bent her head towards the hand that circled her wrist so viciously and sank her teeth into the flesh as hard as she could.
‘You bitch!’
Kyle’s scream escaped as Wendy hurled herself forward. She had to slow down to negotiate the curve in the track. Her knees were hurting now and every breath stabbed like a blade in her chest. Wendy had no idea where she was heading. Right now she was running on a surge of pure adrenaline that precluded any ability to think ahead. And she couldn’t for the life of her understand why the cave ahead was flickering with a welcoming light through the curtain of rain.
Ross had heard the scream. The initial satisfaction of achieving the mammoth effort of forcing his chair along and up the narrow track had worn off to leave him aware of his aching and exhausted upper body. He had lit the candles in the alcoves he’d made in the interior walls of the cave, having acknowledged the need to rest and hoping the rain would ease off before he had to attempt the return journey. The exhaustion had dissipated the instant he’d heard the scream but he had no time to do more than roll to the cave’s entrance before he saw the figure running towards him.
Two figures.
And suddenly he was back in the cave, the chair pushed so violently backwards it tipped and almost went over. Wendy was beside him, gasping for breath, her face white, her clothes sodden, rips in her jeans displaying bloodied knees. Kyle was also dripping with rainwater. He stood at the mouth of the tiny cave and grinned.
‘Fancy this,’ he said, his calm words incongruous between panting breaths. ‘The two people I wanted, and both in the same place.’
Ross caught Wendy’s terrified gaze and reached out to touch her. To draw her close and protect her. This was his fault. He hadn’t believed that Kyle could be such a threat. He still couldn’t believe it and yet here he was and the state Wendy was in made it obvious just how much of a threat this man was. And had been all along.
‘Get off my land, Kyle,’ Ross said coldly. ‘You’re trespassing.’
‘Make me,’ Kyle taunted. Then he giggled. ‘No, that’s right. You can’t, can you?’ He took a step closer. ‘You’re a cripple.’
His eyes narrowed and he spat on the smooth floor of the cave. ‘Amazing that Wendy still prefers you to me but that doesn’t matter any more.’ He was staring at Wendy now. ‘You had your chance and you blew it, babe. I’m tired of being nice and you don’t deserve it any more. Not after you’ve been telling tales to the police.’ His lip curled. ‘I’m going to get rid of lover boy once and for all now. And then you’ll be mine.’
He took another step. ‘On second thoughts, I’ll have you first.’ The chuckle was amused. ‘Dr Turnball has a nice, comfy seat. Maybe he’d like to watch me do what he’s not capable of doing any more.’
His move was unexpectedly swift. He grabbed Wendy’s wrist and jerked her away from Ross’s protective hold. Kyle pinned her against his body from behind and Wendy knew her struggles were no match for the insane strength of her captor. She still kicked, however, and tried desperately to pull the arm from around her waist so that she could turn and face her attacker. She could see the horror in Ross’s expression being replaced by anger. She could share that anger and it gave her more strength than fear could. She was simply not going to allow Kyle to do anything to her in front of Ross. It was unimaginable.
As unimaginable as what she was seeing in front of her as she struggled. Ross was using the arms of his chair to push himself to his feet. He was standing. Not only standing but moving. A jerky step and then another. Wendy ducked her head as she saw his fist aiming for the face that was just behind and above her. She pushed her elbow backwards with all the force she could muster as she saw the fist moving and suddenly she was free, staggering forward and nearly falling over the empty wheelchair. Wendy turned in time to see Kyle return the punch in a blow that felled Ross. His legs crumpled and Wendy could see the murderous intent in Kyle’s face as he stepped closer.
‘Run!’ Ross shouted.
Kyle was distracted enough to swivel his head towards Wendy. ‘Stay right where you are,’ he snapped. ‘I’m not finished with either of you.’
‘You’ll have to choose, then, won’t you?’ Wendy’s voice sounded hoarse. ‘If you stay to hurt Ross you’ll never get anywhere near me.’ She edged back towards the cave entrance.
‘Run!’ Ross ordered again. ‘For God’s sake, Wendy. Don’t do this.’ He was pushing himself to a sitting position as he spoke. The intention was clear as his hand shot out and caught Kyle’s ankle. He was going to hold Kyle in the cave long enough for Wendy to get away.
‘Come on, Kyle.’ Wendy wasn’t going to let him hurt Ross. She had to make this work. She stood very still, collecting herself, and then, somehow, she managed to paste a smile on her face. ‘Let’s play tag.’
EPILOGUE
WENDY found herself standing very still once again, four weeks later, as she paused with her friends for a moment outside a small stone church.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy in my entire life.’
Wendy reached up to adjust the veil over the orange blossom wreath nestled amongst Jessica’s auburn curls. ‘Me neither.’ She smiled.
Waiting inside that church, standing beside the best man, was her own fiancé. That he needed a walking stick for support to last the whole ceremony made no difference to her joy. The aid was temporary and if Ross kept up the rate of progress he had for the last four weeks, he would need no help at all when he walked down the aisle for his own wedding next February. Valentine’s Day. Only two months away. It felt far too long but they’d had to do the decent thing and allow Fletch and Kelly to have their turn next.
‘Ricky, leave some petals in the basket, sweetheart. They’re for throwing later.’ Kelly was grinning at the small boy wearing an oversized red bow-tie that matched the tiny red roses in his mother’s bouquet.
‘Are you ladies ready yet?’ Dave Stewart was standing by the foot of the steps, clearly eager to fulfil his part in the imminent ceremony and give the bride away. ‘We don’t want to keep Ross standing around too long.’
‘Oh, no. I forgot.’ Jessica gave Wendy an anxious glance. ‘Will he be all right? He totally refused to let Joe bring the crutches.’
‘He’ll be fine,’ Wendy assured her. ‘He won’t be dancing later but he reckons standing through the ceremony is the practice he really needs.’
‘I’m so happy,’ Jessica repeated. ‘For me and Joe and Kelly and Fletch…but especially for you and Ross.’
‘Who would have expected it to be Kyle that brought you two back together?’ Kelly snorted softly. ‘Who knows? Ross might never have discovered he had the strength to walk again if he hadn’t had to try and protect you. At least that’s one good thing that’s come out of the whole sorry story.’
‘I still haven’t heard the whole story,’ Dave complained, as he took Jessica’s arm to lead her into the church. ‘I never knew Wendy and Ross had broken up in the first place.’
‘We never did. Not really,’ Wendy murmured. She took her place beside Kelly in the small procession.
She had known that the moment she had returned to the cave that dreadful night. Moments before the police arrived on the scene and the search began for the mine-shaft that had claimed Kyle Dickson’s life. Only Wendy’s light weight and her physical strength had sa
ved her from falling into that shaft. She had managed, somehow, to keep her forward momentum as her foot had broken through the surface layer of twigs and soil that had disguised most of the shaft’s entrance. Kyle, chasing blindly after her, deeper into the bush, had not been so lucky. His scream had still been echoing as Wendy had limped back to the cave to find Ross standing again.
Waiting for her. Waiting to take her into his arms and use their few remaining moments of solitude to make a declaration of love that, this time, Wendy knew could never be threatened.
‘How did you manage to do that?’ Wendy had asked in wonder. ‘To stand…and walk?’
‘I have no idea.’ Ross had smiled. ‘I did it because I had to. For you.’ He kissed her with lingering tenderness. ‘I suspect my love for you was what made it possible.’
‘And it’s only a beginning.’ Wendy had kissed him back. Gently. Almost reverently. ‘Who knows what else will be possible in the future?’
‘Only if you’re here with me,’ Ross had said softly. ‘Only if you’ll stay.’
‘I’m never going to be anywhere else,’ Wendy whispered. ‘You’re my love, Ross Turnball. My life.’
‘And you’re mine,’ he’d murmured back ‘I’m just sorry we both had to go through this for me to realise that.’
Wendy could see Ross now at the front of the church, standing next to Fletch and Joe. He was leaning just a little to one side as he used the support of his stick. His smile was a little lopsided as well but that couldn’t dampen the surge of joy and love that enfolded Wendy and her lips curved instantly in response.
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