by Anne Hampson
‘You can’t go by the sun when it’s practically overhead,’ reasoned Loren, ‘and as for a sense of direction - well, that won’t do you much good either, unless you’re travelling at night and can go by the stars.’
Janet turned the jeep round, but although they travelled several miles there was no sign of the point at which she asserted she had seen several tracks.
‘Are we lost?’ Janet seemed quite unperturbed, but Loren’s heart was racing now.
‘It seems like it. I don’t know how you managed to get off the road.’
‘There wasn’t a road; we’d come to the end of it. Then there
were only tracks.’
‘I wish you’d wakened me,’ Loren began, but stopped at once, realizing the futility of such a wish.
‘What must I do?’ Janet stopped the jeep and turned to Loren. ‘Shall I continue along this track and see if we come to a road?’
Helplessly Loren shook her head, looking all around her again. Mile upon mile of bush - without a landmark anywhere. This was strange country; Dena had not come this way, for it was flatter and the vegetation more sparse than the landscape through which Dena had driven.
‘I think you must have left the road long before you said you did. In fact, you must have left it almost as soon as you took over, because I don’t recognize this countryside at all.’
Janet went a trifle red, but denied that she had left the road.
‘Perhaps we can get back to Kouri End,’ she said. ‘Then we could begin all over again.’ She got out as she spoke, and stretched elegantly. ‘You drive for a bit,’ she said, walking round to the other side. ‘I’m rather tired.’ ‘Aren’t you worried?’ Loren stared at her in amazement before sliding into the drive seat. ‘We could be in real trouble if we don’t find our way soon. We don’t have much twilight here, as you should know by now—’
‘Of course I know; I’m not an idiot! ’
Naturally this silenced Loren and in fact neither girl spoke for more than an hour, an hour during which Loren seemed to be driving round in circles while her heart throbbed painfully as fear mounted.
‘I could do with a drink.’ Janet broke the silence at last and Loren stopped.
‘Cold water - or a hot drink?’ she asked stiffly, and Janet said she would like a cup of tea.
‘It will take time to boil the billy, and we haven’t time to waste. However, if that’s what you want. ...’
‘My, you’re in a rare temper,’ commented Janet, not without a hint of amusement. ‘If you hadn’t gone to sleep this wouldn’t have happened.’
‘You could have wakened me,’ Loren snapped, then busied herself with the tea, having to admit that she could do with a cup herself.
Darkness was falling rapidly when, a couple of hours later, Loren said they would have to make camp.
‘Make camp?’ Janet was perturbed at last. ‘Sleep out here, you mean? I thought you said you could travel by the stars?’
‘I did mention travelling by the stars, but I didn’t say I could do it. I don’t know enough about them.’ She spread her hands. ‘Thane would do it and so would Dena, but I can’t. Yes, we’ll have to sleep out here, but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ve all the equipment in the jeep.’
Loren made a meal first while Janet merely watched - and grumbled, repeatedly saying she wished they’d never come.
“You don’t wish it more than I. Thane’s going to be furious with me about this.’ It was to be hoped that tomorrow they would find their way and arrive home before Thane. But there was no way of keeping from him what had happened, thought Loren dejectedly, and she knew she would be in serious trouble for going against his wishes. Perhaps this escapade would spoil everything; perhaps he would forget all about the explanation he had commanded her to have ready for him immediately on his return.
Very early the following morning they were driving again, Loren having refuelled from the reserve which was always carried in the jeep.
‘You have the sun now,’ began Janet, when a glance from Loren cut her short.
‘It would certainly be handy,’ admitted Loren, borrowing a little of her cousin’s sarcasm, ‘if I knew in which direction the Moonrock homestead lay - north, south, east or west!’
‘Are you putting the entire blame for this on me?’ asked Janet tartly, her nerves frayed now as Loren kept slowing down, anxiously peering about her, looking for any sign of a billabong or creek bed that might give her a clue about the direction she should take. These features were clearly recognizable owing to the vegetation growing on their banks, and as Loren remembered seeing several creek beds and a couple of billabongs when Dena drove her to Kouri End she thought that if only she could find one or other of these landforms she might just manage to find her bearings as well.
‘Don’t let’s talk about blame, Janet. I don’t feel like talking at all as a matter of fact.’ She was concentrating, but at the same time her mind was filled with other matters as well. She and Janet would have been missed last evening when Gran Amelia and Prof and Stew had dinner together. Gran Amelia would be sure to ask if either of the men knew anything and then it would come out that Loren and Janet had gone off without saying where they were going - an unforgivable omission in the bush. One always left a message saying where one was going, so that if one did not return when expected a search-party could go out, having at least some idea where to look. Whatever the outcome of this escapade Loren knew the whole strength of her guardian’s wrath was going to descend on her. Her lip trembled as she thought of her happy anticipation of his return, feeling sure that he loved her and that once her full story was poured out he would tell her how wrong had been her deductions and that he wanted to marry her solely because he loved her. All was spoiled by this trip, taken mainly to please Janet but partly - Loren had honestly to own - in order to speed the intervening time until Thane should return from his visit to Sydney. Perhaps he would understand if she told him this. ... No, he would be far too angry even to listen.
‘I only hope and pray we arrive home before he does,’ she said fervently, speaking her thoughts aloud.
This time it was Janet who remained quiet and, glancing at her, Loren noted the drawn expression on her face. At last she was fully hit by the seriousness of their situation.
Gradually the morning wore on; a search-party would probably be out by now, Loren thought, her spirits sinking lower than ever. Thane’s anger was something of which she could not bear to think - and yet she could not control the recurring vision of him on that day when Cooper was the object of his white-hot fury.
At one o’clock she stopped and made some tea, which they had with sandwiches. But neither ate much; Janet was silent and morose, glaring at Loren now and then as if blaming her for this plight in which they found themselves.
‘I feel filthy!’ The exclamation came at last, as they had packed everything into the jeep again and were preparing to drive off - where to Loren had not the least idea. She had been driving about all over the place, desperately hoping to see some landmark that would act as a guide for her to get back on to the right road. ‘I think I’ll have to wash my face!’
‘No, you don’t, Janet.’ Loren’s voice was firm and it brought an expression of resentment into Janet’s eyes. 'We’re not wasting water on washing - and that’s definite, so you needn’t enter into any arguments.’ Loren felt very mature all at once, and she was determined to remain in command of the situation. ‘Are you going to drive for a while?’
‘If you want me to.’ Janet slid into the driving seat, but Loren was still at the rear of the vehicle when, without warning, it moved off, shooting across the dusty ground.
‘Janet - what—?’ The rest of the sentence froze on Loren’s lips as she saw the reason for her cousin’s flight. Thundering across the bush came an enormous scrub bull, head down, making for the spot where Loren stood, paralysed with fear. With a tremendous effort she tried to move her legs, but it was impossible, and with a little moan of
terror she waited for the impact. Then, like a miracle, the bull changed its direction and, churning up a great cloud of red dust, it raced after the jeep. Still unable to move her limbs, Loren watched as Janet increased her speed on realizing that she was the object of the bull’s attention. Small rises characterized the landscape hereabouts and within minutes both jeep and bull were lost to view. Drained of strength, Loren sank down, avoiding the prickly spinifex tussocks. Janet had panicked, that was clear-but if only she had hesitated just a few seconds! ‘Why didn’t you shout a warning?’ Loren quivered, her head still turned in the direction taken by her cousin. ‘But probably you were paralysed with fear as well as I. ’
It was half an hour later that Loren at last admitted that she was on her own, lost in the bush. Janet could not find her way back, that was obvious, and Loren wondered how many miles she had been forced to cover before losing the bull.
‘Why did we come!’ A clenched hand was pressed to Loren’s pallid cheek. ‘We’ll be lucky if we come out of this alive.’
But presently she felt a little calmer and began walking in the direction taken by her cousin, hoping that they might spot one another and at least be together in this formidable wilderness. But several miles were covered and at last Loren gave up hope of seeing the jeep appear. If only she knew in what direction the homestead lay! Her throat was parched and the glare of the sun was torture to her eyes. She should by right rest and wait for sundown, but she feared the darkness now that she had encountered the bull. But she did sit down for a little rest, staring into the heat-haze and tilting back her hat to wipe the beads of perspiration from her brow. Suddenly she narrowed her eyes, trying to bring into focus something she half believed to be a mirage. An indistinct white smudge on a rise many miles distant.
‘The brumby!’ She was on her feet, strength pouring into her. ‘That must be the same rise you were on the other evening - No, don’t go!’ The brumby disappeared over the crest of the hillock, but Loren kept her eyes fixed on that particular rise for a very long while before moving her gaze in order to relate it to other small hills in the vicinity. No, she could not lose it now. At least she had her direction and although she might not make the homestead tonight she would at least be drawing nearer all the while and in consequence her chances of being spotted by some of the search-party were all the stronger. With renewed vigour she strode away, her gaze on the hillock where the white brumby had stood ... for that one vital instant.
She was lying among the tall grasses when she heard the plane overhead; feebly she looked up to see it circling around. Couldn’t be Thane, she decided, her mind dulled by the fatigue under which she laboured. Thane would not have arrived home yet. She tried to swallow, but her throat was rough and parched. Was she going to die - after trudging through the entire afternoon in the blistering heat, covering all those weary heartbreaking miles? Her strength had been ebbing for a long time, but the end came suddenly as, her thirst driving her mad, she stumbled and fell forward, into the grasses, where she had remained, vaguely aware that the sun was dropping and that nightfall would soon be on her, its darkness covering the silent bushlands. The plane continued to circle around, flying low. And she had not the strength to lift an arm - She must! Dragging her sun-scorched body to a sitting position, she managed to pick up her hat from where it had fallen when she stumbled. She waved it... the slanting rays of the sun caught i t . . . she was glad it was a white hat. As she fell back again into the grass merciful oblivion took the searing pain from her arms and legs and the throbbing ache from her temples.
It was Dena’s voice she heard, gradually coming closer from a long way off.
‘It looks as if Thane’s found a place to land. I didn’t think he would. Will you take the ute, Ian, and pick him up while I attend to her?’
‘ Yes, of course. Is she all right?’
‘ She will be. Thank God Thane spotted her. I was beginning to give up hope.’
‘So was I. It seemed like an eternity that we’d been driving around under that plane, and I couldn’t believe it when at last you said Thane had signalled.’
Loren heard the utility start up; she felt a supporting arm come around her and a flask was placed to her lips.
‘The white brumby saved me... ’ Her voice slurred to a stop as the flask was put to her lips again. She tried to take great gulps, but the flask was withdrawn. ‘He told me which way to go.’ More water. Slowly, said the soothing voice, just a few sips at a time. ‘If you’d caught him and tamed him he wouldn’t have been able to show me the way....’
‘You were quick to get my signal.’ Thane’s voice, deep and vibrant, but husky with a sort of tensed-up emotion. Why should it be husky? ‘My God, but she’s burned! ’
‘Dreadfully. I could kill that cousin of hers!’
‘I could willingly strangle her myself,’ grittingly from Thane. ‘She’d better keep out of my way until she leaves Moonrock! ’
‘The brumby—’ Loren began, but stopped as she was lifted gently into Thane’s arms. Her head drooped; she felt his heart beating beneath his shirt. Her eyes closed; she liked the rhythm of his long strides as he walked towards the utility, carrying her as if she were no more than a small child. She heard him ask Dena what she meant about the brumby, heard Dena reply, saying she was rambling.
‘I’m not. He saved my life, so you won’t let anyone catch him, will you, Thane?’
‘No, my darling, no one shall be allowed to catch him.’
‘He has a wife and a baby, you see....’ Her voice trailed away as she lost consciousness again, and she came to only when she was in bed, having been flown to the homestead by Thane after being transferred from the utility to the aeroplane. She opened her eyes to a dimly-lighted room, with Thane sitting there, close to the bed. His face was set and grim and in her half-dazed state all that filled her mind was her fear of his anger.
‘I’ve put everyone to a lot of trouble,’ she faltered, avoiding that dark countenance. ‘I’m very sorry—’
‘Dena’s attended to your burns,’ he cut in almost roughly. ‘But they’re going to give you some pain for quite a while.’ A silence descended between them after that, and it was Dena who broke it, knocking on the door, then opening it.
‘Ah, she’s come round.’ Dena came further into the room. ‘Want a nice cup of tea?’
‘That would be lovely. Thank you, Dena, for seeing to my burns, and for finding me.’
‘The Boss found you. We were merely given the tip-off.
Happened to be closer than any of the others.’
‘The others?’ Guiltily Loren fluttered a glance at Thane. Dena continued,
‘Every man on the station was out when we arrived back -earlier than expected. Gran Amelia was in her element, giving the orders for a large-scale operation. She hasn’t lost her touch, that old-timer! Wants to know how you are. But watch out, girl, for she’ll slate you once she knows you’ve recovered. ’ The grin spread as Dena went off to make the tea.
‘Will Gran Amelia be very angry with me?’ asked Loren in a small voice as the door closed behind her friend.
‘Afraid so. We never go on a long journey without leaving word as to our destination - but you already know that.’
She nodded, biting her lip.
‘And you ... ? Are you very angry with me?’
A profound silence followed before Thane said, in that husky tone she had heard out there in the bush,
‘I’m too relieved to be angry with you, Loren.’ He paused a while, staring down at the small hand lying on the coverlet. ‘Do you remember what I said before I went away?’ and when she nodded, ‘Perhaps you’re not up to giving me that explanation, so we’ll leave it until tomorrow—’
‘I am up to it,’ she cut in eagerly, and a puzzled frown knit his brow.
‘You sound as if you can’t wait to explain?’
‘I ran after you that morning - when you were going away, but I didn’t catch you up. You see,’ she added shyly, yet with
confidence because she was remembering that he had recently called her darling, ‘I discovered that you loved me.’ Again he frowned in puzzlement and without further ado she related all that had been said on the day Janet convinced her that Thane was contemplating marriage only in order to thwart his grandmother.
‘You believed a thing like that of me?’ The serpentine eyes glinted and Loren slid further down in the bed, drawing up the cover almost up to her eyes. ‘Couldn’t you tell that I loved you?’
‘At first I thought you did, but when you didn’t ask -ask me to m-marry you. . . . You see, many people had hinted that it was an odd thing for you to bring me out here when you could more simply have made provision for me to stay in England and have an allowance.’
‘More simply, eh? And shirk my duty?’
‘I believed it was because of duty, until Janet said that, and then I remembered how Prof and Stew had said it was strange that you’d brought me here. Gran Amelia thought you’d brought me to Moonrock only with the intention of marrying me in order to make her step down, as it were.’
‘If you remember, I laughed at those remarks of Gran Amelia’s, when you mentioned them to me.’
‘Yes, you did laugh at her suspicions.’ She fell silent for a space and then just had to mention the attitude of the other people on the station.
‘I could tell they all had the same idea - that you intended marrying me for your own convenience.’
He uttered an exasperated sigh and said,
‘If that had been my intention then why didn’t I propose marriage before now?’ He was watching her closely, plainly curious as to her reply.
‘I couldn’t find an explanation for that,’ she admitted, and another impatient sigh escaped him.
‘Have you no idea why I haven’t asked you to marry me?’ She shook her head.
‘If you love me I don’t see why—’
‘If I love you! Surely we’ve established that by now!’ It wasn’t at all the tone of a lover and Loren’s lips quivered. Thane softened instantly and very gently he eased his arm under her back and raised her so that she was close to him, his cheek against hers. ‘You silly, idiotic child! I’ve been on the point of asking you to marry me several times, and if you weren’t such a babe you’d have spotted those times. What about when we were at the Alice - in the hotel garden? Surely you noticed something then?’