Page 24

The sky was low and dark, but the air was still, as taut as a bowstring. As the first puff of wind rustled the leaves of the small trees along the fence, the distant sound of running water carried across to him. Ellie lifted her face to the sky and Kane watched as she took a deep breath with her eyes closed. She tipped her head to the side for a moment as though listening for something.

‘There’s no rain in that sky. We should be right to walk in if you want to.’ Ellie had opened her eyes and her head was still tipped to one side. Her gaze was fixed on his face but her eyes were curious.

‘To the waterfall?’

‘We can have our lunch down at the falls before we drive back to the lodge. It’s about a twenty-minute hike each way although it’s a bit rough at the far end. Reckon you’re up to it?’ She leaned into the car and pulled out a small nylon backpack, slipping it over her shoulders. ‘Unless you want to eat here and head back sooner?’

Kane sensed this was a test of some sort, and he shrugged. As long as he had time at the end of the day to go and visit Mum. ‘Fine by me. Might as well see the waterfall after the long drive down here.’

Half an hour later, he was regretting his decision. Pain hovered over his hip like a knife. He hadn’t expected boulders the size of small trucks. Ellie had left him behind and rock-hopped like a wallaby about fifty metres ahead, lightly jumping from rock to rock across wide gaps. By the time he pulled himself over the last stretch and the biggest boulders, the sun had come out and perspiration was running down the back of his neck. The heat and the pain in his hip had drenched his shirt. Finally he pulled himself over the last boulder onto the sand and looked around. They were in a massive clearing. Ellie lay back on a large flat rock watching his approach.

‘Hell, this wasn’t what I expected.’ Up at the top of the escarpment, a single, narrow ribbon of water trickled down the rock face to a large pool. The water was dark green, but crystal clear. Kane let his gaze wander around the huge expanse of pure white sand edging the pool. Towering red cliffs rose majestically on three sides of the gorge. Strolling over the sand, and forcing his leg to bend, he stepped up to the flat rock where Ellie was stretched out sunning herself like a lizard. Her long legs hung casually over the edge of the rock and her head was tipped back, making the most of the warm rays. Despite the pain in his hip, a rush of blood headed for his groin and he turned away. He lowered himself onto the hot surface and lay back, focusing on the cliff top above him.

‘High, isn’t it?’ Ellie sat up and passed him a small bottle of water as Kane caught his breath.

‘Now I can understand how that tourist broke his ankle.’ He looked back over the way they’d come in. ‘Some of those big rocks aren’t very stable.’

‘Have a good look around, because we’re sure to have the helicopters down here sometime in the next couple of months.’

‘It must be a killer to bring a chopper between those cliffs.’ Kane lay back on the rock and looked up at the top of the escarpment. ‘Have you ever landed in here?’

‘Sure have. It’s a challenge, all right.’ She laughed with a wave of her hand and the sound was pleasant. ‘I think I came in here four or five times last season. I also helped the national park crew bring the walkways back into Twin Falls at the beginning of the dry season. The crosswinds are tricky, especially when they’re blowing from the west.’

‘I’ll make sure your bird is in tiptop condition for you then.’

‘How come you don’t fly anymore?’

Kane shrugged. ‘Personal decision. I enjoy the engineering side of the choppers.’

She tipped her head back to take a long drink of water. In contrast to her tanned arms, her slim neck was white and Kane let his gaze linger on her lips when she wiped off a drop of water.

‘If I hadn’t been away, I probably would have helped out with the crocodile management before they opened the falls up.’ She held his gaze and her tone was challenging. ‘If you’re still around next year, you’ll get to see it. We bring those big traps in by air, because there’s no other way in. Hopefully we won’t need to bring more in this season.’ Ellie shivered. ‘I don’t know how people can swim here, even if they reckon the crocs have been “managed” out.’

‘Is that why you’ve been away? Don’t like doing it?’

She shook her head. ‘Had some family stuff to do.’

‘A swim sounds like a great idea.’ The cold water would ease the blasted pain in his hip too.

‘Oh, God, no. Please.’ She unscrewed the cap from her water bottle and passed it over to him. ‘Tip some of that on your head if you need to cool down.’

He returned her worried stare. ‘Don’t waste your water. If swimming bothers you that much, I’ll just go down and have a splash in the shallows.’

Ellie grabbed his arm and Kane looked down at her long slender fingers as they circled his wrist.

‘Please. Didn’t you see the traps on the way in?’

‘I was too busy watching where I put my feet,’ he said. The warmth from her fingers was sending another lazy swirl of desire kicking to his groin. He lifted his gaze back to her face and a pleasant rush went through him as he caught her staring at his mouth. He realised she was serious. ‘You really do worry about them, don’t you?’

‘You would too if you’d seen what they can do to a person.’ Ellie let go of his arm and stretched across the rock to reach for the backpack. ‘Sandwich?’

Kane nodded and took the packet she passed over to him.

She pointed up to the bend in the narrow river. ‘The first traps are up there. All the areas stay closed to tourists until the wet season waters fall to a level where the crocs are less likely to be moving around. The national park rangers have to see if any have moved in during the wet. They put baited traps and foam buoys in the water.’

‘Foam buoys?’

‘Yep.’ She nodded. ‘Crocs are curious creatures and will have a chew on a buoy. So they have to get rid of them before the tourists can come in. The traps are big and sometimes they’ll put a big animal in there . . . maybe a donkey or a wild pig.’