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But this time it was followed by Cecily’s laughter, and then a splash. ‘No, Paul. It’s bloody freezing cold.’ She disappeared beneath the surface of the narrow waterway before she surfaced, flicked her wet hair and swam towards Andrew and Graysen.
When she was close to the edge, Cecily turned around and pointed to her husband who was treading water in the middle of the pool. ‘You are so going to pay for that, Paul Dunn.’
He laughed at her. ‘I owed you for making me scuba dive in Cairns. That Moray eel frightened the crap out of me that day.’
Cecily walked onto the narrow beach where Andrew and Graysen were standing. Her brief red bikini showed off a super-fit muscular figure and lily-white skin.
‘Don’t be tempted. It’s colder than the North Sea.’ Cecily flung her head back and water drops flicked onto Andrew and Graysen.
Graysen looked over at Paul and shrugged when Paul swam for the side and Cecily picked up her towel and passed it to him.
‘Where’s the rest of them?’ Cecily asked, squeezing her hair dry.
‘We’re over at the beginning of the track. Came to tell you the billy’s boiled,’ Andrew said weakly, but Graysen could see the relief on his face.
Graysen couldn’t resist adding, ‘There was so much screaming, we thought one of you was in trouble.’
‘No, just my darling husband, who is so going to pay for throwing me in that bloody cold water.’
Andrew and Graysen climbed slowly back to the top of the hill. When they reached the top, Graysen looked at the scuff marks in the dirt.
‘I didn’t like her before, and my opinion hasn’t changed at all.’
Andrew looked back at him, and the relief on his face was obvious. ‘As you said before, mate. Takes all kinds.’
‘I’m sorry I caused you to worry.’
‘I’d rather that than an accident. Thanks for being on the ball. I’ll do another safety briefing after lunch before we head off again.’
Graysen headed back to the fork in the track, determined to keep to himself for the rest of the day. He’d created a situation with his vivid imagination, and that was enough excitement to do him for a while.
Sandy was standing by the fire warming her hands and she turned to him as they came back into camp, her face a picture of worry.
‘They’re fine.’ Graysen shook his head. ‘Just some tomfoolery. All good.’
She put one hand to her chest. ‘Thank goodness. That’s a relief. My imagination was running overtime.’
Andrew looked around. ‘No Clive and Jenny yet?’
‘No, although I thought I heard some voices coming from the track a few minutes ago.’
On cue, the older couple appeared at the end of the track with Zed and Miska, and at the same time Paul and Cecily came from the direction of the waterhole, arms around each other and smiling.
Andrew’s smile was tight, and Graysen could see the tic in his cheek.
‘Cup of tea, team?’ he asked.
Chapter 10
Darwin
Emma’s colleague and gynaecologist, Geoff Jennings sat on the other side of the desk, and read over the report. As he raised his head and looked at her, cold ran through her veins.
‘The pathology is still not conclusive from the sample we took,’ he said.
She managed to keep her voice calm. ‘Not conclusive in terms of what?’
‘It’s a dermoid cyst, but I want to take a wider sample under a full anaesthetic. Although they have very similar imaging appearances, there is a fundamental histological difference: a dermoid is composed only of dermal and epidermal elements and a teratomas has mesodermal and endodermal elements.’
