The Midwife and the Millionaire (5 page)

‘See how the cliffs beside us soar into the bluest sky. Don't the walls look like red-brick? It reminds you of millions of years in creation and some of the oldest dated rocks in the world, doesn't it?'

‘No, Pollyanna. It reminds me we've had to force land in the middle of nowhere with very little to keep us alive.'

She frowned at him. ‘Lighten up. The Aboriginal people survived.' Sophie spread her arms. ‘You'll see in the overhangs and caves they'll have left their stories for us on the rock. They've been a part of this land for thousands of years. We'll manage a day or two.'

‘Spare me from eternal optimism.'

‘And me from a grump.'

She was only a hundred metres from the plane when she found the break in the range she was looking for. They looked back before they turned into a narrow gorge off the main escarpment but Odette and Smiley were still sitting on the boulders they'd left them on.

It was cool in the gully, the sun not yet directly overhead to shine onto the narrow strip of valley floor.
‘It would be worthwhile moving the others here to get out of the sun,' she commented. ‘Especially if we have to wait long for rescue.'

‘I'd been just about to suggest that. You beat me to it.'

She slanted an amused glance at him. ‘I'm annoying you, then?'

‘Not at all.'

Liar, she thought. Tufts of sharp spinifex scratched at her ankles as she scrambled over boulders that had tumbled down from the walls, and Levi followed her. Within only a few minutes she'd come upon the first pool and she raised her brows at him. See!

‘OK,' he said. ‘It's water. Looks a bit green.'

‘It's just starting to algae, but the middle of the pool will be clear and no doubt cold.' He didn't look convinced. ‘It's a good time of the year if you have to crash,' she teased him. ‘Those tiny fish don't know their pond'll disappear over the next few months.'

‘I guess fish prove the water's clean enough to drink.'

‘Yep. In fact, the traditional owners use bunches of sharp spinifex to brush the pools and capture the tiny fish in the barbs. Then they burn it and eat the fish. We might try that later.' She crouched at the edge to fill her bottle, peripherally aware of the snake trail to her left. The smooth indent in the fine gravel was a timely reminder to watch for basking reptiles. She had a feeling he wasn't ready to know that yet.

Levi couldn't believe this woman. She talked as if
they were filming for a nature show, not about their survival in one of the most remote places in the world.

She sat back and glanced around as she screwed the lid back on the water bottle, then washed her hands before bathing her face and lower arms. His eyes were drawn to the way she slid the water over the inside of her wrists and then lifted her fingers to allow the trickles to run down her neck and beneath the collar of her blouse.

Hastily he leaned forward and rinsed his own hands. It was cold all right, just what he needed after the heat on the valley floor. Not to mention the other heat.

‘So we have water, and a few tiny fish to eat. Our own bush-tucker chef. It could be worse.' He wasn't sure how.

‘We're alive.'

He nodded soberly. True. All of them, and that was a miracle. No thanks to the person who'd tampered with the aircraft and the concept still had the power to make him wild enough to want to crush a rock with his bare hands.

She must have noticed his frown because she flicked a tiny drop of water at him. ‘Don't suppose you fancy a witchetty grub. Apparently they taste like eggs. I can see a witchetty tree and I could dig the roots up for you.'

He had to smile. Retribution could wait. ‘Pass.'

When they returned to the crash site the full extent of their miracle of survival again made itself very plain. Sophie stood for a moment and shook her head and
Levi silently agreed. Pieces of the helicopter were strewn from where they first skidded down past the wreck, and the cabin itself looked more like a drink can that had been beaten by a stick than a mode of travel.

The others had moved a few feet back against the canyon wall out of the sun and sat on boulders that had fallen from the cliffs. ‘You'd have to be unlucky, but I'm not sure I'd feel real comfortable waiting for another boulder to fall where they're sitting.'

Levi nodded. ‘We'll move to the gorge as soon as I empty the aircraft.'

They separated, he to the aircraft and she to Odette.

L
EVI
spread the first-aid kit and the tool box out on the ground to see what was available, and he looked up as Sophie laughed out loud at something Odette had said. At least someone could laugh about the situation they were in. His eyes were drawn to her when she stood and approached his work area.

Her white shirt was dusty and her disarranged hair looked not unlike the spinifex tufting the bottom of the canyon. Actually, she looked pretty fantastic, considering she'd had her worst nightmare confirmed by a crash landing. He'd been mulling over her behaviour since the crash while he worked and he'd come to the conclusion he'd never met a woman like her.

Her composure when she'd reduced her brother's shoulder still impressed him. She'd done a better job than he would have. It was far too long since he'd done any emergency work apart from eyes and he was glad he hadn't had to practise on Smiley.

His lack of disclosure about his medical background
had become an elephant he could've done without, but it didn't seem the right moment to correct the impression he'd given. Hopefully, when he did, she'd just laugh it off, though it was unlikely, if the first conversation they'd had at Xanadu was anything to go by. The longer he left it, the bigger the elephant grew, but he really didn't have the capacity to take on a discussion of his work.

Still, she looked pretty pleased with herself and it was a bonus to find something to smile about after what he'd just discovered. ‘Odette feels better?' Levi said.

‘Yep. And Smiley's fine.'

‘That's great.' He paused. ‘Do you want the good news or the bad news?'

Her smile died and he regretted that, but he wasn't joking. ‘Can I have bad and then good to cheer me up?' she asked reluctantly.

‘The bad news is the radio's dead.'

‘That's really bad.' Her face fell further. ‘And the good news?'

‘The good news is the aircraft wouldn't have gone up in flames because the fuel tank was on Empty.'

He watched her think about that until finally she said, ‘Then what was the hissing?'

She had a logical mind, he'd give her that. ‘The oil dripping on the hot engine.'

A tiny line crinkled between her brows. ‘But how could the fuel be on Empty? I saw it at Full on the gauge.'

He had an idea but it wasn't a very nice one. ‘Must have sprung a leak.'

The crinkle deepened, and actually she looked cute, but it sure wasn't the time to notice that. ‘Do fuel tanks do that?'

Never in his lifetime. He sighed. ‘Not usually.'

He watched her shake her head—a lot of that head shaking had been going on around here—and he wished he didn't have to explain the rest. He gave her a minute to mull it over and looked at the minimal supplies they had to survive on. Not much there, which was what he'd had a quick word to Odette about before he'd left with Sophie.

‘You say the radio's dead. Why is that dead?'

He appreciated how calmly she'd taken his first news. Hysterics would have really done his head in. ‘I'd like to know that too.' He saw the beginnings of comprehension as her eyes widened.

‘So what are you saying? Didn't you talk to someone as we were landing? I saw your lips move.'

He remembered that moment. It hadn't been pleasant. ‘I wish I could offer more reassurance but I can't. I didn't get a response so I gave the position in case they could hear me, even though I couldn't hear them. I don't know if it worked.'

She made a silent
O
with her mouth. Her face was like a book. No subterfuge. No doubt she'd scorn such a thing. She was so different from any woman he'd met and with such a well of strength that was almost scary.
Thank goodness he liked his women sweet and compliant.

By now, Odette and William had left their perch on the boulders to join the others.

‘It was a good idea anyway,' Sophie said earnestly, as if sorry he felt bad. She made him smile. That was twice now. Then she said, ‘But you've got one of those little GPS tracker things, don't you?'

‘ELT. Emergency locator transmitter.' She didn't like what she saw on his face and he watched her transfer her attention to Odette for a more palatable answer.

Odette looked up. ‘It seems someone took it out and didn't replace it,' Odette said baldly.

‘Someone? Took it out?' Sophie actually squeaked, and suddenly he wanted to put his arm around her, but she backed away as if she knew what he was thinking. How could she know that?

She looked at her brother but all William did was shrug his good shoulder and not comment. Levi admired him for it. There wasn't much to say as the choices were limited. Someone had tried to kill them and nearly succeeded. None of the three of them mentioned the fact the chopper had been tampered with but it simmered there between them, except that Sophie, still focused on the radio not working, didn't get it. No bonus in her knowing.

Sophie sank down on a boulder and, as an afterthought, handed the water bottle again to Odette. She closed her eyes, sighed and visibly relaxed her shoul
ders. Finally she mumbled, ‘Glad I'm not the captain,' opened her eyes and looked straight at him. ‘What's the plan? Captain.'

‘Now she defers,' he said, but he was inordinately glad of her support. He wasn't quite sure when it was she'd stopped being annoying. ‘William says he knows this area from mustering and there's an Aboriginal community a day's walk away if we head north. I'm thinking William and Odette should stay here, and you and I walk out and get help.'

She chewed her lip and glanced around the desolate landscape. ‘It's breaking the first rule. Leaving the site. We're not that far from the desert and the sun's a furnace in the sky until five.' She looked at the supplies. ‘But there's not a lot to eat out here once we get through the picnic basket.'

‘My thoughts exactly.'

She narrowed her eyes. ‘If we give them today to send a search party staying put is a good thing.' She looked at his sister and Levi had to keep from shaking his head in disbelief. She seemed so calm about the whole thing. ‘How do you feel about that, Odette?' she said. As if it was a mundane cancellation of an appointment.

He watched his sister struggle to match her composure and he wished, fruitlessly, he'd been more firm when she'd been so determined to leave Sydney with him.

Odette brushed the hair off her forehead. ‘William
can't walk far and I'm not much better. As long as we have water and a bit of food we'll be fine for a day, I guess.'

Sophie nodded and he thanked God again he'd been stranded with sensible people. He wondered if all of the people who lived out here in the back of beyond were like Sophie and William.

Apart from the fact that maybe someone was trying to kill his sister and him—but that was unproven—the place was growing on him.

‘So we leave tomorrow morning early, do you think?' Sophie said.

He almost smiled again. She couldn't help being bossy, though he suspected she'd push herself harder than anyone else. ‘Sounds like a plan.'

She nodded and stood. ‘What would you like me to do?'

He was right. ‘We'll collect wood first for a signal fire, then some for the camp tonight.'

‘Sure.' Sophie stopped beside Odette again. ‘No pains?' He could almost see the priorities ticking off in her mind.

Odette shook her head but her hand slid protectively over her stomach, as if to ward off the idea. William reached over with his good arm and caught her fingers and held them. Odette squeezed back.

‘I'd hate to be the one who's pregnant,' William said.

Levi looked at Sophie. He'd been avoiding that horror. Unfortunately he knew the danger to his sister
lay in the sudden deceleration of their landing. Forces that could tear an inelastic placenta off an elastic uterus. He'd seen that in the brief time he'd had in obstetrics, but there was nothing they could do at this moment except watch her.

Sophie crouched down, obviously thinking the same thing because she said, ‘So how long since we crashed?'

‘I thought it was a forced landing.' Levi pretended to be offended.

‘I'm sorry,' she said over her shoulder as she faced Odette. ‘How long is it since your incredible brother managed to avert disaster and get us to the ground safely, Odette?' There was humour in the words but none in her voice. She meant every word and he was surprised how they unexpectedly warmed the place that had iced over with the knowledge of foul play.

He'd never thought of himself as needy and he stamped the feeling out.

Odette looked at her watch. ‘It feels like minutes but about an hour and a half?'

Sophie crouched and her hand hovered above Odette's uterus. ‘May I?' She waited for permission, then rested her hand on the baby bulge. ‘I'm thinking the first four hours are the most likely time you'd start contracting if there'd been any problems due to the landing. It's fabulous you haven't gone into labour already. But tell me if you get regular pains.'

Odette shook her head, as if by denying it, it wouldn't happen. ‘Don't wish that on me.'

Sophie shook her head vehemently. ‘I'm not, believe me. The longer it holds off the less likely your baby has any ill effects from the events.'

Odette chewed her lip as she stroked her belly. ‘It's not quite the home birth I'd envisaged.'

Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘It's not the day any of us envisaged, except maybe me when we took off.' She smiled ruefully. ‘And I apologise if I brought us all bad luck.'

Not the person to blame. ‘If it's someone's fault,' Levi said drily, ‘it certainly wasn't yours.' He stood. ‘I used to be a pretty mean Boy Scout so reckon I could manage a fire in case a plane flies over.'

‘Then I'll start collecting wood as soon as we get to the gully.' Sophie looked around. ‘So we'll need a campfire and a signal fire?'

Odette wiped her face. ‘It's so hot. Hard to imagine we'll need heat.'

‘It'll be cold tonight,' Smiley offered and squeezed Odette's hand. Poor Smiley. He'd hate being unable to help. Sophie was glad he was there for Odette. She'd the feeling if he hadn't been Odette would have succumbed to hysterics by now and that wouldn't have been fun. To give her due, she was a city girl and where they'd crashed was as far as she'd get from a city.

Odette scuffed at the dry grass beneath her feet. ‘What if we start a bushfire?'

‘As long as it blows the other way it's all good,' Smiley said, and spread the map one-handed that Levi had given him from the wreck.

He didn't enlarge so Sophie finished the sentence. ‘In the Kimberleys bushfires are a way of life. We try to burn off the whole area every couple of years. Even as far out as here. The Aboriginal people have been burning off for thousands of years. For them it means the scrub stays sparse and they can see the animals they want to hunt. A lot of the trees and shrubs around here don't germinate until they've been through a fire. From our point of view, frequent fires germinate the land and prevent a massive fire that would be impossible to control.'

They packed up their meagre belongings and began walking towards the gully. Odette gazed around at, what was to her, desolate landscape. ‘It's so sparse and different from anywhere I've ever been,' Odette said, as if they'd landed on the moon.

‘William and I love it.' Sophie thought of Perth for the first time that day, only the second time since she'd seen Levi. Now that was queer. ‘Perth's a pretty place—it has the ocean,' she said, trying to be fair but Brad lived there. ‘I wouldn't live anywhere else than here though.' She looked at Levi as she spoke, and remembered that his appreciation of her land was confined to flying over it.

He raised his brows. ‘Don't look at me like that. The Kimberleys are growing on me. Though you have great rivers and can't swim in them. And apparently it's the same in the ocean up here.'

‘Maybe, but we have rock pools and gorges that are
fine. You just have to know where it's safe and where it's not. We're fine here from crocs, but watch the snakes as we walk.'

Levi glanced at his horrified sister and made a strangled sound but Sophie couldn't read anything in his face. Had he just laughed at her?

‘I hate snakes.' Odette shuddered.

‘If you see one just stop or back off real slowly. They panic too and are just as likely to run the same way as you and you'll think they're chasing you.'

‘It won't be really chasing me. OK.' Odette shuddered again.

Levi was watching Sophie and she'd swear he was amused, even though his mouth didn't move. ‘So you're a snake lover too?'

Sophie shook her head. ‘It's their home too. Someone once told me that a snake has a really short memory, about forty seconds, which always makes me smile when I see one. I imagine them forgetting I'm there.'

After that conversation, when they moved up next to the mouth of the gully, Odette's head swivelled like one of those toy nodding dogs people used to sit on the back window of their cars. She walked with her brother, her hand tightly gripped to his arm.

Smiley leaned heavily on his stick with Sophie on his other side. ‘I feel so bloody useless,' he said quietly.

‘You're helping Odette which is great. She needs your calm. Will you manage when we go?'

Smiley looked around to ensure the others weren't in earshot. ‘As long as she doesn't have the baby.'

Sophie whispered, ‘It's just like a calf, Smiley, or a foal.'

He choked back a laugh. ‘Great.' They grinned at each other. ‘You'll run through a couple of things with me before you leave though?' he said. She nodded. She had to believe Odette wouldn't go into labour in the day they'd be away. It was too frightening a thought. Not that there was anything they could change.