Dudes Down Under (31 page)

“
Hell, yeah. The owner is gonna have to spend a shitload of money but there’s nothing that can’t be fixed. They can send a barge out from the mainland with fully-grown trees for planting. You get a horticultural expert here and find out what’s needed to replenish and what can be saved. Bingo! You wait and see.”

Lucy smiled for the first time in days. “Thanks, Didi.”

“
No sweat, boss. You just gotta stay positive, eh?”

*  *  *

Most of the bungalows remained silent and in darkness for the first night post-cyclone, the guests and staff all exhausted from the adrenaline overload of the storm.

Cyril and Sadie were in Cyril’s bungalow, sleeping soundly. Rebecca lay on the top bunk, dispirited and worried about Skeet. The two crocs had not posed a problem so far. Cyril was clearly unused to being without Skeet. Rebecca was determined to do her best to keep him on his best behavior. Tomorrow she was taking the chopper across to the mainland to visit Skeet, then she had a surprise to buy for the crocs. Hopefully it would take Cyril’s mind off other things for a short while.

*  *  *

Lucy lay in Charlie’s arms. He gazed at her sweet face in the moonlight coming through the window. She slept, finally. The staff were all sorted for their shifts. The guests were coordinating themselves to do whatever needed doing around the place.

Charlie was surprised with the guests that had opted to leave the island, Ms. Terry Writer and Ms. Ann Onomus being the only two. He was amazed that Sidney Sheridan wasn’t chomping at the bit to leave. No problem with her staying, of course, as long as she carried her weight. That would be a new experience for her. It must be horrible to have people see you as a waste of oxygen. He felt sorry for her.

Sidney was also feeling very sorry for herself. If these people went back home and told everyone that she had chickened out and left after the cyclone, the press would be out for blood. She knew damned well that they didn’t like her anyway. Jealousy, of course, what else could it be? With that thought in mind she headed down to the main ballroom to see what the others had planned for the day.

Lana Peters, Izzy Pittman and Vanessa Dayton were sitting around a table chatting quietly when she walked in. Conversation ceased and they looked at her in surprise. Lana was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “Well, how are you doin’, missy? I thought you left last night.”

“
Why would I leave?”

“
Well … I thought … um, yeah, I guess, why would you? Come and join us.”

“
What on earth are you doing?” Sidney was fascinated. It appeared that these women were all having a manicure.

“
Honey,” said Izzy, “we are going to be doing physical stuff, maybe heavy, maybe not. But long talons have to go. So we are each cutting the others' nails down and just applying clear varnish. Far better than having them break right down.”

“
But … oh ... okay, count me in.”

The others looked at her with surprise, then they all gave her a smile and shifted their makeshift nail parlor to make room for her.

“
So, girls, what do you think we can do to help? Any ideas?” Lana asked.

“
I suppose we should leave it to Lucy to delegate something, Lana.”

“
Vanessa, girlfriend, Lucy will be too concerned about our well-being to have us do anything at all, so c’mon, we have to think of something positive we can assist with.”

“
We could help clean out the swimming pools, that shouldn’t be too hard, should it?” Vanessa said.

“
I don’t know, I’ve never done it, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“
Have each of you managed to contact home to stop people worrying?” Didi asked.

Everyone had, except for Sidney. “Why bother?” she said. “They won’t worry.”

Lana was about to say something and then realized the young woman was serious. How incredibly sad.

“
Well, let’s go find out what we need and do this thing. Make sure you have all got a good cover of sunscreen on. Sun hats and t-shirts would be a good move as well.” Didi was clearly concerned at the idea of these sheltered women doing anything outside the normal routine. This wasn’t a game like the tug-of-war, yet they all seemed determined to help in any way they could. She was surprised and grateful.

“
What are the guys doing?”

“
Tristan has gone out with the croc patrols.”

“
Yeah, Jack has as well. I didn’t know they could shoot.”

“
Me neither. Funny the things you never discuss even when you’re married.”

“
Like ex-wives.”

“
That’s one of ‘em.”

“
Speaking of which, where is Kylie? And Karen? I haven’t sighted Karen for a day or so.” Lana arched her brows as she spoke.

“
She went back home before the cyclone,” Vanessa said quietly.

“
Oh …? Do tell.”

“
Later, okay?”

“
I’ll hold you to that, girlfriend. Let’s rock and roll. How about we meet back here in, say, fifteen minutes?”

They all agreed and headed out to their bungalows to dress in something easier to work in, plus t-shirts and cover-up.

Chapter 35

Skeet opened his eyes. The light was blinding and he quickly shut them again. He was in a good deal of pain. Once that thought registered, he felt better. If he could feel pain, he was still alive.

He ran his mind over his body to see what, if anything, was missing. He could feel his arms and his stomach muscles but, try as he might, he couldn’t feel his legs. “What?” he croaked. His mouth was dry and his throat felt like it had been scrubbed with sandpaper.

“
Well, nice to see you’re with us, Mr. Harrington.”

Mr. Harrington? What is dad doin’ here? Who is that talkin’? I’m so tired. Why can’t I feel my legs?

“
Rest, Mr. Harrington. You are in hospital and I am your nurse, Alison. I’m going to give you something for the pain. Have a sip of the ice water. Your throat will feel much better in a day or so. The tubes in your arms are liquid to replenish your system. You are catheterized, so don’t worry. We are also transfusing blood. You are in very good hands. The surgeon will be in to see you a little later.” The critical care nurse drew up the morphine and injected it into his vein. Then she set the morphine drip up to attempt to keep the pain at a constantly bearable level.

“
My legs …? I…?”

“
Please don’t concern yourself, Mr. Harrington. Rest now. Everything will be fine. Your doctor will explain more to you when you wake again. Sleep now.”

Skeet wanted to argue but the heavy hit of morphine took away the pain and he drifted into sleep again.

*  *  *

Lana, Izzy, Sidney, Vanessa and Didi were all together and geared up for pool cleaning. The amount of debris floating on the surface of the swimming pools was enormous and needed to be cleared before any further draining and refilling could be started.

“
So what do you think, Didi, one pool at a time? Lana asked.

“
Yeah, we can do a more thorough job that way. Just drag the floating stuff across to one edge and the guys will be round with a trailer to take it and compost it for use on the new plants. Have all of you got a good coating of sunblock on?”

“
Yup, we all have. So which side of the pool do we drag it to?”

“
Over on the pathway edge. Should make it easier for the fellas to collect. Okay, hats on, girls. Let’s go for a dip. Oh, the pools have already been checked for crocs and snakes, so don’t worry.”

“
Jesus, I hadn’t given that a thought. Saltwater pools, yeah, of course. Anyone starts humming the theme from ‘Jaws’ and I’m outta here.” Izzy slipped into the pool, laughing as she did so.

Fairly soon the woman had a line working so the debris was systematically passed one to the other and placed on the ledge. They switched the one closest to the ledge every twenty minutes or so to prevent any one of them having to do the heavy part of the job for too long.

“
I’ll just bet you ladies didn’t expect anything like this when you decided to enter the draw to come here, did ya?”

“
No, this is way outside what I was expecting but I sure as hell feel great. It’s nice to be so useful,” said Lana.

‘
I know it’s really appreciated. You guys are bonzer,” said Didi happily.

“
I’ll save the thank you till I look up bonzer in the slang dictionary.”

“
It’s all good, Izzy. I already heard that one. It means we are really great. Yes, Didi?”

“
Yep, good one.”

The woman all worked well as a team, laughing and gossiping together like teenage girls on an unexpected sleepover. They were clearly enjoying the unaccustomed physical activity. Didi wondered how they would feel once their muscles confirmed they were indeed unaccustomed to work of this kind.

“
Okay, ladies, when we finish this pool we take a break. Gotta keep ourselves hydrated. No sense doing this between the hours of eleven a.m. and two o’clock. Too damned hot. The water is cool but the chances of burning are very high, so we rest up, have a bite to eat, and start again around three. Whatdya reckon?”

Everyone agreed that was a plan. They drifted off to their bungalows to change and met up again in the ballroom an hour later.

The restaurants scattered around the island were closed and the staff were utilized in more important ways. However, the main dining room in the grand ballroom remained open 24/7, with the food offered of an excellent quality.

The ladies decided on a light lunch and after a few drinks were in talkative mode.

“
So, has anyone sighted Kylie this morning?” Lana asked

“
Oh, yeah, she’s gone off with Ginny on croc patrol. Seems Kylie is a damned good shot.” Didi couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

“
Shit, I’m glad she didn’t decide to take aim at me,” Izzy said.

“
Whoa, that might have been nasty, girlfriend. Who knew? You two are cool now though, yeah?”

“
Hell yes. It took balls to apologize the way she did. Raised her up a damned sight in my opinion, let me tell you.”

“
Yeah, I think she went up in everyone's estimation for doing that.”

“
So, like, what happened to Karen De La Cruz? She went back Stateside, didn’t she?” Sidney couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“
Ah, yeah, she had important business to take care of,” Vanessa offered by way of explanation.

“
Important enough to, like, leave her husband behind?”

“
Tony is a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Lana put an end to that conversation fast, although she would make a point of hijacking Vanessa Dayton later for the real story.

“
Nobody back home is ever going to believe I have been helping clean a pool. They’ll think I made it up.”

“
Oh no they won’t, Sidney. I’ll make damned sure everyone knows you jumped in and helped with the rest of us.”

“
Um, thanks, Lana. I mean, really, thanks a lot.”

“
No problems, baby-girl.”

“
So, Didi, what’s the latest news on Skeet? Is he okay?”

“
Yeah, Didi, how is he doin’?”

Didi had to admit she didn’t know. The hospital would only say that he was resting comfortably and as well as could be expected. But she did know he was in the intensive care unit, and that was a worry in itself. “Doc flew over with Lucy a while ago. We’ll have to wait ‘til they get back for a real idea of what’s happening with Skeet. What I can tell you though is that Ed Guest is flying in the top spine specialists from Europe and the States. He feels so bad 'cause Skeet was out lookin’ for him and Ginny when he got hurt.”

“
Good. I mean, not good that Skeet got hurt - hell, we all love Skeet to bits - but good that Ed is helping like that.”

“
What about little Ginny? Man, she sure took control of that situation and, I might add, handled it like a true professional.” Lana couldn’t keep the pride out of her voice.

Didi was pleased. “Ginny has lived in the islands all her life. She might have some problems with school learning but there is not one damned thing anyone can teach her about this place. It’s a shame that people tend to judge her harshly simply because she’s naive.”

“
Well, I am afraid we all are guilty of that mistake. It’s a lesson each of us should have remembered. We have all been misjudged in one way or another because of what we do, and not who we are.” Izzy said with a sad shrug of her shoulders.