Inheritance (27 page)

‘I can’t bear to think of poor Daniel so badly injured. I feel as if I’m responsible. If he hadn’t been fighting the fire, for me, it wouldn’t have happened.’ Cassie shook her head and blew her nose loudly.

‘It’s not your fault. It’s the bastard who lit the fire. You mustn’t blame yourself.’ Rosie blew her nose. ‘Anyway, what will happen now about the cabins and everything?’

‘I guess the insurance will cover the clearing up and the rebuilding. What’s so worrying is that someone lit it deliberately. Why? Why would anyone do that? Can someone hate me so much they want to hurt me?’ Cassie struggled not to break down again as she uttered the frightening thought. ‘Or does someone want to stop me going ahead with the cabins?’

‘Let’s hope the police can get to the bottom of it.’

‘I hope so, but that’s not as important as Daniel getting better.’

Rosie sniffed. ‘No, that’s what matters most. I guess we’ll know more in a day or so.’

‘I guess so. In the meantime, we just have to hope.’ Cassie gave a tremulous smile. ‘Hey, look at us! What a mess we’re both in. Red eyes, faces all blotchy. I think we need a cup of tea…or… better still…some wine, what do you say?’

‘I say that’s a bloody good idea.’ Rosie brushed the brimming tears away and smiled shakily. ‘I’ll get a bottle from the fridge, you get the glasses.’

***

The following morning saw the fire scene freed from police supervision and the station hands helped the builders to clear away the blackened mess left by the fire.

Cassie watched for a while and then went to talk to Gary. They agreed that the best thing to do was to continue with the rest of the building and then go back to the site of the burnt cabins as a separate job.

Cassie returned to the house in a dejected frame of mind. As Rosie had gone to the hospital and Tom and the men were all busy, she decided to go and collect the mail. Glancing casually at the letters as she placed them in the car, she then carried them into the office to sort and open.

‘Bills, bills, bills,’ she muttered, placing them in a pile as she opened them. There was a circular advertising fodder and another from a saddler in Mareeba. She picked up an envelope with a computer-generated label addressed to her. More advertising, she thought, tearing it open.

But the contents caused her to gasp and made the blood rush to her head.

It contained a single sheet of paper and on it a message was spelled out in large letters that had been cut singly from a paper or magazine and clumsily stuck on to the paper to form words.
‘THAT WAS YOUR FIRST WARNING. STOP DESECRATING OUR FORESTS OR YOU WILL BE SORRY.’

Cassie stared at the letter as if hypnotised, fear making her heart pound and her breathing jerky.

Finally she picked up the phone with a shaking hand and dialled the number on the card Inspector Bates had given her.

She had not moved from the desk when a constable arrived shortly afterwards and used tongs to pick up the letter and envelope and place them inside a plastic bag.

‘Posted yesterday in Cairns, I see,’ he told Cassie. She recognised him as one of the police who had helped to search the fire scene.

‘I hadn’t noticed. I guess I’m too stunned to notice much at the moment.’

‘You’ve had a terrible few days,’ he said kindly. ‘Why don’t you go upstairs and take it easy for a bit? A drop of brandy wouldn’t do you any harm either, you look a bit pale. Are you feeling all right? Would you like me to come with you, see you safely upstairs?’

‘No, no, thank you. It was just such a shock. I’ll be all right.’

‘A nasty business.’ He shook his head. ‘Very nasty. Well, if you’re sure you’re okay, I’d best be going. The boss wants this in a hurry.’

Cassie watched him go, then slowly made her way upstairs, wishing she had never started the building project.

The following week another letter arrived. Rosie brought in the mail and was with Cassie when she opened it.

This time the message read,
‘YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED STOP OR YOU WILL SUFFER - IS IT WORTH YOUR LIFE?’

Cassie felt sick. She showed it to Rosie.

‘Who can be doing this? Why is someone so concerned over my project? For God’s sake, there are much larger projects than this under way, in the Daintree, for instance. Why is someone so concerned over this small patch?’

Rosie shook her head. ‘Beats me. What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to ring the detective, see if they’ve found anything yet.’

But when she spoke to Inspector Bates, she realised he held out little hope of finding the culprit. He promised to send someone to collect the letter, perhaps it would reveal more than the first one had.

‘No fingerprints on that,’ he said. ‘The paper’s cheap copy paper, the kind you find in every office, sold by thousands of reams all over Australia. Same with the envelope. And postmarked in Cairns. It’s like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, could be anyone for miles around.’

‘Surely there’s something you can do?’

‘We’re doing what we can. We followed up those two leads you gave us after the fire. We questioned Jason but his girlfriend swore they spent the whole night together on the night of the fire. As for Cliff Thompson, it seems he was home with his wife and didn’t leave the house at all that night. Both of those alibis are suspect, but unless we can find someone who actually saw either of them elsewhere, we have to accept that they were where they say they were. However, we’ll keep trying. Maybe whoever’s doing it will slip up in some way, that’s our best hope. I’ll let you know if anything turns up.’

Cassie sighed as she replaced the phone ‘He doesn’t hold out much hope, unless the person who’s doing it makes a mistake.’

‘It must be the same bastard who lit the fire. What about Jason? What did he say about him?’

Cassie spread her hands in a gesture of despair. ‘He has an alibi. So does Cliff Thompson. If it wasn’t either of them, who can it be?’

Rosie shook her head. ‘God knows. Are you going to be put off by this, stop the project?’

‘No. No, I won’t let this stop me. The building goes ahead. If we have any more trouble, I’ll hire professional security guards.’

***

The one bright spot in the next week was that Daniel was released from hospital and returned to Yallandoo, having been pronounced fit again and assured there would be no lasting damage apart from some scarring, which should fade with time. At least that was one big worry Cassie could let go. No more letters arrived in the next few weeks. Cassie made sure the water tanker was always at the ready, and the piping of the water from the dam to the cabin sites became top priority. The building went ahead and with water poured onto the burnt undergrowth, green shoots soon made their appearance in the blackened area.

Life returned to normal. Gradually Cassie’s fear lessened. But the dry continued, and the heat persisted.

One hot day, Mark arrived with the news that he was wearing swimming gear under his shorts.

‘It’s time you lived up to your promise to take me swimming in your rock pool,’ he announced.

‘What a wonderful idea,’ Cassie agreed. ‘I’ll just change and we’ll go.’

They drove the buggy along the now level track, right through the rainforest, waving to Gary as they passed the building site. When they reached the creek, they parked under the trees and started up the path to the pool. By the time they reached the large boulders, they were hot and perspiring.

Mark mopped his face with his handkerchief. ‘This swim is going to be one of the best of my life.’

‘Come on, then.’ Cassie led the way down to the edge of the pool. It took them only seconds to strip down to their swimwear and then they were in the water.

It was deliciously cool after the hot walk. The water was deep and they dived beneath the surface and swam to the far side. Cassie came up shaking her hair back and laughing. Mark surfaced alongside her.

‘I can’t believe how clear this water is. You can see every little pebble on the bottom.’

‘I know. It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Come on, I’ll race you to the end of the pool.’ She headed off downstream, a couple of lengths ahead of him.

The pool extended for about ten metres before it tumbled between rocks and fell down to form the creek again.

Mark tried to overtake Cassie before they reached the end but she was a strong swimmer and beat him. ‘You had a head start,’ he laughed. ‘I call that cheating. And your punishment is…this.’ He grabbed her, taking her unawares, and ducked her beneath the water.

Cassie came up spluttering to find him laughing at her. ‘You rat. I’ll get you for that.’ She splashed him with water and he retaliated. They splashed again and chased each other, laughing and acting as if they were children again. Finally he caught hold of her but she broke free, turned, and swam back upstream.

‘I give in,’ she called out. ‘Come up this end.’

Mark swam up to join her, then rolled over and floated on his back, staring up at the blue sky above. Cassie turned over and floated alongside him while she caught her breath, enjoying the free and easy friendship between them.

‘What a wonderful childhood you must have had, living in this incredible place.’

‘I didn’t live here all the time,’ she reminded him, ‘but I did have wonderful times here. Rosie and I used to come here all the time in the hot weather.’

‘We should have been doing the same instead of roasting at home.’

‘Mm, I guess so. We can come again. But for the moment I’m going to sit on my rock and rest.’

‘No, you’re not! Because I’m going to drown you as punishment for not bringing me here sooner.’ Mark grabbed her before she could escape him and she went under the water laughing, then came up spluttering again and pushed him over.

‘Pig!’ She started pummelling him playfully, raining blows on his head and shoulders.

He put his hands up to defend himself. ‘Stop, stop. You win. Rest, it is.’

Laughing like children, they climbed from the pool. They clambered up on to the big flat rock, secluded among the boulders and shaded by an overhanging tree. Mark spread the towels for them and Cassie lay back with her arms behind her head. Mark sat beside her, his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. She could feel him close next to her.

‘You’re such fun to be with. You make me feel like a teenager again.’ Stretching, Mark turned on his side towards her, leaning on one elbow and looking down at her. His wet thigh brushed hers.

Cassie was intensely aware of him so close. Her heart started to beat erratically.

‘Cassie, you’re so beautiful’. He spoke slowly, not laughing now.

She lay perfectly still, suddenly breathless.

He reached out one finger and traced her eyebrow, slowly. Cassie felt a confusion of emotions, wanting him to continue, yet hesitant.

His finger slid down the side of her face, the side of her neck. A tremor ran through her as his hand came to rest on her breast. Leaning over, very deliberately, his mouth came down on hers. She reached up to him, tentatively at first, then eagerly. The taste of the sweet water from the pool was on his lips. His tongue began to explore hers, slowly, as if savouring the taste of her. Slowly his hands slid behind her and unfastened her bikini top.

He leant on one arm and the fingers of the other felt for her nipple. It sprang erect to meet him. His lips slid down the length of her neck and he kissed the nipple, ran his tongue around it, slowly, then gently sucked it, setting a tiny pulse throbbing between her legs. His fingers ran over her smooth skin, caressing her.

The throbbing increased as his hand moved down, removed her briefs, then gently slid between her legs. His fingers explored her, finding the little nub of her sexuality. Stroking, gently.

‘Oh, Mark, oh!’ The cry burst from her as her passion soared.

All thought was gone as the tumult of her desire grew. She was aware only of him and the pulsing, aching longing inside her. The stroking became more urgent and she felt a wave building inside her, taking her higher, higher, and then breaking, and she cried out again, shuddering with pleasure.

‘Cassie, Cassie, darling.’ His mouth was hungry, fiercely demanding, kissing her on the mouth, the neck, sliding down to make little circles on her stomach. He moved above her, his hands lifting her towards him. Then suddenly he was inside her, hard, thrusting, stirring places and pleasures she had never known. Crying out, she arched herself to meet him and closed around him. Her legs wrapped around him and they moved in rhythm, her passion mounting. Higher, higher. Finally, when she felt she could wait no longer, she heard him call out, and there was an explosion inside her; waves of ecstasy rippled through her, one after another. Then at last a sweet, languid calm came over her. She floated. Somewhere she heard birds singing.

Mark lay there, holding her in his arms, kissing her face gently, kissing her eyelids. Murmuring endearments. ‘I love you, Cassie, my darling.’

Joyously, Cassie held him closer, her love welling up fiercely. ‘Oh, Mark, I love you.’

And when they finally parted, it was to lie drowsily together on the rock in the languorous heat of the afternoon, then finally to drift into contented slumber.

When they woke, Mark took her in his arms again. ‘Cassie, my love, my wonderful, wonderful woman.’ He kissed her, tenderly at first and then more urgently.

Cassie responded fiercely and they made love again, there on the rock, with only the bright eyes of the brilliantly plumaged birds to see them.

Later, much later, they slid into the pool again and splashed and swam and laughed again for the sheer joy of the afternoon. When they came out, they stood on the rock, their wet bodies pressed together.

He gently smoothed her golden hair back with his fingers and looked deep into her eyes. ‘You’re wonderful. You’re the sweetest girl I’ve ever known.’

Cassie laughed with happiness. ‘If I’d known what to expect, I’d have brought you here sooner.’

‘I wish you had, now I know what I’ve been missing. You told me this is your own special place. I’d like to think it’s now our special place.’