Love Is Blind (5 page)

‘A good thing? Oh, yes, I’m just so glad I left behind my lovely soft mattress and beautiful boyfriend in London, to be nearly crushed to death by a deranged emu, forced to eat road kill, and marooned in the middle of the desert. Not to mention becoming an-all-you-can-eat diner
for
sand flies the size of Sumo wrestlers!’ She swatted angrily at a buzzing insect.

If Jacko could have swatted
her
, he would have. ‘So tell me, Anthea, have you always been such a pain in the ass or do you take lessons?’

‘Obviously Jane is having some kind of mental breakdown. Otherwise why would she come out here?’ Anthea looked around her at the unfamiliar, harsh landscape and shuddered.

‘She came here ’cause the place is full of Real Men. I suppose your poncey Rupert can only get aroused if you touch him on the gonads with a velvet opera glove. Maybe
you’ll
even fall for a real bloke out here. Maybe I can arrange it. So, tell me, exactly what kind of Aussie fella would you like to meet?’

‘One who is doused in petrol and has a stake driven through his heart, preferably,’ Anthea muttered.

‘Jeez,’ he said, amazed. ‘You are a woman who speaks her mind, aren’t you?’

‘That’s because I have one,’ she retorted. ‘You’re obviously only attracted to my sister because of the novelty of being with a woman you don’t have to inflate.’

Jacko’s body went as taut as an archer’s bow.
Anthea
drew back. She was frightened she’d finally pushed him too far. He leapt to his feet. Anthea shrank back even more. But his eyes were fixed on something behind her. With a jerk, he yanked her upright.

‘Do you mind? Ouch! Don’t touch me. That hurts.’

‘Move!’

‘Why?’

Jacko thrust her roughly towards the riverbank. ‘Tsunami.’

‘What!’

‘Get out of the creek. Quick!’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. We’re hundreds of miles from the sea. We’re …’

Movement caught Anthea’s eye. She glanced over her shoulder to see a wall of water, five feet high, surging down the dry creek bed behind them. It moved quickly and quietly, churning up the red earth before it.

Jacko bounded up the bank in five giant steps. But Anthea just stood stock still, spellbound by the sight of all that muddy water racing towards her. Part of her thought it must be a mirage … Until the wave hit her chest. She lost her balance, buckled at the knees and slid into the torrent.

Jacko waded back in and grabbed her. Water gushed around their bodies, trying to drag them downstream. Jacko hauled her towards the bank.

‘Inland tsunami. Means there’s been a storm a hundred miles away. Now, move. There’ll be even more water coming.’

Anthea could see that the flood was getting deeper. It was also getting faster. The riverbed where their truck had turned over was wide. The mangled vehicle groaned and lurched forward in the current. She watched in astonishment as the metal carcass was churned downstream and out of sight.

‘My Harley!’ Jacko cried, as the beloved big bike also faded from view.

But there was no time for the big man to mourn. The current was getting stronger. When they had finally waded into the shallows, a surge of relief went through Anthea. But just when she thought she’d reached safety, Jacko took hold of her and pushed her down again into the swirling water. A panicked thought pierced her mind. Mother Nature had presented the maniac with a perfect opportunity to be rid of his fiancée’s prying sister. He could really
drown
his sorrows – if he held her head under for long enough. Once she was dead, he could get his hands on Jane’s money with no questions asked. She kicked out at Jacko and broke free of him. In her urgency to get away, she stumbled backwards and went under.

As the dark, muddy flood heaved around her, she thrashed about trying to keep her head above water. The turbulent undercurrent had her somersaulting crazily. Confused, Anthea couldn’t find the way up. Gasping for air but only swallowing water, her mind starting floating in a way that her body was not. Maybe I’m dreaming? she thought … But if so, then where was George Clooney and why wasn’t she naked?

Two strong arms encircled her body. She came up out of the murky whirlpool, coughing. Her nose streamed. The rational world seemed to be spinning completely out of its orbit.

Jacko had swum downstream after her. Dragging her towards shore, he hooked one arm over a drooping tree branch. The other remained clamped around Anthea. Both of them were chest-deep in the choppy water. The river rushed past, jerking her violently this way and that. ‘Why the hell did you push me down into
the
water?’ she spluttered. ‘Why save me, then drown me? You obviously took an IQ test and failed,’ she ranted. Terrified as she was, her only thought was to give the man a good tongue lashing. ‘If ignorance is bliss, then you must be permanently on cloud nine …’

Anthea’s insults trailed off because Jacko was pointing at something. She followed his finger to see what could only be described as a small dinosaur thrashing towards them at speed. As it was swept along on the heaving tide, it struck out with its claws, slashing at floating debris.

‘Goanna. Claws like razors. Can rip you open. They climb up the tallest thing they can see. Which, in this creek, is you and me. Would cut you open like a tin can. That’s why I had to get you back down into the drink,’ Jacko explained. The giant lizard thrashed past on powerful legs, its head twisting this way and that in fright.

Unsure whether her travel insurance covered gaping chest wounds from prehistoric lizards, Anthea gripped hold of Jacko. Having totally rejected the man earlier, she now clung to him like nylon worn in a heat wave. As soon as the goanna had hurtled downstream, Jacko placed
his
hands on Anthea’s backside and propelled her up the bank.

She scrambled her way up the slope then lay there panting, her body twisted, arms flung wide, busily converting to religion. There are many reasons for sudden religious conversion. A particularly good one is finding yourself swept up in an inland tsunami.

Chapter Six

Seeing Is Disbelieving

JACKO VAULTED UP
the bank without losing a breath. ‘Shit. My backpack’s gone,’ he exclaimed. ‘With both our phones in it.’ Noticing Anthea’s pale face, he added, ‘Look on the bright side. With no phones, we get to spend even more time with each other!’

She blinked up at him, water still streaming from her nose. Anthea was used to being in total control. She was aware that tears were welling up in her eyes. Desperate to hide how shaken up she felt, she lashed out verbally. ‘I’m looking forward to spending more time with you about as much as I’m looking forward to my own execution by firing squad … A car crash, an inland tsunami, a wild goanna … This is a prank, isn’t it? We’re being secretly filmed for some reality TV show, aren’t we?’ she said, still
struggling
to take in all that had happened.

But Jacko’s attention was elsewhere. He was looking up at the jaundiced clouds on the horizon. They threatened rain. And yet, above them, the sky was clear. But there was something odd in the air. Anthea’s hair went static suddenly. It frizzed and stood on end. The slight fuzz on her arms was also standing to attention.

‘Oh, dear God. What’s going on
now
?’ she asked, alarmed.

‘Static electricity. The air’s so parched, even the bloody ions are dry.’

Anthea studied the skyline. The weather seemed as wild as a teenager’s mood. In the distance she could see sunshine, showers, an electrical storm, hailstones and rainbows all at once. She didn’t like it. To unnerve her even more, a flock of white cockatoos erupted from a tree perched atop the hill behind them. Anthea reeled around to see the birds fly screeching into the air. It was as though someone had thrown a huge handful of confetti into the heavens. And then, as if things couldn’t get any more surreal, the tree in which the cockatoos had been nesting burst into flames.

‘Well, I’ll be blowed!’ Jacko marvelled. ‘A bolt
from
the blue. I’ve never seen that before. Quite an awesome event.’

‘A bolt from the what?’

‘A lightning strike. Without a storm. A bolt from the blue … Pretty much like your sister coming into my life when I least expected it.’ He smiled.

Before Anthea had time to reply to his comment, Jacko lunged at her. He started ripping at the row of buttons running down the front of her dress.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get off me, you pervert …’ She slapped at his hands. ‘Unless you’d prefer to be separated from your scrotum.’

‘Get your bra off!’ he commanded.

Anthea dug her nails into the skin of his forearm. ‘Get away from me!’ Panic rose in her chest. She kicked out in the direction of his groin. ‘Or you’ll be auditioning for the Vienna Boys’ Choir. I am not kidding.’

‘Underwire.’

‘What?’

‘Underwire. In your bra. If lightning strikes again, it could electrocute you.’

Jacko ruched her dress up at the back. In
one
deft movement, he reached up, unhooked her bra and slipped the straps down over her shoulders. He then groped up the front of her frock and pulled the lacy white bra free, flinging it into the raging river.

Anthea felt relieved that he wasn’t groping her, but also indignant at his total control. She reacted the only way she knew how, with barbed banter. ‘I don’t care if I get electrocuted. Just don’t come near me again! You Outback blokes may be starved for female affection but, believe me, seeing you naked would almost certainly turn me into a lesbian.’

A sound like a gunshot cracked through the air, making her jump. ‘What is it
now
?’ she wailed.

‘Gum nuts. It’s the eucalyptus oil in the trees. Makes them explode. The tinder’s so dry the whole place could go up in smoke in an instant.’ Jacko licked his finger and held it aloft. ‘But we’re okay. Don’t worry. The wind’s not blowing in this direction.’

No sooner had he finished speaking than the bush on the hill above them ignited. Gum nuts started exploding everywhere like grenades. As a wall of heat rose up, birds bickered and raced
for
safety. The crows wailed like alley cats. A few moments later it was like a scene from a biblical plague. Snakes, lizards, birds, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats all started twisting, writhing, bounding and scrabbling down the side of the hill.

‘The wind will push the fire east, if we’re lucky.’

‘Lucky! Luck has nothing to do with it! Planning. That’s what’s missing here. Planning is a vital component of any trip … Just ask Scott of the Antarctic,’ she said hysterically.

‘Shut up,’ Jacko barked.

‘Don’t tell me to shut up.’ She glared at him resentfully. Okay, he might have saved her life once or twice in the past hour, but the man really was insufferable. ‘Why is it that every time you talk, I get an overwhelming urge to be alone …’

‘Plane!’ he yelled.

Jacko and Anthea lifted their arms into the air simultaneously, as though doing an aerobics class.

Jacko ripped off his white shirt. He ran to the highest point that wasn’t ablaze and started waving the shirt wildly above his head. Anthea
couldn’t
help but notice his taut abdomen and muscular physique. He was surprisingly agile and fit for a man his age.

‘How will we know if the pilot’s seen us!’ she cried.

‘He’ll dip one wing.’

Jacko kept waving frantically. Anthea now joined him, moving her arms like the sails of a windmill. Her hopes had risen nearly as high as the small silver plane.

‘Dip, you bastard. Dip!’ Jacko urged.

She squinted against the sun to follow the plane’s progress through the big, broad sky. Jacko kept jumping up and down and waving his improvised flag. But no matter how hard she willed the pilot to see them, the plane veered left and moved away.

‘Bugger it. The pilot’s too busy getting away from the storm to notice us …’ Jacko turned his attention back towards the blazing bush. He then went so rigid Anthea thought he’d been shot. She watched as he came barrelling back down the slope towards her, his expression fierce. ‘Wind’s changed.’

Anthea noted that the noise level had gone up around her. Gone were the sounds like hand
grenades.
The noise now resembled cannon fire. She turned to see the limbs of another big tree on fire. With a roar and a moan, a huge flaming branch snapped free and rolled towards them.

An unnaturally hot wind gusted down the slope as though also fleeing the hilltop. It was like being blasted by hell’s hair dryer. Smoke rolled over them in waves, hissing like surf. She coughed as ash filled her lungs. The grit seemed to be settling in her stomach.

Anthea had often worried about life after death. Now she found herself worrying about life before death. Was she going to have any? The fire was racing down the slope towards them. Anthea started squeaking like a lost kitten.

Jacko grabbed her hand as they groped their way back towards the rushing river they’d just escaped from. Through eyes that were slitted against the smoke, she could see that the water had risen even higher.

‘Jump in!’

Anthea looked at Jacko through the fug of fumes. A direct trip to downtown Kabul seemed like a better alternative than getting back into the roaring torrent. She tried to speak but the smoke made her throat seize up. Death, she realised,
gasping,
really is a breath-taking experience.

‘On the count of three!’ he yelled.

‘NO!’ she croaked.

‘Get in!’ he ordered.

Anthea glanced at the writhing river. There was no way she was getting back into the feverish floodwaters. If they were swept downstream, they’d be knocked out on the rocks. Or, worse, killed by a head-on collision. ‘I’m not getting back into that river. I’d rather you shot a bullet through my brain,’ she yelled back.

‘Don’t tempt me,’ the big man barked. With that he seized her in a bear hug and leapt. The murky water thrashed around them. It was like getting into a washing machine. Jacko slid the belt free from his jeans and lassoed Anthea’s waist. He then held her against an overhanging branch and tethered her to it. Water slapped against her legs and left them stinging.