Outback Ghost (40 page)

Stella was quick to agree. ‘I love it.'

‘Fine by me,' Ruth said.

‘How much?' Frankie asked.

Heidi impressed them all with her dedication to learning the game of Sequence and her attention span, which kept her focused for almost an hour, but the moment she'd had enough, the first words out of her mouth were, ‘Look for Whiskers?'

‘Who?' Dave asked, gathering up the cards.

‘You know that stray cat that hangs around here?' Adam informed. ‘Mum and Heidi named her Whiskers. Heidi's become quite a fan but we haven't seen her for a couple of days. She's pregnant and I'm—'

‘Not anymore she's not,' Dave interrupted, placing the cards on a pile in front of him.

Adam looked at his dad in horror, terrified he'd done something awful like killed the poor cat and her unborn kittens. A farmer his whole life, Dave would have no qualms about doing such a thing. One cat was good for keeping rats and mice away, but he couldn't have them multiplying all over the shop.

‘I went for a stroll earlier and heard a low mewing coming from the shearing shed. I went in to investigate and sure enough, there was that stray with half a dozen kittens suckling her.'

‘Oh. Wow.' Esther looked close to tears, but Adam was still trying to recover from his panic.

‘Are they all okay?' he asked.

Dave nodded. ‘I didn't get too close, but they looked like healthy little things to me.'

‘See them. See them.' Heidi slipped of Esther's lap and grabbed Adam's hand, bouncing in the way she did whenever anything excited her. Truth be told, the thought of a litter of tiny kittens made Adam want to bounce around also.

He chuckled. ‘I'll take you to look but you need to understand they are very young and we won't be able to touch them in case Whiskers gets upset.'

Heidi stopped bouncing and nodded solemnly. She was
such
a good kid.

‘Let's take her some milk and some tuna,' Esther suggested, standing and already heading for the fridge.

It was decided Heidi, Adam and Esther would walk over to the shed to visit, but Dave, who found their enthusiasm a little amusing, would take the opportunity to go visit his friend Frank Forrester for a few New Year's drinks. Heidi walked between Esther and Adam, who also carried a small bag with a large tin of tuna, a couple of plastic bowls and the remainder of a bottle of milk.

As they approached the shed, Adam cautioned Heidi. ‘We need to be extra quiet when we go in. We don't want to scare Whiskers, okay?'

‘Yup. Got it.' At Heidi's words Adam found it hard to keep a straight face.

When they arrived, Adam assisted his mum to climb up in through the open doorway and then lifted Heidi, before hauling himself up. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim interior after being outside in the late afternoon sun, but when they did, Adam looked towards the corner his dad had indicated and smiled.

He stooped to whisper to Heidi as he pointed ahead. ‘Look over there.'

He passed the bag to his mum and then took Heidi's hand again as they crept towards the nesting cat. Adam had thought himself fairly immune to animal cuteness but when he laid eyes on the minuscule kittens, all different shades of black and brown fluffy fur and snuggled into their mum, his heart quivered. He looked down at Heidi who had frozen on the spot, her face an expression of absolute awe.

And then suddenly she shrieked. It took one second for Adam to register why. On the ground right beside her was a Western Brown snake, cornered between them and the wall. Whiskers also noticed it, launching up and hissing at the snake. Reacting on impulse, Adam went to snatch Heidi out of harm's way but not before the beast reared its head and planted its fangs into her leg.

‘Oh fuck.' His expletive mingled with his mum's cry of horror as he kicked out at the snake, bracing himself for an attack, but Whiskers was on it. The snake abandoned pursuit of them, turning to face the riled mother cat, now swiping at it. Adam couldn't afford to think about the welfare of Whiskers or her kittens when Heidi's life was on the line. Careful not to move her leg too much, he carried her away as she sobbed against his shoulder. He knew this type of snakebite didn't hurt much but she wasn't a stupid little girl – her tears were of fear and shock.

‘Mum, grab the first-aid kit,' he ordered, as he headed for the exit. Thankfully Dave had always been anal about having one in the shed in case of accidents while shearing. Esther followed his instructions and was right behind him with the kit as he laid Heidi on the ground outside. She moved to comfort Heidi but Adam tossed her his mobile phone. ‘Call Triple Zero.' Then he rummaged in the kit for the strip bandages, trying to block out the sounds of cat and snake fighting inside.

As Esther informed the operator of their emergency and location, Adam focused on the task. His fingers shook as located the bite site and wound the bandage over the wound and upwards, covering as much of Heidi's right leg as possible.

‘They're on their way,' Esther said, resuming her efforts to placate Heidi.

‘Mummy. Want Mummy,' Heidi sobbed.

‘I know, sweetheart, I know.' Esther's soothing words echoed in Adam's head as he worked and silently prayed.

Please God, let this work. Don't let anything happen to her.

How could he ever face Stella again if he lost her? He'd never forgive himself so he could hardly ask her to. He glanced at Heidi's pale face and reached out to hold her hand, hoping his quick application of first aid was enough. But where the hell were the ambulance?

‘Maybe we should put her in the car and drive?' he said, half to his mum, half thinking things through in his head. He felt helpless just waiting. ‘They'll have anti-venom at the medical centre.'

But as he reasoned through the logistics of what to do, he heard the ambulance tearing up the driveway. Thank God for the generosity and speed of local volunteers.

‘What's that term when you have an agreement with your partner that if your favourite celebrity crush offered you a night of passion with them, you're allowed to go for it? Ruby asked as the five women emerged from the cinema.

‘Hall pass,' Simone said without thought.

Ruby grinned. ‘I'm gonna ask Drew for one of those with Ryan Reynolds.'

Stella giggled; Frankie's influence was obviously rubbing off on Ruby.

‘Hah!' Frankie held out her hand. ‘Pay up, Ruby. No M-talk allowed, remember?'

Laughing along with her new friends, Stella dug her mobile phone out of her bag to take it off silent, but she frowned as she looked down at the screen. ‘I've got ten missed calls from Adam,' she said, starting to panic.

‘Maybe he missed you,' Frankie sang suggestively.

‘He's tried to call me, too.' Simone held up her phone. Immediately the other three retrieved their phones and checked. All of them had missed calls from either Adam or Esther.

The angst rising within Stella must have been evident on her face for Simone put a hand against her arm and tried to comfort her. ‘Don't jump to conclusions,' she said. ‘There could be a number of reasons for the calls.'

But how could Stella not? Shaking Simone off, she stabbed her finger at the phone to return Adam's calls. He answered halfway through the first ring.

‘Stella.'

‘Adam, what's wrong?'

‘Don't panic,' he said, not at all alleviating her dread. ‘Heidi's been bitten by a snake.'

A bolt of pure terror shot through Stella's veins. She reached out to steady herself on the nearby bin. Not panic? Was the man insane? ‘Where is she? Is she going to be okay?'

‘What's wrong?' she vaguely heard the voices of the others but turned away, needing to focus on Adam.

‘We're in the hospital in Geraldton. The ambulance brought her here and they've administered anti-venom therapy. She's desperate to see you, but the doctors say she's going to be okay.'

Stella's knees gave way beneath her as relief flooded her body.
Thank the Lord.
‘I need to see her.'

‘We'll see you soon.'

She disconnected the phone and somehow managed to relay to everyone her nightmare. Trying to comfort and reassure her, the four women ushered Stella to Ruby's four-wheel drive and Frankie gave directions as Ruby drove. As they headed closer to the hospital Stella's panic made way for anger.

‘How could Adam let Heidi get bitten by a snake?' she said aloud but to no one in particular.

Simone stuck up for her cousin. ‘I'm sure it happened too fast for him to stop.' But Ruby didn't want to hear reason.

‘But where were they? He should have been more careful. Oh God, what if she's not okay? We've been lucky with her health up to now but people with Down Syndrome often don't have the physical strength to cope with illness or things like this as much as normal people.' Her use of the word ‘normal' – which she usually abhorred – shocked her so much she had to clutch her stomach to stop from being ill. How dare Adam put her daughter in a situation that had caused her to view her as anything more than perfect.

‘I hope the doctors know what they're doing,' she said, pushing that thought aside and wishing Ruby would break the bloody speed limit. ‘Can't you drive any faster?' she shrieked.

‘I want to get us there safely,' Ruby said, calmly.

Frankie took hold of one of Stella's hands and Simone grabbed the other. What they meant to be a gesture of comfort only irritated Stella. She ripped her hands away and folded her arms, staring at the road ahead, not wanting to look or talk to any of these people.

She should have been with Heidi. What was she thinking going out with people she barely knew, leaving her daughter with a man who was a stranger in all ways but the flesh? If anything happened to Heidi it would be her fault. She'd been tempting fate almost since the day they arrived in Bunyip Bay. She should have left the moment she'd made the bizarre connection between Adam's lost sister and Heidi's new imaginary friend. If that wasn't sign enough, she should have left the day after she'd crossed the line and slept with him or when they'd seen the snake in the paddock. She should have been long gone by the time Adam had dug under the jacaranda tree, but staying after that had purely been down to her selfish desires. What kind of mother keeps her daughter in a place where such wretchedness has occurred?

The kind that lets selfish desires for a man blur her judgment.

Well, no more. The nights with Adam had blown her mind and rocked her body, taking her to heights she'd only ever read in romance novels. She loved Bunyip Bay and Frankie, Simone and Ruby were lovely and a hoot to be around, but no town, no friendship and definitely no man was worth risking her daughter.

Simone nudged her. ‘We're here.'

Stella had her seatbelt off before Ruby had stopped the four-wheel drive. Frankie leapt out her door and Stella and Simone followed. As Stella ran towards the entrance of Geraldton Regional Hospital she vaguely registered Ruby shouting something about parking the car. Thankfully Simone stepped up into Mum-mode because Stella found herself frozen unable to work out which direction to go or who to ask for help. Simone went straight for the front desk, demanded attention, got details from the lady on reception and then rushed back to Frankie and Stella.

‘They're this way,' she said, grabbing hold of Stella's shaking arm.

A nurse met them at the door of the emergency room. ‘Can I help you?' she asked, holding up one hand.

‘Um…' Stella couldn't speak. The overbearing smell of hospital grade disinfectant was all she registered.

‘We're here to see her daughter,' said Frankie or Simone, Stella couldn't be sure. ‘Heidi Reynolds. She came in with a snakebite.'

The nurse nodded. ‘I can't let all of you in.' She looked to Stella. ‘Are you her mother?'

Stella managed a brief nod.

‘Right, come this way.' The nurse gestured in front of her. ‘You two can wait out there.'

As Stella followed the nurse through a large sterile room with cubicles sectioned off with heavy blue curtains, she told herself to pull together. She didn't want to be a shaking, blubbering mess when she saw Heidi – that would only scare her.

But before she knew it, the nurse came to a stop and peeled back the curtain. Stella didn't have time to prepare herself for the shock of seeing Heidi lying on a hospital stretcher, looking pale and even smaller than she usually did. There were monitoring devices behind her and an intravenous drip going into her right hand. Her left hand was enveloped by Adam's large one. He looked up and met Stella's gaze, lifting a finger to his lips.

‘She's sleeping,' he whispered.

Stella marched over to the other side of the bed, took hold of Heidi's other hand and summoned every ounce of willpower not to launch into attack at Adam. It wouldn't do Heidi any good if she woke to find her mother screaming and Stella couldn't risk being tossed out of the hospital for disorderly behavior.

She leaned over Heidi and kissed her forehead. It felt a little clammy but her chest rose and fell in exactly the same way it did when she was sleeping heavily under normal circumstances. ‘Thank you, God,' Stella uttered. It was all she could do not to climb onto the bed and haul Heidi into her arms, but commonsense landed in the nick of time. She didn't want to mess up the tubes and stuff, or wake Heidi who must need her sleep after such an awful ordeal.

With great effort and still clutching Heidi's hand, Stella lowered herself into the plastic chair beside her and finally met Adam's gaze.

‘I'm so sorry,' he said.

It was the first time his gorgeous brown eyes didn't make her insides quiver and his deep voice didn't melt her bones. ‘How could you let this happen?'

She saw his Adam's apple slowly move up and down his neck before he said, ‘Dad told us he'd found Whiskers. She's had her kittens. In the shearing shed. You know Heidi was worried about where she was and once she heard about the kittens there was no way I couldn't take her there. We were so distracted by the litter that none of us noticed the snake. It all happened so fast. I'm so sorry.'