The House at the Bottom of the Hill (33 page)

‘What’s the problem?’ Josh asked.

‘I told her to stay with Mrs J. That’s where I left her.’

‘You didn’t really expect Mrs J to stay at home, did you?’

‘I expected Charlotte to follow my instructions.’

Josh stepped back. The duskiness of night and the boulder crops and tussocks around them would have put him into shadows if it hadn’t been for the full moon and the torches each held. ‘Settle down,’ Josh said. ‘What’s got into you?’

Dan breathed deeply. His girl was out in the night without him, that’s what had got into him. He pulled his mobile phone out of his back pocket and called Charlotte’s number.

‘Come on. Answer.’

After what felt like an eternity of ringing in his ear, a voice spoke.

‘Hello?’

‘Mrs J? It’s Dan. Are you alright?’

‘Fine, Daniel. How are you?’

‘Is Charlotte with you?’

‘She was.’

Was?
‘So where is she now?’

‘Probably just hit the heritage trail behind Ray’s place.’

‘You mean she’s on her own?’

‘I got a bit tired, so I’m taking a rest. She left me her telephone so I could talk to Lily.’

‘You didn’t think to call
me
?’

‘You’re busy, aren’t you?’

Dan sucked in air. ‘Mrs J, are you alright?’

‘Of course. I’ll make my way down to town in another ten minutes or so.’

‘I’ll send Josh for you. Where are you?’

‘For goodness’ sake, Daniel, I know this hill like the veins on the back of my hand. If you feel you’ve got some spare time to perform your heroics perhaps you and Josh could head off to the heritage trail, because I’ve got a feeling Charlotte is going to find Ted. And I’ve got another feeling that Ted is hurt and Charlotte is going to need help.’

‘This is the reason you should have called me,’ Dan said sternly.

‘I was about to, and don’t use that pinched tone with me, young man. I couldn’t find your number on this damned stupid mobile telephone. I’ve been—’

‘Alright.’ Dan raised his hand in placation, his mind focussed on two things: Mrs J needed help whether she wanted it or not, and Charlotte was out there, alone. ‘Alright,’ he said again. ‘I apologise. Does Charlotte have Lucy with her?’

‘Honest to goodness, Daniel, it’s time you gave that woman some credit. Not only has she got the dog with her, she’s got a backpack full of the necessaries. God give me strength to handle men who think they have the—’

Dan cut her off again. ‘Where are you, Mrs J?’

‘Is that Clarissa?’

Dan turned to Ray Smyth, the farmer whose property Charlotte was currently wandering alone. He nodded.

‘Give the phone to me.’ Ray took the mobile off Dan. ‘Clarissa? Now listen up. Where are you? Okay, got it. Stay put—do you hear me? If you take one step from that point I’ll personally kill you.’ Ray nodded into the night as he listened to whatever Mrs J was saying. ‘That’s good. I’ll tell Dan. And I’ll be with you in one hour. One hour, Clarissa, and mark my words, if you’re not within two foot of that rock formation in that field, you’ll be answering to me.’ He punched the End Call button, looked up at Dan and grinned. ‘Gutsy women. They’ll be the death of us.’

‘Where’s Charlotte?’

Ray didn’t mince words or time. ‘I’ll get Clarissa, you and Josh head to the heritage trail at the point where Slowdown Creek meets Pebble Hill. I reckon that’s where your Charlotte is. And if I’m right, that area will have been swamped in the rain we’ve just had. There could be a landslip.’

‘Got it.’ Dan took the mobile phone from Ray and stuffed it into his back pocket. ‘Josh,’ he called. ‘Get over here.’ He looked back at Ray. ‘Thanks.’

Ray grinned.

Despite his unease and the worry churning inside him, Dan grinned back. Guys in love got more than bug-eyed about their women. Guys in love got protective. Charlotte wasn’t his friend at the moment, let alone his girlfriend, but he was damned well going to chase her until she was or she told him to get lost. Which he would be, without her.

He turned as a loudmouthed guy barked his displeasure to the rescue team. ‘… and I’ve got a day’s work to do tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent the whole night looking for this nutcase. I’m off.’

The loudmouth from the bar last week. Dan glanced around, and sure enough, his team mates were ten paces behind him, nodding agreement and packing up their kit.

‘Hey,’ Dan called as he walked towards the group.

The mouthy guy paused and looked Dan’s way. ‘What’s your problem?’

‘You.’ Dan smashed his fist into the guy’s face, punching him hard enough to knock him down without breaking his jaw, although it was likely he’d split the talkative mouth and maybe knocked one or two teeth out. He damned well hoped so, because if the guy got up with another complaint, Dan had a healthy desire to knock him down again.

‘Vhat … Vhat vas at for?’ the guy asked, then spat on the ground.

Dan grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him to his feet. ‘That’s just a meet and greet, mate. Next time I hear you badmouth anybody, you stay on the ground.’ Dan clenched his teeth, attempting to hold on to his anger. ‘And if I see you or any of your buddies in my bar, you get thrown out. In fact, if you’re seen within a five-kilometre radius of town I reckon you’ll have more than my fist to deal with. We look after our own. And you’re not one of us. Now get going. You’re not needed.’

Dan turned and headed for the makeshift tent the rescue team had erected hours earlier. A five-minute breather would help settle his fears and clear his mind. He wouldn’t be any use to Ted or Charlotte if he lost his focus now.

He looked up as a shadow crossed in front of him. Josh, headed towards the temporary tea and tucker table Mrs Tam had set up.

‘What’s got into him?’ Josh asked, jutting a thumb towards where Dan had walked and obviously thinking Dan couldn’t hear him.

‘He’s in love,’ Mrs Tam said.

Dan stepped back into the shadows. Did everyone know? And how long had they known? And why had it taken Dan so long to figure it out?

‘He’s what?’ Josh asked. ‘With who?’

‘Charlotte.’

Josh paused for a long time. ‘When did that happen?’

Mrs Tam tutted. ‘Where have you been, Josh?’

‘O
h, bugger.’ Charlotte aimed the torch at Lucy, who barked and twirled as though she were doing some sort of rescue dance. If the dog had found Ted, it didn’t look good. Not for Ted or Charlotte.

Charlotte told herself to be calm. The eerie night and the damp air sucked heat from her flesh after the trek down the hill and along the heritage trail in the dark. She picked her way to the edge of the uneven granite pathway and shone the light on the rubble in front of her. Thousands of pebbles the size of chicken eggs and rocks like watermelons covered the rest of the naturally hewn trail, halting her journey.

Lucy yapped again and Charlotte lifted the torch. Beneath the excited barking, another cry punctured the otherwise quiet night.

‘Ted!’ Charlotte called.

Again, a muffled, woebegone human voice.

‘Ted! It’s Charlotte. I’m coming.’

Charlotte moved carefully, inching her way over the rubble. She stopped and shone the torch upwards. Earth, grassy tufts and rocks littered the steep incline of the hill that should be sheltering the trail. The rain had been hard but she wouldn’t have expected the vibrations to create such a slip. Angling the torch up further, she saw the large, craggy shadows of a tree root. A big snow gum, like the one in her garden. It had obviously once crowned the top of the hill but had fallen on its side, uprooted during the rain, and now looked like a shipwreck on a mudslide. A creek ran down the side of the landslip, bark and branches bobbing in the fast-running water.

‘Hello.’ Ted’s voice.

Charlotte focussed on her pathway. ‘I’m here. I can hear you.’ But she couldn’t see him. ‘Where are you, Ted? Keep talking so I can find you.’

‘I’m down a blasted hole.’

A smile of pure relief touched Charlotte’s lips. If Ted was annoyed it meant he wasn’t too badly harmed.

Lucy barked, only a few metres away. Charlotte moved to the dog, shoved her backpack off her shoulder and stretched herself out on the wet, dirty, stony ground. She peered into a narrow hole, shining the torch.

‘It’s pretty dark down here,’ Ted said.

Charlotte rotated the light and found Ted. He was on his back, about a metre-and-a-half down. The roof of his cave sat so low it only allowed Charlotte sight of his feet, legs, hips and waist. She couldn’t see his face.

‘I’ve twisted my ankle or something,’ he said. ‘Can’t move an inch without feeling a bit of pain.’

‘I’m so sorry, Ted. Please stay still.’ Charlotte sat the base of the torch on the ground and pulled the bottled water out of the backpack. ‘I’ve got water, Ted. I’m going to reach down and see if I can pass it to you. Will you be able to turn or lean forwards and take it from me?’

He grumbled indistinctly. ‘No,’ he said at last.

Damn. ‘Okay, don’t worry. I’ll think of something else.’

She flashed the torchlight over the mound that enclosed Ted. It looked like a natural cave. A huge, flat, rectangular boulder served as a roof and from the moss in its cracks, it had been there for decades. She didn’t have her phone and it was too late to regret that.

Scrabbling in the backpack, she found pen and notepaper. She wrote a hasty note, describing where she was as best she could. Any of the townspeople would know this area. They’d find her and Ted.

‘Lucy, come here, girl.’ She folded the note into a concertina and tucked it into Lucy’s collar, twisting it under and over and lacing the end securely in the silver buckle, the way she had any number of times. For additional emphasis, she unwrapped one of the bandages in her first-aid kit and tied that to Lucy’s collar too, making a big white bow. The note wouldn’t be immediately visible, but they’d see the bandage and wonder why the dog was wearing it. She took the dog’s warm face in her hands and kissed the top of her wet nose. ‘Go find Daniel, Lucy. Where’s Daniel?’

Lucy perked up, her lithe body taut, expression alert.

‘Go find Daniel.’ Charlotte had used the words over and over, every time she sent a note to Daniel. Lucy only had to make a minute’s journey from the house to Kookaburra’s, but she’d never failed. The dog loved working. And Lucy wandered these hills every day on her own. She’d know the way back to town— or to wherever Daniel was.

Lucy bounded into the night, the rubble and muddy earth hardly bothering her nimble legs, and a few seconds later she was gone.

Charlotte peeled her jacket off, then her long-sleeved jersey. It took only moments to find a broken tree branch tall and sturdy enough to shove into a softened-earth part of the track. She braced the branch and secured it by piling rocks and rubble around the base, then took off her white sports singlet. The cool air nipped and brushed at her naked torso. She re-dressed in the jersey and the jacket, and then secured her singlet to the top of the branch, tying the shoulder straps to the top and making a flag.
Please find us soon
, she prayed silently. It would be an hour or two, maybe a lot longer. What she planned next would be hard. Hardest thing she’d ever done or was likely ever to do again. She had no option.

On her stomach once more, she threw the fastened backpack into the cave, making sure it skimmed the wall and slid down to land by Ted’s right leg. His left leg was bent as though he’d found the most comfortable position for his injured ankle. She reached down and put the torch onto a ledge in the cave, jutting out like a shelf. She waited, her hand on the torch to ensure it wouldn’t fall from its resting place, then she squeezed through the narrow aperture.

‘Ted,’ she said. ‘I’m coming in with you.’

By Dan’s reckoning he and Josh were about an hour and a half from the area where Mrs J said Charlotte was headed. They’d left Ray to find Mrs J and skirted around the hill behind Top Field farm, running most of the way, relying on their torches to spot potholes in the sloping fields. They’d slowed the last half-hour as they hit the heritage trail from the northern end and were taking it at a fast stride.

Small landslips and fallen rocks told Dan what to expect about the state of the trail further south. The rain had been heavy and the closer they got to the denser middle section of the trail, the more he realised the danger Ted could have got himself into. Charlotte was working that section, and whether she’d found Ted or not, she’d be having a tough time.

Give the woman some credit
, Mrs J had said. Dan would be happy to, as soon as he found her. She wasn’t used to the area like he was. She wasn’t as physically strong as Dan, and who knew what she was in the middle of if she’d found Ted.

‘I’m holding up a sec, Dan,’ Josh said behind him.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Bootlace.’

Dan stopped as Josh hunched down to attend to his unlaced boot. ‘Take the chance for a drink, too,’ he said. ‘And eat a chocolate bar.’ He turned to the trail again and looked through the misty darkness as he grabbed his own water bottle from his backpack and took a slug.

Why was Charlotte so special to him and why hadn’t he understood before now? God only knew what he was to her, but to him she was light on water. Without her light, he wouldn’t see the ripples on the surface or know how deep the water was. Wouldn’t know where the shore was. If she left, the images of her might disappear, leaving him only an essence to hold on to, coming to him at the oddest moments in his day. Opening the doors of the bar. Pulling a pint. Running the hillside, trying not to squash the newly sprouted wildflowers.

He bent and plucked a flower off a wild geranium tumbling along the verge. A weed, although his mother had kept pots of the plants outside the front door of his childhood home. It meant gentility and esteem. He knew, because Charlotte wasn’t the only thing he’d Googled. Yeah, he thought, as he pocketed the flower. What he hadn’t researched were his own reasons for loving Charlotte.

‘Okay, let’s go,’ Josh said.

Dan concentrated on the way forwards as they got back into their pace quickly, but his thoughts were still on Charlotte.