Flight to Coorah Creek Read online

  ‘You did the right thing.’

  ‘I know. And I knew it wouldn’t be easy. The newspaper headlines were so vile. They claimed I was just as guilty as Brian. That I had escaped prosecution by giving evidence. That just wasn’t true.’

  ‘Jess, you did nothing wrong. You have nothing to be ashamed of.’

  Jess wanted to believe her, but deep down, that cold rock of guilt remained untouched.

  ‘My parents took me in. They were so supportive. Then the media found them. They were prisoners in their own home. That’s why I had to leave. I had to give them their lives back.’

  Jess’s voice trailed off. Talking about the past was so very hard. Talking about the future was too. ‘If Adam knew …’

  ‘He would understand.’

  ‘But kids died taking the drugs I helped bring into the country,’ Jess cried. ‘Adam is a doctor. Look how he fights for his patients. He will never forgive that.’

  ‘Now, don’t you sell Adam short,’ Ellen said firmly. ‘He’s a pretty smart guy too. You are a good person, Jess Pearson. He knows that. And besides,’ Ellen said with a wide grin, ‘he obviously fancies you like crazy. I’ve seen the way he looks at you too, especially in those tight jeans. Adam is a man after all.’

  Jess grinned back, but her heart wasn’t in it. She appreciated Ellen’s attempt to lighten her mood, but Ellen couldn’t know that she had unwittingly raised another obstacle.

  How could any physical relationship exist with a man who did not like to be touched? By anyone. Now she knew about his past, she could understand Adam’s reasons for flinching away from her. There was so much more to Adam than his damaged body. She could see past that to the man he really was. She could accept the scars, perhaps more easily than Adam did. But that wasn’t enough. The flames that had burned his body had also left other scars. Jess knew those were the ones Adam would find hardest to overcome.

  And she couldn’t talk to Ellen about this. It was not her secret to share.

  She was excused any further need to explain by the sudden arrival of both the sunrise and Harry, at pretty much the same moment. Ellen went to put her son back to bed, but Jess knew there was no more sleep for her. She was too restless. There was only one thing to do – the thing that always helped.

  Jess was inside her plane, cleaning the windscreen, when she saw movement outside. In her hangar. It was only just past eight o’clock – far too early for most people to be around. Maybe she was needed. Jess backed out of the cockpit and turned towards the stairs, only to be startled by flashes of blinding light and the click and whirr of a camera.

  ‘What the …?’

  ‘Hello, Jessica. John Hewitt. Remember me?’

  It was the reporter from the races. He hadn’t given up.

  ‘Get off my plane.’

  ‘Now, Jessica. I don’t want this to be unfriendly.’

  ‘I said get off my plane.’

  Holding a hand up as if to ward off her anger, the reporter backed down the stairs. But he didn’t go far. Jessica had no choice. She walked down the stairs to confront him.

  ‘I told you. I don’t want to talk to you.’

  ‘Have you told the doc yet?’ Hewitt asked, his voice eager.

  ‘This is none of your business. Just leave me alone.’ Jess bit back the word please. This man did not deserve the courtesy.

  ‘You haven’t, have you?’ The reporter’s glee was obvious. ‘I can’t wait to break the news to him.’

  ‘You wouldn’t …’ But even as she spoke, Jess knew that he would.

  ‘I’ll do you a deal, Jessica.’ The man’s voice was slimy. ‘If you give me an interview, I won’t talk to the doc. If not, I’ll just have to interview him.’

  Jessica went cold all over. ‘You wouldn’t.’

  ‘Yes, I would. I’d have to. I need to interview someone for this story. If not you …’ Hewitt let the threat hang.

  ‘Just get out of my hangar.’ Jess’s hands were starting to shake. She didn’t know how much longer she was going to be able to control her anger … or her fear.

  ‘All right. I’ll tell you what. I’m staying at the pub. I’ll wait there until four o’clock – then I’m going looking for the doc. It’s your choice, Jess.’

  Jess watched him walk away, realising that she had no choice. Whatever she did, Adam was going to find out about her past. And when he did …

  A sudden pain wracked her as if someone had driven a spear through her heart. Her legs felt weak and she grabbed the wing of the plane to steady herself.

  Adam.

  The thought of losing him was more than she could bear. The thought of a life without seeing him. Without hearing him laugh. That wasn’t any sort of life at all. She didn’t care about the scars on his body. She didn’t care about the ghosts that so obviously haunted him.

  The realisation hit her like a physical blow.

  She was in love with Adam.

  What she felt was so different to her time with Brian. That had been all about fancy hotels and fine living. They made such a beautiful couple. She might have thought she loved Brian – but she hadn’t. She had simply been dazzled by him.

  Adam wasn’t dazzling. He wasn’t rich. He took her to outback pubs, not five star hotels. But he was ten times the man Brian could ever dream of being. He was caring and honest. He was gentle, but at the same time he was the strongest man she had ever known. When he looked at her with those deep brown eyes, it was as if the sun shone more brightly. He made her feel more alive than she had ever felt in her life.

  And she loved him.

  They had never kissed. Never made love. Never even touched. All that was still ahead of them, but Jess knew she needed him as much as she needed to breathe. She wanted him more than anything else on earth.

  And she was about to lose him.

  Adam would never forgive someone who harmed another human being. And if he heard that journalist’s version of events, that’s what he would think Jess had done. The journalist would paint Jess as some sort of criminal. As part of a drug ring, preying on the young and those who Adam would seek to help. That’s not who she was. Having the rest of the world believe that was hard enough. If Adam believed it, she would be destroyed.

  If she had any hope that he would understand, he had to hear it from her. Adam would believe her if she told him the truth – the whole truth. He had to!

  Quickly, she locked the plane and walked to her car. She had to go now, before her courage failed her. It took just a few minutes to drive to the hospital. Jess almost ran inside and headed for Adam’s office.

  ‘Adam …’ She pushed the door open.

  ‘He’s not here,’ said Sister Luke, who was sitting at the desk, patient files spread in front of her. ‘What is it, Jess?’

  ‘I need to talk to Adam. Right away,’ Jess said.

  ‘He and Jack are on their way to the national park,’ replied Sister Luke. ‘Someone is trapped underground, in one of the caves.’

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘I wouldn’t go in there.’

  ‘Claustrophobic, Doc?’ Jack raised a questioning eyebrow.

  ‘Look at it,’ Adam said. ‘There’s no way of knowing what’s down there.’

  The cave was set low in the side of a tall, red sandstone cliff. The opening was only shoulder high, and immediately inside the opening, the rock-strewn floor of the cave sloped sharply downwards. The roof also sloped down, giving the impression that the cave was only a few metres deep. But that was a misconception. According to the park ranger, this opening led to a cave system that stretched a great distance inside the cliff … with dozens of caves and tunnels and steep shafts.

  ‘It’s not that different to when I was working at the mine,’ Jack said.

  ‘Yes it is,’ Adam declared.
‘There aren’t any beams holding up the roof. No air shafts either. And a person could get lost down there.’

  ‘Well, let’s just hope they didn’t,’ said a voice behind them, accompanied by the clank of metal.

  Park Ranger Dan Mitchell was laden with ropes and buckles and other paraphernalia that Adam couldn’t even begin to guess at. He was also carrying hard hats with lights built into them. The ranger was a tall, lean man who gave the impression of great strength. His skin was tanned dark by the sun, and lined. Adam guessed he was probably younger than he appeared. He looked the sort of person who would be very good at pretty much everything.

  ‘We’re going to need ropes to get down into the main cave,’ Dan said.

  ‘How did those kids get down there?’ Adam asked.

  ‘It’s really only a moderately difficult cave – and they had experience. But there was a problem with their gear. They both fell, but the girl is trapped down a cleft in the rock. The boyfriend couldn’t get her out. He came for help.’

  ‘How badly hurt is she?’ Adam wanted to know.

  ‘He said she was conscious. She’s hurt her arm. It may be broken.’

  ‘Then you are going to need me down there,’ Adam said. The mere thought almost made him shake. He hated to be trapped in enclosed spaces. But there was someone down there who needed him.

  ‘No we don’t, Doc.’ Dan was firm. ‘You won’t know what you are doing down there. We can’t help her and you at the same time. You need to wait here. Jack and I will bring her out.’

  Adam was torn between his desire to get to his patient and the realisation that Dan was right. He’d be useless underground. Perhaps even worse than useless.

  ‘The boyfriend’s over there.’ Dan nodded in the direction of his Land Rover. ‘He’s got a few cuts and scrapes and he’s pretty shaken up. I need you to stay with him, Doc, while Jack and I go get the girl. Stop him from doing something stupid like coming after us.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you wait for more help?’ Adam asked.

  ‘I think we can do it,’ Jack said calmly. ‘But if we need more help, I’ll call the mine.’

  Adam fought back his frustration. ‘When you get to her, ask her what her name is and where she is. The date. That sort of thing. Make sure she’s not concussed. If she has any head or neck or back injury, tell her to remain still. Don’t move her. Come and get me, no matter where she is.’

  ‘All right,’ Dan agreed.

  ‘I’ll give you a support for her arm. Jack knows how it works.’

  Adam pulled a small emergency pack from the back of his ambulance – in reality a big four-wheel drive Jeep that had been equipped for the purpose by the mining company. He gave the pack to Jack then stood back to watch Dan and Jack enter the cave. He wanted to go with them, but at the same time was relieved that he wasn’t. Jack may have been joking about the claustrophobia, but he didn’t realise how right he was. Adam had been trapped in a small place once before, many years ago, and it had almost cost him his life. His dislike of enclosed places was just another legacy of that day … another scar that had never healed.

  If he couldn’t get to the girl to help her, there was someone else who needed him.

  The young man sitting in the park service Land Rover was still in his late teens. His clothes were covered in red dust, and there was blood trickling across his sweat-streaked forehead.

  ‘Hello. My name’s Adam. I’m a doctor.’

  The young man started forward. ‘Doctor. It’s Andrea. You’ve got to get to her. She’s still in the cave.’ He started to get out of the car, and then hesitated. His face turned a deathly pale and he began to sway.

  ‘Whoa.’ Adam pushed him gently back onto the seat. ‘You’re not going anywhere just yet.’

  ‘I’m fine.’ The young man angrily wiped the dampness from his forehead. ‘It’s Andrea we have to help.’

  ‘You can’t help her like this.’ Adam lifted the young man’s hand, which was smeared with blood. His fingers closed as he checked the pulse. ‘So, tell me, what’s your name?’

  ‘Lachlan. Lachlan Collins.’

  ‘All right, Lachlan. You’ve got a bit of a cut on your forehead. I need to deal with that first.’

  ‘But, Andrea? She’s hurt.’

  ‘They’re on their way to get her now. They’ll bring her out of the cave. I need to make sure you’re all right, so that when she arrives, I can help her. Okay?’

  Lachlan took a breath as if to protest. His face contorted with pain, and a moment later, his shoulders sagged. ‘Okay.’

  Lachlan wasn’t badly hurt. Adam used butterfly bandages to close the gash in his forehead. He’d need a couple of stitches when they got back to the Creek. Once the blood was cleaned away, the young man looked far less likely to faint. His hands were badly scraped and Lachlan fidgeted constantly as Adam washed the scrapes and applied antiseptics.

  ‘How long are they going to be?’ Lachlan asked for the hundredth time, as Adam packed his gear away.

  ‘They are both good men,’ Adam said. ‘Andrea couldn’t be in better hands.’

  ‘It’s all my fault,’ the young man’s voice was filled with anguish. ‘This holiday was my idea. I wanted to see the caves. If something happens to her …’

  The stress wasn’t doing Lachlan any good at all.

  ‘Tell me about her,’ Adam asked, just to distract him. Adam handed him some painkillers and a flask of water. ‘Where did you meet?’

  ‘At college. We were in the same tutorial. She was so smart and so pretty. Funny too.’ Lachlan’s voice softened. ‘For a long time I didn’t think there was anything there. Then suddenly one day. Bam! You know how it is?’

  No, thought Adam. I don’t.

  ‘It’s the best thing in the world. Suddenly there’s a reason for everything. It’s her. Our parents think we’re too young to know – but we do. This is it for us. The once in a lifetime thing.’ The young man’s face started to crumple. ‘If anything happens to her … I just don’t know what I would do. Without her …’

  Adam was at a loss what to do. This was something he wasn’t equipped to deal with. He could mend physical wounds. Stitch flesh and set bones. He could apply a tourniquet to a bleeding wound … but he could do nothing for the boy’s aching heart. If he were someone else, like Jack, he’d probably put his arm around the boy’s shoulders and reassure him that everything was going to be all right. But he wasn’t like Jack. He couldn’t do that.

  Adam walked away from the car towards the mouth of the cave. He crouched down and inched a little inside. Now he could see the steeply sloping passage leading down into the cave system. Into the darkness. He could almost feel the weight of the rock above him. He listened intently. Not even the smallest sound could be heard in the cave. There was no sign of Jack and Dan. Adam felt his shoulders start to tense. He sat down on a rock just inside the cave mouth, where there was plenty of daylight and he could still smell the fresh air.

  He glanced down at his watch, wondering how long Jack and Dan had been gone. It seemed like a long, long time. He turned his eyes back towards the darkness, willing some light to appear. Just a faint glimmer that would tell him the rescue team was on the way back. That his patient was coming. That he had a reason for crouching on the edge of the blackness.

  A light …

  That’s what he wanted to see.

  A flickering light.

  The light of a flame, held in his father’s hand. Adam frowned. His dad wasn’t supposed to come to the house any more. His mother had told him that if he ever saw his dad, he had to lock the door and tell her. But his mother wasn’t here. His father was moving around on the veranda. There was a sound like splashing water and Adam smelled something sharp. It made his throat feel funny. Maybe he should open the door. Talk to his dad.

  ‘Is there any
sign of them?’ Lachlan’s voice dragged Adam back to the present. The boy stooped to peer in the mouth of the cave.

  Adam wiped the sweat from his forehead. ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Damn it! What’s taking them so long?’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Adam said, knowing whatever reassurance he could offer would not be enough. ‘It just means that they’re being careful. They’ll bring her out soon. You’ll see.’

  His words were truer than even he suspected. Just a few minutes later, Adam saw a light in the darkness inside the cave. Then Jack and Dan appeared, carrying a stretcher. Adam started to move forward, and then backed away, pulling Lachlan with him. They needed to get that stretcher out of the cave before Adam could do anything to help its occupant.

  Jack and Dan emerged into the sunlight, covered in dirt and sweat. Both were breathing heavily, but they gently laid the stretcher on the ground with the utmost care. Adam crouched down beside the girl who lay there, her brown eyes huge in a face white with pain.

  ‘You must be Andrea,’ he said, with a gentle smile.

  ‘Yes.’ It was the faintest whisper.

  ‘Well, I’m Adam. I’m a doctor.’ Adam ignored the noise behind him as Lachlan darted forward. Someone, Jack maybe, held the young man back a few steps, to give Adam room to do what he needed to do.

  ‘So, Andrea, can you tell me your last name?’

  ‘Geroldi,’ the girl whispered.

  ‘Lachie …?’ Her eyes darted past Adam’s shoulder, seeking her boyfriend.

  ‘I’m here.’ Lachlan pushed past Jack and dropped to his knees beside the stretcher. There were tears in his eyes.

  Adam took a moment to wonder at the strength of the young man’s emotions. Then he turned back to his patient. ‘Okay, Andrea. Let’s have a look at you.’

  His examination was brief. The girl’s arm was indeed broken, but Jack had done such a good job with the temporary splint that Adam decided to leave it in place until they reached his hospital. There was a large scrape on the girl’s thigh. He attended to that, and to the rope burns on her hands. She whimpered with pain, and tears poured down her face.