Amy handed out the backpacks full of water, sun cream and snacks. “Grab a radio on your way out.” It was just the way Georgie’s mum had done.
Georgie smiled through the pinch of sorrow, and on a whim hugged her. “Thanks, Ames. You’re just like Mum.”
Amy squeezed her. “I was taught by the best.”
Matt waited for her by the door and when they stepped outside, the others had already piled into Brandon’s ute. Amy jogged over to join them. Georgie waved and took Matt’s hand. They walked to the riverbed which lay half a kilometre from the homestead. It had been a while since she’d been this way. She closed her eyes listening to the sounds of the insects buzzing through the shrubs and the birds calling around them. Peaceful. Like the home she remembered. Speaking of which… “What did Darcy say to you last night?”
They hadn’t done much talking when they retired early to bed the night before. She smiled at the memory.
“He wanted to know why I never said anything about how I felt.”
“He didn’t give you the third degree about your intentions?” Georgie was surprised.
“No. He said he couldn’t think of a better person for you.” Matt shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
Matt’s words filled her with warmth towards Darcy. He’d been one of the constants in her life and she wanted him to approve. “Finally, one of my brothers got something right,” Georgie joked, and kissed Matt’s cheek. He caught her in his arms before she had a chance to step back and deepened the kiss.
So much passion.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he said when he finally stepped back.
“Me neither.” She glanced around. Not a lot of cover and the fine red dirt would stick to their clothing.
“Georgie, while I like the direction your mind is going, we should focus on the search, at least until we get bored, or far enough from the camp sites that we’re not likely to run into any of the campers.”
He was right. Her family might be able to see them from the ridge and Lara had packed binoculars. This wasn’t the type of education she wanted to give her niece.
“Should we go south or north when we get to the riverbed?” she asked.
“Let’s head south first.”
A few small gum trees clung to the edge of the dry riverbed. It only had water in it after a storm and it lasted only a few days before sinking below the sand. They hadn’t had any rain since the storm which had almost killed Lara and Faith.
Georgie shivered.
The trees shaded the riverbed and there weren’t too many rocks. What remained after Lilian and Reginald had settled here had been used when they marked out the campground bays.
“Do you know of any shelters along here?” Georgie asked.
“No.”
Lilian sounded like an intelligent woman. “I can’t imagine they would bury anything so close to the river. They wouldn’t want it washing away.”
“Perhaps they hadn’t seen it full of water when they buried it.”
“But they would have known it was a riverbed. It’s obvious.”
“Should we expand the search to a few metres either side of the river?” he asked.
No rocky outcrops along here, only small sand dunes, but, “What would they have used to build a hide? Surely anything organic would have broken down by now.”
Matt shrugged. “Wood. Mud. Maybe sheets of tin if they’d brought some with them.”
A hide should be obvious on this mostly flat landscape. “The river’s our best bet for the water element. We can bring the horses back later and explore further afield.”
“As you wish.”
Those words again. Georgie turned to Matt. “Why do you say that?”
