“What?”
“As you wish.”
He frowned, thinking about it. “Aren’t they from the movie you like so much? You made me watch it over and over again after Charlie died.”
“In The Princess Bride they mean I love you.”
Matt’s eyes widened. “Oh. Did I know that?” The second part was said more to himself than Georgie. “I don’t know. Maybe sub-consciously I did.” He squeezed her hand. “You’re so wrapped up in almost all my memories of this place.”
She understood that. “My first clear memory of you was when I was about seven. You caught the bus home with us, because you were staying the weekend with Charlie.”
“I’d been to the Ridge before then.”
“I know, but this memory is crystal clear. Charlie was going on about wanting you to teach him how to track animals, and both Ed and I wanted to join you. Charlie didn’t want us tagging along, but you said, ‘They can come. They’re part of this land too.’”
Matt raised his eyebrows. “I don’t remember that.”
“It was a pivotal moment for me. Usually Mum ordered the boys to let me tag along, and here you were allowing me to come of your own free will. I thought you were the best.” She grinned. “After that, I pestered Charlie to invite you over more often.”
“You’re why he invited me out?” Matt asked.
“No, he was going to ask you anyway, but I did bug him a lot. Mum had to tell me to stop.”
“At the time I thought you were adorable. I always wanted younger siblings, because Nhiari was already a teenager and thought she was cooler than me.”
“Charlie reached that stage far earlier.” Georgie sighed. “I still miss him though. He was always so thrilling, just a little bit naughty, but he almost always had time for me.”
“He wanted to make sure you could do all the fun stuff— be the best motorbike rider, shoot a gun, ride a horse. He found the girls at school weak and hated how they screamed at spiders and snakes.”
Georgie grimaced. “Well he failed in that regard.”
“You don’t scream.” Matt slipped an arm around her waist.
“Maybe I should do something about it,” she said. “I hate that I freeze.”
“I think Jerry has a pet tarantula,” Matt suggested.
Georgie shivered. “I knew there was a reason Jerry wasn’t right for me.”
Matt chuckled. “You would have been bored in an hour. Jerry likes to hear himself talk.”
“Then why are you friends?”
“We’re team mates more than anything. I hated him at school.”
“Wait, was Jerry the bully?”
Matt nodded.
Georgie stared at him. “Wow, I didn’t realise that. I never would have got a lift with him if I’d known.”
“It was a long time ago.”
She shook her head. “He was a troll of the worst kind. Ugh, I can’t believe you can even speak to him after what he did.”
“It’s not worth my time hating him anymore.”
So mature. She hugged him. “I’m glad.” They reached the wetlands where the river ended and the rocks were much more sporadic. “Shall we search the other direction?”
