“Well, you’re a mess, aren’t you?” Her hands on her hips, I wasn’t sure if she meant me or the koala, but she moved forward with a nod. “You’ve got him covered up,” she said with a note of approval. “Cotton cloth, as we discussed. Let’s get you into this carrier.”
The koala seemed to come back to life, thrashing and bellowing, right up until the point she pushed him into the carrier. Zipping it up, then covering it with her jacket, she nodded to me.
“You were supposed to stay at the rescue. We weren’t given the all clear by the CFS to go into the forest. Fires can restart real damn easily.”
“I…”
A coughing fit stopped me from replying, but she just shook your head.
“Of course, I would have done the exact same thing, so let’s get this little guy some help.”
Those were the magic words I didn’t know I needed to hear. Picking up our stuff, we made it back to the car and then drove into town.
The local hall had been turned into an animal rescue and when I saw people bustling in and out of the front door, my heart sank.
“Are all these people bringing in injured animals?” I asked as we walked closer.
“Probably,” she replied with a grim set to her mouth. “Hi, Deidre.” An older woman looked up as we entered the hall.
“Charlie and Mackenzie!” she said, then peered at the carrier. “And what do we have here?”
Watching the koala get removed from the carrier, then looked over by the vet helped ease something in my chest. Then I saw the full extent of the animal’s injuries.
“He’s a young fella,” the gruff old male vet said, then glanced up at us. “Chances are good for his survival. Nelly?—”
“Get him started on some pain relief and oxygen?” she replied, returning with a syringe and nebuliser.
“She knows more about all of this than I do and didn’t have to go to uni for seven years.” He winked at us. “We’ll take things from here.”
“And we’ll go out and see if there’s more animals that need medical care.” Charlie turned to me. “Right, Mackenzie?”
“You got it.” Pausing for just a second, I watched the koala melt into the table. It was as if he knew he was getting the right care now and he could let his natural instincts relax for just a moment. “If there’s more…” Shaking my head, I remember thesounds of the screams. “There’s more and we need to help those animals.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Charlie insisted, making for the front door and as I squinted against the sudden assault of sunlight, I was about to ask her to clarify, when a familiar male voice cut us off.
“Well, well, look who we have here.” For a moment I just stood there, staring blankly at the man before me. That cocky smile, those spotless clothes, it came back to me eventually.
“Beau.”
“So you do remember me,” he said, sidling closer. “I was starting to feel a little rejected when you didn’t reply to my texts or calls, Mackenzie.”
“I do not have time for this,” I muttered, trying to sidestep the guy, but he moved so he remained in my way.
“Come on.” Did anyone fall for his cheesy schtick? I thought. “This has to be fate, running into each other like this.”
“You need to get the hell out of my way,” I snapped, squaring my shoulders.
All the adrenaline of today needed to go somewhere and if Beau wasn’t careful, I’d pop him right in the jaw.
“No need to be hasty—” he started to say, following me towards the car.
“Still going with that whole pushy thing, huh?” We both turned to see Charlie standing there with a slight smile on her face. “Sure that your pretty face is all you need to get into a girl’s pants.”
“Well, it worked with you.”
Beau prowled towards Charlie with all the grace of a big cat.
“Me, my best friend,” she said, ticking off each finger, and that was the moment when Beau’s smile faded. He shot me a wary look. “Half the girls at school. Was that before or after I kicked your arse?”
