“I’m not sure wombats live here,” Danika says. She scratches her mind for their habitat—more hilly, forested, she thinks, although she’s not an expert.
“They might,” Kim says. “We can walk a little way along the path inland.”
They gather their torches and set off, Kim in the lead, Danika at the rear. The night closes around them. Away from the campsite clearing, the trees close in, the night is darker, and the sound of the surf muted. The girls walk quietly, no giggles.
Hair prickles on the back of Danika’s neck. She’s seldom out of the greater Melbourne area, and although she lives in the Dandenong Ranges, it’s still populated. She has neighbours and streetlights. Here, their little group is alone. If she turns around quickly, maybe there’ll be eyes following her. Glowing eyes. Dingo, fox, Cami’s wombat, maybe. Or a yowie or black panther—she’s read the urban myths of such beasts in the Otway Ranges.
Just as she’s getting spooked enough to suggest turning around, Kim stops. They’re in a clearing in the trees. Kim points.A ringtail possum sits at the entrance to the clearing like a toll collector.
It must be used to people, as its whiskers twitch inquisitively before it saunters off like a church matron on a Sunday stroll.
Danika moves across to Kim. “We’re not going to see a wombat, are we?”
“Unlikely,” Kim says. “But we’ve seen a possum. It’s more about the exciting nighttime walk, I think.” She raises her voice. “Shall we go back to camp for hot chocolate and marshmallows?”
“Yeah!” two young voices shout in reply.
The possum, startled, breaks into a run and makes for a tree.
The walk back is faster. Kim has remembered to bring hot chocolate, and soon the four of them sit in a circle, lapping out of enamel mugs. More marshmallows go into Cami’s and Bella’s mouths than ever float in the hot chocolate, but that doesn’t matter.
Soon, the girls are yawning, and when Danika suggests they get ready for bed, there’s no objection. The nighttime routine is more exciting for being in the open, and it’s not long before Bella and Cami snuggle into their sleeping bags, side by side in the small tent.
“Wine?” Kim asks.
Danika nods, and Kim retrieves a bottle of red from the car. She rinses their enamel mugs and pours them each a mugful of wine.
Danika rests her head on the back of her slouchy camp chair. The night is mild, the heat of the day vanishing up into the clear night. There are stars, more than she’s seen at home, and a crescent moon sails the skies.
“I love this,” Kim says quietly. “I could sit here all night, watching and listening.”
Giggles from the girls’ tent, and torchlight patterns on the roof.
Danika turns her head to look at Kim. “Thank you for inviting us.” She reaches out a hand. Kim does the same, and they link their fingers together.
For long moments, they are quiet. The wine is rough, but that doesn’t matter. It tastes better for being drunk outside.
Danika savours the touch of Kim’s fingers in her own. Softly, she rubs her thumb over the back of Kim’s hand. It’s not a conscious decision. She’s only aware she’s doing it when she senses Kim looking at her.
“Oh! Sorry. I was miles away. Enjoying the night.”
Kim is silent for a moment. Then she says, “That’s okay. I don’t mind. In fact, I like it. I like most everything you do, Danika. I like what we’re becoming.”
Danika’s heart pounds faster, erratic in its surprise. What exactly does Kim mean by that? Carefully, she moves her thumb again, a slow back and forth.
Kim’s fingers twitch in her own, but she doesn’t withdraw her hand.
Danika repeats the move again, and this time, Kim entwines their fingers together. There’s no mistaking the gesture as anything other than deliberate.
Danika licks her lips. Kisses. Closeness. Intimacy. All things she’s missed these past months. All things she’d like back in her life. But someday, she’d always thought. Not necessarily now. And with Kim?
That same juddering heartbeat again.
“It’s okay,” Kim says. “I’m not expecting you to reply. But I want you to know I treasure these moments.”
Danika lets herself be absorbed in the moment, in the night.
“Me too, Kim. Me too.”
