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The out-of-control sensation whirled in his chest as anxiety took over his entire body. Perspiration ran down his neck as he fought for control. He had to get to the base. He had to save her.

Kane pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. But the weight dragged his arms down and the smell of blood surrounded him. He dropped to his knees, clutching his arms to his chest. It’s not fucking real. It’s not really happening.

He opened his eyes. His arms were empty and he was still standing. A bird called across the billabong and sweet, clean air filled Kane’s lungs. He took deep gasping breaths as the soft breeze blew across the water.

He focused on the reflection in the middle of the billabong as the mid-morning sun caught the small waves kicked up by the light wind. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and his heart rate slowed. He turned when he became aware of Ellie calling him.

‘Come on, there’s lots more scenery to look out when we get to the falls. If you think this is good, you are in for a treat.’

Forcing his legs to move, he walked slowly back to the vehicle, all the while focused on his breathing. He hauled himself in.

Ellie looked at him curiously as she closed her door. She reached over to the back seat and passed him a bottle of water. ‘Are you all right? Your shirt is soaked. Can’t take the heat?’

‘Thanks.’ He accepted the bottle and took a long draught before turning back to her. ‘Heat? Trust me, this isn’t hot. Not by a long shot.’

Kane pushed away the fear as he clicked his belt in and turned the key to fire the ignition.

Chapter 6

Friday

Jim Jim Falls

The drive down to Jim Jim Falls was quiet with only desultory conversation. Ellie occasionally broke the silence with a warning about upcoming corrugations or a kangaroo that she spotted on the side of the road. Mostly she looked out of the window at the scrubby landscape flashing by. For a while there, she’d been enjoying his company, and then for some reason he’d turned back into the sullen man who had been in the chopper with her yesterday.

She turned to him just before they were about to reach the end of the bitumen road.

‘The traditional owners call this season Wurrgeng. The creeks drain out and the floodplains dry up. During the monsoon season, we can’t even get down here.’

‘Wurrgeng?’

‘Yeah, there are six seasons in the Aboriginal year. The monsoon season is called Gudjewg.’

‘Did you have to learn all that for the scenic flights?’

Ellie shook her head and looked at the sky. Smoke hung low over the looming escarpment. ‘No. I learned it all from Bill Jarragah when I was a kid. He used to work with my dad, and he taught me a lot too. See the smoke? They’re burning off the grasslands. It’s a way of renewing for the next season.’ Ellie pointed to the granite cliffs to the east. ‘This time of year, we have spectacular sunsets. Have you been out on the lodge boardwalk at sunset yet?’

Kane shook his head and turned his attention back to the road. ‘I only arrived here a few days before you got back.’

His words sent Ellie’s thoughts wandering back to her mother as she stared at the landscape flashing past. She’d ring Emma and get her to send over any more information that Mum had put together about shale gas exploration in Kakadu. She’d had another quick flick through the folder Mum had given her but apart from the newspaper clippings about Sordina, it was mainly general stuff printed off from websites about fracking in other places. There were a few mentions of a company called Black Coal Holdings, but there was no links between the documents.

Ellie reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She had the window wound down a little and the wind had blown strands of hair from her braid.

‘What’s wrong?’ His voice broke into her thoughts.

She kept her gaze fixed on Kane as she considered whether to be upfront with him. Even though his hair was cropped short, the ends were sun-tipped, and his tanned skin looked as though he spent a lot of time outdoors. His profile was hawkish and a little gaunt, with deep hollows in his cheeks. A web of laughter lines creased around his hazel-coloured eyes. Her eyes travelled down his tanned arms to the strong hands confidently holding the steering wheel.

Nerves shimmied in her stomach and tingled down a little bit lower. Ellie didn’t like the feelings that rushed through her body when she looked at him. While she didn’t know if she could trust him, the same as yesterday she instinctively sensed solidness about him.

Ellie swallowed and then bit her lip. ‘I was just deciding whether I can trust you to be honest with me.’

‘About what?’ Kane kept his eyes on the road ahead as the corrugations got deeper and the vehicle juddered to one side of the road.

She grabbed for the Jesus bar on the dashboard in front of her. ‘About the farm.’

‘I have been.’ He wrenched on the steering wheel as they approached a wide corrugation and his biceps flexed.

‘Do you think it would be okay if I went out there and had a look at what’s going on?’