Charlotte and the Starlet 2 (15 page)

'Not necessary. She's just a little unwell.'

Helping herself to a third of a piece of coconut
crumble – all her diet would allow – Emma overheard.
She hurried back to Rebecca.

'Something fishy is going on with Outback Annie.'

'What?'

'I'm not sure but I intend to find out.'

Stepping into the room, Hannah hoped she hadn't
gone too far with the ruse. She had wanted to plant
the seed in Mr Graham's mind that Charlotte was sick
but she had the sneaking suspicion he might be
worried enough to call the doctor. Or, she thought,
look in for himself. The idea had only just identified
itself when she heard up the hallway the unmistakable
tread of Mr Graham's boots. She quickly adjusted the
bed so the rubber glove that Charlotte had earlier
inflated was just visible like a hand beneath the bed
clothes. Then she turned off the main light and
clicked on the faintest bedside lamp.

The boot steps stopped outside the door. Hannah
said loudly enough to penetrate the ply door.

'No, Charlotte, don't feel you have to talk ...'

There was a light tap on the door.

'Girls? It's Mr Graham.'

'Come in, Sir.'

Seated on the bed Hannah turned herself to
obscure most of the fake Charlotte.

'Just thought I'd check on Charlotte.'

Hannah held up her hand.

'I wouldn't come any closer, Sir. Her throat is red
raw, she could be infectious.'

Mr Graham edged back a fraction.

'Then I should get the doctor.'

Hannah moved her foot under the bed so it squeaked.

'Charlotte really would prefer that you didn't. She
says she's not bad except for the throat.'

Mr Graham peered through the gloom at the only
part of 'Charlotte' he could see.

'Her hand looks swollen.'

'She says it doesn't hurt, Sir. I'll let you know
immediately if she feels worse.'

Graham nodded thoughtfully.

'I wouldn't want Miss Strudworth to come back
to another problem.'

'May I ask how that's going?'

Graham shook his head.

'I have no idea. But I'm sure if there wasn't a
problem I would have heard by now. I'll be in my
room if Charlotte gets worse. Goodnight, Charlotte.'

Hannah made the squeak again. Mr Graham left
and Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. Close call. She
wasn't sure how long she could keep it up. Nearly
7.30 and no word from Charlotte. They'd agreed that
Charlotte would ring, pretending to be Hannah's
sister, Georgia. Hannah looked out the window. It was
very dark now. She was worried. What if something
bad had happened?

Charlotte tried the Thornton Downs phone number
again but there was no signal.

'The bush is too dense,' said Todd. 'You'd need a
satellite phone.'

Charlotte hoped Hannah didn't panic and spill the
beans. That concern flitted out of her head as a parrot
scooted past. It came to rest on a high branch.

Charlotte pulled out her torch and clicked it on. Blue
and yellow! She was excited. 'We must be getting near.'

They continued deeper into the heart of the bush.

'I hope you don't get into trouble at Milthorp on my
account,' said Charlotte.

'I'll be right. I left a note for my roommate Dan to
cover. He's an inventive guy.'

Something caught Charlotte's eye. She tapped Todd
on the shoulder and he stopped Warrior. Charlotte
jumped down and examined the bush.

'This is interesting. Trail bikes.'

'How can you tell?'

'The way the undergrowth is flattened. Wait there.'
Charlotte walked off for a few minutes and then came
back. 'It's a long curve.'

'Meaning?

'Meaning I think it's probably an outrider. You
know, somebody checking the perimeter.'

'One of the bad guys?'

'Possibly. The rangers usually drive four-wheel
drives.'

'Could be some kid just hacking through the bush.'

Charlotte didn't think so. All the kids around Snake
Hills who rode trail bikes liked to find dirt-tracks with
areas they could jump.

'And this is the same rider covering the same
ground a day apart,' she said.

'You can tell that?'

'Sure. My friend Robbie Possum showed me.'

Robbie Possum was a seventy-year-old indigenous
stockman in Snake Hills. Nowadays he stayed closer to
the homestead but he had been more than willing to
pass on some of his skill to Charlotte. She wished she
had Robbie there now. He would have been able to smell
out the loggers' camp and be home in time for dinner.

It was another half-hour of hard slog through thick
undergrowth before Charlotte caught the faintest
aroma.

'You smell that?'

'What?' Todd sniffed as hard as he could.

'Bacon.'

'Bacon? There's no bacon. Believe me, I'd smell
bacon.'

He was talking to thin air. Charlotte was already
balancing on Warrior's saddle. She jumped, caught a
high branch and hauled herself up.

'What on earth are you doing?'

'You want to smell something you have to get up
high,' came the disembodied reply.

Todd couldn't see her but could trace her progress
through the rustling of leaves in the branches above.

It didn't take Charlotte long to make it to the top of
the tree. There were plenty of higher trees but it gave
her enough elevation to feel the air across her face.
She was sure she had caught a whiff. She turned
north-east. There it was, definitely. She started back
down, dropping from the last branch to the ground,
startling Todd.

'You're like one of those ninja or something.'

'Camp's that-a-way.' Charlotte pointed. 'Probably a
few kilometres but we should be mega-careful from
here.'

They elected to walk rather than ride Warrior.
Charlotte would go ahead and scout for a couple of
hundred metres. Once she was sure the coast was
clear she would call Todd forward. Todd was astonished
at how silent she could be. One moment he'd be
peering into the dark trying to catch sight of her, the
next she'd be tapping him on the shoulder. Progress
was slow but half an hour later Charlotte came back
from one of her forays, excited.

'Guess what I found?'

'The camp?' Todd found himself whispering.

'Not yet. Horse poo. And trail-bike patterns. We're
close.'

Though she didn't know it, Charlotte had located
the area where Leila had been rounded up earlier
in the day.

Hannah agonised over whether she should tell anybody.
It was nearly ten p.m. and there had been no
word from Charlotte. She borrowed a phone from one
of the girls in the next room and tried the number of
the phone she'd given Charlotte. No signal. Perhaps in
the park there was no coverage. Or perhaps something
bad had happened and with every moment she
delayed ...

'Hi, Hannah.'

It was Emma Cross standing at the door. Rebecca
was with her. 'Just wondered how Charlotte was
doing.' She began moving into the room. Hannah
blocked her.

'She's sleeping.'

Emma threw a smug look at Rebecca. She got
in close.

'She's not here, is she? Has she run away again?
Did you two have a fight? Perfectly understandable
with her.'

Rebecca said, 'Maybe she killed her. You know, and
buried her in the bush.'

Emma raised an eyebrow at Hannah as if to say,
'Maybe she did.'

'Girls, it's time for bed.'

It was Miss Batt doing the rounds.

'We were just seeing how Charlotte was.' Emma
spoke with the evenness of somebody used to a lot
of lying.

'I told you, she's sleeping.' Hannah shut the door in
their faces. Her heart was beating fast. What if something
did happen to Charlotte and nobody believed
her? They might think she had made her run away ...
or worse.

She whispered to the ceiling. 'Please, Charlotte,
look after yourself.'

Whatever hope Leila had maintained throughout the
day had vanished. She knew Charlotte would have
done her best. But maybe the forest was too big and
the rescuers just couldn't locate her. Were they even
looking in the right forest? Australia had a lot of
places where nobody lived for hundreds of miles. A
plane had flown overhead at some point late in the
day and Leila's hopes had risen but what chance did it
have of spotting anything from up there? The bush
was just too dense and Pat and his guys had
camouflaged the clearing. No, in a life full of pits, this
was the deepest of them all. Worse than when Leila's
mom had left to go dancing in Vienna. Worse even
than when Leila had turned up to Paris' party in the
same diamante bridle as the security horses were
wearing. Oh, the shame!

But right now, shame seemed like a pretty attractive
alternative. Either they would dispose of her (
The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
had never been a favourite
movie of hers) or else they would abandon her. How
long could a horse live off nuts and berries?

For fifteen agonising minutes that felt like a lifetime,
Charlotte had been watching Leila from the shadows,
waiting for her chance. There were two men sitting in
a small clearing around a low light, talking in hushed
voices. As her eyes grew accustomed, Charlotte was
able to spy two camouflaged tents. She gathered from
snatches of conversation that the rest of the men were
asleep. Once she had picked up the trail it had been
pretty easy to find her way to the logging area and
from there to here. One of the men moved off to the
south. That left just one.

'I'm going to replace that blade,' he called out and
then shuffled off. This was her chance.