Dance with the Devil (29 page)

Drew carried out a quick but fruitless search for some vine to lower to Emma. He fought down the fear that threatened to engulf him, and concentrated on finding a solution. He closed his eyes like he did before a triathlon, then envisaged the pool and Emma's location in it.

Log! Tree branch!

It
could
work.

He found one close to where he had crossed the pool. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but it would have to do. He tried to pick up the fallen tree and cried out as agony knifed through his chest. The broken rib had moved, and the pain was incredible. He waited a few seconds for the agony to ease enough so that he could get a better grip. Sweat rolled into his eyes and he dashed it away.

He dug his fingers into the trunk, and began to drag it, step by torturous step, to the crevice near the boulder. The trunk divided in two, with one branch sticking out almost at right angles, and smaller branches coming off that. If he could wedge the trunk into the gap, that branch would allow him to manoeuvre close enough to the edge of the boulder to reach around and grab Emma.

He hoped.

His progress was maddeningly slow. The tree roots kept catching between the rocks, forcing him to lower the trunk and move back to haul the end free. Finally the trunk lay across the crevice. He edged it sideways, allowing the roots to slip into the gap. Then he pushed it down, forcing the roots to twist and some to snap off in order to fit.

When the end reached the water level he stopped and caught his breath, allowing the pain to roll over him in waves. He gritted his teeth, prayed his scheme would work and pushed the trunk out towards the water. It moved slowly, propelled by its own weight. At a forty-five degree angle to the water, it stopped.

If Drew had had enough breath, he would have cursed. He made a mental calculation, braced one arm around his broken rib and jumped onto the trunk. The extra weight worked, the tree splashed into the pool. As it did so, Drew slipped into the water. He hung onto the curving branch as he allowed the current to push him around the boulder. As he came to the end of the branch he hung on with one hand, pushed his body against the rock face and reached around.

'Emma!' he called. 'Can you reach my hand?'

Startled by Drew's cry so close to her, Emma looked around but couldn't see him. Then she saw his fingers on the boulder. She gripped Bethany's coverall in one hand, held her against the boulder, and reached out towards Drew. She stretched, arching her feet, her body, but a hand-span gap separated them.

It might as well be a body length, she thought bitterly.

'Emma! Try. Please.'

She heard the desperation in Drew's voice and watched his fingers scrabble a little closer. Her heart broke at the effort, the pain it must be costing him. She leaned in closer to the boulder and stretched her arm until it ached.

The gap had only narrowed a fraction.

'It's no use,' she called, and the utter hopelessness of the situation overwhelmed her. Even without Bethany, she couldn't climb up the smooth boulders, and she knew she would fight to save the child as long as she was alive. If she slipped off the log, the current would swiftly carry them to the chute.

Suddenly she knew, with utter certainty, if that happened, Drew would swim after them and try to save them. And he would die with them. She loved him too much to let that happen.

Bethany! She could still save Bethany. If she held the baby out to Drew, he would just be able to grab her. Emma was shivering even harder now and she knew it was only a matter of time until her feet would be too numb to stand on the log. If she didn't have Bethany, she could try to swim out of the current. She smiled wryly at her choice of word. Try.

But first she had to tell Drew she loved him. She should have told him before, when she'd first realised it, but it hadn't seemed the right time. Not that
now
was the right time, but it was suddenly important to tell him, to let him know she returned his love.

'Drew?'

'Yes?'

'I love you,' she called, her voice breaking on the last word.

Drew felt as though his guts had been ripped out. Sudden tears misted his eyes, and the lump that formed in his throat threatened to choke him. He curled his fingers into the rock and prayed.

'Don't you dare give up, Emma,' he growled. He pulled himself back to the branch, searching wildly for something to bridge the gap between them. Then he realised what he needed was within his grasp. He hooked one arm around the branch while his fingers slid to his belt buckle. The current pulled at his legs, hampering his movements. He was just about to pull the belt from his jeans when a slight sound caused him to look up.

Morgan stood above him on the boulder.

Before Drew could move, Morgan stepped off, his boots aimed straight for Drew's head.

Drew hauled himself over the branch. Morgan landed between the branch and the boulder, his right arm grabbing the branch as he went under the water. He surfaced, shook his head like a dog.

'
My
child,' he snarled. With his left arm damaged and the right keeping him from being carried away, he used the only weapons left to him - his boots. He pulled his legs from the water, kicking at Drew.

Drew tried to dodge, but one boot glanced off his shoulder and shuddered down his back, jerking his broken rib. Pain shot through him and his grip on the branch faltered, but he ducked under the water and came up on the other side, away from Morgan's reach. A piece of wood splintered into his hand and blood trickled into the water.

At the sound of Hadley's voice, a scream caught in Emma's throat. She heard the thrashing, Drew's grunt of pain. She turned carefully on the log so her shoulders were against the rock, holding Bethany close to her face and whispering words of reassurance that were really meant for herself.

Morgan tried to lever himself up onto the branch. With Morgan's full weight on the branch, Drew knew it would probably break. He seized one of the smaller branches and wrenched it backwards until it broke off.

He plunged the splintered wood into Morgan's hand.

Morgan screamed with rage as he relinquished his hold. He fell back into the water, twisted in the current and within a second was past the end of the branch.

Emma looked around at Hadley's scream, saw him frantically reach out as he swept past her. Instinctively she held out her hand and he caught her by the wrist. The sudden jolt of his body against the current nearly pulled her off the log. She gripped Bethany tighter and pushed back against the boulder with all her strength, desperately afraid he would pull her off the log.

With his useless arm, Hadley couldn't swim against the force of the current, and his heavy boots kept dragging his body down. Emma looked into his eyes, expecting to read the fear she felt, but he was staring at Bethany with such acute longing it was almost painful to watch.

'Emma! Did Morgan grab you?' Drew yelled.

'Yes!'

'Can you hold on?'

'Ye…Oh, my God!' Fear slammed into her. 'The log moved!'

Hadley's gaze shifted at her words and focused on her. The log moved again, still only a fraction, but he must have seen the horror on her face. He gave a gentle, sad smile.

Then he released his grip on her wrist.

In fascinated horror, she watched the current take him away. The log shifted again and she screamed Drew's name.

'Emma! Grab the belt!'

Her hand lifted as the belt snaked around the boulder. She grabbed it and slipped the loop formed by the inverted buckle over her wrist. The log slid from beneath her feet. She thrust Bethany high, kicked hard and felt the jerk on her arm as the loop tightened.

'I've got it!' she yelled.

She didn't want to watch, but she felt she couldn't turn her back on Hadley, to let him die alone. She looked back towards the chute and saw his bruised and battered face, still with that strange sad smile. He was making no attempt to swim away.

Then the current sucked him down.

Drew wondered how he found the strength to pull Emma back against the current. Every breath was agony and seemed to require a great effort. With the belt end wrapped around one hand and holding on to the branch with the other, he stretched his tired muscles to their limits and pulled her closer. Then he wedged his shoulder on the branch and his feet on the boulder and reached back for a better hold, pulling her until she was close enough to grab the branch. Only then did he allow relief to wash through him.

With trembling fingers he touched her face and fought his need to bring her body against his and reassure himself that she was truly alive. Her eyes were saucer-wide, and he wondered if she felt as stunned as she looked.

He took Bethany from her and they made their way back to the crevice. He stood on the tree trunk so Emma could climb on his shoulders, then onto the boulder. She tried to be careful, but it took all his strength to fight the pain and stay upright. He held Bethany up to her, and her icy hand closed over his as she took the child. She held it there a moment, as though reluctant to lose contact with him.

'I have to change Bethany into warm clothing,' Emma whispered, and slowly released her grip. She clutched Bethany against her chest and moved as quickly as she could to where Drew had left the pack. She stripped off her wet shirt, then the baby's sodden clothing, and quickly examined her.

Bethany let out a lusty wail and relief swept through Emma. Warmth was all Bethany needed. Quickly she dressed the baby in the last clean nappy and bodysuit, then, cradling her in one arm and carrying the pack in the other, she walked back to where she'd left Drew. Placing Bethany on the pack on the warm stones, she used the shade of a small shrub to shield the baby's face from the sun.

Through an exhausted haze, Drew heard Emma return. She lay on the boulder, and held both arms down to him. It was harder to pull himself up than he thought, but he understood why. Now the need for action had passed, his body was finally acknowledging the trauma he'd put it through, and he was acutely aware he had exacerbated the damage to his rib. When he finally scrambled up beside Emma, he collapsed on the warm rock, waiting for his strength to return.

'Drew? Are you all right?'

Without answering, he held his arms out to her. She nestled gently into his uninjured side, put her arm around him and pressed her face into his neck. His heart ached at the coldness of her skin, and he gently rubbed her arm, her back. She was shivering, and so tense he felt she would fragment into tiny pieces if he held her tightly.

Suddenly she began to shake. Her body rocked with sobs. With an effort he turned on his side and pulled her against him, caressing her face with soft, soothing kisses, whispering words of love and comfort. She was safe. That was all that mattered. She was in his arms and he would fight heaven and earth not to lose her again. And she loved him.

Doubt suddenly ripped through him. He caught her chin with his hand and looked into her eyes.

'Emma, did you mean it?' He stopped to draw in another breath. 'Do you love me?'

Her long lashes were tipped with tears, but her lips parted in a smile. She touched his cheek and placed her fingers against his mouth as though stopping any further questions.

'Yes. More than I thought possible.'

He hugged her as tightly as his chest would allow, his need to show his love for her acute, his fervour heightened by the anxiety and trauma of the past twenty-four hours.

Emma's blood rushed in her veins. They were safe, Hadley could no longer threaten them. She felt a terrible sense of guilt as she remembered the way he had let go her wrist and allowed the current to wash him through the chute. Her eyes filled with tears as she pulled away from Drew.

'He let me go, Drew. He knew if he didn't, we'd both be swept away.'

'I guessed that,' Drew whispered, touching her face as though to reassure himself that she was indeed real, that he wasn't dreaming.

With one finger he wiped away a tear that slid onto her cheek, and she had the almost hysterical thought that what did one tear matter when she was dripping wet anyway.

Shakily she got to her feet. She couldn't fall to pieces now; she had promised Mary to bring Bethany back to her and she'd be damned if she'd let the baby catch cold after what she'd just survived.

'I left Bethany wrapped in her spare clothing, but I'll have to make sure she's warm. Can you get up?'

'Sure,' he replied. She frowned as he rolled to the side and got on his knees to push himself upwards. It was an agonisingly slow procedure, and she realised that he would never be able to climb up the mountainside to get back to O'Connor Valley. He straightened and turned his ashen face towards her. As she listened to his breath wheeze in and out of his lungs, her heart contracted.

In the tussle with Hadley, his broken rib must have punctured a lung.

She pushed down the panic rising in her gut. Frantically she fought for the professional control that had seen her through other medical emergencies, but it took almost more effort than she could make. She loved this man, cared about him in a way she'd never thought possible before. She'd finally found someone who accepted her, who respected her dreams and shared similar ones. Who'd touched her soul and made love blossom.

She'd be damned if she was going to lose him!

'Will I be able to find some of those candlenut trees around here?'

Puzzled, Drew arched one eyebrow at her. 'There could be. Why?'

'Because as soon as I re-tape your ribs I'm going to light one hell of a fire and see if I can attract that plane we heard.'

She looked at the amusement battling the pain in his eyes and smiled determinedly. If she had to, she'd set fire to the whole bloody rainforest to save him.

A slightly built, fair-haired woman stood silently on a rocky outcrop overlooking thick rainforest. For long, long minutes she gave voice to the feelings in her heart, then she slowly tipped the urn she was holding.

The ash floated on the breeze and drifted down in lazy arcs towards the treetops below.