Hidden Fire (16 page)

She'd been flat out getting through even a third of the steak she'd been handed. She wasn't certain she'd ever get used to the vast quantities of food these people consumed. Probably something to do with the physical work they did. Their workday started as soon as dawn broke over the horizon and ended only when the sun went down.

There were far more people here now than earlier in the day. Families had turned up during the afternoon to help with the preparation for the school visit, most of the children belonging to the same school. Some had arrived in camper vans. Others planned to utilize the gunyahs already built. The whole area overflowed with a family atmosphere that appealed to Gili.

A sigh of contentment wafted from her lips. She could really get to like the life out here…except for one small thing. She silently groaned. Not so small. In order to keep
her
family safe, she had to find the
Dreamtime Fire
, which meant going up against Morgan.

She glanced across to the other side of the campfire. Charlie, seated beside Narri, played a didgeridoo, a hollowed-out length of branch from one of the eucalyptus trees that abounded in the region. Carved tribal symbols adorned the exterior of the wind instrument and a waxed coating ran around the top of it.

Piri had told her it was a ceremonial instrument, played only by the men in the tribe. The sound was low, almost monotonal, but something about it dug deep inside Gili and stirred her senses, heating up the blood in her veins until she had a crazy urge to jump up and join the stomping dance of the younger native women.

Narri had two short sticks in her hands, smacking them together and keeping time with Charlie's playing. Clapsticks Piri called them—often used to accompany the didgeridoo. Aboriginal voices rose and fell with the rhythm, filling the night sky with tribal mystery.

Gili shivered. She almost felt as if she were hypnotized. Her pulse resounded in her head. The breath caught in her chest and she had to force herself to drag in fresh air to re-oxygenate her brain.

Could she do this? Could she take away the
Dreamtime Fire
from the tribe, even supposing she was fortunate enough to find it? These people were special. They'd welcomed her into their midst without giving any thought to her motives for being here. She groaned. When did life get so complicated?

The dance wound down and Narri raised her head and stared across at Piri. “Bedtime, grandson. Say ‘night to Gili.”

“Can Gili sleep with me in my gunyah, Nan?”

“Hey, buddy, you've had Gili all afternoon,” John called from the other side of the campfire. “How about Gili share my space tonight?”

Gili chuckled as the other men ribbed John. It was all good fun. They were a great bunch of guys, although she'd made certain to stay away from John for the afternoon. Every time she'd turned around, Morgan had been watching her so Gili had played it cool. She didn't want to rile him up too much.

She jerked her gaze across to him. Perched on a log beside Charlie, he raised one eyebrow and stared back at her.

“Sorry, guys,” Morgan said, casting a flinty look John's way. “Gili's all booked up. She'll be in the mine with me tonight.”

There were a few good-natured comments from the men, the odd guffaw of laughter, but no one refuted Morgan's statement. The boss had spoken.

Gili was tempted to call him on it, but decided to let it go. Given the determined look on his face, she had the feeling she wasn't about to change his mind.

She shivered as she thought of curling up in the same sleeping bag with Morgan. Her heart felt as if it were about to explode, the beat skipping too fast for her to catch her breath.

A rush of tangled emotions hit her, swamping her in sensation. Her brain was incapable of deciding whether she was hot or cold, both states warring for supremacy in her body. Tremors skittered through her stomach and heat filled her veins, driving through her until it lodged low in her stomach.

She shook her head and dragged in a tortured breath.
Holy cow, girl, you're a mess
.

No way in hell could she sleep with Morgan pressed up against her tonight, because if she did, she'd beg him to make love to her. That would just give him another chance to treat her like garbage tomorrow and that wasn't going to happen.

Jumping to her feet, she skirted around the fire and squatted down beside Narri. “Hey, Narri, you got a minute?” she whispered.

Narri turned to her. “You alright,
Gili lubra?”
She kept her voice low as if she instinctively realized Gili didn't want Morgan hearing.

A slight frown on her face, Narri pushed herself to her feet, grunting with the effort. “Come on, Gili, we go and tuck that grandson of mine into bed. He's so excited to be sleeping outside it will probably take him ages to drop off.”

She took Gili by the arm and walked her across to one of the gunyahs on the far side of the fire. Once there, she dragged her out of sight around the back of the shelter.

“That Morgan's one jealous man, Missy. Sure not gonna let you sleep with anyone else tonight. Guess all that teasing today didn't help either.” Her white teeth flashed in the dark and a chuckle erupted, rich and melodious.

Gili grimaced at her words. “Yeah, I guess I wasn't too smart earlier, but if he thinks I'm going to camp down in the same sleeping bag with him he can think again.”

“Ooh, you playing with fire, Gili. Think that man's gonna let you sleep anywhere else but with him?”

“Hah, he said I have to sleep in the mine. Fine, I can do that. Doesn't mean I have to actually sleep
with
him.” She paused. “I don't suppose you have a spare sleeping bag I can borrow.”

Narri burst out laughing, slapping her hands together. “You one smart girl, Missy Gili. Keep ‘em thinking all the time. That's the way to get your man.”

She faced the light again, gesturing for Gili to follow. “Charlie's got a spare bedroll. You can have that.”

Narri ducked into the gunyah where Gili could hear her whispering to her grandson. When she reappeared, she held a roll of blankets in her arms.

“Here you go. Get that into the mine before Morgan sees you. Best you get to sleep before he comes, then he can't do nothing about it.”

“Thanks, Narri. You're a doll.” Gili leaned across and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. “See you in the morning,” she whispered before she took off for the mine, edging around the Aboriginal village so Morgan wouldn't spot her.

There was just enough moonlight so she didn't stumble on the leftover mounds of mine workings. She had almost reached the entrance to the tunnel when she heard footsteps pounding behind her. She spun about, fully expecting to see Morgan at her heels. A small sigh escaped when Charlie caught up with her.
Hmm…relief or disappointment, Gili?

“Hey, Missy Gili, Narri sent me. She thought you might not like the dark in the mine. If you wait a minute, I'll set a fire for you and light the lantern.”

“Thanks, Charlie. It's kind of spooky in there so, yeah, having the lantern would be great.”

Charlie chuckled. “Nothing in there's gonna hurt you, Missy Gili. The old people only want to help.”

He hunkered down beside the ring of stones that had contained the fire he'd used to cook breakfast. Within minutes, he'd piled dried grass and twigs in the center and set a match to them. After it was well alight, he stacked larger branches around and across the fire, waiting until they too, caught.

Gili stood beside him, thinking about the ghost-like forms she'd seen last night. “These old people? Okay, these…visions I've had, they're real? You've seen them, too?”

“Sure have. Me and Narri both.” He stood and dusted his pants off, chuckling. “Lots of big fire in the belly that night.”

“But why would they show themselves to me?” Gili frowned as she tried to make sense of it. “Why on earth would they help me? And help me with what?”

“They wanna help you find the opal, of course. You're the only one.” Charlie took the bedroll from her and ambled towards the mouth of the mine.

Gili shook her head. She had no idea what Charlie meant. The man spoke in riddles most of the time. She was the one? The one what?

A weird sensation suddenly filled her. A strange feeling. Half fear, half excitement. Goosebumps broke out on her arms as if she was cold, but that wasn't it. It was like ghosts walking across her grave, as her dad used to say.

Yeah, totally weird.

Tension tightened the muscles in her neck and upper back. She dragged in a deep breath and tried to relax, but a feeling of pins and needles settled over her right shoulder blade. She rolled her shoulders then slid her left hand over her shoulder to probe at the pelican tattoo, the area that seemed most affected.

The skin art was hot to touch, as if heated from beneath. The flesh rippled under her palm and Gili got such a shock she wrenched her hand away. Hell, for a while there, she could have sworn the bird was actually alive. How absurd.

God, she had to get it together. At this rate, she'd drive herself crazy. She had a job to do and this wasn't helping. And thinking of the job, she needed to try her father again.

Shaking her head at her own silliness, she dragged her phone out of her back pocket. Crawling to the top of the soil dump beside the mine, she flipped open the phone, pushing the button to turn it on. The screen remained disappointedly dark. Looked like not only no reception, but no battery power either. And no way to contact her father to see if he was okay.

A frustrated sigh slid from her lips. She may as well go to bed. She'd talk to Charlie tomorrow. Maybe he could suggest some way to get in contact with her parents.

She cast a final look back at the Aboriginal village before heading to the entrance of the mine. The music and dancing had stopped. People were still milling around, although mostly the men. The children were missing, obviously tucked safely in bed within their bush shelters.

Suddenly, she halted, frowning. Without moving her head, she used her peripheral vision and tried to catch a glimpse of the village.

That damn shadow. It was back again, hovering over the village.

Gili had a deep-seated conviction it was a threat to all who gathered there. She turned fully so she faced the village again. Frowning, she stared at the faces of the men closest to the fire, tracking the movement of the strange black shadow. One man, tucked in the back and standing apart from the others, caused her heart to start pounding.

Whitey?

Out here?

Oh God, please, not Whitey. And not here.

Gili's breathing sped up. Her skin grew clammy and sweat beaded her forehead. A feeling of dread clawed at her innards. Her hands shook and her vision dimmed, spots dancing before her eyes.

Oh God, she was going to pass out. She had to get it together. Eyes closed, hands clasped over her mouth, she breathed in and out. Her every effort was concentrated on regulating her breathing.

When she no longer felt as if she'd lose the connection with the world around her, she blinked and opened her eyes. The muscles in her neck felt tight as she focused on the campfire and stared at each man in turn.

And there he was. Whitey Grissom, in the flesh.

“Hey, lantern's lit for you,” Charlie called from the entrance to the mine.

Gili turned her head and stared at him, unable to say a word.

“You alright, missy?” He moved closer to the base of the mine workings.

Gili made a concerted effort to gather her control about her and stop the mad racing of her heart. She flicked a glance across at the village, searching for the man she'd seen. He was gone…or he was a figment of her imagination.

Turning her back on her wild imaginings, she ran down the mound of soil to Charlie. “I'm fine. Just thinking is all.”

She laid a hand on the old Aborigine's arm. “Thanks for seeing to this for me. I really appreciate it.”

The old man gave her a salute. “No problems, Missy Gili. Now you get to bed and I'll see you in the morning. Gonna be witchetty grubs for breakfast again tomorrow.” He wandered off, chuckling at his joke.

Gili made her way into the mine, stopping at the last minute to check the darkness outside again. Had she really seen Whitey, or was it more a case of worry about her family playing tricks on her mind?

Her breath hitched as panic threatened to overwhelm her. She reined it in, determined not to give way. This had to be nothing more than her fear for her parents—and Morgan—making her think she was seeing things.

Jeremy and Whitey had done their own research on the
Dreamtime Fire
. Whitey knew the gem was originally discovered in the Opalton fields. But would he and Jeremy track all the way up to northern Queensland to keep an eye on her? Or would they just rely on the fact they had a hold over Gili through her parents, thereby making certain she'd find the opal and hand it over?

“So find the opal, Gili, and all this will go away,” she whispered.

An unaccountable sadness filled her. If she did locate the opal then everyone was safe, right? But that would leave Morgan angry with her again. Could she live with that? More importantly, could she go back to living without Morgan in her life again?

Ah hell, just who did she think she was kidding? Morgan didn't want her permanently in his life anyway.

Get used to it, Gili
.

God, why did that sound so lonely? With a shake of her head, she set about getting ready for bed. Charlie had laid the bedroll out on the opposite side of the lantern to Morgan's. That suited her just fine.

Rummaging in the pack Morgan had given her earlier, she came up with a baggy t-shirt that would suffice as a nightshirt. Morgan—or maybe Narri—had obviously been in here earlier. A plastic ten-gallon container of water sat on an overturned drum. Beside it were a couple of mugs and soap, towels and flannel washcloths in a plastic dish.