Spirit of the Dance by Mardi Alexander

Author:Mardi Alexander [Alexander, Mardi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626395848
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2015-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Half an hour later the taxi dropped Riley at the front door of the main house at Cherry Hill. Ed stepped out and walked over, wrapping his bear-like arms around her, hugging her close. “Come inside and share a coffee with me and I’ll bring you up to speed.” Over coffee Ed explained that all Sorla had taken with her were her car keys and some scotch. “I don’t know if she took any of her medications with her. Claire said you might have a hunch on where she is.”

“It’s a bit of a wild guess really. She made a passing comment about a place she used to go to as a child. I figured if I retraced some of our steps from the other day when we checked the cattle, maybe I could get lucky.”

“Okay. Sounds as good a plan as any. I was going to go and check out the creek on the eastern side. Sorla said she used to like fishing and camping there when she came home for holidays. Are you okay to drive? I could get one of the boys to drive you if you needed.”

“I’ll be right. I might need your help packing a bag with some food though, just in case. She wouldn’t have had anything to eat in a good while.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll pack one too.” With the bags packed, they each headed off after trading mobile phone numbers.

Riley found she could drive one-handed and change the gears, provided she took it slow. It took close to an hour and a few wrong turns and backtracking before she found the creek where the calf had been stranded. From there she headed up the hill and pointed the truck due north. Before long she spotted the small hut. Driving closer, she saw that Sorla’s Jeep was parked off to the side. Riley sat in the truck for a few minutes, trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach, wondering just what she was going to say. In the end she had no idea. Better just to dive in and see where the current took them.

She knocked on the door. There was no response. She knocked again and waited. She heard the sound of a bottle falling over inside. Gingerly testing the door handle, it turned easily in her hand. She saw Sorla sitting on the floor with an empty bottle prostrate beside her, her back resting against an old overstuffed couch. Sorla looked dishevelled and exhausted, her head cradled on her arms, perched on her bent knees. Her eyes were closed. Without looking up or opening her eyes, Sorla said, “I’d offer you a drink, but there isn’t any.”

Riley sat down beside her, quietly moving the bottle out of reach. “That’s okay, it’s a bit early for me anyway.”

Sorla grunted. “What are you doing here?”

“Thought you might like a friendly face when you woke up.”

Sorla snorted. “A friendly face. Not a business face?”

Riley closed her eyes and breathed briefly through the stab of hurt.

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