The Wild One by Janet Gover

Author:Janet Gover
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, contemporary, romance, coorah creek, Australia, outback
Publisher: Choc Lit
Published: 2015-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Quinn was woken by the sound of kookaburra laughing. She lay still for a few seconds, wondering what she and Dan would say to each other. Would she tell him how late she had sat by the campfire, knitting and hoping he would appear from the darkness? The almost completed garment lying on her rucksack was evidence of that. Would she tell him how disappointed she’d been when he didn’t return?

She heard a car pull up and the sound of two doors slamming. Carrie and Justin. That meant it was unlikely she and Dan would have any private moments to talk about last night. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad. Quinn rose from her camp cot and slipped on a clean top and shorts. She ran a brush through her tousled hair, before ducking through the tent flap. She looked across at Dan’s tent. The flap was closed. His car wasn’t parked in its usual spot. At some time during the night, he’d left. Again. Did he really find it that hard to be alone with her?

‘Hi,’ Carrie called as she walked past, a bale of hay balanced easily on her shoulder. ‘You slept late.’

Quinn hadn’t yet learned to judge the time of day by the position of the sun. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to see the time.

‘I was up late,’ she murmured as she set about lighting her gas burner. ‘Coffee anyone?’

‘No thanks, we’ve already had breakfast.’ Justin was also carrying a bale of hay. ‘We brought another load of feed. We’re going to need it when we’ve got the brumbies in.’

Quinn made coffee and ate a muffin and an apple that she found in Trish’s latest care package. As she did, she watched the ease with which Justin and Carrie worked together. They had what seemed like a lot of horse feed unloaded by the time she had finished her breakfast. Then Justin caught one of the stock horses, saddled it and with a wave was gone, trotting away up the sandy bottom of the gorge.

It occurred to Quinn that she had never seen Carrie actually ride one of the horses. She frowned. That seemed wrong. She thought back to Ellen’s visit with her kids. Carrie had seemed ill at ease just leading the horse around. Quinn watched Carrie and began to realise that the woman she had met in Coorah Creek lacked the confidence and enthusiasm to be a top jockey. Maybe that was changing a little, but Quinn thought Carrie had a secret she was not yet ready to share with any of them. A secret that might be the downfall of their mission.

Carrie joined Quinn and helped herself to an apple too.

‘You’re not riding with him. On the other horse?’ Quinn asked.

‘No. I thought I would wait. I assume Dan will be here soon. Then I can give him another lesson. That’s important.’

‘He said he really enjoyed yesterday,’ Quinn said. ‘You must be a good teacher.

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