When Danger Follows Read online

  Caitlin pulled her gently down on the seat beside her. “Did your mother teach you your lessons?”

  She nodded.

  “And did she paint some of those lovely pictures hanging on the walls?” She’d seen Caroline’s name on some of the flower paintings.

  “Yes, I think so,” Elizabeth said, rubbing her eyes.

  “She was very clever, wasn’t she? Now I’m here to help take care of you and William and to teach you your school work. But I’m not here to take your mother’s place. She was special.”

  Caitlin didn’t sleep well. She lay with an arm thrown over her head watching the moon climb high in a star-lit sky through the break in the curtains. She couldn’t yet lay her grim past to rest. She was still flinching at shadows. It made her anxious that she couldn’t identify the foreign noises beyond the window. She was dozing when she heard a child cry out. Elizabeth’s room was next to hers. She pulled on her gown and went to the girl’s door, wondering if she was just having a nightmare. She peeped in and could just make out the small form in the bed. It was light enough to see Elizabeth’s shoulders shaking. Caitlin came to the bed and turned on the lamp.

  Sitting on the side of the bed, she stroked the little girl’s hair. “What’s the matter, Elizabeth? Did you have a bad dream?”

  “I want my Daddy,” she said in a small voice.

  “He’s coming home soon, sweetheart.”

  “I want him now!”

  Caitlin sat with Elizabeth, continuing to stroke her hair, until she cried herself to sleep. Then she tiptoed out, fuming. She would have plenty to say to Jake Monterey when he finally decided to come home.

  * * * *

  They’d just finished lessons on the Friday afternoon when a roar sounded overhead. The children ran outside with Caitlin close behind them, as a small single-engine plane disappeared over the house, flying low.

  “It’s Daddy,” Elizabeth and William cried, dancing about.

  Caitlin suddenly felt nervous. She had never met her employer—not even spoken to him on the phone. Everything had been arranged through an agency. Now she was to share a house with him. She’d have to give up sitting on the verandah at night in her nightgown, her feet tucked under her, listening to the cacophony of strange bird and animal sounds emerging from the dark.

  Before he arrived at the house, she raced into her bedroom and checked her appearance in the wardrobe mirror. She’d resorted to shorts and a tank top with sandals out of necessity. She wondered if she should change into something more business-like, then decided against it. Start as you mean to go on, her mother always said. She ran a brush through her hair and tied it back, adding a spot of lip gloss and a dab of sage-green eye shadow. Despite her efforts, freckles marched across her nose and cheeks. She shrugged and went to join the children on the front verandah.

  A Jeep appeared out of the bush and crunched its way around the gravel drive, pulling up at the front door. A man and a woman climbed out.

  Caitlin had expected Jake Monterey to be close to forty, but this man was no more than thirty, a grown-up version of William. His dark hair was quite long, curling over his collar. He was better dressed than she imagined a cattleman to be. The jeans that encased his long, lean thighs were not the kick-around variety, and he carried a tan leather jacket, thrown over his shoulder. The woman accompanying him was small and had short blonde hair. She was dressed in pale blue jeans tailored to her figure and wore impossibly high-heeled sandals on her tiny feet. As they approached the steps, she struggled to keep her balance on the rough ground.

  An urban creature, Caitlin decided. Well, so was she—but anyone can change. She watched as the woman picked her way cautiously over the gravel, clutching Jake’s arm for support.

  The children broke away from Caitlin and rushed down the steps to grab their father around his legs. Miss High-heels gave a squeak of protest.

  “Careful kids,” Jake said in response. They stopped as if pulled back by some invisible wire and fell behind, as the pair made their way up the verandah steps seemingly joined at the hip. Caitlin looked at Elizabeth’s downcast little face and felt another flush of anger. What was this man doing gallivanting about when his children needed him? But it was a rash judgment. As soon as he’d deposited Miss High-heels onto the verandah, he squatted down, wrapped an arm around them both and soon had them squealing in delight.

  When he finally broke away, he stood and faced Caitlin and she saw the scar, pale on his tanned face. It caught the corner of one eye, pulling it slightly and rather rakishly before snaking its way over his cheekbone, ending at the jaw line.

  “Welcome to Tall Trees, Caitlin. I’m sorry I was called away just before you arrived. My mother lives in Darwin and she needed my assistance. I hope you’ve found everything acceptable.”

  She shook his hand. “I’m very comfortable, thank you.” She wondered if she should call him by his first name, but sensed he wouldn’t welcome familiarity. She was after all, just the hired help. She was keen to talk to him about Elizabeth who was a complicated little girl. She needed to know more about the past in dealing with her. William was much simpler. He just needed love and Caitlin doubted he got enough of it.

  “This is Vanessa Colleridge. Vanessa, Caitlin Fitzgerald, my children’s new governess.”

  Vanessa gave Caitlin a brief, icy glance. “How’d you do,” she said, before turning back to Jake. “I’d love that drink, Jake.”

  “I could do with one, myself. Come into the living room, kids and have a coke. Vanessa has brought you a bag of sweets each.”

  Caitlin inwardly groaned. The pair would be hyperactive and difficult at bedtime. She watched as they entered the living room, leaving her standing in the hall. Grateful for a little time to herself, she decided to go for a walk before dinner. As she trudged across a paddock, making for a fence in the distance, she thought about Vanessa Colleridge, hoping her instincts were wrong about her, if it was true that she was soon to be the children’s stepmother.

  * * * *

  Reaching the fence, Caitlin looked down at the cluster of buildings in the distance. This was where Harry and the hired hands lived, presumably. She walked part way down the hill and sat on a big, smooth rock still radiating heat from the sun. But the air was cooler now, and softer. Spread out before her was the timeless, desert land of the Aborigines, a sacred, ancient place, eerily beautiful, and dangerous. She was quickly adjusting to the space and the silence. She sat for a while relishing the peace then, noticing the shadows growing longer, began to head back before it grew too dark.

  She stopped to get her bearings. There was a line of trees between where she stood and the house that she had marked earlier. She left the fence and began to walk across a paddock of long grass. A rustling sound near her feet made her look down. She was completely unprepared by what she saw. A dusty-black snake was only a few steps away, coiling and uncoiling its body. It flicked its tongue at her. A chill of fear raced up her spine as she grappled with her lack of knowledge. Should she run?

  “Step back.” A hand came from behind her, holding a forked stick. It stabbed at the snake, pinning its head to the ground. Caitlin jerked herself from her frozen stance and found her feet, leaping into action. She didn’t look back until she’d reached the house. Bent double, she gasped for breath. The story that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland could well be true, for she’d certainly never come across one. Why had she come to this dreadful place?

  She watched Jake Monterey throw away the stick as he came striding towards her, his dark eyebrows knitted into a heavy scowl.

  “What were you doing walking about in long grass, with those scrappy shoes on your feet? Didn’t you bring better footwear?” His anger brought out a slight accent that wasn’t Australian.

  Caitlin was tempted to reply that Vanessa was similarly ill-equipped. “I have shoes and boots, but it’s so hot.”

  “For God’s sake put them on next time you tackle the bush, and don’t get lost. It’s clo
se on dusk. I’ve enough to do without having to send out a search party for you.”

  He turned and opened the screen door for her.

  Who did he think he was? Fear and outrage bubbled up inside her like a wellspring. As she passed by him she said, “There was no way I would’ve got lost. I knew exactly where I was the whole time. I kept the fence in view.”

  Jake put his arm across the doorway, halting her progress. She baulked. He was so close she could see the fringe of black eyelashes above dark blue eyes like William’s. Jake’s eyes were very grown up, however, and they held a spark of anger. “That fence goes for hundreds of miles. Too bad if you took off in the wrong direction. I’m making a point of this, Caitlin, because you do not yet understand how easy it is to get lost and die out here.”

  “Surely you don’t expect me to stay cooped up in the house all the time?” she said, the fight draining out of her. She was very conscious of Jake’s proximity, his musky aftershave. Perhaps he felt something too as he removed his hand quickly. Once they were in the hall, he frowned down at her.

  “No, of course not. That was never my intention. Saturdays are your own time as was agreed,” his voice mellowed. “I’m aware there’s not a lot for a young woman to do around here. Next time I go to Darwin and take the kids with me, Harry can run you into the local township. When you’re more confident with the conditions, perhaps you can drive yourself.”

  He paused, as his gaze traveled over her, taking in her unsuitable attire, her bare midriff and legs. She felt herself flush. “I can’t deny I was delighted at the prospect of having a qualified teacher here for Elizabeth and William. But at the same time I felt uneasy about hiring someone who doesn’t understand this country and can’t ride. Don’t let me down, Caitlin. If you go off anywhere by yourself, have a plan, tell someone where you are going and do it when there’s plenty of daylight left. Do you understand?”

  “Perhaps, if you’d been here to explain all this when I arrived, Mr. Monterey,” Caitlin said, fighting to keep her voice even toned. “We might not be having this conversation. And I need to talk to you about the children, when you have a moment.”

  He frowned. “You have a problem?”

  The inference that she wasn’t handling her job hung in the air. She spoke quietly lest Elizabeth hear. “I am worried about Elizabeth. She suffers from nightmares.”

  “I know. Elizabeth has an overactive imagination, like most eight-year olds,” he said stiffly.

  She would not spare him. “And she cried for you.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” He turned away without further explanation and left her alone in the hall.

  In her room, Caitlin rocked her rocking chair as if it would magically take her away. Jake Monterey was a patriarchal monster who clearly thought her a helpless female. She’d fought too hard for her independence to stand for that. She could leave. Find another job. But the thought caused more pain and fear than staying to tough it out. First chance she got, she would go down to the stockmen’s quarters, find Harry and take him up on his promise. Riding would give her some measure of autonomy. And she wouldn’t be telling Mr. Mighty Boots, Jake Monterey, anything about it until she could ride extremely well, indeed.

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  * * *

  Chapter Three

  Jake took Vanessa home the next morning. She’d complained about the heat and the ineffectual air-conditioning until even he seemed frustrated. Just before they left, Caitlin overheard Vanessa outside her room speaking on the phone to her mother. “Don’t worry, Mum, when we’re married and the kids are in boarding school, we’ll spend most of our time back there in Darwin. Jake can find someone to run this place for him.”

  Caitlin wondered if Jake would agree to that. Although Vanessa was persuasive, Jake would be a difficult man to manipulate.

  When she and the children went to the kitchen for their morning tea, Angela asked, “How’s your Nanna, Elizabeth?”

  “Daddy brought her home from hospital. She has plaster on her leg and I’m going to write my name on it when Daddy takes us to Darwin.”

  While Jake was still away, Caitlin went in search of pencils in his office, a building separate from the house. It was very orderly, folders labeled and stacked neatly onto shelves, but somehow that didn’t surprise her, he certainly liked to be in control of things.

  On the huge old cedar desk sat a framed photograph of the children with a woman who must have been their mother, Caroline. Caitlin felt like an intruder, but couldn’t resist taking a closer look. Caroline smiled a sweet indulgent smile of love at the person taking her picture, and Caitlin wondered what awful fate befell her. She could ask Angela, of course, but she didn’t want to be seen as gossiping about the boss behind his back. She guessed she’d find out soon enough. Caroline was pretty and fair like Elizabeth. And Caitlin bet she had freckles.

  * * * *

  Caitlin’s routine with Elizabeth and William went relatively smoothly, although her uneasiness over Elizabeth didn’t dissipate. It seemed that the little girl just went through the motions, not relating to anyone around her, except her father to whom she clung.

  Jake was gone the best part of every day. At four o’clock, he’d come home and Caitlin would go off for some free time on her own. She would do her washing, or some reading, constantly thinking of new things to stimulate and amuse the kids, to make learning a joy. At night she dined with the family, but Jake would have a tray sent out to his office. Caitlin strongly disapproved of this, but held her Irish temper in check. After their bad beginning, she wanted to be sure of her position before inviting another tirade from Mr. Monterey. Since that first day, he was always unfailingly polite, but she couldn’t help feeling that he was keeping his distance from her.

  On her first day off, she told Angela she was going to see Harry. She ran across the paddock, her eyes searching for snakes and walked the mile downhill. The sun was the usual flaming ball suspended in a cloudless sky. Her jeans stuck to her legs and her feet burned in their boots. By the time she arrived at the stables and the stockmen’s living quarters, a group of wooden buildings hunkered down in the bush, she looked like an entrant in a wet t-shirt competition. She had abandoned her bra in her quest to beat the heat and looked down with dismay at the two large circles of sweat ringing her nipples, just as Harry emerged from a building, followed by two other men.

  Cringing with embarrassment, she longed to cross her arms as Harry introduced the other two men, Mick and Riley. They each in turn grabbed her hand and gave it a hearty shake, grinning.

  “Good thing you came down. We’ll be off mustering soon,” said Harry.

  “How many cows do you have?” Caitlin asked.

  They all laughed. “We have ten thousand head—takes us a while to round ‘em up.”

  Her discomfort quickly faded, as she detected no sign of lasciviousness in their gaze.

  “You need a decent hat, Caitlin,” observed Mick, a dark-haired young man with a cheerful, albeit pockmarked face.

  “Go and grab one of those spare Akubra’s, Mike,” Harry asked him.

  “No worries.” Mike walked back to the shed, kicking dirt into the air.

  “I came to take you up on your offer, Harry,” Caitlin said. “If you could find time to teach me to ride, I’d be grateful.”

  Harry tipped his hat back, and smiled. “The pleasure will be all mine, Caitlin.”

  “I’d like my riding lessons to remain a secret. I want to surprise the children.”

  “And Jake Monterey?” Harry grinned, displaying more acuity than she gave him credit for on their first meeting.

  “Well … it would give me some kudos I think I need at the moment,” she said, smiling back.

  “No sense in beating your head around the bush.”

  “Meaning?”

  Harry took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t say he’s not a fair man, but he’s built a wall around himself in the last few years since he
came here.”

  “I thought he’d lived here forever.”

  “No. Tall Trees belonged to his wife’s family. Jake was born in America, came to Australia when he was a teenager.”

  Caitlin had noticed a difference in Jake’s accent to other Australians. She opened her mouth to ask Harry what had happened to give Jake that scar, but Mick came back with the distinctive khaki felt hat and placed it on her head, tilting it slightly.

  They all surveyed her.

  “You look terrific in that,” Riley said, looking up at her with a smile, he was shorter than her by several inches.

  “There’s plenty of daylight left. We’ll start that lesson right now,” Harry said. “Come to the stables and I’ll find a quiet ‘un for you.”

  She hadn’t expected to be thrown straight in the deep end and her heart began to thud at the prospect. They entered the cool, dim stables.

  Harry moved along the row of horses stabled there. Big, brown horse eyes surveyed her nervously, the white of their eyes glowing. She suspected this was not going to be as easy as learning to drive a car.

  Harry selected a dark brown horse with a strange patterning of white, almost diamond shapes. It was the smallest horse they had, but it looked pretty big to Caitlin.

  “This is Coke a Cola,” he said, throwing the saddle over and tightening the girth strap.

  “Oh, I can’t call him that,” Caitlin said, putting up a tentative hand to stroke his nose.