Black Mountain (13 page)

Chapter 20

Sarah Franklin wasn't a vain woman but as she stood, naked, appraising herself critically in the full length bedroom mirror, turning this way and that, her lips took on a little smile. Regular exercise, in the form of daily swimming—always a minimum of twenty-five laps in their pool—and a regular afternoon of tennis at their club, had kept her in good shape over the years. Even two pregnancies had left little mark on her body.

And her dusky blond hair, loose and flowing over her shoulders the way her husband, Jack, had always liked it, still gleamed in the shaft of sunlight that slanted in through the window and showed no traces of grey, for which she gave thanks to her hairdresser. It was as she stepped closer to the mirror to examine her face that her smile slipped.

Moving up closer she traced the deep furrows across her brow with her fingertips, the crow's feet around her eyes, and the lines radiating from her nose to her mouth. She peered even closer and let out a little whimper.

Turning from the mirror she began to pace the room, biting her lips.

Tears welled in her eyes as she walked to the window and looked out at the garden of their gracious home in Fig Tree Pocket, on the bank of the river. A property developer, Jack had bought the home ten years ago, when he made his first million, he joked, although the house itself had cost more than that.

Leaving the window, Sarah slipped on a shift and wandered through the rooms, all twelve of them, touching her favourite pieces as she admired their home—the gleaming timber floors with rugs that glowed with their richness, the furnishings, the paintings, and the flowers she had picked from the garden earlier, now in their crystal or fine china vases.

No expense had been spared in furnishing this house, Jack had given her carte blanche to buy what she liked, and from the chandelier in the main living area to the woven cane outdoor furniture on the patio overlooking the river she had chosen carefully, and created a home that was as comfortable as it was tasteful.

Wiping the tears from her cheeks with her fingers she wandered out on to the patio and walked down to the river's edge. The Cruiser was tied up at their private jetty, the movement of the water rocking it gently, and the water sparkled in the sunshine, a thousand diamonds trying to outdo those on her fingers.

Wandering about the garden she stopped to pick a gardenia and held it to her nose, inhaling the scent. Suddenly she turned, walked back inside and picked up her phone. Scrolling through her contacts until she found the one she wanted, she pressed the button.

‘Hello, Marie,' she said, when the voice answered. ‘This is Sarah,' she paused, listening. ‘Yes that's right, Sarah Franklin. And, Marie, you're the only person I can talk to about this and I'm desperate.' Her voice thickened as tears welled again. ‘It's not that you're not a wonderful beautician, you are, but I've just realised my regular facials aren't working like they used to, and I'm starting to look like an old hag, and it's affecting my marriage. Jack hasn't been paying me much attention lately and I'm worried he's straying.'

Her voice became choked. ‘All the signs are there. You know, the phone calls to say he's working late, business trips away, taking clients out in the cabin cruiser down the river, and making excuses why I can't come. And just this morning he told me he's going away for two weeks, and I can't go with him. He's pleading a big development north of Noosa that he's tendering for, and says that he'd be tied up day and night.'

Sarah drew a deep breath as she listened to what was being said, and brushed at the tears with her free hand.

‘No, he hasn't asked me for a divorce—yet.' She gripped the phone so hard her knuckles were white. ‘Marie, I'm going to have to take more drastic action. Much as I hate the thought of the knife, I think I'm going to have to do it, if I want to save my marriage. Can you recommend a good plastic surgeon?'

As she listened to the voice at the other end her face lit up.

‘You mean you think you might have an alternative? But that's wonderful. I'll be right over.'

Without even bothering to put on make-up she hurriedly left the house and drove the short distance to Marie Evert's salon, and when Marie told her she had this wonderful new treatment that would mean she wouldn't need plastic surgery, she couldn't hand over her Amex card quickly enough to pay the ten thousand dollars it would cost for treatments over the next two weeks, and she made an appointment to come the next day for her first treatment.

She even agreed to let Marie take a ‘before' photo of her, so she could see for herself how different she would look afterwards. But only after Marie promised never to show it to anyone else. She wouldn't want reminders of her wrinkles.

***

As Sarah left the salon Marie laughed aloud. She had found the ideal candidate for the trial—with skin lined beyond her years and, most importantly, rich enough to not care how much it cost.

She carefully planned the steps she would use in her treatment so that she could give Sarah the full works, so she would relax and enjoy it, as well as give the best results.

When Sarah arrived the next morning Marie settled her on the beauty bed and covered her eyes with soothing eye pads. Seating herself on the stool at the head of the bed, she spent the next hour carrying out a full treatment.

First she cleansed Sarah's skin thoroughly, then exfoliated it with their special honey and almond scrub. When that was done she hydrated it with warm compresses wrung out of warm water containing a few drops of relaxing lavender essential oil. Only then did she begin the important part of infusing the serum with a micro-current machine. The serum was tacky but nevertheless the skin absorbed it thirstily, as if it had been waiting for it. When that was done she applied a finishing mask and left it to set.

Fifteen minutes later Marie sat down to remove the now dry mask. First she softened the mask with warm compresses, then began to clean it from the skin with trembling fingers. When all traces of the mask were removed she peered closely at the skin, and sucked in her breath as a huge smile spread over her face.

Yes! She had to restrain herself from shouting! Leaning back on her stool she punched the air. She pulled the magnifying light over to examine the skin more closely, but she didn't need it to tell her the wrinkles were visibly reduced after only one treatment. It was a bloody miracle!

Only then did she remove the eye pads, her face composed, and offer Sarah a hand mirror to look at the improvement for herself.

Chapter 21

Sarah paced up and down, checking her watch every few minutes. Jack had called to say he would be home at about four o'clock, after two week's absence.

She had dressed carefully in silk pants and a silky knitted top in soft powder blue. Smart but casual, and bought especially for the occasion. A month ago she would have considered such clothes too young for her, but with her new face Marie told her she looked twenty years younger, and she believed her.

Over the last two weeks she had hardly been able to keep away from the mirror as she had seen the changes in her face. And her friends had noticed it too. Not that she had let on what she was doing. No, when they had puzzled over the change in her skin, she told them she was on a detox diet and was having early nights while Jack was away. One of the girls at the tennis club had actually accused her of having had surgery done secretly, but she had offered to let her check for scars, which she did, and when she found none, that had been the end of that.

When the door opened and Jack came in, dropping his case on the floor inside the door as usual, she went to meet him.

Hi, darl,' he greeted her, dropping a perfunctory kiss on her cheek on his way to the bar to pour himself a drink. ‘Have I ever had the week from hell. Those bastards up in Noosa drive a hard bargain.' He paused with the decanter in his hand. ‘Drink?' he asked.

‘Please.' She nodded.

‘But it was worth it,' he continued as he poured the drinks. ‘I can be just as hard as them. And I've just tied up the biggest deal on offer in this neck of the woods.'

He came towards her with the glasses in his hand and a satisfied smile on his face.

‘Worth a clear twenty million dollars to me.'

‘That's wonderful, Jack,' she told him, taking the drink from him.

‘But Jeez, I'm tired.' He raised his glass. ‘Cheers,' he said automatically as he tossed down a quarter of the glass. ‘I need to sit down and relax.'

He crossed to one of the large white leather chairs and flopped down into it, and Sarah sat opposite him.

‘It's been hard bloody work, you know, meetings day and night, tramping around the site.' He downed another good sized portion of his drink and sighed. ‘Ah, that's better. Nothing like a good single malt to relax you.'

He leant back and looked across at Sarah.

‘You're looking very nice today,' he told her.

‘Thank you.'

‘Yes, you should wear that blue colour more often. It does something for you.'

‘You're being very flattering today.' She smiled.

‘I mean it. You're looking good.' He paused, a contemplative look on his face as he scrutinised her, as if he hadn't seen her for a long while. ‘I feel as if I've been neglecting you a bit lately, what with the pressure of work. Would you like to go to dinner at the club tonight?'

‘I'd like it very much.'

‘Good.' His eyes were still on her. ‘Now that I've got this Noosa thing in the bag, I've been thinking. Maybe we should get away somewhere for a bit. Go somewhere nice, just the two of us. What do you think?'

‘I think that's wonderful.' A smile spread over Sarah's face. ‘Where do you think we should go?'

‘Maybe a week or so down in Sydney. Go to the races. Take in a few shows. Live it up a bit. And you'd better buy yourself some more things in that colour. Blue really suits you.'

***

Marie walked in on Carl and Greg in the laboratory as they were having a heated discussion.

‘Forget everything else,' she told them. ‘I'm here to tell you we have to have more of the serum. Let me show you something.' She opened her satchel and took out two photos and held them up, side by side.

‘Just take a look at these.'

Greg reached out his hand and took them from her. He studied them carefully before handing them over to Carl.

‘Are they genuine?' he asked Marie.

‘Absolutely. This is the client I did a trial on. The photos show you the results after nine treatments. Less in fact. I could have stopped after six or seven but I did the last using only aloe vera gel. I had to make her think she was getting her full money's worth.'

‘How much did you charge her?'

‘Ten. Thousand. Dollars.'

He whistled softly. ‘You're joking?'

Marie shook her head. ‘Wealthy women will pay anything. Besides, she got her money's worth. A plastic surgeon would probably have charged her more. And she didn't have to endure the knife. She's over the moon. Says it's saved her marriage.'

‘How long will that last?' Greg nodded towards the photos.

‘Normal ageing will take over from here. But she'll be back every month for a top-up.'

‘And how much will you charge her for that?'

‘A thousand dollars.'

Greg grinned. ‘Nice.'

Marie spread her hands. ‘I tell you, it's a miracle product. No-one will ever need to look old again.'

‘Provided they can pay for it.'

‘Provided they can pay for it,' she agreed.

They both turned to Carl, who stood with the photos in his hands, listening.

‘So, Carl, what have you got to say, now you've seen those?'Greg asked him.

‘They're amazing, it's almost unbelievable.'

‘You better believe it,' Marie told him grimly. ‘And get your arse into gear and improve on that aroma and the texture, and produce some more of the stuff.'

‘I've just been telling Greg, it's not that easy. I need the plant.'

‘But you've been analysing it. You can work out what's in it, can't you? You're supposed to be a cosmetic chemist.' Marie's tone was scathing.

‘Of course I can work out what's in it. But it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Some of the elements are not known. There's an unknown plant in it, and I need the plant,' he reiterated doggedly.

‘And the plant is somewhere, anywhere, in the Daintree rainforest. And no-one knows where,' Greg added. ‘So you're just going to have to substitute with something else.'

‘You don't understand,' Carl bellowed. ‘I can't substitute anything else because there is nothing. Get that into your thick heads.'

They stared at him in silence. Marie was the first to break it, and she spoke slowly.

‘So we're going to let millions, in fact untold wealth, slip through our fingers because we can't get hold of this plant.'

Greg took a deep breath. ‘We can't give up now. We're so close.'

‘So what are you going to do about it?' Carl asked sarcastically. ‘Hire a thousand searchers to go out and search the whole bloody Daintree?'

‘If we could afford it, I would,' Greg countered, ‘but even then they might not have any luck. We have to think of another way.' He paused. ‘I wonder what the Coopers are doing about it. I'll try to find out.'

Chapter 22

At that moment Elly was showing her mother the results of her latest experiment, elated at the result.

‘Compare the texture,' she told Beth, handing her a spatula to dip into the serum.

Beth scooped out a little of the mixture and placed a dollop on the back of her hand, where she slowly smoothed it around. Then she raised her hand to her nose and sniffed appreciatively. She looked up with a delighted smile.