Flight to Coorah Creek (22 page)

‘So, if you need me, I'll just be a couple of minutes away.' Ellen smiled at the young couple.

‘Thank you so much.'

The girl, Andrea, was almost asleep. Ellen couldn't blame her. She'd been through so much. The accident in the cave. The journey back to Coorah Creek with a broken arm must have been terribly painful. Not to mention having her arm set. Then her doctor had been called away. Normally Sister Luke would look after anyone at the hospital, but she'd gone on the plane too. Ellen didn't know many details about the emergency. Adam had simply called her and asked her to look after the young couple until he and Sister Luke returned. It had been obvious from the tone of his voice that something was very wrong and she guessed that meant his patient was badly hurt. Ellen had been more than happy to make sure everything was all right at this end.

Lachlan was sitting on the side of his girlfriend's bed. The two of them would spend the night in the hospital. Apparently their camping gear and car were still out at the national park.

‘I'd like to say thanks to the guys who got Andrea out of the cave,' he said. ‘They were pretty amazing. The ranger … and Jack.'

‘Yes. I imagine they were.' Ellen smiled. ‘The doctor will probably want you to stay in town for a few days and I'm sure you'll get the chance to say thanks. In the meantime, just relax. Try to get some sleep. I'll be back later with something for you to eat.'

‘Thank you,' Andrea whispered. Lachlan just settled more comfortably on the bed, taking his girlfriend's good hand in his as she closed her eyes again.

Ellen smiled as she walked down the hallway. They were such a nice young couple. And so very much in love. It was beautiful to see. It was almost enough to give her hope that one day she might find someone to love her that way. She opened the back door of the hospital and stepped outside. A short storm had passed through the town a few hours earlier. The rain had already soaked into the ground, leaving no trace of where it had fallen. But the air still retained a sharp sweetness. She closed her eyes to take a long, deep breath. When she opened them again, she saw Jack walking towards her from the direction of the house. He looked up and saw her in the doorway. Then he smiled. Ellen's heart did a little backflip. That boy was right. Jack was pretty wonderful. They hadn't had much time alone lately – ever. Maybe Jess was right. Maybe she should just say something … if only she could find the courage!

‘G'day, Ellen.' Jack wasn't wearing a hat, but still he gave the impression of tipping one at her. She felt her lips start to curl into a smile … and reached inside her and found her courage.

‘Hello, Jack.'

‘How are the patients doing?'

‘They're fine. I'll be back later to bring them some dinner.' Ellen took a deep breath and before her courage could slip through her fingers she made a decision. ‘Would you like to come around for dinner tonight? With Jess and Adam gone it will be just us and the kids.'

If only she was one of those women who could flirt. A toss of her hair. A flutter of eyelashes. Anything to let Jack know that this was more than a dinner invitation.

‘Sure. I can keep an eye on the kids while you look after the patients.'

Ellen took a deep breath. She looked down at her hands. ‘Thanks. But that wasn't what I was thinking. I thought it would be nice if you and I could … spend some time together.' Ellen raced to the end of the sentence before her courage failed her. Fearfully, she glanced up at Jack's face. He looked surprised … and … pleased?

‘That would be great,' he said softly, and smiled. Ellen felt her heart race. Was it fear or pleasure? Or something entirely different?

‘Good,' she said.

For a few seconds they both stood there in silence. Close enough to touch – but not touching.

‘I'd better pick up the kids …'

‘I have gotta get to the strip …'

They said at once. Then they both laughed. Ellen thought she was going crazy, but Jack sounded almost as nervous as she felt.

‘I had best collect the kids,' she finally said again.

‘And I have to get down to the strip,' he added.

‘I'll see you later then?' Ellen asked.

‘You can count on it.'

They both hesitated for just the merest fraction of a heartbeat, and then Ellen turned to walk back to her house. She heard Jack walking in the other direction towards his ute. Her heart was still racing – and this time it was definitely with fear. But she wasn't going to listen to it. She
was not
! To silence it, she began to think about dinner. She had to prepare something for the young couple in the hospital. That would be easy. She didn't imagine they would be very hungry. Or very fussy. She would cook up some beef and vegetables in a stew, with mashed potatoes. That would be fine for them. She would pick up some fruit juice when she went to collect the kids. Put it on Adam's tab at the store.

But what would she cook for Jack?

He'd been coming to The Mineside every week for dinner – so she couldn't cook one of her standard recipes. Steak was out too. But she wanted it to be special. The store had plenty of meat – lamb and steak mainly. She wondered if maybe they had some frozen salmon. There was a pasta recipe she could try – with a creamy lemon sauce. With a salad and some garlic bread. Or was that too much? She didn't want him to think … or did she?

‘This is just ridiculous,' she said out loud. ‘He'll eat whatever I cook him. And I don't want to make too much fuss. What will he think?'

But as she walked towards the school, she started to wonder what she should wear.

It was going to be hard to say goodbye. The hardest thing she had ever done. Jessica looked down at the vast expanse of desert beneath her. That's how her life was going to be from now on. Empty. As empty as the co-pilot's seat beside her. As empty as the Adam shaped space in her life … as empty as her heart.

She automatically made another check of her instruments. He eyes and her hands and her brain were flying the aircraft, but her heart and her soul were so very conscious of the man sitting in the rear seat of the plane. He'd lost his patient. Sister Luke had given Jess the news as they prepared for take-off. It was the first time since she'd come to Coorah Creek that Adam had lost a patient. She had glimpsed the pain on his face as he'd boarded the plane. Her every instinct was to help him. Once there might have been some small comfort she could give to ease his burden, but not any longer. All she could do now was make everything worse. Her only choice was to remain as distant from him as he was from her.

The radio crackled. Jack's voice was a welcome intrusion into her loneliness.

‘Receiving you, Jack,' she replied. ‘We are on our way home.' Her voice almost broke as she said the word. It wasn't going to be her home for much longer.

The long pause before Jack spoke again signified that he understood their mission had failed.

‘Roger that.'

Even over the radio, Jack didn't sound his usual cheerful self. Was the whole world sad today?

‘We'll be home for dinner,' Jess told her friend, not that she was going to be eating anything. She'd do what Adam wanted – pack her bags and go. If there wasn't a bus or a train, she'd hitch a ride with someone heading towards Mount Isa. Or Brisbane. Or Birdsville for that matter. Anywhere away from Coorah Creek. But first, she would talk to Jack and Ellen – and Sister Luke and Trish at the pub, too. Now that she was about to lose them, it was suddenly clear that she had made a lot of friends out here. People she cared for. People who cared for her and would be disappointed or angry or hurt when they heard.

‘Roger,' Jack said again and signed off.

As she did the same, Jess felt something. She quickly checked her instruments. There was nothing wrong with the readings. Her eyes swiftly flew to the sky outside. But there was nothing there either. The sky was a pure and unbroken blue arc. Cloudless and calm. Still, some instinct deep inside her gut told her something wasn't right.

A minute passed. Another, with nothing untoward. She shook her head. She was imagining things. She just needed to keep her head together for a little longer, and then this would all be over.

It wasn't a thought that gave her any comfort.

Jack left the aircraft hangar unlocked. Jess and the doc would be back soon, he thought as he slipped behind the wheel of his ute. Damn! Much as he liked Adam and Jessica – that house where Ellen lived sometimes felt like some sort of meeting place – with half the town in and out every few minutes. Okay, that was overstating it just a bit. Having Jess and Ellen share the house was working out just fine for everyone – except perhaps for someone who wanted a little quiet time alone with Ellen and the kids. With Ellen.

There had been something different about her today. She'd invited him around for dinner before, but this time, something about the way she had smiled. The way she had looked at him. If he didn't know better, he would have said she was flirting with him.

And he did know better.

Ellen didn't flirt. God knew she had no reason to want to attract any man's attention after what had been done to her in the past. He knew she'd lied when she said Harry had protected his sister from a vicious dog. Jack knew exactly what Ellen wasn't saying about the life she and the kids had lived. He knew he was different. He could never hurt her. Or those two great kids. But she didn't know that, and he had no idea how he would ever convince her.

His mind stayed with Ellen as he drove back to his own small house. He lived in one of the mine cottages. It was small and neat and well kept. He'd never really thought about how lonely it was – not until Ellen and Harry and Bethany stepped down off that train and into his life. Now the cottage seemed very quiet and very empty. More than anything in the world, he wanted to change that.

He wanted to watch Harry grow up. He wanted to teach him how to drive and change a tyre. He wanted to teach him how to be a man. As for Bethany, he wanted to fold her under his arm and protect her from the whole world. He wanted to stand in the doorway scowling at some nervous young man who had come to take her on a date. He wanted to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day.

And Ellen? What did he want for Ellen?

He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted her never to be afraid again. He wanted to come home at the end of a day and have her smile at him.

He wanted her to reach out and take his hand.

He wanted her as a man wants a woman.

He wanted to run his fingers through her hair and taste her lips. He wanted to stroke her soft skin, and have her understand that a man's touch should bring her pleasure. He wanted to press his lips into the hollow at the base of her throat and feel her pulse beating with his. He wanted to hear her cry out with joy as their bodies joined. And he wanted her to trust him enough to fall asleep in his arms, knowing she was safe and loved.

He wanted to wake up with her tomorrow – and every tomorrow for the rest of his life.

Maybe it was time to start working on that future.

Jack took the time to shower, washing away the sweat of his day's work. Then he picked up the new Uncle Scrooge comic he'd received in the mail two days ago. It was still in its plastic wrapper. Harry would enjoy opening it. It was a reprint of an old, old story called ‘Back to the Klondike'. In it, Scrooge reacquaints himself with a long lost love by the name of Glittering Goldie. Jack smiled. Scrooge's romance did not have a happy ever after ending. Hopefully, he would do better. As he walked to the door, he glanced over at the place where his collection of Disney comics used to reside. That collection had taken years to assemble and included rare first issues that were valued at several hundred dollars each. The shelves were bare now. The comics were all in Harry's bedroom. He couldn't think of a better place for them to be.

It took just a few minutes for him to drive to Ellen's place. As he parked the car, she appeared on the front steps. She looked wonderful. She was wearing a simple summer dress that made her look like a young girl. Her hair shone where the setting sun touched it. And when she smiled at him, his heart wasn't the only part of him that reacted.

Perhaps it was actually a good thing that Jess and the doc were coming back. The way he was feeling right now, being alone with Ellen might not be such a good idea.

Never had time passed so slowly. Never had the journey seemed so very long or the outback so incredibly vast. Or so lonely. The blood red earth rolling beneath the plane seemed endless. She wished the journey was over. And she wished time would stand still. She wished that journalist had never come to Coorah Creek. And most of all she wished she had been honest with Adam from the very start.

It was no good wishing for things she could never have. And she would never have Adam's respect or friendship or …

She tried not to even think the word. Even to think the word would be to define exactly what she had lost. The thing that she wanted more than anything else in the world. Adam's love. She wanted – needed – Adam as much as this plane she loved needed to fly. An aeroplane that didn't fly was a lost and broken thing – without purpose or beauty. Without Adam – what was she? Without Adam she might become what the newspapers had accused her of being – heartless and cold. Beautiful on the outside perhaps, but dead inside.

It was more than she could stand. Something deep inside her cried out in pain at the thought. Her breath caught in her throat … and she felt the silent emptiness of the outback invade her soul. For the first time in her life, being a pilot and flying her plane meant nothing to her. She just wanted this flight to be over.

The port side engine missed a beat.

Instantly Jessica's every sense was focused on her aeroplane.

Her eyes checked her instruments. There was nothing wrong. She checked the skies about her. They were clear. Through the soles of her feet she could feel the rhythm of the propellers. The engine noise was a steady hum. Everything was as it should be, but her instinct told her there was something wrong.

For an eternity, everything seemed normal. Jessica listened to every beat of the engines. Every noise of the wind. Her fingers held her controls lightly, ready to sense the slightest change. She was beginning to think she must have been mistaken, when the port engine missed another beat. Then another.

Jess checked her fuel gauges. Both tanks were reading three quarters full.

The steady hum of the engines had resumed, but Jess knew now that something was very wrong.

A minute or two later, the port engine misfired loudly. This time her passengers noticed.

‘Jess?' Sister Luke called from her seat in the cabin. ‘Is everything all right?' She sounded a little frightened.

Jess was about to offer reassurance when the starboard engine also missed a beat. It was pointless trying to reassure her passengers. Sister Luke had every reason to be frightened.

‘Jess?' Adam slipped into the co-pilot's seat, any tension between them forgotten in the face of a terrible new dread.

‘Houston, we've got a problem,' Jess said.

‘What is it?'

‘I'm not sure. I refuelled back there. If the fuel was dirty or water had seeped into the drum …'

‘Is that why the engine is miss—'

His words were drowned out by another loud bang, and the starboard engine died completely.

‘Damn it!' Jess exclaimed. ‘We're in trouble now.'

She reached for the controls, her training taking over from conscious thought. She feathered the prop and it slowly stopped spinning.

‘Sister Luke,' she called without turning her head. ‘Make sure you are well strapped in. This is going to get rough. You too,' she added to Adam.

The metallic click of his seat belt locking closed was drowned out by the explosive sound of the port engine as it flamed out.

An eerie silence settled around them, broken only by the sound of rushing air.

‘I'm going to try to restart the engines,' Jess said loudly to both her passengers. ‘Brace yourselves.'

She didn't have time to panic. Or even wonder if the restart would work. Her training took over as she worked her way down the checklist. This was not the routine that had always given her such reassurance when she flew. This was a different checklist altogether – and there was very small comfort in it.

Power lever – on idle.

Fuel firewall valve – open.

Ignition … she glanced at the glowing red light. On.

Generator – on.

Engine auto-ignition – armed.

‘Jess …' Adam's voice betrayed no sign of the fear he must be feeling.

He should be afraid. She was.

She turned the radio to the emergency frequency. ‘Get on the radio,' she told Adam. ‘We need to send a mayday.'

Jess hit the starter. Both engines responded, and for one brief moment she thought they were all right, but the engines spluttered a couple of times then fell silent. She glanced at her altitude indicator. They were at twelve thousand feet. Her airspeed was just one hundred and thirty knots. If she wanted to try an air start, she had to make that decision now.

‘Mayday. Mayday.' Adam spoke beside her. She glanced at him. His face was worried, but calm. There was no panic in his eyes. He was a good man to have beside you in an emergency. ‘This is Goongalla Air Ambulance. We're …' He stopped and turned to Jess. ‘What do I tell them?'

‘Say Beechcraft King Air has lost both engines. Passing through twelve thousand feet. We are five hundred kilometres south-west of Mount Isa. Three POB. That's people on board,' she added quickly in response to his frown. ‘Pause for a few seconds after that and hope someone responds. If they don't, do it again. Just keep doing it.'

She mentally called up another of the checklists she had memorised so carefully during her training.

Propellers – full forward.

Fuel valve – open.

She didn't think this was going to work, but she had to try it. She knew that behind her, in the cabin, Sister Luke would have her hands clasped on the wooden cross she wore and would be praying. Jess hoped someone was listening.

‘Mayday. Goongalla Air Ambulance. We have lost …' beside her Adam's voice droned on. Controlled and clear.

These two lives were in her hands now. Her own too.

She dropped the nose of the plane, losing valuable height in an effort to pick up airspeed. The propellers were turning now, she waited … waited … and hit the starter.

Nothing.

She carefully raised the nose of the plane. She needed every foot of height she could get.

‘Adam,' she said, ‘add that we are going to make an emergency landing.'

She felt him tense beside her.

‘Where?'

‘Anywhere I can find that's flat and clear. I don't suppose you know of any properties around here with airstrips?'

‘Not unless we go back to Clifton Downs.'

Jess shook her head. ‘We'd never make it. And I'd rather not turn – we'd lose a lot of height.'

‘Then what are you going to do?'

‘We are going to start looking for some clear flat land.'

She turned to look at him. Without the drone of the engines, it was eerily quiet in the cockpit. His eyes met hers and all that had passed since the morning seemed to just disappear in the face of their danger. There was so much Jess wanted to say. Right now, all the secrets between them and all the reasons for keeping those secrets seemed so foolish. If only she could turn back time …

But that wasn't going to happen. In a few minutes, she was going to have to put this aircraft down. Without engines. Without an airstrip. With nothing but her skill. The last thing she needed was to let her feelings for Adam stop her from doing her job.

‘Look around us,' she said, dragging her eyes away from him towards her own window. ‘We need some flat land. A bit of an uphill slope won't hurt. No trees. No big rocks either. And keep sending that mayday,' she said.

‘What if no one hears us?'

‘Just keep sending it.' Jess turned away from the window and glanced towards the back of the plane. Sister Luke was sitting, her eyes shut and her lips moving in prayer. ‘Sister Luke.'

The nun's eyes snapped open. Her face was pale, but she was in control of her fear. ‘Jess?'

‘We are going to have to make an emergency landing. I need you to make sure there is nothing loose in the cabin. Fasten all the seat belts. Make sure everything is stowed in the lockers. I don't want anything flying around the plane.'

‘Very well.'

‘Then get yourself strapped in nice and tight … and Sister Luke?'

‘Yes?'

‘If you can keep praying while you do all that, I'd be very grateful.'

Sister Luke almost smiled. ‘You don't have to worry about that. I'm way ahead of you.'

Jess glanced at her instrument panel. She had to set for best glide. Her landing gear was already up. She adjusted the wing flaps and feathered both propellers. They slowed and stopped … useless now.

She allowed herself one quick glance at Adam. He was still making the mayday call, but his eyes were fixed on the window beside him, searching the ground for some safe place to land. She needed to do the same. She dragged her eyes away and looked out of the window.

The land below them was parched and dry. Jess decided that was a blessing because there were very few real trees, just low scrubby bush. But the wind, torrential rains and flash floods of the outback had carved deep gouges in the earth, limiting the amount of really flat land. And what flat land there was would be well littered with rock and stone. For a few seconds she thought of turning west. The desert sand would make a softer landing. There might even be a salt pan between the dunes. But that route would take them further from their expected flight path. The rescue planes might not look there. It was a tough call and the plane was losing height fast.

‘Jess … what about that?' Adam indicated a patch of ground to their right. Jess strained to look.

‘It looks clear – maybe even sandy,' Adam said.

He was right. Some freak of wind had deposited a long wide drift of wind-blown desert sand along the base of a steep ridge. There wasn't a lot of it – but there might be enough. The sand would help slow the plane once they touched down. With only a handbrake and flaps, she was going to need a lot of room to stop. Or some help.

The problem was, to reach that landing site, she'd have to turn. Turning the plane meant losing height; and she didn't have any height to spare. If she turned and then found the site wasn't suitable, she wouldn't have any options left.

She didn't have a lot of options now.

‘Adam. Get down to the back of the plane. Strap yourself in.'

‘No. I'll stay here with you.' His voice was firm.

She didn't have time to think why he wanted to stay with her. ‘It's safer in the back. Go.'

Adam shook his head and once more repeated the mayday call. Jess reached out and took the handset away from him.

‘You've done everything you can. We are going down. Get back there and make sure everything is locked down tight. Make sure Sister Luke is strapped in. Once we stop moving, I want you to get Sister Luke out of the plane. The tanks are still full of fuel. The electrics are off – so the chance of an explosion is small. But after we're down, if the tanks have ruptured, just one spark …'

She saw it then – the first flash of fear in his eyes. Fire! The thought of flames did to him what the idea of a crash landing could not. She could almost feel his flesh tighten in anticipation of the pain. She wished now she had said something about the scars on his body. Maybe she could have said or done something that would take that look from his eyes. Make it easier for him to face what might lie ahead. But it was too late now.

‘I need to know you are both prepared for this,' she said quietly. ‘And I need to know you will look after Sister Luke.'

Jess could feel the turmoil inside Adam and for a few seconds her feelings for him blotted out her pilot's instincts. She reached out one hand and gently touched his arm. This time he didn't push her away. Their eyes locked for a moment, then Adam nodded abruptly and climbed out of the co-pilot's seat.

Sister Luke's eyes were shut. Her normally serene face was too pale as her lips moved in prayer. The fine-boned hands clutching her wooden cross were white. Adam's heart clenched with concern for her. He dropped into a crouch beside her seat.

‘Sister Luke?'

When she opened her eyes, she frowned. ‘Adam? What are you doing? You should be strapped in.'

As if to accentuate her words, the plane began to bank quite sharply. As it did, it also started to drop. Adam grabbed the arm of the seat opposite Sister Luke and dragged himself in. He pulled the seat belt tight.

‘Jess says that as soon as the plane has come to a stop, we have to get out. There's a lot of fuel in the tanks … and …' his voice trailed off as the familiar fear tightened his throat. Not fear of dying. Fear of feeling the flames licking his skin. Fear of the terrible pain. Fear that he would want to die.

‘Adam.' Sister Luke's voice was soft. ‘I confess that I am terribly afraid. Would you hold my hand?'

No one knew better than Sister Luke how he hated to be touched. She was the one who changed his bandages all those years ago. She knew the pain the gentlest touch had caused him then. She knew how hard it was for him to accept such a touch now. She held out her hand towards him. It was shaking. Adam reached out and enclosed her hand in his larger, stronger one. He was appalled at how frail she suddenly seemed.

‘Jess will take care of us,' he said. ‘Trust her.'

‘I do.'

Adam looked towards the front of the plane. Jessica's body was taut with concentration, her head held high. He suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that he had left something important unsaid. And now, maybe he'd never get the chance to say it.

‘Brace yourselves,' Jess called, without turning her head.

Adam looked out of the window. The rocky red earth was racing up to meet them. They were going too fast! And where was the sand? If the plane dropped among those rocks it would be torn apart. And them with it.