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‘Nice. Come on, then.’

She confidently kicked Misty into a trot and followed him down the gravel road past the sheepyards. It was bliss to be back on a horse, and she would have felt completely happy if she had not had a sneaking suspicion that she was doing a crazy thing by accepting this offer of employment. Hudson Grey disconcerted her. He was all the things she disliked in a man, suave, sophisticated, and full of self-confidence, well . . . arrogantly sure of himself, really. If that’s all there was to him, she could handle that, but she could not deny that he was exceedingly attractive, that he had masculine magnetism that disturbed her, and there was that hardness in him that almost amounted to leashed violence. Swiftly she altered her decision. She would not stay here. As soon as the insurance agent checked her car, she would leave.

‘What do you think of it?’ Hudson had reined in and was watching her carefully.

‘What do I think of what?’ Serenity was annoyed that she had been so deep in thought that she had become unaware of her surroundings.

‘Sarah Tarrant’s house. I thought you might like to see it.’

Serenity looked towards the old rambling, unpainted house, its timbers weathered silver by time, its roof red-brown with rust. Roses and honeysuckle climbed the railings of the broad verandah which encircled the house, and she loved it. The garden was a riot of flowers, roses and carnations, lavender and mint, gladioli, fuchsia and nightscented stock romped in a confusion that was a glowing patchwork of colour, and the lazy drone of the bees and clacking of the cicadas filled the air with sound, as the perfume filled her senses.

‘I suppose I should get the painters in,’ Hudson said. ‘But somehow I keep putting it off. The house and garden set in the native bush here has so much of her personality still, that I almost expect to see Sarah walking down the path to greet me.’

‘Who lives here?’ Serenity asked carefully.

‘My married couple, Tessa and Lee, and their five children. They are away on holiday at the moment. You’ll like them, they’re a beaut family, and she loves this old house.’

‘I’m glad you didn't paint it,’ Serenity commented as she wheeled Misty away. He must not know that she was so deeply moved that to stay there another second without claiming Sarah for her own would have been impossible. She was glad it was empty. She would come back on her own and sit on the sun-drenched verandah and soak up the impressions of the past, and feel the imprint of Sarah’s personality seep into her being and smooth out the raw edges of grief and loss that were threatening to overwhelm her.

As Hudson caught up and rode beside her he demanded in concern, ‘Are you up to this ride? You look so pale you’re almost transparent. We can go tomorrow— there is no rush, as you’ll be here for quite a while yet. I think you should turn back and have an hour or two in bed.’

‘I look pale and wan and unattractive because I have just finished a stint on night-duty, and I think it’s far from complimentary for you to keep flinging it at me,’ she said with asperity, glad that her broad-brimmed hat shaded her eyes from his penetrating gaze.

‘I think nothing of the sort, that you’re unattractive I mean. As a matter of fact when you sat gazing at the house you reminded me of Sarah in the strangest way, the same long slender neck, the same beautifully moulded high cheek-bones and exquisite profile, but there the resemblance ended. You’ve got a waspish tongue and a perverse nature, not at all like my Sarah.’

Serenity chuckled, ‘Glad you noticed, so don’t try to bully me. I am perfectly well and I want to enjoy this ride. It’s such a glorious day. Like the song, some days are diamonds, some days are stones.’

‘Okay, Paleface, be it on your own head. Follow me.’

He flicked the reins and his big black horse broke into a canter and then a gallop.

Misty tossed her head impatiently until Serenity urged her on and as the horse lengthened stride she felt the joy of the rhythm and speed of the chase as the wind whipped her hair and face. Down the gravel road they galloped, past the stockyards and through the open gate then out across the green pasture. The thrill of the ride blotted out the past, and blurred the future, leaving her to concentrate on trying to catch the big man and his big horse and his retinue of dogs.

As he slowed to a canter she joined him, breathless and laughing. ‘That was marvellous.’

‘Good, although a bit unfair, Rajah runs the legs off your mustang. We’ll have to give you something better.’

As they rode through a clear mountain stream and into a stand of magnificent
rimu
and
kahikatea
forest giants and elegant tree ferns the horses slowed to a walk, enjoying the shade and shadow of the cool green depths. Native birds were everywhere, pigeons and tuis, fantails and mocking-birds and their liquid song-notes hung on the air.

They emerged suddenly on the grassy bank of a wild and beautiful river, flowing deep blue-green and broad from the mountain gorge towards the sea, the surface so smooth that until she saw the white-flecked water and whirlpools as it forced its way against some rocks she had thought it calm.

‘The Haupiri. It looks peaceful enough today, but you should see it in a flood. It would scare you then. We only get about two hours to clear the riverbed when it starts to rain heavily, then down it pours, bank to bank carrying everything before it, a raging torrent that nothing can survive. It’s master here.’

‘I thought you were,’ Serenity commented.

‘I would be foolish to think so. Most West Coast rivers are like this one, fierce, untamed and treacherous. My father, along with the Catchment Board, has spent literally thousands of dollars on this beauty trying to cajole it, control it, and discipline it, but he’d be the first to admit that he’ll never win the battle.’

‘You sound almost proud of that,’ she said, puzzled by his tone.

‘I suppose I am. You always admire a worthy adversary. This river is like a woman, wild and tempestuous, incredibly beautiful, entirely unpredictable, lulling you into a false sense of security for a few well-behaved years, then with full strength and vigour it goes on the rampage, carving out new territories for itself, destroying established pastureland, threatening access roads. When it does that the challenge is on, and every piece of modern technology, huge earth moving machines and years of experience are thrown into the war to bring it back on course. Sure, I love it, but I watch it.’

'I
f it’s so difficult, why not sell out and buy a place safe from flooding?’

‘What a mundane mind you have. Where would be the challenge in that? Besides, all the sweetest and best land is riverbed country.’

Serenity watched the river sliding irresistibly by on its way to the sea, glorious in its wantonness and beauty. ‘And the wife you’re thinking of taking for yourself, is she like the Haupiri, tempestuous, unpredictable, a challenge?’

‘No, she’s none of those.’ His hazel eyes glinted angrily.

‘A mundane choice, perhaps?’ Serenity questioned with a barbed tongue. ‘Or is she like Sarah Tarrant, quiet, submissive, loving you in spite of your overbearing ways?’

‘How charmingly put. No, she’s not like Sarah, but then
her
model is not available today. It’s a throw-away society. If it doesn’t work, scrap it.’

‘What a rotten attitude you have to marriage,’ Serenity shouted at him, completely outraged by his remark, and not knowing why. ‘And this girl you’ve got on appro.... does she know that you don’t love her? Does she know that you’re playing ’Eeny meeny miney mo’ with her life, maybe I’ll take her, maybe I won’t?’

‘Yes, she does,’ Hudson said calmly.

‘Well, all I can say is that she must be a right pathetic lump, but then she would have to be, wouldn’t she, even to
consider
marrying you?’

He sat watching her thoughtfully, and his mouth quirked as he looked at her furious face, then he threw back his head and roared with unrestrained laughter, startling the birds from a nearby tree.

Serenity just glared at him, not in the slightest amused.

At last he controlled himself. ‘You’re incredible, like a bucket of cold water in the face on a frosty morning. Breath-taking, but refreshing. Come on, Paleface, let’s find the horses. Follow me.’

Serenity clucked Misty into action and resentfully glared at Hudson’s broad back, refusing to admire the relaxed, easy style of his handling of the impatient Rajah: in perfect command, yet making it look so easy. Of course he knew exactly the attractive picture he made on that marvellous black horse, probably rode it for the effect alone.

He turned in the saddle to make sure she was coming, then as if reading her thoughts, he grinned and winked wickedly before turning away.

Still simmering, she rode cautiously along the river’s edge past the heavy rock protection works and out on to the sand and shingle. Why was she so angry? Admittedly, he was a handsome brute and the sun glinted on his burnished auburn hair in a spectacular way, and his tall, tanned, slim-hipped figure, completely at one with his horse, blended into this rugged mountain land incredibly well. So what! There was nothing in that to bring her to boiling point.

His attitude to marriage? It had
nothing
to do with her. If some dim-witted female was prepared to sit quivering on the shelf, waiting for him to summon her to his bridal-bed, it was still none of her business. It just let the whole female species down, that was all. But then Serenity herself wasn’t an ardent feminist, so there was nothing there for her burning anger to feed on.

‘We’ll cross about half a mile up; the river divides into several streams and there is no danger. We’ll just have to ride till the horses show themselves. They could be in the gorge on a day like this, or conversely down by the bridge three or four miles down river. Enjoying yourself?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ she answered primly. She was having trouble with Misty now that they were riding side by side. Misty kept edging closer and closer to Rajah until Serenity was riding knee to knee with Hudson.

‘Don’t fight her,’ Hudson offered. ‘These horses work a lot together and are friends. You’ll battle her all day if you try to keep a respectable distance between them.’

‘I suppose you picked them for us today for that reason.’

There was laughter in his voice as he answered, ‘Of course. I didn’t know how well you could ride. I want to be close enough to haul you back on the saddle if you look like cartwheeling into the drink. I don’t like getting my feet wet.’

‘A real hero,’ Serenity observed nastily.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. But we get droves of people out here. Most of them go gaga about the scenery, and all of them say they can ride like an Apache. We used to accept their words, but have learnt over the years, after a few nasty accidents, that people are prone to exaggerate their accomplishments.’

‘Well, I didn’t,’ Serenity said indignantly.

‘No, you didn’t. I can see you’re a fairly accomplished rider, but you’re in unknown country, and until you’re familiar with the terrain, it’s better to be safe than sorry.’

It was a perfectly reasonable explanation. It showed sound common sense, and she was furiously angry with him all over again, for no reason. He had not been patronising, and she did feel much safer crossing the streams on the up side of Rajah, Although the crystal- clear water only came up to the stirrups the current was swift and strong, and in the wider parts had a mesmerising effect on her.

‘Give her her head,’ Hudson advised. ‘She’s a real river horse, and she’ll pick her way over with the skill of a ballet dancer.’

‘Sure.’ Serenity wasn’t frightened, but she was aware that there was danger and that she must balance her weight so as to be a help and not a hindrance to the surefooted horse as it negotiated the big boulders and loose shingle on the river floor.

There was colour everywhere, the vivid blue of the sky, the purple forest-clad surrounding hills, and gold everywhere; golden sunlight, golden gorse flowers, carpets of dandelions and buttercups. But green predominated, the thousand shades of green of the native bush, and the lush green of the grass on the islands where the sleek well-bred Hereford cows grazed with their enchanting calves, until disturbed by the horses. Then they crashed away and were soon lost in the
manuka
and low scrub.

‘The horses can’t go further up than this, we’ll head downstream,’ Hudson commented as the river neared the gorge with its steep rock-slid walls covered with bush and fern, and the streams blended and knit back into one deep strand of river.

‘I didn’t mean you to waste a whole day on me,’ Serenity protested as they turned in the other direction. ‘I feel quite guilty.’

His face creased into a smile. I'm not wasting my day. I had to come out and check on the feed situation here, and on the river. We’ve had a wonderful year climate- wise, abundant growth. The cattle love foraging out here and there’s tons of feed. They’ll be fine here for perhaps a month yet, which means I can make an extra paddock or two of hay, in case of a severe winter.’

‘That relieves my mind.’

‘I should have been gallant and protested a day in your company could never be considered wasted.’

‘I prefer honesty,’ Serenity told him crisply.

He chuckled. ‘Well, I can be honest and say I am enjoying your company, and I can be honest and say the time has not been wasted, because I am also assessing your value as a future employee.’

‘And are you impressed by my potential?’ she demanded with a hint of sarcasm.

‘Without a doubt, more and more each minute.’

‘Huh!’ Serenity had it on the tip of her tongue to say she was not going to stay under any circumstances, but she was still wavering, and decided to keep her options open.

‘Taking on new staff out here is always a risk. Some people love the isolation, others loathe it. Then I have some young single chaps here and a flirtatious female could work havoc with my production schedule.’