Blackpeak Station by Holly Ford Read Free Book Online Page B

eye.’
    Was that all? A broken leg? Thank Christ. ‘What happened?’
    ‘You were bringing the cattle through the creek and a calf crashed into you. Archie went under, and he must have kicked you in the head while he was trying to get up …’
    ‘Archie!’ Charlotte struggled to sit up. ‘What happened to Archie? Is he okay?’
    Rob gently restrained her. ‘Archie’s fine, he’s right outside.’
    Charlotte relaxed. ‘So what happened then?’
    ‘Well, I see you go under, so I come charging in to get you.’ Rob laughed. ‘I’m diving around frantically, I come up for air, and standing there on the bank is Archie, with you dangling from one stirrup.’
    Charlotte laughed, and winced. ‘God, no wonder everything hurts so much.’
    ‘Yes, well, it wasn’t funny at the time, I can tell you.’ He stroked the hair away from her bruised forehead. ‘There aren’t many people who can say they owe their lives to their boots being too big for their stirrups.’
    Charlotte started to laugh again, but thought better of it. ‘Shit. What about the cattle?’
    ‘Back in the bush, I’m afraid.’ Rob smiled. ‘Want to go back and get them?’
    Charlotte smiled back up at him. ‘No thanks. This time, they can stay there.’
    The next morning, her head felt better. The rest of her body, not so much — she felt exactly as if she’d been dragged over a rocky creek bed. Cut, scraped and bruised.
    ‘Can you wiggle your toes?’ Rob asked, sitting at the end of her bunk.
    She tried. ‘Yep.’ Her breath hissed through her teeth. ‘Hurts, though.’
    ‘I don’t think we should try and ride down today.’
    Charlotte wasn’t about to argue. She sighed. Stupid, not to have carried two radios — hers was now somewhere downstream. ‘They’ll come up to look for us tomorrow,’ she said, knowing it was true. But God, they were going to be worried.
    Rob examined her face. ‘How are you feeling?’
    She grimaced. ‘Sore. But alive.’
    ‘Yeah.’ He stroked her cheekbone. ‘It makes a good start, doesn’t it?’
    Getting up, he took the billy off the fire. ‘So. Any near-death experiences to report? Life flash before your eyes?’
    Charlotte smiled ruefully. ‘The only thing I remember thinking was that you’d never get the mob down on your own.’
    Rob laughed. ‘And indeed, I failed miserably. See, you should never take an accountant to do a shepherd’s job.’
    ‘Well, you didn’t do too badly, I suppose.’ She winced as she took the mug of tea from his hand. ‘Seriously, though …’
    He raised his eyebrows at her.
    ‘Do you believe in all that — near-death experiences, life flashing before your eyes?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Rob considered. ‘Maybe people have like a … a moment of clarity, when they realise what they care about most.’
    Charlotte grimaced. ‘So in my case, that would be thirteen head of cattle?’
    Rob laughed. ‘How about we say you were thinking of the station?’
    Well, that made more sense. She sipped her tea. Would Blackpeak be her last thought? She certainly hoped it would still be hers to worry about when — in a
very
great many years from now — she did draw her final breath.
    ‘There’s nothing more important to you than that, is there?’ Rob asked, his back to her as he stirred up the fire.
    Charlotte lay back and closed her eyes. ‘I don’t think there is,’ she said. ‘Not really.’
    She woke up hungry. ‘What’s for lunch?’
    Rob opened the larder and pulled a face. All the huts werewell stocked with tins and dry goods in case of emergencies — they weren’t going to starve. But the supplies they’d packed in were mostly gone now, and thanks to the trampers and hunters who also made use of the huts, the emergency menu could be eccentric.
    ‘Moroccan lamb?’ he held up a packet. ‘Allegedly. I doubt it.’
    Throughout the afternoon, the rain continued to fall. Rob kept the fire stoked up and the billy on the boil, but Charlotte felt herself