climbed out of the truck and crouched to hug her dog, burying her face against his shaggy neck for a moment, feeling his whole body wag pleasure in her return. Alice let out her breath in a long sigh and she was smiling as she stood up.
‘I’m home,’ she said aloud. ‘How good is that?’
Even better, she had a good two hours of daylight left. Time to saddle up Ben and take a gentle trek up the hills, through the forest and back to the river. Her huge black horse was getting on in years now and was probably a bit stiff after the long stint of being shut in the float yesterday. Besides, Alice couldn’t think of anything she would rather do to centre herself again. The other things she needed like a good home-cooked meal and a long sleep could wait.
Climbing into soft old jodhpurs and pulling on her short leather boots dispelled any thoughts of uniforms. The smell of well cared for leather as she collected her tack from the stable put anything shiny and clinical on another planet. Best of all was the soft whinny of welcome from Ben when she went out to the paddock behind the cottage with Jake walking close enough to brush her leg.
She was wanted here. Trusted. Loved by her boys. Yeah…life was full of hard bits but it could also be very, very good and this was as good as it got.
A short time later, Alice swung herself up into the saddle and clicked her tongue. Ben wasn’t showing any sign of being stiff. He took the bit and pulled eagerly. Maybe he was thinking of that long empty paddock where the forest track ended. The gentle uphill slope that was the perfect place to stretch out into a good gallop.
Alice grinned.
Yes!
Television was so boring!
Emmeline Barrett was fed up with the squeaky cartoon voices. With a heartfelt sigh, she wriggled around to kneel on the couch backwards, her chin resting on her hands as she gazed out of the window at the green hills and blue skies that were so different from anything she’d ever known it was like being in a fairy tale.
Haylee, her new nanny, was lying on the other couch, flat on her back with cushions under her head and her cellphone against her ear as she continued yet another phone call.
‘No! Oh, my God! She didn’t…Oh?’ A contemptuous snort followed. ‘Whatever! As if he’d be interested in her!’
Haylee had promised to take her for a walk this afternoon. Down to see the river or up to where the trees were thick enough to make that dark and scary patch on the hillside that never failed to give Emmy a lovely tickle inside when she looked at it.
Suddenly, she knelt bolt upright, not even noticing that the interminable phone call was ending on the other couch. Her jaw dropped as she watched a big black horse come out of the forest and start galloping up the hill. A dog was running behind and it had to be a lady riding the horse because Emmy could see long hair streaming out behind the hat she was wearing.
Was it a real fairy tale now? An enchanted forest? Could the lady be a princess? She watched until the magic horse disappeared over the top of the hill and then she climbed off the couch.
‘Haylee?’
‘Hmm?’ The nanny’s response sounded remarkably like a yawn.
‘Can we go for our walk now? Please?’ she added hurriedly as she remembered her manners.
‘In a minute, okay?’ Haylee’s eyes were closed. ‘I just need to rest for a bit.’
Emmy scowled. She looked back at her couch that faced the blaring television. She looked at the door which led into the big hallway with the tiny stones that made patterns on the floor. If she went all the way down, there was a really big wooden door that was probably too heavy for her to open, but, if she went the other way, she knew she would find the kitchen and that funny room full of tubs and taps that had a much smaller door. If she went past the clothes line outside that door, she might be able to find the hill.
She might be able to see that magic horse and the princess again.
Emmy looked at Haylee, whose eyes were still firmly shut.
‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ she announced. ‘I need to go to the toilet.’
‘Can you manage by yourself?’
‘Of course I can.’ The indignation was automatic. ‘I’m five!’
‘Cool. Come straight back.’
Emmy got to the door but then turned to watch for a moment longer. She saw the way Haylee’s fingers relaxed their grip on the cellphone. Her new nanny didn’t even notice when it slipped out of her grasp and bounced onto the floor.
Emmy stopped chewing her bottom lip. With her lips set in a rather determined smile, she went out of the door in search of magic.
Forty-year-old Roger was about to walk out of the door of the emergency department.
‘Wait!’ Andrew took another glance at the slip of paper in his hand and stepped in front of his patient.
‘What for?’
But Roger took a step back towards the bed he’d recently vacated, having rested for a couple of hours after the successful management of his cardiac arrhythmia.
‘I’ve just received the results of the last blood tests we took.’
‘You said there was nothing wrong with my blood.’
‘There wasn’t. The first results came back with completely normal cardiac enzymes.’ Andrew tweaked the curtain shut behind him and showed Roger the paper he held. ‘This one, however, shows a raised TNT.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means that there’s been some damage to heart tissue.’
Roger sat down on the bed. ‘You mean, like a heart attack?’
‘Yes. The level is low enough to suggest it’s minor but we’re going to need to admit you and run some more tests.’
‘But…I want to go home.’
‘I know,’ he said sympathetically. ‘I’m sorry.’
Roger wasn’t the only one who wanted to go home. Andrew’s shift had officially finished, but he took the time to explain things to Roger again and then he paged Cardiology and waited for the registrar to arrive so he could transfer care of this patient. Finally, he unhooked his stethoscope from around his neck, put on the pinstriped jacket of his suit and headed for the car park.
Minutes later and he could put his foot down. Just a little, because that was all it needed for a surge of power from his gorgeous new car. The powerful engine purred softly and the miles between work and home evaporated. Andrew sped past the rolling paddocks without seeing the autumn colours of the trees. He barely noticed the goat on the side of the road.
It seemed a very long time since he’d kissed Emmy goodbye this morning and he needed to get back to her. To their new home. To remind himself why they’d journeyed here from the far side of the world. To convince himself it was worth the disturbing prospect
