qualities, doesn’t it?’
‘Exactly,’ Sam said with satisfaction. ‘Controlling the mosquito population by reducing habitats that support breeding and personal protection by clothing and repellents are the mainstay of prevention of mosquito-borne disease. Repellents are only ever applied externally. It could be a real breakthrough to discover something effective that can be taken systemically. Did you know that there were an estimated seventy-seven thousand deaths worldwide in 2013 from encephalitis?’
‘You’ve got some data on which islands have the lowest incidence of encephalitis, haven’t you?’ Luke asked. ‘That’s where we’ll need to go to collect samples and find out exactly how they brew that tea.’
Sam nodded. ‘From memory, I’m pretty sure it’s French Island, and that’s where the particular hibiscus bushes that they make the tea from grow, but I’ll check.’
‘French Island?’
‘Apparently there was a shipwreck there long ago. A French square-rigged sailing vessel. The crew survived and so we have a fair bit of French blood mingling with the islanders’. We still get some French sailors turning up, intrigued by the historic link.’
Curiously, Anahera didn’t seem to want to be hearing any of this. She got to her feet.
‘I really need to get back to my patients. I can’t see how any of this involves me.’
‘You’re due to do the clinic on French Island in the next couple of days, aren’t you?’
‘Oh … you want me to collect some tea-leaves? Talk to the locals?’
‘No. I want you to take Luke with you.’
That shocked her enough to freeze her movements, except for the direction of her gaze, which flew to Luke in alarm. ‘But the conference finishes today, doesn’t it? Don’t you have to get back to London?’
There was that fear again. It was just a bit over the top, wasn’t it? He’d been keeping his distance and it had to be obvious he wasn’t going to force his company—or anything else—on her.
‘Harry’s persuaded me to stay on for a bit. To set up the research projects and get the protocols in place for a clinical trial of the vaccination.’
Anahera turned to Sam. ‘Maybe you should do the clinic instead of me, then. I don’t have anything to do with research and you love it.’
She was trying to avoid him again. Luke could feel himself frowning and barely registered Sam’s smile as he spoke.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort out the logistics. Why don’t I give you a tour of the hospital while we talk? You’ll be wanting to get back for the last session of the conference.’
Jack got to his feet as well. ‘Time I did some work, too. Nice to meet you, Luke. I look forward to transporting you around the islands very soon.’
Anahera was leading the way as they all left the staffroom. The layout of the hospital still felt familiar to Luke. The U-shaped building with small wards on one side, Outpatients, kitchens and the staffroom in the middle and the ED, ICU and Radiography—that now, apparently, had gone high-tech with CT and ultrasound equipment available—on the other side. The wide covered walkway linking the wings surrounded a lush tropical garden that boasted a pretty pond in its centre.
The walkway was as spacious as he remembered and the overhead fans kept everything deliciously cool as they added to a sea breeze coming in from the garden.
There was more than a breeze coming in from the garden at the moment, though. An older woman who was carrying a small child could be seen ahead of them.
And, again, Anahera froze.
‘Bessie … what are you doing here? What’s happened?’
Luke could see that the child—a tiny girl—had been crying. Her hand was wrapped in what looked like a bloodstained tea towel.
‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ the woman said. ‘Just a little cut but it took a while to stop the bleeding and Hana got upset. I said we’d come and find Dr Sam and Mummy.’
Mummy? One of the other nurses here, perhaps? Luke, like everyone else, had stopped walking. Now the island woman stopped, too, as the child in her arms wriggled free. As soon as the girl’s feet touched the floor, she was running. The tea towel unwound itself and fell to the floor as she threw her arms up in the air.
‘Mumma …’ The word was a sob.
Anahera was crouching, arms out, ready to catch the little girl. She scooped her up and held her close, pressing her cheek to a fluffy cloud of pale curls as she murmured reassurance.
And then she looked up and her gaze met Luke’s.
He knew he must look like an idiot, with his jaw still hanging open, but this was the biggest shock yet since he’d set foot on Wildfire Island again.
There could be no mistaking the relationship between these two with the way this child had her arms wound so tightly around Anahera’s neck and the palpable comfort she was clearly receiving from having found the person she needed most.
Anahera was a mother?
He had to swallow his shock. At least no one else seemed to have noticed. Jack was behind him and Sam was focussed on the child.
‘Have you got a sore finger, sweetheart? Can you show Dr Sam?’
‘It’s all right, darling,’ Anahera said. ‘It’s not going to hurt. We just want to see.’
A tiny hand appeared from behind her mother’s neck and then a forefinger uncurled itself. The cut was quite deep but small.
‘She found a piece of broken glass,’ Bessie said unhappily. ‘She was helping me clean out a cupboard.’
‘You know what?’ Sam asked cheerfully.
The small head moved slowly from side to side.
‘I think I’ve got a plaster that’s just the right size for a finger like that. And it’s got a picture on it. Do you know what that picture might be?’
Big dark eyes widened. ‘A flutterby?’
Sam grinned. ‘Sorry, not a butterfly this time, button. Would a princess do instead? A Cinderella plaster?’
The smile was tentative.
‘Didn’t Cinderella have butterflies on her dress?’ Anahera said. ‘I’m sure she did. We’ve got the book at home, haven’t we, Hana?’
Hana. So this exquisite child had a name that sounded like an echo of her mother’s shortened name. She had her mother’s gorgeous dark eyes, too, but her skin was much lighter and her hair very different from Anahera’s midnight black.
‘She’s beautiful,’ Luke heard himself saying aloud. ‘How old is she?’
The moment the words left his mouth he realised, with what felt like a body blow, that
