of his hand when she went to speak. It had the added effect of dislodging her hand. Meg let it fall to her side as she stared at him with troubled blue eyes that reflected her hurt and confusion.
He looked away and there was an odd note in his voice all of a sudden, almost as though he might have regretted speaking so bluntly. However, there was no softening to his attitude, Meg realised sickly when he continued.
‘I don’t believe that you will cope, Ms Andrews. That’s it in a nutshell. It makes no difference how good your references are or how much experience you have—I just don’t think that you will be able to handle this kind of work. It is a whole different ball game, working overseas, compared to where you’ve worked in the past.’
‘I know that! I understand that we’ll be working under less than ideal conditions if that’s what you’re concerned about.’
‘I don’t think anyone can truly understand what the conditions will be like until they’ve experienced them at first hand,’ he stated coldly. ‘Oh, I expect you’ve seen TV coverage of aid work but that’s sanitised for the viewers’ consumption. Actually, dealing with all the hardships and unpleasantness is an entirely different matter, believe me.’
‘I do believe you! I know that I have a lot to learn but I’m willing to try. Why can’t you at least give me the benefit of the doubt?’
‘Because there isn’t room on a trip like this for a passenger. We need everyone to pull his or her weight from the outset,’ he snapped back.
‘I shall pull my weight!’ she retorted, whipping up her anger because his words had hurt so much. Maybe it was the combination of the late duty, the decorating, the night out—not to mention the curry—that were all taking their toll, but she felt a lump come to her throat. However, she would walk over hot coals rather than let Jack Trent see that he’d upset her!
‘What if I prove you wrong, prove that I can cope with this type of work?’
‘Then I shall apologise, Ms Andrews. Now, if you’re ready?’ He picked up her bag, leaving Meg to follow him into the airport building.
She squared her shoulders, although she felt rather like a prisoner on her way to the gallows must have felt. Three months of working with a man who thought she wasn’t up to the job and would be waiting his chance to take her to task didn’t sound like a very appealing prospect! It was only the thought of the satisfaction it would give him if she backed out at this stage that firmed her resolve.
Forget the apology. Jack Trent was going to eat a large slice of humble pie at the end of this trip if she had anything to do with it!
THE journey seemed to take for ever so that Meg lost track of the hours they’d spent travelling. After they landed in Johannesburg they took an internal flight which just seemed to go on and on.
Meg knew that everyone was exhausted by the time they landed for the second time at a tiny airfield at the edge of the bush, but there was still another leg of the journey to undergo before they stopped for the night. Three small trucks were waiting to collect them and their equipment and ferry them to the Oncamban border, a good thirty miles away, where they would spend the night. Hopefully the next day they would complete their journey and board the train.
‘Oh, how I hate this bit!’
Lesley Johnson, one of the two other nurses with whom Meg would be working, sighed as she plonked herself down on top of a packing case. A pleasant woman in her mid-forties, with bright red hair and a face full of freckles, she had gone out of her way to make Meg feel welcome. They’d sat in adjoining seats on the flight from Manchester and Lesley had kept up an undemanding conversation, telling Meg about previous trips she’d been on with the agency.
In fact, all the members of the team she had met so far had been extremely friendly. There were five of them in total plus another two who had flown on ahead and would meet them in Oncamba. Meg had just about managed to slot names to faces by now and was sure that she would enjoy working with such a lively bunch of professionals.
They seemed to have accepted her without hesitation, including her in the conversation when they’d stopped for a meal at Johannesburg airport. It was only Jack Trent who seemed intent on treating her as an outsider…
‘Why this bit in particular?’ She deliberately closed her mind to that thought, focusing instead on what Lesley had said. Right at that moment Jack Trent was busily supervising the loading of some of the more fragile equipment onto one of the lorries, and she doubted whether he was giving her any thought! She could see him out of the corner of her eye if she turned her head a fraction, his rangy figure clad in khaki chinos and shirt which blended with the landscape. He should have been virtually invisible in that outfit yet she had no difficulty picking him out. It was as though some sort of inner radar had immediately homed in on him.
‘Because this last stage always seems to take ages!’ Lesley declared. ‘I mean, here we are just thirty miles away from our destination and we’re all itching to get started, but if I know anything at all about these trips it’s that there will be one delay after another, getting the equipment there. You take it from me, Meg, the flight from England is a doddle compared to hauling our stuff over these back roads!’
‘Don’t say that! Here I was thinking that it wouldn’t be long before I’d be able to have a lovely long soak in the bath and wash off some of this grime!’ Meg retorted ruefully, brushing the gritty sand off her dusty jeans. She looked up as a shadow fell over them and her heart skipped a beat as she found Jack Trent staring down at her. It was obvious that he must have overheard what she’d said because there was a mocking tilt to his lips as he treated her to a thin smile.
‘I’m afraid long soaks in the bath are a luxury you’ll have to learn to live without for the next few months, Ms Andrews. I did warn you, if you remember?’
‘How could I forget, Dr Trent?’ She returned his smile with an even thinner one but that didn’t mean the comment hadn’t stung. It wasn’t pleasant to realise that he was only waiting his chance to take pot-shots at her. It was a relief when Lesley interrupted at that point because Meg wasn’t sure what else he might have said.
‘Ms Andrews? Dr Trent?’ the older woman scoffed. ‘Rather formal, isn’t it, for a trip like this?’ She sighed as she looked from one to the other. ‘Don’t tell me you two are going to stand on ceremony for the next three months. How about making that ‘‘Meg’’ and ‘‘Jack’’ and starting as you mean to go on?’
Meg shrugged although she was careful to avoid Lesley’s eyes. Jack Trent had started as he meant to go on, that was the trouble! However, in the interests of team harmony it seemed wrong to make their differences common knowledge. ‘Fine by me. I’d prefer it if you’d call me Meg, anyway.’
‘Of course. And it goes without saying that you must call me Jack,’ he concurred. He turned away before Meg could answer, raising his voice as he called to the rest of the party who were sprawled along the edges of the landing strip.
‘We’re just about ready now, folks. If you want to climb on board then we can make a start. The head driver assures me that it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to reach the border, which means we should make it by five p.m. by my reckoning,’ he announced.
‘And if you believe that you’ll believe anything!’ declared
