Chapter 23
Mackenzie
He couldn’t be this far out.
“Nugget…!” I called out as I bumped down a dirt track. “Nugget!” Shaking my head, I put my foot on the brake and then sat back in the seat. “Where the hell are…?”
The far off sound of a scream was what silenced me. At least, I think it was. My Mimi used to tell me to always ignore the sounds that came from the darkness once night fell, but this… I couldn’t seem to follow her advice or anyone else’s as I put the car in gear.
Trees whizzed past as I drove further on, but the reassuring silver trunks quickly changed.
The smoke got thicker, and I started coughing again, right before I saw this.
Blackened branches clawing at the sky, as if caught in their death throes.
Leaf litter turned from beige and greyish green to black ash, and that wasn’t the worst of it.
That scream, it got louder, and that was enough to have me stopping the car.
Ash flew up in a cloud as soon as my feet hit the ground, filling the air with soot with every step I took.
“No…” I barely whispered that as I stalked forward. There was no chance of an animal hiding in the bush now. Fire had stripped everyone and everything of their defences.
Including this poor little guy.
“No.” I dropped down to my knees, not caring about the heat of the ash, because the faint sting of embers burning through my jeans was better than the sight before me.
Curled up in a defensive ball was a koala, his fur singed, some patches of skin red raw.
“No.” I shook my head, unwilling to accept what everyone had been telling me. “No, no, no…”
That was the moment when his eyes cracked open slightly and because he was scared of me or because I was bearing witness to his pain, his raucous shout cut through the forest air. My lungs seized in my chest, unable to expand or contract as I started forward.
Carrier. The thought was like bone dry tinder, burned up by the agony in my chest, but that wasn’t right.
Water. My hands shook as I instinctively reached for the koala, right before I stopped myself and then yanked the shirt I was wearing over a camisole off.
Draping it around the creature, it didn’t stop crying out, and that got me running.
Feet sliding through the ashes, I landed heavily against the side of the car, then yanked the door open.
One of the collapsible soft carriers was in my hand seconds later, then I headed back.
“I’ll get you help…” I stammered out. “The vet…” But my hands shook as I reached out. “How do I pick you up without hurting you?”
Or me. Charlie had warned me that koalas could strike back and with force if hurt or scared, but there was no self-preservation left in me. Get the koala into the carrier and—
“Mackenzie?” My name crackled down the radio, breaking me out of the spell I was under. “Mackenzie, where the hell are you?”
“Charlie?” I asked, then realised I hadn’t pressed my finger down. “I’m in the forest…” Looking around wildly, I searched for some kind of landmark to orientate myself. “Charlie, there’s a koala that’s burned—”
“This isn’t what we talked about.” She sounded pissed, but a sigh quickly followed. “You’re in the 4WD?”
“I took it to go after Nugget,” I babbled out. “He broke out.”
“Popped the door, did he?” she said, her voice terribly flat.
“Yep, then I heard a scream…”
Looking around me, I realised that wasn’t something only the koala was doing. As my voice fell away, there’s became easy to perceive. Screams of agony came from deeper into the forest, tempting me forward, but my feet remained where they were.
“Stay where you are,” Charlie said. “I’ll find you.”
“Looks like it’s just me and you for the moment,” I told the koala after grabbing some water and a tray.
Holding it out, the animal sniffed it vaguely, and I hated the way his head wavered on his neck.
That first lick of water, it helped settle something inside me, right up until I heard the roar of the trail bike.
Charlie’s footsteps echoed through the trees as she strode over, then came to a stop.
“Well, you’re a mess, aren’t you?” Her hands on her hips, I wasn’t sure if she meant me or the koala, but she moved forward with a nod. “You’ve got him covered up,” she said with a note of approval. “Cotton cloth, as we discussed. Let’s get you into this carrier.”
The koala seemed to come back to life, thrashing and bellowing, right up until the point she pushed him into the carrier. Zipping it up, then covering it with her jacket, she nodded to me.
“You were supposed to stay at the rescue. We weren’t given the all clear by the CFS to go into the forest. Fires can restart real damn easily.”
“I…”
A coughing fit stopped me from replying, but she just shook your head.
“Of course, I would have done the exact same thing, so let’s get this little guy some help.”
Those were the magic words I didn’t know I needed to hear. Picking up our stuff, we made it back to the car and then drove into town.
The local hall had been turned into an animal rescue and when I saw people bustling in and out of the front door, my heart sank.
“Are all these people bringing in injured animals?” I asked as we walked closer.
“Probably,” she replied with a grim set to her mouth. “Hi, Deidre.” An older woman looked up as we entered the hall.
“Charlie and Mackenzie!” she said, then peered at the carrier. “And what do we have here?”
Watching the koala get removed from the carrier, then looked over by the vet helped ease something in my chest. Then I saw the full extent of the animal’s injuries.
“He’s a young fella,” the gruff old male vet said, then glanced up at us. “Chances are good for his survival. Nelly—”
“Get him started on some pain relief and oxygen?” she replied, returning with a syringe and nebuliser.
“She knows more about all of this than I do and didn’t have to go to uni for seven years.” He winked at us. “We’ll take things from here.”
“And we’ll go out and see if there’s more animals that need medical care.” Charlie turned to me. “Right, Mackenzie?”
“You got it.” Pausing for just a second, I watched the koala melt into the table.
It was as if he knew he was getting the right care now and he could let his natural instincts relax for just a moment.
“If there’s more…” Shaking my head, I remember the sounds of the screams. “There’s more and we need to help those animals. ”
“We’ll do what we can,” Charlie insisted, making for the front door and as I squinted against the sudden assault of sunlight, I was about to ask her to clarify, when a familiar male voice cut us off.
“Well, well, look who we have here.” For a moment I just stood there, staring blankly at the man before me. That cocky smile, those spotless clothes, it came back to me eventually.
“Beau.”
“So you do remember me,” he said, sidling closer. “I was starting to feel a little rejected when you didn’t reply to my texts or calls, Mackenzie.”
“I do not have time for this,” I muttered, trying to sidestep the guy, but he moved so he remained in my way.
“Come on.” Did anyone fall for his cheesy schtick? I thought. “This has to be fate, running into each other like this.”
“You need to get the hell out of my way,” I snapped, squaring my shoulders.
All the adrenaline of today needed to go somewhere and if Beau wasn’t careful, I’d pop him right in the jaw.
“No need to be hasty—” he started to say, following me towards the car.
“Still going with that whole pushy thing, huh?” We both turned to see Charlie standing there with a slight smile on her face. “Sure that your pretty face is all you need to get into a girl’s pants.”
“Well, it worked with you.”
Beau prowled towards Charlie with all the grace of a big cat.
“Me, my best friend,” she said, ticking off each finger, and that was the moment when Beau’s smile faded. He shot me a wary look. “Half the girls at school. Was that before or after I kicked your arse?”
“You did?” I asked, perking up instantly. Beau’s lips turned down at the corners. “I need to hear that story, stat.”
“Not much to say.” She looked him up and down slowly. “We were boyfriend and girlfriend, in a committed relationship, I thought. Only we didn’t have the same idea about what the meant, did we, Beau?”
“That’s all in the past, Charlie,” he growled.
“You want it to be,” she replied, her grin widening. “Perhaps because I laid you out with one punch.” A wink my way and she continued. “Knocked out by a girl.”
“You didn’t—” he ground out.
Charlie’s focus transferred to me.
“Because Beau here thought it was perfectly reasonable to slap me.” My mouth fell open and it was then I put two and two together. Her reluctance for me to date Beau, as well as Troy’s. “I made clear what a mistake that was and when Troy saw the mark on my face…”
I knew exactly what her brother would’ve done. That growly protective streak would’ve gone into overdrive, which made me wonder how the hell Beau still had all his teeth.
“There’s nothing weaker than a man who lays hands on a woman.” My lips curled as I looked him up and down. “I wouldn’t date you if you paid me for my time.”
“That was years ago,” he spluttered.
“And even if you’d changed.” Inspecting the perfectly polished boots, the well pressed clothes, I couldn’t help but compare the way he looked to everyone else.
“People are out fighting fires, helping animals, coming together as a community and you…” My lips curled.
“You’re just swanning about town, trying to pick up women as the world burns around you.
Let me make this simple for you.” I leaned in closer. “You and me? Never gonna happen.”
Leaving him to stare after us, Charlie and I got back into the car, but as we made our way back to the forest, there was something I needed to say.
“I’m sorry Nugget got out.”
“It’s fine.” She flicked on the indicator. “He’s an idiot, but if a cat has nine lives, he has twenty.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t stay in the rescue. Seems like I get into a lot of trouble when I’m around that wombat,” I continued.
“Would’ve been out there the minute we had the all clear anyway,” she replied, the smiled at me. “You just brought the schedule forward.”
“And I’m sorry…” My throat was still dry and scratchy, so this was harder to get out. “I’m sorry I went out with Beau. If I had any idea—?”
“He was a dick to me, but I set him straight.” She popped her arm so I could see the muscles flexing. “I was pretty sure he wouldn’t pull the same shit with you, but I couldn’t help but be concerned.” Her lips twisted into a smile. “We couldn’t help but be concerned.”
“Thank you.” Charlie held my gaze for a second, then turned back to the car. “I kinda needed someone in my corner after what happened at home.”
“Don’t thank me.” She pulled over by the side of the forest, then opened her door. “Troy was the one that went after you, made sure Beau behaved himself.”
He was looking after me, protecting me, even when he thought I was seriously annoying. That was something I had to consider as we walked out into the ash.
Hours later, we arrived back at the farm to the smell of toasted bread and a line of boots by the front door.
“Toasted sandwiches,” Charlie said with a shrug. “At least I don’t have to cook.”
The door swung open and when we walked in, every eye turned our way. I smiled at the sight of a freshly washed Troy, because I was ready. To say thanks for looking out for me. For being a protective presence on my Australian journey. For multiple orgasms and—
“Where the hell have you two been?” he growled, getting to his feet.