Page 107 of Evil Hearts

Five

T he brochure said the trail to the dew pond led to the highest point on the island, the peak of Green Mountain, so Oriana headed that way first, or at least she tried to. When she reached the first cave, a dark lava tube like the one at Dampier’s Drip, she considered turning around. Weren’t the caves supposed to be on the Elliot’s Pass trail, instead of the one with the pond? That trail went all the way around the mountain, though, so you could look out across the whole island, and she did want to take that one, too, but she really wanted to climb the peak first…

Oriana wished there was someone she could ask for directions, but the only other creatures around were the birds flying far overhead, and she doubted they’d be much help, even if they could hear her shout. No, this was one of those times she’d have to get used to being alone and making decisions for herself. Part of her new future, she told herself. One without Hunter.

She pulled out the brochure. It didn’t say there weren’t caves on the dew pond path, and the ones on the other pass were meant to be few in number and quite small. Also, the Elliot one had an obelisk and a tunnel at the beginning, and she hadn’t seen either of those. So she must be on the correct path.

Nodding to herself with no small measure of satisfaction, Oriana continued on her way.

Until the path in front of her vanished into a dark tunnel, yet another lava tube.

Oriana swore. Was she doomed to make bad decisions and wrong turns for the rest of her life? Surely her failed relationship with Hunter was enough stupidity for any lifetime. Damn it, she deserved a break.

She considered going back the way she’d come so she could try to find the correct path. She even turned around, ready to head back, when a clattering sound in the darkness drew her attention. A big crab scuttled out of the tunnel: the source of the sound. It looked at her, and she looked at it. Almost like it was trying to bar her way from going forward, to make her go back to Hunter and the life she’d sworn was a mistake.

Not bloody likely. Hell could freeze over and she still wouldn’t take the selfish, cheating bastard back. Oriana took a step toward the crab.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m going to keep going, and I won’t let you stand in my way.” She stomped down hard, like she would to scare off a snake. “Shoo!”

The crab ambled off the path, under a prickly shrub, leaving the trail clear.

Probably a good thing there wasn’t anyone here to see her cowardly confrontation with a crab. Even her students back home would have laughed at her, if they’d been watching.

She had to keep going now.

Oriana pulled out her phone, thumbed on the flashlight app, and entered the gloom. Actually, it looked kinda pretty, with the light at the end of the tunnel in an almost perfect arch and all. She snapped a couple of pictures with her phone, and continued.

Just like the driver had said, this trail was beautiful, with caves and tunnels dotting the path on one side, and amazing views across the island and out to sea, when the path wasn’t hemmed in by trees on either side. According to the signs along the trail, the trees had been planted by some guy from Kew Gardens in the nineteenth century to create a cloud forest, which he had, but at the cost of most of the native vegetation on the mountain.

Oriana snorted. Another guy playing god, and wrecking a good thing while he was at it. She wondered if there were any men who weren’t like that. Ones who were content to observe the world, and enjoy it for what it was, instead of wanting to change it to suit themselves. Or was it something men were born with, this innate urge to make their mark on the world, even if it was just “DICK WOZ ERE” scrawled on a rock and left in a cave, like that weird collection of altar offerings in Dampier’s Drip?

It was hotter up here on the trail, as opposed to the damp cave, or maybe it was just because it was later in the day, and the sun was higher in the sky.

She stepped into the shade of the next cave mouth to take a swig from her water bottle. It was only a slight step up, but the way the vista opened up was just…wow. She wondered how far it was to the horizon. Kilometres of nothing but sea and sky. It was enough to make her feel seriously insignificant.

“You won’t find treasure here, either. Dampier’s men kept watch for a rescue ship in these caves. He wouldn’t have left his most precious treasures where anyone could find them.”

Him again!

Oriana turned, and there he was – the man from Dampier’s Drip, glowering at her from deeper inside the cave. Had he followed her here just to give her more dire warnings? Or had the driver gone back to get him, so he could torment her some more?

“Do I look like I’m hunting for treasure? I’m just stopping to take a drink!” she snapped, shaking her water bottle at him.

“Give up your hunt. You will not find any treasure here.”

She turned her back on him and headed back to the trail, hoping he wouldn’t follow. She kept walking until she came to a lookout with a picnic table, and decided it was time for a break and a snack on whatever the cruise ship staff had packed for her.

The catering staff had really gone overboard this time. If Hunter had come with her, there would have been enough food for him, her and the dire warning dude with some to spare. Not that she intended to give the guy anything, especially if he was following her.

While Oriana munched on a sandwich, she flipped though the photos on her phone. Maybe she’d taken a few too many, but it wasn’t like she’d be coming back here again soon, if ever. This was the trip of a lifetime sort of destination, even if it was only a day trip. Pity. She’d bet that dawns and sunsets from up here would be absolutely gorgeous.

She wondered if they ever had a vacancy for a high school science teacher. Or a geologist – she wasn’t fussy, or she never would have gone into teaching in the first place. But the chance to actually be paid to study a real volcano…

Even if there wasn’t anything available here, maybe she should look for a new job when she got home.

She’d quit her teaching position to come back to Perth to live with Hunter, and now she was free to go anywhere. Do anything. Well, within reason. Her parents would never speak to her again if she decided to take up exotic dancing, and she’d probably struggle to find another teaching job if she did that, too.

Which she would have to do, because she’d never been much of a dancer, so she wasn’t likely to make much money as one. Besides, who’d pay to watch a dumpy, thirtysomething teacher take her clothes off? She didn’t even want to look in the mirror sometimes, lest she see any more wobbly bits that she wasn’t sure how she’d get rid of.

Wait, was that the guy again? In her photo of the first tunnel?

She enlarged the white smudge with a pinch of her fingers, and there he was – like some sort of pirate LARPer, in his ruffled white shirt and high boots. Maybe he was supposed to be Dampier’s ghost. That might scare people. Well, people who didn’t know William Dampier had been a damn sight paler than the pirate pretender in this picture. He looked way too real to be a ghost, even if he could have stepped out of a previous century in the that getup. Or he could have stepped off the cover of a romance novel…

No, there was nothing romantic about stalkers, Oriana scolded herself. Not that she could be sure he was actually stalking her. He just…kept popping up. Kind of like the Musketeers did, and there was no way those girls were stalking her, on the ship or here on the island. In a relatively small pool of people restricted to the same place, she was bound to run into people who liked the same things as she did more than once. Maybe he just liked caves and hiking, and didn’t like treasure hunters. Oriana could definitely relate to that.

She finished up her lunch, and was just packing everything back into her bag when a ship’s horn sounded, rolling across the island in a mournful wave. The cruise ship only sounded the horn when they were leaving, but it wasn’t due to depart for hours – it wasn’t even noon yet, so she had plenty of time. Maybe a second ship had arrived, the supply boat or something, and they were letting everyone on the island know fresh food was here.

Satisfied, Oriana hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and continued along the trail until she reached the promised obelisk – ha, she’d hiked the trail backwards. Which meant the other trail had to be around here somewhere, and she should recognise it because it was the one she hadn’t already taken.