Page 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

M ackenzie studied one of the giant eucalyptus trees that trapped the plane above the ground. A trail of sap oozed down its rough bark, and it looked like the tree was bleeding; probably from injuries it sustained in the crash.

He pressed his finger into the red bubble and the coagulated surface bowed until he pushed through to the dense liquid beneath the outer crust. The sap had the consistency of thick treacle and smelled like pure eucalyptus. He couldn’t resist a taste and licked his finger.

“What on earth are you doing?”

He jumped. He hadn’t heard Abigail walk up behind him. “It tastes like menthol. Want some?” He held his finger toward her.

“Not on your life.”

“We can use it when we wash our clothes. Make them smell nice.”

“There you go again, acting like we’re here to stay.”

“No, I’m not.” He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a practical guy.”

Abigail shook her head. “Well, Mr. Practical, do you have any thoughts on the beds?” She pointed at the scattering of clothes beneath the undercarriage.

“I was trying to work out how to get the plane down from here.” He slapped the tree trunk, the base of which had to be bigger than the drinks fridge in his restaurant. “These trees aren’t going anywhere.”

“Could we pull the plane out? ”

He stepped back mulling over her idea. The plane’s nose had passed through the trees before it became wedged at the wider part and Mackenzie recalled being thrown from his seat when the plane slammed to a stop. “I think you have an idea.”

She blinked at him. “I do?”

The plane sounded hollow when he thumped it with his fist. “All we have to do is make this part of the plane thin enough to fit between these trees and it should fall to the ground.”

“Okay. How do we do that?”

“For starters, you drag all those clothes out from under there and take the cargo net down. I’m going to find something to bash the shit out of the metal with.”

Mackenzie moved into the bushes, his steps fast and purposeful. The dense vegetation became practically impassable just a short distance from the campsite, but he was on a mission and pushed through it, scanning the ground for a decent sized log. But with each step his frustration grew. Most branches were too thin or brittle to inflict any damage on the metal.

He examined the lower branches on the surrounding trees and, without any luck, pressed further into the bush. Spying a giant gum tree in the distance he headed toward it and noticed an odd shaped lump clinging to the thick bark. At first he thought it was a koala, but as he approached, it looked more like an ant’s nest and remembering Abigail’s brush with them he quickly retreated.

Mackenzie turned and froze. An enormous lizard languished on a branch just a metre ahead of him. The reptile’s rough amber skin made for ideal camouflage against the branch it lay on. Loose flaps of skin folded back from its head and its front leg dangled below the branch showing off its long sharp claws.

Its unmoving eyes were as black as midnight.

Mackenzie judged the distance between him and dinner as just two short strides. His pulse pounded in his neck as he inched forward, his feet crunching on dry leaves. The lizard remained still, like a grand trophy in a taxidermy display, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if it was even alive. He kept his eyes trained on it until the creature finally took a breath.

Muscles braced in a tight coil, his breath trapped in his throat, Mackenzie lunged. He wrapped his hands right around the body, just behind its front legs. “Holy shit!” He actually got it. A flap of skin around its neck flared into an angry red skirt and its sharp teeth gnashed together as it jerked around to bite him. The creature’s alien-like hiss raised the hairs on his neck.

He swung the lizard off the branch. Its weight was astounding, and Mackenzie needed all his strength to hold it away from his body as it flicked its tail like a metallic whip.

Mackenzie ran.

Adrenalin pumped through him as he jumped over bushes like a man possessed. He ducked under a low branch, struggling against the lizard’s constant writhing. “Abi! I got one.”

Suddenly his feet were no longer on the ground; he was falling.

Jagged rocks dug into his back, shredding his skin like a metal grater. Vegetation flashed overhead and he cried out as he flew through the air. For a brief moment, he saw clear blue sky.

He squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the crunch of death.