Page 51

Chapter Fifty-One

A bi flicked another pebble into the centre of the cavern, and it quickly disappeared into the shadows. Mackenzie’s lengthy delay drove a spike of fear into her chest. The shifting clouds above darkened the room even more and the only sound was her shallow breathing.

Where is he?

The blackness closed in on her and although she had no way of telling time, he was taking too long. She fought images of him being hurt or stranded in the tunnel.

Shrugging off the horrid thoughts, she got to her feet and favouring her knee, hobbled to the tunnel entrance. She paused, expecting to hear Mackenzie’s footsteps in the passageway, but the only noise was the ghostly whistle of the warm Kakadu breeze.

She called into the darkness. “Mackenzie.” Her voice echoed back to her and left an eerie silence in its wake. She called again but this time when the echo of her own voice faded, she pushed off the wall and inched along the tunnel.

Her frantic breathing was amplified in the small space.

She made a conscious effort to calm down. A hint of smoke in the air assured her she was going the right way, but the complete blackness was distressing. The silence terrified her more. Mackenzie should be ahead of her, but she would hear him if he was.

Fighting the throbbing pain in her knee, she drove on forward and arrived at the right-angled corner quicker than she’d expected. Now she focused on the light in the distance as she inched along. She stepped into their cave welcoming the openness, but a new wave of fear rushed through her.

There was no sign of Mackenzie.

She dragged herself to the ledge and peered down the cliff. “Mackenzie,” she yelled. Her heart sank at the silence. She turned and gasped at stinging pain in her knee.

Where could he be ?

She didn’t know what to do but her choices were limited, stay here and wait, or go searching. Her aching knee cemented her decision. She eased onto their makeshift bed and elevated her foot up on the wall to release the pressure. With her eyes fixed on the tunnel entrance, she began counting the seconds.

She gave up counting at five minutes, rolled to a sitting position and massaged her knee. “Mackenzie!” she yelled in frustration. She spied the rope dangling over the edge of the cave expecting it to move at any moment. But it didn’t. It was still, everything was still, as if the whole world was holding its breath.

She got to her feet and walked to the tunnel entrance. “MACKENZIE!” Her dry throat stung as she yelled into the blackness. With her back against the wall, she counted out another five minutes.

Calm down, Abi.

Maybe he hadn’t been gone that long, and she was growing it all out of proportion.

“Where are you, baby?” Her voice carried into the breeze.

She could pull the rope up and tie it to her waist. Then she could go as far as she could into the tunnel and use the rope to guide herself back. But what if Mackenzie was outside? What if he needed to use the rope to get back in? She could climb down the rope and look for him. She looked at her knee.

No, that was crazy. There was nothing she could do.

She eased back onto the bedding, positioning herself so she could see the tunnel entrance and the rope over the cliff. A knot burned in the pit of her stomach as she began counting the seconds again. With each minute that ticked over the sense of dread sank deeper into her mind .

Mackenzie suddenly burst into the cave, wide eyed and cheeks flushed red.

“Mack, thank God! I was so worried.” She wanted to run to him, but her bad leg failed her.

He bent over to catch his breath and she noticed his neck veins pulsating. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“I thought I’d lost you too.” He fell to her side. “When you weren’t in the cave I nearly freaked out.”

He tugged her to his chest and their pounding hearts beat together as one.

“I wouldn’t know what to do without you.” She squeezed him so tight it was a wonder he could breathe.