Page 105 of Lost In Kakadu

A sadness for Spencer washed through her. His life had been as tortured as hers. They were never meant to be together and should have divorced many years ago. He didn’t deserve to die and if she hadn’t meddled with destiny, maybe he wouldn’t have. “Now he’s dead and here I am, lost in Kakadu, all because of that note.”

“Abi, you can’t think like that.Wecan’t think like that. You and I had nothing to do with what happened. It was just a terrible accident and for whatever reason, we were the only survivors. Maybe it was our destiny to meet.”

Her eyes drifted to him.Can he read my thoughts?

“Come here.” He tugged her to his chest and ran his hand over her hair. She should cry, but when no tears came, she tried to convince herself it wasn’t her fault. If anything, it was really Spencer’s infidelity that brought him to Kakadu.

Maybe it was destiny after all.

A low thumping noise, regular in pattern and unusual in sound caught her attention and she pulled back from Mackenzie, frowning. Mackenzie’s eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.

“A helicopter!” He raced to the edge of the cave. “Here, we’re in here!” He waved his arms and leaned so far over the edge Abi feared he might actually fall off the cliff.

“Can you see it?” She stumbled to her feet.

“No.”

“What do we do?” Abi hobbled toward the ledge and searched left and right, seeking the source of the sound. It was getting louder by the second.

Mackenzie jumped up and down, flailing his arms. Then he tugged off his T-shirt and waved it around like a crazy man. His face was full of hope and relief, his excitement infectious.

The sound grew louder, the rotors beat with greater intensity, matching the beat of her heart. “Can you see it?”

The helicopter suddenly shot past the cave with a deafening roar and a flash of steel.

“Here, here we are!” Mackenzie screamed so loud it musthave hurt his throat. But it was pointless, as the seconds ticked by the thumping noise simply faded away. “They’re gone. Fuck!”

The look of despair on his face broke Abi’s heart. She was lost for words. Was that their last chance of a rescue? She reached out for Mackenzie, wrapped her arms around his waist and he tugged her closer. His chest rose and fell with each ragged breath he took.

“I can’t believe we missed another one.” She tossed her hands up in frustration.

“Me neither.”

The Kakadu breezes picked up and carried on as if nothing had happened. They stood staring across the jungle until his breathing returned to normal.

“At least we saw another helicopter.” She shrugged. But even as the words left her lips, she realised how futile they were. They had only heard two helicopters in over nine months.

God knows how much longer before another one comes.

He nodded. “This was a good sign, though. I reckon that was a guided tour. Hopefully this is one of their regular flight paths. So, we’ll just need to be ready for the next one.”

Always positive. Abi had no idea how he did it. “Righty ho. . . we need a giant flag or something.” She glanced around and the colourful parachute fabric caught her eye. “What about a parachute?”

“Abi, you’re a genius.”

Mackenzie helped her back to the bed and she rested on one elbow as he put a plan together. He was brilliant to watch, methodical and decisive. Before long Mackenzie had one of their parachutes secured to the edge of the cave so the rest of it could dangle outside and billow in the wind. Suddenly their cave was highly noticeable, exactly what they needed. He raised his eyebrows at her. “They can’t miss that.”

“No. They’re blind if they do.”

“I better get cracking on dinner before it’s completely dark in here.”

As Abi stared into the valley below, the sun disappeared somewhere behind the enormous cliff and the sky gradually morphed from a pale blue to an intense orange and pink, before descending into deep cobalt blue. Finally, it turned as black as coal. Millions of stars littered the sky, tiny pin pricks in a velvet black cloak. The stars twinkled like she’d never seen before, laughing at her.

After their meal, Mackenzie crawled into bed beside her, and they stared out into the night. A swollen moon bounced up from the horizon and shed light on the valley below them. They sat in silence for a long time. After seeing that helicopter, Abi couldn’t help but wonder if tonight was going to be their last night in Kakadu. She was actually saddened by the thought. The jungle, as brutal as it could be, now seemed like home and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to go back to her old life, ever. Suddenly a falling star dazzled the night sky like a rescue flare.

“Did you see that?” Mackenzie exclaimed with boyish glee.

“It was brilliant.”

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