Page 13 of Lost In Kakadu

Her tendency to flit from confident to insecure kept catching him off guard. He prayed for a swift rescue. “Let’s see what’s useful in this bag.” The travel case had a toiletries bag, a jacket, camera, a book, and a Snickers chocolate bar.

He held the chocolate toward her. “Are you hungry?”

Abigail’s eyes were green pools of despair. “We’re going to starve.”

Now she’s insecure again. “Don’t be silly. Many people have survived for longer than twenty hours with just a chocolate bar. Besides, we haven’t looked in the handbags yet.”

He rummaged through the other bags. “At least we’ll have fresh breath when we’re rescued.” He showed her a packet of breath mints.

“Jesus.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Hey, we haven’t checked the other luggage yet.”

A wind gust released a shower of leaves from the towering trees and as he marched to the front of the plane Mackenzie felt the eyes of the deceased watching him.

Shuddering, he slapped that thought from his mind.

The nose of the plane had crushed to about a third of its length and a giant gum tree, as wide as his chest, was jammed against the cargo door.

“Shit!”We can’t get into the luggage that way.

Petrol fumes invaded his nostrils as amber liquid dripped from the crumpled metal and landed in the red dirt where it was quickly absorbed.

He turned to Abigail, who was scratching ant bites on her neck. “Get me a water bottle, will you?”

Groaning, she stomped away.

What’s wrong with her now?

He inspected the undercarriage. One of the wheels was completely destroyed and had rubber dangling off it like an old muddy sock. The other was miraculously intact.

When Abigail returned, she thrust a water bottle in his face.

He jumped back. “What’s your problem?”

“Why are you allowed water and not me?”

“I don’t want the water.” He pointed at the leaking petrol. “I want an empty bottle to catch these fuel drips.”

“Oh.” She averted her eyes.

“Drink as much as you want. I need an empty bottle.”

She removed the lid, wiped the rim on her shirt and gulped a third of the water before she handed it to him.

He drank the remaining water and lined the bottle under the drips. “Can you hold this here to catch the fuel?”

He moved back and Abigail took the bottle from him. Mackenzie ran his fingers around the cargo door searching for a way to open it, but it was pointless. “It’s jammed shut. We’re never getting in there.”

Backing away, he looked up at Rodney. His handsome features were contorted into a ghastly Halloween mask and crumbling at the sight, Mackenzie tore his eyes away.

Through the trees, the sky was turning slate blue.

It’ll be dark soon.We need a fire.

Eucalyptus and petrol odours filled the air, and an idea came to him. He walked to the cases and emptied out a toiletries bag. Abigail was concentrating on catching every dribble when he returned to the undercarriage and dropped onto his hands and knees.

She jumped back. “What the hell are you doing?”

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