Fiona Brand High Stakes Br

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escaped out onto the road and along the beach through cut fences. Becca was on her way with coffee
and sandwiches as soon as her mother, who lived on a small cottage on the farm, could come over and
mind the children. Is anyone with you?
Like who? Dani suppressed a yawn, reluctantly alert. With stock on the road it was every landowner s
unspoken responsibility to pitch in and help round them up, and in this case some of the stock belonged
to her. Carter?
Mm-hmm.
Dani sat bolt upright. Why? Although she already knew what Becca was getting at. Jackson s Ridge
was a small town and gossip spread like wildfire. Whether she was believed guilty or not, a lot of people
had connected her with the crimes.
If you were sleeping with him thatwould scotch the rumours.
Well, I m not. Dani fumbled for the lamp. Golden light flooded the room. If I ever get the urge again,
I ll add that to my list of reasons.
I know it s none of my business, Becca said bluntly, but there are plenty of women in Jackson s
Ridge who don t need more than one reason, and you used to be one of them.
Used to. Dani paused in the process of trying to locate her slippers with her toes. Carter and sex her
least favourite subjects. Hold that thought, it s past tense.
Maybe. In all the time I ve known you and that s been a few years he s the only man you ve ever
slept with.
Dani s stomach sank. Becca, I ve got to go
Becca made a strangled sound. Wait a minute. You were sweet on himbefore he went into the army.
You haven t slept with anyone else, have you? Ever. Just Carter.
Dani slid her foot into one slipper, and finally managed to locate the second one. You make that sound
so final.
I think it might be.
Well don t spread it around. I m trying for a little damage control here.
You mean he doesn t know?
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And she wasn t about to tell him. She couldn t see any reason to hand over that much power to any
man, whether she was in love with him or not. Look, I really have to go.
Suddenly the prospect of chasing down ostriches was a lot more attractive than continuing this particular
conversation.
The ostrich farm was a good ten kilometres away by road, but if she used the beach, it was only a
twenty-minute ride on horseback. Since she was going to need a horse when she got there, the
four-legged method of transport was an easy sell.
Dani changed into riding gear jeans, short boots and an anorak with reflective stripes. The birds were
out on the road, so she needed to be visible. Swiftly, she packed a small knapsack with a flashlight, a
bottle of water and a sandwich in all probability she would be out until dawn.
Minutes later, she d caught and saddled Elsie, a tall quarter horse bred on the station. She had been
Dani s from her birth and was as much a pet as a working horse. Swinging into the saddle, Dani sidled up
to the open gate and grabbed the broom she d propped there. After watching Jim struggle to control the
canny, long-necked birds, there was no way she was going near them without an equalizer.
The moon was out and the ocean was quiet as Dani let Elsie pick her way down the hill and onto the
hard-packed sand above the water line. Even this far away from the fire, the scent of smoke tainted the
air. With a gentle squeeze of her knees Dani moved Elsie from a walk to a trot, then let her stretch out
into a ground-eating canter. As they neared the end of the long crescent bay, small dark dots appeared
on the beach. As Dani got closer, the dots took on shape, half a dozen ostriches moving at a dead run,
their white feathers neon-bright in the moonlight.
Dani pulled Elsie in a split second before she jibbed, eyes rolling.
A shudder twitched through Elsie and Dani grinned, holding firm. Cattle from Mars.
Horses didn t like change and ostriches in the moonlight were definitely new.
Dani dropped her voice to a reassuring register. It s all right girl. They re just skinny cows with long
necks. We can take em.
If they ran in a herd then they were predictable. With a command, she sent Elsie forward and,
brandishing the broom, began working to turn the tiny flock before they split up and scattered past her or
moved off the beach and into the manuka scrub. Once they disappeared into the thick low bush they
would have a difficult job finding them let alone getting them out. Wild steers roaming the bush were
bad enough a flock of rogue ostriches didn t bear thinking about.
The birds faltered and slowed to an uneasy halt. Six pairs of glassy eyes stared at her in the moonlight.
Elsie shivered and jibbed again, half rearing. One of the birds heads shot up like a periscope. The
ostriches appeared to be equally horrified. A series of glottal clicks was drowned out by a high-pitched
trill, and with an awkward flurry, the birds turned, flowing back the way they d come.
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Minutes later, Dani trotted around the curve of Jackson s Bay onto the stretch of beach that fronted the
ostrich facility. The flashing lights of the fire engine and two police cruisers were visible in the distance,
and this close the smell of smoke was acrid. Ahead, two horsemen Carter and John
McKay coalesced out of the darkness, blocking the birds from running further along the beach and
bypassing the road that led to the facility. The ostriches balked, then started up the road, wheeling when [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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