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“Your real life?”
“With the people I care about. Of course, I hated to leave Harry behind, but he’s happy where he is, and he’s promised to visit in the holidays.”
“So, you’re staying, then?”
She nodded. “I’m staying. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Nineteen
Bea and Danispent their first night at the cottage on air mattresses. Bea’s mattress deflated at two a.m., and she spent the rest of the night rolling from side to side trying to get comfortable. She awoke early with a crick in her neck and sciatica in one hip.
A hot shower helped her neck to loosen up a little bit, but she still walked with a limp. Breakfast was a cold croissant with jam and a hot cup of tea as she perched on a fallen log outside the cottage. The log was uncomfortable, but the view was worth it.
Something skittered across her hand where it rested on the log, and she squealed as she leapt to her feet. A spider went flying onto the sand in the dim light of dawn. She jogged in place, shaking her hands up and down as she continued emitting something halfway between a squeal and a groan.
“Ugh, I hate spiders.”
She’d never been good with the creepy crawly creatures. When she was a kid, she’d had nightmares about them, and Dad had promised to kill any that came near her. Then she was married and Preston would take care of it with a stomp of one shoe. But now that she and Dani lived alone, it would be up to her to deal with spiders, and she wasn’t sure that was something she was ready to do. Perhaps she could convince Dani to take on the role of spider killer. But then Dani would leave and she’d have to face it alone.
As she hobbled down to the beach to watch the sunrise, the tension in her hip gradually eased until she was walking normally. She soon forgot all about the spider, although her hand continued to tingle for a few more minutes where its tiny feet had scrambled over her skin.
It was her back that caused the most discomfort. She’d have to find a much better solution than an air mattress if she was going to live at the cottage before her furniture arrived. Maybe the local op shop would have something secondhand she could use, or there could be something in Dad’s basement that she’d forgotten.
She increased her pace to stride along the beach, enjoying the fresh air as it filled her lungs and the feel of the cold sand beneath the soles of her feet. There was no wind blowing at this time of day, and the sounds of the island coming into wakefulness filled the silence.
Birds squawked and twittered, diving for the early morning insects all along the dunes and into the forest beyond. Somewhere nearby, an engine roared along a road and someone hammered a nail into place — the sound echoing dully through the still air.
There was movement at the edge of the sand, but since the dunes were still bathed in a semi-darkness, she couldn’t quite see what it was. She changed course and headed up the beach to take a closer look. The creature was dark in colour and moved slowly through the white sand.
As she drew near, she saw that it was a small pademelon, one of the tiny marsupials that populated Coral Island. They looked like a wallaby with their soft brownish-grey fur, pointed ears, long hind feet and long tails. This one was tiny and clearly a juvenile. It appeared to be having difficulty hopping.
Bea moved closer and spoke in a soothing voice. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one. Let me take a look and see what’s wrong. You’ve cut your foot on something, have you?”
She couldn’t tell the extent of the damage from where she stood but knew she’d have to do something to help the creature. It wouldn’t last long in the wild if it was unable to find food or escape predators. There were very few predators on the island. The small number of domesticated cats and dogs who lived there, posed the biggest threat to the local wildlife.
“I’m going to get a towel, and I’ll be back in a moment,” she told the creature.
She hurried as fast as she could manage back to the cottage. She was puffing hard by the time she reached it. Dani was awake and seated on the kitchen bench, halfway through a piece of toast with Vegemite on it.
“We don’t have a fridge,” she mumbled. “And I need milk for my coffee.”
Bea laughed. “You’ll have to go to Dad’s for that until our fridge arrives. I think it’s coming tomorrow. By the way, I’ve found an injured pademelon on the beach. I’m going to put it in the car and drive to the animal sanctuary with it.”
“Oh, okay. Do you need help?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Just then, a truck pulled into the driveway and parked. Bea peered through the kitchen window to see Aidan climbing out of the cab. She walked out to greet him.
“Good morning. Fancy seeing you here. You do know that it’s only just after dawn, don’t you?”
He laughed and held up three travel coffee cups. “I thought you might need help until you get all the ingredients for coffee at your house.”
She shook her head. “You are an absolute lifesaver. Dani will be over the moon.”
Dani rushed past her to grab one of the cups. “It’s like you’re a mind reader. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
He laughed as Dani took a sip then headed back into the house, still in her pyjamas. “You’re the best, Aidan! I mean it.”
