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“Is it just the two of you who live here?” Catherine asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Thecoming homethat had been echoing in her head had confused her, because this didn’t feel like home at all. It was unfamiliar, in every way. This place had never featured in her dreams, not once. Neither Josh nor Carly were familiar at all. And because this was all so unfamiliar, she was starting to doubt that the hut would be any different when they finally got there.
“No, there’s a few of us.” Carly smiled. “Josh and Mike are Ryans, descendants of the original owners of this place. It’s been in Ryan hands since the beginning—more than a hundred years. Six generations, I think. Davo is their stepbrother. He’s been here for twenty-odd years, but he’s not related. And me. I’m the wife.”
“Wow. It’s incredible, to think of the same family farming the land for so many years!” Catherine said. But the knowledge only added to her confusion. Catherine didn’t know any Ryans. So far, coming here hadn’t given her any answers. All it had done was given her more questions.
The loud rumble of the helicopter starting up and the gush of wind from the spin of the rotors made her jump.
“Come on, let’s go!” Carly shouted over the noise, and led the way through the gate into the paddock.
Catherine held her skirt down against her thighs as they approached, grateful that she’d insisted on putting her knickers back on. The battle of skirt against the wind from the chopper was likely one she was going to lose.
Josh was seated at the controls, earmuffs on, his attention fixed on the screens and dials in front of him. Jason extended his hand and hauled first Carly, then Catherine, into the helicopter, where they put on headsets and strapped themselves into the seats in front of the gear stowed in the back.
“You okay?” Carly asked through the microphone attached to the earmuffs. “You look as white as a ghost!”
Catherine nodded. “I’ve never been in a helicopter before, but I’ll be fine.”
“Josh is a competent pilot,” Carly assured her. “He flies these things all day, every day. He’s a pilot with the search and rescue, too.”
For some reason, Catherine didn’t find any comfort in Carly’s words. All they did was remind her that people got into difficulty in the wilderness with frightening regularity.
Catherine closed her eyes and braced herself against the seat as the helicopter lifted off smoothly and into the air. When she opened them again, the station was spread out below them in every direction and the car that they’d left behind looked like a little matchbox toy. The rugged countryside was even more beautiful from the air, but still, none of it felt familiar to her. None of this had ever featured in her dreams and she was certain she’d never been here before.
Before too long, the hilly peaks grew steeper, craggier, as they flew above the tops, and the green grass had turned into a dry, brown tussock mixed with the scrub.
“Are there pigs down there?” Jason asked Josh, and Carly glanced at Catherine, rolled her eyes and grinned as the men talked hunting for the next few minutes. In all the years Catherine had known him, Jason had never been interested in hunting, but he sounded enthusiastic chatting about hunting the Himalayan Thar that roamed these mountains, along with the Chamois mountain goat, deer, and wild pigs. Although Catherine was tuning out most of the conversation and admiring the scenery instead, she got the impression that heli-hunting, a thing she hadn’t even known existed, was quite the popular hobby.
“But isn’t that cheating?” she blurted out. “Shooting things from a helicopter instead of actually stalking them on foot?”
Josh glanced at her quickly and shrugged. “Some people enjoy it,” he said by way of explanation. “Most of them don’t shoot from the helicopter though,” he continued. “Usually we just drop them off and leave them to it, and pick them up later.”
“So we’re likely to run into hunters while we’re staying in this hut, then?” she asked, but Carly shook her head.
“No. These mountain ranges are huge and there’s no public access for most of it. The hut is absolutely private. You won’t see a soul.”
“Good.” Catherine didn’t want anyone intruding on this weekend with Jason.
“Look! There’s the hut down there.” Carly pointed to a tiny little building standing all alone in the middle of a flat patch of ground. From the air, it was impossible to see what it was made of, but Catherine’s heart thudded erratically with excitement. A lump formed at the back of her throat, making it difficult to swallow. This was it! Or it might be, anyway. She was about to find out!
Josh brought the helicopter around and dropped gently to the ground about twenty metres away and before she even got out, she could tell it was the right place. The little stone hut was exactly as she’d seen it in her dreams.
Jason helped her to the ground and all she could do was stand there and stare. This was the hut! This was the hut she had been seeing over and over in her dreams, forever. This was really it! She could hardly believe it; it seemed impossible.
Welcome home.The voice was audible, and she looked around for the speaker, but there was nobody there—Jason, Josh, and Carly were all busy at the helicopter, unloading. A warmth surrounded her, enveloping her with a feeling of familiarity. To see the hut in the flesh was unbelievable. She couldn’t stop smiling.
There was the little lean-to, just as she’d dreamed, off to the side, filled with wood. Another little building—the outhouse—stood further over. She’d dreamed that, too. Goosebumps rose on Catherine’s skin and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she slowly inched closer, too afraid to blink in case it disappeared.
“So is this it?” Jason’s voice rumbled in her ear. “Is this the hut you’ve dreamed of?”
“Yes,” she whispered, unable to even speak properly. “This is it.”
She was still standing outside, trying to come to grips with the fact that she was actually here, at the very hut she’d seen so often in her dreams, when Carly’s voice beside her made her jump.
“Josh is showing Jason how the gas and everything works. But come with me—I’ll show you the bath. It’s outdoors, heated by a fire, and open to the stars. The boys put it in just recently. It’s absolutely bliss, lying back in the bubbles with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars.”
Blinking rapidly, trying to focus, Catherine followed her around the side of the hut. There, overlooking the valley, stood a lovely antique claw-foot cast-iron bathtub, a single tap on the end attached to a pipe that had been buried in the ground, and a fire pit underneath it. A wooden slatted tray rested across the width of the bath holding a bar of soap on a folded flannel and a single flower, and a metal towel rail stood beside it, complete with fluffy towels draped over the rungs.
“Josh flew me up here this morning to prepare for your arrival,” Carly said. “Do you like it?”
