Chapter 2

Eddie got home late. He'd spent the rest of the evening looking for the girl, until the light started to go bad. He'd heard her in the thicket a couple of times, but he hadn't been able to get any closer to her, and though he'd called out to her, she'd not replied. He was worried about her. Perhaps she was suffering from some psychosis, but she really needed help. It didn't matter how crazy or desperate she was, she wasn't equipped for the forest, and people could die out there, there was no water for miles from where she was.

After he did the farm chores, he called his aunt, who was a police officer in the local town.

"Hiya Eddie, how's my favourite nephew?"

"Just great, Chelle, I finished school yesterday, and I'm free, free as a bird!"

His aunt's laughter floated down the phone wires to him. She wasn't very much older than him - only a few years, and she'd only been a police officer for a couple of years. They had gone horse riding together a lot before she went off to become a police officer, and they'd been very close; it'd been her that he confided in as he went through his difficult teenage years.

"Oh, so, your family's gone to Sydney for the weekend, so you've got nothing to do but ring your aunt?"

"Oh, Chelle, come on..."

"Tell you what, want to go for a ride tomorrow? I haven't done that for ages."

"Actually, I was calling about something else. Are there any young girls missing at the moment?"

"Hmmm, not that I know of. Hang on, I'm at the station now, I'll take a look. Why?"

"Well, I was out on my bike today, on the trails up in the national park, and I saw a young girl walking in the forest in bare feet. When I approached her, she was terrified, and then she ran away, into a thick stand of bush up there. I spent a couple of hours looking for her, but I couldn't pin her down. She was really scared."

"Have you got a description for this girl?"

"Oh, she'd be about fifteen years old, tanned, blondish hair, short, fairly slender, wearing a plain white dress that's pretty torn up, and barefoot. I didn't notice what colour her eyes were."

"You were alone out there?"

Eddie sighed. "Yes, Chelle, I was. I know, I shouldn't. I'm sorry. I promise not to do it again."

Chelle snorted. "Yeah right, Eddie, I believe you. Of course."

Eddie decided not to respond.

There was a brief silence. "No, there's no one missing around here, at least, no one reported. And the few girls who I know of that might run away into the forest, they don't meet that description. But it sounds serious. She was scared, you say?"

"Oh yes, really terrified. Way beyond anything I've ever seen. You'd think that I was a monster. I offered to take her to the police, and she just screamed and ran away, like that'd be the end of her."

"So, I should get up a search party." But it sounded a little like a question to Eddie.

"Well, she was so scared when I talked about the police. I wondered, maybe, if you're not working tomorrow morning, you and I could take The Dog and go out there and look for her. If we can't find her, then we can call up a big search in the afternoon."

"Okay, you're on. I've been wanting to go horse riding with you anyway. I'll be there at six in the morning. Have the horses in the float ready to go and we'll drive to the nearest point and head in from there."

"Six? You're kidding me?"

She laughed. "I kid you not, you lazy swine. I'll expect you to be ready when I get there. Bye now."

Eddie swore to himself. He'd have to get up at five to have the chores done and the horses ready by six.

By eight o'clock they'd made it to the spot where he'd seen the girl. Eddie had actually enjoyed the ride with Chelle. He hadn't really spent any quality time with her for a couple of years, and she had some wonderfully funny stories to tell from her training and things she'd heard about on the force. And he still had the easy chemistry with her, a trust and understanding built up over the years. That was why he'd trusted her, even when the girl had obviously not wanted to go to the police. If there really was a problem, Chelle would know what to do, and having her along would protect Eddie if something went wrong.

They dismounted and tied the horses to a tree. He led his dog to the point where the girl had fallen on the ground. This was unpredictable, his dog had a good nose, but often didn't catch onto which scent he was supposed to be following. He was guaranteed to follow a rabbit reliably - they were yummy - but other scents were much less predictable. If The Dog - that was his name - didn't go after this girl, their chances of success were very much reduced.

The Dog spent some time smelling the ground and then trotted off in the direction that Eddie had seen the girl go, which was a hopeful sign. They spent the next half an hour making a terrible noise as they pushed randomly through the thicket. Eddie followed The Dog with a sinking heart thinking how the noise would be sure to drive the girl away. He worried about her. The day was heating up and it promised to be a real stinker, with a hint of the west wind that was forecast starting to roll in. Those were tough conditions at the best of times, even when you were loaded with water. He glanced over at Chelle. She'd already tucked her T-shirt into her sports bra and wet her whole top. Wow, she looked good.