Outback Love

Rescue

Pain tore through Blane's head as he slowly returned to consciousness. He could feel something making its way up his leg. Was it a hand? He groaned, was it one of Emily's friends? It would not be the first time one of them had snuck into his room.

“Go away.” He muttered as he tried to push it away. Wait, that wasn’t a hand!

Blane opened his eyes and looked down to see a snake slithering its way up his body. He tried to relax his body the way he had seen on nature documentaries. The snake continued, moving closer to his face.

The other thing he had learned from the nature documentaries was that he had no hope of surviving a bite, even if his wolf was at 100%. Australia boasted 6 of the 10 deadliest snakes in the world and he was sure this was an Eastern Brown Snake.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart and level out his breathing. When he heard a giggle on the plane, he willed himself to be still.

He felt her before he saw her. It was a familiarity, like he had always known her, like she was somehow part of him. His wolf began to preen and prance in his head.

“Not now Blaze.” Blane growled in his head.

“Do you not recognise who this is you fool?” Blaze asked.

Blane dared not move but the sound of her giggling was doing something to his head and his chest.

Blane felt movement nearby and then he could no longer feel the snake on his body. He dared to open his eyes and what he saw took his breath away. Standing there with the sun’s rays shimmering around her was what Blane could only surmise was an angel. From her impossibly large blue green eyes, to her shock of curly brown hair and her golden sun-kissed skin, she was the most astonishing woman he had ever seen. As he stared, he noticed she was holding the snake that had slithered its way up his body.

“No!” He called out. “That snake is deadly!”

She giggled again as the snake coiled its way around her arm and up over her neck.

“The snake, it will kill you!” Blane continued. Was she unable to hear him? The woman turned and put the snake down on the ground and waved as it slithered away.

“Can you get help?” Blane asked. Blaze was giving him a headache by prancing around his head.

“My friends, are they OK?” Blane continued, although she still had not answered him.

The woman pointed to the cockpit and then ran two of her fingers over her eyes to close them.

“Alan is dead?” Blane asked, pointing to the cockpit.

The woman nodded.

Blane pointed toward the bedroom. The woman repeated the gesture. Arthur was also dead.

“Can you hear me OK?” Blane asked her.

She nodded her head, smiling.

Blane smiled at her in return. Goddess, she was beautiful. He had never met anyone who had made him feel like this woman did.

She came towards him with a knife and began to cut at the harness seatbelt that had kept him safe. He fell to the floor of the plane with a thump but was remarkably unscathed.

He began to look through the contents of the plane that were now scattered everywhere, looking for the First Aid kit. The woman was also scanning the plane and found it first. She walked over and picked it up. For the first time he noticed she was bare foot.

“ Thank you.” He smiled as she brought it towards him. He held out his hand, but she shook her head. She placed it down and opened it up. She pulled a canteen of water off her belt and tipped some of the water onto a dressing. She used that to clean the wound on Blane's head.

She felt like bliss. Her touch took all of his fear and pain away. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he was reluctant to do anything that might scare her away.

When the wound was cleaner, she took something out of her bag and cut it up the middle, opening it up. She placed it on his head and then began to bandage it. Her touch was light but what it did to Blane's body set it on fire. He was groaning, not from the pain but from the need for restraint. When she had finished, she stood back.

She raised her hand and waved him forward. She wanted him to follow her. He stood up and followed her off of the plane. He assumed he could send someone back to retrieve his things.

The woman stopped and looked at him. It felt like she was looking into his soul. He was so lost the trauma of what he had been through was melting away.

As he looked up, he saw a car coming towards them. The woman put her arms in the air and began to wave them to get the cars' attention. He wanted to stop her but he knew he had to deal with this.

The car pulled up alongside and the woman waved and smiled.

“Mira, what do you have here?” The man asked.

“You know her name?” Blane asked.

“Sure do. Well, her first name anyway. Mira is part of our community and a few others in the area.” The man said. “She mostly resides in the bush though, with her animals.”

Mira smiled and nodded.

“She raises animals?” Blane asked.

“ Well, it's more like the animals raised her.” The man shrugged. “Hop in, I’ll take you to see the Doc.”

“There are 2 deceased people on that plane,” Blane began.

“You wanna travel for the next couple of hours in the back with them?” The man asked.

“Can their bodies be retrieved?” Blane asked.

“Course mate, we can get the old meat wagon out to take care of that. Sorry for ya loss.” The man nodded his head. “I’m Keith by the way.”

“Blane, Blane Wright.” He extended his hand.

“Wright? Like Wright Mining?” Keith asked.

“Yes, that is my company.” Blane smiled.

Keith nodded his head thoughtfully. “Well then, you won't mind sitting in the back then? Don’t want me dog to get hot.”

Blane looked at the dog sitting in the front passenger seat of the ute.

“Of course, I am grateful for your assistance.” Blane smiled, climbing up into the back of the ute.

Keith put the car in drive and slammed it into motion before Blane had a chance to sit down, causing him to fall.

“Sorry Cobber, I thought you were sitting down.” Keith called out as the car moved forward.

Blane raised his hand. “No harm done.” He smiled through gritted teeth.

“Mira.” He whispered as he watched her through the back window of the cab. She turned like she had heard him and smiled.