Overnight the storm passed, leaving a clear sky and the coolest air since Charlotte arrived in Kingfisher Falls. She stood at the pool beneath the falls as the sun rose, casting the first rays through the forest around her.
The falls almost thundered, swollen from the rain and filling the pool until it was level with the ground around it. Water flowed faster in the narrow river, which was also much higher than her last visit.
She breathed deeply, inhaling a mixture of scents, from eucalypts and ferns to the water itself. A small mob of kangaroos hopped to the edge of the pond, not the least worried by Charlotte’s presence. She stayed still, not wishing to startle them, nor be turned on if they saw her as a threat.
One by one they drank. She counted nine, including a joey which popped it
