The Man From Ti Kouka Page 7

  Trudi smiled. There was something very reassuring about Dave Forrest.

  ‘I hardly know Dan, but I know he’s special,’ she put in, oddly shy.

  ‘You’ll be all right. You won’t want for anything, of course—Ti Kouka will see to that.’

  ‘Dan loves it. He said he’d leave here carted out in a box.’

  ‘Of course. Same as me. I guess no one would really understand until they lived here and put down roots. There’s room to grow here.’

  ‘How does Dan get on with Mrs. Jay? Is she so dreadful?’

  ‘Well now, Dan will take you along to meet the tyrant and you’ll be able to form your own opinion.’ Dave Forrest smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Sheridan Jay is the apple of her eye, so you’ve no problems.’

  Thinking this over Trudi agreed. The boss’s mother, although interested, would hardly be personally affected by Dan’s girl-friend. After all, it wasn’t her son. This made her realise that she knew little of Dan’s mother. Dave hadn’t mentioned her. Still, she could hardly interrogate Dave Forrest.

  ‘I guess I’ll meet everyone sooner or later. After all, I’ve really only just met Dan.’

  ‘Yeah, and I better get my work done or the boss will wonder what’s happened! My two youngest, Robin and Angela, are playing down at Bell Bay with some friends. You might see them there.’

  He stepped to the truck and pursed his lips to emit the loudest shrillest whistle which Trudi had ever heard. Its effect was instantaneous. The dog, far out on the sands, stopped and looked up sharply, then ran towards them, its paws flicking sand as it sped along the beach. With practised ease it jumped on to the tray of the truck and stood there, its plume of a tail wagging happily.

  Trudi waved goodbye as the truck was edged out and turned back towards Ti Kouka. She folded the rug neatly and put it into the car, her thoughts puzzled. Dave Forrest could tell her so much about Dan and she knew so little. Dan hadn’t mentioned his mother; where was she? Was she alive? Had she abandoned Dan? Had she found the isolation of Ti Kouka too much and returned to the city? Could that explain why Dan had spoken so warmly of Mrs. Jay, even if he cheekily referred to her as a tyrant? The nickname was evidently familiar, from Dave’s comments.

  She drove down the track, glad that she had met and liked Dave Forrest. He seemed to love Ti Kouka just as devotedly as Dan.

  The thought came to her that Dan’s wife would be under constant supervision living at the homestead. It would be bad enough living in someone else’s house, but to have a tyrant living there too, her husband’s boss, another couple and possibly a mother-in-law, sounded a recipe for disaster.

  Any children would have to be very quiet in the homestead, tiptoeing around for fear of the fierce old lady. If they made a noise life could be a misery. The tantalising image of a small boy like Dan tore at her, but then she pictured a sad-eyed little girl like herself, remembering the unhappy times since her father died. That was not the sort of existence she wanted for children or for herself, she admitted.

  ‘Dan, I can’t love you,’ she muttered desperately. She had the feeling that she had been swept into the man’s net as easily as the poor fish in the sea. If Dan would only leave Ti Kouka, they could always return for holidays, she thought with burgeoning hope.

  The thought of a woman she had met and liked that morning hit her forcibly. Her family had compromised, and judging by the lavish caravan, their expensive car and the small boat, had succeeded. Trudi sighed. She couldn’t see Dan leaving Ti Kouka. The look on his face when he looked over the land was full of pride—more, love. Trudi bit her lip as she tried to puzzle it out. The sound of the incoming tide reminded her that Dan should soon be back. Her heart was beating fast when the familiar jeep rolled up and to her disappointment Dave Forrest swung down. She watched as he removed the rubbish and then she went disconsolately back into her tent, not bothering with a fire. She didn’t feel like food.

  Watching the waves lap up against the sand was soothing and she began to wonder if she had made too much black of the whole picture. She sat waiting, sure that Dan would come.

  It was late before she put away her things and went sadly to bed. Her thoughts troubled her. She sighed, thinking about Dan and how he had held her in his arms. So much for his announcement that he loved her and wanted to marry her! she thought. Angrily she thumped her pillow and tried to sleep. She wondered why she felt so ridiculously hurt.

  The following morning she walked through the bush and out to the top of the cliffs. She wore her backpack so she would not forget her drink bottle. She reached the spot where she and Maria had lunched such a short time before, and sat down. It was still early and the song of the birds delighted her, hearing the bellbirds’ mellifluous tones and the throaty chuckle and rasp of the tui, quickly changing to an imitation of the bellbird, amused her. She looked carefully but couldn’t see the tuis for some time. Finally she caught sight of the pair, and watched as the sunlight made a rainbow sheen of the black of their wings. The heavy beat of their wings, as they were surprised, startled her. The sound of a horse coming purposefully along the track revealed the answer. She felt her heart speed up as Dan turned a corner.

  ‘I’ve been looking for you, darling,’ he called. ‘Sorry it was too late to come last night, but I knew you would understand I had to work.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Trudi answered, blithely ignoring the thousands of questions and doubts his absence had inspired.

  ‘How did you find me?’

  He chuckled. ‘I’ll always know where to find you, darling, if you’re on Ti Kouka. I checked the camp and when I found you weren’t there, the birds told me someone was up here, so I came after you.’ He smiled his lovely wide smile which was so very special, and Trudi could not resist smiling back.

  ‘You’re the most beautiful creature in the world, my Trudi could not resist smiling back.

  ‘I’m not your Trudi,’ she denied, but at his touch she felt her limbs melt.

  ‘Not yet, but soon,’ he said softly, completely confident of his powers of persuasion. ‘You were making for the top?’ He pointed to the summit of the cliffs a couple of miles away.

  ‘Yes. I saw you up there the first day we arrived and both Maria and I were fascinated. I’m sure there would be a great view from there.’

  ‘Just about all of Ti Kouka and a whole lot of coastline too,’ he answered. ‘I’ll leave the horse here and we can go together.’ He looped the reins up out of the way and spoke to the horse quietly and softly. Two dogs had approached Trudi before and now she patted them. Both were sleek working dogs and she guessed huntaways would be very necessary on the farm.

  Dan slipped his arm around her and shouldered the back-pack. A short whistle brought both dogs up and they set off together. Dan held Trudi’s arm loosely, occasionally using the binoculars to check the distant paddocks. He held them out for her to view and she jumped back as the cliff top swung into shape immediately before her eyes. She was staggered at the clarity of the detail.

  ‘You can see everything!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Even a naughty lady poking out a saucy tongue,’ he countered, ‘or a mermaid in a pool.’ His eyes danced merrily. ‘I thought it was so hot, I was seeing a mirage. I knew the creek was real, though, and I couldn’t resist going to check. There was a beautiful woman with dark hair and a magnificent body.’ He teased with a lightning smile. ‘It took me a moment to realise the car and your sister were there too. By the time I reached you, the pair of you were playing like young colts. And then you looked at me as though I was something the cat had dragged in. And I saw your hair was brown like your eyes and that you were proud and untamed as the wind, and I decided I had to know you.’ Dan’s voice was full of humour.

  ‘Rubbish!’ snorted Trudi inelegantly.

  ‘Yes, I agree,’ he chuckled. ‘But it sounded better than saying I thought you were stupid to be travelling in such heat!’

  They both laughed and looked at each other with love before walking o
n again. Trudi turned and looked back. Already the view was staggeringly beautiful, but

  Dan promised her an even grander vista once they reached the top. The climb was getting steadily steeper, making her puff slightly, so Trudi was glad of Dan’s strong arms at times. The muscles at the back of her legs protested and he taunted her with her lack of fitness, promising that once they married she would have plenty of exercise. This was said with such panache that Trudi abruptly dropped his arm, only to have it seized again. She was glad as the last few feet were extremely difficult.

  He pulled her up and they stood together. Below, the cliffs fell steeply to the sea, but on the other side they eased and sloped more gently down to the hidden bay. The water appeared more green than blue and rocks littered the entrance. The sweep of the coastline was blurred as the curve merged in the distance with the sea. The long pale band of shore was mirrored by a similar line to the south. Dan turned her inland, and she gasped at the vivid beauty before her. Through a gap she could see the rich lands of the valley lying like some other world protected behind the huge sleeping hills. In the distance she could see the main homestead and to one side the bungalow, both sheltered by their trees. The fields were gold and green and brown in a sunlit shaft of colour, and she didn’t need to be an expert to realise the fertility of the land lying spread before her.

  ‘Ti Kouka!’

  Dan’s love was measured in the reverence with which he spoke the word. Seeing it from this angle, Trudi felt a stir of panic and wondered if she would ever mean more to Dan than this land.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘It’s so vast—I’d no idea!’

  ‘Look, Trudi, see those cabbage trees at the end of this ridge? The original Sheridan J.S.T. Jay climbed up here, along the same route as we came and saw this valley. He made his way back hotfoot to buy it, and was very nearly accused of madness in wanting such a spot. They advised him to take a block lower down, but he insisted and registered it. Of course, there’s a lot of land that has to be kept as a barrier, and always will, but there’s more than enough to lead a good life at Ti Kouka.’

  ‘You wouldn’t ever leave here and buy somewhere else?’

  He turned to her in genuine puzzlement. ‘Leave Ti Kouka? Buy somewhere else? Don’t be daft, woman!’ Trudi could not doubt his reply and her heart lurched painfully. She supposed the desire for her own home was a little feeble viewed by Dan’s non-commercial standard. Oddly he evidently admired the perspicacity of the first Sheridan J.S.T. Jay, whom the present occupant had been named after. The whole place seemed rather like a benevolent feudal society, she thought sourly, Dan was so pleased to be there that he asked for little else.

  ‘That’s why he called it Ti Kouka—it’s Maori for cabbage trees. He’d been going along the coast stopping and checking from the hills along the way, for land. He’d make for the highest point. Those cabbage trees are clearly visible out to sea. He said he’d climb to the ti kouka or give up, and as he’d been celebrating his birthday the night before, he nearly did. Each step as he went up the hill at the end he muttered ‘ti kouka,’ so that’s how the homestead was named.’ Dan’s grin was so wide she didn’t know if he was serious or not. He carried on, gesturing. ‘He went down the other way, naturally enough.’

  Her eyes widened as Dan pointed out other features and she leaned against him. The wind played softly with her hair, blowing a tendril across Dan’s face, and he removed it gently then kissed her.

  ‘I want you to love Ti Kouka, my enchantress. You’ll love Mrs. Jay. She’s not too bad for a tyrant!’ He spoke warmly, but Trudi felt chilled. She was glad that Dan was looking over the land so he didn’t see the expression on her face.

  ‘Ti Kouka’s an old place and full of character. I can just imagine you walking down the stairs,’ he went on.

  Trudi frowned. She didn’t want Dan drawing more pictures, he was too hard to resist. She sat up, and the movement made her conscious of the tiny fuzz on Dan’s chest. She tickled him and his answer was swift. ‘My tantalising woman, we’d better move or you’ll get burnt!’

  Trudi moved. She knew Dan didn’t mean sunburn and she recognised the levels at which they had arrived so speedily.

  ‘So sensible!’ she muttered softly.

  ‘We’ll have lunch under the trees—I hope you packed enough?’

  ‘Oh, Dan, you’ll have to tighten your belt a little, I’m afraid.’

  For answer he smiled and wound his finger through her hair.

  ‘Round my heart.’ He spoke quietly and then gathered her close so that her head rested on his chest. Infinitely slowly he turned her so that she was facing him, aware of his masculine magnetism and the faint tang of his aftershave. The touch of his hands triggered a response and she lifted her lips. His kiss was gentle and sweet and she swayed close, feeling the love surround her.

  ‘My nereid, I love you.’

  The kiss seemed to reach from the earth to the sky, joining them for ever. Trudi reeled back, all her senses clamouring. Free, she ran suddenly to avoid him seeing the pleasure his caress had given. She reached the safety of the trees and sat against a fallen log, the sound of the leaves soughing gently above. The topknot of trees formed a deep open square and they sheltered in the middle. To Trudi’s surprise Dan proceeded to bring forth an extraordinary array from the back-pack.

  ‘How did that get there?’ she asked, as a bottle of champagne joined the rest.

  ‘I put it there, of course. You were making friends with the dogs, so it was simple enough to slip it all in.’

  It was fun, admitted Trudi, sitting on top of the world, every aspect unclouded. They shared a chicken Dan had broken up and pulled the wishbone together, then were both delighted when it broke equally.

  ‘Guess we both wished for the same thing, Trudi,’ said Dan as he reached for her. His firm well cut mouth whispered words of love and she could not help her own excitement, loving the feel of his firm muscular body emphasised by his working clothes of light shirt and shorts. She could hear the sound of his heart when she laid her head against his chest. There was such joy in lying in his arms and she turned, meeting his kiss.

  ‘Darling, we belong together,’ he said softly. ‘It’s never been like this before. I want to know everything about you, from the top of your head to those painted toenails of yours, especially why one foot is painted pink and the other red!’

  ‘Dan, I’ll never know when you’re being serious,’ she chuckled as she touched the firm lines of his shoulder, noting the way the frame was built so powerfully. ‘Well, the saga of the toes is simple. I started to change it this morning and was doing so when I was interrupted and then I forgot.’

  She lay contentedly in his arms, seeing the crinkle of the laughter lines around his eyes, oddly white in his deep tan. She traced the edge of his mouth with her fingertip and he lay looking at her, then moved to take her finger and kiss it gently.

  ‘Trudi, I love you, I don’t want to ever do anything to hurt you. Neither of us wants a hothouse type relationship, a brief flowering, then dead.’ He regarded her so seriously, then the mood lightened as he smiled.

  Trudi took a long look around, soaking up every aspect. Even the clouds which seemed to have built up farther to the south seemed a part of the beauty, emphasising the dark shadows from which she had come to the sunlit land in front of her. Suddenly she knew Dan was right. She had to love him, because without him life held little joy.

  ‘I love you,’ she said quietly, and saw his face hold the sunshine itself.

  Their kiss was very deep. Together they walked slowly down from the hill. Dan escorted her back through the bush, and the trip was a delight. Standing softly in one spot, he mimicked the call of the bellbirds and Trudi was delighted to hear first one bird and then another answer. Gradually there seemed to be a whole merry peal of softly pitched notes as more bellbirds came to investigate. It took Trudi a few moments to see a small green bird sitting poised amid the leaves and then a swift scurry as two m
ore appeared. It was her swift gasp of pleasure that sent the birds flying away and she felt suddenly bereft.

  ‘Don’t worry, darling, they’ll come again another time, you’ll have to learn their call. This is Bell Bay, after all.’

  ‘Old Sheridan, whatever his name, was scarcely original,’ she said, smiling, and Dan nodded.

  ‘The birds have these hills, as we like to keep it more or less as a sanctuary, but this section is needed as a short cut. Farther over, past the camp, it’s really rugged country and there are more birds there. Unfortunately more wildcats too that I’ll have to deal with. I’ve even seen a kiwi there years ago, but I’m not sure if there are any left now.’

  ‘Could we go looking one day? I realise you have-to work, but you must get some time off.’ Trudi smiled, pointing an admonitory finger. ‘You’re dreadful, you should be working, not slacking around with your girl.’

  ‘Right, boss,’ he said, and his eyes twinkled.

  The horse followed behind and the sounds of the two dogs forging ahead echoed as they went on down the path. At the stile Dan held her and kissed her again before he turned and mounted the horse, and Trudi watched as he rode off along the fenceline leading back to Ti Kouka. In a whirl of happiness she waltzed down the track and out on to the camping ground. The sky seemed more blue, the beach more magnificent, the whole world more wonderful than ever.

  ‘Much more of Dan Johnson, Trudi Carr,’ she muttered, ‘and folks will be calling you the Cheshire Cat!’

  Dreamily she wandered off towards the beach; seeing the driftwood and remembering her attempts at carving, she looked around for others. After a while she pounced on one which made her face light up. Happily she viewed it from all angles, then picked up some sticks for burning and set off back to the camp. From time to time she cast a glance towards the cliff-tops, but there was no sign of any familiar rider. She hoped Dan wouldn’t get into trouble for being late back, then she remembered the picnic. Obviously his employer knew about the girl at the camping ground. Idly she wondered what Sheridan Jay was like. She would hardly have made a good impression taking one of his junior employees away from his work.