LITMIR.BIZ

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and was probably looking as dismayed as she felt.

      Alice glanced at Peter but the head of department merely raised an eyebrow. If their new team member wanted to take the time to help staff develop their skills then he could hardly protest.

      Neither could Alice, despite feeling even more mortified than she had when she’d messed up getting that ECG trace.

      ‘You’re IV qualified, aren’t you?’ Andrew asked Jo.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Then let’s do this.’

      Jo positioned herself closer to Andrew. Their gloved hands were touching. Side by side. Syringe by syringe. Of course, Jo had no trouble performing her part of the task and then everyone was looking at the monitor.

      Alice heard the distinctive sigh from Roger which showed that the drug had reached its target, but she didn’t wait to enjoy the potential satisfaction of seeing a successful result. Nobody noticed as she turned and quietly slipped out of the Resus area.

      Alice wasn’t needed in here. And she certainly wasn’t wanted by the consultant in charge.

      CHAPTER TWO

      NOT being able to afford a decent car had its advantages.

      You could throw anything into the back of this ancient four-wheel drive. Dogs, saddles, dirty covers—it made no difference. You could also have your foot flat to the floor and not break the speed limit. Even if you were very angry and upset and weren’t even thinking about how fast to take the corners, you were safe.

      Living this far out of town had its advantages, too. You left the city well behind and could see only the green of paddocks and hills and the deep blue of a late afternoon sky. Autumn colours gilded tall poplar trees and animals grazed peacefully beneath them. Sheep and cattle and fat pet ponies. A goat on a chain was eating the long grass of someone’s roadside verge.

      Work was left behind along with the city and the further away Alice got, the more she could feel all the upsets of her day receding. Some time out was exactly what she desperately needed. Escape to the place she loved more than any patch of the earth she had ever discovered. Turning off the main road, she drove into a valley. Towards the end of this road was a property bordered by a river and enclosed by hills like a geographical hug. Hidden from the world and, for the moment at least, entirely hers.

      The long driveway was lined by oak trees that were well over a hundred years old. Leaves drifted lazily from great heights and Alice rolled down her window to smell the season. A hint of damp moss and rich soil. A faint whiff of smoke from a bonfire on some neighbouring farm. The chimneys of the enormous old house weren’t giving off any smoke, of course. Why would they, when the house had been empty for so long?

      Finding new owners seemed unlikely in the short term. Who could afford a rather rundown old mansion these days when it was a good twenty minutes drive from the city? The cost of petrol alone would put people off, never mind the extensive renovations needed and the effort of keeping up a hilly property of at least fifty acres. The longer it took, the better as far as Alice was concerned. She was more than happy to be here as the only human tenant.

      Alice took the fork in the driveway before she got more than a glimpse of the big house through the trees. She drove towards the river now. Towards the cottage that had once housed shearers and had been rented out a year ago to her friend, Mandy. Seeing the small weatherboard dwelling ahead of her, with her dog, Jake, guarding the front step, Alice could finally let go of everything bad the day had thrown at her.

      The shock of being pulled back to a past she had thought long gone. Having the ashes of a distant one-sided romance stirred and finding it still showed a dismaying warmth. Enough of a glow to make the embarrassment of being deliberately put in her place as a less important staff member far more intense. Last, but by no means least, was the knowledge that if she wanted to keep the life she’d worked so hard to create for herself, she really would have to fight for it.

      Alice climbed out of the truck and crouched to hug her dog, burying her face against his shaggy neck for a moment, feeling his whole body wag pleasure in her return. Alice let out her breath in a long sigh and she was smiling as she stood up.

      ‘I’m home,’ she said aloud. ‘How good is that?’

      Even better, she had a good two hours of daylight left. Time to saddle up Ben and take a gentle trek up the hills, through the forest and back to the river. Her huge black horse was getting on in years now and was probably a bit stiff after the long stint of being shut in the float yesterday. Besides, Alice couldn’t think of anything she would rather do to centre herself again. The other things she needed like a good home-cooked meal and a long sleep could wait.

      Climbing into soft old jodhpurs and pulling on her short leather boots dispelled any thoughts of uniforms. The smell of well cared for leather as she collected her tack from the stable put anything shiny and clinical on another planet. Best of all was the soft whinny of welcome from Ben when she went out to the paddock behind the cottage with Jake walking close enough to brush her leg.

      She was wanted here. Trusted. Loved by her boys. Yeah…life was full of hard bits but it could also be very, very good and this was as good as it got.

      A short time later, Alice swung herself up into the saddle and clicked her tongue. Ben wasn’t showing any sign of being stiff. He took the bit and pulled eagerly. Maybe he was thinking of that long empty paddock where the forest track ended. The gentle uphill slope that was the perfect place to stretch out into a good gallop.

      Alice grinned.

       Yes!

      Television was so boring!

      Emmeline Barrett was fed up with the squeaky cartoon voices. With a heartfelt sigh, she wriggled around to kneel on the couch backwards, her chin resting on her hands as she gazed out of the window at the green hills and blue skies that were so different from anything she’d ever known it was like being in a fairy tale.

      Haylee, her new nanny, was lying on the other couch, flat on her back with cushions under her head and her cellphone against her ear as she continued yet another phone call.

      ‘No! Oh, my God! She didn’t…Oh?’ A contemptuous snort followed. ‘Whatever! As if he’d be interested in her!’

      Haylee had promised to take her for a walk this afternoon. Down to see the river or up to where the trees were thick enough to make that dark and scary patch on the hillside that never failed to give Emmy a lovely tickle inside when she looked at it.

      Suddenly, she knelt bolt upright, not even noticing that the interminable phone call was ending on the other couch. Her jaw dropped as she watched a big black horse come out of the forest and start galloping up the hill. A dog was running behind and it had to be a lady riding the horse because Emmy could see long hair streaming out behind the hat she was wearing.

      Was it a real fairy tale now? An enchanted forest? Could the lady be a princess? She watched until the magic horse disappeared over the top of the hill and then she climbed off the couch.

      ‘Haylee?’

      ‘Hmm?’ The nanny’s response sounded remarkably like a yawn.

      ‘Can we go for our walk now? Please?’ she added hurriedly as she remembered her manners.

      ‘In a minute, okay?’ Haylee’s eyes were closed. ‘I just need to rest for a bit.’

      Emmy scowled. She looked back at her couch that faced the blaring television. She looked at the door which led into the big hallway with the tiny stones that made patterns on the floor. If she went all the way down, there was a really big wooden door that was probably too heavy for her to open, but, if she went the other way, she knew she would find the kitchen and that funny room full of tubs and taps that had a much smaller door. If she went past the clothes line outside that door, she might be able to find the hill.

      She might be able to see that magic horse and the princess again.

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