Page 40 of Stockman's Stowaway

Again, his large hands swamped hers, ensuring she got a grip on the rail that ran along the back of the front seats. ‘Good?’

She barely nodded, while trying to hide her disappointment when he sat back beside Dex and continued loading his gun.

Ryder drove them deeper into the night where the spotlights caught the tops of fluffy leafed eucalyptus trees. They soon fell back to open country where the wind whipped around them as they bumped along the track under a massive sea of stars. With the moon rising on the distant escarpment, it would have been magnificent—if not for the breakneck speed and bumpy track.

She needed to focus on something else, so of course she focused on Cap. ‘What were you going to say about the wild dogs?’

‘They—’

‘Hunt in bloodthirsty packs.’ Dex scowled as he slid the loaded rifles securely into the gun racks that ran behind the front seats, like fishing rod holders. He then handed Ryder the shotgun.

Ryder jammed it into the gun holder close to the steering wheel, with his eyes on the dirt road bathed in hot white light where wallabies fled from the sides. ‘Wild dogs are coordinated,vicious creatures that can have an enormous impact on our herd.’

Dex lifted his seat like the lid of a deep box, to drag out some thick poles. ‘The problem with a wild dog pack is once they’ve got the taste for blood, they’ll massacre the herd.’ He then dropped a brotherly hand on Cap’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, brother, it has to happen.’

Cap’s head hung low, with his eyes squeezed shut. ‘I know. I know.’

With one hand still gripping the rail, Mia slid back closer to Cap and gave his hand a squeeze, wishing she hadn’t climbed on board. This was a big ask for a man who rescued canines.

Dex slammed the poles together to construct a sturdy tripod. ‘Where’s that spotlight?’

‘Here. Mia’s gonna man it.’ Charlie rummaged under the raised passenger seat, to pass back a massive globe to Dex, who slid it into place on the sturdy tripod.

‘Up you get.’ Dex beckoned to Mia with a crooked finger.

The thick steel poles were cold under her fingers, as her hair whipped around her face, now facing the full brunt of the wind as Ryder continued to drive as if in some high-speed police chase, except they were hurtling through the outback.

She had no clue where they were going as there were no signs, no streetlights, not even a road. It only made her grip the poles tighter.

‘You’ll want to make slow sweeping arcs,’ explained Dex, helping her to stand behind the tripod as they bounced over the rubble. ‘If you see anything, you hold the light on them and blind them. Ryder will steer towards what you find, and I’ll take care of the rest.’ Dex pulled back the rifle’s hammer, and leaned over the steel bar, armed and ready for anything.

Mia held the large light, the size of a human head, the weight heavy in her hands as she made slow sweeps over a sleeping land. ‘Am I doing this right?’

‘You’re doing fine. Here…’ Cap stood right behind her, his arms on either side of her, correcting her stance. ‘Hold it here.’ Again, his large hands swamped hers to show her the small, raised lip that made for handles. ‘Got it?’

‘I do.’ It kept her steady, or he did, with her back pressed to his chest, and her heart flying. But so was her hair, fluttering in her face. She spat at the ends, wiping at her windswept mop.

‘Hold on, I’ve got something for that.’ Cap leaned forward to the front and grabbed something wrapped around the gearstick. ‘Will this help?’ He held out an elastic hair band.

‘Yours?’ She even grinned.

His smile was glorious. ‘It’s Harper’s or Bree’s? I think. May I?’

‘Please. I’m scared to let go.’

‘We can’t have that.’ From behind, he gently gathered back her hair, to then slip it into a ponytail. ‘There. Not too tight?’

‘It’s fine. Thank you.’

‘This will help more.’ He removed his own cap, adjusted the back and slipped it on her head, backwards. ‘How’s that.’

‘Perfect.’ Her hair wasn’t bothering her now. Thank the heavens he was there. ‘Thank you.’

‘Are you okay to do this?’ His eyes displayed a clear worry for her and what was ahead. So of course, she began to worry for him.

‘I understand you’re protecting the herd. My father did the same. But are you okay?’

Cap gave a resigned shrug as he picked up his rifle. ‘I hate it, but they are dangerous when they’re locked into that wild-pack mentality. I don’t want them near the house, they could attack our dogs, and Mason’s there, too.’ Cap cocked back the hammerof his rifle, resting it over the bar, like Dex, who looked ready to kill anything.

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