I walked over and thanked Craig for offering to fly the Cessna back. I was a little bit worried about how Stella would react to meeting a new person, but I was reassured when Craig told me that he had two dogs of his own and would take great care of her. When I brought her over, Stella sniffed at his boots, obviously detecting Craig's dogs, and she wagged her tail when he patted her. I left the tins of dog food I had brought along, and made sure that Craig had plenty of water, including some for him of course! He had some emergency food packs so was well prepared to spend the night out in the bush. He also assured me that if he had any doubt about his ability to fly the Cessna out, he would report to base and they would think of something else.

By now James had been loaded into the helicopter and it was time to go. Everyone was seated except me, so I hurried over and climbed aboard. I sat next to James and held his hand as the pilot prepared to take off, and in a couple of minutes we were in the air and heading back to Charleville.

One big advantage of traveling in the helicopter was that we didn't need a lighted runway when we arrived in Charleville. The apron in front of the terminal building was well-lit and I could even see the ambulance standing by as we landed. Once the rotors stopped, two men wheeled a trolley across to us, expertly maneuvered James onto it and started across to the ambulance. It was then that I became aware of Jean and Jim who had come out to meet us. I hugged them both and thanked them for all their support. When I explained that I was going to the hospital with James and wanted to stay until he had his operation, Jim immediately offered to drive there and pick me up later to take me back to their place to get some sleep. I was really touched by their concern for us both and nearly found myself crying.

“That is so kind of you Jim, but I can easily get a taxi,” I said, but he would have none of it, so I promised to ring and tell him when James was out of theatre. Then I climbed into the ambulance along with Dr Holmes.

We were at the hospital in no time and fortunately it was a quiet evening. The triage nurse told us that the on-call surgeon Mr Hastings had already been contacted and asked to be notified as soon as we arrived. James was then wheeled into a cubicle and transferred to the hospital trolley. The nurse said he would go directly to theatre as soon as the surgeon arrived and this happened only a few minutes later. Obviously he lived close-by. Mr Hastings is a tall man with a very friendly manner but also with an air of competence about him which inspires confidence in both patient and relatives.

“Well young man, I hear you've been practising some acrobatics out in the bush and come off second-best,” was his opening remark. He expertly examined James' leg, and smiled down at him. “Let's get you to theatre and patch you up so that this young lady can stop worrying about you.”

I blushed at this remark. It's been a while since anyone referred to me as a 'young lady'!

I gave James a kiss and told him I loved him. Then, once they had wheeled him off to theatre, a nurse showed me a waiting room attached to the ward where he would be admitted after the operation, and I settled down to that inevitable task at any medical establishment – waiting. There was a number of chairs in the room but no-one else was there. I had been shown a machine which produced a hot fluid vaguely resembling tea or coffee, but fortunately the nurse kindly brought me a cup of real tea to drink and also a couple of small packets of biscuits. I wolfed these down, not realising how hungry I had been. There was also a pile of ancient magazines on a small table in the corner – the usual 'National Geographics' and women's magazines, most of them up to ten years old. However there were some old copies of 'Farm Weekly' and these were more to my taste. I steadfastly refused to look at the clock – well not more than every ten minutes, and an hour slowly went by. Then the door opened and Mr Hastings came in, still in his theatre garb.

“Mrs Brodie, I'm happy to say that the operation was a complete success. James is now in Recovery and should be going to the ward in about thirty minutes. I'll call in to see him again in the morning,” he said.

“Thank you so much, doctor,” I replied.

“Not a problem,” he replied, “I understand that you found him, so he has you to thank that he was in such good condition for surgery.”

I found myself blushing – nothing unusual about that.

“Well it was largely due to luck that I spotted him,” I replied, but he looked at me seriously.

“In my experience when people refer to luck there's a great deal more to it than that,” he replied, and I thought to myself 'that's truer than you'll ever know'.

Twenty minute later, James was wheeled down to the ward and transferred to the bed, his leg encased in plaster. He was a bit woozy from the anaesthetic but recognised me as I came to sit in a comfortable chair beside his bed and took his hand.

“You just sleep my darling, that's the best thing for you now,” I said, and he just nodded.

The next thing I knew was it was morning and I was still sitting in the chair beside James's bedside, feeling incredibly stiff from the awkward position in which I had spent the night. One of the nurses came in to do the regular observations and smiled at me.

“I'm Nurse Brooks. You must have been exhausted,” she said “You've been asleep all night. You didn't even stir when we came in to do the 'obs'.”

“I'm so sorry,” I said, “I was supposed to ring my friends to come in and pick me up.”

“Well they did come in but they felt it was better not to disturb you, so they asked us to ring them when you woke up. Would you like me to do that now?”

“Oh yes please,” I said, “I could really do with a shower and a change of clothes to freshen up.”

James was now awake and listening to this conversation, so I turned to give him a kiss and ask him how he was feeling.

“My leg is a bit sore,” he replied, “But apart from that I'm fine, but I'm starving.”

“Breakfast is on its way,” said Nurse Brooks as she checked his pulse and blood pressure.

“Mr Hastings will be coming in to see you later,” I said, “And I would like to get a shower and fresh clothes, and then I'll come back to see you, o.k.?”

James smiled at me and squeezed my hand “Perfectly o.k.” he said.

Jean and Jim arrived a few minutes later and were pleased to see how well James looked after his operation. We left him to his much anticipated breakfast and drove to their home where I had a shower, a change of clothes and one of Jean's marvellous 'English breakfasts'. I certainly did it justice. After that it was back to the hospital in Jim's car, Jean having insisted that he stay home and relax after such a busy few days.

James was looking even better now. The bed-head had been raised slightly and he was watching television. Mr Hastings had been in to check on him and said that while he would have to stay in hospital for a few days, after that, all being well, he could go home and recover provided that there was someone to look after him.

“Well, that's where I can come in,” I said.

“Are you sure you can stay?” said James.

“Quite sure,” I replied. “I've already phoned Jack and things are going very well without me. In fact sometimes I wonder if I'm needed at all.”

James smiled “I'm sure that's not true, but to be honest I'm really looking forward to being looked after by 'Nurse Lesley'. “

“I'm going to be a strict nurse,” I said, smiling. “You have to adhere to doctor's orders if we are to get you back on your feet as soon as possible.”

Later, while James was resting, and I was in the hospital canteen having a cup of tea and a sandwich, I had a phone call from the airport to say that Craig had just landed with the Cessna. They wanted to know what to do about Stella. I'd already discussed this with Jean and Jim and they insisted that she could stay with them for as long as was necessary, so after assuring myself that James was fine, I drove to the airport.

The maintenance staff were happy to check over the Cessna after its desert landing, and Stella was very pleased to see me when I picked her up from the luggage area. We drove back to Jean and Jim's place for my tea, and for Stella to renew her acquaintance with their two dogs. I also rang Craig to thank him for flying the Cessna back and taking good care of Stella.

Before James was discharged, I took the opportunity to head home and pick up two suitcases of clothes for my extended stay in Charleville. I had also discussed a few items with Jack that needed a decision from me, but I felt perfectly comfortable in leaving the day to day running of the station to him, and anyway I was only a phone call away.

Three days later, after two further visits from Mr Hastings and some discussions with the physiotherapist, James was cleared to go home, with me in attendance to look after him. James had been sitting out of bed, and had also been instructed in the use of crutches. An appointment had been made for him to come back to the hospital for review and some physiotherapy, and he had been given some strong painkillers to use if necessary. He was transported to his house in an ambulance, and I drove ahead in Jim's car in order to be there to receive him. It was quite a relief to see him settled in his comfortable arm chair.

We now settled into life rather like a married couple although I did have to help him to the toilet and also with showering. This was rather different to previous times we had spent together which were more like a young couple spending rather passionate weekends together, but we both enjoyed this new phase in our relationship.

We had to decide what to do about transport, since James's Landrover was out in the desert as far as he knew, and quite the worse for wear. I had decided that since he loved that old 'truck' so much, I wanted to get it retrieved and repaired for him as a surprise. I didn't want it to stay out in the desert too long in case someone thinking it was abandoned, stripped it for spare parts, so I had called in at the local garage and smash repairs to see what I could arrange. They were quite happy to send out a tow truck with a flat bed trailer to pick it up and would give me a quote for the repairs. As it turned out the garage also hired cars, so I hired a medium size sedan in which James could sit comfortably while I drove him around. He accepted that it would be some weeks or even months before he could drive again.

While I was proudly wearing the engagement ring James had given me, something was troubling me and I brought it up a few days after we arrived at his house.

“James, there's something I wanted to discuss with you,” I began, tentatively. “Do you remember when you were trapped in the car?”

“It's all a bit hazy,” he replied.

“Well that's it. The thing is, you asked me to marry you.”

“I did,” he replied and I wasn't quite sure from his voice if he was making a statement or asking a question.

“I did say 'yes',” I responded tentatively, “and you can see I'm wearing the engagement ring you gave me, but if you weren't totally 'with it' at the time, I wouldn't want to hold you to something you didn't really mean to say.”

James looked rather alarmed.

“Is this a kind way of saying you've changed your mind?” he asked.

“Of course not – I just wanted to be sure that you really meant it.”

His face broke out into a broad smile, I think of relief.

“Of course I meant it. I was never more sure of anything in my life.”

“Oh James!” Stupidly I started to cry, and he took my hand and kissed it.

“Lesley, I love you so much, and I can't wait to get this stupid leg healed so that we can get back to normal together.”

I knew exactly what he meant by 'back to normal' and found myself blushing. I couldn't wait for it either.

We did start sleeping in the same bed after a few days, but that was it, strictly sleeping. We certainly couldn't risk anything athletic for some weeks. Any damage to James's leg would need some explaining!

Two weeks passed by, and James's leg was healing well. One morning he spoke about something that was on my mind, almost as if it was telepathic.

“Darling, you've been away from the Station for quite a while now, and I'm sure you must be wondering how things are going on there.”

I blushed, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Well....it did cross my mind,” I admitted.

“Well, I'm seeing the physio again today, so if she gives the go-ahead, maybe we could fly back to the Station? What do you think?”

“I think you are such a sweet man to worry about my feelings,” I replied. “Alright, we'll do it if you get permission. We can always fly back for future physio appointments.”

The physio did indeed give permission, so we spent the rest of the day packing ready to fly back to Hey the next day. We decided to take Stella along with us. I was sure she would get along alright with the Station dogs, and anyway it wasn't right to separate her from James again.

The flight back was uneventful and we landed on the Station airstrip just over an hour after taking off from Charleville. Jack was there to greet us and we maneuvered James into the front seat of the truck to drive back to the homestead. I am so pleased that he and James get on really well.

We were soon ensconced in the homestead and continuing our 'married couple' lifestyle. I confess I was happy to be back home again where I could keep my finger on the pulse. It's not that I didn't trust Jack, but it felt good to be on the spot when decisions had to be made.

One thing that has been on my mind is that when we get married how will we work out our living arrangements? I need to be at the Station, but James as a librarian is employed at Charleville, not Hey. Ideally, it would be great if Miss Marks the Chief Librarian would retire and James could take over, but the library is her life and I reckon the only way she will leave it is when she is carried out in a wooden box. I'm going to have to talk this over with James, but for now I'll let sleeping dogs lie.

To be continued

Image credit: Australian cattle station by Harris Walker reproduced under Creative Commons licence with attribution.

Author's note: I'm sorry there has been such a delay in posting this chapter, and it's my intention to post more regularly from now on.