‘Look, I’m sorry I didn’t organise this with you. I should have thought it through and not put you on the spot,’ Nate said as he fell into step next to Berry.
She turned her head and smiled. ‘It’s all right, really. Besides, you know I always wanted to check out the island.’ Berry looked over her shoulder and saw Tom and Lia carrying an inflatable kayak between them. ‘Are we going to all fit in that?’
Nate grinned and shook his head. ‘Nope, we’ll have to take at least a couple of trips but it’ll be fine.’
‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to trust you on that,’ she said.
‘You can you know—I’m trustworthy,’ he answered with a wink.
Berry kept walking down the narrow track towards the dam and desperately tried to ignore the sudden flash of heat in her cheeks. She took a breath and mentally tried to pull herself together. Out of the corner of her eye she swore that she saw Jess smirking—so much for her sister having her back.
‘What did you pack in here?’ she asked, holding up the basket she was carrying. ‘Everything including the kitchen sink?’
‘No, just the stuff we needed for a picnic,’ Nate replied. ‘I may have gone a little overboard, but I wanted to make sure we had enough to eat.’
‘Well, it feels as if we’d have enough to feed half the town.’
‘Point taken—next time you can pack the lunch,’ Nate said as he reached down and took hold of the basket handle, causing another wave of heat as Berry’s fingers tingled at his touch.
Berry shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I can manage.’
‘Come on, then,’ Nate said with a smile.
There was a collective sigh of relief when they finally made it to the old wooden jetty that poked over the deep waters of the dam. They sank down on the rough boards and caught their breath.
‘It looks deep,’ Tom said.
‘I guess,’ Berry replied. ‘Not that I know anything about dams.’
Nate chuckled. ‘I’m not sure about the depth exactly—all I can tell you is that as far as I know it doesn’t dry out in summer.’
Jess put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked across to the island. ‘So, the only way over is by boat?’
‘Sure is,’ Em answered. ‘Who’s going first?’
‘I’ll take Berry, Jess and the food over first and then come back and get you guys,’ Nate said.
‘That’s a lot of rowing,’ Berry said as she glanced across the water in an attempt to work out just how far it was.
‘Nah, it’s fine. Besides, Lia and Em can row us all back later.’
‘Way to volunteer us,’ Em said. But before she could say anything else Lia piped up, ‘That’s fine. Tom and I can row back later.’
Tom gave her an apologetic smile. ‘Um, I’ve never done that before.’
‘It’s okay, it’s easy. I’ll teach you. I’ve been mucking about in boats ever since I was little,’ Lia reassured him as she ignored her sister’s surprised look. ‘Really, there’s nothing to it.’
‘Well, come on, then—this food isn’t going to eat itself,’ Nate said as he walked over to the discarded dingy.
It didn’t take long before Berry found herself skimming over the water towards the island. There was something incredibly pleasant about being in a boat, lulled by the rhythmic sound of the paddles hitting the water. She couldn’t help but smile as the crisp breeze tugged at her hair. She tore her gaze from the nearing shore and smiled at Nate. ‘It looks smaller than I remember.’
‘Time will do that,’ he said as he rowed.
‘True,’ Berry answered as she looked back to the island. It appeared wilder than she remembered too, which was no surprise after so many years of neglect. There were a couple of weeping willows growing close together near the water’s edge, their bare branches hanging over the surface. Berry could only imagine what they would look like when their leaves returned. Aside from the willows, there was a gum tree in the centre of the island, then only rocks, reeds and a tangle of undergrowth as far as Berry could see.
‘Nate, I was just thinking,’ she said, ‘no one’s been over here in years. There might not be anywhere for us to set up a picnic.’
‘Well, we’ll soon find out. If it’s too overgrown, we’ll just eat on the jetty,’ he said before adding, ‘I probably should have checked that out first.’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Jess said, nudging Berry’s leg, which she chose to ignore. ‘I’m just enjoying the ride—aren’t you, Berry?’
Berry nodded to her sister. ‘Yes, I never realised how relaxing this is.’
‘Glad you both like it,’ Nate answered with a grin.
After a few minutes the boat skimmed into the shallow water at the base of the island. Berry looked over the side of the boat and saw a bed of pebbles beneath the water. There was a small flat area that mainly consisted of rocks and a couple of large boulders. From what she could see there was little vegetation on this part of the island, other than a few straggling weeds growing around the base of the larger rock.
Nate jumped out, turned around and held his hand out towards Berry. As their hands touched, a now-familiar warmth travelled up her arm. With it came a picture of Nate edging closer and wrapping her in his arms. Berry shook her head as if to dispel her imaginings and the flush of heat that engulfed her body like a tidal wave.
‘Thanks,’ she said as she quickly stepped from the boat, but when she lost her footing and lunged forwards, Nate reached out and steadied her.
‘Are you okay?’
Berry nodded as she righted herself. ‘Yeah, I’m fine, thanks,’ she mumbled.
‘I guess we’d better watch out. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a long time,’ Nate said as he let her go.
‘Who would come here? I mean, it’s private property,’ Jess asked as she got out of the boat by herself.
‘That wouldn’t stop some people,’ Nate replied. ‘Besides, it was a well-known fact that your dad stocked this dam with trout. I’m not saying it’s right, but I’d bet my last dollar that you’ve had more than one trespasser over the years.’
Berry glanced around the area to where the island sloped up from where they were standing.
‘That’s a track, isn’t it?’ she said as she pointed to it.
Nate looked in that direction. ‘Looks like it, though it’s pretty overgrown.’
Berry started towards it. ‘Come on, let’s check it out.’
‘When you guys were little, did you ever come over here?’ Nate asked as he walked behind Berry.
Berry thought for a moment. ‘We did, but not very often. Mum didn’t think it was a good idea for the two of us to come here by ourselves.’
Jess let out a laugh. ‘You mean you don’t remember the trouble we got in when we snuck over here and Mum found out? It’s funny, you know—being balled out is one of the strongest memories I have.’
Berry turned and looked at her sister. ‘When did that happen?’
‘It must have been the last summer we were here, maybe soon after Christmas. We snuck into the shed and borrowed the little wooden canoe and rowed it over here.’
‘Actually, now you mention it, I do remember taking the boat.’
‘But not the trouble we got into as soon as we got back to shore.’ Jess stopped and pointed to Tom and the girls on the jetty. ‘Mum was standing over there waiting for us so she could read the riot act.’
Berry shrugged. ‘I can’t remember her telling us off at all.’
‘From what I can remember, she generally didn’t. But that day was a whole other thing,’ Jess said. ‘We must have given her a fright or something because she was so cross. I don’t know, I just remember her going off about the leaky boat and being responsible enough to do what we were told.’
‘Hang on—were we banned from coming down here?’ Berry asked as she wrinkled her nose. ‘I think I remember something about that.’
Jess’s laugh ended in a sigh. ‘Hell yes, we were banned from swimming in the dam all summer and we weren’t allowed to go any further than the back yard. You know, there’s a lot that I don’t remember from when we lived here but that is burned into my memory.’
‘It sounds as if she was worried about you, rather than angry,’ Nate said. ‘Boats can be tricky and if you were only little … well …’
Jess blew out a breath as she stared back to the shoreline. ‘Yeah, I kind of get that as well. All my other memories—and I’m the first to admit I don’t have that many—but in the rest, Mum’s always kind and quietly spoken. Guess we must have really frightened her.’
‘Sounds like it,’ Berry said, but at the same time wondered what had really happened; it seemed so out of character from the mother she remembered and kept in her heart. ‘Come on,’ she said, in an attempt to shift the melancholic mood that had settled over them. ‘Let’s find somewhere to have this picnic, so Nate can go back and get the others.’
Jess gave her brother a wave. ‘Yeah, I’m sure they’re anxious to come over.’
‘And I have to tell you that my sisters aren’t that great when it comes to waiting,’ Nate added.
‘Right, then, let’s see where this track takes us,’ Berry said.
Just over the rise there was a clearing that was sheltered by several wattle trees.
‘This is it,’ Jess said as she pointed to the spot.
‘Yep, I reckon that’ll work,’ Nate replied.
‘Perfect,’ Berry said. ‘It’s perfect.’