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Seline jerked on the wheel and the front bumper of the truck clanged against the metal gate. Wiri raised an eyebrow in question. “Oops,” he said, a smile creasing his lips.
Her mouth opened and closed, but she said nothing. She hauled on the hand brake with a hideous ratcheting sound, forgetting to first depress the button. The truck lurched forward and stalled as she removed her feet from the pedals without taking it out of gear. Another clang sounded as the shock of the stall sent the bumper into the gate for a second time. He hadn’t expected his accusation to cause her such distress. He’d issued it as a lucky guess and hit pay dirt.
Seline pushed open the driver’s door and jumped to the ground. Cool air rushed into the cab, and Wiri inhaled the scent of a nearby pine forest. It reminded him of home and the steep slope he’d helped his uncle to turn over to forestry. Back breaking work, Logan engaged all the children to help. Even Edin, though with great reluctance. ‘This is your start-up fund,’ he’d told them. ‘Look after it and you can cash in on it when you need the money in your forties.’
Wiri wasn’t sure what kind of emergency would require a cash injection in the next few decades years. But he understood taking Phoenix would forfeit him to any of the rights and gifts bestowed on him by the Du Roses. He expected Logan would cut him off forever, and he didn’t blame him. He deserved it. Hana would prevent her husband from killing him, if Wiri was lucky.
Seline slammed the truck door and jammed her feet back over the pedals. She ground her teeth in her jaw and Wiri glanced in the mirror to see the gate opened wider. He shook his head but bit down on the rebuke. If she’d driven with more care, the truck would have slipped through the gap he’d left without an issue.
“Your turn!” Seline didn’t look at him as she ground out the sentence.
Wiri smirked. “How is it my fault you messed up the entrance? I open and you close. Remember?” He leaned sideways and saw her recoil at the intensity of his stormy irises. “Did you mess up killing me too? Or did you just get scared?”
“Get out!” Her laugh changed to something verging on maniacal as it pealed around the truck’s interior. “You’re nothing to me, Wiremu Kingii. I wouldn’t waste my time on you. Get out and shut the gate, little boy!”
He got out.
It galled him to let her win, but the rage in her face and the sound of her laugh reminded him of his mother. The same spark of unhinged emotion lurked in Seline’s expression, repelling him like the scent of death. It hung around her, cloying and sickly, tainting everything she touched.
The truck moved into the paddock at a slower speed, and Wiri closed the gate behind it. It didn’t surprise him when Seline didn’t stop to pick him up, and he dug his hands into his jeans pockets and rounded his shoulders against the uphill climb. The fresh air outside seemed preferable to Seline’s unpredictability. Wiri used the time to wrangle his thoughts into some kind of order. He forced his mind back to the incident with the water tank and let his feet guide their own steps.
The grating of the lid dragging across the concrete tank sounded the same as when Seline removed it. He hadn’t given it much thought until then, but realised the same person might have carried out both actions. Her hefting of the hay bales proved her capability. “But why?” he breathed. White condensation blew back into his face from his breath and he turned his head to let it move past him. His boots darkened across the toes from the damp grass and the bite of autumn nibbled at his cheeks. The truck rumbled ahead and stopped in front of the next gate. Pirongia’s third peak darkened against the sky line like a pointed head.
Wiri steered a wide berth around the rear of the truck. He didn’t trust Seline not to drop it back and roll right over him. She’d almost killed him once. He unlatched the gate and pushed it wide, pausing for the truck to pass through before closing it again. Seline waited, the engine idling, but he no longer wanted to share a ride with her. He kept walking, heading for the first mob of cattle crowded near a concrete water trough. A group of them lay on the damp grass, their enormous heads turned to create an arc with their body. Poppa Alfie always said that heralded rain. Wiri stared up at the sky, acknowledging a gathering of black, ugly clouds beyond the mountain. The hammering in his head continued.
“Get out of the truck.” He moved to the driver’s side and spoke to Seline through her open window. Her brow narrowed in confusion before her lips curved up at the edges.
“Who’s Fiona?” She leaned her right elbow on the windowsill and peered down at him. “It’s nice to think you’d fall in love with me after only two meetings, but then you called out a girl’s name. Who is she?”
“Mind your own business.” Wiri left enough distance between himself and the truck to dive out of the way if required. “Now, get out of the truck. This mob needs feeding, and I’m not in the mood for you to reverse over me, or whatever other plan you’re cooking up in that twisted head of yours.”
Seline’s eyes narrowed, and she pushed open the driver’s door. Wiri saw her slender fingers tug the keys from the ignition, wincing as she slipped them into the front of her bra. Her irises glittered with promise and she used the runner board to glide from the vehicle as though descending a cat walk. Her hips swayed as she put effort into the seductive walk to his side.
Wiri shook his head and dropped the tail gate before clambering into the back of the truck. The corrugated steel scraped beneath his boots as he hefted the first three bales from nearest the cab. Laying cattle rose, digging their front hooves into the ground and lurching upright on tottering feet. The mob crowded around the truck and headed for the hay. Wiri paused, waiting to see if Seline produced a knife to cut the bailing twine. When she continued to stand and watch, he ticked off the possibility of her possessing a weapon. He dropped from the truck bed and withdrew his penknife from his back pocket. The cattle nudged and bumped against him as he dipped to cut the twine and wind it into a ball. He stuffed it into his front pocket with his phone and the bracelet before turning and walking away from the truck.
And from Seline.
