“BEN!” a slender woman wearing a robe called from the back door. “Is that Rick’s car?”

She stormed her way across the yard in furry slippers, coming to a stop in front of Joel. Taking his face in her hand, she turned his head side to side. She then spun around and strode to Adie. “Did you do that?” She pointed at the young man who was still rubbing his chin.

Adie held her head up in defiance and kept eye contact with her. “I did.”

The woman enveloped in her a fierce hug. “Good girl, I like your spirit.” She let go and stepped back a little, tittering at the look of shock on Adie’s face. “It's about time someone took Joel down a peg or two. I can see you’re going to fit here perfectly.” She turned her focus on Rick. Her eyes narrowed. “You, young man, had better have a good reason for trying to sneak in and out of here in the middle of the night.” She tucked her arm in Adie’s and directed her toward the door. “You might as well have breakfast before you race off again, seeing as we’re all up now anyhow.”

The three men had no choice but to follow. Ben brought up the rear behind a sulking Joel and an apprehensive Rick. He emptied the shotgun of rounds and carefully propped it against the wall behind the door before slipping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Rose, honey, don’t you go giving the boy a hard time in front of his girlfriend. You scared the last one off quicker than a rattlesnake,” he whispered.

Rose slapped him on the chest in horror. “I did not!”

He chuckled and placed a firm kiss to her lips then beat a hasty retreat to the table. “She did too,” he said as he passed Adie.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Fine, you get a temporary reprieve,” she said to Rick. “Everyone sit down and Rick can do the introductions.”

Rick caught Adie round the waist and held her firmly against his chest. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I did warn you,” he whispered before kissing her cheek. He straightened and addressed the room. “Everyone, this is Adie.”

A chorus of “Hi’s” sounded. Sometime during the last couple of minutes five more bodies had entered the Kitchen.

“Starting from right to left, we have Dad, Ben; brothers, Joel and Dan; Dan’s partner, Mary; Sister, Harley; her husband, Max; the little one is their daughter, Lucy; last, but by no means least, Mum, Rose.”

Adie detached herself from Rick’s arms. “Hi,” she greeted them all and sank into the closest seat at the table.

“So,” Ben started, filling the ensuing silence. “Where are you two off to in such a hurry at five thirty in the morning?”

“Adie needs to go see the Shaman. I figured if we got an early start we could get there for tomorrow night.”

Harley laughed. “Yeah right! Why don’t you just admit you were trying to avoid Mum.” Everyone except Rose, Rick and Adie joined in the laughter.

“I wasn’t avoiding her,” Rick denied. “I was just delaying the inevitable.”

“So what colour dress you going to wear?” Harley asked Adie, continuing the joke.

“Ignore her.” Rick growled, finally taking his seat next to Adie as Rose started laying breakfast bowls and cutlery on the table in front of everyone. “Everyone else does.”

Harley stuck her tongue out.

Adie felt herself slowly relax. The atmosphere in Rick’s family home was so happy and comfortable, she felt welcome. She was content to listen to the banter that bounced around the table. It felt like home, something she hadn’t felt since the day her parents died in the car crash. She missed it. She knew Callie missed it too, and hoped that she would find some contentment with Sam.

Light was beginning to brighten the horizon by the time the breakfast dishes were done. Rick and Ben went outside and left the women to it, declaring that they had something to discuss. Adie washed while Harley dried the dishes, insisting that Rose put her feet up because she had made the food. Before long, everything was cleared away and tea sat brewing in a pot.

The roar of a couple of motors drew their attention to the barn; the three women looked out the window to see two quads emerge.

Within half an hour, Adie had mastered the controls of the red quad bike. After balancing one of the huge rucksacks on her back, she followed Rick on the other quad up a dirt track that led to the forest. Ben had suggested making up a bit of time by following the trail on the quads to the ridge, then hiking from there. With any luck, they could make the small cabin by nightfall.

The helmets helped block out the noise of the engines, but made what would normally have been difficult conversation impossible. The uphill track was hard going. Circumnavigating protruding rocks, divots, tree roots and a fallen tree had created enough obstacles to keep the pace slow. Rick pulled over at a small clearing at the brow of a hill a couple of hours later. He removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his forehead, he then removed the rucksack from his quad rack and rummaged around in it until he found the small lunchbox his mother had insisted he take. He passed it to Adie to hold while he returned to rummaging for the bottles of water.

Adie snapped the tabs on the box and peered inside. She squealed with excitement when she discovered the caramel squares and cupcakes hiding within.

“Oh! My favourites, I haven’t had these in years.” She snatched a caramel square before Rick could reclaim the box and closed her eyes as she took her first bite. Moans of ecstasy involuntarily left her as the shortbread base crumbled and fused with the chocolate top and caramel middle. Her taste buds danced as the flavours mingled on her tongue. She was in sweet heaven.

Every mouthful sounded almost pornographic in Rick’s mind. He hadn’t moved a muscle since her first moan. Sat astride the quad seat, cupcake poised halfway toward his open mouth, he intently watched her lips close around the final corner of the square. She sucked each of her fingers clean of the sticky caramel before she opened her eyes again.

“Want another one?” he asked, half hoping she would, but at the same time, dreading more of the seductive torture.

She shook her head. “I’ll keep it for later thanks, but that bun looks delicious.”

She snatched it from his hand, dancing a few feet away before stuffing it in her mouth when he tried to grab it back.

His spontaneous laughter sent several birds squawking from the trees as she started choking on the dry crumbs. “Want some water?” he asked innocently, before moving the bottle beyond her reach when she tried to take hold of it.

She growled in irritation then choked again when the vibration of the growl loosened more crumbs.

“Sorry,” he said with insincerity. “I couldn’t resist.”

When she managed to catch her breath, she leant against the seat of her quad and admired the view for the first time. It was breath taking. The ridge they sat on overlooked a reservoir in the basin of a lush, tree-lined valley. The cloudless sky mirrored in the water gave it an intense, almost tropical, blue.

“Wow,” she sighed in awe. “I could never get used to such a sight. It’s beautiful.”

“If you think that’s nice wait till you see the sunset from the cabin.” He moved to stand on the other side of the quad and leant forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. They watched a pair of eagles soar and play in the thermals for a few minutes. “We best get moving again if we want to reach the next ridge by lunch time."

The next ridge had just as beautiful a view, but it was the pool fed by a fast flowing stream that caught Adie’s excitement this time. Rick had all but pulled her off the quad as she stopped the engine.

“Fancy a cool down?” he asked, eagerly dragging her into the trees.

They emerged in what could only be described as a fairy tale scene. Water flowed in a torrent over flat rocks that formed at the top of a 10ft cascading waterfall. Light, filtered through the canopy of trees surrounding the pool, danced from the ripples on the surface like diamonds. Rick stripped down to his boxer shorts and dived in, waving for her to join him. She shrugged and stripped to her matching pink bra and pants - she’d worn less on holiday - and dive-bombed, creating a huge splash right in Rick’s face.

Ducking under the water just as she surfaced gasping for air, he grabbed her ankles and yanked her under again. He broke the surface several feet away, treading water near the edge of the pool. When she didn’t resurface after thirty seconds, he began to panic. Thirty more and he pulled himself out of the pool to get a better view. He could see the wavering contrast of her hot-pink underwear against her pale skin deep underwater. She wasn't moving. He dived in after her.

Adie had called for air to help her breath under water. Creating a bubble around her head - a trick her witch friend Irene had taught her - she bade her time for when she would take her revenge. She could see him moving around the edge of the pool, obviously looking for her. He propelling himself through the air, heading straight for her. She swam away to the other side of an overhanging plant and waited.

His lungs felt like they were about to explode from lack of oxygen. He searched until he couldn't stand the burn any longer. He surfaced, panting, panicking.

Adie took advantage of the opportunity his back presented and wrapped her hands around his ankles. Using as much strength as she could, she tugged him under. He twisted as he felt her pull so they were face to face under water.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kicked them both upwards. Her hysterical laughter cut short when his fingers held her chin so his lips could take possession of hers in a combination of relief, anger and passion in a kiss that blew her away.

Finally breaking apart, they moved in unspoken agreement to the edge of the pool. “We should eat and get back on the road,” Adie advised.

Hoisting herself from the water, she gathered her clothes and stepped behind a tree to remove her wet underwear. She dressed in privacy and met him by the quads a few minutes later.

He’d unpacked the lunch by the time she come into view and they ate in silence; both of them too embarrassed by the unexpected kiss. Once they finished eating, Adie began packing everything in to the rucksack.

Rick couldn’t stand the awkwardness any longer. “I’m sorry I kissed you…”

“I’m not,” she interrupted him, softening her tone with a smile. “Relax, it was just a kiss. A nice one, but just a kiss. No big deal.”

“Nice! Just nice?”

She giggled as she pulled the helmet on and swung her leg over the seat of the quad. “You could use a little practice,” she called as she moved off.

“Is that an offer?” he yelled, rushing to attach the rucksack to the back of his quad so he could catch up to her.