Chapter 9: back

Mr Keaton was making far easier progress through the undergrowth than I had, and he seemed to know which way to go.

"How do you know which way to go?" I asked meekly.

"Oh, I know the bush around here very well indeed, Lynda. I've been coming here since I was a small child. My parents used to own the house that we're now in and they used to bring my sister and me up here two or three times a year."

"Oh."

"My father was something of a bushman and he taught me all about the bush, the different trees, types of undergrowth, how to take note of things, how to keep your sense of direction and so on."

"Er, so you know where the lake is?" I asked tentatively.

"Of course, it's over that way."

A completely different direction to what I thought.

We arrived back at the path to find Mrs Keaton and Randolph waiting for us. She immediately raced over to me, her face looking distressed. "Lynden, Lynda, oh, thank goodness, thank goodness; are you all right, love, are you all right?"

We wrapped our arms around each other and I couldn't help myself. That feeling of dread rose up in me again and I started crying and blabbering, "I got lost . . . I didn't know which way to go . . . it was awful . . ."

"Oh, you poor thing, you poor dear. You're back with us now, sweetheart, you're safe, you're safe now."

Mr Keaton spoke mildly, "I think we'd best head back. Lynda's quite stressed and needs to have a rest."

"Yes, yes. Come on, love, we'll go back to the house and you can lie down."

When we got back, Randolph came up to me. He didn't say anything, he just put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a couple of gentle pats.

I went into my room and sat on the edge of the bed. I was feeling sick in my stomach, sitting there staring at the floor and shaking my head slowly from side to side trying to dispel that horrible dread feeling that kept coming back like a recurring nightmare.