Free Butterfly Hunter 01 by Julie Bozza Page A

smiles up at Dave from under the brim of his Akubra. He
really knew how to work that damned hat already. “No, I’m not tired
of you yet. Maybe not ever.”
    “ Right. Well.
Don’t you think your father would appreciate it if you emailed your
butler or whatever, and told him you’re still alive?”
    Surprisingly, that earned
him another scowl. “God, will you stop calling him
that?”
    “ Who? Your
father … ?”
    “ My
butler or
whatever ,” Nicholas returned mockingly.
“I suppose you think you’re being all very egalitarian, but I don’t
see why you should disapprove of someone getting paid well to do a
good day’s work. He helps us run that massive old house, which is
trickier than you’d think, and he’s been part of the family since
before I was even born.”
    “ All
right!”
    “ And
his name , which you’d know if you’d been paying attention, is
Simon.”
    “ Yes. All
right. Simon. I had a fair bit to do with Simon while he was
booking this trip, and I reckon he’d like to know you’re
alive.”
    “ So, you can email him, can’t you?”
    Dave guffawed. “I think he
expects more from me than to leave you alone at a campsite out the
back of Bourke …”
    Nicholas glared at him
stubbornly, with his hands shoved hard into his jeans pockets.
“I’ll be all right. What’s going to happen? Nothing bad has
happened all this week!”
    “ It’s no use
pushing your luck,” Dave advised. He could just imagine Nicholas
totally klutzing out: tripping over his own feet, hitting his head
on something as he got back up, and God knows what after that. “Any
one of a hundred things could go wrong, it could get really dire,
and it would be my fault for leaving you here.”
    “ David
–”
    “ No, I can’t
do it.”
    “ Can’t or
won’t … ?”
    “ Both!”
    “ David, I
might never get back here. I want to make the most of
it.”
    “ You’ve got to
know when to quit, mate.”
    “ The
simple truth is that I like it out here. I want to have
a day of peace and quiet out here, instead of –”
    “ No.”
Dave cut him off, and walked closer to make his point. “I can’t ,
Nicholas. And what I say goes, remember? You promised me you’d
respect that.”
    “ For heaven’s
sake … I’m not asking for much.”
    “ You’re asking
for far too much. You said you’d trust me.”
    “ David
–”
    “ Mr Goring
–”
    Nicholas let out an
unhappy “Hah!” and turned away. A silence stretched, which Dave was
wise enough not to break. “All right. If you’re going to Mr Goring me, I’ll have to take you seriously.”
    “ Thank
you.”
    “ Under
protest.”
    Dave sighed. “Would you
please pack your bag? I need to take your tent down.”
    “ Of course,”
said Nicholas quietly. “I’ll help.”
    But that was only the beginning
of it.
     
    It was a different town,
somewhat rougher than Charleville. Dave had friends there, but he
thought of it as more frontier than civilisation. Still … in this
day and age, he hadn’t thought there’d be anywhere he maybe should
think twice about taking Nicholas.
    They arrived
mid–afternoon, checked into a motel, took their accumulated garbage
to the tip, and then went shopping. Nicholas came along, determined
to help, despite Dave excusing him from any further
responsibilities. Then while Dave was repacking the Cruiser with
their new supplies, and filling up with water and petrol, Nicholas
went to use the motel’s Wi–Fi to connect to the
internet.
    “ I’ll say good
day to Simon for you,” Nicholas said over his shoulder as he headed
off.
    “ Uh,
that’s g’day , thanks, mate.”
    “ What ever .”
    Dave snorted. They were
fine.
    And they were fine
together, as they ate dinner in the cafe attached to the motel. It
was only when they went down to the town’s pub in the evening that
disaster struck.
    “ Day!” someone
cried as the two of them walked in.
    “ Oh
God,” Dave muttered as he looked around for the source. If the guys
were