Free Red Dust Dreaming by Eva Scott Page B

he kicked his horse who surged forward at the command.
    â€œHey!” cried Elizabeth. “Wait for me.”
    A little under an hour later they came upon a rocky outcrop standing alone and isolated in the middle of the great expanse of red dirt which stretched from horizon to horizon. The rock squatted like some ancient sentinel waiting patiently as time and the elements rolled over its weathered back. Luke had reached the spot ahead of them and was already off his horse. Killer began cropping at what vegetation was available, his reins looped casually over the branch of a low, scrubby tree. Elizabeth dismounted and handed her horse to Caden.
    She took a moment to contemplate the monolith before her. Not staggeringly huge by any means, the rock carried a presence, giving it the air of being much bigger than it was. She craned her neck back in an effort to see the top.
    â€œYou can climb to the top if you wish.” Caden’s voice was low and intimate in her ear. She jumped, his sudden sending odd sensations chiming within her.
    â€œIs it a hard climb?” she asked for something to say rather than any genuine interest.
    â€œNot particularly but you should know there is an Aboriginal legend that says any woman who climbs to the top will come down pregnant,” he chuckled. His breath caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes against the fission of desire accompanying it. Unbidden and unwanted.
    â€œI think I’ll give it a miss,” she said while images of what it would take to become pregnant to Caden swirled around in her head. Torturing her.
    He shrugged. “Your choice,” he said as if he’d just offered her a glass of wine instead of procreation. Caden moved off to unload the picnic basket and she found an excited Luke beside her.
    â€œCome on, Aunty Elizabeth.” He tugged at her hand not letting go of it as he led her further into the strange rock formation. She followed him willingly, enjoying the feel of his little hand in hers. They walked a short distance, picking their way over the uneven ground. Luke moved with the surefootedness of a goat while Elizabeth worried about turned ankles and stubbed toes, unused to the Great Outdoors.
    Caden shouldered the picnic basket and followed them with an easy loping gait. She was acutely conscious of his eyes upon her back. They burned through her jeans and scorched her flesh. If she spun around quickly enough she was sure she would find him staring at her backside. Instead she focussed on Luke’s chatter as he told her about their picnic spot.
    â€œAboriginal people used to come here all the time,” he said as he tugged her along. “They used to have parties here.”
    â€œParties?” Elizabeth thought of the parties she attended in New York. Trying to imagine those people here in the Outback made her smile.
    â€œYes, parties. Painting parties.”
    â€œI’m intrigued. How do you know all of this?”
    â€œI’ll show you. Can I show Aunty Elizabeth now?” Luke turned to Caden a note of pleading in his voice.
    â€œNot just yet. How about we sit down and have something to eat first? Remember Aunty Elizabeth hasn’t had breakfast so she must be hungry.” Caden lowered the picnic basket onto a flat-topped rock.
    â€œOkay.” Luke sounded as if the idea barely passed muster by his five-year old sensibilities. “Can I show her right after?”
    â€œYes of course,” said Caden and Luke brightened. “But first help me unpack this picnic basket. Thelma’s packed enough food for a small army.”
    Luke helped Caden unpack their lunch while Elizabeth perched on the edge of a rocky ledge and surveyed the scene. They’d been walking steadily up hill and she hadn’t noticed how high they’d climbed, high enough to see the lie of the land below. The ancient landscape stretched flat as far as the eye could see. A peculiar sort of stillness pervaded the land