THE journey seemed to take for ever so that Meg lost track of the hours they’d spent travelling. After they landed in Johannesburg they took an internal flight which just seemed to go on and on.
Meg knew that everyone was exhausted by the time they landed for the second time at a tiny airfield at the edge of the bush, but there was still another leg of the journey to undergo before they stopped for the night. Three small trucks were waiting to collect them and their equipment and ferry them to the Oncamban border, a good thirty miles away, where they would spend the night. Hopefully the next day they would complete their journey and board the train.
‘Oh, how I hate this bit!’
Lesley Johnson, one of the two other nurses with whom Meg would be working, sighed as she plonked herself down on top of a packing case. A pleasant woman in her mid-forties, with bright red hair and a face full of freckles, she had gone out of her way to make Meg feel welcome. They’d sat in adjoining seats on the flight from Manchester and Lesley had kept up an undemanding conversation, telling Meg about previous trips she’d been on with the agency.
In fact, all the members of the team she had met so far had been extremely friendly. There were five of them in total plus another two who had flown on ahead and would meet them in Oncamba. Meg had just about managed to slot names to faces by now and was sure that she would enjoy working with such a lively bunch of professionals.
They seemed to have accepted her without hesitation, including her in the conversation when they’d stopped for a meal at Johannesburg airport. It was only Jack Trent who seemed intent on treating her as an outsider…
‘Why this bit in particular?’ She deliberately closed her mind to that thought, focusing instead on what Lesley had said. Right at that moment Jack Trent was busily supervising the loading of some of the more fragile equipment onto one of the lorries, and she doubted whether he was giving her any thought! She could see him out of the corner of her eye if she turned her head a fraction, his rangy figure clad in khaki chinos and shirt which blended with the landscape. He should have been virtually invisible in that outfit yet she had no difficulty picking him out. It was as though some sort of inner radar had immediately homed in on him.
‘Because this last stage always seems to take ages!’ Lesley declared. ‘I mean, here we are just thirty miles away from our destination and we’re all itching to get started, but if I know anything at all about these trips it’s that there will be one delay after another, getting the equipment there. You take it from me, Meg, the flight from England is a doddle compared to hauling our stuff over these back roads!’
‘Don’t say that! Here I was thinking that it wouldn’t be long before I’d be able to have a lovely long soak in the bath and wash off some of this grime!’ Meg retorted ruefully, brushing the gritty sand off her dusty jeans. She looked up as a shadow fell over them and her heart skipped a beat as she found Jack Trent staring down at her. It was obvious that he must have overheard what she’d said because there was a mocking tilt to his lips as he treated her to a thin smile.
‘I’m afraid long soaks in the bath are a luxury you’ll have to learn to live without for the next few months, Ms Andrews. I did warn you, if you remember?’
‘How could I forget, Dr Trent?’ She returned his smile with an even thinner one but that didn’t mean the comment hadn’t stung. It wasn’t pleasant to realise that he was only waiting his chance to take pot-shots at her. It was a relief when Lesley interrupted at that point because Meg wasn’t sure what else he might have said.
‘Ms Andrews? Dr Trent?’ the older woman scoffed. ‘Rather formal, isn’t it, for a trip like this?’ She sighed as she looked from one to the other. ‘Don’t tell me you two are going to stand on ceremony for the next three months. How about making that ‘‘Meg’’ and ‘‘Jack’’ and starting as you mean to go on?’
Meg shrugged although she was careful to avoid Lesley’s eyes. Jack Trent had started as he meant to go on, that was the trouble! However, in the interests of team harmony it seemed wrong to make their differences common knowledge. ‘Fine by me. I’d prefer it if you’d call me Meg, anyway.’
‘Of course. And it goes without saying that you must call me Jack,’ he concurred. He turned away before Meg could answer, raising his voice as he called to the rest of the party who were sprawled along the edges of the landing strip.
‘We’re just about ready now, folks. If you want to climb on board then we can make a start. The head driver assures me that it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to reach the border, which means we should make it by five p.m. by my reckoning,’ he announced.
‘And if you believe that you’ll believe anything!’ declared Rory O’Donnell, the anaesthetist on the trip, and everyone laughed. Jack joined in as well and Meg felt her pulse miss a beat as she saw the austere lines of his face soften.
He looked so different when he laughed, she realised, even more handsome and attractive, just as she’d imagined he would look, in fact. Was it just that he had trouble unbending in front of her and found it easier to relax with people he liked and respected? She sensed that was so and her heart ached even though she didn’t want it to.
She hurriedly got up when she realised that everyone was making their way to the trucks. Rory was giving Kate Gregory, another of the nurses, a boost up into the high cab amid a lot of teasing, his hands placed firmly on the woman’s ample derrière. It was obvious that Kate was taking it all in good part as she shot a few pithy comments at her colleagues.
Meg smiled as she heard them laugh in response to whatever Kate had said. Obviously a good rapport was already building within the team and she felt her spirits lift. To heck with how Jack treated her—she intended to make the most of this trip and wouldn’t let him spoil it for her!
‘There’s a few points I need to run through with you, Meg, so you may as well travel with me in the first truck.’
Jack didn’t wait for her to reply as he strode towards the first of the three trucks which were lined up on the grass. Meg hesitated but there was no excuse she could think of to refuse his request, apart from one which was as unacceptable to her as it would be to him. To actually come out and tell Jack that she didn’t want to travel with him because he seemed intent on making her feel miserable sounded too pathetic for words.
She followed him to the truck, colouring when he stepped back to let her climb into the cab first. The memory of how Rory had helped Kate was all the incentive she needed to make the ascent in double-quick time! She scrambled on board then quickly slid along the bench seat as Jack climbed up behind her and slammed the door.
He leant forward, his arm brushing the side of her breast as he pointed towards the driver. ‘This is Moses. He’s the head driver,’ he explained, before settling back in his seat.
Meg smiled at the man beside her, trying her best to quell the sensations that were rippling through her. Although the touch of Jack’s arm against her breast had been purely accidental, that didn’t mean she wasn’t very much aware of it. It was a relief to focus on the introductions rather than let her mind go spinning off at tangents, wondering why it should have had such an effect.
‘Hello, Moses. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Meg.’
The man gave her a wide smile, his white teeth flashing against his black skin. ‘Pleased to meet you, Dr Meg.’
He started the engine, giving Meg no chance to correct him about her true status as the engine roared to life. The noise inside the truck was deafening for a few seconds before the gears engaged, and they set off with a shuddering lurch which pitched her sideways into Jack Trent.
Meg flushed as she quickly righted herself. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t