Butterfly Hunter 01 Read Online Free PDF Page B

yet. But thank you,”
he found himself adding, “for taking me seriously.”
    “ My pleasure,”
the man replied with light simplicity.
    And Dave metaphorically kicked
himself for saying far too much.
     
    Dave had booked them into
the hotel rather than the motel, as the narrow rooms with painted
eucalypt–green wood–panelled walls felt more genuinely Australian
to him. The rooms were each sparsely but elegantly furnished with a
single iron bed, a wardrobe, a dressing table and a chair; simple
white curtains hung by the tall sash windows. It wasn’t the Hilton,
but Dave thought Nicholas would appreciate this more than the kind
of motel room to be found on road trips anywhere.
    They checked in and headed
upstairs with their overnight bags. Nicholas chuckled when he
discovered that they’d been given adjoining rooms – and then he
cast a wink over his shoulder at Dave as he slid past his door and
into his room.
    Barely a minute later,
there was a knock at Dave’s door. “End of the corridor on your
left!” Dave called out.
    “ What? Oh!”
Another chuckle. “No, I just wanted to say it’d be great to head
out again. Whenever you’re ready.”
    “ Oh.” Dave
went to open the door, and considered the man. “You’re
keen.”
    “ I am. But if
you need some time out –”
    Dave stretched out an arm
to grab the keys from the table. “Let’s go, then.”
     
    They headed off north past
the old cemetery and up Pelham Road for a way, until Dave turned
off down a track that took them into the living quiet amidst a
scatter of gum trees. Not that it was wilderness or anything, but
neither was it like anything else they’d experienced that day – or
would again, probably, for several days to come. Nicholas was all
hushed expectancy, staring around them as Dave drove along at a
fair pace.
    Once he felt they’d left
civilisation as far behind as they could for now, Dave said, “What
d’you want to see? What are you looking for?”
    “ Anything.”
Nicholas turned to him, his dark blue eyes alight with eagerness.
“Honestly. Anything. There’s still so much to discover
here!”
    “ Well, it’s
your first trip …”
    “ No, I
mean – Australia’s so vast . And there’s so few people
really studying it. You’d be astonished – Well, maybe you wouldn’t
be. But the discoveries people make! And the things that have been
found and then lost again … And the place is so old –” Nicholas stopped
with a laugh. “What am I telling you all this for? You’d know it
better than me.”
    “ I
dunno, not really,” Dave admitted. “I mean, I know bits of it.
Sounds like you’ve got a bigger perspective. And I’m not – I never
went to college or anything. I liked geology in high school
though.”
    “ That’s all
right – you’ve been living it. Not just reading about it, like
me.”
    “ So we both
know different things,” Dave tried. “Or we’re coming at it from
different angles.”
    “ We’re
going to have so much to talk about,” Nicholas concluded rather
happily.
    Dave glanced away. “Where
d’you want me to stop?”
    “ Here,” said
Nicholas, without even looking.
    And Dave immediately
pulled over, even though it was a completely random place. He
parked carefully, just off the track, despite them not having seen
any other traffic since they’d left Miles. Nicholas grinned at him
for a moment, before slowly turning away, unfastening his seat belt
and letting it slide home. Then he opened the passenger door and
carefully stepped out.
    Dave got out, too, and
headed around the back of the Cruiser to retrieve a box. He may or
may not have patted the Cruiser’s rear in grateful admiration, he
wouldn’t like to say. Then he continued on round to find that
Nicholas had barely taken a step. He’d barely even moved, but
seemed to be looking here and there, his eyes darting, as if torn
over which direction to take.
    “ Here,” said
Dave – and Nicholas turned a grateful gaze upon him, as if