Shelving the thought, she fell to remembering last night and the pleasure she had found in Connor’s arms as her body had awakened to his lovemaking. From that she passed easily to wondering how he was getting on now, planted somewhere in the scrub by the secret road in the (probably) vain hope that a vehicle would pass by. His job seemed to consist of waiting, which, she thought, must be incredibly boring.

‘You seem pretty happy about something, grinning away like a Cheshire cat.’ Luke’s voice broke the silence. ‘Am I to suppose it’s your hunky botanist?’

‘What?’ Tilly said blankly, then as her brain assimilated his words, ‘Suppose what you like, my friend. Maybe I’m just amused at the idea of you preparing insect dinners. Have you thought how we’re supposed to feed these critters we may or may not catch? Didn’t I read somewhere that they need to eat every night?’

Luke frowned. ‘It would be a problem if we were keeping them. Hopefully Leary will turn up early enough to do the business tonight. I can release them then, so it shouldn’t be a worry.’

‘You can’t just let them go, can you? Binboona’s miles away. Won’t they get lost?’

‘I’d take them back, of course.’ He slapped the steering wheel. ‘Yeah, that’d work. Leary could come with me and see the place for himself. He’d probably want to if they are unique, because he’d write it up, and the WPA would likely want his recommendations about the habitat. A brand new species would need protection and they’ll certainly be listed as endangered, unless someone finds another colony or two.’

‘That’s not very likely, is it?’ Tilly grabbed the crash bar as the vehicle lurched into a hole, hitting with a thud that rang in her bones. ‘I wish Matt’d get out here with the grader!’ she said crossly. ‘Why hasn’t Sophie got him onto it?’

‘No point till the actual work starts. Costs come first, last and always – you know that. The rains’ll be here, I expect, by the time the WPA have organised it all – the blueprints, the material, the workforce – so it’s good economy to leave the grading until next season.’

‘I suppose.’ The answer came grudgingly as she rubbed the elbow she’d banged against the door. The cliff face loomed ahead, and now she could see the dark green patch of vegetation outlining the area of the springs.

‘I wonder what your mum’s doing?’ Luke said apropos of nothing. ‘I think of her whenever I see that.’ He nodded at the sandstone cliff. ‘She loved it, didn’t she? I’ve never known anyone to respond that way to a place. Peace just sort of settled on her, like a flower opening.’