Page 71 of Larapinta

He held up the bottle. ‘The water’s not too bad. Worst-case scenario, I’d drink it.’

‘Worst case?’ She pulled a face.

‘You should have enough in the other bottles for drinking until I get back.’

‘Can you help me move him onto the cleared bit now? We’ll need to move him sideways and then turn him around. He’ll be a little bit more sheltered with his head near the big rock where I’ve made the pillow.’ She stood and they both looked down at Andrew. ‘I think he stayed asleep the whole time you were gone. I was talking to him in case he just had his eyes closed.’

She’d positioned her puffer jacket so that Andrew’s head was facing away from the cliff.

As he looked down, he could see she’d laid out the contents of her pack. The packet of jubes, their one remaining apple and two bottles of water, two handkerchiefs, a tube of hand sanitiser and the card of Panadol.

‘A home away from home,’ Graysen said. ‘You’re very organised.’

‘Years of practice with kids,’ she replied. ‘Although it didn’t take long. We’re travelling pretty light.’

They both looked down as Andrew moaned. His eyes were wide open, but dull.

‘Okay, young man we’re going to get you onto your bed and then we’re going to clean down your wounds with some soothing cool water that Graysen got for you. Then if you can help, we’ll get some Panadol into you, and you should start to feel a little bit better.’

Graysen was reassured when Andrew lifted his hand again in acknowledgment; it seemed he was having no trouble hearing and understanding, and responding.

He crouched down on one side of Andrew and Sandra took the other side. ‘As soon as it’s light enough in the morning I’m heading back to Standley Chasm and getting some help for you. Sandra’s going to stay with you and you’ll both be quite safe here.’

Andrew’s eyes widened and he moved his head slightly from side to side; it was obvious fear held him in its grip.

‘It’s going to be okay, mate. I’ve had a good look around and we’re going to be very careful. We know what we’re up against. With whatever’s happening, we’ll be taking every precaution. So don’t you worry, whatever Zed and Miska have done, there will be consequences. We’ll all testify against them when it comes to that. When, not if.’

Andrew tried to say something but with the state of his mouth he couldn’t get the words out. He closed his eyes and his hands clenched by his sides.

Graysen put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Just stay calm, Andrew, that’s the best thing you can do for us. Once we get you all moved and clean you up, you’ll be feeling a little bit better and it might be easier to talk and tell us what happened.’

Graysen knew he was trying to reassure the young guide. There was no way his mouth was going to heal enough for him to talk clearly. He caught Sandra’s gaze and nodded.

Andrew cried out in pain as they each took one side and moved him across to the cleared ground, but eventually they had him moved across and turned around, with his head on the soft jacket.

‘Now, mate, I’m going to undo your shirt and pull your T-shirt up so we can check your wounds,’ Graysen said.

Sandra undid the buttons on the khaki shirt and opened it wide. Graysen carefully rolled up Andrew’s T-shirt, exposing his chest.

Sandra’s eyes widened at the purple and red bruises wrapped around the front of Andrew’s torso. A huge, jagged bruise and some broken skin sat on the left-hand side of his stomach.

‘A broken rib,’ Graysen mouthed to Sandra. ‘Does it hurt you to breathe, Andrew?’

The guide managed to lift his left hand and make a negative gesture.

‘Good.’

Graysen nodded to himself. It appeared the injuries to his body were grazes and bruises; it was the head injury and mouth that were of the most concern, and the state his mouth was in would hinder them administering the Panadol to him.

It didn’t take long for Sandra to clean each graze and the dried blood with the handkerchief she’d soaked in the water Graysen had brought back.

Sandra put her fingers in his hair and felt around his head.

‘You’ve got yourself a good bump there, Andrew, but I think my girls had worse when they were little.’ She reached for one of the bottles of clean water.

‘We’re going to clean around your mouth a little now. Okay?’ Sandra kept chatting as she wiped the dried blood from around his lips. ‘My girls always pay out on me because I don’t use tissues. I always have two or three hankies in my handbag and luckily, I had the same with my backpack. A travelling first aid kit.’

‘When I meet your girls, I’ll tell them what a trooper you were on our trek, and how those handkerchiefs came in very handy.’ Graysen met Sandra’s gaze as she lifted her eyes from Andrew’s face to put clean water on a fresh handkerchief. She smiled at him and his heart squeezed a little. ‘Now brace yourself. This might hurt a little bit.’