As Long As She Lives (full published version!)

Chapter 2

   Riley returned the foot pump to its shelf in the shed then ducked out the back door before he could be flagged down again. He circled around the back of the family-size tents and soon arrived at the pond where he blinked at what he saw. At the end of the loosely spaced row, a fourth one-man tent had been pitched beside his, its shape and grey-green camouflage fabric identical to his own.

Approaching the tent he heard fast, shallow breaths as though Kitty was in pain. "Kitty? Are you okay in there?"

The breathing paused. A swish of fabric on plastic and the opening unzipped. "Hi," she said.

"Are you alright? You're out of breath."

"I'm fine. I was blowing up my air mattress." Wincing as she climbed out of the tent, she changed the subject. "Someone has the same tent as me."

"I was wondering about that. It's mine," Riley said. "Standard police issue."

"That explains it. The little unit I'm looking after belongs to a Fed. I guess you all use the same gear."
"A Fed? I take it he's not on holiday for twelve months?"

"No. She's doing a stint working out of Pretoria."

"Is that how you met?"

"We haven't met. We passed each other. She flew out a couple of days ago."

"Then how did you hear about the house-sitting?"

"Expat Aussie network. It's handy like that."

Riley took her hands. "You do know you could have come home at any time? You could've have stayed at Mum and Dad's until you found a place."

She squeezed his hands. "Of course I know that. I didn't know how much I wanted to come home until the house-sitting came up."

She gave him a melancholy smile and her eyes glistened. Riley pulled her into the hug he'd wanted to give her since she'd arrived. "I'm very glad it came up then."

She pulled away.

Reluctantly he let her go. "Do you know what you're going to do with yourself?"

"I'm counting on coming to family dinners every week. They're still on Mondays at the restaurant?"

"Of course. I meant for work though. Are you looking for teaching?"

"Not necessarily. Probably. Actually, no. I'm really not sure."

"Kitty Cat without a plan? The end must be nigh."

"I haven't had a plan since I left St Brigitte's and I'm kind of enjoying it."

"I was never really clear on why you had to leave. I know they decided not to have lay teachers anymore but why? Surely good teachers are good teachers?"

"It's not as simple as it sounds," she said. "There's a lot of politics in running a charity school in central Africa."

"I bet that's an understatement."

She smiled and sniffed the air. "Do I smell James's sausages on the barbeque?"

He considered pushing further but she wasn't here to be interrogated.

"Of course. Dad sent me down with three giant eskys full of food. You hungry?"

"Now I've smelled that I am."

"Let's go."

She headed into the maze of tents. Riley started after her but noticed she'd left her tent flap open. Stooping to find the zip among the mesh and plastic, he glanced inside and spotted the mattress Cait had said was the cause of her breathlessness. It too was identical to his own. It was self-inflating.