Butterfly Hunter 01 (5 page)

“
The
what?”

“
The Family
Lycaenidae: the blues. And when I say that area, I mean that entire
south–west corner of the state. Though I guess … Well, I am
extrapolating rather a lot from very little data. It could all come
to nothing, of course.”

“
Huh.” Dave
hadn’t quite realised the full significance of this quest of
discovery. “An entirely new butterfly … You’ll be able to give your
name to it, then?”

Nicholas was smiling with
slow contentment again. “Yes, I will.”

“
In Latin,
like Whatever Goringi. Or Blah–de–blah Nicholasi. Nicholai …
?”

The smile became a laugh.
“Something like that.”

“
Cool.”

“
And
I’ll write it up for
The
Australian Journal of Entomology
, and
I’ll say I couldn’t have done any of it without Mr David Taylor of
Brisbane.”

“
Fame at
last!” Dave laughed. “Thanks, mate.”

“
Might be good
for business.”

“
Butterfly
hunting. Dunno how much call there is for it, to be honest. Most
people who brave the Outback are wanting to go crocodile wrestling
instead.”

“
Ah, but if
you want to attract the more charmingly eccentric clients
…”

Dave couldn’t help but
grin; Nicholas’s wicked brand of happiness was definitely catching.
“Well, it’s working for me so far,” Dave finally agreed.

The Warrego Highway took
them north
–west from Toowoomba. The
countryside around them was still mostly cultivated, but the number
of lone houses and small towns slowly decreased. As their journey
continued Nicholas eventually relaxed, realising that he wouldn’t
miss anything new if he let his attention wander for a moment or
two. They still didn’t talk much, however.

They stopped for lunch in
Chinchilla, and then drove on. A while later the highway turned
towards the west; they were getting close to the town of
Miles.

“
I thought
we’d stop there overnight,” Dave said into the silence. “Stay at
the hotel. Not that there’s anything much to do in Miles, but we
can drive out into the bush, if you like. Get a better feel for it
than we can driving past. And there might be precious few trees
where we end up. Might as well enjoy them while we can.”

“
We can stop?”
Nicholas asked. “Do you mind?”

“
Course not. I
mean, of course I don’t mind,” Dave clarified. “Just say,
whenever.”

“
Oh, but
it’s
your
rules,” was the teasing response. “What you say
goes.”

Dave chuckled. “We’re not
quite at the life–and–death part of the trip 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 glad to
have the matter decided for him, at least for now. “Here, I got you
this.”

Nicholas was as delighted
as a kid at Christmas. He reached to carefully take the box in both
hands, and beamed happily at Dave. It was perfectly obvious what it
was from the branding on the box, never mind that Dave had already
announced he’d buy this for him. Nevertheless, Dave was blown away
by the power of Nicholas’s smile. He watched as, with a kind of
awe, Nicholas unfolded the box, unwrapped the tissue paper, took
out the Akubra – and marvelled at it for long moments before
slipping it on. It fit neatly, and looked just as Dave had
imagined.

Nicholas’s smile grew so
overwhelming that Dave scrambled for refuge in words. He had to
clear his throat before he could voice anything meaningful, mind.
“It’s the classic style. You know? The Cattleman.”

“
It’s like
yours,” Nicholas observed.

Dave had put on his own
old Cattleman as soon as he’d gotten out of the Cruiser. It was
part of him, and had been for more years than he could remember.
His father had bought it for him … well, it must have been for his
eighteenth.

“
It’s
perfect!” Nicholas was continuing. “How did you know –”

“
I
emailed your butler, and asked him how big your head was. He
said
very
.”

Nicholas went pink round
the cheekbones. “He did not.”

“
Nah. He sent
me your measurements. Well, you know. For hats, anyway.”

“
And the
colour?”

It was the Bluegrass
Green. Dave had been going to get the Sand, like his own, because
that was also classic. But then he’d thought about Nicholas’s black
hair and dark blue eyes. The blue jeans he’d worn on that first
day, with the sage green t–shirt, and the black sweater. Nicholas
was wearing blue, black and green again today. And Dave had thought
about how the darker hat colours – the Black, the Graphite Gray,
the Western Navy – would absorb the heat. He’d thought again about
the unsettlingly oceanic depths of Nicholas’s eyes. And he’d gone
for the Bluegrass Green.

“
You asked him
about the colour, too?” Nicholas persisted.

“
What?”

“
You asked
Simon about the colour … ?”

“
Oh.” Dave
could feel his cheeks heating. “No, I just guessed.”

“
It’s
perfect
.” Nicholas had it in his
hands again, turning it about, and admiring it. When he went to put
it back on again, he grinned at Dave – and made the usual rookie
mistake. He pinched the crown at the front between his thumb and
second finger, and lifted it one–handed.

“
Not like
that!” Dave cried, instinctively reaching for Nicholas’s narrow
wrist to stop him. God, now they were both blushing. Dave took his
hand away.

Luckily, Nicholas didn’t
take offence at any of that. “What did I do wrong?” he asked,
apparently keen to know the answer.

“
I know that’s
how they hold it in the movies. And it looks good, doesn’t it? I
mean, it’s like you should be able to hold the crown like that. But
you’ll put pressure on the creases here, and that’s where it’ll end
up cracking. Maybe not for years, but you don’t wanna –”

“
No, I don’t,”
Nicholas agreed.

“
Um, so, you
know, it should last you a long long while …” He trailed off
lamely.

“
So, how
should I hold it?”

Dave looked, and snorted
as he saw the Akubra’s brim now warily balanced on the very tips of
Nicholas’s long fingers. “Not like that, either! Here, you can
grasp it as strong as you like with both hands, at the front and
back.” He demonstrated with his own hat, taking it off, and then
putting it back on again. “Fit the front low on your forehead, then
push it down at the back until it’s in place … That’s it,” he added
approvingly, surveying the results.

Nicholas was still
smiling, gratefully. Even with a wry kind of sweetness. “Thank
you,” he said, in tones that matched his smile.

“
You’re
welcome,” Dave responded, feeling completely at a loss
now.

And it seemed that even Nicholas
was, too, for he finally turned away, and slowly wandered off,
apparently scanning the undergrowth in search of something. Hiding
his face, when he could, behind the lowered hat brim.

Dave followed him,
watching him, occasionally glimpsing those pretty pink lips,
slightly parted now in concentration. How strange it was, Dave
pondered, that he’d become so very fixed upon Nicholas’s marvellous
smiles. How very wrong it was to be thinking so much about another
bloke’s mouth …

The quiet of the bush was
calming. A delicious full silence was augmented by the occasional
bell–like chirp of a bird, the bustle of a four–footed creature
carrying on with life unconcerned by these two human intruders.
Dave sighed contentedly. Flora and fauna weren’t his strong suit,
beyond the necessary survival knowledge of what he could eat in an
emergency and what he couldn’t, but he really did love it out here,
in the bush, in the Outback. He loved that, mostly, the flora and
fauna were willing to coexist with him, if he only paid them their
due respect.

Dry bark crunched under
Nicholas’s footfall, and Dave’s attention was back on him again.
The Englishman was moving slowly, peering about at the lower
shrubs, at the ground, at the sparse grasses – ducking and frowning
now and then, weaving to and fro, until – “There! My first
Australian butterfly.”

“
What?”

“
Well, my
first one in the wild, as it were.”

Dave eased closer,
astonished. “You’re making discoveries already?”

“
No. Oh, no …
This is just a Cabbage White or one of the Pearl Whites, I should
think. I’ll have to check the field guide.”

“
What is?”
Dave asked dumbly, looking about for beautiful white wings.
“Where?”

“
Here.”
Nicholas crouched, and indicated a grub–like casing. “It’s in the
pupa stage. One day, not too far distant, it will break apart, and
the most glorious butterfly will emerge.”