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  ISLAND OF ESCAPE by Dorothy Cork

  It was because she felt sorry for Steve Gascoyne that Ellis had written to him. Her flighty cousin Jan had heartlessly thrown him over—to steal Ellis's boy-friend Paul !—and while Ellis was heartbroken over the loss of Paul she realised that Steve, a hardworking sheep farmer, who had been expecting to acquire a wife and helpmeet, had practical problems too. So she had written to suggest that the two of them might come to some arrangement. What she had had in mind was helping him on the sheep station or something useful like that, but it seemed Steve had completely misunderstood her...

  printed in Great Britain

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  The advert for a cook/travelling companion in the Australian outback was just what Saffi wanted to get herself away from a hopeless love affair, and she was very relieved when Math Rayburn gave her the job. But she hadn't realised just how difficult Math was going to be—or what kind of sparks were shortly going to fly between them!

  OUTBACK RAINBOW

  When Nicky Reay went looking for her childhood friends, Cass and Howdie Johnson, she never dreamed she would find them working for the overbearing Jarratt Buchan on his remote cattle station. It was even more of a surprise to find that the gentle Cass had fallen in love with Jarrattwhat could Nicky do when she was attracted to him herself?

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the Author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the Author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  The text of 'this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  First published 1978

  This edition 1979

  © Dorothy Cork 1978

  ISBN 0 263 72917 6

  * * *

  CHAPTER ONE

  ELLIS scarcely recognised herself in the girl who looked back at her from the mirror in the hotel bedroom, high above Sandy Bay. She couldn't help thinking that if she had looked like this just two weeks ago, then Paul might not have ditched her and been so easily diverted by Jan's charms. She had grown used to that sort of thing happening, of course. Men rarely looked again at Ellis Lincoln once they had met her volatile and beautiful cousin Jan.

  But this time was different. Paul was the first man she had really felt seriously about, and Jan had broken up the affair so easily.

  Ellis leaned closer to her reflection to smooth colour over her lips, and had to blink away tears from her eyes even as she took in, with a new shock of surprise, her changed appearance. The light golden-brown hair, which she always used to wear long and neatly drawn back from her face, had been cut short and completely restyled, and she had been shown by an expert how to use, to full effect, the expensive make-up that Jake had insisted she should buy. Tonight, her darkly lashed blue eyes looked like jewels in their setting of subtly applied eye-shadow, and as if all this were not enough, she wore the most sophisticated and beautiful dress she had ever owned in all her twenty years. It was a blue and green affair of finest voile, the halter-neck, that showed off her smooth young shoulders, looped through with a wide band of fine gold mesh, fastened at one side by a sparkling clasp. She had, in fact, become such

  a stranger to herself that she found it hard to reconcile what she saw with what she knew herself to be—a quiet, almost plain girl, very unsophisticated, and completely lacking in charisma, as Jan had remarked once. A girl who kept house for her uncle in a Melbourne suburb.

  Well, all that had come to an end since Jan had come home from Flinders Island and annexed Paul Howard. Ellis simply couldn't stay there any longer, and though she did it reluctantly, she left her uncle in Jan's decidedly unwilling hands and flew across Bass Strait to spend a week in Hobart with Jake Armour.

  `The best way to mend a broken heart,' Jake claimed, `is to go somewhere different—meet new people—enjoy yourself,' and he had written Ellis a bracing letter. `'Come to Hobart and join me at the Casino Hotel. You'll have the whale of a time—you'll soon forget that fellow. He can't be worth breaking your heart over anyhow, if he prefers that minx Jan to you. I never did like that girl. I remember saying to Siddie when we left you with the Websters, That young miss will eat little Ellis alive—'

  Jake had been Ellis's father's closest friend, and when Ellis was orphaned at eleven, she had spent three years—three happy years—with him and his wife, Siddie. Then he had gone broke, completely broke, and reluctantly passed her over to her aunt and uncle, who had looked after her and educated her. Ellis had barely left school and started work in a bank when her

  aunt died, and since Jan, despite being two years older than Ellis, was too giddy and irresponsible to be trusted, it was Ellis who took over the housekeeping for her uncle and for Jan and Martin. It was not long . after that that Siddie and Jake came into a small fortune and wanted her to come back to them, but out of

  loyalty and gratitude she stayed with her uncle.

  And now she would never go back. She had made up her mind

  Ellis glanced at the little jewelled-watch on her wrist. It was time to go downstairs. If Jake had had enough of the gaming tables in the main casino, he would be waiting for her. They were going to dine in the Cabaret Room and then watch the show, and Ellis had a slight feeling of trepidation, because Jake was pressing her to go back to Adelaide with him and be the daughter he had never had. Siddie had died over two years ago, and now he was going to marry again and Ellis knew, though it didn't seem to have occurred to Jake, that it would be a great mistake for him to present his new wife with an unknown, twenty-year-old 'daughter'. She could only hope and pray that she would hear soon about the position she had applied for on Flinders Island.

  Taking up her evening purse, she made her way to the elevator. She was sure she would be happy working on a sheep farm—or a sheep station, as Jan called it. She would feel herself useful, she would be busy, and in time, she supposed, she would get over Paul. Time, people said, was a great healer when it came to all sorts -of ills, including broken hearts.

  Travelling down in the lift among a crowd of well-dressed chattering people, Ellis wondered just why she hadn't heard from Steve Gascoyne in answer to her letter. Perhaps he didn't want to have any dealings with a cousin of Jan's. The very thought of how Jan had treated him troubled Ellis's conscience, as so many of the things Jan did troubled her conscience. Like not staying in to answer the phone when
she had promised her father she would, or going out for the day with her latest boy-friend instead of typing out the letters her

  father paid her to deal with Ellis didn't know how many times she herself had stayed up till all hours of the night doing Jan's typing for her—and getting no thanks for it. She didn't know, either, how many lies she had told on her cousin's behalf when Jan had capriciously decided to 'forget' a date.

  And now there was Steve Gascoyne, this poor sheep farmer whom Jan had actually promised to marry. Ellis felt so sorry for him She pictured him as a nice unsophisticated countryman who probably could hardly believe that anyone like Jan could have fallen in love with him. And then Jan, no more than three days after she came home to Melbourne, rather obviously decided that Paul Howard, a young and successful real estate developer, was more to her taste. To give her her due, Ellis thought she was genuinely unaware that Paul had been her property till then, because a man as eligible as Paul was very hard to associate with a girl like Ellis

  Ellis stepped out of the elevator and crossed the foyer towards the main casino, her eyes suddenly filling with the tears that would come when she thought of Paul. He had been so nice to her—he had taken her to a show, come to dinner, talked to her about all sorts of fascinating things.

  And he had kissed her.

  Oh, how she had fantasised about him—when she lay in bed at night, and at all hours of the day. It had been an effort to keep him out of her mind as she did her uncle's typing for him. She had taken that on so Jan could have a holiday with her brother Martin, a naturalist, who was doing research on various birds on Flinders Island Ellis had thought it odd that Jan should be interested in going to such a small out-of-the-way place, but in no time she had plunged into a love affair

  with Steve Gascoyne. 'A torrid love affair,' she had written, and her letters had been full of satisfaction.

  Now the engagement was off. The ring, a very beautiful one, had been returned by registered post. Exactly why was a mystery to Ellis. She was inclined to suspect that Jan had been rather cruelly amusing herself by having a 'torrid' love affair with a simple farmer. One thing that was plain was that she had left the island when she did because she didn't want to let herself in for any household chores.-

  `Steve's aunt was taken off to hospital in Hobart by the Flying Doctor Service,' she had told Ellis. 'And I have a very nasty feeling she won't be coming back. Which does rather make one think, seeing that she did all the housekeeping. I really couldn't see myself taking that on—and certainly not cooking for the shearers when that comes around.'

  But was that a good enough reason for breaking an engagement if you really loved a man? Ellis wouldn't have thought so. Still, Jan had always been fickle—and she was so attractive to the opposite sex she could pick and choose all she liked.

  And now she had chosen Paul.

  Ellis swallowed back her tears as she moved towards the Cabaret Room, and stood still for a moment glancing around her. The golden cages at the mini dice spun, the big dice tumbled. The croupier at one of the roulette tables raked in the chips, and from another came the call, Faites vos jeux!' Dealers at the blackjack tables, vivid in their vermilion dresses, flipped cards from the 'shoe', and from their high chairs the inspectors, formal in black suits and white shirts, presided over each game.

  - The place teemed with people—tourists and locals

  and gamblers, among them many Asiatics from the boats that were in the harbour, and Ellis, failing to see Jake, pressed on towards their meeting place. He wasn't there, and a little uncertainly she took a chair at a small table not far from the bar, and hoped that he would turn up soon. She was not used to such sophistication—her life in Melbourne had been quiet in the extreme—and she hoped that in this dimly lit part of the casino she wouldn't attract attention.

  But before very long she became aware that a man was studying her. She could feel his eyes roving over her, and she shrank within herself, wishing she could suddenly become invisible. Then unexpectedly her confusion gave way to a completely different feeling as she realised she was no longer the neatly dressed little innocent who had kept house in a Melbourne suburb. She remembered the image she had seen in the mirror

  Unable to resist it, she glanced across at the man who was taking such an interest in her, and she did it boldly and openly. He too was alone at a small table, but he had a glass of something—probably Scotch, she decided—in his hand. She judged him to be somewhere in his mid-thirties, for though his thick dark hair had a dramatic silver streak in it, his deeply tanned and strikingly handsome face was young. He wore a velvet jacket of darkest brown, a pale peach-coloured shirt and a silky, striped tie, and as he moved one arm she caught the flash of gold cuff links.

  Their eyes met, and, without altogether meaning to she smiled, then felt her heart give a nervous leap as he smiled back and raised his glass to her. There was a very decidedly worldly cynicism in his smile, and she looked away hastily, aware that he might think she was inviting him to pick her up. She opened her purse and

  pretended to hunt for something in it, and hoped he wouldn't come over and speak to her. She'd have no idea what to say to a man like that. He belonged to a world that was completely different from hers—though, seeing her in this get-up, that fact wouldn't be so apparent to him, she thought wryly.

  She had an almost irresistible compulsion to look at him-again—aloofly, haughtily, this time, just to show that she wasn't in the least interested in him, but probably fortunately for her, Jake arrived—handsome, suave, with nothing of the father figure about him, despite his fifty-one years. Wealth, Ellis thought irrelevantly, certainly suited him, and she smiled at him affectionately.

  He greeted her as gallantly as if she were some woman he was interested in romantically, instead of just Ellis Lincoln, whom he'd known since she was a small child.

  `My darling, you look beautiful. That new hairstyle couldn't suit you better.'

  As he spoke, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. It was all part of his policy of making her feel better, of boosting up her ego, and though she knew he did it to make her feel good, she was aware that people looked and smiled cynically—just as that man in the velvet jacket was looking now. And she had a pretty fair idea as to what he was thinking

  `I'm sorry I've kept you waiting,' Jake was saying. `You should have bought yourself a drink ... I had a real run of luck at roulette just now, and I didn't want to get out too soon. Forgive me? Anyhow, let's eat, shall we?'

  Ellis nodded and got to her feet and let Jake take her arm. Deliberately, she didn't glance at the man who had been staring at her, as they went into the Cabaret

  Room, and she told herself firmly she simply didn't care what he thought.

  Jake ordered pre-dinner drinks when they were seated at their table, then once he had decided what they'd have for dinners he produced a small packet from his pocket and handed it across the table to Ellis.

  `Here's something I picked up in Battery Point while you were at the hairdresser's today. See if you like it.'

  Oh dear ! Ellis felt slightly embarrassed, though she knew Jake hated her to feel that way. He had heaped so many gifts on her, and her pale cheeks flushed as she thanked him and opened the packet to discover it contained a little gold bracelet, set with small sapphires.

  jake, it's beautiful ! But you really shouldn't—'

  As she spoke, a man came down the shallow steps and paused nearby, waiting to be shown to his table. It was, Ellis noticed with an inward glance, that man with the silver-streaked hair, and as she glanced at him, it was obvious from the derisive lift at the corners of his rather wide and sensual mouth, that he had noticed what was going on at her table. She looked way from him angrily, disliking him intensely. He took it for granted, of course, that she was accepting jewellery from an older man in return for favours given or hoped for. He wouldn't for an instant see Jake as a kindly uncle or a godfather—not after the way he had kissed her fingers earlier on. She
was thankful when the waiter came and he was taken to a table that, though it was within sight, was at least out of earshot!

  Jake had taken the bracelet and was fastening it round her wrist.

  `No protests, darling. Giving you things is my pleasure. Having money is no use unless you have someone to share it with, and Siddie and I had precious

  little time.' He didn't release her wrist, but looked at her seriously. 'Am I going to be able to persuade you to forget about this job you've applied for and come to live with me and Pat? You'll get along very well together, I promise you.'

  Ellis bit her lip and awkwardly moved her hand from his to pick up her glass.

  `Jake, I—I don't know what to say. I feel so ungrateful, but the fact is, I just don't think I could adjust to doing nothing. I know you think I'm mad to have applied for a position as housekeeper, but it's really what I want. I want to be independent, to—to do some kind of work—'

  He frowned thoughtfully. But not that kind of work, Ellis. I don't know how you came to apply for such a position, but as far as I can see it will be a case of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. You'll be a drudge. It's just not good enough. you've slaved for that uncle of yours for long enough while Jan's messed around enjoying herself, and you'd be wasting yourself to go off and do the same thing for some sheep farmer. When I think what a pathetic, unhappy little thing you looked the day I met you at the airport last week, and how in just a few days you've blossomed out into a beauty—a real beauty—I regret the years you've been away from me.' He paused and gave her a long look. 'Didn't you see yourself in the glass before you came downstairs tonight? There's not a woman in this room can hold a candle to you. You're a—a mad mixture of sophistication and innocence, of lady and coquette. You'd have a wonderful life with Pat and me —you'd meet all sorts of eligible fellows, forget that idiot Paul completely—'Ellis shook her head hopelessly. It would be impos-