Rose clasped her hands behind her back to hide the fact that they were trembling.
"Well well well, if it isn't my little niece Rosie." He smiled at her.
"I should get going, Tess is waiting for me." Rose spoke up. It wasn't true but she hoped that if she told him that, he might think Tess was coming to find her.
"Rosie don't run off so quickly, it's been a long time. Haven't you missed uncle Danny while I've been away on holidays? Give me a hug" He extended his arms to hug the girl.
Holidays? Rose thought to herself. How dumb does he think I am? She may have been young, and she may not know the full story, but she did know he had been in jail. She wasn't surprised either, that's where he belonged. Either jail or the psychiatric hospital. Rose couldn't decide. But either way she didn't think it would be much of a "holiday". However she was too scared to say this to his face. So she hugged him, not knowing what else to do. At least he was admitting he was her uncle. Michelle had denied that Rose even had an uncle, or a cousin. Even when Jeremy and his mum turned up on the doorstep Michelle wouldn't admit to Rose who he was.
He pulled her close and whispered in her ear "Don't be scared Rosie. Just do exactly as I say and no one will get hurt. Not you, not Stevie, not Jeremy. Do you understand Uncle Danny?" He released her and stood expectantly waiting for her response.
The girl nodded. Daniel was almost a stranger to her, but she knew one thing about him- she couldn't trust him as far as she could throw him. She didn't really believe that the well being of everyone concerned rested on whether or not she did exactly as he had asked. But she decided to be on the safe side, she had no other options really. So she did what he had said. She waited half an hour, then she took Stevie's phone and sent a text message to Claire.
Rose felt guilty as if she was luring Claire into a trap. Rose tried to make herself feel better by telling herself that Claire was just getting what she deserved, she must be pretty crazy herself to let him here in the first place, to let him near her baby. But still she felt guilty. She told herself it was just until she could find Stevie, and then she would confess everything to Stevie, and Stevie would find Claire and everything would be ok. With that final thought she pressed the 'send' button. She deliberately spelled some words wrong, including Claire's name. She figured if Claire had any sense she'd realize something wasn't right. And if not, then at least she had tried.
Claire was relieved that Michael had left. She was glad he had seen Jeremy. She was even glad that they had the chance to talk face to face and sort some things out. Now she could let go of him and Jeremy forever. She felt bad telling him to leave, but it had to be done. And he was understanding. She felt sure that he wouldn't be back. And she could go on with her life with Alex and Charlotte. Now that the past was laid to rest she was ready to move into the next step of her relationship with Alex.
She briefly wondered again how Jeremy and Rose had come to be here. And at the thought of Rose, her mind switched back to Stevie. Did Stevie even know Rose was here? And where was Stevie? As if on cue, Claire heard her phone beep. She raced over and picked it up off the table. Relief flooded her when she saw Stevie's name in her inbox. She opened the message "Clare, need 2 talk 2 u alone, meet lookout, its importent, tell no one. Stevie"
Claire made up a story to tell Tess that she was going to check on the cattle in the eastern paddock. Tess offered to come with her, but Claire reminded her that someone needed to watch the children and be here when Michelle arrived to pick them up. To Tess, something didn't feel right, but she agreed, told her sister to be careful riding in the dark, and went upstairs to check on the children.
Claire arrived at the lookout. It was just on the border or Drovers Run and the National Park. She hadn't been up here for ages. During the day there was a beautiful view over the valley. But at night it was just blackness. It was only after she had got there that she realized it was a strange place for Stevie to want to meet. It was also a long way from where Stevie had left Alex's ute this afternoon, and there wasn't any way Stevie could have come this far on foot. And now Claire had come here, alone, in the dark, and hadn't told anyone where she was going.
Alex drove the back road from Killarney to Drovers Run, along the border of the national park. He wasn't sure whether to believe Harry or not that the man on the road today had been Stevie's brother. Why would Stevie hide that from everyone? And could that have anything to do with the strange things that were going on? Alex decided that if anyone would know it would be Claire. She had known Stevie for a long time, surely Claire would know something about Stevie's brother. Alex had rung Drovers, and Tess told him that Claire was out checking cattle. It seemed a very strange thing to do at this time of night and with so much going on. So he decided to come over to Drovers and hope he would run into Claire on the way.
Tess also told Alex about Rose showing up. Alex knew Stevie would want to see Rose. He tried again ringing Stevie's phone, and was not really surprised that there was no answer. He sent another message. He wasn't sure why he bothered, she hadn't replied to the other 12 he had sent. But he tried one last time, and hoped she was reading them even if she wasn't responding. Surely Stevie would come home to see Rose. "Stevie, Did u know your daughter is at Drovers? Come home. Call me I'll come get U. Alex."