CHAPTER 45

Tent and sleeping bag drying day came and went. After a burst of productivity in the first few days back, after that, they got slack. Jobs were half done and no one really wanted to do anything productive at all.

Now that the other tents were dry, Velma began to spend much of her time alone in her tent reading. That worried the others a bit at first, but they soon realised it was a normal thing for Velma to do. Before the war, she had spent her free time reading, which obviously explained why she was so knowledgeable. She jokingly called her tent her "cone of depression", but the others had a feeling there was more truth to that than she let on to.

When they were lost in the bush, they had begun to notice Velma's two moods, but they honestly thought that would peter out once they returned to Headquarters.

Alas not.

Sometimes, Velma would be in the mood to completely renovate Headquarters and mother the whole group. She would assign tasks that needed to be done, help on various projects, and made sure rations were being handed out correctly. She would avidly discuss plans for future raids and attacks, and she would talk as if the gang were the sole saviours of Crystal Cove. However, there were times when would simply blank them all and retreat to her cone of depression. Daphne especially felt horrible about this next part: but her and the boys had essentially given up on talking to her at those low points. Daphne had tried a couple of times, and had emerged from Velma's tent feeling hurt and upset.

On the other hand, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby did a lot together. They went on spontaneous walks and swum in the river despite how freezing it was getting. Velma reckoned they were well into May, meaning that winter was rapidly approaching. In the first few productive days, they had gone on one more supply raid, mostly just to collect blankets and warm clothes to prepare for the cold.

About a week into their return, Scooby had a sudden urge to get to work on his veggie patch. He recruited Shaggy, and the two of them went for a walk to try and find suitable logs to border the veggie patch, and anything else that might be useful for it. Scooby ransacked Fred's supply pack and haphazardly constructed a shelter that they could drag over the garden if it rained too heavily. Fred promised to help him "improve" the shelter later (what he really mean by that was "take apart and re-do", but for a dog, it wasn't terrible). Scooby was particularly excited that he had managed to pick up some petunia seeds as well, which would add a little colour to the garden, if it grew.

Scooby asked Fred and Daphne if they'd like to help, but they politely declined. Today, Fred and Daphne had other plans. While on a walk with Shaggy and Scooby, Fred had found a nice sunny spot that he wanted to share with Daphne. Since they had got together during the war, this was, in a sense, their first proper first date. The funny thing was, despite being so comfortable around him, Daphne found she still experiencing the usual first date feeling of nervous excitement.

After a breakfast of porridge and vegemite wraps, Daphne took Fred by the hand and led him down towards the river. They stripped down to the bare essentials – which had lately substituted as swimmers – and stood at the bank, grinning at each other with chattering teeth. They re-joined hands and took a couple of steps into the water before diving in.

As usual, it was icy cold, numbing them to the initial shock of it. After a short duck dive, Daphne broke the surface, gasping for breath and laughing uncontrollably. They were ducking under and wading around in a feeble effort to remain warm. They began to feel their extremities going numb, but neither of them wanted to get out because it was so much fun. Daphne flung her head back and looked up at the sky through the thick canopy of trees. Her hair floated out in cascades around her face. Fred paddled up beside her and threw his head back in the same fashion. His blonde locks spiralled out in all directions, framing his face perfectly. As he turned to grin at her, a couple of water droplets bounced off his eyelashes, making Daphne's heart flutter. Then Fred effortlessly dried his hair in one swift flick and splashed his face with water. Daphne reached out and gasped his chin in her hand and gently stroked his cheeks. She loved the way his tan skin accentuated his subtle smattering of freckles in the sunlight. She ran a finger along his cheekbone and regarded him tenderly.

'Do you realise how gorgeous you are?'

'Look who's talking.'

Despite the icy water, Daphne's face flushed.

'Wanna race back?'

She grinned mischievously at him dove ahead of him, earning herself a headstart.

'Hey, no fair!' Fred exclaimed, and dolphin kicked his way towards her.

Daphne paddled at top speed until she realised Fred was no longer behind her. 'Fred?'

She felt something brush the tip of her foot. At first, she was worried it was a jellyfish, but she laughed that off, realising they weren't anywhere near the ocean. Knowing it was Fred being funny, she kicked out at him under the water. When she didn't make any contact with him, she searched around the surface and peered into the murky depths to try and spot him. A split second later she was suddenly catapulted out of the water and flung into the air. She twisted around in the air before flopping back down right on top of Fred.

'Freddie!' she laughed. 'That was a wild ride!'

Fred came emerged beside her, trying to catch his breath, which didn't help when he was practically dying of laughter. 'I didn't realise you'd fly so high,' he finally managed.

'You gave me quite a fright!'

'That was the aim. Hey, who won?'

'Us.'

She swam closer to him and ran her hands up and down the length of his exposed sides. Then she pushed herself up against him and locked his lips in a deep kiss. Fred's hands dropped to her waist causing all the breath to leave Daphne's body. She broke the kiss but kept her face pressed against his, and smiled against his lips. They were both violently shivering and their teeth were chattering against each other, but Daphne felt that Fred had just ignited a fire within her. Hungry for more, she lunged at him, causing them both to drop beneath the surface.

'Wait, wait,' Fred said, pulling them both back to the surface. 'We're actually going to drown.'

They clumsily waded over to the opposite side of the riverbank, which would hopefully give them more privacy, and settled down on some shallow rocks. Then they started up their kissing fit again. Daphne grabbed his shoulders and straddled herself over his legs. She didn't even give him time to respond, instead she forced him further up against the rocks and continued kissing him. She needed to be closer to him; she wanted to knead herself against him. In a daring move that shocked even herself, Daphne pulled up her bra a little bit and pressed herself into Fred. She got so passionate that she actually ended up pushing his head under the water. Fred returned to the surface, spitting a mouthful of water in her face. He was gasping for breath, but it was from more than being pushed under the water.

Daphne got off him and leaned back against the rocks, her heart pounding in her chest. She was almost scared by the intensity of her feelings, and the overwhelming sense of passion that was building up inside of her. It was exciting, but scary and unfamiliar. She had definitely had her fair share of dating, but she had never felt that way about someone before. Daphne felt a little embarrassed as she readjusted her bra. In that moment, she had a funny flashback to the last time Fred had seen her exposed chest. It was that awful week in the sawmill: Sick Week, as they had dubbed it. Fred had peeled off her wet shirt, and she remembered wishing more than anything that she had been awake for it. Some funny déjà vu was going on here. Snapping back to the present, she glanced over at Fred, who was leaning against the rocks beside her, looking slightly awkward and deep in thought. Daphne was suddenly struck with the terrible thought that he didn't want her anymore. Maybe she had gone too far too early.

But she needn't worry, because Fred suddenly grabbed her hand and asked, 'Can we do that again sometime? But maybe at night so the others can't see.'

Daphne smiled shyly at him. She remembered how self-conscious Fred sometimes was about their open displays of affection.

'Yes, I would like that very much.'

Fred nodded rapidly, his cheeks and ears reddening. 'Well, ah, do you want to get started on the hike?'

'Sure.'

They swept that moment under the rug, and took their time on the swim back to the bank. They emerged from the river like lazy, waterlogged seals and made a beeline towards their towels. That moment after just coming out of the water was the always the coldest.

'Like, what are your plans for today?' Shaggy asked them.

'I'm taking Daph to that sunny rock we found a couple of days ago,' Fred replied.

'Rooh, nice! Can Ri come roo?' Scooby said.

'Uh, like, Scoob, I think it's kinda like, a you know, a date sort of thing. Just them.'

'Raw.'

'You can come with us another time,' Daphne smiled. 'What do you guys have planned?'

Shaggy cupped his hand over his mouth, leant forward and whispered, 'Velma wants us to help with the sewerage system. Ugh!'

'Reah, gross. Ri'd rather work on ry reggie patch.'

Daphne's heart always warmed when Scooby spoke of his veggie patch. It was the cutest thing. 'Do what you want, Scooby!'

'Yeah! I'd rather have fresh vegetables than a state-of-the-art sewerage system,' Fred chuckled. 'I'll be right back, I'm just going to get a pack for our walk.'

'Okay,' Daphne said, touching his arm as he walked away from them.

He returned a smaller backpack from his tent and filled it with water and some snacks. 'Ready?'

'Yep. How long is the hike?'

'Less than an hour.'

'Easy. Bye Shag, Scoob!'

As they exited the clearing, they walked past Velma, who was lying on the ground with the tape measure in hand. Daphne watched as she crawled from a tree to the river, unaware (or uncaring) of the dirt and mud that was accumulating on her clothes. At the riverbank, Velma then flopped down flat on her stomach and stuck her hand in the water.

'Velma, umm, are you okay?' Daphne called.

Velma scrambled to her feet. 'I'm great!'

Fred seemed lost for words at the sight of her covered almost head to toe in mud. Velma followed his gaze and looked down at herself, seeming to only just realise she had slithered through the mud. 'It'll be worth it in the end,' she shrugged.

'What will?' Fred said.

'I have big plans for our latrine!'

'Our what?' Fred asked.

Velma rolled her eyes. 'Our dunny. That's what I'm working on at the moment.'

'What, by dragging yourself through mud,' Daphne teased.

Velma ignored her. 'This will link up to our water supply system too.'

'Okay,' Fred's interest perked. 'What have you got?'

'We need to dig the latrine downstream so it doesn't contaminate our drinking water. We should also consider drinking groundwater rather than river water, because its quality is better, which makes it a lot safer. Being so close to the water table here, that won't be hard. Fred, I might need your help to install some pipes so that we can pump fresh water from the ground. That will save us from boiling it every time…'

Daphne shifted her weight from foot to foot agitatedly. She was so eager to get going and be alone with Fred again. Velma was still rabbiting on about how the latrine and drinking water could be connected safely with the river. Right now, Daphne could not care less. Sure, it was annoying to boil the water every single time before drinking it, but…

Oh no. Fred was about to start joining in on this conversation. Daphne knew how passionate he was about the functioning of a system, so they could be here for hours. She quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him back in their initial direction, yelling a quick, 'Bye, Velma, talk later!' over her shoulder.

'Thanks, Daph,' Fred said as they walked away from Velma. 'I guess I can get a bit carried away sometimes…'

'I know.'

'Do you think Velma actually is okay?'

'Are any of us really okay, Fred?'

He considered for a moment, then shrugged. 'I guess not.'

'To be honest, I think Velma's currently more okay than she has been lately. She always loves immersing herself in an intellectual project. You do too, but in different ways.'

'Yeah!' he agreed. 'This is a real, practical application of maths and physics…'

Daphne settled into a comfortable stride beside him, enjoying listening to him speak avidly about his hobbies.

~oO*Oo~

As they walked through the bush, the track Fred, Shaggy and Scooby had carved out before suddenly narrowed.

'This part's a bit… not that great.'

'A bit not that great?' Daphne laughed.

'Yeah,' Fred chuckled. 'Allow me to demonstrate.'

They travelled in single file for a few minutes until they abruptly stopped at a tall rock wall.

'How did you get over this?' Daphne wondered.

'We didn't,' Fred said.

He bent down and moved the thick undergrowth to the side, revealing a small fracture in the rocks. Daphne came over behind him, and holding his waist for support, peered down the hole. She gasped; it was like looking down those massive tube slides at waterparks. Except instead of a plastic tube, it was rough dirt, and there was no water pushing you down.

'Sick,' Daphne grinned.

'I know right!'

'How did you get back up it?'

'It's deceiving actually. It looks small from the top, but when you're climbing up it, it only really thins out at the very top.'

'How in the world did you find that out? Speaking of which, how did you find this spot in the first place?'

'Scooby was curious. And I don't know, I guess you just come across stuff when you walk around. There's only so many directions you can go in.' Fred said.

'True. Most of the bush down here is far too thick to even think about going through.'

'I'll go first and catch you at the bottom.'

Fred took off the backpack and sent it rolling down the slope first. Then he twisted and turned to get himself through the hole.

'See you on the other side!'

Daphne was not expecting how slow the trip down would be. She had thought it would be exactly like a theme park slide, and was surprised when Fred bumped down at a snail's pace. Then he disappeared from view and shortly after called for her to start coming.

It was much easier for Daphne to slip through the hole. Once under the initial rock fracture, she could see the bottom much easier. It was nothing but a simple dirt slope. She pushed herself down, then gasped when she reached the base. It was probably the lowest elevation they had been at – even lower than Headquarters. In fact, it was not dissimilar to a much smaller and shadier version of Headquarters. There was a small, shallow water body surrounded by spiky native plants in the centre with trees towering over it, just like in their clearing. But it was the rock at the end that really caught her eye. Daphne wasn't religious, but if she was, she would've said that this was some sort of sign from above. The perfectly flat rock at the end was practically pulsing with golden sunlight. She could actually see the sun's rays streaming down, unable to reach the ground anywhere except this one rock.

Fred held out a hand to her and lifted her to her feet.

'Wow, Fred! This is hella nice.'

'I first came here at this time of day,' Fred said. 'I was also completely blown away by…' he searched for words, but they wouldn't come. 'By that.'

'What's it like?'

'I don't know.'

'You didn't go to the rock the first time you came!?'

'No. I wanted to save it for sometime special with someone special.'

Daphne had to admit – Fred was really ticking all her first date checklist boxes.

'It has a sort of holy aura,' Fred continued. 'It felt like I needed to be with an angel to enter.'

Daphne cupped her hands to her mouth. 'Freddie Jones! You are so… Ugh, I don't know. I love you. How long have you been thinking of that one for?'

'A few days,' he admitted. 'Come.'

He took her hand and together they stepped into the golden zone. It was like the entire world had darkened and all the light in the universe was focused on only them.

'It's magical,' Daphne breathed.

Fred threw the backpack behind them and positioned it between him and Daphne like a pillow. They lay like that for a while; touching at the sides, basking in the sun's glory and enjoying each other's company.

'This is the perfect spot for sunbaking,' Daphne said.

'Yeah?'

Daphne pulled off her shirt and pants, revealing the same "swimmers" she had on earlier that morning. Feeling Fred's gaze on her, she flicked her eyes over to his face, to which he hurriedly looked away.

'Freddie! We're dating. You can look at me,' Daphne giggled.

'Right, ah, okay.'

As if to emphasise her point, Daphne kept her eyes glued on Fred while he stripped down to his swimming trunks, enjoying every moment of it. When he lay back down beside her, she snuggled in closer to him. As if they had a mind of their own, Daphne's hands found Fred's chest, and snaked their way down to his stomach, her fingers lingering on his muscular abs.

'You're looking good, Freddie,' she said.

Fred responded by kissing her on the nose.

Daphne wondered how far he'd let her go. She dropped her hands further and further down the contours of his body until they were at his waistband.

As she thought would happen, Fred stiffened and turned to look at her. 'Daph, what are we doing right now?'

Daphne withdrew her hands and sighed. 'Fred, have you ever thought about… it?'

'Are we really doing this?' he asked, his eyes wide.

'Not if you don't want to.'

Daphne's hopes crashed to the ground when he remained silent.

After a while, he replied thoughtfully, 'No. I do want to. But maybe at night.'

'What is it with you and night time?'

'More privacy.'

'Privacy! We're in the middle of the bush in the middle of a war where everyone else is either held captive or dead! Who do you want privacy from? The possums and the kookaburras?'

That last bit cracked Fred up so much that he almost started choking, and had tears streaming from his eyes. His reaction even made Daphne join in too.

'Look Daph, I know it sounds stupid. When you put it like that, it sounds even more stupid. But I'd feel more comfortable in a confined space.'

She nodded, understanding. 'That can be arranged.'

'When,' Fred demanded, his heart drumming against his ribcage.

Daphne rolled over and propped herself up on her elbow. 'Tonight?' She leant closer to him and whispered against his neck, 'We have a tent to ourselves.'

The skin on Fred's neck bristled as her warm breath caressed him.

'And it'll be dark. I know you love the dark.'