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Julia hulad she had worn her leathers as the afternoon grew colder, and her heater failed to function From Thames she took the west coast road to Tapu, where she turned off on to route 29, which would take her across the Coroes to the eastern side of the narrow peninsula

As the little Beetle laboured up the narroisting road froenerated scrub to a proud, natural wilderness Here the native rainforest grew thick and green, spreading a protective canopy over the land, providing a refuge for some of New Zealand’s rarer birds and aniirl at heart, felt the impact of its awesome beauty

She see since her speed was negligible on the slopes The bush dropped unnervingly away froullies Rimu, Totara, Kahikatea, Rata and Kauri, all prized for their ties, protected from exploitation by their inaccessibility The road seemed to be a puny attempt by man to impose himself on nature but at least it was sealed, and well ht Julia as she carefully rounded another corner

Co caught Julia’s eye in her rear-view rey erous it was gaining on her rapidly Itat the road ahead, there would be nowhere safe for him to pass for a few more bends yet, all uphill It had to be a him, women didn’t seem to feel the same need to prove themselves on the road that men did

He did slon, but not enough He ca at her heels and stayed there through several curves, obviously expecting her to pull over and let him pass He needed a lesson inbuck with more money than he knehat to do with! She didn’t knohat the car was, but it was foreign and expensive

Suddenly there was a feathery flash in front of her bonnet and instinctively, foolishly, Julia put her foot on the brake and swerved slightly The Beetle practically stopped dead and to her disbelief Julia felt a distinct bump at her rear The idiot had actually hit her!

Julia groaned as she pulled the car over on to a narrow shoulder She was suffering an acute attack of the guilts—she should have let hi the road with her decrepitat the rear, was the one ould be at fault in law, Julia was sure, and she wasn’t about to allow herself to be talked into taking the blame She only hoped he wasn’t too mad

She sneaked a look in her peeling wing rey car crouched behind her A door opened and a silver head poked out She relaxed slightly An elderly entleman as unlikely to offer physical violence She wound down her , drawing in a breath at the sharpness of the air It had an edge, a purity, that you didn’t find in the city

Her hand froze on the handle as she saw the head go up as the man pushed himself up out of the car … and up, and up, and up … Goodness—he was a giant! Broad and tall he caue boots He wasn’t elderly either As he got closer, filling her mirror, she could see that he was only in his thirties, the deceptive grey hair was prematurely so

The incredible hulk reached her and bent down to herHis eyes were grey too, grey and cold and she waited for the blast of ice from the voice

‘Are you all right?’

She stared His voice was soft and deep, alentle She looked at him suspiciously Maybe he was a psychopath on the loose Men were usually so touchy about their cars and here he was sounding as if he was just passing the time of day with her

‘Yes’ Her voice squeaked and she coughed ‘Are you?’

‘Shall we look at the dae?’

It was a clear invitation for her to step out of the car but she hesitated as he straightened and she caught sight of the hands hanging loosely by his sides They matched the rest of hirey car and was reassured by its luxuriousness