CHAPTER 1
Wildlife Service senior field officer Shane Higgs had a problem -- woman problem in the singular. The only women he'd ever liked were his mom and his two sisters. Oh some female relatives. Okay, some female teachers and the first sweet babe who'd finally allowed him to sink into her, making him a man.
Now he was assigned to lead Jennifer Flynn on a 10-day high country patrol along the upper foothills of the Southern Alps [South Island, New Zealand] that could turn into a fortnight or more in duration if they were over-run by snow.
The rookie was twenty-four, only two months out of training, and had scored the highest marks in training ever for a woman but as far as Shane Higgs, former hunter, deer culler and active tramper, mountaineer and a highly specialized mountain search and rescue volunteer was concerned, high marks counted for little. This babe would crap herself if thrown into the deep end like he'd had done to him repeatedly by his father Harry Higgs. His dad had become a legend before he turned forty and had retired only recently.
Shane drove to the department's office in Dunedin where he was to pick up the rookie who'd flown in from Auckland the previous evening. Fucking Aucklanders, he sneered silently, famous for drinking latte and turning out in thousands to watch street parades of gays and creating highway mayhem through having too many vehicles per head of population.
Stopping to look down on Dunedin encircled around its harbor reaching a long way in from the sea, he radioed a buddy Steve, the department's local communications officer.
"Hi buddy, it's Shane. Has my kitten arrived?"
"Yep."
"What does she look like -- back end of a bus I suppose?"
"N-o-o. Rather pretty."
"Great tits?"
"Er Shane..."
Shane, stretched and watched a blonde in a red sports car scream dumbly at great speed downhill; he didn't take in the slow 'no' and the 'er Shane' implied warning.
"Buddy, tell supplies to throw in five packs of infant's milk and a packet of teats, as on the tour I'm expected to be wet-nursing."
"Mr Higgs. You are an asshole. Grow up before you arrive to fetch me."
Shane almost lifted off his seat in surprise. He heard a door slam loud enough to make windows in the comms room rattle. "Er was that Miss J. Flynn?"
"It was buddy. You have some fence mending to do."
Shane walked into the office with flowers and a box of chocolates
The women at reception pleaded, "Shane, Shane, me." Her assistant wheedled, "Shane I'll give you anything you want."
The department's Otago-Southland administrative officer Mrs Sharples glared at Shane but her look was out-classed by the black look he received from the blonde. Oh fuck, not an Auckland blonde rookie who wouldn't know her ass from her mouth but she also hated him. They'd not survive their first crisis.
"Good morning ladies -- here are chocolates for you Mrs Sharples because it's a couple of weeks since I've had the pleasure of seeing you in person and here Miss Flynn and welcome to the South Island."
"Shane have you crashed your vehicle?"
"No Mrs Sharples."
"Then why have you given me chocolates?"
"Diplomacy Mrs Sharples because I had been rather reckless in my speech about Miss Flynn but when seeing you with her I decided to pass the chocolates to you to avoid you thinking I favored Miss Flynn over you."
"That sounds like so much crap that I'm inclined to believe it. Into my office young man, you too Jennifer."
Mrs Sharples motioned to Jennifer to sit and as Shane went to sit Mrs Sharples yelled, "You keep standing Higgs, you're on the mat. I monitor incoming radio messages to keep myself informed and heard the disgusting things you said about Jennifer. I've urged her to lay a complaint against you but she's refused."
"Huh?" Shane said, turning to look at Jennifer.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you Higgs. I have accepted Jennifer's decision but you are on very thin ice. So I have decided to assign Jennifer elsewhere and give you Bill Hamilton as your back up. Unfortunately you are the only fully competent person with huge survival instinct to patrol the high country going into winter otherwise I'd have you working with this building's janitor."
"Mrs Sharples?"
"Yes Jennifer."
"I have no wish to be replaced. According to our tutors, high country patrolling is the last frontier where women remain excluded. I've been selected to make that final breakthrough and by hell or high water I'm going to make a success of my patrol. You can't deny me Mrs Sharples; you can't deny this achievement for women. I can handle the asshole, I promise Mrs Sharples."
"Please watch your language Jennifer, I'm sorry but..."
"If you break Jennifer's assignment I'm not available. I...er...think I have influenza coming on."
"Shane Higgs, how dare you!"
"Sally, you didn't become the first woman to ski Chasm Drop by being a pussycat so don't pussycat on Jennifer."
"Sit down Shane," Mrs Sharples said, bowing her head in her hands.
Shane flashed a grin at Jennifer to be met by a very frosty look.
He leaned over and said, "Loosen up and smile at her confidently otherwise you're dead in the water."
"Thank you," she whispered, no animosity in the voice.
* * *
As they drove to the helicopter based at the airport Jennifer asked, "Why don't you like me?"
"Because you're young attempting to do a tough man's work, you're blonde and come from Auckland. Is that enough?"
"No, not nearly enough."
"Because you are also pretty and have great.er...breasts and probably great legs."
"I wasn't aware they were qualifications for this assignment."
"Jennifer, please believe me. When we are up in the High Country your sexuality will begin to drive me nuts within forty-eight hours."
"I have a boning knife in my pack. Perhaps I could slice away your problem. For fuck sake, there's a pedestrian on the crossing!"
The SUV under quite heavy braking stopped smoothly and Shane showed a full set of teeth at the old lady with a walking stick and she smiled back.
"God, how can you be so calm. You almost pulverized her?"
"Thanks for the warning dear Jennifer. Could you control your bad language just a tad. I'm a very sensitive person."
At that Jennifer appeared to slip into a coma for the next five minutes until, "I cannot believe this, I cannot believe this. The training course failed to cover the insanity, aggressiveness and the out-of-control behavior of senior field officers, one in particular."
"Don't worry love, I'll come through for you and you'll be in my sleeping bag with me by tomorrow night."
"Over my dead body."
"Oooh, promises."
At the helicopter base they had a fifteen-minute wait. Shane took Jennifer's hand. She attempted to jerk it away, yelling, "Don't touch me you freak."
The helicopter base female operations manager said, "Love, I'd enjoy the touch and you should invite him to touch you all over. Shane is not gay but he rarely touches women."
"Oh God."
Shane said quietly, "Did the course put you on choppers?"
"Yes twice."
"On flat terrain?"
"Yes, what's wrong with that? There were some gullies."
"Well darling allow we to paint a picture to hopefully help you to cope with terror. Once we fly over pastoral and cropping land of great interest to you and some lakes and you excitedly become up close and personal with snow-capped mountains we will drop and skin over brown hilltops that appear alarmingly close and at times we'll appear to almost slam into rock faces. I'm telling you this to avoid you screaming insanely and crapping your cute panties. Right?'
"Oh God, right."
"You may hold on to me and ask me to massage your tits if you become terrorized."
Although somewhat dazed, Jennifer managed, "I'll not need that thank you."
During the flight Jennifer though it had unfolded just like Shane had described it. She'd remain staunch and knew there was nothing to be afraid about. Through her headphones she heard the women pilot say cheerfully, "Okay, here we go through the slit to land outside Mason's hut."
"Ohmigod," Jennifer shrieked, clutching at Shane. He immediately began massaging her breasts and that didn't help at all. She saw they were approaching the gap. It was too narrow. They were going to crash.
Shane kissed her and she closed her eyes and kissed him back, thinking with a hint of relief both he and the pilot were calm so crashing wasn't on their agendas. So she opened her eyes, looking out at one side and then the other and could see cracks and lichen on the rock faces on either side. Oh fuck.
"Ten seconds and we're there," the swine said, taking a real handful of breast because he'd groped inside her thermal jacket. She didn't care. All she wanted was to live. She heard the pitch of the motor change and their forward motion slow and suddenly when she opened her eyes she saw they were landing and after a gentle rock the frenzy of the motor throttled back.
"You saved my life," Jennifer said dramatically to Shane. As he concentrated to ensure they didn't clash sunglasses and noses as he moved in, she snapped, "Grope me again and I have your balls for a necklace."
The crackling Jennifer heard in the headset was the forty-something pilot laughing. "He's rarely seen in the company of women Jennifer. Shane loves his hinds. We reckon half the fawns we see up here are Shane look-alikes."
Jennifer thought that was very disgusting.
The three of them unloaded the cargo including 10-gallon cans of fuel oil.
Jennifer and Shane waved goodbye to Miriam as she lifted off to return through the gap.
"Why go via that dangerous gap? It's open out here."
Shane said the hut had been sited there more than seventy years ago because it was located for the convenience of people making the transverse.
"See that ridge 200ft above us and below us that other ridge?"
"Yes, but so what?"
"When it's fine and no wind. no problem. Choppers can fly straight in. But at other times the up draughts and downdraughts can fling choppers around like toys. After one fatal crash the problem was worked out and because the winds are unpredictable the agreed approach procedure is to fly the gap every time. There's actually more clearance that it looks."
Jennifer didn't believe him but when watching Miriam fly through she saw there was perhaps 12-foot clearance on either side but still rather scary.
They stored the fuel in the adjacent bunker, far enough away so if there was a fire the hut should remain unaffected.
The interior of the hut was utilitarian. Shane reading her said, "It's a quarter of a star grade most times but arrive amid a snow storm and it jumps to five-star accommodation."
"Only mugs would be out in a snow storm up here."
"Mugs and circumstances."
Jennifer didn't ask him what he meant.
"What's the barrel?"
Shane grinned lewdly. "A hot tub, heated by the cabin heating system. In three hours we can jump in and it will be bearable."
"We?"
