Unknown by Unknown Page B

she had felt to think Morgan was married gave her an idea of the depth of her feeling for him. She backed away from that discovery.
    ‘That would be the voice of experience talking?’ Morgan questioned.
    ‘Of course!’ Katriona replied without truth. ‘What do you mean by tourists feeding the kea? Where is the new house? Whose new house?’
    He swung the truck almost full circle and drove through an open cyclone gate by a barn filled with hay. ‘There are the deer ... see? This was one of the first deer farms in New Zealand' and the deer park was opened to give the public a chance to see the deer.’
    Katriona was staring round-eyed at the deer in the enclosure which ran from the gravel road they were driving on back across the fields to a stream and the plantation beyond. An enormous stag stood at the edge of the trees, his head thrown back in classic stance as he gave his deep, full-throated roar.
    ‘You’re lucky to be here for the roar ... that’s the mating season ... March, April, May.’
    ‘You farm deer?’ Katriona wanted to be sure she had it correct. ‘How many? Where are they?’
    ‘We’ve over a thousand now. We run them up on Mount Kakapo,’ Morgan explained as he waved to two small boys playing with a Hereford calf by a big pine in front of another farm cottage.
    ‘Head shepherd’s house.’
    Katriona gulped. ‘My father owns a mountain?’
    ‘Several,’ Morgan answered casually. ‘Although we call them hills.’
    'I'll call them mountains,’ Katriona promised him.
    Morgan grinned, ‘I’m sure you will. You’d be just the sort to make a mountain out of a molehill, let alone an ordinary hill. There’s your father’s brain-child—his new house. You’d better like it... God knows what he paid the architect who designed it!’
    ‘I’ll like it,’ Katriona interrupted with a swift fierce loyalty which surprised her. Poor old crippled man, enjoying a little pleasure from building himself a house while this domineering Morgan was critical! Naturally she would side with her father. Together they’d put Morgan Grant where he belonged. A little of her certainty drained away as Morgan followed the narrow twisting road through the trees for a short distance, then emerged on to a clearing in front of the new house.
    ‘Follow me,’ Morgan commanded as he leapt nimbly down and went up the wide smooth steps of the new house with confidence.
    Katriona followed him on shaky legs. Her father might be getting a little pleasure, but he was building a lot of house ... it was a mansion, perfectly proportioned, and artistically designed to blend in with the landscape. It was still in the raw unfinished state, but it spoke of elegance and charm, not to mention luxury.
    ‘Wait here,’ Morgan instructed her. 'Your father will probably be in his office. It’s almost finished. He has it furnished, and the kitchen is almost complete.’
    ‘I don’t want a builder’s report! ’ Katriona spat out the words.
    ‘Sorry, I am rambling on. Naturally you’re nervous ... It will be all right, little Red.’
    Katriona’s head came up and her eyes sought his for reassurance, but found something else ... pity ! Fear clawed at her throat, and she grabbed his arm. ‘You never did say what sort of a man my father was. Tell me now or I’ll walk out of here! ’
    Aware that she was on the edge of panic, Morgan spoke quietly. ‘Your father is a fine man. He’ll do me to cross the river with ... Do you know what that means, little Red? Here, where the rivers run deep and swift, two men can cross more safely than one, but you virtually trust your partner with your life.’ He hesitated as if to add something and thought better of it, turned and left the room rapidly.
    Katriona wandered over to the huge floor-to-ceiling picture windows which gave her a panoramic view of the station. She could see the head shepherd’s house, the deer park, and further away the homestead in the trees. She could see the Lewis Pass