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to the sand and shingle. Why was she so angry? Admittedly, he was a handsome brute and the sun glinted on his burnished auburn hair in a spectacular way, and his tall, tanned, slim-hipped figure, completely at one with his horse, blended into this rugged mountain land incredibly well. So what! There was nothing in that to bring her to boiling point.
    His attitude to marriage? It had nothing to do with her. If some dim-witted female was prepared to sit quivering on the shelf, waiting for him to summon her to his bridal-bed, it was still none of her business. It just let the whole female species down, that was all. But then Serenity herself wasn’t an ardent feminist, so there was nothing there for her burning anger to feed on.
    ‘We’ll cross about half a mile up; the river divides into several streams and there is no danger. We’ll just have to ride till the horses show themselves. They could be in the gorge on a day like this, or conversely down by the bridge three or four miles down river. Enjoying yourself?’
    ‘Yes, thank you,’ she answered primly. She was having trouble with Misty now that they were riding side by side. Misty kept edging closer and closer to Rajah until Serenity was riding knee to knee with Hudson.
    ‘Don’t fight her,’ Hudson offered. ‘These horses work a lot together and are friends. You’ll battle her all day if you try to keep a respectable distance between them.’
    ‘I suppose you picked them for us today for that reason.’
    There was laughter in his voice as he answered, ‘Of course. I didn’t know how well you could ride. I want to be close enough to haul you back on the saddle if you look like cartwheeling into the drink. I don’t like getting my feet wet.’
    ‘A real hero,’ Serenity observed nastily.
    ‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. But we get droves of people out here. Most of them go gaga about the scenery, and all of them say they can ride like an Apache. We used to accept their words, but have learnt over the years, after a few nasty accidents, that people are prone to exaggerate their accomplishments.’
    ‘Well, I didn’t,’ Serenity said indignantly.
    ‘No, you didn’t. I can see you’re a fairly accomplished rider, but you’re in unknown country, and until you’re familiar with the terrain, it’s better to be safe than sorry.’
    It was a perfectly reasonable explanation. It showed sound common sense, and she was furiously angry with him all over again, for no reason. He had not been patronising, and she did feel much safer crossing the streams on the up side of Rajah, Although the crystal- clear water only came up to the stirrups the current was swift and strong, and in the wider parts had a mesmerising effect on her.
    ‘Give her her head,’ Hudson advised. ‘She’s a real river horse, and she’ll pick her way over with the skill of a ballet dancer.’
    ‘Sure.’ Serenity wasn’t frightened, but she was aware that there was danger and that she must balance her weight so as to be a help and not a hindrance to the surefooted horse as it negotiated the big boulders and loose shingle on the river floor.
    There was colour everywhere, the vivid blue of the sky, the purple forest-clad surrounding hills, and gold everywhere; golden sunlight, golden gorse flowers, carpets of dandelions and buttercups. But green predominated, the thousand shades of green of the native bush, and the lush green of the grass on the islands where the sleek well-bred Hereford cows grazed with their enchanting calves, until disturbed by the horses. Then they crashed away and were soon lost in the manuka and low scrub.
    ‘The horses can’t go further up than this, we’ll head downstream,’ Hudson commented as the river neared the gorge with its steep rock-slid walls covered with bush and fern, and the streams blended and knit back into one deep strand of river.
    ‘I didn’t mean you to waste a whole day on me,’ Serenity protested as they turned in the other direction. ‘I