Page 69 - Mobile Magic

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that far above the horizon. They walked together across the rock-strewn slope of Green Mountain, dodging trees and forcing their way through the patchy undergrowth.
Patrick had stopped to examine a patch of delicate, mauve, fringed-lilies. ‘Thanks for the loan of your mobile,’ Saffron said, as she stooped over the flowers.
‘That’s all right, my dear. It’s been my privilege to come here with you.’
The sides of the mountain were slashed with deep, narrow gullies where the rain was channelled into steep, rushing rivulets with hundreds of tiny waterfalls. As they slid down the bank of the nearest gully the light, which was still quite strong outside, deepened into a gloom where only the shapes of nearby trees were clear.
‘We have left the sclerophyl forest,’ Patrick explained to Saffron and Charles. ‘You’ll notice that the forest here in these deep gullies between the spurs of the mountain is quite luxuriant. I haven’t seen such a wide variety of rainforest species this far west before. Soil moisture is high and the area is protected from dry, westerly winds and bushfire.’
‘Wow! We’ve got our own rainforest!' enthused Charles. ‘It’s weird, I thought it would be much harder to move about in here, but the trees are so tall and skinny. There’s not all that prickly teatree like there is up on the mountainside, just ferns and creepy plants.’
‘It’s the smell that I like. So rich and damp, like mushrooms ... or the streets after rain,’ added Saffron. She felt a funny combination of peace and euphoria in this place.