‘In the sling!’
‘Normally we would, but the government has put a ban on the slings, because someone got hurt.’Stone wiped hard over his mouth as if tasting something bitter.‘You’ve got your shots of the eggs being collected.You’ve seen how and where, so now I’ve got to drop these babies off.’
Romy stepped in closer, her face hidden behind her camera.‘Can I see the eggs, please?’
‘Sure.’Stone lifted the cooler’s lid, gently brushed off some soil he’d scooped out of the nest, to reveal a layer of eggs that were not much larger than duck eggs, lying in a bed of dirt.
‘You buried them?’
‘Mimics their nest, so they don’t realise the difference.’He winced up at the sun.‘Unless you want them to roast like a rotisserie chicken, I can’t expose them to the sun for too long.They like being warm and dark.’Stone re-covered them with the soil, then padded it over with a thick towel before putting the lid on the cooler.He then securely strapped it into the helicopter behind the pilot’s seat, like it was a baby carrier.
With her camera, Romy slowly panned across the scenery as Stone prepared the helicopter sitting in an expansive flood plain in the middle of the remote outback.It was an incredible shot.
To think, only yesterday she’d left Sydney, where it was cold and rainy, and today, here she was enjoying a mild summer’s day without a cloud in the sky.‘Where do you take the eggs from here?’
‘To the crocodile farm.They’ll incubate them and add them to their cold stock quotas.’
‘Why don’t they breed them in those crocodile pens, or nests or whatever you call it?’Julian demanded.‘You wouldn’t have to do this then.’
‘Crocodiles don’t lay eggs well in captivity.’
‘So you have to pinch them?’
‘Look, I’ll only take up to thirty at a time, when the mother can lay over a hundred eggs.And she had an easy sixty-plus in that nest.’Stone pointed to a wall of dry grasses that blocked their view of the river, that was at least a three-metre drop from the bank.
‘You could have taken more eggs,’ grumbled Julian, ‘while we took more shots to give us a full 360-degree filming opportunity of the nest and the digging process.’
‘Some egg collectors may clean out those nests, but I don’t.’
‘Why not?What makesyouso different?’Julian wrinkled his nose as if smelling something rotten.
‘Everyone has their own techniques, mate.As this is my land, I want her to come back and lay here again next year.She’s only just matured enough to start breeding.’
All of it was fascinating.Even better when this crocodile wrangler—who also piloted his own helicopter—was an expert on these creatures, all while looking smoking hot on camera.In her world, men like this didn’t exist.
As he checked over his chopper, Stone’s hat brim shaded his face just enough to define the lines and angles of his handsome features, that came with that well-built body.Any wonder her camera drank him up, it had her heart rate dancing.
‘What happens to those babies in that crocodile nest?’Romy had so many questions—when it should be Julian asking these things.
‘They’ll hatch and hang out with their mother for a bit.’Stone sighed, peering back at the river, a note of pity lacing his voice.‘Then it’s a fight for survival.Most won’t live to become juveniles.’
‘Why not?When you said they’re the top of the food chain.’
‘When they hatch, they’re tiny.’Stone opened his palm to show the size of a baby crocodile.‘They’re the perfect snack size for goannas, birds, fish, other crocodiles, and feral pigs.Then, if they do mature, they’ll have to compete for their territory, which is often a fight to the death.They do have a pecking order, just like their cousins, the farmhouse chickens.’
She grinned at him.‘Chicken?Is that some bad dad joke?’
‘No joke.’Even though the corners of Stone’s lips curled, his striking hazel-coloured eyes shone with amusement.‘The humble hen is a long-distant relative to the crocodile.’
‘How?’
‘They share the same ankle structure and even lay and protect their eggs the same way.Genetic research has proven, through their DNA, that they’re close relatives.’
‘You’re making that up.’Julian pointed at Stone.
Stone’s gaze flicked between Romy and Julian.‘Did you guys doanyresearch before coming out here?’
Romy shrugged.‘I’m hired to do the filming—not research.That’s the writer’s job.’She peeked at her watch, realising why Stone wanted to leave.‘Julian, you only paid for three hours.’She held up her watch.‘We’ve been out here for over four.’
