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She’d even climbed Kilimanjaro. If there had been a parachute unit for women in the Australian Army, Julie would have had no trouble being accepted for it. She was also extremely bright, having graduated from medicine with first-class honours.
    Julie didn’t belong to any feminist organisation, but she was a superlative example of equality between the sexes.
    ‘Why martial arts?’ Baxter asked her after a few classes, when they’d gotten to know each other better.
    ‘I hate men making passes at me and I hope to be going places where they’ll try more than that. I want to look after myself in tough situations.’
    ‘And why me?’ he asked.
    ‘A friend who knew your girlfriend, Elaine, said you were the best in Australia—and that you took small evening classes, which fits in well with my uni hours!’
    Baxter also recalled very clearly the day Julie had said goodbye to him.
    ‘This is my final class, Greg,’ she said, beaming with gratitude. ‘Thank you so much for what you’ve done for me.’
    ‘No more than for anyone else,’ he said, and this was true. He’d made sure not to give her special attention and make her feel uncomfortable.
    ‘Maybe not,’ she said, ‘but you’ve helped me build a confidence and a discipline I lacked when I came to you.’
    ‘As I recall it, I doubt you ever displayed a lack of confidence,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘But that’s part of what martial arts is all about.’
    ‘So I’d heard, but I didn’t believe it. I was more interested in giving myself an edge if I needed to defend myself.’
    ‘And now?’
    ‘I’m off to the UK to specialise in surgery. National Health has created plenty of opportunities for surgical work,’ she explained. ‘You know, most top surgeons—most surgeons for that matter—are men. I’ve got a yen to succeed in that field.’
    ‘Will you keep up your martial arts?’ Baxter asked.
    ‘I’ll try to, but honestly I don’t know. I’m going to be furiously busy.’
    So Julie had departed, and he had missed her. She was the only woman, apart from his mother, for whom he felt real affection. She was also the first woman who’d stirred him since he lost Elaine.
    ‘So how did your stint as a surgeon turn out?’ Baxter asked while he watched the neat line of stitches flowering on his arm. ‘I had visions of you becoming a national figure and ending up in Macquarie Street.’
    ‘Well, I had a good bash at it. And it comes in handy here. I operate at Bega and other places when I have the time.’
    ‘Sounds to me as if you’ve mellowed quite a lot. You don’t appear to be the fire-eater you were when you came to me. You had a lot of aggro in those days.’
    ‘Ha.’ She grinned. ‘I haven’t changed that much, Greg. I’m still regarded as a tough cookie by most people in this district. I disarmed a fellow with a knife and put a hammer lock on him. Those belts I won are in a glass case in my surgery, so everyone’s aware that I’m not a pussycat!’
    Laughing, Baxter shook his head. ‘I’m impressed.’ He allowed himself a peek at her body, making sure not to let his eyes linger. She was wearing loose jeans and a comfortable shirt, but he could tell she was still in shape. ‘How do you keep fit now?’
    She shrugged. ‘I jog religiously and I swim when I can.’ In the next moment, her professional mask slid back into place. ‘You’ll probably have a faint scar down your arm, but it will diminish in time. You’re lucky we got on to it so early, because these jagged tears become harder to work on the longer they’re left.’
    She gave Baxter a tetanus shot and some penicillin tablets.
    ‘Take the box,’ she said. ‘If you have any problems before I remove the stitches, be sure to contact me. And watch out for any red streaks up your arm. Stitches out in, say, twelve days.’ She was writing it all down for him. ‘It’s a long nasty wound and it will be sore when that local wears off. You should get some aspirin so