Suddenly one of the lead cattle — an older cow — stopped and sniffed the air.

She had smelled the water.

McKenzie swore. He had no chance to yell a warning before the cow trumpeted a cry and broke into a lumbering gallop. Within seconds, the herd followed her, a vast waterfall of flesh, pounding along the plain.

‘Let ’em go!’ shouted McKenzie above the noise. Big Red gave a whinny of terror as the massive beasts crowded around her. ‘And get out of there!’

Already he and his wife were riding along the edges of the stampede, and the dogs too, stopping the mob from spreading out too far. Keeping them close in slowed their progress a little too. Tiger rode safely behind, but where was Rose?

Clancy rose from the saddle to look for her, just as a massive steer blundered into Big Red’s side. The horse stumbled, toppling Clancy off: his leg was momentarily crushed under the weight of the horse. The pain blinded him. He forced himself not to pass out, to try to scramble up onto Big Red again. The horse had regained her footing and stood carefully, narrow side on to the rush. But any moment now another beast would crash into them . . .

‘Hey yup! Hay!’ Suddenly Rose was behind him, her whip cracking around her. He hadn’t even known she had a whip or could use one. The cattle parted like water flowing around a boulder. All at once McKenzie was there too, the whip he had not used before flying around him.

And then the herd was gone, leaving only the hovering dust.

‘We’d better get after them!’ shouted McKenzie. ‘Can you hang on here, man?’

‘You’ll never stop them!’ yelled Clancy through his haze of pain.

‘They’ll stop themselves at the creek. But we need to stop them spreading too wide. Joe, get moving!’

Already Mrs McKenzie and Tiger were galloping along the side of the stampede, not quite controlling them, but still keeping them contained.

Rose cast a sharp look at Clancy. ‘Go!’ Clancy shouted, still forcing the darkness from his eyes. Rose dug her heels into her horse’s sides and galloped after the others.

Clancy let himself fall back to the ground. He inspected Big Red first. The horse was skittering, alarmed but not hurt beyond a few grazes to one leg.

He examined his own leg then, feeling along it, the pain so great he expected to find bone protruding any second. But apart from his knee, which made him almost black out when he touched it, the limb seemed only bruised. Only, thought Clancy vaguely, trying to stand once again, stopping when coldness spread across his body. He sank to the ground again.

Hazily he was aware of yells in the distance, the drum of cattle hooves, then silence, total silence, till above him a kookaburra yelled, announcing the humans and their disturbing beasts had left.

Except for him.