Hoofbeats again. Clancy managed to look up. He’d expected to see McKenzie but, of course, the more experienced drovers were needed to keep the cattle under control.

Rose slid off her horse and ran to him. ‘Clancy?’ It was the first time she had used his name since he’d joined their team. It was also the first time she had not called him Mister.

‘I’m all right, except for my leg. Bruised, not broken. How are the cattle?’

‘By the creek. Mr McKenzie is trying to stop them drinking too fast. They’ll be a while. Mrs McKenzie sent me back.’ She pulled off one of her saddlebags, then sat beside him, her hands gentle on his leg. He swore, then apologised, as her fingers touched his knee. She nodded, then stood and walked off towards some trees.

‘Where are you going?’ He hated the weakness in his voice.

‘Get some wood. You need sweet tea and I need hot water.’

‘Thank you.’ He was ashamed of his need, his suspicion that she’d left him, ashamed of too much to even think about now.

He waited, eyes closed, listening to the sound of her return, the click of the flint, the crack of swaggie’s wood, the thin twigs that fell so often from the gum trees that there was rarely a problem getting enough wood for a quick fire, and then the glug of water from her waterbags.

At last she said, ‘Drink this.’

He’d half expected a strange native potion, but it was just tea, hot and very sweet. He sipped and found the world steadied.

‘Can you take your trousers off? No, I’ll do it.’ Her hands felt for his belt buckle. He lifted himself as she pulled, then gazed at his leg. It already looked red and swollen, and the knee resembled a melon.

He looked up as she dipped what looked like a long strip of leather into the tea. It softened as it met the liquid.

Rose handed him a twig. ‘Bite it,’ she ordered.

‘Why?’ he began, then clamped his teeth down as her hands found his knee again. She began to bind it in wide strips. They would keep the swelling from getting any bigger, he realised, as well as keeping the limb immobile.

At last she sat back. ‘How does it feel?’

‘As if the entire mob trampled it. Sorry, it feels much better. Thank you.’

‘I hope I did it right. Mrs McKenzie showed me how to do it on Tiger’s ankle on our last trip, but I haven’t done a knee before. Drink more tea.’