“Heather says he’s taken the gun.” Dan walked away towards the sheds where, only a few days ago, the fire crews had been fighting the hay fire.

“Dan!” Paula couldn’t keep the fear out of her own voice.

He turned and gave them both a reassuring smile. “I’ll find him. He’ll be okay. You two put the kettle on. I think we might need a cuppa. And can you ring Tom and tell him to knock off once he’s filled the bins. I won’t get the truck out there tonight.”

Paula watched him stride away, then walked Heather inside.

“I’m probably overreacting,” Heather said, as they both sat at the kitchen table.

“Dan will find him.” Paula put a gentle hand on her neighbour’s arm and was rewarded with a weak smile.

Heather picked up a jumbled pile of papers from the table in front of her and tried to stack them into a neater pile.

“Since the fire the only words from Ted have been to snap at me and the kids. He gets a bit cranky when he’s under pressure but in the past we’ve always talked things through. This afternoon he got angry. I’ve been trying to sort out our paperwork so we can organise the insurance claim for the hay shed. He went right off. I’ve never seen him that agitated. He was pacing up and down then he threw these papers all over the kitchen and slammed out the door. The boys are off at a birthday party at the Martins and Bridget’s got a music lesson in town. I sat here by myself for a while.”

Heather pulled her hair back from her face with both hands and rested her elbows on the table. Paula had never seen such a look of despair.

“Ted’s got a gun locked up out in the car shed. I didn’t know he’d gone that way but later I saw him from the window, walking towards the sheds, and he had the gun.”

There was absolutely nothing that Paula could think of to say. Heather grabbed one of Paula’s hands and stared with wild eyes.

“It’s just that you hear so many stories about men who…farmers in particular…” She stopped and pulled her hand back. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I knew he’d only get angrier if I followed him. I didn’t know what to do. I rang Dan because I thought Ted might listen to him.”