“It’ll be safe till morning. I’ve put the plug in so we don’t accidentally put any water down in the night. If we’d driven the dual cab I would have had something in the back to get the pipe off with. The guy who owns the place will have a shifting spanner. We’ll fix it in the morning.”

He took her by the hand and flicked off the light. “Let’s go to bed,” he said.

Chapter 29

CHAPTER

29

The distant sound of a truck on the road carried across the yard to the shed where Dan was working on a trailer wheel. He looked up. There was no wind yet but if he could hear the truck it meant the predicted north wind wouldn’t be far away.

It was only early but the air was still and hot. His shirt was already clinging to his back. He tightened the nuts on the wheel and rolled the flat tyre away. He didn’t like being too far away from home on a day of extreme fire danger but he had arranged to go with Ted to collect some sheep. They couldn’t put it off. There’d been significant interest in Ted’s property and he and Dan still had a lot to do if they were going to shift all their sheep to the Harvey place. He corrected himself. Woodcroft Farm was its official name now.

Dan left the shade of the shed and crossed the yard to where he’d parked the dual cab. Spud followed closely at his heels. The young dog was training well and had a natural talent with sheep. Dan still missed Rocket but Spud looked like he’d turn into an even better sheep dog than his predecessor.

A hot puff of wind blew into Dan’s face. He looked around the yard. He had a small mob of ewes in the house yard to tidy up the dry grass. They were camped in clumps, already seeking the shade from the straggly trees and outbuildings.

The water truck was full and he’d checked the pump yesterday. Everything was in place to fight a fire should it ever be needed. He was already on edge and the weather wasn’t helping. Today hadn’t been declared as catastrophic but his Country Fire Service training had taught him how quickly conditions could change.

He backed the vehicle up to the trailer. He knew it was more than the terrible weather that was bothering him. If there was time later today he’d call in at the bank and finish the paperwork to transfer the loan so that it was against Woodcroft Farm. Glen Barrett had agreed that it might be enough to get them out of trouble.