She glanced again at the clock. Her parents, Susan and baby Rupert should arrive any time now. From the kitchen she went through to the lounge. Even though it was nearly the end of January she had left the Christmas tree up and last night she had put out all the gifts she had been saving for her family. Today they would have Christmas all over again. The last few days had been very hot but, to her relief, a cooler change had come through overnight. She planned to cook a roast for dinner and have Christmas crackers and all the trimmings.

Light streamed into the passage through the open front door. They’d been leaving everything open at night. The cooler air filled the house meaning they could shut it up later when it got hot, and survive the days with only ceiling fans. There was no air conditioning and they relied on the thick stone walls and high ceilings to keep the place cool.

She rubbed her lower back, which had been aching when she’d crawled in to bed last night but felt fine now. Then she ran her hands over her taut stomach. She couldn’t imagine how she was going to have room for the baby to grow for another two months. There were so many baby questions she wanted to ask Susan.

A little tingle of excitement burbled in her chest. In between running errands for Dan, helping Rowena and getting her accounting clients up to date, Paula had been going flat out, making sure the house was sparkling. Bert had saved the day and the plumbing was back in working order, although he did warn her they needed to have major work done sooner rather than later.

She checked the spare room where her parents were to sleep. Thankfully there’d been no sign of a mouse for quite a while. Then she glanced in at the baby’s room where they’d put a bed for Susan. Rupert could sleep in the cot Rowena had bought.

As she stepped back onto the passage runner she heard a rustling sound from beyond the front door. She stared hard at the screen, which masked a clear view of anything beyond the verandah. There it was again, a kind of rustling crunching sound. Paula stepped carefully along the passage and peered at the gate. It was open. They never went that way and it was always kept shut.

She pushed open the door and let out a yelp as a sheep lifted its head from her daisy bush and dashed out through the gate.