She laughed, but her heart sang at his words and she leant to kiss him again. ‘I’d rather you cooked breakfast, handsome. I’ve work to do and I suspect you have too. Up and at ’em, boyo.’

A very quick shower later, for the water had been just lukewarm, Tilly sat down to cereal, pancakes and tea. They ate in the little annexe out of the wind, and she lifted her face gratefully to the newly risen sun.

‘I should’ve brought gloves. Never mind, it’ll warm up soon enough. So what are you planning for today?’

‘I might head out to that new road, and lay up somewhere out of sight. Ideally we should have a twenty-four-hour watch on it, but that’d mean pulling Des away from his post, and maybe missing movement along the coast.’

‘You will be careful,’ she said, alarmed by the idea. ‘I mean, the poachers seem to travel in pairs. You won’t tackle them alone?’

‘I’ll be fine, Tilly. Ten to one I’ll twiddle my thumbs all day for nothing. What about tonight? Can you—’

Regretfully she shook her head. ‘My turn in the kitchen tomorrow, so I’m afraid not. We’ll just have to wait. And now I’d better go clean my teeth because if that’s not Luke I can hear, then someone’s abroad very early. I told him I’d start on the chores too.’

‘Till later then,’ he said, standing. He pulled her into his arms for a final kiss. ‘Don’t work too hard, my love. And thank you for last night.’

‘And you be careful,’ she admonished. ‘I mean it. You’re always telling me how dangerous those men are. So no tackling, hmm?’

He grinned. ‘Only pint-sized women then. And only if they look like you. Okay, okay. Later then?’

‘That’s a promise,’ she vowed and went.

Luke was at the ablution block unloading the day’s supply of wood when she got there.

‘Sorry.’ Tilly grabbed the ash bucket and shovel from the lock-up. ‘I got a bit caught up. Cold enough for you?’

‘Eight degrees by the verandah thermometer,’ he said, inhaling. ‘Nice brisk weather, so who’s complaining? It must’ve got colder than this back in Victoria.’

‘This is the north.’ Tilly rubbed her freezing fingers together. ‘What’s Matt up to today?’

‘Getting on with the posts, I think.’ Sophie had come up with a plan to replace the rocks that prevented vehicles from driving across camp sites with sturdy posts. ‘Oh, and he wants to check something on the pump, so he said not to start it up. He’ll see to it later.’

‘He picked a good day for it.’ Tilly shivered. ‘Nobody’s going to be having long showers. It was icy in there this morning. I was afraid of getting frostbite.’